There is a phrase I think I have coined that I’ve probably written about before. I’ll write about it again now a bit more clearly. If you follow my work you might have noticed me talking about the “torrent” generation before. What does this mean?
The Torrent Generation is my term for what I consider to be a newer group of filmmakers. Starting from about 2010 to now, there has been a new type of person drawn to filmmaking. In the 90s, there were the video brats and video store guys. These were the directors like Tarantino, who worked at a video store and taught themselves about film by watching it and living it all day. With the demise of video stores and the rise of the digital, I think what we have now is the acceleration of what directors of the past could do.
The internet is a faster, easier way to access tons of knowledge and films than the video store. What it means is that the average film enthusiast today can now watch and have access to as much film history online they can ever dream of. This ultimately has an effect on the work of filmmakers growing up in this era. In the past, Tarantino’s work was often written about because of how referential it could be to other films he was a fan of. He’s seen as a “DJ” director, so to speak, because he’s throwing in various influences and sources into one thing and making a better, never before seen, cooler thing. What I’m getting at with the Torrent generation idea is similar, but I’d argue it’s even better: when a person is a film obsessive, downloads entire filmographies, streams shit, and watches as many films as they can in a short span of time, it will have an effect on how they later make movies. They have more to draw from than a person in the past would have.
The “Torrent” Generation concept is not just limited to downloading torrents and things of that nature. It’s also about how the culture surrounding film has changed, and where we currently are/have been for awhile. Younger people tend to break cinema down into bits and pieces, and tend to enjoy and share stuff like GIFs and screenshots with subtitles of certain moments. It’s a great way of capturing a certain vibe or aesthetic you like and want to remember. Tumblr is a great example of this: it was first introduced in 2007, and you can kind of see how it has had an influence on film culture over the years. When I was most active on Tumblr in my early 20s, I didn’t view it as a bullshit thing to pass the time. It could be incredibly crazy and pornographic and wild and funny, but it was also very educational and informative for a film person. I saw it partly as a resource with a bunch of other film people sharing imagery related to film, and I often used it as a jumping off point to go and research whatever movies I saw on there that I wasn’t familiar with. (And BTW this example of internet film culture also goes back to other things I’ve written about regarding creating your own world and having a unified aesthetic, something very easy to do with the internet. With certain accounts online you can see who they are by what they share, and what aesthetic they’re hopefully trying to build and put out to the world).
I think there have been pretty cool eras and movements in film history with catchy titles. Stuff like the French New Wave, the Movie Brats, the Video Brats, Italian Neorealism, German Expressionism, the Dogme 95 movement, etc. That’s what I’m aiming for with “The Torrent Generation” lol. I think it’s cool to contextualize a filmmaker’s period in history and have a loose definition of where they’re at. I am not sure I’d really call it a “movement,” because I’m just some guy here, but it definitely is a specific and unique type of filmmaker worth noting. We are the folks who came directly after the video store dudes, the logical progression of the state of film in the 90s.
The “Rules” / What Makes a Torrent Generation Filmmaker?
Other film movements in the past have had rules, and I think the Torrent generation has a couple as well. I don’t believe in rigidity and being close-minded, but if I had to define the “movement” a bit further, I’d say these rules apply:
1. Filmmaker must be self-financed, and if not, the people funding the movie cannot have any say in what happens in it. The filmmaker must have final cut.
This one is important because I believe the whole point of a movie having a director is that it’s a singular vision, and the result of one person’s perspective. Art by committee is not allowed if you’re a torrent filmmaker; I’m not saying you can’t take suggestions or you can’t sell out and work for Marvel one day, I’m just saying that those movies should not be respected as equally as a film directed by one person is. A Marvel movie could never be the work of a Torrent generation filmmaker because too many voices are involved. Another example of having final say in film: whether or not a director encourages collaboration and improvisation among their actors is up to them, but that’s still their personal choice to make if it’s their film. It’s crucial for a Torrent generation filmmaker to have final cut in their movie if they consider themselves to be auteurs.
2. Filmmaker must be at least partially self-taught. It doesn’t matter if they went to film school, but it matters if they dedicated the time to learning about film on their own.
This one is here because I think this is the way a Torrent filmmaker stands out as having their own voice; they are using the internet to educate themselves and become a distinct artist. The thing about being self-taught is that, a classroom full of film school kids will probably all come out having very similar tastes and talents. They will all be able to tell you to watch The Godfather and understand the importance of all the movies everyone already knows and loves, and that’s great. It doesn’t hurt to be educated, but at the same time I feel like it’s not interesting to have the same perspective as every other artist out there. A lot of formal film school types apply more logic than soul to their work, if you catch my drift. These are the types of people who are focused primarily on, “How is this gonna work? Is this gonna be profitable?” instead of, “Let’s give it a shot, it would be cool.” They want to know everything about a movie before making it instead of allowing it to become its own thing. Someone who is too formal in their learning might be too rigid to go about the process in an interesting way, whereas a guy who has been doing his own research for years and years is gonna have a different sensibility as a filmmaker. He followed his own path and influences, and has seen a variety of ways things can be done instead of being told what can be done. And that leads me to the next “rule.”
3. Filmmaker must be influenced by at least 5-10 different filmmakers.
One of the biggest benefits of being a Torrent generation filmmaker (that I’ve already described above) is that we have access to an entire film history because of the internet. It’s never been easier in human history to watch literally any movie you want or to educate yourself on any period in film history. You don’t need a professor or a classroom anymore. The argument could be made that it’s still good to have things curated for you, but this does not negate the fact that your own curation is also possible and the professor’s is not necessarily better.
Anyway, my point in mentioning this is: this unprecedented level of access to the internet and film history means your film language will be vast. You will have an eclectic mix of influences to choose from because of how many different artists you’re exposed to.
For this rule, it’s important to note: I’m not saying your film should look like it’s been inspired by 5-10 different filmmakers. It is, of course, totally up to you what your film should look like. All I’m saying is that a Torrent generation filmmaker should be able to tell me at the drop of a hat 5-10 different directors they were influenced by. It may very well be that none of this Torrent gen filmmaker’s work resembles the work of the filmmakers they like who came before them, but the fact that they have the confidence to tell you who their chief influences are overall is a good sign. It feels like more and more these days, people involved with making film don’t seem to have the film vocabulary that comes from having an enthusiasm and desire to know about it. If you don’t watch shit from the 1950s no one has ever heard of, you’re not a real filmmaker IMO. Haha.
4. Must have been born sometime after 1990.
This might sound ageist or whatever, but I believe this one is important because the Torrent generation is an entirely new group of people that would not have been possible years ago. Of course, someone born before 1990 could always use the internet now and educate themselves, but I’d argue they simply can’t count because they didn’t grow up and internalize the internet as deeply as someone born after 1990 would have. In other words, the person born before 1990 is still very much a part of the “video store” ideology and approach to film knowledge. Those born after are more likely to use the internet differently and productively (with regards to how we consume film). Someone who grew up with Tumblr will probably make a much different type of film than someone who grew up with no internet in their home until they were 40, for example.
