What Does It Mean To Be A Filmmaker?

There is a quote about poetry that goes like this: "Poetry isn’t important in today’s culture, but the fact that it’s useless and people still continue to write it makes it important, in that weird paradoxical poetic sort of way." A lot of the time, I think the same applies to filmmaking too. Why do we make films? Why do we crave the urge to tell the stories we want to tell? Why do we take loans and max out our credit cards for a film that might not be watched by anyone? Why do we go against our parents, society, and the entire world to tell the story that we want to tell? Those are questions for each of us to answer separately. There is never one answer, and sometimes there isn’t an answer at all.

We sit down to write this crazy story that has been running in our minds for weeks now, but the moment we sit down to write, all we do is sit and stare at an empty page for ages. Even if somehow we get words on paper, at the end of it all, a voice goes on in your mind, "who would watch this bat crazy story?" and then all that remains in the room is you and the crushed paper.

Even with filmmaking coming to our mobile phones, it’s still a luxury for most of us because with filmmaking comes the cost of hiring artists, finding a camera, getting the equipment for sound, finding an editor, a color grader, a camera operator, a mixing and mastering artist, costumes, makeup, VFX, script supervisor, DOP, assistant directors, and most importantly, feeding the crew and cast. Some of us try to do all of this, put in our best efforts, and make the film we want to make, only to find out that people want to watch only that particular star film, even in the comfort of their homes. Making films without money is hard, it's a lot of pain, it’s almost a feeling of being in hell. It’s a slow and gradual process, and not everyone has the stomach for it. On the other end of the spectrum are filmmakers who get the money they need to make the film. They have all the equipment and crew to make the film they want. But the truth of the matter is that we are all worried about how our film will turn out because, at the end of the day, making a good film and a bad film requires the same amount of effort.

In an age where the magic of films is dying because everyone is aware of the process, in an age where everything is just looked upon as content, in an age where people get bored of the wonderful silences in a movie, in an age where art is just looked upon as money, in an age where there is so much hatred, why do we make films? 

I think it’s because it’s useless. There is no reason behind it except for this feeling that your heart might just explode from not being able to tell your story, and I think that's why we do it. It's just beautiful and important in its own weird, paradoxical filmmaking sort of way. We do it because somewhere between the time we say action and cut, there is this moment where nothing else matters, where everything is beautiful, everything is happy, and just for that one moment of time, everything in the universe is just perfect. And I think looking for that one moment of truth, that one moment of perfection, is what makes one a filmmaker.