Avatar… glimpse into another culture?

The Yanomamö are the embodiment of everything Cameron wants to extol in his film. And even better yet, they are real!

This article just caught my eye today, especially because one of the primary goals we had in making our film, The Enemy God, was to strive for a hyper-real, immersive experience into another culture. In our film, the culture is very much real, as is the historically verifiable story. The Yanomamö of the Amazon are the embodiment of everything Cameron wants to extol in his film. And even better yet, they are real! It’s just too bad that Hollywood seems bored with actual culture that is full of drama and action and beauty and intrigue.

You can read the review in the Washington Post: ‘Avatar,’ ‘Young Victoria’ offer glimpses of other cultures

I admit that I’m very interested in Avatar. Certainly as a filmmaker I want to see what they have done from a technical standpoint. This article doesn’t give Cameron many points for story quality, though it seems unanimous that the film is amazing visually.

So I’ll just admit that this post is going out in the hopes that there are people out there who think blockbusters are fun but also want to discover the joy and amazement that real life and cultures can bring on the big screen as well.

Art, Creation and Christ

“…no one looks at a painting and begins talking to it to find out why the painting made itself. Behind every painting, there is a painter…”

There is a powerful love demonstrated in Creation and creative acts. This article [via Pioneers Media Archive – Art, Creation and Christ] from Pioneers.org tells of the connection two people made in Hungary. Zoli, a young man who recently attempted suicide, is also an artist. As their conversation progresses, the author makes the observation, “…no one looks at a painting and begins talking to it to find out why the painting made itself. Behind every painting, there is a painter…”

I think this is one of God’s greatest gifts to us – the ability to express the inexpressible, to communicate in multiple languages: sound, light, space, touch, color, smell.  All of them are channels given to us by our Creator and each has a unique ability to reflect something of His character and action and love for His Creation.

I’m thinking of people I may know, like Zoli, who need to be told that they are beautiful creations, loved, and reflecting the image of God, no matter their circumstances.

How Important is Branding in Games and Films?

What am I doing today to develop that level of trust and comfort and influence with a specific audience, through the things I create?

I admit that articles like this discourage me somewhat.

The Spiteful Critic: Branding, Games, and Films

In this particular article, Lewis Pulsipher emphasizes the game world. It’s a great discussion of the realities of the power of brands to attract audiences. There is tremendous power, credibility, and trust in known identities. For large segments of audiences for every kind of media, they are attracted to the known. Even a person’s perception of quality is influenced by brand awareness (see the article’s study on McDonald’s food and kids in taste-testing). It is more difficult, and expensive, to introduce something new and different, that’s why game companies and film studios turn out ‘based-on’ products and sequels. They hesitate to take a chance on a property where they have to introduce entirely new characters and stories when they can exploit the existing interest of a large group of people who are already fans. This makes perfect sense.

But, most of us don’t have access to those kinds of stories and properties. Where does that leave us?

Of course, there are segments of audiences that actively seek out the unknown. These people might even intentionally avoid major brands. For these people, the idea of eating at McDonalds, buying coffee at Starbucks, or seeing a film in the ______ franchise is anathema. I would say that I tend that way, but I do have my brand favorites, like my Mac computers. I probably respond to Apple’s marketing in much the same way a kid might respond to McDonalds’. They have me hooked in some way. Is that an entirely bad thing?

For smaller content creators like me it can be a daunting task to even imagine cracking a general audience market. However, every creator, no matter how small, should take the time to understand and develop a brand identity. We live in a world, if guys like Seth Godin are to believed, made up of tribes – each with identifiable interests, needs, and places where they hang out.

It should be possible for almost anyone to create products that speak to specific tribes, that are of value to them, and products that develop trust and credibility with them. As we create for that niche, we have the chance to create a brand out of products that speak in similar ways, have similar values, and give that audience the same feeling that kids get when they eat at (or think about eating at) McDonalds; or, perhaps, the feeling I get when I enter an Apple Store. The best brands feel like home, or even better, to their audience. They make you feel like you, or like you want to feel if you were the best you there was.

So what am I doing today to develop that level of trust and comfort and influence with a specific audience, through the things I create?

Artists, It’s Up To You

“…it is up to you, men and women who have given your lives to art, to declare with all the wealth of your ingenuity that in Christ the world is redeemed.”

Scott McClellan posted an interesting blog article in Collide Magazine this week. He references a letter Pope John Paul II wrote to encourage artists in the Church. Scott was quoting from a book that references the letter. I appreciated the few quotes Scott included, such as:

… In Christ, God has reconciled the world to himself. All believers are called to bear witness to this; but it is up to you, men and women who have given your lives to art, to declare with all the wealth of your ingenuity that in Christ the world is redeemed.

You can read Scott’s post in Collide Magazine on-line: Collide Magazine » Blog Archive » It’s Up To You.

I have a copy of the Pope’s letter, kindly sent to me by my friend Byron Spradlin. The Pope gave his address on Easter Sunday, 1999. He began with these words, “To all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new “epiphanies” of beauty so that through their creative work as artists they may offer these as gifts to the world.” You can read the whole text here.

It’s great to have a lot of voices out there encouraging artists. Sometimes it seems as though faith communities still don’t get it, or at least don’t get artists (and vice versa).

For my part, I’m about extending the vision beyond our own local faith communities to see how artists can bring their stories to the ends of the earth and to learn the stories that God has given to other cultures. Art makes the transcendent concrete and it has the capability to cross cultural barriers in ways our texts and practices often can’t. How far can you take your creative expression?

Anthropologists Argue Amongst Themselves

Anthropologists argue about who is telling the truth about the Yanomamö at #AAA09

Anthropologists continue to argue about who is telling the truth about the Yanomamö. Anyone interested in the Yanomamö point-of-view?

This is a recent post on our film’s website.

TheEnemyGod.com.

Filmmaking and Gamemaking

How does collaboration differ in game development from film development?

How does collaboration differ in game development from film development?

My son is a game developer and fan of both computer games and films. I am not really a gamer myself, but I appreciate the power of interactive, participatory storytelling and the way some games have become more and more filmic and story-driven. I hope someday to be collaborating on games with my younger friends who are more literate in the medium.

Here’s a brief post that observes the difference in the type of collaboration that happens on film projects versus game projects.

Filmmaking and Gamemaking – The Difference

For the moment, I’ll keep learning and playing with ideas for storytelling that is compelling and influential yet highly participatory. I don’t believe that even the most complex stories in computer games has risen to the level of Shakespeare or Hemingway; perhaps that is not even the goal.

Games are already a larger entertainment phenomenon than film in terms of opening grosses ($300+ million in one day for Call of Duty 2) and active players. I hope to be a part of anything so influential.