Question Everything When it Comes to Your Filmmaking

For toddlers, everything is new. No matter how well you explain something, they will almost always question, “why”.

There’s no doubt in my mind that asking questions will make you a better filmmaker.

The old standards of how, what, where and why should be used without hesitation on any project you work on.

Questions can help you determine what a film project should be about. If you have a question about something, there’s a good chance that others have the same question as well.

The film “Blackfish” all started because a mother and her son wondered why. She set out to answer why and the film was so powerful that Sea World has agreed to stop breeding orcas, ensuring that no more killer whales are kept in captivity in their tanks.

A project I’ve been working on for several years deals with the tallgrass prairies of Iowa.

Originally most of Iowa was covered by tallgrass prairie. Today only one tenth of one percent of the native tallgrass prairie remain.

We know they why. John Deere invented the steel plow that allowed pioneers to break through the tough prairie sod and expose the riches soil on the planet. Within a single generation, more than ninety-nine percent of the tall grass prairie were gone.

So my question for this film is how. How can I educate people that the small remnants we have left need to be protected and saved for generation after generation? Part of doing that is asking what. What lives and grows in the prairie and why is it worth saving?

To many people, a tallgrass prairie looks like a bunch of weeds that need to be mowed. But if you really look at what loves there, how it survives and educate people why it needs to remain, I think that’s a good story.

Another line of questions you can ask yourself is about your film or photographs. What is good or bad? How could I have made this better? Where can I go to find this plant or this animal?

Answer the right questions and I’m guessing you’ll have a pretty powerful film on your hands. Why wouldn’t you?
And as always, shoot the ordinary and make it extraordinary!