Over the Christmas break I had to come up with ideas and themes etc to base my final major project on. I was struggling to grasp a theme, I knew I wanted to trigger emotions within people, and I had come up with a couple of ideas ranging from dreams, to seeing the world through my own eyes. The question I had to ask, was why do I want my audience to watch a short film about this subject? What message am I trying to communicate with my audience? etc.
I decided to send Damien Serban another email to ask for his permission to post the information he has given me onto this blog - And to ask his advice on how he comes up with ideas for his films.

Thank you for replying to my email Damien, I really appreciate it!
I was just wondering whether it would be ok if i put the information you have sent me on a personal blog that I am doing for my degree course? The only people who view it are my tutors and classmates. I thought I should get your permission before I post any information!
I really am so impressed with the type of work that you have been producing.

Can I just ask another question, where do you get your inspiration from to base your films on certain subjects? I am about to start my final major project and need to think about what subject to focus my film on, and ask myself the question, why this subject? What message am I trying to send out to my audience? Are these questions what you think about also?

Also, I am in the middle of sorting out an online portfolio - as soon as it is up and running I will let you know! I would really appreciate other peoples feedback on my work especially from someone who's work is inspirational to me!

Would it be ok if I posted this information on my Blog?

Thank you again Damien for your time to write back to me!
Kind regards
Jenny

This is what Damien replied to me with:

Hi Jenny,

I don’t really know if what I say is “blog-worthy” but if you feel it is, please post it, I don’t mind at all !

Again, thank you for your kind words.

It’s hard to explain where inspiration comes from… sometimes it’s about encounters: you meet someone who introduces you to a universe you want to explore, sometimes the ideas are within you for a long time, you kept them in a box (in your head) and suddenly decide you want to dig deeper. Sometimes you read something in a book, on the news, and your mind wanders until you’re thinking of something you feel would make an interesting movie… Sometimes it’s even less thought about, like my film “Entre Deux”; I just sent a document with photos to be corrected by someone with better English skills then mine, and she sent it back with a fax… the faxed photos looked interesting to me and I decided to make a short film out of them.

To the question “why this subject” it’s simple… if you feel you would be interested in seeing a film about this subject it’s a good reason enough to make that film.

I don’t really ask myself what message I’m trying to send to the audience. I work more with intuition rather than moral. I want the audience to feel my movies, to sense them, not necessarily to “understand them” (it’s better if they do, but it isn’t primordial). Of course when I’m “building” the film, I am always trying that every second of it is there for a reason, but I don’t believe it’s important that the audience grasps this reason, it’s more important that they let themselves go into the film… they can always think about it later !

I think I heard this somewhere that “the difference between a filmmaker and a non-filmmaker is that the filmmaker makes films”… maybe the quote was about art in general and not specific to cinema… I don’t remember, or maybe I just imagined hearing it…. Anyway, what I got from this quote is that when you have an idea, even a small one, that you feel deserves attention, explore it and make it into a film ! There are tons of people with ideas (good and bad), but most of them don’t do anything about it. The ones that do, are the artists and filmmakers. So you shouldn’t be scared that an idea you have isn’t good enough, because even if it isn’t it is still better to work on it and make something out of it rather than just leave it there… because it might be a great idea… it might even be a genius idea… and if it isn’t you will still gain experience from exploring it, that you will be able to use on your next idea.

It is late, and maybe I’m not making any more sense here… forgive me if I don’t.

Good luck with your major project.

Cheers.

Damien
I am so grateful that he has spent the time replying to me with a good detail of information for me.
I quite like the idea of creating a film that my audience would 'feel' compared to sending out a particular message. 'I want the audience to feel my movies, to sense them, not necessarily to “understand them”'
But for my final major project, I intend my film to be understood by my audience, maybe not at first, but towards the end of my film, I would like everything to click into place, and for my audience to realise at some point within the film what it is they are actually watching, what the intended message is by the artist(me) and hopefully make my audience realise something about their own lives, make them think about my message and using it to improve their own lives.
I plan to email Damien again, to ask him for his advice on how he got started in the film industry and the processes he had to go through, and whether his films are enough to do as his main job for a living - or if he has another job to help fund his pieces of work. The industry process in France is a bit different to that of the UK, but it is still good to know these things, and to get information on his own personal experience of making his name in this type of industry!