Why Watching (and Making) Bad Films can be a Learning Process
Before I kick off, I want to say Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. Things have been horribly busy here these last few weeks, with deadlines and house moves, so this blog has been somewhat neglected. Now I'm back, and figured I should post a short little something for you to read on Boxing Day.
A while back, someone told me: "Watch bad films."
A while back, someone told me: "Watch bad films."
For a while, I didn't know what to make of it. I kept asking myself "Why do I need to watch bad films? I hardly have any time to watch the films I want to watch to begin with, so why waste what precious time I have on watching bad films?" That's when it struck me. You need to watch bad films, because they will help you understand more about storytelling and filmmaking. Let me elaborate:
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| "Oh, hi Mark." - The Room (2003). |
When we watch a good/great/amazing film, we're always left satisfied with the content, we think about the quality of the cinematography, the coherence of the story and the strong performances from the actors. Bad films, on the other hand, can leave us disappointed - the time we have invested into it has been lost, the disregard towards cinematic quality, the incoherent story, the lack of quality acting, or the lost potential for a great film... the list can go on. Watching the classics and the highly rated, from Battleship Potemkin to Blade Runner 2049, provide us with some insight into the history of filmmaking as a whole, and the cinematic techniques employed to tell an immersive story. The people behind these films are revolutionary in their own right. But if we only see the good films, it'll be harder to spot the mistakes we make in our own - which is why we also need to watch the bad and the ugly.
To put a personal spin on this, when I look back at my own stuff that I have done in the past, I realise with hindsight that I was so focused on the mountaintop that was the finished film, that I neglected other, equally important aspects of the film - the story, the visuals, the acting, etc. It all suffered because I didn't see the steps along the way, just the final piece. Hindsight can be a fickle thing, either making you become disillusioned with your work, or help you understand what to improve in future projects. So next time you consider skipping a bad film or you're having trouble looking back at your previous work, think about watching it nonetheless. Whenever you've worked on a project and think "This could have been better", Chew on it, reflect on it and think about why it was "bad". You might just learn something from it. I know I have.
To put a personal spin on this, when I look back at my own stuff that I have done in the past, I realise with hindsight that I was so focused on the mountaintop that was the finished film, that I neglected other, equally important aspects of the film - the story, the visuals, the acting, etc. It all suffered because I didn't see the steps along the way, just the final piece. Hindsight can be a fickle thing, either making you become disillusioned with your work, or help you understand what to improve in future projects. So next time you consider skipping a bad film or you're having trouble looking back at your previous work, think about watching it nonetheless. Whenever you've worked on a project and think "This could have been better", Chew on it, reflect on it and think about why it was "bad". You might just learn something from it. I know I have.
"... trouble looking back at your previous work, think..."
ReplyDeleteYou know, I don't have a lot of experience with making movies. Usually for me a bad movie is; one I complain a lot about during or after watching. I'm getting at it's a more subjective thing, I'm approaching. Since it's more me not liking a character, but maybe not seeing, how the acting as spot on.
I guess, I just want to get at, I can enjoy things considered good watching material, as well as brain rotting dreadful drivel. I also play dnd, therefore I might also get inspired, by something hopefully interesting to the people i DM for.
On another note, did you watch IT? It reminds me so much of Stranger Things, just with more gore and characters my faithful consumer brain can consume.
Thanks for the wishes, hope you had a lovely holidays as well <3
Films that we consider bad or good are always subjective to a certain degree. I, for example, really enjoyed the latest Star Wars film (for which I have a blog post in the pipeline for), whereas many others did not - including some friends of mine. However, what I am referring to are things that we can deconstruct/critically review outside of the film's lore, such as narrative arcs, cinematography (a fancy word for camera work) and characters - which are all elements of the whole that is the film.
DeleteAs a DnD player/Dungeon Master, I'm sure you can appreciate a solid narrative and development for the characters in the film. That's why it's also important to look at the "bad" character arcs - weak or vague motivations behind their actions (actions = character).
As for IT, there aren't many films that freak me out, but IT did. Maybe I have a fear for clowns that I have yet to have realised. Perhaps a review of IT once its available on DVD is worth doing...