Start in the Middle

When it comes to editing, start in the middle of your story.

I’m not talking about in media res. It has nothing to do with the order of the events in your story. I’m talking about starting in the middle of the structure. Start in the middle of the structure itself. The middle chapter, the middle scene, the middle episode, whatever. 

Our egos get attached the beginning and ending of a piece. Openings and closings of a film or book feel so important that you may not have the clearest picture of how much time it should take up, or even how much time you should spend editing it. Started with editing a chapter in the middle of your book or a scene in the middle of your video is more neutral. It’s a task that will give you a clear estimate for how long it takes to edit a chapter (or whatever building block you’re using). Even more importantly, it gives you a healthier idea of how long you should be spending on a given chapter in your editing process. 

It’s also worth noting here that the center of your narrative is the event that is often most likely to be able to stand on its own. The middle of a story (the apex) makes a great sample of your work for promotional and distribution purposes, and editing it first will help you test out how well it sustains itself out of context. 

I would love your help to get more blogging ideas. Do you have some questions about metafiction, filmmaking or writing? Leave them in the comments :)

Peace,

Ayah

#DeltaPhiFilm

humanity of character

When your characters know that they're not real, their humanity becomes more important than ever. There's already a lot of overlap between what defines a character and what defines humanity, like fears, habits and desires. 

At a writing seminar a speaker once told me that female characters are more sympathetic. When I said, "Why?" he seemed to think I should calm down and told the guys not to worry because "we still outnumber the women in the room." Obviously he was too sexist to understand the point of my question: making your character human does not give them automatic humanity.

Characters in commercial fiction and Hollywood films are often systematically abused to invite an emotional response in the audience. It's annoying. It's insulting. It's bad writing. Home invasion stories are meaningless if we can't relate to the family at risk. The solution to making the audience care is not to put the character in the package of a human body. It's degrading the audience and you can't get away with it in a story that isn't about humans (like Toy Story or Finding Nemo). Writer's do it when they're lazy. Like one of my actors (Kyle Ray) once told me, "it's easier to pant than to breathe." 

Just because a constituent is panting doesn't mean he's in distress. And making him the same species as the audience doesn't make him relatable. If you want to be a storyteller, it's your responsibility to fiercely guard and nurture the humanity of your constituents. In order words, make them "real characters." 

One of my favorite things about film is that the actors can make this easy to do. There comes a point I hand the character off completely. "He's yours now," I tell the actor, and I count on them to be an advocate, whether they know it or not. Your actor is a real human being, and if something feels unnatural or inhuman for the character, they'll feel it. Your job is to foster a dialogue that will allow the actor to communicate that to you, even subconsciously. And as things shift in production (as they always do), an actor who is connected to their own humanity will inevitably be able to hold down the arc of the character.

Peace,

Ayah

#DeltaPhiFilm

A Production Like This

In an earlier post about Delta Phi I made some kind of reference to "a production like this," and today I want to set out to define what that is. 

Delta Phi is mid range in terms of length, maybe 45 minutes to an hour. It has both characters who are considered real and unreal, and all are aware of the form, so it's an investigation of metafiction that I know is sorely needed. It's funny, it's emotive, it's subtle; but it's not just the content that's made this a unique experience for me. 

In terms of the production itself, it has a relatively great set of resources for something with so little overhead. I'm heading a team of no more than seven people. That means there's only one person to address or amend all the victories and all the mistakes of the production. I'm the only person that anyone has to answer to. This makes more room for mistakes, but also more room for innovations and experimentation that might otherwise be shut down. 

The thing to take away from this is that it's worth knowing what your values are for a project. Invest in the priority. Know the difference between what a project needs and what you think the project needs. Our egos often get caught up in possibilities. The internet allows for a proprietary system of art making (meaning that you can get stuff out there on your own regardless of whether you're with a big publishing house or studio), so there's no "right" way of doing things. If you can afford the time to write a script, make it an unbeatable script. If you're not set on content but have access to a great camera, get to know everything it can do. That doesn't mean you stop at great. It means you know greatness so well that you can start breaking new ground and taking risks again with the aspect that you're good at. I watch so many people waste time trying to be "just okay" with every aspect of their art and life that that's where everything ends up: Just okay. It's acceptable. It's pretty good. 

The Delta Phi team doesn't have a flexible schedule. It doesn't have a lot of money or locations and all of its members have less than ten years of experience in the field. A good leader finds assets in liability. Less experience means more hunger, and beginner's mind. Less locations means better locations and investment in art direction. Less time means more than meticulous planning; it means planning time and spaces for moments that should not be planned.

You can always spontaneity so long as you're regimented about when to give it room. In addition to the script, a make a compilation of brief scene descriptions that describe a premise of interaction between the characters and would help fill in dead space in the edit. I don't have to use it, it doesn't take as much time to prepare or rehearse, and it gives the team a part of the schedule each day to experiment and let new things happen. 

This message about resourcefulness is one that I've shared before; but it's one that's always relevant, and often takes a while to sink in :)

Peace,

Ayah

#DeltaPhiFilm