Yesterday I got back from a much needed break with friends and family in my hometown of Toledo, OH. One of the reasons I love visiting Ohio – swamps and smog notwithstanding – is that I get to reconnect with the old friends I grew up with. Almost all of us are involved in the arts, in one way or another.
So I thought I’d share this clip of my good friend Sam Evans, a stand-up comedian in Cincinnati, OH. I’ve had the pleasure to see Sam do a few open mics, and he’s always a riot. This is his take on working in the service industry – something most artists (and entrepreneurs, too) have experienced at sometime or another.
To see more of Sam’s work, check out his profile on Rooftop Comedy or catch one of his shows in Cincinnati!
p.s. It’s stand-up, naturally there’s a little cursing, so it may be NSFW depending on where you work…
“History testifies that an artist’s mind is the analytical mind of his society… How can anyone be accused of any crime because of his mind and what passes through the mind?”
-Jafar Panahi, director of “Offside” and “The White Balloon
Filmmaking can be a difficult, trying, and sometimes frustrating challenge. But if I’m ever feeling discouraged about film – or any art, or anything, for that matter – I can always find inspiration in artists who create despite the tremendous difficulty of their circumstances.
Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker, is one such artist. Earlier this year he was arrested for making “anti-state” films in Iran. This moving piece is the closing statement from his trial. Thanks to Ted Hope’s blog and NY Times’ The Lede Blog for posting it first.
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Your Honor, I would like to present my defense in two parts.
Part 1: What they say.
In the past few days I have been watching my favorite films again, though I did not have access to some of them, which are among the greatest films of the history of cinema. My house was raided on the night of March 1, 2010 while my colleague Mr. Rasoulof and I were in the process of shooting what we intended to be a socially conscious art-house film. The people, who identified themselves as agents of the Ministry of Intelligence, arrested us along with other crew members without presenting any warrants. They confiscated my collection of films as well and never returned them to me. Subsequently, the only reference made to those films was by the prosecutor in charge of my case, who asked me: “What are these obscene films you’re collecting?”
I have learned how to make films inspired by those outstanding films that the prosecutor deemed obscene. Believe me I have just as much difficulty understanding how they could be called obscene as I do comprehending how the activity for which I was arrested could be seen as a crime. My case is a perfect example of being punished before committing a crime. You are putting me on trial for making a film that, at the time of our arrest, was only thirty percent shot. You must have heard that the famous creed, “There is no god, except Allah,” turns into blasphemy if you only say the first part and omit the second part. In the same vein, how can you establish that a crime has been committed by looking at 30 percent of the rushes for a film that has not been edited yet?
I do not comprehend the charge of obscenity directed at the classics of film history, nor do I understand the crime I am accused of. If these charges are true, you are putting not only us on trial but the socially conscious, humanistic, and artistic Iranian cinema as well, a cinema which tries to stay beyond good and evil, a cinema that does not judge or surrender to power or money but tries to honestly reflect a realistic image of the society.
One of the charges against me is attempting to encourage demonstrations and incite protests with this film. All through my career I have emphasized that I am a socially committed filmmaker not a political one. My main concerns are social issues; therefore my films are social dramas not political statements. I never wanted to act as a judge or a prosecutor. I am not a filmmaker who judges but one who invites other to see. I don’t get to decide for others or to write any kind of manual for anybody; please allow me to repeat my [intention] to place my cinema beyond good and evil. This kind of belief has caused my colleagues and myself a lot of trouble; many of my films have been banned, along with the films of other filmmakers like me. But it is unprecedented in Iranian cinema to arrest and imprison a filmmaker for making a film, and harass his family while he is in prison. This is a new development in the history of Iranian cinema that will be remembered for a long time.
I have been accused of participating in demonstrations. No Iranian filmmaker was allowed to use his camera to capture the events but you can not forbid an artist to observe! As an artist it is my responsibility to observes in order to get inspired and create. I was an observer, and it was my right to observe.
I have been accused of making a film without permission. Is it really necessary to point out here that no law has been passed by the parliament regarding the need for a permit to make a film? There are only some internal memos which are going through changes each time the deputy minister is changed.
I have been accused of not giving a script to the actors. In our filmmaking genre where we work mostly with non-professional actors, this is a very routine way of filmmaking practiced by myself and many of my colleagues; the cast mostly consists of non-actors. Therefore, the director does not find it necessary to give them a script. This accusation sounds more like a joke that has no place in the judiciary system.
I have been accused of having signed a declaration. I have singed one: an open letter signed by 37 prominent film makers, in order to express their concern about the turn of events in the country. I was one of them. Unfortunately, instead of listening to the concerns, we were accused of treachery. However, these filmmakers are the very same people who have expressed their concerns in the past about injustices around the world. How can you expect them to remain indifferent to the fate of their own country?
I have been accused of organizing demonstrations at the opening of Montreal Film Festival. At least some truth and fairness should back up any accusations. I was the chair of the jury in Montreal and arrived only a few hours before the opening. How could I have organized a demonstration in a place where I hardly knew anyone? Let’s not forget that in those days the Iranian Diaspora would gather at any relevant event around the world to voice their demands.
I have been accused of giving interviews to Persian-speaking media abroad. I know for fact that there are no laws forbidding us from giving interviews.
Part 2: What I say.
History testifies that an artist’s mind is the analytical mind of his society. By learning about the culture and history of his country, by observing the events that occur in his surroundings, he sees, analyzes and presents issues of the day through his art form to the society.
How can anyone be accused of any crime because of his mind and what passes through the mind?
The assassination of ideas and sterilizing artists of a society has only one result: killing the roots of art and creativity. Arresting my colleagues and I while shooting an unfinished film is nothing but an attack by those in power on all the artists of this land. It drives this crystal clear however sad message home: “You will repent if you don’t think like us.”
I would like to remind the court of yet an other ironic fact about my imprisonment: the space given to Jafar Panahi’s festival awards in Tehran’s Museum of Cinema is much larger than his cell in prison.
All said, despite all the injustice done to me, I, Jafar Panahi, declare once again that I am an Iranian, I am staying in my country and I like to work in my own country. I love my country, I have paid a price for this love too, and I am willing to pay again if necessary. I have yet another declaration to add to the first one. As shown in my films, I declare that I believe in the right of “the other” to be different, I believe in mutual understanding and respect, as well as in tolerance; the tolerance that forbid me from judgment and hatred. I don’t hate anybody, not even my interrogators.
I recognize my responsibilities toward the future generations that will inherit this country from us.
History is patient. Insignificant stories happen without even acknowledging their insignificance. I, myself, am worried about the future generations.
Our country is quite vulnerable; it is only through the [guarantee] of the state of law for all, regardless of any ethnic, religious or political consideration, that we can avoid the very real danger of a chaotic and fatal future. I truly believe that tolerance represents the only realistic and honorable solution to this imminent danger.
After yesterday’s post on the creative process, I had to share a video I watched this morning. Here’s ecologist Eric Berlow discussing how complexity leads to simplicity, and the difference between “complex” and “complicated.” Thanks, TED Talks!
I think the creative process can be a complex system aimed at producing a simple result. I’ll be talking more about this in relation to music composition. Enjoy your Wednesday!
It’s been a whirlwind of a week since we put up “Boxer” last Monday. Thank you for your continued interest and the downloads we’ve had so far!
The broadest purpose of this blog is explore the relationship between creativity and critical thinking. Sometimes they go together in the creation of art. Their combination is essential to almost any kind of innovation. And if you’re in a creative business, you combine them constantly.
But I think we all create in our own ways, sometimes without even recognizing it. Anyone can learn from their own creative intuition – we all have it in some form. When people make art, they extrapolate from their creative intuition and apply it to a specific craft or skill. Sometimes this is a conscious process, and other times it’s not.
Rather than talk at length about “creativity” in the abstract, I thought it might be helpful to discuss a specific example. So today I’m going to share a piece of music I’ve been toying around with and use it as a springboard for discussing the creative process.
As a disclaimer, I should say that the creative process is a fundamentally personal experience. Being creative involves using your own judgment quite regularly, and a great way to practice that is to start creating right away. Do not let anyone’s views on “creativity,” least of all mine, hinder your own exploration.
Listen to it once or twice before proceeding. (Please excuse the digital instruments and quick mixing by yours truly).
OK, so first things first – the inspiration for the piece came from the initial piano part. That came without any thinking, just some honest tinkering on the keyboard for a few days. I’m a guitarist by training, so piano is a wonderfully unfamiliar experience for me.
As soon as that part came out, I knew I wanted to do something with it. I practice composing by taking little ideas like this piano part and expanding them into rough drafts. Sometimes these rough drafts help me generate scores. But it’s the practice experience that I’m really after.
So once I have a seed idea, I identify two important constraints: my available tools, and my basic vision for what I want to create.
The first part is easy. My basic tools are a computer and Logic Pro 8. I played everything in on a MIDI keyboard, with the exception of some wood block sounds I recorded. This is how I practice, though for serious projects I usually have instrumentalists record the final version.
The “simple creative vision” part can be a real challenge sometimes. I got lucky on this one, though. When I composed this I had been listening to a lot of Philip Glass. I was really entranced by the way he builds simple, repetitive rhythms to increasing, layered complexity. If you haven’t heard him before, give this a quick listen:
Check out what he’s doing with the cellos at 1:56. That’s a triplet figure, not unlike the cello that kicks in at 0:33 in my piece. A patented trick most Philip Glass fans have probably already noticed.
So if you’re struggling for creative inspiration, it can help to find an artist that you really like, and then try to articulate why you like him or her. Take some notes, and let them be varying in depth and breadth. In composing this piece, I jotted down things like:
Repetitive rhythms build to complexity.
Cellos feel like they’re hurrying up/slowing down while still in time
Mellowing effect on mood, but cerebral experience
Contrast of familiar/classic consonant chords with memorable, prolonged dissonances
These are the listening experiences that I want to attempt to recreate when composing my practice piece. Notice that I’m doing two things here, even in practice:
(1) creating based around what I like, which keeps things fun, honest, and worthwhile
(2) creating with some defined goals for the listening (reading, viewing) experience, which can help communicate broader experiences/ideas to an audience
I’ve found that Point 2 can be a bit contested and merits a little explanation. It’s not that I’m trying to deliver a specific experience to every audience member; receiving and interpreting art is up to the individual. Instead, I’m drawing on a body of my own listening experiences to connect with what stimulates my passion for and interest in music.
I want my music to communicate a passion, enjoyment, and interest for both music and life, whenever possible – as part of a larger creative goal. And I’m always trying to improve how that gets communicated, which is where critical thinking can be very helpful.
Now I’ve worked to develop a simple creative vision, with some basic constraints and a set of tools. This is where the critical perspective leaves off and inspiration sets in. I go to work recording as many parts as possible, with variations whenever I can. Sometimes I know a part is exactly what I want, right when I play it. But usually I end up recording a handful and selecting one or two variations.
At that point the critical mind kicks in again – I have to listen to my ideas and make a judgement call on what works and what doesn’t. This is where the initial creative vision becomes VERY important. I can’t always make a judgement call based on a whim, or even preference. If I want the piece to have any sense of unity, I have to strive to fulfill the initial vision.
That doesn’t mean the process is rigid, and I don’t think it stifles creativity. It can actually encourage creativity. For example, when I was recording the wood blocks – the last part of the piece I recorded – I kept getting interrupted by the Chicago Air Show making serious noise overhead. I really wanted to get some recording done, and it’s always hard to find the free time to do it. So I took some mics outside and got the airplane sounds you hear at the end. Sure, they might not make the final cut. But I like to have fun and make the best of any constraints at hand.
And it’s important to have a fluid creative vision. You’ve got to be pragmatic. Sometimes you come up with something so good it transforms the vision entirely – which can be an awesome or troubling experience, depending on your deadline. That’s where you need creative judgment, an elusive thing that’s hard develop and difficult to measure. But practicing is the only way I’ve ever found to develop it. Fortunately, when it comes to the creative arts, even practice can be a lot of fun.
Today is day! We’re excited to offer everyone a free copy of “Boxer,” our new short film. Please take a few minutes out of your busy schedules and download it on our website.
Look for the new blogging project on film festivals, info to follow over the next few days. Until then, check out this tutorial I wrote on adding graphics to your Gmail signature. Hopefully some will find it useful – I figured 4 hours worth of research/writing was a decent trade for the 15 minutes it will take you to download our film.
When you click the tab on our website, we’ll prompt you for your email. Within a few minutes you’ll receive everything you need: download links to HD and lo-res versions of Boxer, as well as our digital press kit.
You can opt out of our mailing list, but if you choose to join, we promise to stay relevant and spam-free. My post today is part of our commitment to give you worthwhile information when you check out our work. Thanks for following us so far – more to come in the future. Hope you enjoy the film!
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Adding Linked Graphics in Your Gmail Signature
I love Google (you know this already) and we use Google business apps for our email and other organizational tools. It’s a lot like Gmail, but on steroids and more secure. And it’s only $50/yr per email address – a whole lot less than other custom webmail/email clients.
But my one persistent frustration with this has been the inability to add graphics in my signature. My friends and colleagues from larger companies – i.e., ones that don’t have 4 members and operate from a small home studio – always have handy graphics in their email. I wanted to figure out a way to do this, and I thought would be especially useful for those who use Google business apps/Gmail for their business or organization.
I wanted to add a linked button in my email so that when you clicked on it, it took you to the Atassi Productions Twitter. And I know nothing about code or programming, so if I can do it, anyone can. It’s pretty simple.
The solution has four major steps.
1) Download the Blank Canvas extension for Chrome or Firefox
2) Find an image, or find a way to put an image you’ve created on the web
3) Use a WYSIWYG editor to produce HTML code for this the linked web image
4) Paste this code into Blank Canvas. Adjust and enjoy.
Now for each step in detail:
1) DL Blank Canvas Extension for Chrome or Firefox
Click link above and follow download instructions. Restart your browser and open Gmail. Notice that your “compose mail” window now has a new addition:
If you click the “create/edit signature” button you’ll see that the extension requires HTML code. So what we need to do now is find a way to get the image we want in HTML.
2) Get your image
The easiest way to get an HTML code for an image is to put it on the internet. I already had my image, a free Twitter button that we customized:
So to put it on the web, I just uploaded it to a blog and published it. I have an old blog that I don’t post on but have kept around for this purpose. If your image is already on the web – i.e. your company logo on your website – this step is even easier.
3) Use a WYSIWYG Editor to convert the image to HTML.
The basic idea behind a “What You See is What You Get” editor is: you type what you want to see on a webpage, the WYSIWYG editor converts this to HTML, then you can either:
Publish your material on the internet, if you’re using a WYSIWYG editor that most blogs (like WordPress) now offer.
Convert your material to HTML code and use it in another application. That’s what we’re going to do here.
Since we just need an HTML converter, and many people use different blogs, I’m using Reall Graphics’ editor. It’s free and simple, as familiar as most email interfaces:
So, copy the link URL of your image. Use the insert image button (circled above). Then, if you want your signature button to link to a website, use the link button. Finally, use “<>” to convert the image. Now you have your HTML code and can move on to:
4) Pasting Your Code Into Blank Canvas
This step is pretty self-explanatory. Put your email cursor wherever you want the image to be in your signature, then click on the “Create Signature” button (see diagram in step one) in Gmail. Paste your HTML code, save signature, and you’re done! Now you can tweak how the image appears in the signature using the “Blank Canvas Options” button right next to the signature creator.
This modification will probably require a little bit of tweaking in the options, and it’s worth testing this a few times before you start sending it out. But I’ve been using it for over a week now with no real problems. Good luck!
I have to confess, I’ve always wished that microblogging was based around frogs rather than birds:
Ribbit!
OK, so it doesn’t work as well. Believe me, I’ve tried saying “ribbit” enough in public. It just hasn’t caught on.
But I guess that’s thing about Twitter: it’s already caught on, and it is what it is (not what I want it to be). It’s a communication and research tool that, while intuitive, does have to be learned – and it has a learning curve.
But the cool thing – in some ways the boon and curse of the internet – is that learning about web-based tools requires active engagement. And rewards it. I love active learning, and since high school I’ve used the internet for a good amount of musical training.
Back then, I was participating in communities of guitarists and composers organized mostly around message boards and forums. These still exist, of course, and are very popular amongst specialists. For me, though, posting actively eventually took a back seat to playing, composing, and living. And college.
But now microblogging offers an integrated alternative. As a young entrepreneur in a creative field, I get excited when I see people getting self-motivated to pursue their interests. I don’t just mean their business interests, and I’m not only talking about the Smithian “self-interest” that supposedly drives capitalism. (Although life post-college graduation does make you take the survival instinct a little more seriously).
More to the point. I get really excited when I see people taking their interests seriously. Whether it’s music, sports, commerce, science fiction – I don’t really care! If you’re serious enough about it, you’ll want to participate in a community dedicated to it. Have you ever noticed how most musicians have a lot of musician friends? It’s not an accident.
Community really can breed creativity and ingenuity – provided everybody brings a substantial individual contribution. But that’s not really an issue with interest-based internet communities, the kind that are strong on blogs and Twitter. The only way to be involved is to participate frequently, which in itself can be a starting point for learning.
Of course, you have to actually DO the learning. These internet communities can be great tools for beginners, but they do have a steep learning curve. And they don’t work if they are your only source of learning new things – you can’t learn how to play the piano just by Tweeting. But if you can play even a simple tune, you could probably search “beginner piano blog” to find something useful. The hyperlink there is the result of about 3 seconds of Googling, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not really that hard.
I’m saying all of this for two reasons, really:
1) I’ve been getting motivated about this and having a pretty good time, plus it has some useful application in business. But I don’t really view it as a “profitable” thing – it’s more like a way I can use the internet to do different types of research, and research is my starting point for creative thinking and generating new ideas. Sometimes research and analysis can lead to ideas that might generate profit. But the research is usually the most work-intensive part, and of course you don’t make anything (not just money, really anything) while you’re doing it. It’s more of a learning experience. So mostly I’m interested in maximizing the internet as a research tool.
2) I think I can communicate this project about using the internet as a learning tool in a way that others might find useful. Not other Twitter or blogging experts, necessarily, since I’m something of a beginner. No, my target is people who know how to use the internet, but don’t really maximize it. They are mostly in their twenties, have facebook accounts (who doesn’t), but wonder what everyone has been Tweeting about. They may or may not be disillusioned. And they might not think much about how business, professional, and special-interest communities connect in the blogosphere.
But the truth is that engaging the internet can give you a place to participate in active learning, with a remarkable degree of breadth and depth. It’s no wonder everyone is trying to establish a presence in the blogosphere – heavy hitters have a lot of influence within their special interest communities, and sometimes beyond.
Using the internet actively is a way to explore, engage, and participate in your interests. Sometimes it can give you a voice in larger communities. With tools like this available, what good reason is there not to use them?
-Rami
p.s. I’m going to make a more technical post (less soapboxing) about a cool way to integrate a Twitter logo into your Gmail signature. It’s been done before but this one is especially for users who are not tech-savvy (i.e. me) – those of use who see “WYSIWYG” and say “what on earth is this.” It’s pretty simple and takes only a few steps. I’ve been up late working and I’m out of steam, but it will be up before the weekend. And then the real research project, the film festival thing, gets going next week. Just figured I needed to promise some substantial content to excuse the frog up at the top there. Ribbit!
It’s been a while since we’ve been on the blog, but now we’re back with a purpose. For the last few months, we have been working hard in post-production on Boxer, our new short film. It will be available for free download on our website starting November 8th. Until then, please check out the trailer, which we just cut tonight:
Along with the release of Boxer, we’ll also be launching a new blogging project next Monday. The goal of the project is to present research and strategy tips for lo/no budget filmmakers who are approaching the festival submission process. When your film’s budget is low to begin with, festival entry fees can quickly add up. So we’ve been thinking about ways to use research and strategy to maximize the value of a small festival budget. We also want to profile some festivals that are especially interesting for no/lo budget filmmakers.
This blog will present our strategy and findings in real time. We know we have a whole lot to learn, but in the spirit of collaboration, we’re aiming to document our learning experiences in a way others might find useful. We want to offer a resource for aspiring filmmakers on a finite budget who must select from a vast range of available festivals. On the 8th, we will launch the project in full detail.
Now for some Halloween fun. We’re Google fanboys and not ashamed to admit it. True, we use Apple for almost all of the post-production process. But Google’s organizational tools are essential for keeping things together around here. So we decided to show some love with a custom-built DROID costume:
Zach Lewis | Co-Producer, Boxer
This costume was made with green fabric, foam, staples, gaff tape, cardboard, fabric glue, velcro, elastic bands, and a few other random things I found around the house. Zach and I worked on it together, and it took longer than I would care to admit… but it was a lot of fun to make.
Hope you had a fun Halloween – check back soon for more updates.
