Stillmotion Take Action Challenge Complete!
We did it! ;) We completed the Stillmotion Take Action Challenge! When we signed up in May, I remember feeling a little overwhelmed just by adding the dates to the calendar. For 11 weeks straight, we received a challenge on Monday, on Tuesday we had a 1-2 hour live webinar to discuss the challenge and the results from the week before, and then on Sunday we had to submit our completed film project by 11:59 p.m. PST. (I put the specific time because there were many weeks that we found ourselves pushing the deadline of 2:59 a.m. EST! ;) ).
We signed up for the Challenge because we have this dream. The dream, that we have shared a few times here and there, is to produce a documentary! We took on the challenge as a way to learn as much as possible about the art of filmmaking. As photographers, we have a little bit of understanding… but to be completely honest, cinematography and photography are completely different! We knew that going in, but we were reminded over and over again each week.
When I was feeling overwhelmed just by putting the dates on the calendar, Ryan reminded me that this was our FUN! Filmmaking was something that we were completely excited to learn about and this was a fun opportunity to do exactly that! Fun… yes, I would definitely say with confidence that we had fun throughout the Challenge. However, I think we can both say with confidence that it was definitely hard work too! We pushed ourselves BIG TIME to complete the challenges and grow as much as possible with every opportunity we were given. There were many weeks that Sunday would roll around, and after traveling for a wedding on Saturday and still feeling the exhaustion from the wedding, the last thing we wanted to do was START the challenge for the week! Those were the days we definitely struggled, but we knew we would gain so much by challenging ourselves and completing the assignment! We had some of the world’s best cinematographers (yes, they won an Emmy!) at our finger tips and that is pretty incredible in itself! During our weekly webinar meetups, we began to feel like they were our friends just hanging out in our living room! ;)
The Take Action Challenge is now complete… 10 assignments later and a final project complete, we can now say we have a much better understanding of filmmaking! ;) We won’t go as far as claiming we are pros! ;) But we definitely learned a TON and we are so incredibly grateful for the experience!!
Huge thanks to the whole Stillmotion team for putting so much time and attention into educating filmmakers from around the world! They are literally changing the industry and it is AMAZING to watch! We are so grateful for their talent, passion to educate, constructive criticism, honest feedback, and love they put into everything that they do!
On Wednesday, Stillmotion shared a post on their blog about the Take Action Challenge and they asked us to chime in to share about our dreams for the documentary! We are so incredibly honored to have our story featured on their blog in hopes of inspiring others to follow their dreams too! Check it out and leave them some love! http://stillmotionblog.com/2013/09/04/taking-the-leap/
Also… just a quick plug because we love them… Grant and Baker, from one of our all time favorite documentaries (“I’m Fine Thanks”) are now part of the Stillmotion team and were HUGE contributors to the Take Action Challenge! If you have not already done so… download I’m Fine Thanks. ;) It will likely be the best $5 you will ever spend… because it WILL change your life! ;)
Just for the fun of it- we had to share this iPhone behind the scenes photo! ;) haha! If this doesn’t scream fun, I am not sure what does!?! ;) Side note… but incredibly important note: HUGE thanks to the Simer Family, the Coates Family, Marissa Walch, and everyone else who participated in our films at the very last minute, of course! ;) You all are AMAZING!!