By Jack Tellier
When a film is released, it is nothing short of a miracle. Most critics could never make one themselves.
Many film critics judge so harshly because they do not have the patience or understanding that comes with making a film. I’m trying to make this sound as least-pretentious, or holier-than-thou, as possible. All of this is to say that it is extremely difficult to accurately judge something you have never done before.
I have made a feature film, it is a 100 minute documentary called “Jit.” I spent almost half of my teenage years creating it.
Creation of “Jit”
In the ‘twenty-teens’ there was a very specific image or stereotype people held in their minds when they thought of an independent rapper. A caricature of sorts in the form of an unfit, gun-flashing, face-tattooed, colored-hair, high on cough syrup and xanax, word-slurring nuisance.
Around 2015-2019, a lot of these independent rappers were teenagers coming out of places in South Florida like Broward County or Miami. There was something very alluring about this lifestyle to middle/high schoolers; so much so that kids all over my South Florida home began calling themselves “Lil [any word here].”
These children wanted to “make it” as rappers and they wanted to do so with minimal effort and in a timely fashion.
I had made a few music videos during this time in high school. In 2019 I made one for an old friend named Evan; he had been making music since 2017 and showed no signs of stopping. Usually these kids would make one or two songs and abandon their SoundCloud account altogether.
After making another video for Evan in 2021, I decided a month later that I wanted to make a short documentary about him and his rapper friends. Their music had much better production value than any of the other teen “rappers” and I could see they were really passionate about their work.
I wanted to make something that would shine a spotlight on these young artists and break the SoundCloud rapper stereotype that caused so many to disregard Evan and his friends. After about 6 months into filming Evan and the kids I met through him, I could tell this was going to turn into a different project entirely.
What I filmed over the span of three years was a group of teenagers who built something incredible together with their own hands, voices, and money that served as a temporary escape from internal pain and fear.
Around my last year of shooting, I switched my college path to fully online classes so I could work a job that allowed me to pay for: an original score, additional equipment, festival fees, poster art, title art, and more.
After over a year and a half working at my screenprinting job, I decided to quit so I could work full-time on “Jit.”
Going all in
Upon telling my boss I wanted to quit, I was full of fear. What did I just do? Am I crazy? Maybe so, but after my first full day editing, I realized I had made the right choice.
My daily routine for the next few months consisted of: sitting down at 7AM, setting an eight hour timer and editing until the timer went off at 3PM.
After my first rough cut, I spent an additional year, on and off, editing the film and tweaking the smallest of details that I knew an audience would never notice.
Rejection after rejection piled in from film festivals and illusions of grandeur became harder to maintain. I submitted to those festivals because I hoped it could be screened in a theater somewhere.
Premiere Day
I owed it to myself and the rappers I had met to throw some sort of screening. I bought a ten foot screen, rented a projector, and gave myself permission to borrow around 40 foldable chairs from neighbors, relatives and a country club.
The last of my money went towards renting out a warehouse for a night and premiere T-shirts to give to cast and crew. Dozens of people in the film as well as their families and friends came to watch “Jit.”
It was the most nerve-racking moment of my life and the final week of editing, promotion, stealing chairs, uploading trailers and planning the event probably gave me a few gray hairs on my otherwise youthful head.
How I Review Films
This is not me stroking my own ego or feeling like I have to prove myself to any potential readers.
I am simply saying that when I review films, I am looking at them through the lens of a filmmaker. I am viewing them as someone who knows what it’s like to lack coverage in certain scenes, to lose footage, to deal with unruly cast and crew, to have technical issues and a limited budget.
While many films are very flawed, and don’t get me wrong, deserve critiquing, they can be criticized constructively and sympathetically. Film is a collaborative medium and many factors are outside of a director’s control.
Filmmaking is not even close to being the most important career in the world. It is infuriating and stupid, a waste of money that is pretty useless. But it’s so much fun and someone has to do it, right?
How can film be pushed forward without a love and respect for the craft?
We live in an age where we are surrounded by nonstop, reactionary and lazily-made content. Headlines and videos tailored specifically to confuse and enrage because that’s what gets clicks and eyeballs.
I aim to be more thoughtful in my criticism and highlight strengths of even the most irredeemable films.
I’m not saying I’m a better movie critic, but I try to be a more sympathetic one.
Movies are fun!
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