In screenwriting, the ticking clock is your friend. In real life, not so much . For me, 2016 has felt like one giant ticking clock.
“There, there my man. It’s just a matter of time.”
- From the “Disregard the Vampire” Teaser
Mike Messier’s documentary “Disregard the Vampire” struck several chords with me. He (Mike, not the vampire!) introduces himself as "a struggling everything". He talks about the struggle of trying to make art with limited resources. And he talks about time running out. You can watch the official preview of the documentary here .
As I mentioned in my most recent Facebook note "2016 in Review (Or 1933 again?)", I am perturbed. The environment is becoming less and less conducive to low budget innovations such as ROFFEKE. Uncaped crusaders are out to save the day from modern-day pseudo monsters while the real monsters are left roaming free, seeking who they may devour. So what is the giroffeke to do? By its very nature, the giroffeke is a "monster", a giraffe with a guitar stuck on its torso. And we all know what happened to Dr. Franknstein’s creation....
I see pitchforks and torches and angry group-think villagers on the horizon even though the giroffeke is just a little bird with little wings. Blondie's "One way or another" keeps playing in my head. Usually, it's just a great song with a catchy tune. But in a different context, it can become a song that will freeze the blood in your veins...
I like the quote at the end of Mike Messier's documentary:
“It is quite easy to take the perfect combination of abundant and well-trained people, all the desired supplies and equipment, unlimited funds, and indefinite time to complete a project. That’s no challenge at all; anyone can do that.The real challenge to your management ability comes when you have the best use of whatever you have on hand to get the results you want. You will be measured more by what you actually get done under such circumstances than by what you can do under ideal conditions.”
- James K. Van Fleet “Take Control of People in 3 Weeks or less”
2016 is over and I am realizing that my gung-ho attitude and naive optimism is slowly being tainted with disillusionment, disappointment and a dash of dread. Luckily, rock ‘n’ roll and the blood of The Rock (NOT Dwayne Johnson lol!) run through my veins. The blood, sweat, tears, enthusiasm, determination, humor, can-do attitude and rock ‘n’ roll spirit of all the awesome filmmakers that submitted their short films, music videos and rockumentaries to ROFFEKE, spur me on. The Sustainable Development Goals spur me on. Pure, illogical, hardheadedness spurs me on. The ROFFEKE motto - “Friendship. Fun. Freedom” - spurs me on.
I don’t know what 2017 holds - or which of these nine clocks we will be racing against - but I know The One who holds 2017…and it’s going to rock!
Happy new year everyone.
“There, there my man. It’s just a matter of time.”
- From the “Disregard the Vampire” Teaser
This blog offers a behind-the-scenes look at ROFFEKE. ROFFEKE is pronounced "rafiki" which is a Swahili word meaning "friend". 'Friendship, Fun, Freedom' is the motto of the ROck 'n' ROll Film FEstival, KEnya. The mission of ROFFEKE is to promote rock music in Kenya by dispelling rock 'n' roll myths and misconceptions via the medium of film. The Purpose of ROFFEKE is "Lighten the Burden".