This blog post is about manifestos, it will discuss what they are and it will include my own personal manifesto.
What is a manifesto?
A manifesto is a document that publicly declares the position or program of its issuer. It advances a set of ideas, opinions or views, but it can also lay out a plan of action. (Munro, 2012). So a filmmakers manifesto would declare the ideas or opinions of a filmmaker. This can include but is not limited to ones views of the state of film at the time of writing, the importance of certain figures in film history or how the filmmaker thinks stories should be told. A manifesto can also be used to set a person apart which could lead to more job-opportunities in the future, It can also help one to focus on their progress of their projects. (Sedgwick, 2020).
My manifesto.
I am a believer in strong character that are grounded by realistic situations.
A character should not be black or white personality wise, they should be fluid. there is no such thing as good or bad, every character should have a balance of these two elements. There should be no pure heroic character that has an unrelenting positivity, if your character get struck down by something there should be repercussions for this, it should not be the case that he or she just keeps going without caring about what happened to them.
There does not have to be a happy ending.
We all like to see a happy ending, the character we have been following the entire time finally gets what they have been working on the entire time and we feel like we accomplished this with them. It nice to see, but unrealistic. Not everything everyone does ends in a happy ending, there is tragedy in the world and most of the time it does not end happy. Parents that lose their child to some horrific murder spree or a police officer that kills yet another black man whilst he is begging for oxygen. The world is cruel and that cruelty should also be portrayed in our entertainment. Not every film or series has to end this way. But it should not be the case that almost all films have a happy ever after.
Actors should be real people, not removed from reality.
The difficulty with actors is that they are portraying something that they are not, it is their job to portray this in such a way that the audience believes that something is really happening. I believe it is of utmost importance that actors are natural, a performance should be genuine and not phoned in. The actor has to share the passion for the story and not just do it for a quick paycheck. The audience will notice when a actor is just in it for the money. An actor should be chosen on their ability to preform not just on their status within the industry. This does not mean that you should not use famous actors, they are famous for a reason and a lot of them are extremely talented, but do not use an actor just because of their name value.
Nothing should limit your ability to tell your story.
If you truly believe in the value of your story you should not let anything limit your ability to tell it. There will be people who think you should change your story to make it friendlier for a broader audience, you can listen to these people but do not let them change your story. It can be the case that your equipment is not up to industry standards, this will not matter as long as your story is strong enough. There are plenty of people with the newest equipment who can make the most beautiful looking images, but what is rare is people who know how to convey a story.
Always be ready to adapt.
You should not let anything limit your ability to tell your story, but you should always be prepared to adapt to unexpected situations. You will always run into problems whilst producing your project. So you have to be quick on your feet to be able to adapt to these situations. Use your creativity and the creativity of the people around you to work around these issues. Most of the issues can be solved in some way.
References
Munro, A., 2012. Manifesto | Definition, Examples, & Facts. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/topic/manifesto> [Accessed 30 May 2020].
Sedgwick, L., 2020. Manifesto AKA Your Why.