New Years Resolutions – A Filmmakers thoughts

Happy New Year!
I trust you all had a fantastic evening and are enjoying a lovely day today.

As I’m packing away our Christmas decorations, party hats, enjoying new presents and lots of chocolate, my mind is ticking over the possibilities of the new year.
I feel quietly satisfied and a little bit proud of how I went in 2012. I set out with nothing but film school behind me to start my professional career as a freelance filmmaker, cinematographer and camera assist and by the end of the year I had achieved so much. I’m not saying it wasn’t easy, not at all. If anything a huge insight and definitely a learning curve for the future.

I realise now that there are a few things I want to aim for this year to top off last year. So I felt it only natural that I make it official and let you know (so you can keep tabs on me and give me a kick if I’m dropping the ball).
Now, not all of these will be film related, but to be honest, I think my biggest lesson last year was that to be successful in a career, you also need a healthy balance of life.
I have quite a few changes I want to make this year, but here are my top 3 for you guys.

Ehrans New Years Resolutions for 2013

1. Make 3 short films of my own.

Last year I worked on over 40 different projects and not one of them was my own. Sure I wrote the odd thing here or there, but didn’t put a single project of my own into the making. And so, after 18 months of working on other people’s projects and making a name for myself as a freelancer, it’s time for me to make some movies.
The plan is to make 3 short films. Fund the first 2 myself and push to get a grant or funding for the third. So by the end of the year I’ll have a great team of people around me and some solid films under my belt to try to push through the festival circuit.

My first film, ‘Beehive’,  is a short which I will be shooting in February. I’ll fill you in more about that shortly.

The second is currently untitled. A push to focus on a dialogue driven piece contained in one space. I’m very excited about trying a new genre and the opportunity to get really creative with the cinematography.

Thirdly I wish to make a short that I wrote in 2010, La Petite Poupeé. At the time I ran into many problems trying to get this film off the ground, namely wearing way too many hats; writer, director, producer, cinematographer – this time round I’m out of film school and all the wiser. I am itching to get it off the page.

2. Balance work and life, one dance at a time..

Last year I pushed myself so hard. Almost every day I was either on set, editing, blogging, researching or doing admin for upcoming projects. I just didn’t take much time to myself and my creative side, health and happiness suffered. So whether it’s watching more films, travelling, seeing a play, sleeping in or learning a language, I realise now how important it is to allow myself down time. SO this year I hope to do all of the aforementioned, but more excitingly, I want to learn to swing dance and become more involved in vintage inspired events, jazz nights, dances, and markets.
I love it, it makes me happy and that’s reason enough for me. I’ve always wanted to learn to dance, so what’s stopping me?

3. Become a gear head

I realised last year that I LOVED doing gear reviews on new gear that I came across and sharing my thoughts and tutorials with you. In the process I learned so much. However I feel that towards the end of the year I was too busy and got a bit slack with blogging, which meant I spent less time reading about gear. BAD EHRAN!

As a cinematographer I think it’s time to give myself a hypothetical slap across the face and force myself out of holiday mode and back in the habit of reading about cameras, lighting, film theory, programs – you name it.
I want to know more about the tricks in the editing suite, great deals at rental houses, the latest camera or lens – or a camera that’s been out forever that I’m not familiar with. I finally have a thirst for that kind of nerdy-ness and I am thrilled that I have this medium to share that with (it’s a great encouragement to keep it up).

So thanks for being there this past year. Please let me know if there are ways you would like to see this blog improve or certain gear you want to hear about, or a great venue to go swing dancing.

Happy New Year

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