Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to October! After a short break, we're starting production on the next episode of The Way We Were!
What's Inside: We learn what it means to value your creative work through every stage of the process. For the full studio schedule and content you might have missed, visit the Studio Directory.
Recap
The Way We Were Ep. 55: Secrets - Shrouded secrets and hidden pain
Shiori and Aijo come closer to the truth about each other, but fear keeps them on the outskirts of resolution.
Episode 56 Script Preview
"A world of unknowns … You always said that's the world we live in."
"I never said it was easy to live there."
Director's Notes
Last month, I wrote the next episode of The Way We Were, but as I reviewed the first draft, I scrapped half of it. In every scene, I found myself standing in those spaces, silently observing interactions, relationships, and schemes. Aijo's shaky hands. Shiori's torn expression. The muddled undercurrent of intertwined secrets and the high stakes our couple faces. I wandered through each scene, and by the end of the episode, I felt disappointed.
I expressed my dissatisfaction to my friend. I called the episode "trash" and immediately felt God's chastisement, followed by a similar rebuke from my friend. In that moment, I realized that no matter how bad I thought the episode was, I had no right to call it trash. I had no right to take this beautiful gift God had given me and reduce it to garbage.
My perfectionist attitude has given rise to hypercriticism. A micro-error is enough to make me feel as though an episode has missed the mark. However, in light of this experience, I realized my definition of "perfection" differs from God's. What I deemed as trash was not trash to Him. I may not have liked the episode, but it was wrong to curse the work God was doing.
But it was a first draft.
First drafts are always riddled with errors, so it seems justified to call a piece so raw and unrefined exactly what it looks like. Trash.
But diamonds, in their natural state, are also raw and rough until they are refined into the iridescent gems we see today. I failed to see what God was seeing in that imperfect first draft—the beauty beneath the flaws. This thought connects well to Off Script Episode 20, where Hyori and Do-hyun are cast aside because of perceived imperfections. The people they value most devalue them. But the question remains whether the pair sees the value in themselves.
I pose a similar question: Do I see the value in my work, regardless of its stage and placement in the refinement process?
Although I eventually revised Episode 56 after prayer, the experience taught me the importance of valuing my work and myself. For I, too, am unrefined and constantly being processed, and it takes maturity and discipline to resist speaking negative words. To label my work—and even my life—as trash is to curse myself, the work, and the process God is taking me through. By doing so, I was subjecting these areas to the negative consequences of my words and working against my own success.
Our words are not insignificant; they have weight. If we are to truly value our work and ourselves, we must shift our mindset, change our language, and learn to see the beauty beneath the imperfections.
Studio Updates
Coming Soon
Kiss Tutorial
Keyframing Tutorial
Studio Notes
The Way We Were Ep. 56
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Thank you for the support!
–Sama