Only In The Movies
Back when I was an impressionable pre-teen, my mother foolishly took my sister and me to see this brand-new movie that everyone was talking about.
I vividly remember that magical afternoon as Star Wars unfolded on the big screen, and my eyes were suddenly opened up to the wonderful possibilities of movie-making.
From that moment on, I wanted to be George Lucas.
Well, at least for a few months, until I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and then I just knew I wanted to be Steven Spielberg.
That actually lasted a couple of years, until my mother took us to see the Los Angeles opening of Beatlemania in 1979, and then I wanted to be John Lennon. But that's another story.
During that last part of the 70's, I was enamored with films and Hollywood and directing.
The first Christmas after the epiphany of Star Wars, I only wanted one thing: a Super 8 movie camera. Once in hand, I was free to create my masterful visions, which I was sure would attract the attentions of Lucas and Spielberg, to be followed by studio bidding wars for my talents.
Only, I discovered I wasn't so free. A 3-minute reel of Super 8 film was expensive. And then you had to pay even more to develop the thing!
Not to mention, editing those tiny little strips of celluloid was tedious and frustrating. One wrong move with the slicer, and that was that.
You young people with your fancy Flip video cameras and computer editing software have no idea how good you have it.
Another problem was finding talent. I had to do some real sweet-talking to get people to appear in my movies. It became easier to make a star out of the cat, or some inanimate object.
Most of my little movies never quite got off the ground, and I ended up with a collection of bits and pieces. Ideas that went nowhere.
However, I did manage to make one decent little film with a couple of friends. It has a plot and everything! And it even won an award at a junior high film festival. I still have the trophy to prove it. Second place in the Comedy category. Never mind that there were only two entrants... I'm an award-winning filmmaker!
Here, after 31 years stored away in a box, is the world premiere of my epic saga about one man's courageous journey to hell and back.
Or something like that.
Go easy on me. I was 14 years old, and everything was filmed in one take to save on costs. The music was added recently, as the original was silent. Titles and credits are also new additions.
Enjoy:
I vividly remember that magical afternoon as Star Wars unfolded on the big screen, and my eyes were suddenly opened up to the wonderful possibilities of movie-making.
From that moment on, I wanted to be George Lucas.
Well, at least for a few months, until I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and then I just knew I wanted to be Steven Spielberg.
That actually lasted a couple of years, until my mother took us to see the Los Angeles opening of Beatlemania in 1979, and then I wanted to be John Lennon. But that's another story.
During that last part of the 70's, I was enamored with films and Hollywood and directing.
The first Christmas after the epiphany of Star Wars, I only wanted one thing: a Super 8 movie camera. Once in hand, I was free to create my masterful visions, which I was sure would attract the attentions of Lucas and Spielberg, to be followed by studio bidding wars for my talents.
Only, I discovered I wasn't so free. A 3-minute reel of Super 8 film was expensive. And then you had to pay even more to develop the thing!
Not to mention, editing those tiny little strips of celluloid was tedious and frustrating. One wrong move with the slicer, and that was that.
You young people with your fancy Flip video cameras and computer editing software have no idea how good you have it.
Another problem was finding talent. I had to do some real sweet-talking to get people to appear in my movies. It became easier to make a star out of the cat, or some inanimate object.
Most of my little movies never quite got off the ground, and I ended up with a collection of bits and pieces. Ideas that went nowhere.
However, I did manage to make one decent little film with a couple of friends. It has a plot and everything! And it even won an award at a junior high film festival. I still have the trophy to prove it. Second place in the Comedy category. Never mind that there were only two entrants... I'm an award-winning filmmaker!
Here, after 31 years stored away in a box, is the world premiere of my epic saga about one man's courageous journey to hell and back.
Or something like that.
Go easy on me. I was 14 years old, and everything was filmed in one take to save on costs. The music was added recently, as the original was silent. Titles and credits are also new additions.
Enjoy:
Permalink posted by Idaho Dad at 9:00 PM
7 Comments:
Oh my. That is so...70s. The hair, the wallpaper, the carpeting. Loved it! :)
I want to know why everyone was in love with orange in the 70's. Orange chairs, orange walls, orange carpet. Were all the interior designers blind?
Oh, and one interesting bit of trivia. My friend playing the patient grew up to be a doctor. Maybe this experience inspired him.
Yes, me too..I like all the 70s stuffs there..and the film is okay for a 14-year old boy's production. i don't think I can make better one now even when I'm nearly 40!
Any plan to make another movie with the kids starring? You guys can make it a family project..
We used to do this sort of stuff, but we were older - 17, and our stuff was worse.
I liked the hammer gag :)
I've thought about some projects to do with the kids, but I'd like them to be the creative ones. So far, they aren't terribly interested. Maybe my resurrection of these old films will get their juices flowing. It's so much easier now to make a good movie. Video allows you the freedom to shoot scenes repeatedly until they're right, or try different angles and set-ups. And the editing software we have now... There's just no comparison. I can do amazing things with a simple program like Movie Maker. Who knows, if I'd had these tools 30 years ago, I'd probably be hanging out with Spielberg and Lucas.
Like this blog- I was 14 in 1978 also-saw Star Wars in 1977 on my 13th birthday. I found your blog from a link of election news actually
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