Coexisting spheres
For those who wonder, for those who contradict themselves, for those who grab hundreds of things at once, want to try it all, never walk away from possibilities. If that’s the only way you can be you…just go with it. Collect these dots. Collect the experiences. Memorize how it felt, how it looked, how it smelled.
Last week began with the anticipation of the first full-on art direction workshop! However enjoyable and insightful, it was a writing workshop that woke up something more familiar, maybe even more playful in me. And it was not at all disconnected from art direction.
The basic exercises we were introduced to, helped our minds and our memories wake up. This is when the seemingly random experiences and inspirations, and especially intrusive thoughts get the chance to resurface!
Soon, I began to translate words into images in my head. The images turned into scenes. Short, punchy one-syllable words turned into rapid cuts or transitions between those scenes. Slower, atmospheric paragraphs began to resemble long smooth takes that could be taken from one of Terrance Malik’s more existential films.
At some point at SCA, most of us are confronted with the question of whether we intend to become art directors or copywriters. And from what I heard from others and experienced myself…choosing one over another might feel as if we were resigning from something, or even betraying one discipline over the other. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are dots to grab on both sides. And these worlds feed into each other. There always will be a place within the art direction to use writing as a tool to create original images, and there will always be a time to prompt your writing and find just the right words using your art practice.