As you may have noticed, I haven’t been writing many blog posts since entering Mirror into festivals, and having the first private screening for cast and friends. This is because I wanted to take a short break from filmmaking to focus on school, and to also see what type of feedback I would get from festivals. During this wait, I experienced many ups and many downs.
The Downs
My parents and I entered Mirror into many film festivals. The main film festival that we were hoping to get accepted into was NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth). It’s a film festival in Seattle, that has many categories from comedies to horror. When we entered Mirror into NFFTY, we knew that many other youth filmmakers from around the world would be entering, and that chances of it getting in may be low. And sure enough, Mirror was sadly declined. 🙁 The reason for this was that Mirror was too long (being 20 minutes), and NFFTY was having trouble even fitting in 10 minute films. This was sad news to hear, but in the amount of films I plan to make in the future, this is most likely the first of many turn downs.
However I have taken their feedback, and have applied it into a two and a half minute short film that I’m currently storyboarding.
Storyboard Progress
The Ups
Just because there were some downs to my March break, doesn’t mean there can’t be ups. In the pause I took from filmmaking, I centred my focus on Canterbury, an arts high school here in Ottawa. I applied for the Visual Arts program, and had been planning to do so for a long time. I made sure my portfolio was well presented, worked hard in school, did the audition, and in the end it payed off. I was accepted, and I am VERY excited to spend my high school years in a great educational program, pursuing and learning about an art that I love.
Canterbury Letter
My ending point to this post is that the downs in the end don’t matter. Just because you don’t succeed at one thing, doesn’t mean you’ve “failed” at it, and that you should quit. All it means is that it was a learning experience, and next time apply what you’ve learned. Until then, be proud of your accomplishments, because you worked hard for them, and they shouldn’t be forgotten.