I HaVe MisSed YoU!

My readers, how I have missed you over the course of the past month!

People occasionally ask me ‘what is writing to you’, and I find myself sticking to the same analogy, a descriptive analysis that I will probably attach myself to until I am no more.

Writing, to me, is compared to that first breath of oxygen you inhale while snorkeling in the most beautiful, lukewarm, predator-free, coral reef ocean known to man or woman. In this nostalgic fluid stasis, you swim down to the bottom where all the magic is and gather all the sights that your eyes can absorb while knowing in the back of your mind that you will have to surface before long so you can fill your lungs and return back to the sights unseen.

Writing, for me, is that first breath of oxygen that fills your lungs before you dive back down below the high water line.

I left all of you on September 29th so I could dive into making my first short film and, needless to say, I have completed it and secured a local venue for a public viewing before sending it over to my YouTube film channel in the days after that event takes place. The support surrounding this project has been amazing, and everyone’s excitement over seeing what I have prepared makes me feel complete yet anxious at the same time.

I have not felt these types of butterflies over my art in quite some time, and these flutters make me feel alive because I do not know where the creative wind might carry me after this.

My short film is eighteen minutes in length, was filmed in black and white, and is a foreboding, personal narrative told from a man’s viewpoint. There is an Easter egg at the end of the film that might surprise the viewer and lead them wanting the second part of the story. I am on the fence about this decision at the moment.

I cannot reveal the title of this film until its release because it holds so much weight in my soul, but I will let you in on the underlying theme of the film. The story basically revolves around one thing that connects all of us as human beings – that thing being loss. All of us have lost something, whether tangible or not, over the course of time and, for some us, that thing continues to haunt us until this very moment.

When I started compiling the scenes for this movie, I was working with a budget of zero dollars and used previously recorded footage that I knew, when filming it years ago, would come into play one day (intuition and irony – my soulmates). I spent what I had in my checking account on gas money to get me to local locations I needed to film at so I could wrap up my scene selections.

I recorded all of my footage on my cell phone and used the basic programming on my MacBook Pro to edit this film. I am somewhat hard headed when it comes to creative protocol and wanted to be able to say that I used as less as I possibly could in order to create something universally beautiful and meaningful.

Writing has always turned me on, and experiencing good writing, whether by watching it on a screen, listening to it with my ears, or personally reading it with my eyes, has had the same effect on me; but if I’m to be completely honest, I must say that directing, editing, compiling key scenes, and attaching a satisfying narrative to my film has tingled my taste buds in its own unique way. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to bring impactful words to life with visuals, and I pray that this is only the beginning for me and this specific journey.

I do miss delivering an adventure of words on a weekly basis to my readers, and I appreciate your understanding as I work on this creative avenue so we can connect in a different way.

My next blog post will be updates concerning the time, place, and date of the public venue for my short film viewing and detailed information on when my short film will be posted to my YouTube film channel.

Join me on ending this year with a bang and ringing in life’s surprises with a fortuitous New Year.

I appreciate all of you in your own way!

Your time means more to me than all of the money in the world.

Until then ,

V.

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