How I managed to embrace life's changes

How I managed to embrace life's changes

Changes in life are inevitable. Some are results of our own choosing, and some have taken us by surprise. No matter the case, changes affect our daily routine.

The short film below walks us through a young man’s (me) efforts in adjusting to a new daily schedule. We see his struggles in finding the energy to move forward and his efforts in exploring new avenues in his life.

I came up with the idea for this short-film as I was going through some changes myself lately. I recently decided to leave my job of more than three years and further exploit my professional career as a marketer at a new company. I needed a break between the two jobs however, to clear my mind and start fresh. So I decided to take a month off.

I had big plans for my month off. I wanted to go out and make movies and explore London’s hidden treasures, snapping Instagram bangers and content for my website. I also wanted to become an intern at a studio production company, or more likely help with carrying their bags, just so that I can learn a thing or two about the film industry.

When it finally happened, and I didn’t have to go to work, I found myself drained. I had no energy to do anything. I pushed myself a couple of times to go out and shoot stuff, but I was never happy with the result. I ended up spending most of my days checking the weather, browsing the web, reading the news and watching TV. Come 4:30pm and I would turn on Netflix and binge-watch Friends for the 20th time.

My wife’s continuous encouragement to get out and do the things I said I would, were to no avail. Until one day I thought to myself, “Why don’t I make a short film about the state that I’m currently in? ” I would film myself doing the exact same things I’ve been doing for the last two weeks, only this time I’ll have a story, a short scenario and a shot list.

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New Beginnings

Shot list and voice over script

I spent the next two days coming up with the story, playing ideas off my wife to see what sticks best. Once I had a solid foundation, I began creating the shot list for my film. I split it into five filming days to make sure I capture all the scenes and shots I needed.

I then proceeded with the voice over script. I needed something that conveyed my current state but be hopeful at the same time, so I spent a couple of days fine tuning and copy editing it. Once I had the tone and ambience of my film all buttoned up (in my head), I did some research on Epidemic Sound for music tracks to use in post.

It took me about a week to complete all the prep work, and this involved buying video lights to correctly expose all indoor scenes. I was then ready to start filming. By that time, I was excited about my new project and had forgotten all about the struggles I was going through. I was pumped!

I spend the next five days filming everything I had on my list and more. I kept coming up with new ideas and different shots I could film for my film. I explored new methods and used gear that I dreaded of using before in order to push myself. It wasn’t an easy task, but I wanted to learn through the process.

During those five days I had to step outside my comfort zone and go the extra mile to get the shots I needed. I’m very self conscious, so running outside in the streets with a chest mount, a gimbal, a monopod, a tripod and a DSLR with a Rode mic mounted on, it’s not my idea of “normal”.

I turned a few heads in the process, I was asked a bunch of time what was I filming in residential areas, got some patronising looks when I flew my drone, I was asked to delete footage of businesses, and I gave my wife a heart attack when I sent her the above pictures of our apartment that I had turned into a studio.

But it was all worth it. I learned tons through this process and even got motivated to get out and film some more. I spend the reaming weeks shooting videos and got some ideas for new projects that I want to shoot.

It was only when I tried to change my mindset and got to do something outside my comfort zone that I was able to get motivated and open up to new experiences. It wasn’t an easy process and I could easily drop the project in a couple of occasions, but I now feel more complete, energised and ready for my new beginnings in life!


Check out my other films here.

Why we all need a long break

Why we all need a long break

Our 2018 travel in review

Our 2018 travel in review