In a Snap

I can't whistle.

Well, technically, I can... in the sense that I am capable of pushing air through my lips to create a sound. But reality dictates that I can't because the sound is a flat, off-pitch noise that is almost as deadly as Vogon Poetry.

I'm just sayin'.

So, I don't whistle at attractive girls--mostly because I hear it makes them uncomfortable and thus isn't the best practice for blessing them, but also because I just can't figure out how to get that up-down pitch shift thingy.

I also don't whistle while I work. I just can't.

But I can snap... with both my middle and ring fingers. And every once in a while I can get things done in a snap.

More often than not, however, things take me a lot longer than I would like. For instance, we shot another little informational video today. I was hoping that it would take us two hours. It ended up taking three and a half hours to shoot a video that will likely be less than two minutes in length (and the lighting turned out lousy too <pout>).

Lousy Lighting

But that's just how film goes.

That's how life goes too.

How many times have you beat your head against something while screaming thinking: This shouldn't be this hard/take this long!

Never? Oh.

Well, I have.

But what I need to remember is that things just take time. Work takes time. Practice takes time. Kids need time to learn lessons, to mature and treat one another kindly, to get their work done. And as much as we may wish we could snap our fingers and make things better, we can't.

We can't change ourselves that way either.

So if you're struggling with something that just isn't snapping into place in your life, just remember: I can't whistle.

It'll make you feel better.

Besides, even if things look rather bleak now, you could always try to fix it in post:

Less Lousy Lighting

Hmm... nope, I'm going to need more time to fix that problem. Ugh.

I can't whistle or light a set!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father