Last month, we had the pleasure of attending a speaker's panel at El Molino High School, where we had the opportunity to share insight and inspiration as Sonoma County's videographers.
Returning to El Molino was huge for us: it's where we found filmmaking and each other. Now we relived a piece of it, even getting the chance to guest anchor on the campus' daily news broadcast, TV45.
Inspired by the panel (and by LinkedIn's 2014 blog series "If I were 22") we decided to each share what wisdom we might give our 17-year-old selves:
Lesson #1: Don't take yourself seriously; take your work seriously.
Stefan Perez: What would've helped me most in high school is how to take criticism of my work. A lot of people fall into careers and hobbies that they're naturally good at but for me, film seemed to be a real challenge to get right or even close to right. It was the first time I had genuine feedback and I took it very personally.
If I had only known sooner that every criticism has its own degrees of worth then I would've made much more progress during my years in high school. I was looking for instant gratification and praise when the focus should've been on the craft itself.
Praise is nice but if it isn't honest then it could be even more hurtful than criticism. Funny enough, the people who gave me the harshest criticisms are the ones I trust the most. Those are the ones to keep around because they're the ones to keep you humble.
So, in a line I would want to say to myself, don't take yourself seriously but to take what you do seriously.
Lesson #2: You are what you do when nobody is looking.
Miranda Limonczenko: In high school, I wasted days of my life worried about who I was going to be, whether I could become adult enough or the "real world" would eat me alive.
But it turned out I was growing, gradually becoming more of my future self each day. I learned I am what I do when no one is looking, not what professors were making me study or even what major I declared. My degree and resume was moot compared to Miranda the actual person.
It's so important for us to think for ourselves and pursue our own interests, despite whether it means career or not. I had no idea my late nights in high school managing websites would eventually grow into a career. I knew I loved writing, but I didn't know the skill would help me seemingly everywhere in my life. When you're in high school, that future career is still years down the line. It doesn't exist yet, so seriously - don't worry and do stuff that matters.
Lesson #3: There's no time limit on learning.
Julian Brotschi: Back in high school I wish I could learn as much film knowledge as I could all at once. Then I realized that there was no time limit on the knowledge I could gain, so rather than try to cram everything into my head, I took my time and chipped away piece by piece until I had a solid understanding of the material six years on. Knowledge is a marathon, not a dash. Don't think you cannot learn the material, you can, just set goals and slowly progress through the material.
Practice makes perfect. Your first videos will inevitable suck, but what separates a success from a failure is the ability of the filmmaker to learn from his mistakes and take that knowledge into making his or her next film exceptional. Do not put all of your creative eggs in one basket. Diversify your talents, but specialize on a particular field of interest that you particularly enjoy. I chose editing and cinematography, you may choose screenwriting or producing. Just make sure to surround yourself with people smarter and more hard working than yourself and you're bound to learn the rest of the details that you may not currently know.