Hello, My Old Friend, The Unknown
This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly 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?
Big picture, I’m working away on the post-production of our horror film, Dead Media. Last week, I committed to the goal of finishing the second draft of the edit and starting the third.
And I mostly did it! I finished the second draft but left a couple of scenes to deal with in the third draft. If I had set my goal as “wrestle with the semantics of what makes a draft?” I definitely would have nailed that goal.
Big picture—the goal setting continues to help and I got a big chunk of editing work done.
I juggled the editing work with more producer work—good conversations with a VFX artist, a sound team, starting to schedule some pick-up shots, and refining the budget.
Lots of work left to do but I’m enjoying running as fast as I can toward the finish line.
If you’re interested in helping us pull the film across that finish line, I need to raise a bit more money for post-production. You can make a one time tax-deductible donation via Film North here. Thanks to the folks who have made contributions in the last few weeks. Deeply, deeply appreciated.
ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--
This week I was forced to repeatedly say hello to everyone’s inevitable friend, THE UNKNOWN.
At moments this week, THE UNKNOWN was incredibly scary and rude. But I ended the week with some good reminders that embracing THE UNKNOWN can be very rewarding.
Working on a long creative project like a film means spending a lot time with THE UNKNOWN constantly lurking around. I’m proud of the film and I’m working hard to make it the best version of what it is that I possibly can. But there are always unknowns! Will this beat land with audiences? Is this emotional hook as strong as I feel it is? Will I be able to arrange everyone’s schedule to get this one 3 second pick-up shot that will really make the scene pop?
I wrote the script for the film in October of 2023 so I’ve been barreling down a dark road with THE UNKNOWN in the back seat of the car for a year and a half. And the constant presence is starting to unnerve me a bit.
I was in a particularly unnerved state when I took a break to go see my wife, Sara, give a tour at her job.
Sara works at Greystone Mansion and Gardens—a historic house and a city park that’s owned and operated by the city of Beverly Hills.
The tour was about the filmmaker David Lynch’s time at the mansion when it was occupied by the American Film Institute. As a fellow at the school, Lynch got permission to film down in the old horse stables and garage area of the property. Over the course of FIVE YEARS he shot his first film, Eraserhead.
That is a very, very long time to do a road trip with THE UNKNOWN. The next day I came across a quote from Lynch about how important is it for artists to not focus on “outcomes.” I’m paraphrasing, but the general idea is that if you’re focused on things like if a specific person will like the movie, how it will impact your career, etc then you’re not focusing on the art, the purity of the idea.
It made me remember to focus on what is right in front of me—the film talking to me about what it needs and wants to be—rather than anxieties about outcomes. After all, my best control over the outcome is making the art as honest and compelling as I can.
All in all, a nice reminder of how to cope with THE UNKNOWN.
Then this weekend, I took it a step farther and actually had a great art experience because of THE UNKNOWN.
Sara’s co-worker had asked her about the new film, Friendship, because she was eager to discuss it. This was the first weekend in about a month that Sara and I had some free time together so Sara asked if I’d be interested in seeing this film.
I startled myself by how fast I said, “Yes! I’d love to!”
Sara asked, “Oh, have you been hearing about it?”
I responded, “No! I know literally nothing about it. I usually know way more than I want to about movies. I’ve usually seen 800 trailers, read multiple blatant social media spoilers, algorithms have fed me unwanted behind-the-scenes gossip, there have been skywriting campaigns, etc. So I’m really excited to go in to a film experience in complete ignorance!”
So I did. And it was great. Made even better by being entirely free of pre-conceived notions.
Skip the next paragraph if you also want to know nothing!
It was a very different, very surprising film. Like a two hour comedy sketch about social anxiety written by Kafka. Unnerving and delightful in equal measure.
Going from dark wrestling with THE UNKNOWN to a rewarding artistic experience, reminded me that THE UNKNOWN is not just something to be tolerated. It’s also something to be embraced. Not knowing how something is going to turn out can be frightening—particularly if you’re letting all the doubt and fear drive. But not knowing something can also be exciting—I’m not sure what sound that weird object in my movie is going to make. It could be anything. It could be something better than I ever imagined.
And it’s a thrill to go find out.
LIGHT PLUGS—
The Nightmare Adorable!
I wrote and directed this short horror film back in 2023. Can you help us get to 1000 views on YouTube?
DEAD MEDIA! We’ve got a fiscal sponsorship with the great Minnesota organization Film North. They can accept one-time donations that will go directly toward finishing the film: SCORE, VFX, COLOR GRADING, etc. It’s like a Kickstarter where the rewards are A) a tax deduction and B) helping us make the film.
For full info, please check out the page for the upcoming horror film, DEAD MEDIA!
Or if you have any questions about supporting the film, feel free to reach out to me personally!
MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--
I’ve got to spin a lot of plates to keep things moving on the post-production for Dead Media. But I also need to focus on what’s most important. So my only goal for this week is to finish the THIRD DRAFT of the edit and get closer to picture lock!
YOUR GOAL FOR THE WEEK--
I would absolutely LOVE to hear what you're working on this week in the comments below. What's your goal? How can I help you literally finish your monsters?
A LITTLE SKETCH--
For this week’s sketch, I closed my eyes and imagined what THE UNKNOWN might look like. Lots of ambiguous oozing energy in a cloak. What a fun hang. Anyway, thanks for reading and best of luck finishing your monsters!
