A List of My Definitive Suggestions: A Sort of Film Manifesto

My intentions are to:

Steal from others; take other filmmakers' ideas and techniques, but make them my own. I will be both inspired by them and driven to outdo them. Prepare meticulously for my work; be clear about what I need, uncertainty not only wastes my time but everyone else’s. The more time I spend thinking about it, the more opportunities I will have to nurture it. Not rely on anything; things never go as planned. I must work with what I have and embrace the unexpected—it may turn out even better than the original idea.

My motives are to:

Say something; every moment of life carries meaning, and in this handcrafted moment, I define that meaning. I betray my audience if I say nothing. Not state the obvious; whatever my thesis is, don’t let anyone spell it out. My themes should be an invisible but ever-present ghost, quietly haunting every aspect of my film. Make everything the obvious; every element of my film must contribute to building the central question, argument, and thesis. Every image, sound, and edit should justify its presence; if it doesn't, it must go.

My views are that:

One should ask for strangers' opinions; fresh eyes are always better than tired ones. People often compensate for what I lack; let those not clouded by background knowledge help me see what’s in front of me. One should also disregard all opinions but one's own; people often don’t know what they’re talking about, and they often don’t know what they want. Trying to satisfy everyone ends up satisfying no one. And one must remember no one but oneself has to live with it; the only person I truly have to answer to is myself. Subjectivity in art has been debated for ages, with the general agreement being that everything is relative, so should make something I like.

Amen.