Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Running into a Car?

Commercial for a car has a jogger run into the car twice because it's not noticable? Looks like it hurt a lot to film that one.

Baseball players sure are superstitious. Keep cutting away to the players in the sox bullpen playing the spoons like madmen on the bullpen ceiling. Good thing their stolen stuffed parrot was given back by the frat boys at Northeastern who stole it.

The superstious talk reminds me of a triple header issue commercial that had the potential of spinning out of control. It was a baseball commerical for Pizza Hut using Orel Hirsheiser, nine 10-year old baseball players and a black cat. The black cat got spooked when one of the kids yelled and went sprinting accross the baseball field but the trainer cat him before he got away. This was the worst of it but it reminds me of the old saying about the problems of filming kids or animals. Try filming those two ingredients together then add a sports star with very little on-camera presence (he was a lovely charming guy) and many sane people would have run for the hills. Commercial was cute but hardly memorable. The kids were doing all the superstitious baseball stuff that kids and adults do.

"The Donger needs food."
16 Candles

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Talking Animals

I have a new motto. Sounds silly, but it makes a lot of sense.... to me that is. I guess it's a male thing, we sure like to water trees.

"Handle every situation like a dog would. If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away."
Unknown

As the west burns it makes you appreciate that the world is far from controlable. We all feel that in the northeast when our oil runs out or when we are trapped at home by 3 feet of snow. What fires make you appreciate are a few things to me.... save your pictures. put negatives (if anyone still has them) in the safe deposit box and have a ladder at home to let you out upper story windows. Not sure what to tell you if you live in a city. One other safety tip, keep an emergency first aid kit in your trunk.

Getting back to where we started, one of my favorite film and tv devices is the talking animal. that ad for sleeping pills where abe lincoln, the deep sea diver and the beaver all hang out is made by the talking beaver. The best part about talking animals is giving them accents, the more unlikely the better. A siamese cat with a Brooklyn accent is just plain funny. Mismatch is is the reason perhaps?

Well, time to go live some life and stop writing about it.

tada

Monday, October 22, 2007

Divine Moments of Clarity

What is it about those divine moments of clarity that the moving image transports us to? I just felt it in a video posted on YouTube -- the PostSecrets project -- at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pKZ5blYSyE&eurl=http://www.blogger.com/home when the man's voice says, "I love her anyway." That 'moment' feels real and genuine. It's much like an emotional roller coaster when suddenly there's a brief glimpse of compelete honesty (at the top), it may be the music or the idea, or the images, or the confluence of all three. Sometimes we can recall sharing one of those moments with someone whose no longer here, and it evokes sadness. But it's pure and beautiful and I find myself yearning for more, much like the way we might replay a sad song again and again, or the way a smell can transport us to a moment long gone. That's the one major sense that video misses -- smell.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

All Aboard

Watching the Sox go for game 7 against Cleveland. For a former Philly boy weaned on cheese steaks and bad Phillies baseball this is mighty exciting. Enuf to convince a nonbeliever that this game can be pretty cool.

This is the kickoff post for a blog covering creativity in the world of video production both online and in the media, and some areas of the written and spoken world as well. This is NOT a blog for or about creationists, although creationists are welcome as long as we stay on topic.

Spotted that absurd Wendy's spot on the air tonight with a guy in his orange wig standing up in a political debate to ask a question. It gets your attention and the wig helps you remember it. So many creative spots out there are entertaining, but five minutes later you cannot remember who paid for the advertisement.

I have been listening (audio book) to a vast collection of short stories written by David Sedaris. They are funny, thoughtful, outrageous and often poignant. The most amusing which I have heard so far delve into his butchery of the french language. Good stuff for the car.

"Never start a land war in Asia"