Using Complexity to Make Things Simpler

by | May 29, 2013 | commentary

Well there goes another closely held misconception. I finished a film shoot this last weekend. My directing partner Pearl and I are producing scenes from Betrayal by Harold Pinter for our final project in a class. Film shoots are complex beasts full of a million...

Method Method Who Has the Method

by | May 19, 2013 | commentary

In starting to learn a discipline like filmmaking, the focus seems to be on the methods people use to do the job properly. In class last time, the teacher brought books she had made and used in her directing projects.   The class (including me) poured over them —...

First First Rehearsal or Crossing the Great Divide

by | May 7, 2013 | commentary

Morning breaks. I’m thinking ahead to the day. Today is the first rehearsal on my first “Real” film. It’s just a scene from a play, adapted for the screen. It’s just a class project. It’s Pinter for god sake — a playwright that is known for putting major meaning...

The Law of Conservation of Complexity

by | May 3, 2013 | commentary

Ok, here’s a weird little observation about complexity. I’ve noticed that as you get better and better at something, the perceived complexity of what you do stays constant even though the actual complexity increases. Learning stuff adds repetitive tasks to muscle...