tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24045594575517585752024-03-05T22:46:35.305-08:0060 Second DirectorWant to learn how to be a better director? It'll take about a minute.Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-21780662122602085742015-10-20T09:19:00.000-07:002015-10-20T09:19:21.373-07:00Wondering why you're not seeing posts from The 60 Second Director lately?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://belefant.tv/category/60-second-director" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxmw6I2PxrwO6WiR3wmAXBgE6A4sbYaZxvoI3AxxvZDSlmv101YSH_Ru5efsSWr0C_Svp2Iq71So5EDonqOSzKXI0Jewtd_wYd7rl5e8vz4s8lIQ6KOXTXqvczuqaGkVTMuECgg9iYDs/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-11-12+at+3.20.17+PM.png" title="" width="199" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://belefant.tv/category/60-second-director" target="_blank">Same snappy logo, new snappy URL.</a></td></tr>
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I've been publishing posts as The 60 Second Director for well over six years and if you've been using an RSA feed to stay on top of my advice and opinions, thank you.<br />
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Thank you and I'm sorry.<br />
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Thank you for reading. I'm sorry I didn't mention earlier that I'm consolidating my internet footprint as a way to manage all the links and stuff. As part of that process, I've moved my blog. You can now read all my snarky, boring, and even occasionally helpful blog posts at <a href="http://belefant.tv/category/60-second-director">http://belefant.tv/category/60-second-director</a>.<br />
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So now would be a good time to update your RSA feed if you're using one.<br />
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Thank you. I said that already, I know, but I mean it. Thank you.Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-911450262557185442015-09-29T11:27:00.001-07:002015-09-29T11:27:24.088-07:00A Moving Post. And By That I Mean It's Hosted Elsewhere<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xThz85US-I858Sv-7UJKCZvqKpPBWT0pEC0bQS0bLWXI5ztojv291VrzscDlZNsppOEsgrFrmTwWHfiPF9xYHNC2rEUfJvCcxwtbBE2xh7Qc2rNgCv48B7_F5tEKRHgT9mJEYkmy_oQ/s1600/60+Second+Director+Square+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xThz85US-I858Sv-7UJKCZvqKpPBWT0pEC0bQS0bLWXI5ztojv291VrzscDlZNsppOEsgrFrmTwWHfiPF9xYHNC2rEUfJvCcxwtbBE2xh7Qc2rNgCv48B7_F5tEKRHgT9mJEYkmy_oQ/s200/60+Second+Director+Square+Logo.png" title="The 60 Second Director logo" width="200" /></a></div>
I've been publishing posts as The 60 Second Director for well over six years and if you've been reading my stuff since then, thank you.<br />
<br />
I'm consolidating my internet footprint as a way to manage all the links and stuff. As part of that process, I'm moving my blog. You can now read all my snarky, boring, and even occasionally helpful blog posts at <a href="http://belefant.tv/category/60-second-director">http://belefant.tv/category/60-second-director</a>.<br />
<br />
If you want to be sure not to miss a single word, why not add your name to my mailing list when you click over there? That way I can sell your contact information to <a href="http://www.google.com/" target="_blank">Google</a> and make like .00000000000004¢.<br />
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Which I'm not going to do, by the way.<br />
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That was supposed to be funny.Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-40735429030051151372015-09-02T15:12:00.001-07:002015-09-02T15:29:01.602-07:00My two cents about Zooppa –– which is less than what my opinion is worth.<div style="font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllDdZrsabF8ifky1VL8WxmlAaWtFHLF6qr_no21Rnosq8DkGaBP9O6-YeGNkugMl69myEkNSnVCLwQXWjOPSGa_wnb7cEXz0nj3aKXd3LwX3BDG-lofw09d1tBv1PeevbM6YvybKAaew/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-01+at+11.06.20+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllDdZrsabF8ifky1VL8WxmlAaWtFHLF6qr_no21Rnosq8DkGaBP9O6-YeGNkugMl69myEkNSnVCLwQXWjOPSGa_wnb7cEXz0nj3aKXd3LwX3BDG-lofw09d1tBv1PeevbM6YvybKAaew/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-09-01+at+11.06.20+PM.png" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The actual email. Thanks,<br />
Mark, for saying such nice<br />
things about my work.</td></tr>
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I recently got an email from someone at <a href="https://zooppa.com/en-us" target="_blank">Zooppa</a>, offering me a "filmmaking opportunity.” The opportunity is for me to create a commercial for a stapler company and if my finished piece is determined to be one of the ten best, I’ll get to share $25,000.</div>
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I’m not going to do it. And I suggest you don’t, either. Here's why:</div>
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Let’s say I’m the best of the best. And that each of the nine other submissions considered to be one of the ten best “wins" $50.00. That leaves me “winning” $24,550. </div>
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There’s a reason that word “winning” is in quotes. Because it isn’t winning. It’s earning. </div>
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To earn that money, I have to first work as a copywriter. I’d study the brief so I could get to know the marketing strategy, advertising strategy, and brand voice. I’d familiarize myself with the target market, understanding their perception of the brand and its competitors. I’d also evaluate the product and its competitive set to determine opportunities to communicate the benefits of a feature that would be relevant to the audience. </div>
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Only then would I be able to come up with a script.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me having an idea. <br />
What it looks like. Really.</td></tr>
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Once the script is prepared, I’d have to work as a producer. I’d break down the script in order to create a budget to shoot the piece and put together all the necessary resources. I’d arrange for casting and location scouting, procure equipment and the people to operate it, secure insurance to cover something happening to a piece of equipment or a person. If anything costs money I’d have to pay for it. </div>
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By this point I would have already worked for about a week and spent something, even if it isn’t much. </div>
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If you’ve been reading my blog at all you know that working as a director involves a lot more than showing up and calling “action!” Before I can even dream of calling “action!" I'd have to cast actors, find locations, and create the world I want to create through art direction, lighting, and props. </div>
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When it finally comes time to shoot the piece, I'd get to be the director, but I'd never stop being the producer, the person to deals with the inevitable problems –– equipment that breaks or doesn’t show up, people who flake, actors who are happy to work for free, but simply MUST have fresh dahlias in their dressing rooms...</div>
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I wouldn't get to stop being a producer once the footage was all shot because there’d be equipment to return, a location to clean up, and crew members to pay. But I might also get to be an editor. Somebody’s got to digitize the footage, sync the sound, pull the selects, edit the piece, do a color-correct, and mix the audio. </div>
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Oh, and then there’s music. We might want music. And a voice over. </div>
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Is there a title that comes up with the logo? Yeah, someone would need to create that, too.</div>
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The deadline for submitting to Zooppa is September 22nd, which means I'd have three weeks to write, produce, direct, and finish this thing. Pretty tight, but yeah, I could do it if I worked every day.</div>
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Twenty years ago, I was bringing in $1,000 a day as a freelance copywriter, but let’s forget that I’d just come off a job as Senior Vice President/Creative Director at <a href="https://www.bbdo.com/" target="_blank">BBDO Worldwide</a> and let’s also forget that you'd need <a href="http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1000&year=1995" target="_blank">$1,568</a> today to buy something that cost $1,000 in 1995. Instead, let’s say a copywriter is worth $350 a day. </div>
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Let’s also say a producer is worth $350 a day. And because we’re being all egalitarian and stuff, director/editors get to make $350 a day, too. </div>
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That means I’d be paying myself $22,050 to make this thing, which leaves a whopping $2,500 to pay the crew and actors, rent the location, props, and equipment, and buy the insurance.</div>
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And that’s if I win. Which I decided way up there at the top of this rant that I would. </div>
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You losers? All you other people who go to the same trouble that I do and who come in second? You'd get to spend $22,050 worth of your cut rate time and $2,500 of your money in order to collect $50. Plus you wouldn't get to say you made a real commercial. </div>
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Zooppa has come up with a business model that is predicated on people like me being willing to invest their time and money –– plus assume all the risk –– in order to create advertising on behalf of its clients. It's like a lottery, where the potential payout doesn't even cover the cost of the ticket.</div>
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So no, Zooppa, I won't be taking you up on this "opportunity", thank you very much. Even if it were my first time looking into the eyepiece of a camera –– and it isn't –– if I'm creating something a legitimate business values as part of its marketing communication, I deserve to be treated as a professional. And the people I hire to work with me do, too. </div>
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Don't get me wrong. I'm more than willing to cut my rate or work for free –– just like most everybody I know in this business –– but when I do it's because I either believe in the project, love the people, or see an opportunity to go to France. </div>
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Zooppa, you're asking me to invest both my time and money to further the marketing goals of a legitimate, profit-seeking enterprise. The only remuneration I'm guaranteed is two staplers, which I can keep as long as I promise to submit a commercial.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not a stapler. It's a paycheck.</td></tr>
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Three weeks' work for two staplers? Wow. What an "opportunity."</div>
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<div style="font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">
Brian Belefant is a diretor who is not shooting a stapler commercial this week and just happens to be available to work on something more legitimate, more worthy, or more likely to involve travel. </div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com4Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-84733138368515045642015-08-28T11:47:00.000-07:002015-08-28T11:47:38.956-07:00The Difference Between A Good Guy And A Protagonist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img.scoop.it/HLzA0_queWI2bAWxA46yoDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.scoop.it/HLzA0_queWI2bAWxA46yoDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9" height="124" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">I’ve always thought that the most realistic antagonists are convinced they’re not being bad. They honestly believe that what they’re doing is right. </span><br />
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How else can you explain the despicable shit my ex-wife pulled during our divorce?</div>
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So when it comes to a story where a protagonist confronts an antagonist, it only makes sense that a legitimate argument can be made to root for either character. </div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Gz_iTuRMM" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUmNxieB2Gz7WJ674gHWnJeq7cSx9_Mhmo-KHfPEcmiWgYUHNffYe9ttZaOTpJ68bYf8qvde2Ry6TPW_NnGQS56DPvoWqwJOtsiqg6YyUzV_M1qKPz6tS7D3BrZv39-guEFtPYJVUhZQ/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-08-28+at+10.56.45+AM.png" title="" width="200" /></a></div>
The trick is in the telling. And just the other day I stumbled onto a wonderful example. It’s by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/jmatthewturner" target="_blank">J. Matthew Turner</a> and wow, is it a lesson in perspective. </div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-8748493552208166842015-08-10T08:34:00.000-07:002015-08-10T08:34:00.473-07:00Adventures in Script Meetings<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.tvgcdn.net/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Rq_Rz/rudolph_redNosedReindeer/crops/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://static.tvgcdn.net/MediaBin/Galleries/Shows/M_R/Rq_Rz/rudolph_redNosedReindeer/crops/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer6.jpg" height="141" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Corporate shill.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">I was recently hired by an ad agency to write a 22-minute television show –– an animated family story that takes place in Pre-Colonial <a href="http://www.alaskaair.com/" target="_blank">Hawaii</a> and involves a young prince and his pet chicken. (Imagine '<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058536/" target="_blank">Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer</a>' with a corporate agenda.)</span><br />
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Because my kids love stories (and because we were waiting for the <a href="http://www.flying-pie.com/" target="_blank">pizza</a> we ordered to be ready), I took them through the entire script. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g1FnaL15Rp11V4UfP1NcDbg6IJj-ac_X5FsEt1o5hI-NnCxNFTvUwTQy3-wdAelkF82cFhW5LA6Ud0Ur_hWKyVp_Xd2lB-7mOi6iF6nVRUWG-RI6jFR1VI7DN6E_VjXUPRbxb2Inu-w/s1600/IMG_6460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g1FnaL15Rp11V4UfP1NcDbg6IJj-ac_X5FsEt1o5hI-NnCxNFTvUwTQy3-wdAelkF82cFhW5LA6Ud0Ur_hWKyVp_Xd2lB-7mOi6iF6nVRUWG-RI6jFR1VI7DN6E_VjXUPRbxb2Inu-w/s200/IMG_6460.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter the Chicken. The one the<br />
character in the story is based on.</td></tr>
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They sat, rapt, for the whole 22-minutes. I know this because when I was done, I quizzed them on what happened. I asked them to let me know if anything about the story didn’t make sense. Nope, they replied. Although it could have been clearer that the bad spirits turned into nice spirits at the end. </div>
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Note taken.</div>
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Then I asked if they liked it.</div>
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“Loved it,” they both said.</div>
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But then there was a little hesitation from Dashiell, my seven-year-old.</div>
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“You know what, Dad?”</div>
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“What?”</div>
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“Maybe instead of a raft, it could be a rocket that goes into a black hole and that’s how he gets to the Dark Island.”</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/california/california-hollywood-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/california/california-hollywood-sign.jpg" height="135" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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And just like that, I’m back in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood" target="_blank">Hollywood</a>, having a story meeting with a studio exec.</div>
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Brian Belefant is a director who also works as a writer, but is mostly looking for directing gigs these days and if you happen to need a director you could do a lot worse than hiring him. Try calling (503) 715 2852 or emailing belefant (at) me (dot) com.</div>
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Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com1Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-73175459481525580702015-06-30T16:50:00.000-07:002015-06-30T16:50:06.959-07:00What to look for in a line producer (part 3)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't see the forest.</td></tr>
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Wow. Has it really been a month? I've been so busy with post production on a film project I'm working on that I haven't had time to write up a post. </div>
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Guess I probably ought to start with a recap.</div>
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<br />In <a href="http://60secdirector.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-to-look-for-in-line-producer-part-1.html" target="_blank">What To Look For In A Producer (Part 1)</a> I said that the most important thing to look for in a line producer is ethicalness. And then after I hit Publish I realized there’s a better word for that: Integrity. </div>
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Whatever. </div>
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A couple of weeks later I put up <a href="http://60secdirector.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-to-look-for-in-line-producer-part-2.html" target="_blank">What To Look For In A Producer (Part 2)</a>, in which I said that the second most important thing to look for in a line producer is a commitment to seeing the project through. Finishitoffness.</div>
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There. All caught up.</div>
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Now for the third most important thing to look for in a line producer, which is related to both of those, but different enough that it deserves to have its own number. Number 3.</div>
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Ready? The third most important thing to look for in a line producer is the ability to see the big picture. </div>
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Let me give you an example.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://dollyparton.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3764210470/212b47b120e1ff61a661a2e57f652e60_400x400.jpeg" title="" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
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I was shooting a commercial project that turned out to be a bit more intricate than the producer had initially anticipated. So after the bid was accepted and the job awarded, we discovered that we needed four days to do what he had initially thought we could accomplish in three. As you can imagine, a fourth day makes a pretty significant difference to a budget, what with the additional crew hours and equipment and stage rental. Needless to say, the producer was concerned –– as was I –– about making it work for the money. </div>
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But we’d committed (integrity) and we were determined to see it through (finishitoffness). So we plowed ahead, keeping an extra eye on expenses. </div>
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I’m one of those directors that’s pretty good at scheduling out my days and when I did, I worked it out that our first shot on the first day required a dolly. Which is only important because of what happened. We all showed up on the first day to find... no dolly. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://www.topbritishinnovations.org/~/media/Voting/Images/Dolly%20the%20Sheep_detail.jpg" height="138" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
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Which means we couldn't get the shot. </div>
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The producer had decided that since money was tight, he’d book the dolly to show up at noon. </div>
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He saved a couple hundred bucks, tops. And ended up having to pay thirty crew members to stand around while the rest of us scrambled to get ready for what turned out to be our first shot, which of course we didn’t actually shoot until almost when we were scheduled to shoot it in the first place. When the dolly finally showed up, we interrupted the flow of what we’d already planned to follow the first shot in order to take advantage of the light that was quickly becoming crap in order to get the dolly shot. </div>
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That was a producer who didn’t see the big picture. And the thing about producing is that there are so many aspects to a production that there’s a lot of big picture to see. The job is seriously like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, only there’s no one right way to do it. You have to take into consideration equipment and crew and cast members and light and locations and preferences and availabilities and all that. A lot of the time, it’s a matter of figuring out the least worst solution to the problem, but in order to do that, a producer needs to keep sight of what is important –– not just to the director, but to everybody. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.chapman-leonard.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/5736/8632910_1.jpg?v=8CE71410914F540" height="145" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><a href="http://www.chapman-leonard.com/" target="_blank">There. That's the Dolly I'm talking about.</a></span></td></tr>
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In the case of this example, the big picture wasn't all that big. The guy wanted to save money, which is one of the things producers are supposed to do. But he ended up wasting a ton more. Plus he put us behind schedule from the very beginning and put the crew into a panic because we had to scramble to move on to what would have been the second shot of the day. Worst of all, he caused incalculable harm to my relationship with the ad agency, who rightfully wondered if I'd ever actually directed a commercial before. </div>
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All that stuff is the big picture. Plus more. And before you haul off and hire a line producer, it’s a good idea to be sure you’re on the same page with regard to just what the big picture is. </div>
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And this, of course, brings up the obvious follow-up question: Brian, just how do I find a producer who sees the big picture? </div>
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No guarantees, but I’ll tell you something I do that helps. I talk about food. </div>
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Seriously.</div>
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As someone who has (and still does) work for free, I sincerely believe that a well-fed crew is s happier and more productive crew. So no matter how much we ask people to compromise on their rates, I never want to cut corners on lunch. The difference between a crappy lunch and a good lunch is sometimes less than $5 a person. So it’s really a small concession to make when we’re asking someone to cut their rate by $100 a day. </div>
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This isn’t something I declare when I’m talking to a producer I’ve never worked with before. It’s a discussion I open, to see where they go. </div>
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And no, it’s not the only thing I do, but I find that how a producer feels about feeding a crew is usually a pretty good indicator of the way he or she feels about how all the myriad factors of a production are interrelated. </div>
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That producer? The one who booked the dolly to show up at noon? He thought it would be a good idea to cap off a long day of hard work by having Taco Bell cater the crew’s dinner. This came up before we found out we were going to have to shoot four days for the price of three. I didn’t realize at the time, but that was a sign. </div>
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Brian Belefant is a director who's so busy finishing up the project he's working on that he doesn't have time to be out looking for the next one. Think you might be able to use him? If so, give him a call at (503) 715 2852 or email him at belefant at me dot com.</div>
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Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-3238415942426726812015-05-28T08:41:00.000-07:002015-05-28T09:24:17.676-07:00What to look for in a line producer (part 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You know what sucks about working as a director? You really don’t get to see how other people do what you do. </div>
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I figured out a way around that. What I did was sign up with an extra casting service. I’d get booked as an extra on other people's sets and get to see how different directors work. </div>
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Remember that movie ‘<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120891/" target="_blank">The Wild, Wild West</a>’? I was in that.<br />
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Don’t bother looking for my name in the credits. They hired hundreds of us, put us in genuine wool Confederate army uniforms, had makeup people apply facial hair, and then told us to sit in a non-air-conditioned soundstage all day in sweltering Burbank, waiting to be called to the set. </div>
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Fun.<br />
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I had been booked for four days. When I got home at the end of the third day I got a phone call. A directing job I'd been hoping to get had come through. </div>
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<a href="http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/covers/wild-wild-west-dvd-cover-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/covers/wild-wild-west-dvd-cover-07.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a>Of course I came in for the fourth day –– I’d put off starting the directing job because I’d committed to the extra work –– but since the scenes I was supposed to be in hadn’t been finished, the Assistant Director made an announcement to the bunch of us that they’d be needing us to come back for a few more days. </div>
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I took the AD aside and told him that I was sorry, but that I couldn’t make it back. And this guy? He tried everything. He appealed to my greed. (“I’ll see if I can swing you more money.”) He appealed to my sense of duty. (“You committed to this project. You can’t just leave us in the lurch like this.”) He even tried to threaten me. (“With an attitude like that, you’re not going to go very far in this business.”)</div>
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Finally, out of ammo, he asked. “What could you possibly be doing that’s more important than helping make this film come together?” </div>
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I didn’t want to do it, but I had to tell him. “I booked a job directing a commercial for American Express.”</div>
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“Oh.” </div>
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There are two points to this story and they both aim square at the second most important thing you need to look for in a producer: </div>
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<b>The second most important thing to look for in a line producer is someone who’s committed to seeing your project through.</b></div>
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Point one was that I was not that. Not to Barry Sonnenfeld, anyway, or the rest of the people on ‘The Wild, Wild West’ and maybe that’s why the movie turned out to be such a turd. Point two was that the AD was. He did his very best to get me to come back, but no matter how hard he tried I gave him something he simply couldn’t trump. </div>
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Granted, I wasn’t the producer and neither was he. But here’s the thing. There will always be reasons. People get sick. People’s kids get sick. Relatives die. Those and many more are legitimate reasons to not come into work and if you don’t understand those you shouldn’t be in a position of authority.</div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Steven_Spielberg_Cannes_2013_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Steven_Spielberg_Cannes_2013_3.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a>It’s the illegitimate reasons that can never ever ever get in the way. Like the producer who disappeared on me because the surf was really good. Or the one who went incommunicado for hours at a time as soon as the bars opened. </div>
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When you hire a producer, make sure you hire one who wants not only to be a producer, but wants to be <i><u>your</u></i> producer. As uncool as it is, people will ditch one job for a better one and let’s be honest, your masterpiece might not be the best job a producer is in contention for.</div>
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Remember the <a href="http://60secdirector.blogspot.com/2015/05/what-to-look-for-in-line-producer-part-1.html" target="_blank">first most important thing to look for in a producer</a>? Ethics? This is a another reason that’s Thing Number One. An ethical producer will finish out his or her commitment to you and if <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg" target="_blank">Spielberg</a> calls, he or she will ask him to wait until this project is finished. </div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Barry_Sonnenfeld_2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Barry_Sonnenfeld_2012.jpg" height="200" width="158" /></a>I don’t know Steven Spielberg, but I’d be willing to bet you he’d respect that. After all, he’s not looking for someone who’s going to disappear in the middle of his production, either. </div>
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As for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sonnenfeld" target="_blank">Barry Sonnenfeld</a>, if you’re reading this? Dude, I’m sorry.<br />
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Brian Belefant is a copywriter turned director still finishing up post production on a corporate video that you'll never get to see because of all the non-disclosure agreements and stuff. But hey, if you're looking to put together your next project, maybe he'll be done by the time you pull the trigger. Call (503) 715 2852 or email <a href="mailto:belefant@me.com">belefant@me.com</a>.</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com1Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-58677978437176030872015-05-21T19:03:00.000-07:002015-05-21T19:03:54.268-07:00What to look for in a line producer (part 1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Seems simple enough. But you know me. Rather than simply giving him a couple of names, I sat down and thought about what I look for in a producer. Then I wrote all those things down in a list and put them in order of priority. </div>
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And then, rather than actually getting back to the aspiring filmmaker, I decided to put it all together and post each characteristic, one blog post at a time. </div>
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Kidding. </div>
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Here's what I told him: </div>
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<li><b>The most important quality to look for in a line producer: Someone who’s ethical.</b></li>
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The single most important quality to look for in a line producer is someone who not only knows the difference between right and wrong, but who always, always does what’s right. </div>
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Right for the production, for the crew, for the actors, for the community, and for you.</div>
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I’m going to get into budgeting basics in another blog post, but for now take me at my word when I say that budgets are fuzzy things in that there are thousands of places to bury a body. What’s the rate for a gaffer? Well, there’s a range, but on each and every production it’s up to the producer to negotiate the rate with the gaffer. </div>
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You don’t want a gaffer who resents being paid less than what he or she feels is fair, but at the same time, you don’t want to just throw money at the gaffer, either. </div>
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<a href="http://speckycdn.sdm.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ethical-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://speckycdn.sdm.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ethical-01.jpg" height="110" width="320" /></a>An ethical producer takes all the relevant factors into consideration: The size of your budget, the number of days you’ll be shooting, the circumstances (it’s a lot easier to ask for flexibility when you’re shooting on a tropical beach than when you’re shooting in a garbage dump), the team being put together, the kind of piece you’re working on, the number of favors you’ve already asked from the gaffer, and perhaps most important, your reputation. Yours. </div>
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I’ve had crews drop everything for a chance to get paid half their normal rate when they heard it was a chance to work with me and oh by the way, we were going to be shooting at night. In winter. Outside. Why? Because from the day I started directing almost 20 years ago I’ve made it a point not to be an asshole. I take care of my crews, I treat my actors with respect, and I bust my own butt. </div>
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(To be fair, I've had crews drop everything for a chance to get paid half their normal rate when they heard it was a spot for a Swiss bank and there'd be a topless girl in it, but that's another story.)</div>
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If you’re a newcomer, you don’t have a reputation yet and frankly, that can work against you. First timers are often indecisive, which ends up wasting a lot of time. Or they can try to overcompensate for their lack of experience by being too decisive, which ends up pissing off a lot of people who really are just trying to make things go better.</div>
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If you’re a newcomer, go ahead and try to assuage your producer. If he or she is any good, it won’t make a difference because, well, you’re a newcomer and there’s no value in making promises to a crew about what you’re going to be like to work with that he or she can’t keep. </div>
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But let’s go back to that gaffer. The one whose rate was being negotiated. I’ve heard of producers negotiating one rate with the gaffer, but then putting another number into the budget. One that's a touch higher. What happens to the difference? Well, producers need to drive nice cars, right?</div>
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<b>At this point you've been reading along, hoping I would get around to answering that question: “But, Brian, where can I actually find an ethical producer?” Here comes. </b></div>
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Let's go back to what I said before, about how you want to find someone who always does what's right for the production, for the crew, for the actors, for the community, and for you. The thing about ethical people is that they'll have a reputation. And people with reputations are pretty easy to find. </div>
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All you have to do is do what that aspiring filmmaker did: Ask. Not me, obviously, because I'll probably just turn it into a blog post instead of giving you an answer. </div>
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Okay, ask me. But also ask anybody who might have crossed paths with a line producer they'd recommend. Ask actors, directors, crew members, people who let some aspiring filmmaker shoot in their barn. Ask specifically for people who are ethical.</div>
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See? Pretty easy. </div>
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But there's more. And I'll get to each and every one of those in future blog posts, which if you want to make sure you don't miss, why don't you sign up for my email list? The only spam you'll get is from me, and it's only spam if you're not interested in what I have to say. Which you are. </div>
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Brian Belefant is a copywriter turned director currently finishing up post production on a corporate video that you'll never get to see because of all the non-disclosure agreements and stuff. But hey, if you're looking to put together your next project, please call (503) 715 2852 or email belefant@me.com. </div>
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Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97206, USA45.485637200000014 -122.5946255999999745.396572700000014 -122.75598709999997 45.574701700000013 -122.43326409999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-32567014457305281762015-04-07T12:50:00.000-07:002015-04-08T11:44:16.566-07:00How to watch your own film<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iccoguidetocannes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/croisette-cannes-new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.iccoguidetocannes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/croisette-cannes-new.jpg" height="105" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you think this is Nice, you're close. <br />
It's Cannes.</td></tr>
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I was super lucky. I learned this lesson at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannes" target="_blank">Cannes</a>, where a public service announcement I’d directed was chosen to screen. Major venue. Sophisticated audience. Sold out theatre. (Did you notice I spelled it with the R before the E? Yeah. All French and everything.)</div>
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So anyway, sold out theatre, which meant that by the time I got there I ended up having to stand and I guess the French fire marshall isn’t as particular as the ones we have here because even after all the seats were taken, people kept piling in. And all of them were going to see the tiny thing we managed to pull together for less than $6,000 –– and that included what we spent to fix the scratch on the negative, which by the way wasn’t <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0163136/" target="_blank">David Claessen</a>’s fault. He did an amazing job as the cinematographer on this and I have yet to thank him appropriately.</div>
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Where was I?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Claessen –– extraordinary cinematographer</td></tr>
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By the time the lights went down, the aisles were full and I’d been shoved all the way to the front of the theatre, almost underneath the screen, which meant I didn’t get a very good view of anything that was being projected. But I got an incredible view of the audience. </div>
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I got to see people engaged, bored, interested, fidgeting…</div>
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When my little gem came on, I wanted to see it. I mean, I WAS SCREENING IN CANNES! </div>
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But I couldn’t, really. And besides, it’s not like I hadn’t seen it before. So I watched the people watching it. </div>
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The whole spot happens in one take –– that’s the way I designed it –– and there’s an instant where I want you the viewer to realize what’s going on and just how horrific it is. It’s one thing for a director to intend that; quite another for a director to make it happen. And I made it happen. The entire theatre gasped at exactly the same moment.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzpqe4PKzt-DaZIIvx2Dj2C5t4rFlenQpCJREa7iwfQcYI5epGmBEKbmyQninOBWgEfA1pMEYX0aQvD4_pc0Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(If this video doesn't play,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">try this link: <a href="https://vimeo.com/75154837">https://vimeo.com/75154837</a>)</span></div>
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“Damn,” I thought to myself. “I am very talented."</div>
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And this is why I was lucky. It happened early in my career. </div>
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So early in my career that I figured, hey, I’m going to watch people watch my stuff every chance I get because that way I’ll get to see for real just how talented I am. </div>
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What I came to find out pretty quickly was that while everything worked exactly the way I planned for it to in this one piece, other times stuff didn’t go quite the way I thought it would. A joke I thought would get a huge laugh would only get an appreciative nod. Or a narrowing of the eyes. One time I happened to be in a bar when a commercial I’d just finished working on, one that I was super proud of, came on the TV. Nobody even looked up. </div>
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The thing is, I wouldn’t have known about those reactions –– or non-reactions –– if I hadn’t been watching for them. </div>
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And I wouldn’t have been able to fix the problems if I hadn’t seen for myself where they were. </div>
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I’ve been to a lot of Hollywood screenings where the directors sit in the back. When the film is over they nod and smile and graciously accept the praise of the people filing out. People who almost without exception tell them how wonderful they thought it was. </div>
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Sure, if you’re sitting in the back it’s easier to duck out so you can take a call from your agent or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese" target="_blank">Martin Scorcese</a>. But the directors I respect most don’t sit in the back and wait to hear people tell them what they want to hear. They turn off their phones, stand in the front, and see for themselves.<br />
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Brian Belefant is a copywriter turned director totally excité for his next assignment. Please call (503) 715 2852 or email <a href="mailto:belefant@me.com">belefant@me.com</a>.</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com2Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999822.706580499999998 -163.95983529999998 68.2941915 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-65288695987313471902015-03-20T11:59:00.000-07:002015-03-20T11:59:05.962-07:00Let's be careful out there.<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/63787264" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4qc2kNMTYNVqgS7KiIk-Gr0bWpdvz-zV3KcovE_nzxv6P6dnEpxl_uhAzM-G838cFytyauWEsGmWawm62kaUApWwpsgWXaEdczX4GlYlliQqXaksDVgxb5zT6n-NbyidtVQD6KC9NQE/s1600/Planet+Golf.png" height="109" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: -apple-system-font; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">One of my first projects as a baby director was a spot I offered to finance and shoot for a friend of a friend. It was a pretty ambitious production –– a post-apocalyptic story involving a golfer in a gyrocopter. </span></div>
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At one point, I wanted to give some notes to the actor, so I walked from where I’d been standing by the camera toward the flying contraption he was sitting in. </div>
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I didn’t notice that the blades were spinning. </div>
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Okay, I did, but I was concentrating on my shots and the stuff I wanted to talk about with the actor. Between the angle of the blades and the speed they were turning, I was about to be decapitated. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://geek-news.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fliege_gyrocopter_side600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://geek-news.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fliege_gyrocopter_side600.jpg" height="100" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">If you think walking into the spinning blades</span><br />
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Spoiler alert: I didn’t die. I got about ten feet before I was tackled to the ground by my Assistant Director. Among other things, the AD is the person who keeps the set safe. </div>
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I’ve been thinking about this because I’ve been reading a bit about <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0589168/" target="_blank">Randall Miller</a>, the director of ‘Midnight Rider’, and how he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the death of Sarah Jones, the camera assistant who was killed when a train unexpectedly plowed into the set they’d built on a train track. A lot of what's being written makes it sound as if filmmakers are cynical taskmasters who will put people’s lives at stake in order to get a shot.</div>
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I don’t know Randall Miller or any of the other people involved in making that film, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t want Sarah Jones to die. And no, not just because they had more filming to do. </div>
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But here’s what happens. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/3176250" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigADw8ZNN8NTPelCT9ohujsQf3MB_uO9SEoKLTBkEEhizGxlQIU0ixZeclZz39Ora70ZPQCROZ7VGccfjxMqOrRF2_gKbeYZaoNpZVvidq5g8v4nxwdyFwH3snJwqdKxi2RJ8hHmZUO5U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-19+at+12.24.42+PM.png" height="111" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Burning Passion', a pretty ambitious<br />
(and kind of dangerous) short film I directed.</td></tr>
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A film is a project. A gloriously fun and exciting project, full of potential and fraught with unexpected complications. </div>
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If you hire well, everybody on the project –– even the people who really only stand to benefit financially, like the guy who drives the motor home and the people who put up the lights –– everybody gets excited about this thing you’re making. We all pull together. </div>
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And so when it comes to making a shot a little better, heck yes we want to do that. </div>
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"Should we shoot the dream sequence on the bridge?" Yes. "There’s a train coming. Can we get one more take?" Yes. If we take the rig down and put it back up, we’ll lose the light or fall behind. </div>
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My brother hates flying. He once explained to me why he was more afraid of take offs than landings. “When you’re landing,” he says, "the pilot wants to be on the ground. So he’s less likely to pull up if something goes sideways.”</div>
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It’s the AD’s responsibility to not only be aware of the safety issues, but to make them clear to every single person on the set. We have what's called a Safety Meeting every time we’re doing anything that might put anyone in harm’s way, whether it’s working with a cat that might scratch an actor or a candle on a mantel that might fall over and set fire to the chair. </div>
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Yeah, when you're not shooting real bikers wielding real knives or creating a gag to look like flaming ejaculate (both of which I'm proud to say I've done) the safety meetings can be pretty annoying. We’re excited to make this thing. We don’t want to freak out because we’re filming a five-year-old holding a sparkler, but you know what? Somebody needs to. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wanted real bikers. I got real bikers.</td></tr>
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That’s why when you hire an AD, yes, you want the person who’s going to be excited to work on your masterpiece and do everything possible to make it better. But if your plane is headed for the ground, you want the pilot who’s going to get it onto the ground, quickly and safely. Even better, you want an AD who does the things that keep the plane from going out of control in the first place.</div>
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I suppose I was fortunate to have learned that lesson early on when my AD quite literally saved my life. I hope my writing is dramatic enough to make you think seriously about it.</div>
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Brian Belefant is a copywriter turned director currently rooting around for his next assignment. Please call (503) 715 2852 or email belefant@me.com. </div>
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Post Script: I sent a draft of this blog post to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0632598/" target="_blank">Laura Nisbet Peters</a>, one of the finest (and funniest) Assistant Directors I know. She offered the following thought: </div>
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"I’ve been in situations like that. The weirdness of it all is that the guy who hires you, and who may or may not hire you later, is the guy to whom you have to say no. Yes, the AD is the safety rep, but the director and the producers are his/her bosses. Accidents that shouldn’t have happened serve as the ammo you need for when you are alone standing your ground with only your tiny sling shot.”</div>
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Are you listening?</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-42981262810909705372015-03-10T14:04:00.001-07:002015-03-10T15:10:24.560-07:00A magnificent commercial. Read this before you try to do something like it.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A beautiful piece of video showed up in my <a data-mce-href="http://facebook.com/belefant" href="http://facebook.com/belefant" target="_blank">Facebook feed</a> the other day. But before I share it with you, I feel it’s my duty to give you a little background.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Any piece of communication has two components –– the rational and the emotional. The rational component is the message. What you want people to believe. The reason why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But what makes a piece of communication amazing is always –– always –– the emotional bit. Not the message, but the way it’s delivered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Remember <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement)">Apple’s ‘1984’ commercial</a>? (Probably not. You weren’t even born in 1984, were you?) Created by <a data-mce-href="http://tbwachiatdayla.com" href="http://tbwachiatdayla.com/" target="_blank">Chiat/Day</a> (where I used to work as a copywriter, by the way), it’s still held up as one of the –– if not <i>the</i> –– greatest television spots ever made. What was the message? Apple’s new computer is going to change the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yawn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s exactly the same strategy that every single computer manufacturer has used for every single new product introduction ever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are tons of really forgettable ways that message could have been –– and has been –– delivered. Microsoft’s Surface introduction comes to mind. Samsung’s ‘Next Big Thing’ campaign, too. I’m sure there are other good examples, but, well, like I said they’re mostly forgettable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The way Apple chose to do it in 1983 –– having a blonde chick heave a sledge hammer at a TV screen –– that was the amazing part. (It also helped that the Macintosh happened to be truly revolutionary, but that’s the subject of a different post.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Every once in a while, somebody who realizes the truth of what I just said will go, “Well, if the emotional component is the part that really matters, why should I even bother with the rational bit? I mean, who needs a strategy, anyway?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Little reason</b>: Because your competitors are staking claims and not to do so would be stupid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Medium reason</b>: Because knowing what you’re trying to communicate rationally will liberate your creative teams to come up with an amazing way to do it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Big reason</b>: Because nobody knows. Seriously. Nobody can consistently and reliably create amazing emotional bits, especially in the absence of rational bits. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure, there are a few geniuses who are pretty good at it. And they have a better record at making amazing stuff than most. But in spite of what every single ad agency tells every single client, it’s impossible to control for all the variables or to know what’s going to resonate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Don’t believe me? Then explain to me why the video for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0" target="_blank">Gangnam Style</a> managed to accumulate more than two billion views on YouTube while the follow up video for the same artist, directed by the same director, and benefitting from the all the press and fame and confidence and revenue of the first, couldn’t come close?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Please. Whatever you do, don’t abandon strategy and attempt to make a spot for your version of baked beans like this exquisite little piece of perfection: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because <b>biggest reason</b>: It’s not a commercial for beans. It was written and directed by Animator <a href="http://www.alviseavati.com/" target="_blank">Alvise Avati</a> and produced by Animation Director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124900/" target="_blank">Eamonn Butler</a> as a commercial for <a href="http://www.cinesite.com/" target="_blank">Cinesite</a>, demonstrating their creature animation skills. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh look. A strategy: “We do really good creature animation.”</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: inherit;">Now that you know what this video was actually created to do, go back and read through my list of reasons. Suddenly, strategy makes a whole lot more sense, doesn’t it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brian Belefant is a copywriter and director currently looking for his next assignment. Please call (503) 715 2852 or email <a href="mailto:belefant@me.com">belefant@me.com</a></span>.</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-25787033901360394792015-03-02T17:30:00.000-08:002015-03-02T19:25:47.514-08:00Why simple is not so simple.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">It's one of the basic tenets of advertising: simple messages communicate more powerfully than complicated ones. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">And yet.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Back when I was a baby copywriter, we used to bitch about how the creative briefs we were given kept getting bigger and bigger. Yes, even at a storied ad agency like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBWA%5CChiat%5CDay" target="_blank">Chiat/Day</a>, a place famous for creating simple, powerful advertising. Sometimes the brief for a single ad or commercial would run to four pages.</span></div>
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Whenever we were given a brief, the first thing most of us in the creative department would do is flip through it, skipping over all the background and demographic stuff to the one important line item: What’s the single most compelling thing we want readers/viewers to take away? A simple answer there would mean we’d been given a good assignment. Not because the solution would necessarily be easy, but because even an idiot would be able to determine whether we’d met the criteria. </div>
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It’s hard to keep an assignment simple. Clients who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an ad feel as if they’re being asked to pony up for a <a href="http://www.ferrari.com/en_us/" target="_blank">Ferrari</a>, but not being told whether it will even turn left.</div>
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(I once had to work on a billboard that had –- and I’m not making this up –– a list of eight things that the brief said needed to be communicated. There’s a general rule with billboards that you don’t want to go over nine words. Which, as the account person nervously joked, gave us the freedom to throw in a gratuitous “the” or “and.” My partner and I actually nailed it, but unfortunately the headline we wrote had twelve words, so our solution was killed before it ever got shown to the client.)</div>
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That was years ago. Since then, media has become lots more expensive. And the vast majority of clients have become accustomed to being regularly deferred to by agencies who are so terrified to lose the business that they refuse to have an opinion, much less take a stand. </div>
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All of which adds up to an advertising landscape that’s fetid.</div>
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And then there’s this. </div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Forget how dazzlingly funny this is. That’s bonus. The genius is that the very structure requires the spot to say only one thing. The single most compelling message. </span></div>
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I look at this spot and I see not just a brilliant creative solution, but also a healthy agency/client relationship. I know. That's two things. </div>
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See? Even I can’t help but want to make two points.</div>
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Way to go, <a href="http://www.martinagency.com/home" target="_blank">Martin Agency</a>.</div>
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Brian Belefant is a copywriter turned director currently looking for his next assignment. Please call (503) 715 2852 or email <a href="mailto:belefant@me.com">belefant@me.com</a>. </div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-44904920861226206702015-02-20T13:17:00.001-08:002015-02-20T13:17:32.055-08:00Just when I was beginning to think there was no hope for advertising.<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
<a href="http://www.savethebros.com/media/bottles_clipped.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.savethebros.com/media/bottles_clipped.png" height="200" width="133" /></a>I’ve been pretty cranky about the advertising business lately. So much crap; so little good stuff. It’s gotten to the point that I was seriously considering changing careers, but I’m not sure if the Nobel Prize committee is hiring right now.<br />
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Lucky for <a href="https://sweden.se/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 46, 238); color: #042eee;">Sweden</span></a>, I saw this spot for <a href="http://www.organicvalley.coop/"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 46, 238); color: #042eee;">Organic Valley</span></a>.<br />
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You don’t need me to tell you it’s brilliant –– wonderful idea, super well executed. But you might appreciate me telling you why.</div>
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To do that, think about the assignment: Sell the benefits of an organic protein drink.</div>
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The obvious solution would have been to draw a connection between what consumers want (to improve their health) and what the product offers ( the perceived healthful advantages of being organic).</div>
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The ad agency probably presented some work that did just that. And it was probably good. </div>
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But someone (David Littlejohn, Mike Cessario, Stephanie Gelabert, and Sean Davis) came up with this gem of an idea. Someone (the uncredited account executives) convinced the client it was a good idea. And someone (the uncredited agency producer) found the right team (<a href="http://fancyrhino.com/" target="_blank">Fancy Rhino</a>) to put it all together. </div>
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Then they came up with the ancillary stuff: The website (http://savethebros.com), the merch, the Buy One/Bro One offer. </div>
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My hat is off to you, <a href="http://humanaut.is/" target="_blank">Humanaut</a>, and all the people who pulled together to make this spot happen. I hope this portends well for the entire business. </div>
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In case it doesn’t, I’m going to brush up on my Swedish.</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-17737634875981530552015-02-02T17:01:00.002-08:002015-02-02T17:01:25.023-08:00Leave it to a kindergartener to come up with the perfect Valentine's Day gift<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ophelia, at her first art show (2013)</td></tr>
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Two years ago, when my daughter Ophelia was in kindergarten, she heard about kids who needed pediatric cardiology. She wanted to help, so like any six-year-old with an oversized sense of the possible, she started an art show. </div>
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<a href="http://theheartshow.com/" target="_blank">The Heart Show</a>.</div>
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The idea was to get each of her classmates to paint a heart on a 5” x 7” canvas and sell them to raise money for the hospital she was born in.</div>
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She and her classmates raised $370.</div>
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This year is the third year of the show and we’re hoping it’ll be even better. The <a href="http://splendorporium.net/" target="_blank">Splendorporium Gallery</a> has generously offered to display the work in conjunction with their February Pink Show. </div>
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The silent auction will be held during the gallery’s art opening on February 6th, from 7:00 pm until 8:00 pm. It’s a super kid-friendly gallery, which means that instead of scowling people in black, you’re more likely to encounter a llama and no, I’m not making that up. <a href="http://rojothellama.com/" target="_blank">Rojo the therapy llama</a> will be there for kids to play with while you bid on a masterpiece to give to your beloved.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/50eb5641e4b0684ae74d6dc0/t/52dcafd4e4b0322091735db2/1390194646011/rojo5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/50eb5641e4b0684ae74d6dc0/t/52dcafd4e4b0322091735db2/1390194646011/rojo5.jpg" height="191" width="200" /></a></div>
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For the past two years, savvy art connoisseurs have been able to pick up a priceless gift for as little as $5.</div>
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And when you think about it, that’s a three-way gift. Not only does it show how much you love the person you’re giving it to, but it also encourages a young artist and supports the <a href="http://www.legacyhealth.org/locations/hospitals/randall-childrens-hospital-at-legacy-emanuel" target="_blank">Randall Children’s Hospital Foundation</a> –– an incredibly worthy cause. </div>
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Please come. And bring your checkbook.</div>
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The Splenderporium Gallery is at 3421 Se 21st Ave, Portland, OR 97202 · (503) 953-2885.</div>
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Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-59552858413702175812014-12-18T10:47:00.001-08:002014-12-18T10:47:45.870-08:00A movie that's full of drumming and utterly devoid of sex, and that's where the parallel with my high school years ends.<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px;">
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You know what’s cool about being in the <a href="http://dga.org/" target="_blank">DGA</a>? Christmas. This time of year I get screeners for a ton of movies that are hoping to be considered for awards. </div>
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I know, right?</div>
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<a href="http://www.cinemainmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Whiplash-Movie-Images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cinemainmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Whiplash-Movie-Images.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;">A couple of nights ago I dropped </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvOksqh1Td0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 46, 238); color: #551a8b;"><i>Whiplash</i></span></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;"> into the DVD player. It's a story about a young musical student (played by </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1886602/?ref_=tt_cl_t1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 46, 238); color: #551a8b;">Miles Teller</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;">) and his relationship with an abusive teacher (played by </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0799777/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 46, 238); color: #551a8b;">JK Simmons</span></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;">, who must have had a blast with the role because he gets to be a completely glorious asshole).</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;">The fact that I’m singling out this movie might lead you to believe that this is an attempt to influence the voting. Nope. A lot of good films came out this year and I’m going to leave it to the <a href="http://www.oscars.org/" target="_blank">Academy</a> to decide whether </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvOksqh1Td0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 46, 238); color: #551a8b;"><i>Whiplash</i></span></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hypatia Sans Pro'; font-size: 12px;"> happens to be the best of them.</span><br />
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The reason I’m bringing it up is because it does something I’ve never seen before. Both the protagonist and the antagonist are pursuing the exact same thing. </div>
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Exact.</div>
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The two characters tell you (by way of actions and dialogue with other characters) exactly what they intend to accomplish and the lengths they’re willing to go to accomplish it, so the movie doesn’t even have to fall back on a “surprise” reveal to justify their actions.</div>
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From a story point of view, that’s an extraordinary thing to pull off. And I happen to think it does. Despite both characters’ single-minded determination (<a href="http://60secdirector.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-makes-interesting-protagonist-part.html" target="_blank">see my post from June 5, 2009 about that</a>) to achieve said goal, the film is able to create and elevate the conflict all the way through to an ending that’s simultaneously surprising, satisfying, and totally, perfectly, completely inevitable. </div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Okay, I lied. I would like to influence the voting. <a href="http://www.oscars.org/" target="_blank">Members of the Academy</a>, take a look at the dramatic structure of this story. And consider nominating <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3227090/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr1" target="_blank">Damien Chazelle</a></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> for Best Screenplay.</span></div>
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Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97214, USA45.5113506 -122.6456739000000245.4890976 -122.68601440000002 45.5336036 -122.60533340000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-76681785783942929582014-11-18T14:35:00.000-08:002014-11-18T14:35:06.580-08:00The Sundance Kid is autistic (and no, I’m not qualified to diagnose, but I do know a thing or two about autism)<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px;">
Two nights ago, while my seven-year-old daughter struggled with a pencil and paper to work out the answers to her math homework, my six-year-old boy listened to the problems and called out the answers.<br />
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It’s kind of neat (or annoying, if you happen to be a seven-year-old) that he can figure out the answers to second grade math problems in his head. What’s more remarkable (and even more annoying) is his technique. He runs at a high backed chair, throws himself at it headfirst, and calls out the answer to the problem as he lands in kind of a headstand. </div>
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Dashiell reminds me of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Redford" target="_blank">Robert Redford</a>. </div>
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You ever see <i>Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid</i>? it’s one of the greatest movies ever written (by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goldman" target="_blank">William Goldman</a>, who also wrote <i>The Princess Bride</i>, by the way). </div>
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See it again. And take a close look at Sundance. The character. </div>
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He’s introduced at a card game where he keeps winning. Dashiell’s like that. He figures out the way things work and then uses that knowledge to make them work better. At six, he can already beat me at checkers sometimes and no, that’s not saying a lot, but bear with me here because I’m going to make a point and it’s going to be a good one.</div>
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The man Sundance is playing against is convinced he’s cheating and it looks as if there’s going to be a shootout. Sundance doesn’t like to be called a cheater. The movie leaves it pretty ambiguous as to whether he actually cheats, but I’m convinced he doesn't because Dashiell wouldn’t. He knows the rules and he abides by them. He hates losing, but he hates cheating even more.</div>
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Butch Cassidy (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Newman" target="_blank">Paul Newman</a>) walks in and offers the man a way out. All he has to do is invite Sundance to stick around. He doesn’t have to mean it and Butch even promises that they won’t. He just has to make the gesture. My son is the same way, except for the shooting someone part. He has a powerful sense of right and wrong. Calling someone a cheater when he’s not is wrong but everything can be made okay if you simply acknowledge that you messed up.</div>
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As the Sundance Kid walks out, the card player calls after him. "Hey, Kid." But Sundance doesn’t respond. That’s my kid in spades. His mind is busy –– so busy that it’s sometimes impossible to get his attention. </div>
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But the things that seals it? When Sundance needs to prove he can shoot in order to get a job as a payroll guard in Bolivia. Percy Garris, the mine owner, tosses a piece of clay or wood or something into the street and tells him to shoot it. Maybe it’s a plug of tobacco.</div>
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Sundance misses. </div>
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“Can I move?” Sundance asks. When he moves, he can’t miss. Put my kid in a chair and make him sit still and he can’t even begin to do the math he’s supposed to be learning in first grade. But let him loose…</div>
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I don’t know if William Goldman intended it, but I’m going to say he’s written The Sundance Kid to be <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html" target="_blank">autistic</a>. I know what you’re thinking. Redford makes eye contact. He holds a conversation. He’s funny. Even charming. He’s also principled, dedicated, and extraordinarily physical.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign needed straightening.</td></tr>
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All these things are like my son. My son who can climb anything, has a hard time responding when people try to get his attention, believes intensely in fairness, and can solve second-grade math problems in his head, but only when he’s running full tilt at a chair. </div>
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Autism isn't limited to the stuff we used to think it was. I know this because Dashiell was diagnosed as autistic about six months ago. </div>
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I always knew my boy was a little quirky. Now we have a word for what makes him different, a word that doesn’t change him at all, but hopefully can get us some understanding and extra support at school where they seem to think sitting in a chair is the only way to solve a problem.</div>
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If not, maybe my son will grow up to be a notorious outlaw.</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com2Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-67109939123305559822014-11-04T09:30:00.000-08:002014-11-04T09:30:14.838-08:00The Ratio of Elsa To Anna And What It Means<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1T-8LNIMAAqAtd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1T-8LNIMAAqAtd.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna? Where are you?</td></tr>
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This Halloween, my seven-year-old daughter went trick-or-treating as Elsa. You know, Elsa? From <em><a data-mce-href="http://frozen.disney.com" href="http://frozen.disney.com/" target="_blank">Frozen</a></em>?</div>
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If you haven’t seen <em><a data-mce-href="http://frozen.disney.com" href="http://frozen.disney.com/" target="_blank">Frozen</a></em>, you’re either living under a rock or don’t have a seven-year-old daughter and my guess is you’re not living under a rock.</div>
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<em><a data-mce-href="http://frozen.disney.com" href="http://frozen.disney.com/" target="_blank">Frozen</a></em> is an animated film about two sisters –– princesses –– the older one of whom has difficultly controlling her power to make stuff freeze. When she –– Elsa –– ascends to the throne, she inadvertently unleashes her power on the assembled and runs away in fear, leaving the kingdom in an icy grip. The younger sister –– Anna –– goes after her and it’s only through Anna's love that she can save Elsa and the kingdom.</div>
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Anna is the protagonist. She’s also the more interesting of the two. But like I said, my daughter decided to dress up as Elsa. As did her best friend. And, based on my very unscientific research, 97.23% of girls between five and nine who expressed a preference.</div>
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In fact, a dear friend of mine –– Tamara Thompson, founder of the brand strategy consultancy <a href="http://www.sensetruth.com/" target="_blank">SenseTruth</a> –– happened to be at <a data-mce-href="https://disneyland.disney.go.com/?CMP=KNC-DLR_Scope_Domestic%7CG%7C4152415.DL.AM.01.01&keyword_id=sy43tbuBA_dc%7Cdisneyland%7C48729699143%7Ce%7C1540glj14037" href="https://disneyland.disney.go.com/?CMP=KNC-DLR_Scope_Domestic%7CG%7C4152415.DL.AM.01.01&keyword_id=sy43tbuBA_dc%7Cdisneyland%7C48729699143%7Ce%7C1540glj14037" target="_blank">Disneyland</a> on Halloween and mentioned that of the thousands of princesses she saw, just about the only ones she saw dressed as Anna were pretty obviously the younger sisters of girls dressed as Elsa and too young to have chosen their costumes themselves. In fact, when two sisters were older than around four, it was apparent that both insisted on being Elsa.</div>
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This squares with what I noticed at a <i>Frozen</i> sing-along I took my kids to at a local park this summer.</div>
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The question is, what does this tell us? Why do girls want to dress not as the hero of the movie –– the one who’s brave and funny and resourceful and kind –– but as the character who inadvertently hurts others, runs away from the problems she creates, and needs someone else to rescue her?</div>
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In my daughter’s case it can be explained by the fact that Elsa wears a turquoise dress. Turquoise is my daughter’s favorite color and has been since… um, well, since she first saw <em><a data-mce-href="http://frozen.disney.com" href="http://frozen.disney.com/" target="_blank">Frozen</a></em>.</div>
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Hmmmm...</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-91988771141896801352014-10-10T13:10:00.000-07:002014-10-13T15:19:03.025-07:00How to survive a slasher film.<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last time I hung out with Wes Craven, he was kind enough to share his thoughts on the philosophy of the slasher film.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.wescraven.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/771521046/Wes__07-2smaller_crop.jpg" title="" width="168" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the things he said was that the genre was about morality: only the most morally pure teen would not only survive, but vanquish the slasher. Vanity, greed, sloth, and particularly lust were the distractions that turned all the other teens into victims.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">I know. Simple, right?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Naturally, I decided to flip the notion on its head. I wrote a script –– a coming-of-age-as-a-slasher flick –– the premise of which was that only the most morally impure slasher would survive and vanquish the teens. It’s probably the strongest film I’ve written, so thank you, Wes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The reason I mention all this is that I was issued a challenge by Alexandra at </span><a href="http://www.mancrates.com/" style="letter-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">Man Crates</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, a company that ships gifts for men in custom wooden crates that have to be opened with a crowbar. She wanted to know what I’d want in a crate in order to survive a horror movie I found myself trapped in. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You know where I’m going with this, right?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">If I’m trapped in a slasher film, it’s a pretty safe bet I’m not one of the teens. At my advanced age, I’m more likely going to be the slasher. So here’s what I’d need:</span></span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Music. Killing, like editing, depends on rhythm. I’ll take boxed sets of Zepplin, Stones, and AC/DC, preloaded onto an iPod Shuffle (Product Red, of course) because the battery is going on the one I have. </span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Polyester clothing. You know what a bitch it is to get blood stains out of the pima cotton and wool blends I normally wear? While you’re at it, throw in one of those jumbo-sized jugs of Tide, the kind with enzymes in it. </span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">A good knife. I’m partial to the Misono UX10 Gyuto 240mm, but I could make do with a Shun Premier 10”. Wusthoffs have great handles but you really give up a lot of blade flexibility.<span id="goog_1917750789"></span><span id="goog_1917750790"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></span><a href="http://www.chefknivestogo.com/misonoux10.html" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ep.yimg.com/ay/chefknivestogo/misono-ux-10-gyuto-240mm-22.png" height="200" title="" width="200" /></a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Coffee. Slasher films take place at night and I gotta stay awake. Lately, my brew of choice is Extracto Guatemala San Pedro Necta. </span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">A buddy. I know slashers work alone, but this is my story and I think a slasher buddy movie would be more interesting. Jack Black would be fun, but of course he’d probably end up turning on me at the end. How about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Carell" target="_blank">Steve Carell</a>? I bet he would die well.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Steve_Carell_2_2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Steve_Carell_2_2013.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">A good motivation. Sorry, but so many slasher films fail here. Why? Why do I want to kill all those young, beautiful people who have no concept of mortality or morality and who spend disproportionate minutes of screen time taking showers, getting wasted, and having sex… Um, never mind. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">One last thing. A crow bar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">Oh, and Alex? Send it separately. And first.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999822.706563499999998 -163.95983529999998 68.2942085 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-81884639725167027622014-03-10T09:15:00.000-07:002014-03-10T09:15:00.085-07:00Not about film. Not about advertising. This post is about the future.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq86mRT9wThY5UwFp0kYbL4tsVMPU4nZvP-ISIARAs2XN_UdU2PP5nemx5mcliBrfAZ1GSbSzvoEi9TEDnR6S2lzklw4j8TAEC9iysly73gS_SrBchtsNaeIqzGitM0PDOvDTJN__thHU/s1600/2014+Hert+Show+Invitation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ophelia Belefant, Founder and Curator of The Heart Show</td></tr>
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Last year, my daughter, who was in kinder-garten, heard about kids whose hearts needed to be fixed. It was part of a presentation for a fundraiser –– kids would jump rope to raise money for the American Heart Association.<br />
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She was really affected, but she didn’t know how to jump rope. If she couldn’t jump rope, what could she do, I asked? She thought for a moment and then said she could make a painting and sell it.<br />
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I tend to be a big thinker, so I prodded her to think about how she could do even more. What she came up with was an art show.<br />
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She invited all the kids in her class to participate. I got canvasses and paints for everyone, and asked my favorite local patisserie to let us take over for three hours one afternoon. I made up forms for a silent auction. Then I called up the hospital where she was born –– which has a highly regarded pediatric cardiology unit –– and told them what we were up to. The executive director of the foundation came to the show and accepted the donations from the kids.<br />
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Long story short, the kids raised $375.<br />
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More important, they realized that their efforts could generate immediate results.<br />
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And my daughter got to see first hand that the first two steps toward accomplishing anything are figuring out what you want to do and then believing that it’s possible.<br />
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My daughter is putting on the show again this year. And my son, who’s in kindergarten himself –– is inviting his classmates to join in, too. That means twice as many artists and hopefully, twice as much money raised for pediatric cardiology.<br />
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A radio station found out about the show and interviewed my daughter, too, so maybe we’ll get even better attendance than parents and friends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq86mRT9wThY5UwFp0kYbL4tsVMPU4nZvP-ISIARAs2XN_UdU2PP5nemx5mcliBrfAZ1GSbSzvoEi9TEDnR6S2lzklw4j8TAEC9iysly73gS_SrBchtsNaeIqzGitM0PDOvDTJN__thHU/s1600/2014+Hert+Show+Invitation.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq86mRT9wThY5UwFp0kYbL4tsVMPU4nZvP-ISIARAs2XN_UdU2PP5nemx5mcliBrfAZ1GSbSzvoEi9TEDnR6S2lzklw4j8TAEC9iysly73gS_SrBchtsNaeIqzGitM0PDOvDTJN__thHU/s1600/2014+Hert+Show+Invitation.jpg" height="400" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your very own invitation. Please come.</td></tr>
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So here comes the ask:<span id="goog_246603679"></span><span id="goog_246603680"></span><br />
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My kids have identified something worthwhile that they want to contribute to. If you like the sounds of it, we sure would appreciate it if you’d help.<br />
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The show is in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday. Come by if you can. We’ll have a silent auction where the highest bidders will bring home some stunning art created by five- and six- and seven-year-olds.<br />
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I created a Facebook event where you can find out more information, see the masterpieces (once I photograph them all), and download an invitation you can forward to friends, members of the press, and art collectors you know.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/592990744114266">https://www.facebook.com/events/592990744114266</a><br />
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If you can’t make it, consider writing a check to the Randall Children’s Hospital. Put “The Heart Show” on the memo line, so whatever you give will add to what the kids bring in. Here's the address: 2801 N Gantenbein Ave, Portland, OR 97227<br />
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These kids –– all kids –– are the future. And this is why I’m so passionate about what my daughter and son and their classmates are doing. I sincerely hope that all of them come to believe that good can be done and that they can be the ones doing good. Not just the kids putting on the show, but also the ones benefiting from the money raised.<br />
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Thank you.Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com2Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-84185185713323829892014-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:002014-02-12T08:41:00.521-08:00The second greatest birthday present I ever received and I’m going to share it with you!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb54qQTcio_qG7r1I2GmWasg4Ud0vDhdUGYV_1BHLxnZdc1jEiwTxnzRattGO2oQQtQ0PXYdOxt0r3uR9cWk7Q4a6PZrhDn-MTI3l3EOIziOzhZOelqgTtizwOpEzDyKfiBdCpZ_lkJG8/s1600/chicken+nose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb54qQTcio_qG7r1I2GmWasg4Ud0vDhdUGYV_1BHLxnZdc1jEiwTxnzRattGO2oQQtQ0PXYdOxt0r3uR9cWk7Q4a6PZrhDn-MTI3l3EOIziOzhZOelqgTtizwOpEzDyKfiBdCpZ_lkJG8/s1600/chicken+nose.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Three years ago, my children –– who were two and a half and four at the time –– decided that the perfect birthday present for me was a chicken costume.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’m not making this up. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They came up with this idea all by their precious little selves, in spite of all the exposure they'd had to mass produced coffee mugs and ties emblazoned with the words “World’s Greatest Dad.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">My kids are a lot like me in that when they know something is great, they won’t settle for pretty good. They knew they'd come up with the </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">perfect</span><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> present and they made my then wife drive all the way to Beaverton to find one that they could give me. </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">No birthday present before or since could possibly give me as much joy.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Only one came close. And you know what’s weird? I got it the same year. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But before I can share it with you, I have to give you a little backstory. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Back in the 1970s and 80s, Ed McCabe was heralded as one of, if not the greatest copywriter ever in the history of advertising. He created legendary ads for Volvo, Perdue, Nikon, Cutty Sark, and a bunch of other brands. And I had the incredible good fortune to work for him. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An ad Ed did in 1973. Makes you feel like<br />a schmuck for not buying a Volvo, doesn't it?</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You weren't hired to work for Ed, you were chosen. And we who had been chosen went to a lot of trouble to be sure we were worthy of the grace we had received. We behaved more like acolytes than employees, studying the Gospel According To Ed and exhorting those who weren’t pure of faith to see the light, quoting him the way young Chinese communists used to quote Chairman Mao.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“A good ad makes you feel like a schmuck for not buying the product.” was one of my favorites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">I found great solace in Ed’s wise teachings. One passage, “If you need an exclamation point, you need a new sentence,” I took to heart, vowing that that I would never, as long as </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">advertising would have me, ever </span><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">use an exclamation point. Ever. It was a vow of celibacy, sort of, and I even popped the 1 key off the electric typewriter the agency had issued me because as any votary can attest, the best way to resist temptation is to remove it, never mind that a lot of what I was called to write was coupon ads for toilet paper and it's kind of hard to type "Save 10¢" without a 1 key. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Over the years I've found that there were other ways to be righteous in advertising and my position on some of Ed’s edicts softened. I came to understand that a good ad doesn't have to make you feel like a schmuck after all, although I still maintain that it does have to make you feel. But god damn it, I held onto that exclamation point rule. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In retrospect, I was like a carpenter who refused, on principal, to use needle nose pliers, even once in a while when you couldn’t get the claw end of a hammer into that tiny space up under the eaves to remove a staple from the old siding because Jesus said not to use them, never mind that Jesus probably wasn’t the kind of carpenter who had call to renovate a Portland four square.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Back to my birthday.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You know how kids are. They pile on top of you, get all excited to give you the best birthday present in the history of birthday presents, and then suddenly they’re off making an art project out of dust bunnies while you sit there, wondering whether it’s okay to take the chicken costume off now because it makes your nose sweaty. If you’re me, you do. And then you log onto Facebook in hopes of finding something, anything, that will prolong the incredible birthday love rush.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And there it was. A birthday greeting. Three words: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Happy birthday, Brian!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">From Ed. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">McCabe.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8yNNZUZgufQQAcItbyOL2uTDz0sweRAmdw2d6bYKNc1SNGRFlck1rZbIW7mLKxnOBavVELZDM52lcfeJiOuf3oA0canU7ILvjeDZj-v-UXcYuFDlYT9Yjp3Ob6gQzMG4TgoIqyp9690I/s1600/exclamation-point.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8yNNZUZgufQQAcItbyOL2uTDz0sweRAmdw2d6bYKNc1SNGRFlck1rZbIW7mLKxnOBavVELZDM52lcfeJiOuf3oA0canU7ILvjeDZj-v-UXcYuFDlYT9Yjp3Ob6gQzMG4TgoIqyp9690I/s1600/exclamation-point.jpg" height="130" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I try not to swear when the kids are around but I’m pretty sure I used the F word. That’s okay, though, because dust bunny art requires intense concentration and they probably didn’t even notice.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To say this was a big deal was kind of an understatement. This was a big deal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Sure, advertising and I and probably even Ed had changed a huge amount in since I wrote coupon ads at Scali, and sure, I’d reconsidered a lot of what I learned from him as I progressed in my career, but when I came to actually putting into practice something Ed specifically told us –– told me –– not to do, I always felt like I was kind of </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">betraying the guy. Like I'd need to be ready with an explanation in case he picked up the phone and called me on it</span><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here was Ed himself telling me that it was okay. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That was three years ago today. Today, on the anniversary of that birthday, I want to give the gift to you. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If you shared my obligation to avoid exclamation points, I hereby release you. Let it go. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not because I said it's okay or even because Ed said it's okay, but simply because we are in the business of communicating and the reason we have rules at all is to guide us, not constrain us. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The point is, do what works. And by the way, a really good way to figure out what works is to know your audience and genuinely care about them. I gotta believe that's what got my kids to come up with the chicken costume in the first place.</span></div>
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Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-35621629180323228272014-01-07T15:40:00.002-08:002014-01-07T15:40:28.732-08:00I have a problem and it involves John Cleese and a camel.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cleese" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/John_Cleese_2008_bigger_crop.jpg" height="200" width="139" /></a></div>
Back when I was first getting into directing, I heard <a href="http://www.thejohncleese.com/" target="_blank">John Cleese</a> interviewed on the radio and he said something incredibly profound. something that helped me to become a better director. A much better director.<br />
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Here’s the problem: I can’t find the quote.<br />
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I've done Google searches on every version of what I think he might have said and I came up with nothing (although –– kind of random –– I did stumble onto a quote by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_de_Toulouse-Lautrec" target="_blank">Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</a> that made me laugh out loud).<br />
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As far as I know, it might not have been John Cleese who said it. Hell, it might not have even been said, which would be kind of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0442109/" target="_blank">Charlie Kaufman</a>-esque when you think about it, how my understanding of comedy was informed by a quote that was never actually uttered and that somehow, I'm convinced I got to be a better director because of it.<br />
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Doesn’t matter. I believe it to be true. And that brings me to the camel.<br />
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Watch this spot which you've already seen:<br />
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<a href="http://belefant.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-10.37.07-PM.png"><img alt="Screen Shot 2014-01-04 at 10.37.07 PM" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2136" src="http://belefant.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Screen-Shot-2014-01-04-at-10.37.07-PM.png" height="354" width="637" /></a><br />
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Ask people what the spot is about and they'll tell you it's about a camel that's happy it's Wednesday. Which it is. Only it's more. It's about a camel that's <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><i>always</i></span> happy it's Wednesday.<br />
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And how do we know that? The camel's office mates.<br />
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The camel is funny. Great voice. Perfect performance. Beautiful visual effects. But what's truly funny is that even though it might be our first time hearing him go on about hump day, it's their millionth.<br />
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That's what makes this spot work. So well that according to <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/10-most-watched-ads-youtube-2013-154423#geico-hump-day-7" target="_blank">AdWeek</a>, this spot was one of the ten most watched commercials of 2013.<br />
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And here's where I finally let you in on you what John Cleese may or may not have told me: People's reactions to something funny almost always make the funny thing funnier.<br />
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Take away the coworkers and this spot wouldn't have sucked. But it wouldn't have been nearly as good.<br />
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John Cleese knows this. I know this. And now you know this, too.<br />
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If I were wearing a <a href="http://60secdirector.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-cant-put-price-on-my-head-but-i-know.html" target="_blank">hat</a>, I'd be tipping it right now to the Martin Agency and the creative team there who worked on it (the spot, not the hat): Joe Alexander, Steve Bassett (who I used to work with back at Chiat and who is truly one of the most courteous people in advertising), Wade Alger, Sean Riley, Ken Marcus, Molly Souter, Samantha Tucker, and Emily Taylor.<br />
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But mostly I'd be tipping it to Wayne McClammy, the director. For seeing what the spot could be and letting it be just that.<br />
<br />Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-20935851113785986222013-12-23T23:10:00.000-08:002013-12-23T23:16:35.976-08:00My Christmas gift to you: Three secrets to making a great commercial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlmVqH_5HM" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-6x6hPwh6J4Uq7OTk9kqMi6lNWDeqqbytOXrAzrdTXQdi_RXRb1BUcCwF4ex5jpmHQxPdnKt3YoxFbOThCzrEGPAmVgoGGart1oxQ1WUPMPGPJh34WhH540eCAXz-Hvn0Zj7-iUUiQw/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-12-20+at+11.00.40+AM.png" width="320" /></a>Good ad agencies, like good businesses of any ilk, have a point of view. And back in the 90s, BBDO was one of the best. Their point of view enabled them to do a particular kind of advertising and they did the shit out of it for Pepsi, Visa, Skippy, and Frito-Lay.</div>
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I know this well because from 1993 to 1995 I was Senior Vice President/Creative Director at BBDO.</div>
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I'm going to tell you a secret. The BBDO secret.</div>
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The quintessential BBDO commercial (the agency almost exclusively did TV commercials) relied on three things: 1) Intrigue, 2) Misdirection, and 3) Making the product the hero.</div>
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Intrigue means it's a story and the story sucks you in.</div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6OG3F4DH-E" target="_blank">Cindy Crawford steps out of a sports car at a desolate gas station and walks over to a vending machine</a>.</div>
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<img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3AGAvAXUkUBeo8hDbCrV43RCzgmRAomisIOfbXcAwTFrXKEQoApM3-STLk60Pu-LEdBjiFg4QOLeKyYNyTAhRmsMiLpZzQ3NB5aEsVo0y-K4Jbp-WHiRorcr-Bj8sxj7KmfEdu2JjHU/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-12-23+at+10.39.22+PM.png" style="text-align: center;" width="320" /></div>
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I wonder what's going to happen next, don't you? You do. We all do, especially since we establish that two boys are watching her. (Remind me to share John Cleese's brilliant observation about comedy in a post someday.)</div>
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Misdirection goes to the dramatic structure. If you know how your story is going to turn out, why would you continue watching? Well, yeah, there are reasons. Like, for instance, it's Cindy Crawford. </div>
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Sure, we know Cindy is going to put money into the vending machine and push a button. Will a Pepsi come out? It does. Will she drink it? She will. But what of the two boys?</div>
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Here comes the misdirection: As Cindy slugs down the Pepsi, the two boys watch, slack jawed. One of them comments, "Is that a great new Pepsi can or what?"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDRS9CY_l4T2nsWGeYVw5QQoLndVcrY49hM3xJtEfq_NjMFb8juOmBMkvK-jhxeGnWPivXFPxhuhfrhhPVlhLoqoNZ-TVMb6Wglv_Yj1IbR8WUzB8f-fa5BQCX0hpwmZvld2tnl3g9fU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-12-23+at+10.39.59+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDRS9CY_l4T2nsWGeYVw5QQoLndVcrY49hM3xJtEfq_NjMFb8juOmBMkvK-jhxeGnWPivXFPxhuhfrhhPVlhLoqoNZ-TVMb6Wglv_Yj1IbR8WUzB8f-fa5BQCX0hpwmZvld2tnl3g9fU/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-12-23+at+10.39.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Which brings me to making the product the hero. That's shorthand for "the product is not just integral to the story, it is the very thing that makes the punch line satisfying." When your product isn't the hero, you may have something funny –– like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJq3MpSkIHk" target="_blank">shooting gerbils out of a cannon</a> as Outpost.com did in a Superbowl spot back in 1999 –– but you don't really have a commercial.</div>
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The hero of the spot with Cindy Crawford is the can. Pepsi had redesigned their can. Implicit in the commercial, whether believable or not, was that Pepsi's new can was even more beautiful than Cindy Crawford's... well... can.</div>
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It's twenty years later and the same approach still works magic. A magnificent example is <a href="http://adage.com/article/creativity-pick-of-the-day/apple-s-holiday-ad-starring-loner-teen-make-cry/245730/" target="_blank">Apple's "Misunderstood" holiday commercial</a>. </div>
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<a href="http://adage.com/article/creativity-pick-of-the-day/apple-s-holiday-ad-starring-loner-teen-make-cry/245730/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimrW7VtuTw5Kx1rKk4859uyfa7Z-3Bbqk39SzFkbUXaRBgekVZkiAPOSjfxL8FfpCnwPmoIODauCiED_y-_V-Gk0SpnSIGUkPciVTpKhyk5CXtGerOzStb_MBnA7UW6IGjcQGZ7KNclPc/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-12-23+at+11.00.35+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: left;">We think we're watching a kid playing with his iPhone at the expense of engaging with his family during the holidays. Misdirection. Turns out he's shooting a movie of the family on his iPhone to share with them on Christmas morning. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">As for product as hero, yep. Apple made a big point about its improved video capabilities with the introduction of the new iPhone earlier this year. I'm pretty sure the brief the agency worked from directed them to create a spot that highlighted the feature.</span><br />
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Feature.</div>
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<a href="http://adage.com/article/creativity-pick-of-the-day/apple-s-holiday-ad-starring-loner-teen-make-cry/245730/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXp4ZZ1pfkT0145CDHfkN5eXvLOi_vqdFvMsgFdGIiQR2wdApMZ2v-xl3vbojqrybarjTb8ZNdkTMoj1ZxBRonDKhFkH4bGY7a3BKlagYk2wRAyG5jKRLblwX101Ko5mm6SoqaTm0xYP0/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-12-23+at+11.01.26+PM.png" width="320" /></a>That's an important word and it brings me to Secret #4. (I know. Look at me being all generous.) There are features and there are benefits. Features are what a product has or does. Benefits are what you get from having a feature. The ability to make a movie on your phone is a feature. The ability to bring your family together and share memories almost as they're being created? That's a benefit.</div>
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This is an extraordinary spot. Beautifully conceived and well-crafted.</div>
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I'm grateful to both <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank">Apple</a> and <a href="http://tbwachiatdayla.com/" target="_blank">TBWA\Chiat\Day</a> (the ad agency) for giving me a gift I so appreciate as this most difficult of all years finally comes to a close: Proof that it's still possible to create truly great advertising.</div>
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I'm entering 2014 inspired. I hope you are, too.</div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com4Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-64372112849100964722013-12-11T15:55:00.000-08:002013-12-11T15:55:03.908-08:00Sometimes the only way you can tell something is art is because it was made by an artist.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How's the weather up there, Mr. Lincoln?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px; text-align: left;">Did you see 'Lincoln'? Go see it. </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not the whole thing. The first five minutes will do. Go ahead. I'll be here when you get back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Okay. Notice anything… funny? I'll give you a hint. It's the scene at the beginning, where Lincoln (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000358/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t1" target="_blank">Daniel Day-Lewis</a>) is talking to the soldiers. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lincoln is sitting on a covered platform; the soldiers are standing on muddy ground. Tents are pitched around them. Campfires burn.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we're looking at Lincoln, it's raining. Hard. That backlight thing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr1" target="_blank">Steven Spielberg</a> likes so much –– with shafts of light that illuminate the weather –– makes it impossible not to notice. But when we're looking at the soldiers Lincoln is talking to –– same time, same conversation –– nary a drop is falling.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's tempting to call this a mistake. It isn't. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's not a mistake because while in real life, we have to put up with whatever weather we're given, as directors we get to make whatever weather we want. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If we want rain –– even if the forecast calls for a 90% chance –– we bring in water trucks and hire crew members to build and operate the rigging necessary to make it look natural. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If we don't want rain it's a little easier. It takes a serious downpour to register as rain on film. Still, if there's money in the budget and we're not shooting in Southern California, we bring in tarps or silks and rigging and hire crew members to build and secure the rigging and light through and/or around it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That's what we do. We make daytime look like night, winter look like summer, and sunny look like cloudy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This goes a long way toward explaining why movies are so damn expensive to make. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When the UPM and the Assistant Director (</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004674/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr87" target="_blank">Susan McNamara</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0814114/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr94" target="_blank">Adam Somner</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">) broke down the script for 'Lincoln' with Spielberg, they went through every single scene and asked Mr. Spielberg, among other things, whether he wanted any special weather effects. That's their job.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It’s the UPM’s job because it affects the budget. Rain takes </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">trucks and water and rigs and all sorts of ancillary characters that need to be added to the number of people to be wrangled and fed and provided parking spots and restroom facilities on that day.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> It’s the AD’s job because it affects both the shooting schedule and the safety of the crew members and actors. The three of them have more than 100 films under their collective belts. This ain’t none of them's first rodeo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then there's the script supervisor whose job it is to make sure that continuity is maintained. When </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0709976/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr578" target="_blank">Anna Rane</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> showed up on the day they shot that scene, she would have asked Mr. Spielberg if he was sure the scene was going to cut, what with rain when the camera was pointing in one direction and no rain in the other. You don't get to be script supervisor for Steven Spielberg by letting huge continuity lapses happen. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And don't forget the crew. As in the entire crew. The gaffers who lit the scene. The grips who rigged it. Maybe they didn't all notice, but I'll bet some did. I guarantee you </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2719881/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr171" target="_blank">Ryan Cole</a> did. He's </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the sound recordist who had to fight the sound of the rain in one shot and didn't have to deal with it in the reverse. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I figure one of two things happened here: Either a) somebody made an announcement to the entire crew that yes, they knew the rain gag was going to be inconsistent, but that's what they were going for or b) Spielberg had to contend with a relentless parade of helpful people pointing out to him that they were shooting rain when there wasn't rain before or that they weren't shooting rain when there was rain before. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I mean, seriously, if you were one of the more than 60 production assistants on this show –– even if it was your first time stepping onto a film set –– wouldn't you go out of your way to be helpful in hopes that you’ll impress someone enough be invited to the next one or get promoted to a better, higher-paying job?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No, I'm certain this scene was shot just the way Spielberg intended it to be. And it must have worked for the members of the Academy, too, because he got nominated for <a href="http://oscar.go.com/nominees" target="_blank">Best Director</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All of this is leading up to a point and the point is this: I don't get it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't get what he was going for. I don't understand why you'd shoot a scene that is so clearly discontinuous. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I suppose it's art. To me, it smells a lot like Kool-Aid.</span></span></div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com1Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-9037352932694195502013-12-02T22:34:00.000-08:002013-12-02T22:34:10.071-08:00Hey, John Lasseter, my six-year-old has some choice words about the dialogue in your latest film.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.skwigly.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Disney-Frozen-Poster-2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.skwigly.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Disney-Frozen-Poster-2013.jpg" width="224" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let me start by saying that </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005124/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">John Lasseter</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> is truly one of the greatest filmmakers alive. His oeuvre is dominated by sophisticated explorations of the father figure as an archetype, particularly with regard to redefining his identity in a world that shifts beneath him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I never hesitate to take my kids to any film John Lasseter is associated with, and if you're getting the impression I'm raising film snobs, well, yeah. I guess I am. Film snobs who can differentiate between a Pixar film and a Dreamworks film. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Did I mention they're five and six?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yep, at five and six my kids appreciate structure, character development, performance, and theme, just like any ordinary five- and six-year-olds –– who happen to have a father who can't help but encourage them to identify what works for them and what doesn't. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So of course I took my precious little film critics to see 'Frozen'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm not going to do a movie review here, other than to say that except for the tight structure, engaging characters, clever dialogue, and thoughtfully crafted world the story takes place in, you'd never know John Lasseter had anything to do with 'Frozen'. The story is entirely devoid of a father figure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">More than once, a bit of unexpected dialogue made me laugh out loud. But then, h</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">alfway through the third act, the good guy says to the bad guy, "You'll never get away with this." The bad guy replies, "I already have."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My six-year-old daughter leaned over and said, "Dada, we already heard that line in something else."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">She was right. We had. (Three days before we'd watched '</span><a href="http://www.escapeearthmovie.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Escape from Planet Earth</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">', which in an interesting bit of irony is not a John Lasseter movie at all and yet is –– you guessed it –– an exploration of the father figure as an archetype, particularly with regard to redefining his identity in a world that shifts beneath him. Go </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weinstein_Company" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Weinsteins</a>, right?<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To be fair, 'Frozen' was actually directed by </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0118333/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Chris Buck</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. John Lasseter was the executive producer. And 'Escape from Planet Earth' was directed by </span><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2117510/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" itemprop="url">Cal Brunker</a>, not Harvey and/or Bob Weinstein. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Add to that as far as critical acclaim goes, while John Lassiter has only won two Academy Awards (not counting the two Student Academy Awards he won while at </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Institute_of_the_Arts" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="California Institute of the Arts">California Institute of the Arts</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">)</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, the Weinsteins have won 75. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So why am I picking on John Lasseter?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Because he has such a clear, consistent vision. And the power to insure that every single thing that comes out of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar meets his extraordinarily high standards. As for the Weinsteins, while some of the films they've been associated with are transcendent ('<a href="http://60secdirector.blogspot.com/2013/03/exactly-not-movie-i-wanted-exactly.html" target="_blank">Silver Linings Playbook</a>', 'The King's Speech'), some are pretty crappy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sorry, John. That's what you get for being so damn good.</span></div>
<br />Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com1Portland, OR 97282, USA45.500386 -122.6512412999999819.9783515 -163.95983529999998 71.0224205 -81.342647299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2404559457551758575.post-91201259235808255852013-10-01T20:54:00.000-07:002017-02-05T22:40:41.859-08:00Tip O'Neil and 'The Princess Bride'.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Remember Tip O'Neil? Speaker of the House from 1977 to 1987? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">He was famous for saying "All politics is local." He first said it back in 1935 and was, of course, referring to </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The Princess Bride,</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> truly one of the greatest movies ever made and which by a remarkable coincidence came out the year he retired from politics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Sort of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What Mr. O'Neil was saying is that we all tend to evaluate stuff in terms of how it relates to us. If it's a health care law and I have diabetes, am I going to have more access to coverage? If my child is autistic and it's <i>The Princess Bride</i>, what lessons can I take away from this story that will help me raise my kid?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If I write a blog about directing and it's a post telling me "17 Things </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Princess Bride</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Taught Me About Autism Parenting," are my readers going to find this valuable? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">See where I'm headed with this? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The blog I'm referring to is Snagglebox, written by Bec Oakley, and when I stumbled across it I thought exactly that. Here are a few of the highlights: </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. Optimism can get you through the fire swamp</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Just because you haven’t tackled a problem before doesn’t mean there’s no solution, even for POUS’s (Problems of Unusual Size).</span><br />
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<b>3. Having a target will help you stay focused</b></div>
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You don’t have the energy or resources to tackle every challenge that’s in front of you. Find your six-fingered man - prioritize your goals, work out which of those you can tackle and then pursue them with everything you’ve got.</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">16. Mostly dead is slightly alive</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even when you’re too tired to breathe and the odds stacked against you seem enormous, you will survive to fight another day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">See what I'm saying? Bec thinks she's talking about parenting a kid with autism. And she is. But she also happens to be talking about building a career as a director. (And running for office, I'd bet.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm not going to give you all 17 of Bec's lessons because I think you ought to check out the entire blog. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.snagglebox.com/2013/02/17-things-princess-bride-taught-me.html">http://www.snagglebox.com/2013/02/17-things-princess-bride-taught-me.html</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Go on. You'll come back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And if you don't, well, that's okay. The reason I write this blog is because I want to help others figure <i>It</i> out. My <i>It</i> –– the one that I focus on –– is the <i>It</i> that I know: the craft of mass communication. If Bec's </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It ––</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> parenting kids with autism –– resonates better, great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">An interesting tidbit about Tip O'Neil. Once he came to realize that all politics is local –– in other words, that each and every one of us is dealing with our own </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> –– he never lost a single election. Not only that, but he got to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He became the guy who represents the people we send to represent ourselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that, for those of you who clicked on Bec's link and actually came back to finish this post of mine, is the meta-lesson for the day: Pay attention to your <i>It</i>. Because if you're true to your <i>It, </i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">your </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">can't help but resonate with others' </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thank you, Bec.</span></div>
Brian Belefant, DGAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08323160939158939859noreply@blogger.com0