Revelations

I encountered an interesting sale tactic that I can't say was directed at me as an audience, but if the writer was trying to be humorous, then I'm happy to say I was entertained. The cereal was visually similar to the "regular" flavored Captain Crunch Cereal, but the packing indicated this to be a generic brand. While the packaging showcases a name similar to its name-brand counterpart and all of the healthy attributes of this cereal, it addresses a unique benefit of its signature style of packaging. Notice the label in the upper-left corner. The opening on the bag is a resealable ziplock, but they have also taken the liberty of making me aware that the tip of the bag is "pourable". Wherever would I be without their wisdom? It's fortunate they told me this fact, because I was rather puzzled as to how I am supposed to get the cereal out of the bag.

Here's an EXCELLENT example of what I was talking about earlier.

While it's clearly not addressing actual benefits of the product, it is loosely related to the point it's trying to make. If one thing's for sure, I will not be soon forgetting this commercial.

Advertising Research

One thing I've always found interesting is Korean & Japanese commercials, particularly advertisements for energy drinks and specialized beverages. Many of these commercials appear to have very little to do with showcasing the benefits of the product. Of course, I'm limited by not being able to understand the native language or get all of the cultural references, but these commercials are memorable. It's not too hard for me to accept that the overall goal is simply to get me to remember their product, but I want to believe there's something more significant this trend of sensationalism.
It's a trend that is apparent in the Korean Pop idol, Psy's new hit "Gangnam Style". In his lyrics he comments on Korea's upper middle class that goes to great lengths to appear more sophisticated by living up to their ideal image of a successful "westerner".

Brighter Days

First off, I'd like to excuse myself for my previous post. There's no need to share such defeatist dialogue, and it doesn't make any situation better. Things already have begun to make a turn around. Sometimes things just work out.

I had an interesting experience with advertising while driving home from school. A commercial came over the radio for "Jack In The Box". The commercial was scripted like a radio show for relationship advice. A woman asks Jack if she should be concerned that her boyfriend calls her at 2am to go with him to get some Tacos for 99cents. Jack replies by saying, "It's just a friendly 'Foody Call'"

What makes the commercial unique is that it's only successful through the medium of TV or RADIO, because you have to actually hear the language used to make the connection between "Foody Call" and the idea they're referencing...a "Booty Call"

Different messages are often better suited for different mediums.

When do you know that you've lost something

I truly believed that storyboarding and getting an animatic together would make things easier and save me time on my thesis. How very wrong I was. All it has shown me is that I have a loose plan, that isn't jiving with my audiences and isn't fully realized. As I started to make changes, I realized that I don't actually have a story. I know the personal narrative that is driving the work, but I had mistaken my story's lack of a concrete sequence of events as flaxibility. Making the animatic took much more time than I thought it would, and all it has done is cost me more time.

If only I could've had this writing class during junior year. I would have known ahead of time that you can't create anything for its own sake. I wanted to create something that was aesthetically beautiful and open to interpretation. All I've gotten as feedback is "I don't get it" or "love to see it when it's done"

Now I'm knee deep in production schedules that I can't continue to progress through until I finally nail down what the hell I'm actually working on.

Selling the Benefits

One message stares me in the face whenever I leave studio, "Life Tastes Good"
What is Coca-Cola selling me? Obviously they're selling their product, but what is it they are claiming to sell? Saying "life tastes good" doesn't direct or command me, so how does it attract me to their brand? I enjoy things that taste good. How does my life "taste" right now? My diet consists of a hot lunch, and then ramen, macaroni, or cereal fill in any gaps where I feel hungry. So I don't get much variety outside of my lunch. They're offering a good taste to add to my life, because as they're telling me "Life Tastes Good". I want my life to taste good. They know that. I know that.
How do I stay above the influence? I don't carry cash. No temptation. LIKE A BOSS.

Bilboards

I was driving down Main St., and saw a billboard advertising women's underwear. It boasted that their panties were designed for comfort with the everyday woman in mind. It took me a moment to notice that there were two women in the picture, because one had been cropped out revealing nothing but her panties and legs. The one who had been cropped out was black, while the other, who was white, was sleeping peacefully in full view of the billboard. I'm sad that my mind asks this question first, but it had me thinking, "who then is the 'everyday' woman?" Can't gripe at them for knowing, or rather thinking they know, their target audience.

"Heroes"

Was walking down Main St. off of Westport, and saw an open window in an abandoned building. I asked myself why the window was open. A flood of guesses rushed through my mind until I realized I was no longer looking at the buildings as a landscape, but rather as a character.

I began seeing the "character" of the city, and a story emerged. What if one person could see the character of the city? How would they interact? What conflicts would they have? If a person can see the character of the city, then how do they interact with the rest of the natural world?

I have definitely arrived at the "first wave" of creativity, because I see this character as a kind of superman. Being a human in what many could consider an imaginary world, makes this person someone who can make an impact on both realities. Playing with this idea of an imaginary world, children see the world in such a way. I'm interested in this character being childish, even if they're older. Having grown up with knowing the city as a character, they would be truly unique if they never grew out of that.

The challenge remains to figure out what interactions such and individual would have. I want to keep the idea playful and child-like. I think if I present this character having a childish mentality, then it will be easier for the audience to accept their imaginative world.

It could be appropriate for this character to consider themselves a hero. If they're the only ones who perceive the characters of the city, then he/she would feel a sense of obligation to protect and defend those characters while the rest of the world seems to ignore them.

Outline (Beat List)
Hero is waiting at the bus stop
Person walks up
Asks if Hero if he/she needs a ride
"No I'm waiting for my sister to pick me up"
Person drives away
Hero "hears" cry for help [animated word gets attention]
Sees character being mugged by other characters
Looks around
No One Else Responds
Rushes In To Help
Fights Off Muggers
Character Kisses Hero In Thanks
Muggers crawl into Building's Texture
Muggers Turn Into Graffiti Monster
Battle ensues
Hero Delivers Finishing Combo
In middle of attack, audience sees hero alone [they see it's all in his head]
Sister Pulls Up
Calls Hero into car
Hero obeys
As car Drives away, audience sees the victimized character waving goodbye in thanks

UGH, summarizing

Anyone can tell from my posts that I'm not a short winded thinker. I just can not condense. It can't be done. It just can't! There comes a point where leaving out key information leads to pushing your audience in a direction you didn't mean to, or worse they begin to apply assumptions to your work. I can't stand how whenever I think I've finally broken down something to its basic concept then somebody wants to attach some unrelated idea to it, because then that's all I can focus on and fixing that drives me crazy.

Subtext is important, but it bothers me to no end when people pick up on subtext that isn't meant to be there. It's a good thing I'm taking this writing class, because half the time I feel I have no idea what I'm doing.

Believe It Or Not

Interestingly enough, characters have always been difficult for me to discover. They never really revealed themselves to me naturally. I had to always stop and think, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if…"
Then I'd usually follow that up with adding a whole back story to the character that doesn't fit that character's purpose. It all ended up sounding like a bad fanfic.

Now That I've started having to investigate myself. I'm starting to see what makes people tick. By coming to understand my own flaws, and slowly growing to accept them, creating characters has become much easier for me.

I have been doing a lot of personal reflection lately. I don't always like what I see, but I suppose everyone goes through that. I've been searching to find something I'm supposed to aspire towards becoming, because I feel I need some focus. I've taken to quickly to just criticizing myself and not knowing where to go from there.

On the way home last night, I was driving in my car and an angel came to me. A large owl flew down in front of my windshield, and glided barely a foot away from me down the rest of the street. As I came to a stop at the intersection, it flew off into the neighboring trees. I turned to look back at it as I drove away, and it looked straight back at me as if to say, "It'll be alright. Trust me"

I started doing some research on owls. It turns out that they're a Native American Totem Spirit symbolizing: Insight, Messenger, Wisdom, and Clairvoyance. The meanings vary from different sources, but all seem to share "insight". I do seem spend nearly all of my time investigating or trying to gain a deeper understanding of myself and other people. I know people see connections where they want to, but something here feels right. I need to trust in that.