Making Films Between the Rest of Life
Next month I’m directing a 5-minute short film I wrote on Super 16. It will be my third short shot on film.
It’s a tragicomedy about a man late in life sitting quietly at his kitchen table enjoying toast when his doctor calls to tell him he has six months to live. The worst news a person can receive — delivered in the worst possible way.
The doctor is in Las Vegas when he calls. He’s blunt, distracted, almost casual about it. The scene sits between something devastating and something strangely funny. I wanted to see if both emotions could exist in the same moment.
We’re attempting it in one continuous take. I want the audience to feel the discomfort instead of escaping it through editing.
Cinematographer Andrew Trost recently shot test footage on a Bolex using two stocks: 250D (daylight) and 500T (tungsten) at the upstate New York location. We relied only on available daylight to see what the film would actually look like.
After processing, we watched the footage.
The 500T had more grain and, because it’s tungsten-balanced, would require correction filters to simulate daylight.
The 250D felt honest.
Cleaner. Fragile almost. The light didn’t just illuminate the image — it lived inside it. We chose the 250D even though it makes lighting harder for me. It felt closer to the emotional truth of the character.
I shoot film whenever I can. Not out of nostalgia, but because it forces commitment. You can’t endlessly adjust or hide mistakes. Light matters. Timing matters. Attention matters. You are present or the image disappears.
Last summer my first feature film which I wrote, directed, and shot was picked up for distribution.
This week I did something that honestly felt harder than directing.
I emailed Kelly Reichardt. Her films, along with Terrence Malick’s, deeply influenced my first feature. She teaches at Bard College in upstate New York, and I asked if I might be allowed to screen The Wild Dreamers and talk with her students about making a film with almost no resources.
It took me longer to send that email than it took to shoot some scenes in the feature. I sent it anyway. Now I wait.
Every Sunday I’m going to write about what actually happens each week while trying to build a sustainable filmmaking life - while working, raising a family, and making films when I can.
Not advice.
Just reality.
What worked, what didn’t, and what I’m attempting next.
If you’re also trying to make something while life keeps moving around you, this is for you and please subscribe, thank you.
