Zen Filmmaking: Movies in the Moment
By Scott Shaw
As I often detail, life is lived in the moment. Our life is made up of days, weeks, years, decades, but it is the precise occurrences that take place within specific moments of our life that we live to the utmost and truly remember.
From a filmmaking perspective, when a movie is moving being filmed, we shoot all kinds of footage to bring together and create a feature film. For those of us who are cinematographers we try to capture images in the best and most artistic manner possible. For those of us who have edited movies, there is no doubt, we have seen specific moments within the entirety of the filmed footage that are truly interesting; presenting a visually stimulating image and possibly even giving birth to cinematic satori. As the editor of the film, perhaps that image is beautiful or thought-provoking but as it contributes nothing to the greater whole of the film being constructed, that scene is left behind and probably lost forever.
Zen Filmmaking is ultimately about forging a pathway to cinematic enlightenment. It is about taking the art form of filmmaking and creating something artistic, interesting, and mentally stimulating, while removing as many preconceived notions and obstacles as possible.
Zen filmmaking is not a stagnate entity. It is forever evolving.
More recently, the evolution of Zen Filmmaking involved the Non-Narrative Zen Film. Now, the next evolution of Zen Filmmaking is, “Movies in the Moment.” What is a Zen Film: Movie in the Moment? It is capturing a moving image, whether intentionally or not, and allowing it to find its own perfection on the screen. Whether this moving image exists in its own perfection for a few seconds or a couple of minutes it is allowed to be whole and complete onto itself; seeking no definition other than letting it be what it is.
In traditional filmmaking you conceive, stage, light, and then film your subject. This is not the case with a Zen Film: Movie in the Moment. For a Movie in the Moment exists in its own perfection. It is simply you, as the witness, seeing the art and capturing it.
In today’s world, capturing moving images has become as immediate as those transient images themselves. As such, a Zen Film: Movie in the Moment is the perfect art form for today. It is free, it is easy, it holds no rules, no definitions, and it is perfect onto itself. It it simply the artistic vision of the individual who notices, realizes, and then films what is taking place.
Let your creative mind wander and when you a witness a moment that should be captured, do it. Create art.
At the Zen Film Movies in the Moment Playlist on the Scott Shaw Zen Filmmaking page on YouTube you can see some of the images I have grabbed and cast to eternity.
No rules. No definition. No Judgment. Just art.
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