By Scott Shaw
When
I first coined the term, Zen Filmmaking, during the period when Donald G.
Jackson and I were making, The Roller Blade Seven, it was simply
a means to categorize and loosely define what we were doing -- based upon our
metaphysical perception of reality and filmmaking. Give it a name for
those who were working with us and wondered what we were doing. I never assumed
that over two-decades later there would still be a need to be clarifying the
subject. That being said, when people saw The Roller Blade Seven that was
when the discussion of Zen Filmmaking truly began…
Don
was very big on interacting on the Internet prior to his passing in 2003. That
kind of stuff never interested me. He would go around the various chat rooms
and newsgroups that were up at the time and, in many cases, get into on-line
confrontations with people about what and how we were doing what we were doing.
In those chat rooms he discussed Zen Filmmaking, which really set its concept
into Internet motion.
After
RB7 and with the creation of films such as Samurai Vampire Bikers from Hell, Samurai Johnny Frankenstein, Samurai Ballet, Max Hell Frog Warrior, Ride with the Devil, Guns of El Chupacabra, The Rock n’ Roll Cops, and my writings
on the subject being published, people then began to further form their own
opinions about Zen Filmmaking. The word spread… Some wrote that what we were
doing was Direct Cinema or Cinema Verite.’ But, that wasn’t the case. We were
doing what we were doing, based upon nothing done before. It was completely
organic.
As
the discussion continued, some filmmakers begin to move forward, using elements
of the Zen Filmmaking philosophy, and they began to make their own Zen Films.
All good…
As
Don’s health faded and I moved forward with Zen Films such as Hollywood P.D. Undercover, Undercover X, Hitman City, Super Hero Central, and Vampire Blvd. the word of Zen
Filmmaking spread further. And it has continued to spread. People have
continued their discussion about Zen Filmmaking. It is written about in several
books, numerous articles, detailed in courses at a number of universities, and
even a few documentaries have been made on the subject. All this being the
case, the reason I was, (in some-ways), forced to formally define Zen
Filmmaking is all the talk that has taken place and a lot of the
misunderstandings about what a Zen Film is or is not. In actually, it was never
my plan. I just wanted to let the concept remain wholly (or holy) Zen. But…
For
better or for worse, with the passing of Donald G. Jackson, it was left to only
me to define and explain the art form and philosophy known as Zen Filmmaking.
But, the more I have written and spoken on the subject, the more I realized
that people continued to use my words to feed into their own misunderstandings.
From the moment I first discussed it; some people immediately got it. That was
great. Others only wanted to take my words and use them as a means to
criticize Zen Filmmaking and Zen Films. But, that’s life… People like to talk
and say nothing about philosophies they do not understand.
Which
brings me to the point of this discourse. Finally… The ultimate truth of Zen
Filmmaking is there are NO DEFINITIONS. A Zen Film is what it is in its own
moment of time and space. Just as each film begins in the mind of the filmmaker
and follows its path to creation, there is no definition or logical
explanations for creativity. There is no definable reason why one person wants
to create a film and another person doesn’t. There is no definition for art.
There is no definition for satori. As such, art and enlightenment should simply
be allowed to exist within their own perfection. It is only the mind of the
unenlightened that attempts to draw conclusions so that they may find a reason
to love or hate a creation.
Criticizing
a creation is criticizing life. Criticizing a philosophy is simply a person
attempting to find fault with the spiritual understandings of another person
based upon their own preconceived notions of reality.
Freedom
of spirit is the true soul of Zen Filmmaking. Zen Filmmaking has no ultimate
definition.
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