I’ve been away for a while.

Shortly after my last blog entry, I left my day job. I had been working in my particular job for ten years, on a rotating 24 hour shift pattern, with people I really enjoyed being around.

Despite the pay and benefits, I found that I was unable to do what I was yearning to do, so with some planning and some savings I did something that I never thought I’d do… or would advise anyone else to do: I resigned.

In the months since the big day, I’ve had insomnia, anxiety, huge amounts of fun, larger amounts of doubt and one or two worrying illness symptoms. That said, I wouldn’t change this experience for anything, mainly because right now I find myself editing my first feature film.

The shoot taught me a lot: preparation is key; choose your collaborators well; trust your actors. The main thing I learned from this shoot is that I want to shoot more: I’m writing as many ideas as I can come up with to make my next film. There are many other things I learned about equipment, directing actors and crew, locations, photography. I’m still learning.

One thing I realised is how little I know, about films, art, music, editing… I need to learn more, so right now, I feel like I’ve just begun school. I’m reading a lot more, watching a lot more, writing and photographing a lot more, listening more. I’m drawing and playing music regularly. I’m filling myself up.

In the mean time, I’m editing the first cut. All being good, the film should be complete in six months; a long way to go. We shall see…