10/14/2021
Happy spooky season!
I'm not sure if it was only in the schools I went to, but from the end of elementary school to high school I had to write in a notebook to do some kind of "reflection." Usually there was a boring prompt and I had to reflect on things I didn't care for...such as my grades or anything relating to school.
What's great about not being in school anymore is that you can do thing such as self reflecting on anything you want.
For a while I've been thinking of these two ideas, "It's better to follow the beat of your own drum," and "Give them what they want." Personally these two ideas pertains to my filmmaking, my writing and my marketing on social media. Since the beginning I have been doing what I want to do, but those who are successful give what the the audience wants.
And so far I have had little success with my work as I've been following my heart.
And then there are those who somehow get to do both. As in their passion is what people want.
Say for Sam and Colby, they are YouTubers that travel to haunted or abandoned places for a living. Though I did look deeper into how they get money. It's mostly from the merch they sell, their membership site with footage only members can watch, and whatever money they get from their YouTube videos (they probably have more streams of income). You may think, "What is it that they're giving to their audience?"
Let me tell you, the audience get's to go to scary, and maybe SOMETIMES illegal places without the worry of getting caught, in trouble or even hurt. The stuff they do sometimes requires running and climbing. Not that I would mind doing the exercise, but a majority of YouTube viewers probably don't want to go through the physical exercise part. Oh yeah, and from what they've said, their audience is mostly kids/tweens (and me lol).
Sam and Colby get to do what they love AND give the people what they want.
I on the other hand...probably have a whole lot more to learn about audiences, but I enjoy doing what I want. Which isn't a specific thing such as ghost hunting, knitting or doing pranks on strangers.
You're probably in the same boat as me. So, what do we do?
As of right now, we should put on some goggles and experiment what works and what doesn't. Build up experience/portfolio to show you're not sitting around doing nothing. Do research, and we might have to ask for other's opinions and ideas to see if we're going in the right direction.
Though I do wonder how some people do what they want and somehow an audience finds them. Such as Van Gogh. People thought his paintings were weird. They didn't look natural. He lived a life of poverty and then dies. Then people started to appreciate his work. First off, that's not fair to him or any other artist. For myself I don't want to be a famous once I'm dead. Would you?
No, no one should want that. Your work needs to be appreciated now.
For the time being, keep moving forward. Keep expanding your knowledge and keep trying.
I'm going to continue until I get this right. So, you might have to wait a little until I can give you a better answer on how to actually touch the stars.
If you have any thoughts about this, I'd love to hear about it.
You can send an email at LuckyDaruma7@gmail.com
Best,
Emel