I watched the documentary Art and Copy I really liked it. It gave me some incite into the advertisement business. Some points I took away were that designers and advertisers are very powerful people, pretty much 4 companies control most of the advertisement we see, there fore we see what they want us to see, and consume what they want us to consume. A powerful enough add can take a nobody and turn them into a somebody in a matter of hours. For example Tommy Hilfiger was no one before a risky add campaign basically saying that he is the next big designer. The risk paid off and he basically became an overnight success. Anyway there are tons of things I took away from this film but the one quote that stuck with me was, "advertisement is like air and water it is just around us." When I heard that I immediately thought of the quote I blogged about last week, "Helvetica is like air it is just there." These quotes just made me think about all the time spent into making advertisements and design eye catching and attractive. I don't know how to put what I am saying into words yet but its something like there is this contrast between consumers noticing advertisement and just tuning it out. There is a connection with advertisement and media and the natural elements. Is advertisement and media becoming a natural element to us? Will it continue to be integrated so much into our society that we consider it a natural element? We rely on it so much for communication, could it become some kind of life source? Will we eventually not know how to communicate without it? I think this could be an interesting topic to explore for thesis. I am just going to write down my train of thought for my own use:
Helvetica: "Helvetica is like air it is just there."
Art&Copy: "Advertisement is like air and water it is just around us."
earth, water, air, fire, media
Wednesday
Studio Journal Entry: Helvetica
I am doing an independent study in design and concentrating on typography. I had my first typography assignment due which consisted of hand drawing 17 different type faces. While executing this tedious task I obviously had typography on the mind and came to the realization I know absolutely nothing about it and as a designer that just seemed wrong. So I rented the movie Helvetica, I had heard good things about it. It was definitely interesting and one quote in particular really stuck with me, "Helvetica is like air, it is just there." It is so true it is everywhere, literally, we see it so much and so often we don't even notice it anymore. But now after watching this movie it is all I see it is even on my automatic lock and window buttons in my car. This movie has now made me forever perceptive to the helvetica type face that has taken over visual world. And while I can appreciate it for what it was and is, helvetica is fast becoming to me that friend who at first was cool but is around too much and now I am sick of them.
Thursday
Costa: Video
Me: The films you collage from appropriated material feel so different than the films you shoot your self. Why is that?
Costa: I think what I like about doing collage type video style is taking from what all these different types of people saw and organizing it into what I see as like a bigger idea, or like a bigger picture inside of all these little pictures. I find it really interesting especially when there are videos that are like talking down on something, the way they are presented to you can make it kind of humorous the way things work against themselves.
Me: You only showed me like a few short films, do you have a lot of projects you do for class or do you do more work for yourself?
Costa: I like class because we get dead lines and dead line like really help because without it I wander a lot. I do a lot of shorter pieces for class but I like to do sort of a never ending project out side of class.
Me: So what made you interested in video?
Costa: My parents are both in the acting business. My dad is an actor and my mom is an acting teacher at Mason Gross. I kind of grew up on and around movie sets. i never wanted to be an actor though I guess I am kind of camera shy, but I really like the idea of filming and creating strange worlds. I used to make a lot of weird science fiction and ninja videos and skateboarding videos. I took high school media classes and I just thought it was the best thing I could possibly do, just making videos about everything.
Me: Have you done any internships?
Costa: Yeah, I did a internship with Johnathan Demme, he directed The Silence of the Lambs and The Manchurian Candidate. I just got really lucky he is actually my friends dad and he happened to be living down the street from me. I got to edit this documentary on New Orleans it was really unbelievable, and it really inspired me to get out there with a camera.
Me: So you think having parents in the acting business and having interned with Johnathan Demme will give you connections in your field?
Costa: Not really, it is a lot different than people think. You can have connection but if you don't have a good portfolio it doesn't matter.
Me: What do you see yourself doing after you graduate?
Costa: I hope I graduate (haha). I spent the last few years taking other classes that I was interested in like biology courses and stuff because I didn't really know what I wanted to focus on. I have been getting so interested in Permaculture and sustained living, but I am so close to graduating and I really want to graduate now. But I think when I graduate I really want to blend the two worlds I want to live in together like film making and creating communities that will thrive instead of deteriorate.
More about permaculture design (video by Costa)
Me: Is sustained living and permaculture going to be part of or inspiration for your thesis project?
Costa: I think I am going to collect like a lot of interviews and piece them together. I don't want to say it is a documentary but I guess it is because its unscripted. I want to make a film about progressive interesting people in the north east that are integrating themselves into the environment and stuff. I want to do an instillation, create an environment so its more a physical experience. I kinda want to do something with natural elements, water, elements, maybe chickens...chillin (haha).
Me: Why are you so passionate about the environment and sustained living, what first turned you on to it?
Costa: In high school I did a three week backpacking course, when I came back it made me really aware of everything and where our resources come from. I just started waking up to like how are we living how is it affecting the people we are living with and the environment we are living in. How long is that going to last because the design we have right now is pretty suicidal because it doesn't have a human element in it. I feel like film is one of the most emotional experiences people can have because it is so close to real life it mimics real life. I wanted to meld the awareness of where we are living into film and maybe create something positive.
Me: Do you feel like film is one of the more eco-friendly forms of art?
Costa: Well there are a lot of crazy metals in my camera that are possibly mined unethically. I think you just have to find some kind of balance. But being able to upload a video online that potentially billions of people can is like unbelievable.
Me: You only showed me like a few short films, do you have a lot of projects you do for class or do you do more work for yourself?
Costa: I like class because we get dead lines and dead line like really help because without it I wander a lot. I do a lot of shorter pieces for class but I like to do sort of a never ending project out side of class.
Me: So what made you interested in video?
Costa: My parents are both in the acting business. My dad is an actor and my mom is an acting teacher at Mason Gross. I kind of grew up on and around movie sets. i never wanted to be an actor though I guess I am kind of camera shy, but I really like the idea of filming and creating strange worlds. I used to make a lot of weird science fiction and ninja videos and skateboarding videos. I took high school media classes and I just thought it was the best thing I could possibly do, just making videos about everything.
Me: Have you done any internships?
Costa: Yeah, I did a internship with Johnathan Demme, he directed The Silence of the Lambs and The Manchurian Candidate. I just got really lucky he is actually my friends dad and he happened to be living down the street from me. I got to edit this documentary on New Orleans it was really unbelievable, and it really inspired me to get out there with a camera.
Me: So you think having parents in the acting business and having interned with Johnathan Demme will give you connections in your field?
Costa: Not really, it is a lot different than people think. You can have connection but if you don't have a good portfolio it doesn't matter.
Me: What do you see yourself doing after you graduate?
Costa: I hope I graduate (haha). I spent the last few years taking other classes that I was interested in like biology courses and stuff because I didn't really know what I wanted to focus on. I have been getting so interested in Permaculture and sustained living, but I am so close to graduating and I really want to graduate now. But I think when I graduate I really want to blend the two worlds I want to live in together like film making and creating communities that will thrive instead of deteriorate.
More about permaculture design (video by Costa)
Me: Is sustained living and permaculture going to be part of or inspiration for your thesis project?
Costa: I think I am going to collect like a lot of interviews and piece them together. I don't want to say it is a documentary but I guess it is because its unscripted. I want to make a film about progressive interesting people in the north east that are integrating themselves into the environment and stuff. I want to do an instillation, create an environment so its more a physical experience. I kinda want to do something with natural elements, water, elements, maybe chickens...chillin (haha).
Me: Why are you so passionate about the environment and sustained living, what first turned you on to it?
Costa: In high school I did a three week backpacking course, when I came back it made me really aware of everything and where our resources come from. I just started waking up to like how are we living how is it affecting the people we are living with and the environment we are living in. How long is that going to last because the design we have right now is pretty suicidal because it doesn't have a human element in it. I feel like film is one of the most emotional experiences people can have because it is so close to real life it mimics real life. I wanted to meld the awareness of where we are living into film and maybe create something positive.
Me: Do you feel like film is one of the more eco-friendly forms of art?
Costa: Well there are a lot of crazy metals in my camera that are possibly mined unethically. I think you just have to find some kind of balance. But being able to upload a video online that potentially billions of people can is like unbelievable.
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