A Story in Pictures
…and song
I’m filming a documentary.
Scratch that, most of it is filmed. Quite a bit of it is in post-production. I’d been so focused on making sure that we had footage of everyone else involved when I realized that most of my portion was still missing.
Story of my life.
No, really. It’s a story of my life. Or at least, the musical side of it.
I was brainstorming the idea with my friend on a phone call sometime just before Christmas this past year. After we hung up, five minutes later I got a call from another friend of ours that’s a filmmaker in Los Angeles who agreed to help keep it steered in the right direction.
Turns out, friend one called friend two because they knew I might need some assistance. They weren’t wrong.
Since then, I’ve been knee-deep in film and story editing.
There’s really nothing to it. It’s like whipping up an Instagram reel. I have no idea why it takes so long for movies to come out.
Of course, I’m being facetious.
I knew from the start that I was about to bite off more than I could chew. I always bite off more than I can chew. I know my chewing capacity, but I quite often overlook how much is about to be put on the plate.
What can I say? I like a challenge.
So, as I’m chewing my way through the process, I’m absolutely loving it. I’m a sponge for knowledge. I’ve learned something every day during the creation of what I hope will be interesting and captivating to somebody…anybody.
I’ve also learned a lot about myself from others.
The interviews
There are so many who’ve taken part in this and I couldn’t be more thankful to them. Being in front of the camera is uncomfortable for a lot of people, but even some of the more reluctant agreed to help tell my story or their stories about me.
There are ups and downs, struggles, sacrifices, wins, losses, good decisions, bad decisions, good choices, and terrible choices. It’s almost all in there.
Memory lane
Even I’m surprised at some of the things that I’ve come across as I’ve gone through pictures, old videos, and audio recordings. Some make me laugh, some make me laugh harder.
There are however, two particular audio recordings that I can’t seem to locate that I know exist. Are they kind of important to the story? I think so.
Will they make or break it? Nope.
Will I find them the day after the film is all wrapped up and ready for release? Probably.
Sigh.
The stake is in the ground
Technically, the stake has been in the ground for six months, but now you know about it, too. I had a tentative release date, albeit an ambitious one. Even though things have been pushed back slightly, I’m still very confident that I’ll be close to hitting it.
My brain apparently doesn’t work like a typical filmmaker’s. I think that’s probably because I’m a musician. My goal is that you’ll never be able to tell the difference. Then again, I have someone who’s keeping me and this project in line to help with that, too.
I’ve joked that people who make movies have it easy. They have an hour or two to tell their stories. We have to tell it all in a 4-minute song, even less if you want it on the radio.
I’m so excited to wrap it up so that you can see it. The process has been both fascinating and humbling for me.
It’s true that everyone has a story.
This will be a few sides of mine.