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Ideas |
What's your story? How can we make it telling?
When you study the mind of an artist, you find that there are two basic types of artistic thinking. There are conceptual painters, sculptors, writers, and filmmakers whose vision is internal, whose concept emerges from their mind nearly complete, and who are more effective at origination than experimentation. David Galenson called this category of artist the "young genius". Examples in the world of painting would be Picasso and Warhol. The iconic conceptual writer would be Hemingway. In the realm of film, think of Federico Fellini and Orson Welles.
My own artistic mind just doesn't work that way. I like to collect snippets of the reality I am dealing with, play with them, and construct a finished piece around those elements.
For a long time I was discouraged about my way of thinking ... wishing I had the self-assurance of filmmakers like, say, Quentin Tarantino or James Cameron. But thanks to Galenson, I now understand that my artistic temperament fits into the category known as experimentalists, a way of working that is exemplified by Rembrandt, Cezanne, Monet, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Robert Redford, Barry Levinson, and Ron Howard.
"Experimental movie directors typically stress the importance of telling a story, with a clear narrative." They tend to focus on the audience, make commercial success a goal, and "aim to make the technical aspects of their movies unobtrusive...." As Alfred Hitchcock put it, "Watching a well-made film, we don't sit by as spectators; we participate."
As a marketing consultant who makes films or takes pictures, my highest calling is to tell your story, in a telling way that enlists your audience as participants. And the ideas that emerge from my process are most often "aha" moments for myself and the audience.... recognition that comes from insight and understanding of your story and your message. As I apprehend your reality, I notice what is special and surprising, what is distinctive and noble and true. I then enlist the tools of media and the freshness of a professional outsider to distill your truth into a nuanced message tha your audience will be able to embrace as authentic.
The following are some cinematic or print ideas that emerged from the reality-based, "experimental" method described above:
Roadmap to Better Catalog
Focused on You
World is Ending