I can’t understand some people. They just make no sense whatsoever to me.
Case in point, two forum threads over at HV20.com. One thread about the “Condition:Human” web series, and one about the “Manifest Destiny” short movie.
These are two examples of some of the most complex and involved HV20/30-related projects ever shot. There is a lot of work put into these shorts, much more than the usual wanna-be who gets a camera and shoots a “short movie” of complete and utter bullshit, handheld no less. In the case of Condition:Human there was a lot of preparation going on, changing the director’s living room into a green screen, shooting a various locations, and on top of that, implementing complex CGI too. And in the case of Manifect Destiny the sound was superb, the props were superb, the editing more so. Heck, even the sci-fi news site IO9.com wrote an article about the short! And the readers there, loved it! It’s only some HV20.com “I am a better filmmaker than you are” readers who “didn’t like it”.
Some of the HV20.com residents found it “cheesiest, dumbest short”, or said “color me unimpressed”. What the hell? These shorts are more involved and complex AND well-done than your average travel video posted on that forum. How do these people actually compare the god-damn thing? Comparing it to the latest Oscar-winning movie, or to the rest of the amateur filmmaking community? Because, if they are comparing it against the latest Spielberg flick, they should obviously shit on top of 99% of the HV20.com videos too, and not just nitpick the most evolved ones.
Are these films perfect? No, definitely not. But they are BETTER than the rest in that HV20/30 community. Everything is relative in this world, and these guys simply can’t keep perspective. Instead of being HAPPY that someone was able to pull off such a complex project with a $500 camera and no budget to speak of, they nitpick it to death. The better the project actually is, the MORE nitpicking they do! I would agree with the nitpicking only if the filmmakers were boasting that their movie is better than Hollywood’s. But they aren’t. And no, this is not a case of personal likes and dislikes. This is a case of being objective about something. Heck, I can nitpick Condition:Human’s sound problems all day long for example, but I also recognize that the project overall is way too impressive to ignore.
My JBQ also notes: “When stuff is shot with better equipment, jealous people will just say ‘well of course it’s better, they have better equipment’. But when it’s shot with the same equipment, they have to nitpick because they can’t admit that the result is better than what they get with the same equipment. Ken Rockwell said it best about ‘Equipment Measurbators'”.
This is no different than having a genius kid in the first grade class, able to solve the most complex math than any of the other kids, and then having that kid sitting on the chair next to him, who’s terrible with math no less, saying “eh, you’re no Einstein. Not impressed“.
Well, go fuck yourself. Bully. Motherfucking jealous bully.
