You spend years perfecting your type of film ... and suddenly no one cares any more.

In every country there are top-notch n-c film makers who have developed their skills, honed techniques and responded to feedback from audiences. They make "their kind of film" about as well as it can possibly be made.  But it fails to score with judges and even with audiences.

Oh, the loyal friends support you.  Local groups who have enjoyed your shows for years still make encouraging noises. But the real audience, the people who don't know you and just respond to the film ... they are ominously quiet. Their comments are subdued. They admire your technique, but - frankly - they don't like the movie.

We human beings are an odd bunch. We don't like change. Give us a different brand of pizza or beer or toothpaste and we complain. But we do need novelty. Deep inside we crave fresh ideas to grab our attention. You can tell that from tv series and soap operas. Even those which start well, hold attention and hook us on their characters and plots ... after a time they begin to seem less exciting. Maybe we don't rush home or set the recorder and just miss the occasional episode. Eventually we turn away, its ratings fall and it is cancelled.

In Chairman Mao's China everyone was supposed to wear the same shapeless garments, but in practice people added their own touches until they became as personalised as the jeans young women wear today: "a uniform which isn't uniform." We move into condos, retirement bungalows and tract housing where each home starts the same. Give it a year and each has a distinct personality. We need novelty.

It is the same with our movies. Your latest travelogue, comedy, wildlife documentary or whatever, may be the best you have ever made. People yawn politely.

It is your hobby. You can make what you want. But if you want audiences to enjoy your movies: ring the changes.

How can you make your Star Wars parody different from all the others? Is there a new angle to find on that Alaskan cruise? Will your skills photographing Loons transfer to observing freegans or street vendors? Can you switch from comedy to love story? Can you film Main Street the same way you film a Paris boulevard?

Many skills really are transferable, but you have to make small adjustments. You may have to learn something new. Great.Challenges bring out the best in us.

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