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Category: What I Learned From…

Notebook-pen-blindfold
Sep62024

What I Learned About Writing from a Stroke

I’m finally back to writing my FILM blog. Besides being busy with the editing/publishing process of the next edition of “Film Production Management 101” (how exciting!), I’ve also been busy dealing with my mom’s stroke which she had this summer (not so exciting). She’s doing OK, BTW. Now, every stroke is different and my mom’s was certainly baffling to a number of us on the journey so far. What is interesting, though, is that I’ve learned two amazing discoveries about writing:

#1 – The ability to read and the ability to write are in different parts of the brain.

#2 – The ability to type and the ability to handwrite are in different parts of the brain.

You see, my mom can’t read or type (i.e. use a keyboard), but she oddly, can handwrite. And once she’s written something, she can’t read it. It’s kind of like handwriting with a blindfold on. Both strange and amazing, isn’t it?

Whod’ve thought reading and writing were so separate in the brain? Whod’ve thought that you could prove that writing on a computer is different from writing with pen and paper? My mom has proved it.

The inspiring element to this journey (beyond my mom’s spitfire dedication to re-learn to read), is that starting even from her hospital bed, she started writing. All those stories and children’s books she wanted to write over the years but never found the time, she wrote. Sure, they are messy handwritten first drafts but they are complete first drafts, story arc and all. And her spelling isn’t nearly as bad as she thinks it is.

Basically, she was forced to ignore the self-editor voice that gets in the way of writing with all kinds of corrections and judgements… because she couldn’t read what she’d written. Her only choice was to write forward. To shelve the self-editor voice. And she did. When she re-learns to read, she’ll have a body of work ready for editing and second draft. But it will be there. Pages and pages.

Makes you reflect that if you’re having trouble writing into a story on keyboard, it’s worth trying pen and paper. Mix it up and don’t let your self-editor have voice. Put on a literal or figurative blindfold if you need to. Be inspired by my spitfire of a mom and get that first draft written.

Cheers & a productive writing session to you,
Deb

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Where is Deb?

Mon. Sep. 16 – Guest Speaker at GEMS ETVP (Emerging TV Producers) Program, Vancouver BC

Tue. Oct. 8 – Guest Speaker for Telefilm at the Sustainable Production Forum (SPF24), Vancouver BC

And FYI, the third edition of “Film Production Management 101” is coming to bookstores and online in January 2025, but available now for pre-order (e.g. on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Indigo-Chapters).

Jun202017

Location Scout Time Warping

Saw a field of daisies recently and it make me think of location scouting for the movies. Huh?

Every morning the daisies open their petals to the sun. The vast field of green becomes carpeted with sparkling, white miniature flowers. As the day wears on, the tiny flowers turn and face the sun on its path across the sky. In the evening, the flowers once again close up for the night.

So, depending what time of the day you visit, you see the all the flowers facing east, west or closed up. If you were scouting the field as a location, you’d want to see it at the same time of day that you’d intend on filming it, or on the shoot day you might be surprised that the field looks different than planned.

Now, in this particular field, the flower change is rather subtle, but the sun’s position and the shadows could make a difference to usable shot angles.

On a bigger time scale, this field scouted in spring (with flowers) vs a shoot in the summer (with no flowers) would also make a more significant visual difference. No sense in having surprises when you show up for the shoot. You can’t exactly paste the flowers back in… well, without CGI. 🙂

So, when considering locations for filming, consider time-of-day for the projected shoot day. An intersection at rush hour does not look the same as when it’s Sunday morning. A parking lot at the mall during mall opening hours it also totally different after hours.

So, time warp yourself to the shoot day when considering a location. What are you going to see then? The daisies tell us it changes for every hour of the day.

Cheers & a good location scout to you,
Deb

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Deb Patz is the author of “Film Production Management 101” and the upcoming “Write! Shoot! Edit! A Complete Guide to Filmmaking for Teens” both published by MWP Books. She found it hard to choose when daisies to photograph…. there were so many!

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
Jun.24 – Book launch party for “Write! Shoot! Edit!” at Chapters Pinetree, Coquitlam, BC
Jul.30-Aug.3 – Panelist – UFVA Conference, Los Angeles, CA

May232015

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Highland Dance Competitions

dncWe each take many paths in life and learn from all that’s around us. Learn something on one area of life and cross over to another. Here are three nuggets that crossover for me between Highland Dance competitions and filmmaking:

1. “Dance Beautifully” Does Not Necessarily Mean “Dance Standard”

The closer you dance in a competition to “dance standard” (in the eyes of judges) the more awards you win. The higher the level of competition, the more challenging it is to win awards, because eventually there are only slight differences between those who win awards and those who don’t. Yet… anyone in the audience will tell you passionately and honestly that so many of the dancers dance beautifully, awards or not. This declaration is not friends and relatives being kind the dancers, it’s the truth. Parallel this situation to movies. You can enjoy a beautiful movie whether it wins awards (achieving “movie standard” in the eyes of judges) or not.

2. Dance YOUR Dance

When competing on stage at pre-premier level, different dancers know different steps to pretty much all the dances. To the audience it’s like watching several different dances on stage at the same time, dancing to the same music. Sometimes it looks like one of the dancers is going to bump into another because of the varied choreography, but somehow they manage to steer clear of each other. On stage, if you forget a step, a glance left or right to a competitor can just confuse you more because chances are they will be dancing totally different steps. You have to know your dance and dance it with confidence no matter what’s happening around you on the stage. Good advice for filmmaking too. Choose your path with confidence and take it, no matter what the competition is doing around you. Be aware of what’s happening around you (so you don’t “bump into other dancers”), but be true to yourself.

3. Despite Any Errors, “Dance On”

Highland dancers forget steps. They knock the crossed swords out of alignment. A shoe can fall off. The piper can make a mistake in the music. One step can be wrong. So many errors can happen “on the day.” Dancers can stop and wait for the dance to end, stop and leave the stage, or they can dance on. “Dance on” doesn’t erase the error, but can provide a sense of accomplishment at overcoming obstacle, and for the bigger errors that the audience notices, it also triggers deep-felt admiration in the whole room. Take that determination into filmmaking. Mistakes will happen, but work with them and finish the film. Film is not as much a live performance as Highland Dancing, but sometimes you can’t go back to fix a shot; you have to “dance on” to the end.

What crossovers happen in your life?

Cheers… with a little FILM and INK,
Deb

May312013

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Kids

blksinblks1. It’s All About Me
As we grow up, we talk about the reader (or viewer) “identifying with the story” and “identifying with the hero”… basically we mean that the story has to be “all about me.” As reader (or viewer) I have to be the hero, and I take that journey. I don’t just hear the story, I am part of the story… the biggest, most important part. It’s my story. It’s me. As writer or filmmaker that’s a very powerful place to place your audience.

2. I Want To Hear It Again!
We love to hear the same story over and over and over again. Kids can hear the same book read but minutes after hearing it the first time. They will correct you if you get part of the story – or sometimes even a word – wrong. As we age, we do like to see some of these same stories played with… although we still expect certain story points and twists to be met. The trick is figuring out which ones are game for tweaking without alienating the audience.

3. It’s Magic!
Kids live in a world of magic. Nature is magic. Stories are magic. Science is magic. Illusion is magic. There is much science and illusion in filmmaking to craft the magic of stories. Don’t lose the connection to the world of magic so you can see the joy that you (as filmmakers) are crafting.

Anyone who teaches knows the student often teaches the teacher. What you have recently learned from the students and kids around you?

In the meantime…

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Mar222013

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… an Art Museum

paintbrshI’ve explored numerous art museums around the world, but it’s the one in Chicago that recently revealed these truths to me:

1.One Subject, Numerous Possibilities of Expression
Each artist will see the subject in a unique way – or in many unique ways. A haystack, a bridge, the Eiffel Tower… see any of them through the style eyes of realism, impressionism or pop art and no doubt dramatically different images come to mind. The possibilities of art (and of film) are the “many” and there is not a single, correct “one”… unless of course we are the artist and looking for the right “one” expression for our own artist within.

2.The Many Drafts Before Brush Stroke #1
No artist starts a full scale finished work from brush stroke number one. There will be many sketches that precede it: pencil sketches, pencil crayon ones, miniature fully-painted versions of the finished work to come. In these experimental drafts, the artist can test form, subject placement and meaning, technique, overall creative vision. Some museums display testing pieces near the final work, and then you can see what’s the same and what’s changed during the artistic process – and a process it is indeed. Drafts and drafts of the script precede the shooting script. Just as shorter films precede longer works on the artistic path of discovery. No single jump to final work.

3. If it’s a Different Time, It’s Different Art
Take Big Ben at dawn, with the warm summer light setting it to glow. Take it again at sunset with the sun providing back light instead, making us perceive its bricks darker than they are. Take it again buried deep in London fog. Different times of day, times of the year, and it’s a very different painting evoking in us different emotions. How too our perspective on the same story changes at different times our lives. We don’t see the same story from the eyes our childhood as we do in adulthood and on to further maturity. Knowing our perspectives as artists changes over time, we can explore the various points of view we could use for a story to find the right one… for now, anyway.

Yes, I’ve done a posting about art and not shown you pictures of the actual pieces I saw that brought me to these thoughts. Well, that’s because it’s now up to you to go to an art museum near you and discover the artistic possibilities and inspiration yourself. What will you discover when looking at the actual paint strokes? Have you done so already? Share them!

In the meantime…

Cheers & an artistic shoot to you,
Deb

Oct212012

3 More Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… the Opera

1. We Love To See The Same Story Again and Again
We get excited that the opera we saw a couple of years ago comes back to town and off we go to see it again – even though we know the story from previous viewings, and re-read the story before the curtain rises. Operas, fairy tales, myths… we love to see these stories play out over and over again. It is the journey of the familiar tale, the anticipation of the magical moments seen or heard before, and the exciting possibility of new magical moments and insights that bring us back. As filmmakers, what are the magical moments that will give our films a lasting re-viewable quality?

2. It May Take A While To Find the Audience
La Bohème had a weak reception to its first audience… yet it went on to become one of the greatest and most popular operas of all time. Even then, there was great pressure on opening night for a sign of the future (financial and critical) success of an artistic work. Yet a poor reception doesn’t necessarily mean give up on it – opera or film. Just keep trying to find the right audience to make the connection.

3. Education Can Take You Only So Far
In vocal music class, the only acceptable stances for singing were sitting (with your back straight) on the front of your chair, or standing… yet at the opera, characters die in bed for extended periods of time singing arias at full volume from a distinctly – although modified – prone position! There were no beds and couches in vocal music class to lie down on in order to practice this obviously required position for singing in the “real” operatic world. You just have to adapt what you learned to make it work.

Cheers & an operatic shoot to you,
Deb