I continue to slam together a rough cut for the November 28 test screening event in Benzonia, Michigan. Why have I scheduled a test screening?
Proof of concept
A little more than a month has passed since I ran Hello World up on Point Betsie beach after 300 miles of sailing and filmmaking Around Lake Michigan. An exhilarating first step, but the concept is not proven until a movie emerges. It’s not enough to know that something good is in there, the goodness must be teased out and shared.
Fresh
The sooner the better. Although I am currently operating out of the United Gardens penthouse in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, the wind and water of the Big Lake are still ghosting around my guts. I’ve got to build a first draft while the feeling is fresh.
Crew / Community
Back in Michigan, the project still has residual momentum. Sharing the results right away energizes my peeps, let’s the community see what’s afoot and offers an entry point for joining in. A film maker builds a crew – folks sign on because of their affinity for the film maker, the shared aesthetic of the work and the money. Even if money was not tight, the first two attractors are more my style. Solid rapport and an inspiring vision are more likely to yield awesome movies than big budgets. More likely to yield sustainable civilizations for that matter, not to mention repair and support the global life support system.
Sharing the project energizes the community and enhances the crew. I have a hunch that for open source projects, the crew shades into the audience. The distinction between collaborator and spectator is fuzzy. When their attention is engaged, folks become involved. That’s basic marketing, but what I am trying to articulate is a transition from consumer to producer, from fans to crew. Rather than engaging attention to sell a product (movie), I want to activate consciousness. The product is the audience themselves, attending to their own experience, their collective existence. Life is good after all, struggles and woe are needed for an interesting plot. Movies are stories, and stories are oblique references to the unspeakable. On November 28, I want to remind folks of their own story, that’s as good as it gets.