Write to Shoot

1Why?

Tolstoy, in his book What Is Art?, explores artistic motives at the very onset of the work. He asks probing questions that all artists (and filmmakers are most definitely artists) need to ask themselves at the onset of careers or projects. The first of these comes down to “is it worth it?” That’s because he admits that art demands tremendous labor and sacrifices on the part of the artist and goes so far as to say that the making of it stunts human lives and transgresses against human love (Tolstoy, 2005, Chapter 1).

The clear answer, the one that bears no excuses, is that we do art because we have to. Something inside us compels us, and without doing it we can’t exist. This is the most basic and legitimate reason for making art. That applies, ...