In the Company of Animals

All photos by Graham Haber for The Morgan Library

My son Ben is creating videos for The Morgan Library exhibit In the Company of Animals on how animals can inspire the creative process and I wanted to write about his approach.  You can see the video featuring Emma Straub on Youtube here.   

This is basically an A Capella piece; all you hear is Emma Straub's voice.  It was recorded very close to the microphone, so it has a very intimate quality.  The effect is that you feel like it's just the two of you and she's telling you her secrets. It makes her very present and, in a quiet way, it draws you in.  

And of course the voice is edited, but you can't tell -- the spacing of the words and movement of the story just flows along.  Graham, the photographer, did a wonderful job capturing the interactions between Emma and her cats.  You can see that Emma knows you're there watching, but it's more like she's letting you in on the joke, sharing her space and her pets with you.  Which also makes the piece so effective. 


You can she how intertwined she is with her two cats.  All of which helps you understand how she practices her art, and her writing, in the company of animals.

Anyone But Me

from the web series Anyone But Me

This is at once a happy and sad story. One of achievement, frustration and heartbreak. Okay, maybe that's a little melodramatic. But the subject of this post is a very well-produced web drama, Anyone But Me.  It's innovative.  Award-winning.  An original web series with good writing and direction.  And excellent lead actors.  


Anyone But Me is a story about relationships, a touching and very modern series about young people in the process of finding themselves.  And about two girls in love.

Susan Miller

Tina Cesa Ward

Anyone But Me is the very engaging work of two women creators, Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward.  But after winning the first-ever Writers Guild Award for Original New Series, Anyone But Me is done, after just two and a half seasons.  The web series had critical acclaim, numerous awards, dedicated fans and an international audience with over 11 million views.  And, sad to say, it's ended with a shortened third season after Susan and Tina were unable to reach their budgeted $120,000 for ten episodes.  Thus the happy sad story.  Ground-breaking series run a ground.

So what did I like about Anyone But Me?  First, I'd have to say the writing.  Conceptually, I liked the way the feelings of a character would propel the action and how their awkwardness, insecurity and indecision struggled with their need for emotional honesty and to just be real.  


Yes there were plenty of confrontations.  Plenty of hurt and confused feelings.  And great scene-ending moments.  But everything was delivered in what felt like an authentic milieu.  And the issues certainly resonated.  I could identify with the question of being true to who you are, the fear of having secrets revealed and the need to be yourself.  And we've all gone through those awkward teenage years of discovery.  


I liked that the writing was spare.  A lot was communicated with few words.  Many of the episodes could serve as a primer on how to do more with less.

Second I'd have to say I liked the directing (and editing).  Those credits go to Tina Cesa Ward.  The short episodes felt like they were lifted out of a well-made TV movie.  A variety of night and daytime scenes, lots of locations, tight and wide shots edited for maximum effect, nice handling of dramatic moments.  The locations felt right.  And Tina would often punctuate a series of tight dialogue shots with a revealing wide shot to cap the scene.  This was a show about relationships, and often it was her visuals that told the story.

The principle actors were all excellent.

Rachel Hip-Flores

Rachel Hip-Flores was the heart and soul of the show and deserved her Best Actress award.  This was her first acting job out of college, yet she played her character with an intelligence and vulnerabilty that was captivating.  And she made you feel all the tangled emotions that played across her face.  

Nicole Pacent

Her free-spirit love interest was very well-played by Nicole Pacent.  Yes, she was a girl with big emotions, but she delivered a character that was also confident, intelligent and helped steady her more skittish girlfriend.

Jessy Hodges

And the third principle actor, girl-next-door Jesse Hodges was also excellent as the high school beauty with boyfriend issues, trying to renew her friendship with Rachel's character and bumping into all her fears and insecurity.  

So call it drama, soap opera, whatever, I found Anyone But Me drew me into their lives and issues (there are adults in the series too, all well-played) and I was sad after I screened the last episode.  And I give Susan and Tina kudos for making the series stories so universal and appealing.

So, as you might imagine there's been lots written about the series.  If you're wondering about Susan and Tina's creative process and their thoughts about how to create a successful dramatic web series, here's a link to a very informative webcast interview.  And here's a link to their thinking as they prepared for the show finale.  

As a final thought, what first caught my attention was this photo of the two key actresses.  There's something about the intensity of their shared moment that made me curious.  And, like so many imaginings you can explore as you stumble around the web, I found it a trip well worth taking.

The Power of Pictures

Recently one of our clients, Booz Allen Hamilton, asked us to create a video series to show some of the cool things their people are doing that sets them apart.  "They call it Missions That Matter."  


The first one features Sandra Davis, who volunteers at The Children's Inn, where families stay for free while their seriously-ill children are treated at a NIH Medical Center.  We approached the story in classic documentary fashion, with an in-depth interview and filming Sandra as a volunteer, interacting with children, staff and parents.  I didn't work on the piece, but it shows Sandra in action and has a lot of heart.    

The next piece is about John Cobb, who is helping develop a special program with the Department of Defense.  We planned to approach it in the same way, do the interview and then shoot him working on the program.  But after we did the interview, we were only allowed to show him in a neutral setting talking with colleagues.  Couldn't show the program, couldn't show the room where he works, couldn't show anything that depicts what he actually does.  Leaving a huge visual vacuum.


Big trouble, and this is why:  the words you hear in a video are always edited.  So, I typically join several phrases to make a complete thought, chop out extraneous comments, add pauses, delete false starts, ahs and ums, and shape the material to build a flow of words and ideas to tell a story.


But every time you make an edit in the interview, the picture jumps.  And cutting down a 30-40 minute interview into two and a half minutes means lots of edits.


So the visuals serve a dual purpose.  They help move the story along and they make all those edits invisible.  So what to do?  I needed visuals.

As you might say "necessity is the mother of invention."  I was told about a DoD photo site and searched through about a thousand images to find some I could use to tell John Cobb's story.  I looked for photographs that were more symbolic or abstract, so the viewer could read into them.  And I looked for ones that could show why what John was doing was so important. 


I think the final piece turned out pretty well and clearly shows the power of pictures.
  

What it Feels Like to Fly

I can safely say that JP Auclair and I probably have little in common and I'm sure we will never meet.  Can't imagine how our paths might cross. Until today, I'd never heard of him.  But he makes my spirits soar.  

JP is a freeskier. The man has 20 videos on vimeo.  You can tell right away, he's a major ski dude.  Even has his own page on the Oakley site. That's JP on the right, catching some air.  


So why am I writing about him? Because of a 14 day collaboration with this man, Dave Mossop (Dave's on the left). 

And what you're about to see is a tour de force:  beautifully shot, edited and executed.  And also really cool.  Go Dave and JP.  


Kind of an all-time kid's fantasy.  Anyone who ever dreamed of flying knows what I mean.  So see for yourself.   Here's a link to the video "JP Auclair Street Segment."  And you can read an interview about the making of Dave's video here.  

Ice Does Eames

Making assumptions.  So automatic, you don't even know you're doing it.  So when Bob, my colleague, sent me a link to an Ice Cube video about designer Charles Eames, I thought, what's up with that?  It's true that Mr. Cube (I love calling him that) has moved very successfully from rapper to actor (shedding one set of assumptions for another). But why would a rapper/actor even know about Eames? See what I mean about assumptions?

Here's the iconic chair Eames designed in 1946.  Strong, simple lines.  An excellent example of what can be created by great design.

And this chair, created in 1953, is similar to the one that Ice is sitting in.  Of course Eames and his wife were perhaps the most influential designers of their time.  You can find out more about them here and here.  And the cool video that Ice made introduces a retrospective exhibit on Eames and his work.  The video is so creative in concept - as it juxtaposes two styles, rap and documentary - and includes Mr. Cube's  very personal homage to Eames and what he was all about.   


Well, see for yourself.

Schaible's Barber Shop in Frenchtown

Last December I found myself wandering Frenchtown, NJ and was drawn to this building.

I decided to take a closer look.  Especially at the barber shop.

The deco "smoking" sign caught my eye.  But now I think it was probably just a faded "no smoking" sign.  Schaible's was closed that day.  But a man's lifetime was locked inside.  

So I leaned up against the window and looked more closely. I've always loved how reflections seem to capture dual realities. Especially how you can see inside and outside at the same time.  It's disorienting and illuminating, like how thinking deeply about something can lead you in different directions.

And looking at all this stuff, I feel part voyeur, part anthropologist.  So much is familiar; so much unknown.  Like someone else's memories seeping into consciousness... or something you almost see out of the corner of your eye. You can almost hear them passing the time, a joke, some gossip, a proud moment.  

Seeing his tools takes me back to when I was a kid,  how it used to smell, like lemon mint.  With hairy arms, a firm grasp and snip snip snip marking time in my ear.   

Well, that's my last photo and I thought that was the end of the story.  But there's a little bit more.  I found a photo of Don Schaible.  And learned that there's been a barber shop there since 1901.  And that Don spent most of his life working there.  His shop was even featured in a book about small town barber shops.  
And I guess the reason it was closed was probably due to illness. Because two months after I took these photos, Don passed away.  You can find out more here.
   

What's Wrong With This Picture

Today there was a historic meeting between Hillary Clinton and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi.  And this photo ran in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, in Yangon on Thursday.

 

What I see is what seems to be a cordial meeting.  They're both smiling and seem pleased to be together.  I also notice that Hillary is wearing white and wearing her hair pulled back, as is Aung San Suu Kyi.  I take that as a sign of respect on Hillary's part.  But other than that, the photo seems very straight forward, especially given the headline in the NYT  "U.S. Will Ease Some Limits on Myanmar, Clinton Says"


When I went to the Wall Street Journal I noticed how they portrayed the event.  Here's the Photo they ran:

WSJ version

You can tell from the camera angle it was most likely taken by the same photographer.  The pose is almost identical, but compare the images and the pictures tells a different story. 

NYT/Post version

The NYT/Post picture is "warmer" with the red, yellow tones slightly more present and the whites brighter and more distinct.  This makes the picture look more lifelike and more pleasing to the eye.  My guess is that this is pretty much the way things actually looked.  I say that because Hillary's skin tones look good and the white levels seem correct.  When you work with images, if you pay attention to the skin tones and the whites, everything else usually falls into place.

WSJ version

The WSJ image is more grayed out, flatter, with a slightly greenish tinge.  Green skin is not eye appealing, it makes people look more sickly and unpleasant.  And the whites are dulled too, giving it an overall dim, muddy quality.  Not appealing at all.  

What about the captured moment?

NYT/Post version

In the NYT/Post image, Hillary is just beaming and that, in itself, says a lot. Look at how the two women are with each other and you can see they're connecting and seem happy to be together. Look at the tilt of Aung San Suu Kyi's head and you can almost see positive energy flowing between them.

WSJ version

In the WSJ image they seem to be sizing each other up.  They are certainly more formal with each other and their bodies seem more rigid, as if they're not together by choice.    


More importantly, in the NYT/Post image you see a meeting of equals and it certainly casts Hillary in a proactive, positive light. In the WSJ image, Hillary is much less attractive.  And they've made it easier to see her in a poor light - figuratively and literally. For me, that's what's wrong with this picture, it's a subtle way of shading the news.