Read the Interview at: Zen Filmmaking: The Interview.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Zen Filmmaking: Beyond The Roller Blade Seven By Scott Shaw
By Scott Shaw
As I frequently
discuss, hardly a week goes by that someone does not contact me about The
Roller Blade Seven and wants to discuss some aspect of that Zen Film. Which is
great! That’s fine! I get it… It’s a bizarre film. And, that is exactly what we
had in mind when we created it. Though, in all honesty, that was never the
vision I had for my film career when I first entered the industry. But, I’ve
said all this before…
The thing about
Roller Blade Seven and all the turmoil that surrounded its creation is, so many
people see that film and believe that is where Zen Filmmaking ended. They think
that somehow RB7 is the end-all culmination of Zen Filmmaking. It is not. In fact,
due to all of the craziness during the Production, the Post Production, and the
initial Distribution of RB7, one can conclude that RB7 is anything but true Zen
Filmmaking. Yes, it is crazy. Yes, it is weird. Yes, we had a lot of fun making
it. Yes, it has etched a place for itself in Cult Film History but did Zen
Filmmaking begin and end with that film? No.
As each
production possesses its own set of criteria and definitions, RB7 had its own,
as well. And, that is what defines that film. But again, was what took place
and what was presented on the screen in that film the end-all of Zen
Filmmaking? No, not at all. That film just was what that film was. Nothing
more, nothing less.
As I always tell
everybody, Zen Filmmaking is never about the story. …The stories have all been
told… Zen Filmmaking is about a visual cinematic experience. It is about
invoking emotions and thoughts in the mind of the viewer. As each person brings
their own set of standards and ideologies to every/any film that they watch,
anyone who ever sees a Zen Film will come away with something different. …As
they should…
FYI: I haven't
made a narrative-driven Zen Film since 2009 so what most people who discuss Zen
Filmmaking are talking about is actually ancient history.
The fact is, Zen
Filmmaking is more about philosophy that about actual cinema. And, this is
where so many critics and movie watchers get it wrong. It is about embracing a
philosophic vision on the screen. As such, even if you project one never-ending
single image on the screen, that can be Zen Filmmaking, if Zen Filmmaking is
what you hope to invoke with that single image.
I know there are
a couple of film schools that teach courses on Zen Filmmaking. Of course, none
of them, (at least not yet), have invited me to come and give a seminar or be
the actual instructor… But, that’s okay. I get it. They want to control the
message—even though I am the one invented the message. Yeah sure, I own the
Trademark. Yeah sure, I instigated and formalized the understanding. But, like
I always say, “Make it your own…” You don’t have to do what I do to make a Zen
Film. You simply have to do what you do.
Zen Filmmaking is
about the freedom of naturalness. It is not about following any film formula
that I may have used in the past. From this very definition it gives rise to
the understanding that there are no definitions. …Not even the definition of no
definition. …As isn’t that the ultimate understanding of Zen?
So, for all you
people out there writing and talking about RB7, remember that was the beginning
of Zen Filmmaking, it was not the end. It keeps changing. It keeps evolving. So
please, don’t hold myself, my filmmaking, or other Zen Filmmakers locked into
that place in time. That was there. That was then. Now, I am here. Where are
you?
Copyright © 2018—All Rights Reserved
Friday, March 30, 2018
The Good, The Bad and the Art of Zen Filmmaking By Scott Shaw
Here is an article I was asked to write
in about 1997 for an indie film publication called Thunder Magazine. I am
presenting here exactly as it appeared in the magazine for your reading
pleasure and to maybe/hopefully provide you with some new insight and
inspiration in the world of filmmaking.
Thunder Magazine
In a simpler
time, I used to sit down with friends, pop in a bad movie and drink some beer.
It was a sick pass time, but one that provided an endless amount of cheap
entertainment. Because of this experience, titles like Curse of the Queer Wolf
and Roller Blade will forever remain as grade A entertainment for me. Little
did I know that Rollerblade would not only spawn sequels, but spin-off sequels?
And if you’ve never heard of these films, then you’re probably sane and not
much into watching bottom-of-the-barrel budget flicks that will occasionally
offer more excitement than Hollywood’s by-the-numbers bullshit. That said, you’ve
probably never heard of Scott Shaw, Donald G. Jackson or the bevy of direct-to-video
quickies they’ve amassed over the past few years. So for those of us interested
in the art of filmmaking, or zen filmmaking as you are about to learn, here’s a
real eye opener for independent film buffs interested in breaking into the
action/adventure film biz.
--Xander Octavius
The Good, The Bad and
the Art of Zen Filmmaking
By Scott Shaw, Ph.D.
Whereas
most people aspire to come to Hollywood, walk down the boulevard of the stars
and hope to rub elbows with the rich and the famous, I was just the opposite.
Born in L.A., I grew up in Hollywood and attended Hollywood High School—where
more than a few of my classmates were already ex-movie or TV stars struggling
to adapt to life in the mainstream. Others were the children of famous actors
or directors who knew that any day they would become stars. It all seemed like bullshit to me: the egos,
the insecurity, the drugs to provide courage and the never enough money to pay
the bills for the high lifestyles they all lead. Though these adolescent
relationships got me onto the sets of some marginally memorable films, I swore
I would never get into the industry. Or,
should I put that in quotation marks, “The Industry.” So, I spent most of the
next decade or so in various geographic locations of Asia, refining my lifelong
involvement with the martial arts and Zen Buddhism.
Back in the
States, I was continually receiving offers to be in martial art films. I finally accepted. That was my big mistake. I got bitten by the bug.
I spent my early
film career doing starring or co-starring roles in the then very lucrative
independent action/adventure market, performing small roles in A-films, guest
starring roles on TV and shooting documentaries in Asia. One day I got a call. The voice on the other end of the phone line
said, “My name is Don Jackson; I make movies. Can you really use the samurai
sword as good as everyone says you can?” From this phone call our initial
meeting took place at the Gower Gulch in Hollywood. The rest is Zen Filmmaking
history...
PARTNER IN
CRIME
Don
Jackson, or more properly Donald G. Jackson, had spent his early adult life in
Ann Arbor, Michigan working in an auto factory for fifteen years and struggling
against the odds to become a filmmaker. He finally made the feature, Demon
Lover and the wrestling film, I Like to Hurt People—which was purchased by New
World Pictures. This financed his move
to L.A. Once here, he made a film called Roller Blade—a futuristic piece
referring to samurai sword wielding girls on skates. It was shot on his credit card for
$5,000.00—New World purchased it and the film made over a million dollars. From the video market success of these two
films, they asked him what he wanted to do next. An actor named Sam Mann and him had been
toying with an idea which eventually lead to his next film, Hell Comes to
Frogtown.
Upon meeting, Don
and I, both influenced by the films of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone, set
about on the path which became Zen Filmmaking—though it took a few swings at
bat before we hit a homerun...
THE
FOUNDATIONS OF ZEN FILMMAKING
When
I first met Don he had financing in place for an action adventure film in which
he asked me to perform the lead. We started the film in December of 1990. Due to the fact that the screenwriter was backstabbing
Don to the Executive Producer, midway through the production, the financing was
pulled. The screenwriter wanted me to finish the film with him as the Director.
Fuck that, if you don’t have loyalty to your friends in this cut-throat
industry, you have nothing. Thus, the
film went to never-never-land and Don and I moved on.
Don directed
another film and I acted in several. Perhaps most ironic of my performances
during this interim came when Robert Altman called me up and asked me to do a
Cameo in his film, The Player. As if to hail the coming future, when we were
shooting one of my scenes, I really did like what the script had my character
say, “Can I change this?” “Sure, just
say whatever you want,” answered Altman...
THE FIRST ZEN
FILM
In
November of 1991 Don and I regrouped and made the first Zen Film, The Roller
Blade Seven. For this film we continued
Don’s Roller Blade concept, combined that with two books I authored which were
made up of spiritual aphorisms (to use as a basis for dialogue), added some
samurai swords, some semi-naked girls and we were off...
Though relatively
obscure, this film has been credited with influencing everything from Oliver
Stone’s U-Turn, to the TV series Homicide, onto Six-String Samurai, (though now
that the Six-String boys are on top, they probably wouldn’t admit it). Even today, RB7 has a big cult following in
the U.K., (the only place where the Director’s Cut was released). I get E-mails all the time from people who
form groups to discuss the true meaning of the feature.
Though we played
equal philosophic roles in the creation of Zen Filmmaking, during the filming
of RB7 Don really showed me the ropes of how to make a low budget art film. So,
there is no doubt that he holds the title of, Godfather of Zen Filmmaking.
INSTANTANEOUS
CREATIVITY
But
back to the point… Just what the hell is a Zen Film? First of all, and perhaps
most importantly, scripts are out the window. I like to say, “Scripts are for
sissies.” This doesn’t mean that you let the actors improv. For the most part
you wouldn’t want to see novice actors improv-ing. The problem with scripts is
that performances become so contrived when people have their lines memorized
for days or weeks—it’s just boring.
To create a film
what we do is Don or I comes up with a concept, we cast some people who fit the
roles we have in mind, we go out to a location, get inspired and then guide
them through what they should say and do. As Don says, “Zen Filmmaking is like
painting: you get a canvas, you get some paint, but you never know what the
painting is going to look like until you apply the paint to the canvas.”
For example, we
took our cast out to the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed for our film, Toad Warrior.
When we got there, someone was flying an ultra-line aircraft. Don asked them if
we could use it. They agreed. My character Max Hell got in, took off, and
it became the opening sequence for the film. You just can’t plan or anticipate
those occurrences. You just have to live
them. If you base a film on a script,
all instantaneous creativity is lost.
Instantaneousness
doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take a lot of planning. Mostly, you have know what
the hell you’re doing, but beyond that, you have to be prepared: have all the
technical equipment ready, the film stocks to be used, make sure that the cast
has their costuming, and be ready to adapt to any situation. Sometimes the first planned location doesn’t
workout, so we move onto the second, and the third, if necessary.
In Zen Filmmaking
the big crew thing doesn’t work either. A small crew not only keeps the budget
down but it also allows much more spontaneous creativity. If you have too many crew people, they all
want silly things like story boards, shot lists, and stuff.
A funny
experience I like to relate is when Don and I were doing a film with Frank
Stallone. Frank met us, we put him in Don’s car, and we drove over to this
location we like to use. En route Frank
asked, if the crew was set up and waiting for him at the location? Well, actually he was riding with the
crew. Don was operating the camera; I
was doing the sound and performing the lead. I would get the tape recorder up
and running, go in, slap the slate, walk out, and then walk back into the shot
and act with Frank. Needless to say, he
wasn’t the kind of actor to get into Zen Filmmaking.
But then there
are people like Conrad Brooks, one of the last remaining Ed Wood confidants. He
is a great guy and a true Hollywood icon. One night we were shooting with him
at our Hollywood studio—there was some down time so he went out and had a few
drinks. When he came back, he was a
little light headed and couldn’t remember any of the lines we would give
him. So, we fed him his dialogue one
word at a time. Editing that was interesting to say the least.
That’s one of the
great things about Zen Filmmaking; editing is where it all comes together. I
look at all the footage and then let my feelings guide me as to where each
scene should go.
There are no
mistakes in Zen Filmmaking. It’s like enlightenment, it all happens in its own
perfection.
Just as editing
takes care of itself, so does the budget. In Zen Filmmaking you really can’t
draw up a formal budget. There is just no way to budget inspiration. The people who fund these films understand
that we are creating art and we must possess C.C.C. (Completely Creative
Control).
NO RULES
The
main thing to understand about Zen Filmmaking is that there are no rules. You cannot
compare a Zen Film with a traditional screenplay based movie. A Zen Film is an entity onto itself. If the story isn’t all that constant—who
cares, all the stories have already been told.
A Zen Film is more like a rock video in that it moves with a visual
essence which is absent from traditional filmmaking.
GET ON THE BUS
Zen
Filmmaking is so simple and so filled with art that many people question its
results. But we have proven it works in numerous films. It’s generally the
wannabe actors who have gone to way too many acting classes and freak when they
hear about it. They always question, “Will
I get dialogue?” Or state, “I need tape on myself.” Our answer is to pull out a
roll of camera tape, rip off a piece, and stick it on them. There you go, you
have tape on yourself... In reality, the
people who get on the bus and stay with us for awhile get the biggest roles. If
they doubt the process, it is better not to take them along, for their
negativity can bring the whole thing down.
Real actors,
people like Golden Globe winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Karen Black
or Clint Eastwood co-stars Don Stroud or William Smith love the process. These
are the really creative people; they have nothing to prove, their acting is
completely natural and they truly appreciate the art of Zen Filmmaking.
A funny story… One
night last year we were shooting my film Rock n’ Roll Cops. We decided to rent
a room at the posh downtown L.A. hotel, the Boneventure, and bring William
Smith in for some scenes. Not only did
we have the bell hops bring up massive quantities of lights and film equipment
to our suite, (why they didn’t ask questions, I don’t know), but by the time
Don and I arrived, there were like twenty actors and actresses in the room
hoping to be in the film. Don, (the
Producer), in rare form, kicked most of the people out, including William Smith’s
girlfriend. I tried to diplomatically hold Bill back but he is an intense guy
and went in and put a chokehold on Don.
Had he not remembered they had been friends for more than a decade, I’m
sure the whole incident would not have turned out to be the memorable joke it
is remembered as.
PAYING YOUR
DUES
In
the past we have paid neophyte actors hoping it would assure that they would
show up, have a good attitude, and so on. It doesn’t work! Everyone in Hollywood thinks that they are
going to be the next big star. You
cannot imagine how many times I’ve heard, “No, no, I’m the one that’s going to
make it!” I wish them all the best but
paying a person whose name means nothing to the projects serves no
purpose. I’m much more hard-core about
this than Don. And besides, there are many ways of compensation that do not
involve money. We are giving people the opportunity to be in a film which will
receive international distribution. In essence, we are paying for their demo
reels.
JUST GOT ON
THE BUS
A
couple of new friends on the Zen Filmmaking bus are Penthouse Pet and B-Movie
Queen Julie Strain and her husband, Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles and publisher of Heavy Metal Magazine. We plugged them
into our film, Guns of El Chupacabra, and four films after that (Armageddon
Boulevard, Lingerie Kickboxer, etc.). Julie, who has been in many
script-orientated films, immediately took to the process. She poetically stated
after smoking a joint, “Zen Filmmaking unfolds in front of your eyes when you
give someone the freedom to expand their mind and let the creativity flow like
a waterfall. It’s like Niagara Falls running through my veins. Zen Filmmaking
boundaries are limitless. To me it is like a drug. I admit it, I’m a junky.” She calls… us up all the time and says, “Let’s
make a movie.” With Zen Filmmaking, we
can do that—forget about all of the unnecessary preparation and just go and
make art. In fact, one day we shot an entire feature film at the Turtle Mansion
(as we have named their Bel Aire home) called Vampire Child. It generally takes
a lot longer to make a movie, but when the magic hits, it’s there.
The question is
always asked, “How do you get established actors to be in your films?” Well, as the independent film has taken over
Hollywood, the unions have begun to fade from the picture, allowing established
actors to become what is called SAG Financial Core and do non-union films. As
an actor, I find that sad, but as a filmmaker, the unions can really constrict
what takes place on a set and throw a monkey wrench into the gears of absolute
creativity. Zen Films really need to exist outside the realms of meaningless
control.
NICKEL &
DIME ACTION
Due
to my extensive martial arts background and, of course, the mystical powers of
the samurai sword, I generally integrate this heritage into all of my movies. The
fight scenes are staged as the movie is created—they are never rehearsed. I never attempt to choreograph more than one
or two moves at a time. What I do is stage a punch, kick, block, or sword
techniques, film it, and then have the cameraman move to a new location that
will sell the next technique. This way it keeps all the movements fresh and the
reactions natural.
All of the stunts
in my films are created right on the spot. Inspiration strikes and I lead
people through the techniques. So, it’s always good to have trained martial
artists, wrestlers, and gymnasts in the cast.
It’s rare, however, to have an advanced Muay Thai Kickboxer like Kevin
Eastman on the set. Most martial artists
believe that due to their long years of physical training that they will be the
next Bruce Lee—so their own egos really hold them back from getting into films.
Then there are
people like Traci Lords. She was scheduled to do a film with us and everyday
she would come by and take private sword lessons from me—just so she would look
good on film. But, that is a rare
thing.
LET’S TALK
GREEN STUFF
I’ve
acted in several but I have never personally produced or directed a film that I
would call a martial art movie—though there has been martial arts in virtually
every film I’ve created. The sad truth
is that the market has just been flooded with bad, low budget, rip-off martial
arts movies—films that are just mimicking what has been done much better on a
substantially larger scale.
This style of
filmmaking is what has really poisoned the international market. As the quality
dropped, so did the prices. There was a time when the U.K. would give you
$50,000.00, Germany $100,000.00, Japan $500,000.00 for one film. Now, Taiwan
wants to pay $1,500.00, Malaysia $750.00 and Korea $500.00. And, it doesn’t
matter what NAME actor you have in it. If it isn’t someone the caliber of
Nicholas Cage or Bruce Willis, nobody cares.
There is the
occasional breakthrough film, but the whole dynamics of filmmaking has really
changed. No longer can you count on quadrupling your budget in sales. Now, you’ve
got to make your money from your investor or you may never get paid. Don says
it best, “The real art of filmmaking is in raising the money to make the movie.”
That’s why it’s great when I’m just hired as an actor to be in somebody else’s
film—it’s all so easy...
GETTING IT OUT
THERE
In
terms of independent film distribution there’s a lot of distribution companies
out there, but the days of up-front advances are long gone. Now, they may take
your film but they will charge back all publicity and marketing costs. That way they can justify not paying you any
money. And more than that, they may decide to reedit and ruin your film. I know
that happened to Steve Wang with his film’s Kung Fu Rascals and Drive and to us
with RB7—the Executive Producer took the film and its sequel, Return of the
Roller Blade Seven, reedited them into one movie, and changed the title. She
did this, even though it broke all of our contracts.
The sad thing
about Executive Producers and distributors is that they know it is going to
cost you more money to sue them then you could ever win in a lawsuit. Justice and honor means nothing in modern
Hollywood.
To remedy some of
these problems Don set up a distribution company so we would have more control
over our releases. But, this is very expensive. From this, our films generally
do fairly well, particularly in Asia where I am an established actor and they
appreciate our style of comic book action adventure. In fact, my film Samurai
Vampire Bikers from Hell won me Best Director honors at the Tokyo Experimental
Film Festival in 1993.
In reality,
getting a film out there is a complicated game. You have to do it for the love
of the art and realize if your film doesn’t have a several million-dollar
budget, even though it may be released, there will only be a few thousand video
or DVD copies of it made. Once those are gone, it will be forgotten. That’s
what’s great about Zen Filmmaking—all that matters is the perfection of the
moment: it’s here, you live it and then you let it go and move on.
Copyright © 1997—All Rights Reserved
Monday, March 12, 2018
Zen Filmmaking: Don't Miss the Bus By Scott Shaw
By
Scott Shaw
It is kind of interesting… People forever perceive the
everything else of the everybody else based upon their own point of view. If
they operate from a space of positivity, they see all things as positive. If
they operate from a space of negativity, they see all things as negative. Most
operate somewhere in between. That’s just life. But, here we all are. We are
all attempting to operate our way through our life in the best and most
beneficial manner possible.
Some people create things. It may be paintings, drawings,
photos, music, poetry, literature, films, programs, businesses, children or…
Other people do not create. This is not bad or good; this is just life and the
definition thereof.
As everybody comes at the everything else of the everybody
else based upon their own point of view, some people who do not comprehend the
process of creation want to base their life upon judging what another person
creates. I mean how many times have you heard people criticizing the art
created by someone else? How many times have you heard someone criticizing
someone else—meaning that they are criticizing the parents of that person as
those parents not only gave both to that individual but raised them into
adulthood, as well. But, all this
criticism is just mind junk. It is just someone attempting to find something to
do with their mind and the time that they have here in life instead of actually
getting out there and creating and understating the process of inspiration
equaling creation.
Okay, to the point… Zen Filmmaking is based upon the most
spiritually pure source of energy that there is; instantaneous creativity. No
definition, no judgment, no negativity, simply pure, in-the-moment, cinematic
realization placed upon film or video or digital memory cards or whatever come
next… It is about grabbing a visual
instance in the purity of the meditative moment and realizing it upon film.
What it is that is captured doesn’t matter. Whether it is perfectly framed or
not, in or out of focus—if it captures a moment never seen again throughout
human history or it is completely meaningless is unimportant; what it is, is
just that—it is what it is.
Zen Filmmaking is about operating from a space of mental and
spiritual purity. Yet, there are people out there who want to place their own
definition upon Zen Filmmaking—based upon their own dominate emotion: be that
positive or negative. But, by doing this, they completely miss the point. And,
by missing they point, they miss the point! Thus, all they have done is to damn
an elemental process geared towards generating enlightenment into the realms of
interpersonal, self-defined, mind junk. Which means, they don’t understand it
at all.
Free yourself of definition and criticism leaves your
vocabulary. What happens next? Satori.
Copyright © 2018 —
All Rights Reserved
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Zen Filmmaking: The Final Definition By Scott Shaw
In
the first exploration of Zen Filmmaking: 1991 until approximately 2002, the Zen
Films were based upon character-driven dramas. Though always visually illuminating, by the early-2000s, Scott Shaw began to redefine this Cinematic Art. Born, was the
Non-Narrative Zen Film. These films initially held descriptions such as A Zen
Film Mind Ride, A Zen Film Meditation, A Zen Film Acid Flick, and A Zen Film Movie in the Moment. In
2009, Scott Shaw created the last character-driven Zen Film. Thus, evolved was the
final stage of Zen Filmmaking with all works being free of dialogue and focusing solely upon moving visual
images and holding the titled, “A Zen Film.”
Freedom
of mind is the ultimate definition of Zen Filmmaking.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Stand Up for the Rights of the Creator By Scott Shaw
By
Scott Shaw
I
was teaching one of my classes on filmmaking earlier today. As the class only
meets once a week, I try to keep the student very active in actual film creation
so I generally give them an assignment to make a short film for each class
session. This week’s assignment was to do a visual biographical piece. One of
my students did, what so many people have done before, was to intermingle
footage of his life with footage from very famous films. The short had him
talking to various characters from various films. This is always a fun presentation
as you get to peer into the mind of the person and view how they see themselves
in association with life. It was a good piece.
After
his presentation, he asked if I thought he should upload it to his YouTube
page. I said he could but he may run into copyright problems.
Now,
for anyone who knows me understands, I am an avid proponent of Intellectual
Property Rights. If somebody made something they are the only one who owns it
and other people can only use it if they are given permission.
But,
more than that… Each person should have the moral dignity to ask the creator of
a, “Something,” if they can use all or part of it. Maybe the creator will say,
“Yes.” Maybe the creator will say, “No.” But, every person who wants to tap
into the creation of another person’s creativity should have the honor to ask
if they can use it. That is just the right moral code of life. And, that is what
I explained to my students.
Now,
not everyone who infringes on another person's copyright gets sued. It's
expensive and it's time consuming. Not every copyright infraction is reported
to the FBI. So, some people get away with it. But, should they?
Have
you ever asked the creator of a project, that you have stolen all are part of
or have downloaded it for free from an illegal offshore website, how they feel
about what you have done? If you haven’t, what does that say about you? And, as
I always state, if you were the one creating the something that is being stolen
I am certain you would have a very different opinion about what is taking place
than you being the thief.
Many
people do not personally create books, movies, music, or art. But, they like
it. So, they want to view it. But, have you ever had somebody steal your bike,
your car, your wallet, or break into your house. If you have experienced that
feeling then you will know what the artist goes through when their creation has
been stolen.
Okay…
Okay… I won’t go off here… :-) But, as you can plainly see, I am really against
people stealing other people’s creations.
What
I always suggest (like I did to my class) is be more than the thieves. Stand up
for the rights of the creator. Understand that it took their creative vision,
their time, their money, their mental focus, and their undaunted dedication to
make that piece of art. Don’t steal it!
Copyright
© 2017 – All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Zen Filmmaking: The Good, The Bad, and The People That Don’t Know What the F**k They’re Talking About By Scott Shaw
By
Scott Shaw
Ever since the inception of Zen
Filmmaking, that was heralded with the release of The Roller Blade Seven,
people have contacted me about my method of filmmaking. In the early days, it
was largely via letters but soon after that everybody climbed onto the internet
and then everybody had a lot to say.
There have been a lot of people,
over the years, who have actually contacted me and questioned, how do I do what
I do. Those are the people I respect. Love my films or hate my films, they are
the ones who cared enough to ask me what was actually going on. They came to
the source and inquired. And, going to the source is the only way to gain true
knowledge.
Some of these people contacted
me because they wanted to follow the path of Zen Filmmaking. That’s great! Make it
your own…
Early in my filmmaking career, (which
you have to keep in mind did not begin until I was thirty-two years old so I
had a lot of life-experience prior to that), I also began to see people coming
to conclusions about what I did, how I did it, and why I did it. These
discourses where then mostly entered into magazines that discussed the low budget, no budget,
and cult level of filmmaking. In some cases, they got it right. But, in many,
(in fact most), cases they were simply wrong. Yet, these people had a pulpit
and from that pulpit they broadcasted their thoughts about Zen Filmmaking, Zen
Films, and me out to the world.
As a professional researcher, I
always found this method to be suspect, as these people were simply discussing
their feelings that were not based in fact. Yet, they were presenting
their opinions, observations, and speculations as if they were fact. This is
truly the wrong way to put forward information to the world and this mindset is
what has given birth to the whole culture of, “Fake News,” we are currently
living within—as from these inaccurate depictions further counterfactual
statements and misunderstandings are given birth to. People heard, “This,” and,
thus, they believed, “That.” But, it is all based on bullshit. It is all based
on somebody putting what they think they know out there but they do not have
the true facts as they have not done any actual research. I know… I get it…
Research is hard to do. It is time-consuming and it often costs money. It is so
much easier to just read or hear something and then believe what you want to
believe. But, the fact is, if you want to know the truth about a subject, (any
subject), research is the only way to arrive at a factual and valid conclusion.
And, you must enter into any research gathering with an open mind and not use
it as simply a way to justify what you think you already know.
Personally, in virtually all of the
aforementioned cases, I found the discourses to be amusing. But, that’s just
who I am. I easily poke fun at myself. If they weren’t flat out defamatory lies
or someone making money off of one of my creations when they had no
responsibility for its actualization, I was good.
On the larger scale, I have always
wondered why do people do this? Why do people want to spread their feelings
about something or someone and, moreover, why do they want to transmit
something out to the world when what they are saying is not based in fact but
is solely based upon personal opinion, second-hand knowledge, and/or
speculation? Sure, I understand, most people like something or someone for some
nondescript reason but that reason is generally based upon them not possessing
a true understanding about anything. Thus, what does that reason for like or
dislike truly mean? Do you ever think about that when you form your opinions
and from your opinions make your judgments which leads to your statements?
As Zen Filmmaking is a defined form
of filmmaking, many people have also taken aim at the craft. They have taken
aim at it but all they know about it is that in Zen Filmmaking we do not use a
script. But, there is a lot more to it
than that. And no, Zen Filmmaking is not just about showing up somewhere and
seeing what happens next. So, if you’ve heard that, if you’ve believed that, if
you’ve rebroadcast that, YOU ARE WRONG!
Also, there have been a lot of
people who have seen Roller Blade Seven or some clips from it and decided that
was the epitome of Zen Filmmaking and all of my films are just like RB7. The
fact is, a lot of people don’t get what Donald G. Jackson and I were trying to
do with The Roller Blade Seven and they hate it. I get it! That movie is weird!
If you don’t like weird movies you probably will hate it. But, think about
this, we made that movie over twenty-five years ago—whatever you think about
it: love it or hate; we did something right because people are still discussing
it.
On a more personal note,
occasionally I have seen some people say, “Scott Shaw makes shitty movies,” and
stuff like that. Okay… That’s what you think… But, how many of my movies have
you actually seen? Many people make this comment after only seeing maybe Roller
Blade Seven or Max Hell Frog Warrior. I have made a lot of movies! Honestly,
how many of them have you seen? Have you seen any of my documentaries? Have you
seen any of my music videos? Have you followed my filmmaking evolution and
watched any of my Non-Narrative Zen Films, my Zen Film Art Captures, my Zen
Film Movies in the Moment, or my Zen Film Mind Rides? If you haven’t, then you have no idea what
I’m doing. Moreover, if you have not read my written words on the subject of
filmmaking, if you have not seen my interviews, if you have not met me, again,
you are basing your opinion on a preconceived notion that you have no factual
bases to possess. Love my movies, hate my movies, I get it… But, if you haven’t
seen my films, if you don’t know my philosophy about filmmaking, if you have
not actually spoken to me, then how can you judge anything?
And, this goes to the whole point of
this piece… Sure, you’re just a screen name out there in the nowhere of
cyberspace. You will never have to pay for your cyber crimes. But, no matter
what moniker you use, you should be whole enough to know the facts about what
you’re talking about before you ever spew your misunderstandings out to the
world. In other words, BE MORE. For me, that is the key to life. That is how
the people who have truly excelled and made a contribution to the world have
done it. Care enough to care. Learn the
true facts. Go to the source and ask before you speak. Be more than someone who
talks about someone else, go out there and create your own something.
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