5 THINGS FILMMAKING:
Taste
By Nicholas Nesbitt & Gentlemen
Hi! I’ve teamed up with Gentlemen to bring you an article on the process of filmmaking. Enjoy ;
1. CUT! There is no such thing as good taste
The idea that there is such a thing as ‘good taste’ is dangerous and should be rejected.
The most amazing and important projects, ideas, artistic movements, music, fashion, and films have been clipped and reassembled from discarded ideas, genres, or techniques that others have rejected as being lame or not in the realm of good taste.
Anyone who liked Enya a couple of years ago might have been shunned for having bad taste. She was a weird throwback your mom liked. That was until her music was used in a globally acclaimed Volvo advert, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme performing the splits between two trucks. Then suddenly it was cool to like Enya and ironically the very Belgian Jean-Claude van Damme.
Taste is transient and should always be shifting and not binary.
2. Defend yourself
Passionately defend the movies, books, and songs that you love even if others might look down on your choices or think they are terrible. If you sincerely think there is merit in those works, be brave and defend why you like them.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Don't worry what everyone else thinks and draw inspiration from a wide gamut of sources you feel passionate about.
3. There are many flavors
If everyone had the same taste and liked the same things, the world would be very boring and flavourless.
Consume many different sources and trust that you will be your own filter. There is merit to watching things deemed “badly made”, “cult”, “dark”, “stupid”. There is much to be learned from things that are unpolished and raw.
Remember you can also change your mind. As we venture down any creative path, our tastes change just as we do. The things you were embarrassed about 10 years ago might be the very thing that sparks inspiration in your next project.
4. Stuck at the imitation station
Trends will come and go and jumping onto the latest cool thing is a sure-fire way to eventually date what you do. This is a recipe for bad work.
There was a period of time when every indie film looked like a poor Wes Anderson ripoff, every British crime caper looked like budget Guy Ritchie. It was a formula that worked at the time but soon became passé.
Influence is dangerous because lots of people like to hide behind the use of the word ‘homage’ when what they really mean is to steal or mimic.
Unless you interpret your influence or allow it to be warped and changed by your own idiosyncrasies and the people you’re collaborating with, you’re going to get off at imitation station and stay there.
5. Be your own magpie
It’s ok for us to like different things. Don’t be afraid of your taste. Wear it like a badge of honour and don't be frightened to make that unapologetic gore-fest musical/horror, set in Parys. If you don't make it who will?
Be your own magpie collecting the things that inspire you. Build a nest of shiny influences that inform your work.
There just might just be an audience that gets it and that's a wonderful place to find yourself. It’s called being remarkable. Remarkable gets shared, talked about and that's how taste is made.