Inspiration

The above images not only provoke inspiration or motivation to me artistically but they bring back various emotions that I’ve felt when I was looking for a career path. Certain images remind me of the burden that others had to bear so that I can be where I am today.

The first image of the rusting car reminds me that though our physical bodies don’t rust, we age just the same. Life is too short to delay doing what I enjoy doing. If I wholeheartedly enjoy filming or editing, I should make every effort to either film or edit or learn about either one every day.

The second image is of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a centuries old sculpture. The sculpture inspires me for two reasons. The first is that the sculpture is still beautiful even though the head is missing. As artists and people in general we place so much emphasis on the face that we forget that the body holds as much beauty and importance as the face does. The second point of emphasis is the sculpture’s clothing is sweeping as if it’s moving forward, as if it’s frozen in time but still in motion. And like this sculpture, film is an art form of beauty in motion.

The third image is of the hands from the movie poster, Jungle Fever, being in an interracial relationship and living in the south isn’t always easy, and images like this stick out to me because it shows that people of different races cannot only coexist and work together, but love one another as well.

This leads to my fourth image of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, two figures of the civil rights movement. Heritage is important in all that I do; I feel that all individuals should take pride in their heritage and ancestry not only from an educational standpoint but from an overall admiration of achievement that people of many different races can coexist in one place. I wouldn’t even be able to attend the University of Alabama had it not been for the work of Rev. King and other prominent civil rights figures.

The last image is perhaps my favorite; it’s of a monk in Vietnam who is burning himself in protest. This man was willing to give his life for his beliefs and as artists we must do the same, but not to the extent of death. Give your all to every shot, every frame, every film project because if you’ve put your soul on the film the audience will see it too.