Why I Shoot. By: Ilya Polyakov
Every now and then, it amuses me to break down filmmaking and examine the process from the outside. What other business do you put yourself through as many obstacles and as much hardship as you do in filmmaking? You volunteer yourself for the most grueling tasks. You wake up before the sun rises. You work all night. You invest tons of time and sweat building something only to tear it down immediately. And at the end of the day, after all the the money, time and energy spent, you have a couple seconds or a couple minutes of moving pictures to show for it. So why do it? Well…you know that feeling, when for once the jumble of concerns melt away, leaving behind a defined objective? when you experience the purest joy and satisfaction at accomplishing the thing you set out to do, despite the odds and seeming impossibility? that feeling of optimal purpose? bliss? That’s why I shoot.