story – Page 5 – Journeys of a Hybrid

February 14, 2011

Share Some Love Today

I came across a wonderful blog entitled “What Does Love Mean to a Four-Year Old?”

I thought I’d share some of the words and wisdom that came from children.

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – age 4
“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” Danny – age 7
“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby – age 7 (Wow!)
“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” Nikka – age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet)
“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy – age 6
“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” (what an image)
“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica – age 8

A four-year old child had a next door neighbor who was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry”

Share these thoughts with someone you love today.

Happy Valentines Day

February 11, 2011

Abandoned Expectations

Have you had any lately? Expectations that you may have had – pinned your hopes on and had to abandon? I have had to let go of more than a few hopes, dreams, and desires over this past month alone. My struggles seem to always come in cycles and there are some days when it seems like I’d be better off not having any hopes and dreams at all. Those dark days are tough and tax everything I have and am, but I try to remind myself of one very important thing – and that is – that all this “bad stuff” has to happen in order for me to grow and be the person I am meant to be.

If you are like me (and many creative people are) the passions inside of you can act like a double-edged sword. They can move you up and down on a roller coaster of emotions and wreak havoc inside your head. But rather than succumb and be a victim to those emotions, I try to channel them into something more positive and productive. Writing helps me a lot. Just trying to articulate how I’m feeling, seems to move me through whatever it is I’m struggling with.

I imagine that most people who may be reading this are creatives, and have had their share of “strawberry days” and “onion days”. Strawberry days that are so sweet and onion days where you just want to break down and cry. But maybe that’s just how it should be – because that means that you are “feeling” and “trying” – both essential ingredients for personal growth. I know that my onion days make my strawberry days that much sweeter. I also know that every successful person has had more failures than triumphs along the way. Its just part of the process.

So, here are a few things that I do when I hit a string of onion days:

I remind myself that those days will pass and there will be better days because of them.
I reach out to my friends. Your true friends will be the ones who are listening.
I tell myself that everything happens for a reason in order to get me to where I need to be.
I walk.
I meditate.
I think about everything I have that I’m grateful for.
I think about others and I try to help them with their own challenges.
I find something to love about who I am.
I seek to understand others.
I carry on and do the dance I was meant to do.
And I listen to music.

With that said I’ll leave you with some wise words (lyrics) from Jackson Browne:

From For a Dancer:

Keep a fire for the human race.
Let your prayers go drifting into space.
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear.
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don’t let the uncertainly turn you around
(the world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you’ll never know

February 7, 2011

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Ok, I’m just going to come right out and say it. I was one of the few people in America who did NOT watch the Super Bowl yesterday. Before you try to enlighten me as to the merits of the game and sentence me to watch NFL highlights, let me just say I don’t like football. Just never got into the touchy feeliness of the sport. And besides, I’m still chained to my editing station – finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

But this morning I couldn’t escape the pundits grading and scoring the Super Bowl commercials as I clicked through the morning programs looking for the “news”. It was interesting to hear their “take” on what commercials were successful. Most of the pundits made their assessments through the eyes of their “ad men” (and women) persona, debating which commercials caught the attention of the viewers.

One “expert” frequently commented, “now this one had people telling their friends – be quiet – I want to hear the commercial. I’m not quite sure what Super Bowl party this person went to, but no doubt it was a party made up of other advertising folks. Now, I’ve had very limited experience attending Super Bowl parties, but as for the ones I have been to – nobody has ever said “be quiet – so I can hear the commercial”. With that said, as I watched many of the spots this morning via YouTube, some of the most effective commercials required no listening at all. Check out this one for Bridgestone.

I guess the creatives who made this spot go to the same kind of parties as I do – parties where people don’t ask someone to turn the volume up for the commercials. Actually, I’ve learned a lot about editing by watching TV commercials with the sound off. The “story” either becomes apparent – or not.

The New York Times did a pretty good critique of the ads this morning. But what I found most interesting was the running commentary from the “average Joes” via Twitter and Facebook. No doubt some of these advertising experts were paying as much attention to the social media chatter this morning as Mumbarak’s men were. Hands down, the Chrysler “Detroit” spot won the most hearts – mine included. It drew me in from the start and kept me the entire two minutes. Imagine that – a two minute commercial! When was the last time you saw that? A beautiful mini-film told in credible brevity. Quite frankly, to me it would have been just as effective without Eminem or any celebrity for that matter. It evoked emotion – that’s what kept me watching.

At the end of the day, the commercials that resonated most with just about everyone – pundit and laymen alike were the ones that told a simple story that rang true with the human spirit. Works every time. To tell those stories, one needs to get out of the meeting rooms and late nights at the office and spend more time living life. Otherwise, what you end up with is a bunch of people creating commercials about what they think life is like.

February 2, 2011

Telling the Story with the DSLR

The sub-title should read…”or with any camera for that matter”. For those of you not new to this blog, you know that my mantra is “it’s not about the tool”. And my other mantra is “embrace collaboration”.

But back to the thought behind this blog entry and that is “telling the story”. I recently read a great book that a dear friend had given me about screenwriting called “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder. Snyder’s book is geared more toward writing a fictional screenplay, as opposed to writing a narrative for a documentary, but I thought it would be helpful for me as far as learning more about the dynamics of story telling – and indeed it was.

Snyder talks about the different genres that most movies fall into. The category that my documentary came closest to if I was writing a fictional piece was what he referred to as The Golden Fleece. Blake writes:

“The name comes from the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and yet it’s always about the same thing: A hero goes “on the road” in search of one thing and winds up discovering something else – himself.”

“Like the twists of any story, the milestones of The Golden Fleece are the people and incidents that our hero or heroes encounter along the way. The theme of every Golden Fleece movie is internal growth, how the incidents affect the hero is, in fact, the plot.

“It’s not the mileage we’re racking up that makes a good Golden Fleece, it’s the way the hero changes as he goes”.

Wow, I thought as Snyder’s words resonated with me and how I “saw” the documentary that I was in the midst of editing. In my case, I had many heroes who in setting out to make a positive difference in the world had also experienced intense and rewarding personal growth. I too had changed and grown, along with my daughter who journeyed with me to tell our subjects’ stories.

As I read more of Snyder’s book, my vision of our film became much clearer in my head. This week, I had a meeting with the editor who will be collaborating with me on this film. I’m thankful that I was able to have a face to face meeting with him where we could both get a better feel for each other and more importantly – the story. We had a wonderful conversation about the story that I wanted to tell – the heroes – the conflicts – all those things that are part of a good story. I knew we were on the same page when he said: “It’s not about the trip – it’s about the journey”.

Or as Snyder writes:
“It’s not the incidents encountered. It’s what the hero(es) learn about himself from the incidents that make the story work.”

We’ll see if I can do my heroes justice in telling their stories, but I’m not alone in this task. I’ll be collaborating with an editor who not only has an understanding of “the story” but the skills and ability to make it come to life. What joy.

January 31, 2011

Being Authentic

There are certain words and phrases that tend to become over used just because they seem to express the idea so well. Ironically, the word authentic is becoming over used now in our culture and in a weird way is on the brink of becoming a contradiction to what it means. So, I cautiously use the word “authentic” in the real sense to say – be who you are meant to be. Be authentic.

When I returned from my round the world adventure this past Fall after completing the shooting aspect of a personal project, I discovered that people were responding to me in a different way. Perhaps they sensed there was something inside of me that they wanted to connect with. It’s a very difficult thing to explain but I think what they were sensing, was my contentment. I was content and feeling a sense of “satisfaction” because I was following “my purpose”, both personally and creatively and in the process I was discovering many other people, all over the world, who were doing the same.

On the outside what may have seemed like just a very long, exotic “trip”, was really more of a journey. It was a journey that I had begun a long time ago when I became an explorer, through my eyes and through my camera. I use the word explorer in a literal and figurative sense. Throughout my life, in my never-ending nomadic need to explore the world and its peoples, I was finding my own vision and how I “saw” and I was sharing that with others.

Ethan G. Salwen expressed it beautifully in a recent post on his After Capture blog:

“We always say that learning photography is really learning to see, and this is true. But we tend to express this sentiment in relation to a very limited sense of seeing — the visual sense. Older photographers seem to continue to learn to see on a much deeper level, in terms of what it is to be a working artist and, most important, how this relates to their continual growth and satisfaction as an individual.”

I think Ethan nailed it by talking about “learning and seeing on a much deeper level and how this brings growth and satisfaction as an individual.” I use the words “ being on purpose” to describe “satisfaction” within oneself. I believe that as creative individuals, when we begin to find meaning in who we are and how that fits into the world, it will shine through our work. Some use the word “vision” to describe that certain something that they see in someone’s creative work. Maybe that’s what was in the back of my mind when I came up with the title of my project and film, Opening Our Eyes.

In a way, I use my “eyes” and my camera to do what I do best – to share and connect with others. When I travel, it is not to assimilate with a culture, but rather to learn and exchange our cultural uniqueness, embrace that and share it with others. When I’m being authentic and true to myself, that happens in a magical way. When someone tells me that I’m the “real deal”, that is one of the highest compliments they can give me.

I think Susana Esmoris, one of the subjects of my documentary said it best. “Live life intensely. Wear the color that you want in life. Dance what you want to dance.”

December 11, 2010December 11, 2010

“Here’s an Idea – Have a Point”

One of my favorite holiday movies is “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” with Steve Martin and John Candy. There’s a great scene in the movie where Steve Martin loses it and starts a rant directed toward Candy’s character, Del Griffith. Del, is a “nice guy” who talks incessantly. Martin’s character, Neal Page, an uptight ad man, frustrated by the day’s travel mishaps, finally explodes at his travel companion Del after one too many stories and says – “here’s an idea – when you tell a story, have a point!”

Am I the only one who has been oversaturated with multimedia and video pieces that are little more than pretty visuals to music? Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of pieces that I do like, but there are far too many where I get bored and bail mid-way through because there is no point – there is no story.

Worse yet, the audio or music track many times feels like it has no connection to the visuals. It may be a great piece of music and provide pacing for the video, but it doesn’t complement the story. And there are times that the music is the most interesting part about the piece – if you take it away, what do you have? Most likely a pagination of moving and/or still images – like pages in a magazine or prints on a gallery wall. Independent and isolated vignettes with a music track – but no story- just eye candy.

What holds my interest is a story, where all the elements of audio, music, video clips, stills, text and narrative are parts of the whole and each one is integral in telling the story. I don’t think I’m alone in being interested in the story. Humans have enjoyed “the story” since the beginning of time. It doesn’t matter if it’s told verbally in a one on one conversation, in a multimedia piece, or in a major motion picture – a good story is a key ingredient for human interest. We all love a good story.

Personally, there is so much out there to watch these days on any given site that hosts videos, if I’m going to invest time in viewing something – I want it to have a point. If it doesn’t when I get to the end – I feel somehow let down.

I’m sure some of you will disagree with me on these thoughts and many of you may get loads of satisfaction from watching pretty visuals laid down to music and that’s OK. I’ve just had my fill of pretty content splashed before me, becoming a blurred palette in my head.

So, here’s an idea – have a point.

December 6, 2010

Yoda Who?

Twice this past weekend, while in conversation with friends, I had been referred to as Yoda. The second time it happened, I asked “Who is Yoda?” That’s right. I didn’t really know who Yoda was, even though I had heard the character’s name referenced over the years. I knew he was from Star Wars or Star Trek or some movie like that. But I had never seen either of those movies, so I wasn’t sure.

Shocking isn’t it? Or that’s what a friend thought when I “fessed up” to never having seen Star Wars – none of them – not even the first one. The truth is, I’m not a science fiction fan. I love fantasy, and spend my life living a fantasy, or trying to, but sci fi is too much of a stretch for me, as far as having the ability to come true – and I’m a believer that fantasies can come true.

I followed a link that my friend forwarded which led me to all things Yoda and I was instantly hooked by his wisdom. The more I learned about Yoda, the more intrigued I became. I had found my soulmate, an ugly little troll like creature with a glowing green wand, but with the wisdom of the ages.

Some of my favorite Yoda-isms:

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
“So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?”
“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”
“You will find only what you bring in.”
“Always in motion is the future.”

I have been instructed to go “old school” over the holidays and watch the first three Star Wars films, which I will endeavor to do. So, forgive me all you “trekkies” (just kidding), but what do you call a Star Wars fan or in my case a Yoda fan?

December 3, 2010December 3, 2010

How Do You Tell the Story?

I’ve said it hundreds of times – “the story is everything”, “without a story, you’ve got pretty pictures to a soundtrack”. So, how do you tell a story? How do you do it?

A friend called me the other day, struggling with this very question, of how do you tell the story? He was putting together a multimedia piece and he had captured sound and had taken photos during an event and was about to record an audio interview. I wasn’t sure at first, if he was asking about the mechanics of how to edit a story together in Final Cut– or was he asking me for guidance on how to tell the story? Those are two completely different discussions.

I thought back to when I was just starting to learn video journalism and had taken the Platypus Workshop. We had to tell our commitment or our story idea to an instructor, before we could start executing it. If the idea wasn’t delivered clearly and concisely, we went back to the drawing board to nail down the idea or the focus.

Every story starts out with an idea. Ideas have always come pretty easily to me, usually in spurts. All sorts of environments or activities can trigger ideas.

Seth Godin did a blog about a week ago titled, Where do ideas come from? Here are a couple of my favorites:

Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we’re not trying
Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner’s mind. A little awareness is a good thing
Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom

Once I get the idea, I then start focusing it in my head. I play out the movie in my mind. What is the message? Whose message is it – mine? – the client’s? What is the motivation for the piece? A call to action? Once I get a pretty clear idea of what the story is that I’m trying to tell, then I start to put the pieces together. First I gather and capture all the assets that I’ll need, the interviews, b-roll, still photos etc. Then, when it’s time to edit the story, I’ll have a much clearer focus of how I will edit the pieces together to deliver the message.

Right now, I’m editing a feature length documentary, that is made up of ten different stories about ten different people in various corners of the globe. All together, the ten stories are unified by the theme of “the power of the individual in making a difference in the world”. Essentially the idea is, global stories about the power of one. That has been my underlying story from the moment of concept, to shooting it, to editing it all together.

So, how do you tell the story? For me, it’s focusing on the “idea” at all times and editing toward that purpose. There are hundreds of ways to tell the same story, but you need to know what the story is before you can begin to tell it.

November 30, 2010November 30, 2010

Don’t Let the Music Die Inside You

Einstein said “Logic will take you from A to B but imagination will take you anywhere.”

I have always had a vivid imagination, spending many waking and sleeping hours dreaming and picturing myself in all sorts of situations. Some of my dreams were just crazy ideas running through my head and some were very real dreams that I believed would come true. I was thinking about what I wanted in my life – not what I didn’t want.

Everyone has dreams for how they want their life to be but not everyone believes their dreams will manifest. The future has to become the present in one’s imagination. And one needs to commit to their idea for it to happen – not just have intentions. Intentions without conviction is a waste of energy.

At this point in my life, I have been focusing more and more on pursuing my thoughts and ideas that have been running through my head. It was a year ago, that I made the decision to embark on the biggest personal project of my life, Opening Our Eyes. I’m now in the midst of editing hundreds of hours of footage. It’s tedious because there is so much, and there are interviews in foreign languages that need to be translated and transcribed before I can edit them. All the files need to be transcoded, which is taking far longer than I imagined it would, but now that I have my workflow down, it’s going faster.

When I’m finished with this film, it will be the most satisfying and successful project I’ve ever worked on. I use the word successful to mean that it was an incredible accomplishment for me personally and professionally. That’s not to say that it won’t be financially rewarding, and in fact every personal project I have ever self-funded has always been profitable, just not immediately.

More importantly, by executing my ideas, without needing validation from someone else, I am following my purpose. I am doing what I’m meant to be doing in my life. That in itself is the biggest reward of all.

We all have our own music inside of us. Find yours. Don’t die with the music still inside of you.

November 8, 2010

Should You Be Thinking About Video?

For the past two years I’ve been traveling around the country presenting a seminar called “Should I Be Thinking of Video” for ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers. This seminar had become quite popular with still photographers as interest in video escalated, partly due to the hybrid cameras and partly due to the increased demand for video content for the web and mobile devices. The iPad in particular is a game changer and everyone seems to be keen on either creating video content or buying it.

With this rush to find or produce video, I’ve seen quite of few people attend these seminars because they feel they have to get onboard. A few weeks ago, someone in the audience, who appeared quite annoyed, raised their hand and said, “but you didn’t answer the question – should I be thinking of video”. He went on to say that there was nothing new about video and weren’t there plenty of videographers already out there. I replied that he needed to answer that question himself. I could only provide him with background information about video production but that decision as far as if he should embrace video was for him to make. I also said that yes there were plenty of videographers out there working in traditional markets that have been around for decades. What is new is the increased demand for video because we as a society are moving more toward an electronic means of communication and away from print.

I think the most important point here is that no matter what creative path you may wish to pursue, you need to have a reason for doing it. For me, I started shooting video more than a decade ago because as a storyteller, I felt the need for motion and sound to adequately tell the stories that I wanted to tell. I certainly wasn’t chasing a trend – not that video is a trend. Just like in still photography, it’s not about the tool or the camera, it’s about your vision and if you don’t know why or if you should be shooting video then how can you possibly have a clear vision.

I can probably better answer the question “should you be thinking of video?” this way. If it’s because you have a camera that is also capable of shooting in video mode then then the answer is no – you shouldn’t be thinking of video, because you will be a technician or a button pusher and will compete with every other person who has that same tool. But if you are thinking, seeing and feeling projects and stories that are all about motion and sound, then you’ve answered that question for yourself.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: