Nevergreen

This picture on the left is a poster that was made back in “the Day” which was approximately 2002 for this story for a feature-length film me and a few of my friends were going to make called Nevergreen.

The film focused on a lizard hunting company called Lizard Hunting Inc. (LHI for short) and their battle with the tree-hugging-hippies over at the Evergreen Corporation.  There was an old guy, blood, beer, action, murder, intrigue, and tons of stupid.

Oh, it was awesome. 

We had a full script written out, we had done some mockumentary interviews with some of the characters, created t-shirt designs, a poster design (even down to all the credits and logos), web banners; heck, I even started making a webcomic for it (started being the operative word there).  We were set to go.

Would have been fantastic… but something happens to you when you get into Film School.  Something in your mind goes SNAP! and suddenly all of the easy filmmaking that made all your friends and family roll on the floor laughing doesn’t appeal to you anymore.  You can’t not focus on the details of things that shouldn’t be detailed.  Why should expert camera angles matter in a movie designed to be as stupidly funny as the movie Kung Pow?

But, there it went.  Down the tubes.  I made movie making for my friends completely un-fun, and lost my actors… and my writer.

I still have the poster hanging up in my office as a reminder of that moment.  That moment where everything was going so great, the script was hilarious.  I still have the storyboards, the script, the prop list, EVERYTHING but a movie.  

But, I can tell that some of you out there are planners, and you think, “Details are how I live my life.  There’s a healthy balance you can get.”  And, let me just tell you that, I know.

My problem wasn’t the fact that (for once in my life) I was focusing on the details.  No, the problem came when the project wasn’t detail-oriented and I was creating details where there didn’t need to be, and a very hilarious and fun project turned sour and serious, then stopped altogether.

And, I tell you this because it wasn’t just this foray into feature-length comedy genius movie making that showed me this flaw in my brain.  I do it with everything.  I’ve been working on a re-write to my novel:  Battle for Arkwood:  The Monster in the Sewer since 2006 and I am so afraid of screwing it up that I whittle it away until I have nothing.  I’ve taken the fun and excitement out of writing that I loved so much.  That creative spirit was alive and flowing until I found out I was making “errors” and had to fix them immediately.  I’m starting to get back into everything because I still love writing, but it’s hard to get back on and not go crazy, detail oriented.  (Sidenote:  Editors do love it when you’re detail oriented, but you’re allowed to write your book and edit it later.  You don’t have to perfect each sentence as you type it.)

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:31-34)

To recap:  there’re some things in life that don’t need to be planned to death.  God made some things in life for us to have fun with, and if we don’t roll with it, we might get pulled in the undertow.

What’s your Nevergreen?