Be Kind, Rewind

Be Kind, Rewind. Those three words mean a lot. In some ways, they mean a learning experience. In other ways, they can possibly mean a work out. In some ways, they can mean just pure insanity. In some ways, they can mean rushing. So, you can pretty much say that Be Kind, Rewind means a hell of a lot of things. Especially to me.

A "Be Kind Rewind" is a film in which is shot in only one take. No rewinds. No retakes. What you have is what you have, and that's it. If you mess up, it's part of your film. Rule number one of a "Be Kind Rewind," don't try to outsmart the system and be perfect, because you'll look a whole lot worse if you do.

When Luke first said that this week we were working on "Be Kind Rewinds" the entire STAC room erupted into cheers. I just looked around thinking "Am I really the only one here who has no idea what the hell a Be Kind Rewind is?" Once Luke explained it, to be honest, it still didn't make much sense to me. What were we supposed to learn from this? It seemed like just a fun activity, nothing more.

Once we actually started to get to work on our films, it made a lot more sense, and it became a lot of fun. The day of filming had to be the best part. We only had 1 hour to shoot our entire movie, so naturally, we were all running around the school, in our various costumes, trying to get from place to place. This taught a lot of discipline, and it taught that shooting a movie in an hour even with mistakes can actually look pretty good.

I honestly think the best part about this entire experience was the looks we got from people in the hallways. They looked at us like we were insane. It was the funniest thing ever.

Our film was a little out there, but then again, so was everyone elses, and I think that's what made it fun. In all honesty, did I think that the idea of an OCD germaphobic serial killer was insane? Of course I did. But it was just fun to film, and to watch.

I think that watching all of them at the end of the filming was the most rewarding part. Watching 2 minute long videos that seemed so effortless, but in reality took much more effort then anyone could ever imagine.

The Be Kind Rewinds kind remind me of our mural on the first or second week of school. In the beginning, Luke told us that the mural had to be "Factory" and perfect, but after we finished we realized that it was really "Laboratory" and a learning experience. I feel like it didn't even matter what the Be Kind Rewinds looked like, so long as we learned something from them. And I think that I did learn a lot from them. I think we all did. And I can't wait for the chance to make another one.