I mention on my About Page that I’ve been making movies since I was seven. It all started in my second grade classroom when, per our teacher’s instruction, we all collaborated on a Class Movie. While I believe we were really learning how to write dialogue and think creatively…I was learning something different. I wanted to be the one holding the camera; I didn’t want to be on camera, I wanted to be behind.
My first video camera
It was a few Chanukahs later when my parents presented me with a Digital Blue video camera that held about five minutes of barely-VGA-quality video. You couldn’t playback video or erase a clip after filming a second one. There was no expandable memory and no tripod hole. I loved it. I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect camera.
It came with software which allowed me to add cool sound effects and animated explosions to all the movies my friends and I made. We created films ranging from Frogs Attack Earth to Jaguars Vs. Frogs to Klub House Kombat to Jaguars Vs. Frogs 2 to Not Another Japanese Movie to Jaguars Vs. Frogs 3, just to name a few. (None of these movies even resemble the type of movie I like to make today; my friends were huge into action films and I was often outnumbered in our creative brainstorming sessions…I couldn’t fire them, they were all I had!)
Klub House Kombat! A movie made in the fourth-grade that was heavily inspired by Mortal Kombat.
That’s my story. Everyone has their own story about how they got started making movies. (And if you’re so inclined to comment below, I’d love to hear yours) I used to work in the camera department of Best Buy and the best sales I ever made were when I sold a video camera to a young kid…I always saw a part of myself in them. One time a mom asked me if she was crazy for buying her seven-year old son the new Flip Video Camera. I told her absolutely, positively not (and then proceeded to share my aforementioned experience).
I mentioned in my last blog post that students should be taught media literacy in grade school. I could also form an argument that all second graders should have to make a movie in class. Moviemaking teaches collaboration, leadership, and teamwork and there’s a tangible product in the end that can be shared with everyone.
Maybe it doesn’t affect everyone the same way it did to me–it probably doesn’t. Just, if a kid wants to make movies…it’s a great idea to support it. There was a speech on the Academy Awards a few weeks ago…Michael Giacchino, the composer for Up and most of the other Pixar movies. To quote his speech:
When I was nine I asked my dad, “Can I have your movie camera? That old, wind-up 8mm camera that was in your drawer?” And he goes, “Sure, take it.” And I took it and I started making movies with it and I started being as creative as I could, and never once in my life did my parents ever say, “What you’re doing is a waste of time.” Never. And I grew up, I had teachers, I had colleagues, I had people that I worked with all through my life who always told me what you’re doing is not a waste of time. So it was normal to me that it was OK to do that. But I know there are kids out there that don’t have that support system, so if you’re out there and you’re listening, listen to me: If you want to be creative, get out there and do it. It’s not a waste of time. Do it. OK?”
I really can’t say it much better than Giacchino did a few weeks back. Even though I may not go on to work on Hollywood (because frankly, I’m not sure I would want to) having that ‘support system’ in my own life has really helped me grow as a person and find what I want to do with my life. I truly appreciate Giacchino saying what he did–and I’m not sure why it came into my head today, so long after I saw it on TV. (Maybe the new Pokemon game I’ve been playing all weekend reminded me of my youth?)
So thank you Michael Giacchino. Thank you to all the people that have provided me support: Mrs. Landgraf, my second grade teacher, my friends, my teachers, my family, everyone who has seen any of my work.
You really have made a difference.
