As a filmmaker, to say you will be on your feet quite a bit is somewhat of an under statement. Part of me liked the idea of a filmmaking career because it wouldn’t be just a fun, challenging, creative job that exposes you to lots of different industries, varieties of life and culture, but it would be an active one. You have to get out of your chair if you want to make a film. If your reply is “I’m an animator; like the click-click kind, not the claymation or green screen shoot kind,” why not go out and take some photos of textures? Making your own textures is painless and much more rewarding, but the contents on this site is essentially what I’m talking about. If your excuse is “I’m just an editor,” well, I’m an editor too, and there are plenty of organic ways to edit. Just ask Oscar-Winning Hollywood editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient) how he edits. (For those who are looking for some balance, have a ball, or a kneeling chair). If your excuse is, “I don’t want to exercise—it’s hard,” there’s nothing I can do for you. You need this guy to help you.
Proper ergonomics and health is a concern for everyone, filmmaker or not. As I mentioned, you have to get up to make a film. I know I’ll have to lug a bag or two or three, sometimes make a few trips or bring extra people just to set up a shot. At the end of a day of production it’s a good workout, and workouts give you energy to keep going during the day. But how many days really are you in production? As the guy running Green Lens can testify, productions are actually a small percentage of each project. There might be many weeks of pre-production planning, phone calls, emails, and meetings before getting on set. And once off set, now you are headed for that editing bay—sigh…more sitting.
I founded GLM as a very green conscious entity, pulling from my own beliefs on environmental issues, so the encouragement of physical activity also fits nicely in with our business model. I try to promote this by biking to places when possible, taking public transport, and walking, all in an effort to support the reality that movement is a key ingredient to living and feeling well. Unfortunately, this for many has become an inconvenient, undesirable reality (wow, that was close—almost said an inconvenient you-know-what. Go see the film if you haven’t by the way; 7 years later it’s still an important piece of political, environmental, and film history).
Apparently, we—Americans—aren’t walking a lot anymore.
In fact, we are so comfortable taking our cars, and avoiding old-fashioned legwork, that reporter Franz Strasser of BBC World News America decided to do a story on it. According to his article, it seems the good Samaritans of Raleigh, North Carolina have been taking matters out of City Hall’s hands and into their own, posting signs telling pedestrians how far it is to walk from place to place. Where no city official has taken action or filed a permitting charge against the movement, it would appear the city approves of the initiative.
The more reasons we have to be active, the greener, healthier, and happier we stand to be. With barely any Boston snow to speak of this past year, I think I‘ve seen more joggers outside this winter than the past 4 winters combined, so why not take advantage of the weather and treat yourself to a warm February stroll to the insert-your-nearby-store-here? (The ecological significance of the weather, or lack thereof, surely warrants its own post; we’ll save that one for later).
Currently, I don’t have Murch’s upright editing station setup. However, I do have a small swiveling laptop stand that sits up on my desk at times throughout the day to give my seated self a healthy dose of stand. The takeaway here is whatever your industry is, see if there is a way to work in more exercise into the daily routine, whether it means a new chair, periodically standing while working, taking the elevator more, or walking to offices to give messages rather than emailing. It doesn’t need to be strenuous; just enough to give our bodies what they need to live a long, satisfying life. Don’t wind up like the humans in WALL-E with tiny bones swimming around in their bodies…somewhere…
Focus of the Day:
What do you do to keep moving?
Film-tip: It’s tax time. iPad / iPhone users, if you haven’t already, check out Mint.com. It is a secure accounting management site you can use for free (there are paid upgrades), and there are some great apps to go along with. Mint is created by Intuit, the same guys responsible for Quickbooks. Credit to ColinReidDesign.com for telling us about this one way back when.
Eco-tip: You remember to bring your reusable bags to the supermarket, but how many times do you say “yes” to the “do you want your chicken wrapped in plastic” question? If you are wary of raw meats coming into contact with the apples for you and your little ones, consider designating one small reusable bag as “the raw meats” bag. One more step to getting off the plastic bag bandwagon.
