Filmmaker Samuel Tressler IV tells Hood students about his struggles.
By Kristina Hong//
An independent filmmaker spoke at Hood College last week about overcoming the trials and tribulations of following your dreams when there is no clear path.
Samuel Tressler, IV, 31, is a director of photography currently living in downtown Frederick, Maryland. Although multiple opportunities to really hone in on his aspirations have come his way, Tressler chose to stay close to home every time.
In his speech on Wednesday, Oct 18, Tressler said, “I got into NYU for screenwriting but decided to go to Stevenson University instead.” Due to his financial status, he attended Stevenson: “NYU was too expensive and I felt like a failure for that,” Tressler said.
Interested in writing for pictures, the Maryland school had more appeal to him, as one of their main focuses is archived motion pictures with projects involving 16mm film. However, his classmates were not as dedicated as himself to their studies. “My peers weren’t interested in putting in the work and I wasn’t focused on the grades,” Tressler said. “I wanted to make something that meant something and move further out beyond school.”
By graduation, he completed three 16mm projects and realized his true passion was right in front of him: film. “Stevenson was more hands on.. It was the full spectrum the whole time rather than just writing,” Tressler said. “Filmmaking is an art like no other and my love was in the whole process.”
After school, he flew to California to attend a camp and made a few friends interested in the same field. By the end of the camp, his friends urged him to stay in the area. However, he found it hard to find a place to fit in and grow. “The longer I was there,” Tressler said, “the more I realized that the film industry is a horrible place for an independent voice.”
Hollywood is known for being one of the nation’s biggest capitals for producing content of any form, including motion pictures. There are expectations put on producers and companies to meet a quota, provide and stay within a budget, and deliver something that will in turn pull in more revenue.“It’s not leading to ‘big box office’ sales,” Tressler said, “it’s a money driven system and it’s killing itself.”
When it comes to independent directors, the chances are slim, if not none, for those without a reputation and steady financials. This has made the motion picture industry a commodity. “We no longer see film as an artform, it’s seen as a cheap thing,” Tressler said.
Unable to fit in, Tressler returned to Maryland once more and married his fiancee. Once home, he found a steady job with regular hours but found it unfulfilling. “I got a job downtown as an editor and after two and a half years, I started to get bored of it,” Tressler admitted.
Although losing inspiration from doing the same job for years, he gained workplace skills that made him faster at post-production processes and further broadened his appreciation for film. “There’s so much that can be taken advantage of in this medium, which is why I use it,” Tressler said. “Eventually it became like, ‘Cookie Cutter Sam fits into society’ and I was losing sight of my future.”
After four years, Tressler could charge people for his work as a freelance videographer and editor. “My mom thought it was artsy-fartsy that I went to school for filmmaking,” Tressler said, “but you can gain the skills necessary to be on the professional level of charging money and making a living off of it.”
By 2013, Tressler began putting funds into his current project, Leda. “When I came up with the storyline for Leda, I was inspired by Leda the Swan,” Tressler said. A mythological piece, the story behind it follows Zeus and his pursuit of a woman named Leda. During this chase, he encounters another being that aims to steal Leda, causing the Trojan war.
“The piece is an icon for classic art, but there is no story that tells the unfolding of how she loses touch with reality,” Tressler said.
The most interesting aspect of his project is not only the plotline, but his reasoning for making it in 3-D. “I wanted to make it 3-D because it’s a gag thing,” Tressler said. “3-D today is seen as a cheesy thing and I wanted to use it artistically.. As she starts losing her mind, people have a subliminal experience while she’s losing herself.”
Another aspect the film features is its homage to silent cinema by leaving out the dialogue and having monochromatic coloring. “I have a passion for silent cinema and I’m inspired by Alfred Hitchcock,” Tressler said. “He’s the master because he learned how to make a film that is purely cinematic without using dialogue.”
In his mind, he had the perfect film. To get to the final product, however, it took much time, energy and funding that Tressler and his team did not have.
“I started an Indiegogo campaign and asked friends and family to donate if they could.. Eventually, I cashed in my car and life savings too,” Tressler said.
In order to have a steady budget, his producer took out three credit cards in his name and maxed them out immediately. With money aside, issues arose surrounding his crew and actors. “It was like I was hitting a wall constantly.. My producer was verbally doubting me and even my actors refused to connect with each other on camera,” Tressler said. “So I trashed half the film and started over, otherwise it would’ve looked like a failed relationship drama.”
Over the course of four years, multiple concept trailers were produced as well as interactive videos to keep his supporters engaged. The script and execution of production were reworked in many ways as well, with Tressler’s position as director overlapping other positions on his team.“The biggest point outside of this project is that I took a leap of faith. I wasn’t happy where I was but this was what I wanted to be doing for some reason,” Tressler said.
Despite the constant restarting and disconnect within the project, he still pressed on. “If I didn’t at least try,” Tressler said, “I would’ve always seen myself as a failure.. And once I took that chance, everything fell into place.”
The second trailer for Tressler’s film, Leda, premiered a few weeks ago at the 72 Film Festival. The team has one more week of shooting this month until the film is complete.
Paul Downs, a Communication Arts student, took much of Tressler’s story to heart in regards to his studies. “It’s a struggle for sure,” Downs said. “At the end of the day with filmmaking, it’s not when or how. You love it and you do it to the point until you’re satisfied.”
Sam Orbin, another Communication Arts student, agreed with Downs. “Working towards your dreams for sure,” Orbin said. “What if I told people I want to create book covers? I’m really good at doing photography and typography, and it’s something I can do together.”