Ken Burns on Story

Sarah Klein 

Tom Mason

Okay, you're a filmmaking team and you have this really cool idea. Do a passion project and make a video about a subject you really care about. Story-telling. It's a lot harder than it looks - we're talking non-fiction here - and something you and a lot of other creatives struggle with all the time.  So who do you know who's a good storyteller? How about Ken Burns?  Okay, you do an interview and ask him to tell you all about it.  

So you get it done. Then back home and look at what you have. It's 90 minutes of Ken Burns talking. Well, he may be a documentary superstar, but it's not a film and it's certainly not a story. So now what? Make it happen in post. And you do. Here's the very effective result:

If the video doesn't play, click here.  

The production is the work of cameraman/editor Tom Mason and producer Sarah Klein, aka Redglass Pictures. Their piece is graceful, spare and intimate. I like how the music draws you in and creates flow. And the pacing - the pauses help you connect with what's being said and also build a quiet tension. The Tom and Sarah introduce a film projector metaphor to help bridge the ideas and treat the stills to give them more depth literally and figuratively.    

The length feels right - long enough to explore a few ideas, delve into the personal side, leave an impact and be done.  It helps you see the creative challenges we all face as we bring shape and meaning to our work. And a little insight into what motivates Ken Burns, too.

Atlantic Magazine has a short interview with the filmmakers here.  If you want to know more about them you can visit their website. If you do, check out their video "Miracle on 22nd Street." And if you want to learn how this project came to be, there's a podcast interview that's very informative here.

Tom Mason described their creative process as "stumbling in the dark."  Perhaps.  But as their work reveals, with enough care and time you'll find a way to let your light shine.

Follow Your Dream Part One: Caine's Arcade

America is built on dreams.  Or so we're told.  It's a lot easier to follow yours when you're young.  That's a time when anything is possible, and the vision of something wonderful floats before your eyes so close you can almost touch it.  When you're young, you can just wake up one morning and say, "let's do it."

This is Caine.  He's 9 years old.  He was hanging out at his dad's auto parts store in East LA.  And there were all those cardboard boxes, hanging out there too.  So Caine decided to build an arcade.  Because he really likes arcades.  And it would be fun.  Here's a link to a video that tells you about Caine's Arcade.  And you'll see, it's a pretty cool story. 

There are three things about Caine's Arcade that just knock me out.  First, he had the gumption and creativity to make it happen .  Second, it's so elaborate -- it takes his dream way beyond what you would expect from a nine year old boy -- and that makes it downright inspiring.  And third, it reminds us of that world of imagination, energy and vision that so many of us put aside as we wend our way to adulthood.  

Nirvan Mullick by Dave Bullock

And there's more.  Serendipity and luck play a part in all of our dreams.  And that was personified by the filmmaker  Nirvan Mullick who just happened upon Caine's Arcade when he needed a part for his car.  And decided to make the video.  And did it so well, with such respect for Caine and his dream, that it went viral.  Now you can read about it in the LA Times and Wall Street Journal.  


And Nirvan set up a scholarship fund for Caine that's raised almost $150,000.  Amazing what we can accomplish when we follow our dreams.


A big shout out to my nephew for telling me about the video.  Thanks, Brendan.