What Every Filmmaker Needs by Danielle Sells
No, it’s not the Arri Alexa. Although, that would be nice and make for sweet footage.
What every filmmaker needs is truth. Truth? Yes truth. Truthful storytelling, truthful writing, truthful actors, all the way down to the craft services. We’ll get back to that one later.
But first, let’s discuss how films suffer without it. The last thing anyone wants to see is a movie that is disconnected from the message and its audience. A movie can be eye catching, have the best color, lighting, and sound, but without the truth, the audience will leave disappointed they can’t get their fifteen dollars back. This is because everyone looks to a movie to fill a need, whether to entertain, inform, learn, grow, inspire and all in between.
Now truth in film does not mean that every story has to be based on true events or people. They can be parables, analogies, commentaries, or complete fantasy, but even fantasy ties into real world elements of friendship or fear or love.
So what is truth? Truth is trustworthy. It’s stable, firm and supportive. Truth is not wavering and does not get lost in the fluff. Every component of producing a film works together to support the message and vision, from the actors, set design, lighting, to the crew. And this is where craft services comes in to play because it’s one way to show the crew that you are supporting the crew as they are supporting your movie. It’s about building that trust and getting people to buy into the vision, to believe in what they are choosing to be a part of. Film that focuses on being truthful creates waves of change within the industry and around because it draws people to collaborate and build. It’s a force that can’t be stopped and will continue to be a tool for breakthroughs and transformation.
Be sure to catch the 3rd Annual Greenwood Film Festival happening this August 2 to 6 on Greenwood!
