sometimes we try something and it doesn’t work. we try pulling a pan out of the oven and that shit burns out hands because it’s hot as hell. so we learn to wear oven mits. ok, you’re like, why the fuck is that something you even need to learn in the first place? and my response is this: first of all, this is a metaphor so don’t be an asshole. but more to the point, it is one thing to know how something should be done intellectually, and it is another to have a poignant sensory memory ties to what happens if something is done wrong. maybe this is why some people think that the only true learning comes through violence.
why am i even talking about this? a few months ago, shanima and i went to iceland for four days, and as we were planning the trip, i came up with a concept to produce a travel video. i mapped out all of the sites we would visit, came up with a narrative structure, and even stroyboarded the whole thing out. when we were there, i took a ton of b-roll footage, but there are a few things i failed to capture. for one, i didn’t do any talking to the camera. for another, i think my b roll is a bit flat, as in, i didn’t vary between short, medium and long shots enough. i might be totally wrong about that since i haven’t really arranged all the footage, but i’ve been reticent to even atart working through the footage because i am afraid that it will he found wanting.
the rub is, i still want to make travel videos. i love good video content and i want to be able to create it myself. i know intellectually how to accomplish this, but i’ve never reached into the oven, so to speak. i mean, yes, i’ve produced video content for private clients before. twice. i recorded video for two birthday parties, and from what i could tell, the clients were happy with what i ended up delivering. but for some reason i feel like this is different. and in some ways it is. maybe i need to go back and watch some of my old content to see what i did before and use that as a launchpad for doing something more impressive.
with everything else on my plate, i don’t know how i’m going to manage this, but i feel like i can’t wait any longer. like i need this to be completed before i can move on. i need to surgically remove this blockage from my to-do list, and surgery is rarely convenient. let’s hope by the end of this i learn how not to grab the pan.