HI frends,
I am new here, from Kabul, Afghanistan... probably my passion draged me here. I have always been very much interested in making movies, but never got any chance to come in this line. Have been dreaming and watching all kinds of movies since i was a kid, now i am 22....
I have one thing running in my head since years. i think nothing wrong sharing it here with you guys.
I had been through some very serious and risky situations when i was trying to escape and settle some where in Europe. i mean like, traveling to Europe completely on my own without passport and other documents. i couldn?t succeed but its a miracle i am still alive. Its tough to imagine, i gave it 3 attempts, all 3 life threatening. like Walking on mountains covered with 3 feet snow (Iran-Turkey border)with out food and good clothing for days and nights, surviving constant gun fires by Turkish officials in complete dark, sailing alone on a small air boat for hours during night (Turkey-Greece) ........ and much more unbelievable stuff??..the farthest I could go was Italy. but always failed, now I am back here in Kabul and doing computer jobs.
What I have been thinking is to some how share it with people all around the world. I remember each seconds and feelings of those days, like me, there are many other Afghans who have also been through those. As I said, I attempted 3 times, I know each and every thing about it, the challenges, the tactics travelers, smugglers and officials use. The toughest things one could face, unbelievable events, that I guess haven?t yet been displayed on any screen or book.
So what do you guys think, does this worth any thing? I mean the story and experience. Some times when I again get completely obsessed with this, I start thinking to take a camera and one of my friends, to go again in all those adventures and shoot them all for people around the world to see what other hidden stories exists ??:)?. At least a documentary or sth like that ?.. Can?t really think wise about it??.. but I would appreciate ur comments??..I hope it makes sense ?:D?
I'D watch that movie!
It sounds like a big project and it can feel overwhelming to try and start on something like this, but I would urge you to sit down and JUST START WRITING. It doesn't matter whether you start with the beginning, middle, or end; it doesn't matter if you start with something important or something insignificant; just WRITE, and go from there. And keep us posted, because it sounds fascinating.
I'm not really in a position to offer much help, especially to someone half a world away from me, but if you need any writing guidance I would happily assist as best I can. You can find my e-mail address on my blog: www.exgfilms.com
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my vodcast on iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=96931870
and my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
and my reel at http://portfolio.exgfilms.com
Thanks Andrew, I think I should start writing it someday, from the start to the end, every thing.
I have been reading this forum for last 6 months, and finally thought to register and communicate. This forum has given me back some motivation to do sth. I think I should take the first step now.
I have some more days not doing so many things. Then I will get busy again with my Job. I need to decide with in this period what do I need to take the first step. Like, do I need to buy a Camera, do I need to read filmmaking books, what editing software?s ( or other ) do I need to learn etc,,, would love to hear from you?????
One more thing, i can?t really go to any film school, cuz they are not available here ?:(?
Learning to make a movie isn't something you do quickly - in the time between jobs. Right here on filmmaking.net you'll find links dedicated to book, software and filmmaking gear. Check through the threads and you'll find discussion of cameras and editing software - there's a thread right at the top of the "Newbie Questions" forum about books on filmmaking. There are even several discussions on film school.
Since you have been reading the forums for 6 months you have already taken that first step. Now it's time to dig a little deeper.
I think you're story is amazing! It's something that would make an incredible movie. Don't start writing it someday - start writing it today. And write a little bit everyday - even when you get busy again with your job it's important to take even one half hour a day to write.
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
Sounds like a potential Oscar-winner to me if you can get the story right :).
You might want to start by just writing out a basic description of your own experiences and then picking out parts that could fit into one coherent story. Then figure out some characters that would suit the story and fill in the gaps based around them.
Assuming you'd want to do it as a drama rather than a documentary, anyway.
My own thought is that it sounds like a good movie that could have trouble with the ending. You tried three times and are still in Kabul. That could be a real downer ending since the hook seems to be the overcoming all odds aspect of the tale.
Of course you could wrap the story around the main character telling someone in a bar about the tale and then end the movie with that guy calling Speilburg (or someone familiar like that for a cameo) over to the table to hear the story. Then you go for the Get Shorty ending that shows the bar was actually on a movie set and things turned out well after all.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
Yeah, I know, I couldn't figure out what the ending should be either. I'd guess perhaps it would have to be something that changed the character by the experiences they had, even though they ended up back in Kabul anyway.
