I just previewed and this is really poorly written. Sorry.
So I’m a film major at UNLV and right now I’m kind of focusing on editing digital video, mostly because I have a decent computer and a copy of Adobe Premiere. Last year, my friend Derek starred in a movie I made, and I edited a movie of his. I should have learned my lesson then…
His movie from last year was really a piece of garbage. It was a serious short film about domestic violence, and had potential. Derek knows what makes for a good shot. He’d be a decent cinematographer. Problem is, Derek can’t tell a story with pictures for shit. I struggled just to piece together the shots he did get to have some sense of continuity. I made something at least watchable of his footage, and even though it got a terrible reception at last year’s UNLV film fest, I was pretty proud of the improvements I made to it.
Flash forward to this semester, when I foolishly agreed to edit another of his films. I suppose I didn’t learn my lesson the first time, and he certainly hasn’t learned anything about making movies. His film this time is about premarital sex and religion, but you wouldn’t know that from watching it. I’m not sure if he’s trying to just be subtle and overdid it or if he doesn’t realize at all that his movie doesn’t explain anything, but it’s 10 minutes of “huh?” The entire thing takes place in a dorm room, but he insists that I include the footage he got of the main character dropping rose petals in the desert, in reverse. Apparently it’s symbolic, although he can’t explain what it symbolizes…
Anyways, so I told him I’d edit it, and I pieced part of it together, but it’s really really difficult to finish it up, because no matter what I do or how much time I spend on it, I’ll still be handing a really really shitty film back to him with my name on it. Not really looking for advice or anything, just wanted to tell you all what a horrible filmmaker he is, since I can’t exactly tell him that way.
So yeah, Derek is a complete fucking hack who isn’t fit to direct discount bin porno. His scripts are all sad attempts at showing social issues, yet end up being vague nonsensical garbage. His only good-looking shots are completely out of place in the film, as they’re apparently symbolic and deep and meaningful, yet they leave the audience wondering just what the fuck he was trying to say with that random poetic moment.
Fucking film students.