Your project, your film, your goal is it SMART ?
2 reasons 10 why you will continue to fail
This week I’m going to talk about a movie…make a movie…but in trying to talk to you. I hope it lingers on THE person that is at the heart of your movie project : You.
You are both :
- Your best asset
- And your worst enemy
Simply because that strength of wanting to do too many things, to not be able to channel your desires…or your ambition, and well what awaits you often at the end of the path is :
- frustration
- a film that is not up to your expectations
- the abandonment pure and simple of your projects
- a loss of time, or even money
So I’ll give you the first 2 (out of 10) points that are most representative of the reasons why you will continue to fail in your career, your projects, films, scripts, if you do not change anything :
To have a purpose, too defined, too specific
a) Often when I meet people who want to make the films they often say to me :
“Can you help me because I want to make film my profession “.
Personally I think it’s great. The middle of the film is what it is but it is an exciting area. Making movies is not a goal in and of itself ! I asked :
“Ok, that’s cool, but you want to do what exactly ? “.
Most of the time they answer me : ” I want to make the realization, production, sound, etc…)
Once again it is great, but there has been several trades in the construction, production and sound. It is good to know what you want to do exactly ! : Film director, sound engineer, screenwriter, production manager, etc…You need to have a purpose well defined.
Are you saying that to have an objective wave will necessarily results vague or incomplete !
b) Then there is another category of people who, conversely, is too specific. She wants to make a trilogy as a filmmaker, she wants to make a career in filmmaking in the USA, it wants to turn with Tom hardy or Zac Effron etc…
As the first category of people do not really know what she wants to do, while the other is much too precise on his project…
It is better to have a specific goal in mind : making a short film, write a screenplay and get to produce, become an actor, be a director etc…
All of these examples are goals to achieve, they are accurate but not too much. For example, write a script and produce it is a specific purpose. On the other hand write a screenplay, to want to realize it, play in it or be produced by Besson, it is too precise.
That is to say that if you can write this scenario and you get to produce by another producer, Besson then you will be disappointed, frustrated, etc…moreover you refuse to make you produce by another producer that Besson ! You refuse that your film be directed by someone else or played by someone other than you !
Have a goal too specific makes it difficult the purpose of it.
Do not think S. M. A. R. T
S. M. A. R. T it is a concept that I’ve learned there are 3 or 4 years :
- Spécifique
- Mesurable
- Hasmbitieux
- Réaliste
- Temporel
To be specific : We just talk about above, you must be able to define your purpose. For this you have to ask yourself 3 key questions :
What : What is your goal
Why : Why do you want to achieve
Who : Who can help you achieve this goal
To you after to see what separates you from your goal, that is to say : the constraints and hurdles.
I’ll take a simple example : let’s Say that you want to realize a feature-length film. In this case you already have your goal, that is to say, your : what. Make a feature-length film that is a goal to be accurate but not too accurate.
Then comes the why : maybe because you’re passionate about, that you don’t see yourself doing anything else in life. You realize already and are already writing small films since childhood. Or because you already keep track of film studies , and you know that it is your way.
Then comes the who : All the pros, schools, productions, structures (the house of the short film, the poles of the cinema of the regions, formations, How to Make A Movie , etc…) are people or aid potential.
Then come the constraints and obstacles :
- You don’t know anyone
- You do not film studies
- You have ever made
- You don’t know how to write
- You live in the area and not in Paris
- You don’t have money to put in your movies
And I could go on. If we take each of these points….it is possible to find solutions :
- You don’t know anyone : today, information is easier to access, the cinema and the audiovisual in general is everywhere. It is easy to begin to build a network and make themselves known
- You’re not doing film studies : I am self-taught, therefore, it is possible to have a career in the cinema without studies. There are trades sharp…it is better to go through a school…but to a valiant heart nothing is impossible.
- You’ve never done : Make a stage of discovery, implementation, watch, and analyze movies, grab a camera first prize or a Smartphone, and test, test, test !
- You don’t know to write :
- you do not have to do what you write, that is to say, any scenario can be written by someone who knows (or thinks they know)
- Write it can be learned. It should work that’s all
- You live in the area, and not in Paris : fortunately, Paris is not the center of the world ! The regions are very well equipped in terms of filming. It is true that a lot of things are happening in the capital…but we can make career or films in the province. And then today with the TGV…it is super accessible to make go/ return.
- You don’t have money to put in your films : it is super good…you don’t have to put up the money personally in your films…you have to look elsewhere.
It’s up to you now : Do the above exercise, depending of your goal !
Measurable : that is to say, you must be able to quantify the path ahead. Therefore, it is important to put the access points, that is to say mini-goals. For example, if you were to lose 30 pounds, you would have an idea measurable objective. For a film this may be a date of a festival, a rendezvous with a producer, or the filing of record of a commission.
Ambitious : I think you don’t have a problem with this aspect of the S. M. A. R. T ;o) But be careful ” ambitious “ doesn’t necessarily mean wanting to win the stars ! But if your objective does not touch on something you want, your motivation will quickly lose its strength and you will eventually drop it.
Realistic : Make a movie, make a career as a technician or be a scriptwriter, it is ambitious, no doubt, but it is realistic ! Become the new Spielberg or Cameron…I think you me have understood. If I take the example of the 30 pounds to lose, if you give you 2 weeks to get there you will lose because this is not possible.
Temporal : It is necessary to take this : to the Time, as a time well-defined way to do something. If your goal is tobe a director…one day…this is not really a goal in itself, it is a purpose if one takes a finite time to do it ! Get a duration, a time to do something gives a hand emergency and keeps the motivation at its peak for succeed the challenge and reach the goal that we gave it.
Give yourself enough time to achieve everything that challenges you.
Attention you have to stay realistic in this time period for reaching your goal. For example, if you want to make a film, start by a short film and based on the constraints and obstacles that we have seen above give you a start date for shooting : 6 months, 1 year etc….depending on the project and of its ambition , of course ;o)
So much for the article on : first 2 points on the 10 reasons you’re going to fail, that I will build for you in the coming weeks.
I will tell you next week. Leave me a comment under this article to tell me what you think or if you have any questions.
Share without counting the blog with your networks and your friends.
To share the article you just have to click on the ” like “button at the bottom of this article ; (o) as well as on the button of Google+, in short, super easy ;o)
Thank you to those who will make it ;o) and that are already doing that ;o)
You can now return to the plan of the site (Article Tab) to read other articles, you just have to click on the link.
Soon,
Tom Weil