Here's an idea: what would you do if you didn't care about what others would think? What really confines your creative juices, shuts down the creative process?
Asking the question: Do we really want to do that? Or maybe this one- People really won't like that, will they?
True creativity doesn't get boxed in by questions. Sometimes creativity goes horribly wrong. But I'm not discussing bad creativity. Just the process itself. To keep creative moments and ideas, the creative leads can't abandon an idea because it may not fit within the traditional experience.
Whatever new elements you can use to get your message across is a creative moment. If repeated efforts of the same medium are used, the message will become bland and stagnant. Inspiration can come from many aspects in our life. Media is a great influence. Architecture, web design, clothing. The creative filter of your mind absorbs the sights and sounds around us to come up with something fresh and innovative.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Hello Boys, I'm BAACCKKKK! (ID4)
It's been a while since I posted, and a bit has happened since then. Let's start off with the recent.
I was part of a team from The Rock Church who went to Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX for FC's annual Creative Church Conference (C3). Led by Ed Young, it's a great event that opens up FC's doors to pastors and leaders from churches that want to spread the gospel in a relevant manner. If you are looking for inspiration and permission on what can be done within church confines, I suggest you take a look at going to C3.
Guest speakers at C3 vary year to year, but all are leaders of successful churches- Craig Groeschel, TD Jakes, Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll and others have had the wonderful opportunity at speaking at C3. This year had Ed Young's father, Ed Young, speak. And what he said was vindication to me for something that has troubled churches like The Rock Church and similar churches that present the gospel outside traditional boundaries. It is something that can be a standard answer to many creative churches in the world.
Has your church been accused or recieved comments of the following nature:
- The music is too fast or modern
- It has fancy tvs/screens/projections/lights in a church
- Too many people dress up making me feel underdressed and uncomfortable
- There's too much technology within the church building- children's check-in, bathrooms, info booths
- What does a coffee stand have to do with God and Jesus Christ?
If you accept that the church is the bride of Christ, then I propose this answer:
If I am looking for a bride, I want a bride that is attractive to me, contains the qualities I desire, I can grow with, I have similar interests, get along with not only her friends, but also her family. Also, my bride must obviously want me for who I am, for who I am to be, and be my partner in life.
Back to the elder Ed Young. He said the church is the bride of Christ, and that the bride of Christ must be beautiful. And I'll take that statement a bit further and submit that beauty is not just a beautiful building and trappings, since life cannot be that shallow. Beauty comes from the inside, from actions, feelings, beliefs, morals, little things, and a sense of bondage to someone you care about.
To attract people to Christ, the bride of Christ must be attractive to those looking for a partner. Regardless of what you believe your church looks like, it has to be beautiful to those searching. And remember that it isn't YOUR church. It is God's church, and as a leader or member of the church, YOU represent the beauty of the church.
I was part of a team from The Rock Church who went to Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX for FC's annual Creative Church Conference (C3). Led by Ed Young, it's a great event that opens up FC's doors to pastors and leaders from churches that want to spread the gospel in a relevant manner. If you are looking for inspiration and permission on what can be done within church confines, I suggest you take a look at going to C3.
Guest speakers at C3 vary year to year, but all are leaders of successful churches- Craig Groeschel, TD Jakes, Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll and others have had the wonderful opportunity at speaking at C3. This year had Ed Young's father, Ed Young, speak. And what he said was vindication to me for something that has troubled churches like The Rock Church and similar churches that present the gospel outside traditional boundaries. It is something that can be a standard answer to many creative churches in the world.
Has your church been accused or recieved comments of the following nature:
- The music is too fast or modern
- It has fancy tvs/screens/projections/lights in a church
- Too many people dress up making me feel underdressed and uncomfortable
- There's too much technology within the church building- children's check-in, bathrooms, info booths
- What does a coffee stand have to do with God and Jesus Christ?
If you accept that the church is the bride of Christ, then I propose this answer:
If I am looking for a bride, I want a bride that is attractive to me, contains the qualities I desire, I can grow with, I have similar interests, get along with not only her friends, but also her family. Also, my bride must obviously want me for who I am, for who I am to be, and be my partner in life.
Back to the elder Ed Young. He said the church is the bride of Christ, and that the bride of Christ must be beautiful. And I'll take that statement a bit further and submit that beauty is not just a beautiful building and trappings, since life cannot be that shallow. Beauty comes from the inside, from actions, feelings, beliefs, morals, little things, and a sense of bondage to someone you care about.
To attract people to Christ, the bride of Christ must be attractive to those looking for a partner. Regardless of what you believe your church looks like, it has to be beautiful to those searching. And remember that it isn't YOUR church. It is God's church, and as a leader or member of the church, YOU represent the beauty of the church.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Friday, February 9, 2007
I Like Network Television Executives: Not So Much
One of my favorite shows (of all time) is probably going to be cancelled because network executives want high ratings so they can charge expensive ad rates so their 3.1 million dollar apartment in Manhattan is paid for.
The show is Studio 60. I enjoy Aaron Sorkin's writing and storytelling ability. The West Wing, A Few Good Men and The American President, are all very good entertainment. I never got into Sports Night, I only caught a few shows.
Studio 60 is pulling low numbers for some odd reason. Heroes is a hit, yet S60 doesn't carry the audience into its show. Viewership takes a nosedive. That is because the audiences the shows are geared at are completely different.
While I don't have the data, I'm assuming Heroes has a majority of viewers under the age of 30. S60 probably has a majority of viewers over 30. I think it might be explained better if you compared Smallville followed by Dynasty and expect the same audience size.
I hypothesize another factor in viewership lag. The Internet. I think a nice size chunk of Heroes fans run off to Internet message boards, fan sites and chat rooms after the show and discuss the night's episode.
Another factor is Monday night time slot. The first day of the work week. I think some viewers just want to go to bed and forget the day they just had.
S60 is not for everyone. Television is so compartmentalized in content, fighting for huge numbers will only result in seven nights of train wrecks and violence. The show isn't poorly produced or written. Storylines carry over week-to-week and some things are not resolved in 40 minutes.
There have been many great shows cancelled because of low advertising money. Maybe studio executives need to change their model for ad sales. Waste money on a broad audience or invest in a target audience? Support quality television or feed into the dumbing down of America?
Man it would suck if all we had to choose from was Survivor:Azores/Canary/Kodiak American/Canadian/Paraguay Idol, CSI:Fargo/NY/Miami/Vegas/Chicago/Boise, and whatever "new" game show from BBC the networks steal.
Side note: Yeah, let's have Survivor in a really worthwhile place. Like Siberia, Alaska, or Antarctica. Guaranteed not to have any nekkid folks running about.
The show is Studio 60. I enjoy Aaron Sorkin's writing and storytelling ability. The West Wing, A Few Good Men and The American President, are all very good entertainment. I never got into Sports Night, I only caught a few shows.
Studio 60 is pulling low numbers for some odd reason. Heroes is a hit, yet S60 doesn't carry the audience into its show. Viewership takes a nosedive. That is because the audiences the shows are geared at are completely different.
While I don't have the data, I'm assuming Heroes has a majority of viewers under the age of 30. S60 probably has a majority of viewers over 30. I think it might be explained better if you compared Smallville followed by Dynasty and expect the same audience size.
I hypothesize another factor in viewership lag. The Internet. I think a nice size chunk of Heroes fans run off to Internet message boards, fan sites and chat rooms after the show and discuss the night's episode.
Another factor is Monday night time slot. The first day of the work week. I think some viewers just want to go to bed and forget the day they just had.
S60 is not for everyone. Television is so compartmentalized in content, fighting for huge numbers will only result in seven nights of train wrecks and violence. The show isn't poorly produced or written. Storylines carry over week-to-week and some things are not resolved in 40 minutes.
There have been many great shows cancelled because of low advertising money. Maybe studio executives need to change their model for ad sales. Waste money on a broad audience or invest in a target audience? Support quality television or feed into the dumbing down of America?
Man it would suck if all we had to choose from was Survivor:Azores/Canary/Kodiak American/Canadian/Paraguay Idol, CSI:Fargo/NY/Miami/Vegas/Chicago/Boise, and whatever "new" game show from BBC the networks steal.
Side note: Yeah, let's have Survivor in a really worthwhile place. Like Siberia, Alaska, or Antarctica. Guaranteed not to have any nekkid folks running about.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Apple ends lawsuit.
So after quite a while Apple has ended the lawsuit with record company Apple. I saw this cool video thought you'd like it.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Corneas' Burning!
Back to the Big Game ads. What was Garmin really thinking? Running a spoof of Godzilla movies and Mecha-Streisand jokes about maps vs. GPS to today's generation is quite risky. It was a stretch for many of us who watched the commercial to connect the dots between Mecha-Map and Garmin.
Unless you take into consideration racial stereotypes.
1) Who is the primary audience of Asian movies that was portrayed in the commercial (horrible scale, bad effects, low production values)?
2) Who is constantly mocked by media, comedians, etc., about having poor driving skills?
3) Who are technology-savvy and gadget-crazy?
Answer: 18-49 year old white guys! Kidding. I think there was an underlying message being sent by Garmin in the ad. "Look! It's Mapzilla! Buy Garmin GPS driving computer and drive like an American!" Is that what the ad is implying? Or am I reading into it a bit much?
And kudos for the American Heart Association to pull enough donations to pay for a $2.6 mil spot. I'm sure everyone who donated was happy to see an old guy in tights playing a heart. With some sweet 1999 Matrix rejects. I can imagine the meeting on that one: "We have enough money to get a game spot, but nothing is left over for creative. What do we have for ideas?" I think if they had Judge Judy or Dr. Phil point right back at the viewer and say "HEY! These guys are trying to tell you something!"
But that's about it for my commentary about the Big Game commercials. I've said my piece. There were some winners and some really, really bad eggs. And way to go NFL for putting a kibosh on everyones plans for a party for the big game that couldn't because you said "It's MY sandbox!"
Unless you take into consideration racial stereotypes.
1) Who is the primary audience of Asian movies that was portrayed in the commercial (horrible scale, bad effects, low production values)?
2) Who is constantly mocked by media, comedians, etc., about having poor driving skills?
3) Who are technology-savvy and gadget-crazy?
Answer: 18-49 year old white guys! Kidding. I think there was an underlying message being sent by Garmin in the ad. "Look! It's Mapzilla! Buy Garmin GPS driving computer and drive like an American!" Is that what the ad is implying? Or am I reading into it a bit much?
And kudos for the American Heart Association to pull enough donations to pay for a $2.6 mil spot. I'm sure everyone who donated was happy to see an old guy in tights playing a heart. With some sweet 1999 Matrix rejects. I can imagine the meeting on that one: "We have enough money to get a game spot, but nothing is left over for creative. What do we have for ideas?" I think if they had Judge Judy or Dr. Phil point right back at the viewer and say "HEY! These guys are trying to tell you something!"
But that's about it for my commentary about the Big Game commercials. I've said my piece. There were some winners and some really, really bad eggs. And way to go NFL for putting a kibosh on everyones plans for a party for the big game that couldn't because you said "It's MY sandbox!"
Monday, February 5, 2007
2.6 Million- What did it buy?
So the big game ads- which ones were worth 2.6 million? I honestly didn't watch the second half, so I'll have to check the ads later. But for the first half, here are the ones I remember as the best.
1) Doritos Hot/Smooth/Crunchy commercial. That was funny for many reasons. It had a unexpected twist in the commercial. It had product qualities presented creatively. And it was plain funny. I knew the guy was going to crash, it was pretty obvious, but the timing was great. The girl tripping and having chips fly all over was hilarious and detailed.
2) Blockbuster Rabbit/Hamster use a mouse. How many times can we play with this premise of synonyms? Are we tired of it? Only when it's funny and not dumb. Like Blockbuster's ad. Having a rabbit and hamster try using a real mouse to get movies is obviously not real, but fantastically humorous. It was kind of like the mouse always got picked on by the larger pets/rodents in the shop. Paints bunnies in a new bully light, don't it?
3) Snickers kiss. It was gross. But funny for the reaction. "We have to do something manly!" Never mind the fact I've never seen anyone eat a Snickers bar like that.
4) Sierra Mist Beard-Over. Yah, Jim Garrigan is underrated (Hotpocket!) and the sweet cut-offs and roller skates won the prize for wardrobe malfunction of the year. The karate ad was okay as an everyday ad, not up to the big game hype.
5) GM Car Wash Guys. Hilariously gross and funny. Just wish they used something like an XLR or C6 instead of a PT Cruiser stung by a bee. And having a guy skinnier than Kate Moss is freakishly funny.
6) Bud Light. Everything was funny except the gorillas. "I threw rock" and "fist pound is so 2006" will be catch phrases.
And to the ads that are just completely whiskey tango foxtrot:
1) Coke Video Game spoof. I've seen that ad for the past 6 months at movies. Didn't find it funny or creative or enlightening the times I saw it before. And financially, Coke marketing should be demoted for recycling a lame advertisement for 2.6 million.
2) Chevrolet. More evidence the suits don't care and are completely separated from consumers. No one sings about crappy GM cars, and rappers definitely DON'T roll 24s on a 2007 Impala. Maybe a '64.
3) Movie Studios. Stop wasting money in the big game. People won't remember what movies are out from a game ad. Besides, most people have already seen it on apple.com or imdb.com. TV trailers are old news.
4) Pizza Hut Jessica Simpson. Worst placement leading off the ad marathon, the ad was lamely directed and acted. It would have been funny if Pizza Hut lifted the "is it chicken or tuna" scenario with Ashlee's sister. Exactly. JSim is old news.
5) Sprint's Connectile Dysfunction. I hate regular ED ads this spoofs. Add to that Sprint/Nextel is regarded as one of the WORST cell companies. I know of few people who like Sprint. Nextel, ok but pricey.
1) Doritos Hot/Smooth/Crunchy commercial. That was funny for many reasons. It had a unexpected twist in the commercial. It had product qualities presented creatively. And it was plain funny. I knew the guy was going to crash, it was pretty obvious, but the timing was great. The girl tripping and having chips fly all over was hilarious and detailed.
2) Blockbuster Rabbit/Hamster use a mouse. How many times can we play with this premise of synonyms? Are we tired of it? Only when it's funny and not dumb. Like Blockbuster's ad. Having a rabbit and hamster try using a real mouse to get movies is obviously not real, but fantastically humorous. It was kind of like the mouse always got picked on by the larger pets/rodents in the shop. Paints bunnies in a new bully light, don't it?
3) Snickers kiss. It was gross. But funny for the reaction. "We have to do something manly!" Never mind the fact I've never seen anyone eat a Snickers bar like that.
4) Sierra Mist Beard-Over. Yah, Jim Garrigan is underrated (Hotpocket!) and the sweet cut-offs and roller skates won the prize for wardrobe malfunction of the year. The karate ad was okay as an everyday ad, not up to the big game hype.
5) GM Car Wash Guys. Hilariously gross and funny. Just wish they used something like an XLR or C6 instead of a PT Cruiser stung by a bee. And having a guy skinnier than Kate Moss is freakishly funny.
6) Bud Light. Everything was funny except the gorillas. "I threw rock" and "fist pound is so 2006" will be catch phrases.
And to the ads that are just completely whiskey tango foxtrot:
1) Coke Video Game spoof. I've seen that ad for the past 6 months at movies. Didn't find it funny or creative or enlightening the times I saw it before. And financially, Coke marketing should be demoted for recycling a lame advertisement for 2.6 million.
2) Chevrolet. More evidence the suits don't care and are completely separated from consumers. No one sings about crappy GM cars, and rappers definitely DON'T roll 24s on a 2007 Impala. Maybe a '64.
3) Movie Studios. Stop wasting money in the big game. People won't remember what movies are out from a game ad. Besides, most people have already seen it on apple.com or imdb.com. TV trailers are old news.
4) Pizza Hut Jessica Simpson. Worst placement leading off the ad marathon, the ad was lamely directed and acted. It would have been funny if Pizza Hut lifted the "is it chicken or tuna" scenario with Ashlee's sister. Exactly. JSim is old news.
5) Sprint's Connectile Dysfunction. I hate regular ED ads this spoofs. Add to that Sprint/Nextel is regarded as one of the WORST cell companies. I know of few people who like Sprint. Nextel, ok but pricey.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Getting off my chest
I really, really dislike Trebuchet as a font. I have a small negative association with the font, but in addition to that, I don't like the pseudo-serif look it projects. It's own little i'm-not-sans-serif-nor-serif-font look just drives me nutty. Pick one side of the fence or the other. It reminds me of the overuse of Chicago, the old Apple font (I think that's what it was named). Shudder.
Just throwin' it out there. Trebuchet sucks.
Just throwin' it out there. Trebuchet sucks.
Marketing Gone Awry
The current marketing tactics for the upcoming animated cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force(ATHF) is at best brilliant, and at worst terrific. Here's one article, if you don't know what I am referring to. Here's why:
1) It got people saying "What is that?" and "Dude! They're here!" for people who don't know ATHF and those who do.
2) The tools were located in non-standard arenas, making people take notice. Although the Cartoon Network claim the tools have been in place for 2-3 weeks, most people never made a big issue out of it.
3) The most asinine and paranoid reaction since the WTO "riots" in Seattle made the marketing effort headline news, and also getting a great ignorant quote from Boston Assistant Attorney General John Grossman: “It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location.” (MSN)
Yes, John, this strikes fear into me:
Credit: Bill Chuck
A Lite-Brite stuck on a wall. Please. For all that is good in this country, stop with the paranoid reaction and suck it up and admit that is what happened. Of course, his pride may make him take this to the bitter end, which will result in a public loss. It's a PR disaster for the city.
I think this is a creative and funny way to promote ATHF. Just because you didn't get the joke, John, doesn't mean it's evil or geared toward terror. There are worse things out there than a Lite-Brite.
On the corporate responsibility side, Cartoon Network should have made sure proper codes were followed. Most cities don't exactly let you put advertisements anywhere. But that doesn't permit Boston police/AAG to arrest people and make outlandish claims:
“The appearance of this device and its location are crucial,” Grossman said. “This device looks like a bomb.” (MSN)
Wow. Looks like we may have a diamond factory on our hands.
1) It got people saying "What is that?" and "Dude! They're here!" for people who don't know ATHF and those who do.
2) The tools were located in non-standard arenas, making people take notice. Although the Cartoon Network claim the tools have been in place for 2-3 weeks, most people never made a big issue out of it.
3) The most asinine and paranoid reaction since the WTO "riots" in Seattle made the marketing effort headline news, and also getting a great ignorant quote from Boston Assistant Attorney General John Grossman: “It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location.” (MSN)
Yes, John, this strikes fear into me:
Credit: Bill Chuck
A Lite-Brite stuck on a wall. Please. For all that is good in this country, stop with the paranoid reaction and suck it up and admit that is what happened. Of course, his pride may make him take this to the bitter end, which will result in a public loss. It's a PR disaster for the city.
I think this is a creative and funny way to promote ATHF. Just because you didn't get the joke, John, doesn't mean it's evil or geared toward terror. There are worse things out there than a Lite-Brite.
On the corporate responsibility side, Cartoon Network should have made sure proper codes were followed. Most cities don't exactly let you put advertisements anywhere. But that doesn't permit Boston police/AAG to arrest people and make outlandish claims:
“The appearance of this device and its location are crucial,” Grossman said. “This device looks like a bomb.” (MSN)
Wow. Looks like we may have a diamond factory on our hands.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)