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"DEAR FATHER - MAKING A ZERO BUDGET COMEDY SHORT, PT 1"

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I recently decided, after sitting and twiddling my thumbs for a bit too long, that I should make something. The video above is the end product of that decision. ------------- I've always felt very strongly, as someone with a passion for the creative arts in general, that we should be practising our skills constantly - even when in the middle of unplanned downtime. Especially so, in fact. I have an almost fear that if I don't keep making things then one day I'm just going to forget how to. There's always an unpleasant moment when opening a piece of software that I haven't opened in a while, and I realise I can't remember certain keyboard shortcuts. I find Blender the worst for this, having spent less time studying and practising 3D modelling than any other part of my post-production repertoire.  Before too long though, muscle memory kicks in, and I remember why I try and practice this stuff as much as possible - for exactly these moments, when the software opens ...
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HOW NOT TO TAKE CRITICISM.

 I saw a post on a film-making social media group recently asking the question " how do you deal with negative criticism? " and I realised that that's not a subject that people actually talk about in very much detail beyond the sentiment of " oh, I just try to ignore it ". But I think it's actually a really good question, and one that got me thinking a lot about my own work and the times when I've encountered negativity towards it. To start with, I think every person who has tried to be creative professionally (as opposed to just simply doing something because you enjoy it) has that sense of " I really want people to like what I make " at their core - and when people don't like what you make, it can feel like an attack on the very bit of your soul that makes you want to indulge in creative pursuits in the first place.  Whenever you release something you have worked on into the wild you're exposing a pretty deep vulnerability about your...
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IS HOLLYWOOD COOKED, OR IS AI HALF-BAKED?

Like a lot of people trying to make a living in the creative arts, I've become increasingly more aware of the ever-creeping presence of AI into discussions around the future of film. I say, "aware" specifically - a lot of people might use the word "concerned" instead - but I can't say I feel particularly concerned about it. Not because I'm one of those that welcomes the idea of using generative AI to replace traditional film-making, but because the prevailing discourse around AI and the constant, exaggerated hyperbole that is inescapably woven into said discourse can't mask the strange sense of desperation that seems to be bubbling just under the surface of it all. Being relatively enthusiastic about technology I tend to read a lot about AI, and more than anything I'm struck at just how many of these tech CEOs seem to have put an awful lot of eggs - about a trillion eggs, I'm led to believe - into one basket. As a result, they really, really ...
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