Haven't updated here in a while. Of course a lot of you have been asking "when is the next Agent Emes coming out?" A legitimate question indeed. The title, of course, is a big clue: "Agent Emes and the Shavuos Trial." It won't be ready by Pesach, but the plan is to have it out a few weeks before Shavuos.
I'm trying my best to allocate some of the many responsibilities involved with releasing an episode. The biggest hurdle I face with number 8 are all the special effects shots that have to be done. For the past few shows I've been doing it myself, but this is hardly the best possible use of my time.
So this time around I think I've found a couple of very capable university students who are studying motion graphics to handle the duties for me. It's great experience for them, will look very good on their resumes, will relieve me of the very time-consuming hassle, and, most important, probably end up looking better than anything I could have done.
You know, to wax philosophical for a moment: A person must be honest with themselves and try and determine what they are best at, and concentrate on those things. Only the vary rarest of person can be excellent at almost everything, and I am, for certain, not one of those. My interest is in making professional looking, entertaining, and educational films for the Jewish audience. There are plenty of people who are interested in creating cool motion graphics, so why not let them do that part?
Film has always been the most collaborative of art forms, for the simple reason that there is too much to do for one person to do it all him or herself. that's why some, writers especially, get so worked up about the "A Film By..." credit that appears in front of so many of today's movies. The director certainly brings everything together, especially on set, but there are countless (in my case you can count them, but that's different story) individuals who contribute to your average motion picture who make the final product what it is.
It's an interesting discussion for another time and place. My own feeling is that the "film by" by credit, if given at all, should only be awarded to a writer/director of a film, but almost never to the director alone.
Blah blah blah. Time for lunch.
