We all know filmmaking is a team effort. Nowadays almost everybody's seen the DVD features and the behind-the-scenes of their favorite movies and perhaps been overwhelmed by the number of people who are involved in the filmmaking process. Camera teams, lighting teams, post-production teams, stunt teams, wardrobe teams, animal wranglers and so on, we are all aware of the seemingly infinite amount of names and titles that keep scrolling up during the credits. Unfortunately, most people choose this time to stop sucking on those unpopped-popcorn seeds and start walking out of the theater (or turn the TV off, if you were already home), even though it's probably the only real public moment of acknowledgement that the "rigging gaffer" or the "second-second-second-assistant director" will get!

I've been a "filmoholic" pretty much as far as I remember, now I'm in the movie-making business, and I'm still constantly flabbergasted when seeing the making-of of any movie like Lord of the Rings where they create amazingly imaginative Hobbit-ridden worlds from absolutely nothing (let alone maintain sanity while shooting three epic films inside such worlds back to back to back), or when they build entirely functional freeway systems from scratch for The Matrix Reloaded. Though it isn't all about big-budget gawking. I'd enjoy a movie just as if it was shot entirely inside one cheap motel room and somehow managed to keep my interest for over an hour (i.e. Richard Linklater's Tape).

When it comes down to it, it's about the magic that has been created by the amalgamation of many artists all proficient at many different art forms. Hardly any other medium allows for such collaborations.

So it's become a bit of a ritual of mine to stay seated when the credits roll for movies that I've enjoyed and respected. It ain't that hard. I just squeeze my knees sideways momentarily to allow other people to walk by, lay back and let the end music bring me back from the almost-meditative alternate dimension I just visited for a couple of hours. If the film did a good job of creating its reality and allowing for the suspension of my disbelief, then the least I can do is pay some respect by watching the credits and pondering the challenges and the triumphs the talented artists experienced while putting forth their sweat and tears for my entertainment. It really isn't that much to ask. Usually, if I had a couple of hours to watch a flick then that means I can most likely spare a couple of more minutes to watch the credits. I'm not trying to rush out, my car ain't going nowhere. Don't avoid the credits as if they were some disease-ridden plague. Stay behind, talk to whoever you watched the movie with about your favorite parts, avoid the crowd. Nowadays, you might just get rewarded with a bonus mini-scene after the credits and then you can have bragging rights with all your buddies. I can attest that filmmakers appreciate it.