The pyramids of Giza of which Cheops, the largest, is known as one of the seven wonders of the world, have stood the tests of time and still impress us with their magnificence. Well, this is only partially true. There are several pyramids in Egypt other than the famous ones in Giza, but most of them have fallen and are in ruins. Why? I’m no expert on the subject but I believe it lies in the superiority of the structure of the pyramids in Giza, where each side is of equal size to all the others and is of no more importance, and where each stone holding up the pyramids are equally important as the pyramids themselves.
When making a film no one element of the film, story/plot, visuals, sound and editing, are more important than the others. They all need to work together to lift the theme of the film and mold the film in to completeness. If one of the elements takes more room than the other the film gets unstable and will probably fall.
Just as the pyramids that today are in ruins, probably were seen impressive in their days, films where one of the element stand out may at first be seen as well made by your audience, as we tend to like to know how things were made and structured. But just as the badly structured pyramids now are unknown by most, so will the badly structured films fall out of our memories fairly fast, often with in months.
Your audience can tell you that the design of you film is beautiful, or that your plot is amazing, or that they love the music, but these are all signs that you haven’t done your job as a film maker. The only time you know you’ve done a good job is if your audience tells you the film was amazing but can’t quite tell you why. Achieving this is unbelievably hard and very few have the passion and work ethic to get to a point where they are able to achieve it.
Just as the Egyptians shied away from building pyramids for their dead kings and queens and instead started burying them in pyramid-shaped mountains, filmmakers tend to look for an easier route and make sloppy films, excusing the bad execution as “personal style”. Few have the guts to try to be better than bad, and even fewer have the passion to continue moving forward after they’ve done a failed. But it is only by continuously moving forward that we can get better and hopefully be able to make films than can stand for the tests of time.
Thank you for reading,
Peter Hertzberg
When making a film no one element of the film, story/plot, visuals, sound and editing, are more important than the others. They all need to work together to lift the theme of the film and mold the film in to completeness. If one of the elements takes more room than the other the film gets unstable and will probably fall.
Just as the pyramids that today are in ruins, probably were seen impressive in their days, films where one of the element stand out may at first be seen as well made by your audience, as we tend to like to know how things were made and structured. But just as the badly structured pyramids now are unknown by most, so will the badly structured films fall out of our memories fairly fast, often with in months.
Your audience can tell you that the design of you film is beautiful, or that your plot is amazing, or that they love the music, but these are all signs that you haven’t done your job as a film maker. The only time you know you’ve done a good job is if your audience tells you the film was amazing but can’t quite tell you why. Achieving this is unbelievably hard and very few have the passion and work ethic to get to a point where they are able to achieve it.
Just as the Egyptians shied away from building pyramids for their dead kings and queens and instead started burying them in pyramid-shaped mountains, filmmakers tend to look for an easier route and make sloppy films, excusing the bad execution as “personal style”. Few have the guts to try to be better than bad, and even fewer have the passion to continue moving forward after they’ve done a failed. But it is only by continuously moving forward that we can get better and hopefully be able to make films than can stand for the tests of time.
Thank you for reading,
Peter Hertzberg
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