In the film Fight Club, Tyler Durden espouses a minimalist approach to life; that same approach can (and should) be applied to filmmaking. Here are some famous Durden quotes, with some pointers for us as filmmakers:
1. The things you own end up owning you.
As a filmmaker, you don't "own" your film; you birth your film and then let it go out into the world on its own. You are not concerned whether or not it makes money. You are not concerned whether or not it makes it into Sundance. You are not concerned that it gets a million views on YouTube. You are not concerned that you need 2,000 "Likes" on your Facebook page. All that you are concerned about is the next project, the next piece of work. You own nothing. You create and release. If you cannot fully release, then you are "owned" by the very products you create; they become your master, and you become their slave.
2. It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.
Losing everything means completely losing your ego. Get over yourself. Do not rent a limo for your premiere. Subjugate yourself to your work - lose yourself within your work. Free yourself from the thoughts of big Hollywood contracts. Free yourself from the constraints of cinematic perfection - there is no such thing. Free yourself from the high praise of others. Lose everything that strokes your ego. You must not only lose your ego, you must destroy your ego; after that, you are free to do anything.
3. You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your fucking khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
See point #2 above. Quit labeling yourself. Quit comparing yourself to other filmmakers. Technology has brought us to the point where everyone is a filmmaker. Do not think of yourself as special. Do not think of yourself as gifted. Simply do your work. The work has its own rewards. (And get rid of those fucking khakis!)
4. Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.
Assume nothing. Question everything. Reject the basic assumptions of "civilized" filmmaking (whatever the hell they are). Go out and shoot your movie. Now. With the equipment that you already have (or can beg, borrow, and/or steal). Do not wait to purchase the Scarlet Dragon Lightweight Collection for $21,900.
5. We’re consumers. We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra…Fuck Martha Stewart. Martha’s polishing the brass on the Titanic. It’s all going down, man.
Hollywood is on the verge of extinction. We are at the forefront of a new generation of filmmaking, a generation not dependent on bloated budgets, high-priced equipment, and casts of thousands. We are at the forefront of a new generation of filmmaking that rejects passivity and embraces bold storytelling through new and novel means. Do not hold on to the past. Be present in the future.
6. Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war…our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.
Make your own purpose and place. Do your work. Find the time necessary to have your own True Voice/Vision heard/seen. You are not going to win an Academy Award. You are not going to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. None of that matters. Take your passion and make something out of it. Do it now.
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