I made a film all by myself.

So, we've all seen those advertisements for "monthly masterclass" and whatnot. I've even signed up for a few. But around Xmas 2021, I got an advertisement for a 30-day class with Casey Neistat leading the way.

Love him or hate him, he's made a lot of success for himself using video as a medium.

I signed up, and told myself I was going to complete every assignment. This is usually the hard part for me. I have lots of dreams and aspirations for myself, but it's really easy to push them aside for more career-focused needs.

This was one of the few times since childhood that I stuck with a syllabus and turned my assignments in on time. The class began (and continued) with a lot of pre-recorded videos from Casey explaining his process for making a Vlog-style video. We (those of us who paid $250 to enter the class) were assigned "peer groups" to share feedback and help motivate each other to finish the projects.

My peer group was 50% english speaking, and 20% committed to complete the class. This combined with Casey's pre-recorded videos about filming and editing made me feel like I'd paid for a bad experience. But!! I had exactly what I needed.

The class was structured -- there were goals, and deadlines. The first big one, was completing and posting a Vlog-style video for review by a Peer Group. While the feedback form my group wasn't the $250 Casey Neistat insight I'd hoped for -- I had already completed half the class. And I was unhappy with my first result.

I decided to dig in, and go big for my final project. Instead of a vlog style video, I wanted to tell a story using video. I wanted to make a film. And I asked my wife to be the star! She wasn't thrilled, but agreed to give me 1 Saturday to get all the shots I needed. I was hooked!

Between making, and adjusting the story -- grabbing "all the shots I need", and learning how to operate a camera in public I felt alive! Then learning during the edit that I'd missed so many shots, and my story wasn't fully developed I felt disheartened -- but I'd made a commitment to finish the class. I worked through my insecurities, and finished my final project (24hrs late) -- but I posted it, and learned that completing a project is much more advantageous than just planning it until it seems perfect.

I plan on making more -- but for those of you that found this blog, here's the finished version of my first film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmuMNlDPnHo