Guerrilla Filmmakers Didn't Need the Digital Revolution

As I was wrapping up post-production for "The Allan Carter Saga Part I: AMNESIA" I ended up on a phone conversation with my brother who had helped with the editing, compostiting and CGI special effects for the film.  In the conversation I blurted out, "if the digital revolution hadn't come along when it did I wouldn't have been able to make this movie".  My brother's response was a very interesting comment because for the last couple years I have found myself going back to it over and over again.  He replied, "you, me, we didn't need the digital revolution to make a movie...  We would have found a way even if the digital revolution hadn't happened."

Recently many filmmakers have commented that SM and the internet will be the answer to the marketing and distribution delemia that independent filmmakers are experiencing.  I disagree.  SM and the internet are tools, not the answer.  When we put our reliance on the tools the tools become the master and we are a slave to them.  If Thomas Edison couldn't find an answer...  he made one.

The thing about trailerblazers are that the blaze a new trail.  In their quest of cutting through the brush and creating a new path they risk having major pitfalls but also benefit by creating a path that others will take.  Anyone else that goes down that path isn't a leader but a follower of the path.  We all find points in our journey of filmmaking where everything that can go wrong does go wrong and you are pushed into a corner.  You can not proceed with the "business as usual" mode.  It is at this point, when everything logical will not fix the problem, that you have to "get creative" to beat the odds.  This is when you blaze a new trail, even if a small, minor one.  Too many filmmakers, I fear, when facing the impossible, instead of "getting creative"...  just back down.

Here's a great historical story to illustrate my point:

The year is 1776, the British army are held up in Boston while the rebels (Americans) lead by Washington are in the counrty.  They are basically waiting for the other side to make the next move.  It's a stalemate.  Winter is setting in, but Henry Knox went to Fort Ticonderoga, in up-state New York, to retrive some cannons.  Everyone thought it was impossible for him to bring all these canons across the mountains of Vermont, but he was able to inspire all the people of the countryside in Vermont to get involved. 

Another person named Alexander Hamilton inspired Washington to set up the canons at night, up on a hill, just across the bay from Boston.  The idea was to bring hay stack blocks, quietly at night, up the hill.  They were to make a wall with this blocks which would freeze in place.  They would also bring empty barrels up the hill as well.  These barrels were then filled with dirt and put on the outside of the wall.  When the British were to wake up in the morning, they would see the American's entrenched on the hill with the canons pointed at them.  The assumption would be that the British would then demand an assult on the hill.  The Americans, being low on gun powder, woud instead roll the barrels down the hill, knocking the British soldiers over like bowling pins, winning the battle... 

In the morning the British saw the Americans entrenched on the top of the hill and retreated to England for several months.  They knew they could not beat Washington at Boston.  The plan had worked.

My point isn't a leason in history but to show that creativity can beat the odds.  The internt, digital revolution or any other invention we come up with isn't the answer.  Our never ending determination mixed with our imaginations can do wonders.  A guerrilla filmmaker doesn't back down, they improvise.  Now is the time for a real filmmaking revolution.