Attack of the Rewards!
This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly blog/newsletter/blogletter about the creative process. I'm sharing adventures in art and life as well as setting CLIFFHANGER goals for myself, so--
DID I MAKE MY GOAL?
Last week, I committed to filming my new short and having fun doing it. And I did both--filmed the film and had fun doing it. This new short film (codenamed The Commentary) is benefiting from the goal-setting I've been doing on the blog. Writing the 5 page script was a goal a month ago and now the principal photography is done.
I've been thinking, talking, and doing business work for film a ton in the last several months. But this is the first time in months I got to pick up a camera, work with actors, and make a thing in my head physically happen in the real world. And it was very, very fun.
The fun part of the goal is a little tongue-in-cheek because, of course, it's always fun to do creative work. But I also set that goal as a reminder to myself to help set the right tone for the best creative work. I can be a very intense person. I learned this early on when I was in my first improv group. We did an exercise where we all wrote down a keyword to describe one another and I think 5 out of 6 of my improv partners wrote down "INTENSE."
I don't think being intense about your creative work is bad at all, but it can risk stressing or alienating creative partners. So I like to remind myself to have fun. Intense fun. I think the goal was met.
ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--
This week was an embarrassment of creative riches. I did the film shoot for the new short on Thursday, on Friday I had a great budget meeting for the feature I'm working on, and on Sunday I attended a screening of our 22 minute horror film THE NIGHTMARE ADORABLE at a theater here in Los Angeles.
I've been having lots of conversations with friends lately who kindly ask how my filmmaking efforts are going. Now, it's possible that I'm over-answering. Like someone asks me "how are you?" and I launch into an intense, Shakespearean monologue about existential dread and my action figure collection.
Regardless, answering the question is helping me focus. Because to know how it's going I need to be honest with myself about what I want out of my creative endeavors. And, yes, I want to find some amount of financial success so I can keep being creative, pay rent, and perhaps retire some far-off day. (Sadly, my action figure collection cannot sustain me financially in my dotage.) So there are goals about career and money and trying to parkour to the next level, etc.
But there's also the soul reward. I started focusing on film because I got tired of spec scripts hiding away in a desk drawer. I wanted to not have a show just disappear in the ether the way my beloved live performance often does. I wanted to make things that can exist and continue to exist. So a huge goal of making short films is just having people see your short films.
So I went to the screening on Sunday with the mindset that this is THE REWARD. I got to sit next to my wife, most of the cast--Amy Vorpahl, Hal Lublin, Ken Napzok--and several kind friends. We got to watch the curtains come down to properly mask the film's aspect ratio. Got to see all those lighting and editing choices flash across a big screen. Hear the music and sound effects blare and rumble out of giant speakers. And most importantly, FEEL all those elements come together into a story. Listen to an audience laugh and gasp and applaud when the credits kick in.
In the scramble for other potential rewards, I need to remind myself to really take in the reward of a room full of people watching a story and enjoying it.
As always, I want to be honest. There are many other hopes and dreams I have for this film. There have been disappointments and there will be more to come. I got a rejection notice from another film festival as I was working on this celebratory blog.
But that makes me want to focus on rewards even more. I don't think rewards are just for the end of a project. I think they should be generously doled out to yourself at frequent intervals.
I got through several college essays with the dubious choice of a piece of candy for each completed paragraph. I finished papers on Sigmund Freud only with the the ample assistance of candy corn.
In recent times, I've told myself I can buy a specific book if I finish a first draft. After I finished the shoot last Thursday, I got to eat a whole frozen pizza. When I finish this blog, I get to listen to the Count Basie album I bought last week when I got to walk to Amoeba Records because I finished last week's blog.
Okay, perhaps one can overdo the reward system, but I do think breaking goals into small chunks and giving yourself something to reach for is good motivation. Sometimes, we've got to wait a while for the big pay off so we might as well treat ourselves along the way.
MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--
Deciding on this week's goal is a good challenge because it's a week where I need to spin multiple plates. I'm literally making hemming and hawing noises as I decide this. Okay, I'm headed back to that pitch deck for the feature. It's very important and at risk of getting lost in the shuffle. So my goal for next week is to come close to completing the pitch deck. That should give me some nice wiggle room.
YOUR GOAL FOR WEEK--
What's your goal? How much wiggle room will you give yourself? Feel free to reach out to me on social media or respond directly to the email version of the blog and let me know what projects you’re working on this week!
LIGHT PLUGS--
This Friday, March 1st is BANDCAMP FRIDAY. A day where artists get all the proceeds from purchases. I've got several comedy albums up on Bandcamp and a very spooky 45 minute cosmic horror story called THE BEAST THAT ATE THE DAWN. If you're interested, Bandcamp Friday is a great day to pick them up! All proceeds go to my production company, Strange Path, and help us keep making films and podcasts!
THE NARRATOR! All members of my Patreon now have exclusive months-early access to my experimental comedy film--THE NARRATOR starring the great Phil LaMarr. If you're interested, you can check out the Patreon here!
You can also check out Strange Path t-shirts and wall art on Threadless. Thank you for the kind support!
A LITTLE SKETCH--
This week's sketch is inspired by our film shoot last Thursday. Part of the story took place outside. The almost full moon was GLOWING and fit the mood perfectly so we included some unplanned shots of the moon. We had fun joking that the moon was a PAID ACTOR and the insurance on them was devastatingly high. So here's a pensive mood floating amidst the trees. See you in the FUTURE TIME called next Tuesday!
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