Dreaming Like Steven Spielberg
The films of Steven Spielberg have been influential on my cinematic and emotional education. There is nothing like the sweeping John Williams score, elaborate camera movement and epic adventure of a Spielberg film. He is a master of his craft, but how did he achieve his dreams? How do I live the life I want to live?
Sometimes a dream almost whispers… it never shouts. Very hard to hear. So you have to, every day of your lives, be ready to hear what whispers in your ear.
In a world full of static noise it is hard to know what we really want — what do we really dream of? I have dreamt of becoming a filmmaker for as long as I can remember but I have had moments of re-evaluation. My love is in storytelling, I have a passion for writing and directing. My dreams were whispering to me. I had to sit in silence and listen carefully, only then could I hear my dreams void of the world’s static.
You shouldn’t dream your film, you should make it!
After making time to dream, we face the forces that separate the realities. We shouldn’t let anything stop us from achieving our dreams. We should not just dream — we should take action. Speilberg was failing school and was rejected from film school but instead of giving up his dream he persevered. He snuck onto sets making his dreams happen. We can’t achieve any dream if we sit around dreaming, we must do whatever we can to move forward.
I was isolated as a child. I’d go home and write my scripts, cut my films.
I am a big believer in growing up without losing our childish nature. This does not mean we don’t mature, we all have to take on responsibility, but why lose the playfulness and imagination at the same time. We don’t have to make that sacrifice. Spielberg uses child protagonists in his stories with experiences derived from his own childhood experiences, the good and the bad and all the first times. We can use our childhood to fuel our creativity and imaginations.
In a two-hour movie, you get a handful of character-defining moments. But in real life, you face them every day; life is one long string of character-defining moments.
In film characters go through ‘character defining moments’ times where their morals are put to the test and they can choose the easy way or the right way. Spielberg is right, we face these moments everyday, every choice we make. We cannot forget our own morals and beliefs, especially in a world where we are bombarded with others. We have to listen to our inner voice — the whisper that will guide us.
