I’m learning how to read the energy of a film production. I’ve never had the opportunity to take a look at the actual day-to-day unfolding of an independent feature film as it takes form and becomes expressed as art. Â This is the expression of the ups and downs from the day-to-day preproduction energy dynamics of film making.
How does a resolution get reached amiss personality that clash? Where to find the right people to bring on board and round out a team. What is the strategy for getting everyone involved on the same page. Â When is the time right to draw a line in the sand. Hard decisions that are complicated by what happens when energies must match, and must match exactly in order to increase the core energy. What happens and how does everything happen when we set out to make an indie film in Louisville, Kentucky.
Let’s start with the momentum. This I have learned is the most vital ingredient to success or failure. Either you have momentum or you don’t that it in a nutshell. Momentum is a forward force that from what I have witnessed you either have or you don’t. Some people have momentum naturally and other do not. I personally do not have a lot of momentum but I have the common sense to hang around the people who do and who are willing to share.
An example of how I see this energy is a bullet train. A bullet train that is rolling down the rail rapidly. You have a choice, either get on the train or get out-of-the-way. It depends on your personal ability to navigate with that person and the situation. I noticed this momentum with a person I did not know a few years ago when they came for a reading. Over time and with attention paid to matching energies, we developed a friendship as well as a working relationship. The momentum I saw in the first reading never varied it kept a steady pace and consistent force.
As the opportunity blossomed into a film script followed by financial investments being made into the probability of a film being produced the momentum only grew stronger because now there was a core energy emerging. This core was ignited by the combination of all the matching energies of the people involved collected into a team. The team only added a more interesting facet to the momentum that now literally seemed unstoppable.
Can momentum be stopped ? not really as far as I can tell if in fact the momentum is genuine and aligned with the purpose of the person generating that as an experience. It can be moved into or onto another direction or project but it is a continuous roll that even when the project is complete keeps going.
This film will happen no matter what challenge comes about, the force of the core energy is much too strong now. If some unforeseen horror shows up it would only add to the momentum at this point making the film more interesting and more of an experience for those involved. A benefit rather than a horror or a horror that is witnessed as a benefit because it can be witnessed in the way. So here we are, about to start rehearsals over the next few days and filming is just a week away right here right now in the Highlands of Louisville, Kentucky.