DS-LOG 0004 — VISUAL LANGUAGE

TRANSMISSION DS-LOG 00004 - VISUAL LANGUAGE

It clicked for me recently.

I’ve been sitting on a decent amount of footage, and once I started messing with it in Final Cut Pro, something shifted. I stopped trying to control it and just followed what felt right.

I keep landing on the same things.

Gritty footage.
Layering shots with lowered opacity.
Slowing something down until it drifts… then reversing it.

It’s rough, but it feels like something.

One of the shoots that stuck was at a friend’s backyard pool at night. Lights set up, fog machine going, a few random props. Nothing complicated, but the second the fog hit the light the right way, it became something else.

That’s the kind of moment I want more of.

There’s a scene in Mandy I keep thinking about—when Red meets the chemist. Nicolas Cage doesn’t say anything. The chemist barely does either. But there’s this understanding between them anyway. It almost feels telepathic. Like everything important is already there without needing to be spoken.

That’s what I’m chasing.

Not no dialogue—but not depending on it either.

If a line shows up, it should feel earned. Almost like it was already there in the visuals before it was spoken.

Right now the harder part isn’t filming—it’s figuring out what the story actually is. I tend to collect fragments. Shots I like. Moments that feel right. Turning that into something cohesive… still working on that.

Another thing that’s been different—this isn’t just me anymore.

My husband’s getting into it too. He wants to learn, and he’s putting in the effort. That matters. It’s not just talk.

And he’s also my biggest support.

That combination changes how this feels. It’s not just something I’m making on my own.

One thought I keep coming back to—there’s probably some ego in this. There has to be, to some degree. But it’s not about overdoing it.

If people connect with it, if they feel something from it… that’s the point.

So yeah. I’m into this right now.

And I want to keep going with it.