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All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard;
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
- William Shakespeare
As You Like It :: 2.7
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While I was out in Denver shooting for the National Theatre Conservatory, I grew really interested in the relationship between a director and an actor. Well, more to the point I am fascinated by how we give and receive direction. While not a specific chronological story, below you will find an essay on the nuanced way the visionaries impart their vision to the storytellers themselves, and how those visions are taken and implemented. The shows being rehearsed are Ah Wilderness by Eugene O'Neill directed by Larry Hecht and As You Like It, by Billy Shakes directed by Sabin Epstein. Movement direction by Bob Davidson and voice/speech direction by Michael Cobb. Watch, listen, learn. Be silent while your elders are speaking and otherwise show them deference.
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seek the joy
eric
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with the most sincerest of apologies to George Carlin
We're a modern bunch aren't we? A modern bunch seemingly searching for something timeless and instead finding something old. But hey, we're digital and we're going over 100 miles an hour. We're plugged in, tuned out, turned off, logged on, cutting edge, state of the art, bi-coastal multitaskers and we can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond. Doesn't matter if it's uplinked or downloaded, inputted or outsourced 'cause we know the upside of downsizing and the downside of upgrading and trading in depth of soul for depth of field. We're a new breed of the old school and our inner artist is outward bound. We interface with our database and our database is in cyberspace. It's interactive, we're hyperactive, and no one blogs the unattractive. We are on point, on task, on brand, and off put; we are out of range, and in focus.
We get lit and shoot raw: bigger is hotter and faster is cooler. We close our eyes and shoot wide open. We're tireless and we're wireless and we see dead pixels and live streams in photoshop and camera stores. The sales are up, the site is down so we spray and pray, scoot and shoot, grip and grin, and drag and drop. Our inbox is out of control and the software on our hard drive is Lightroom in a dark space [and you know your second shooter just blogged it first.] We write in HTML 5 during our 4 hour work week, shoot the rule of 3rds with our mark II's, and we wonder. Forget the feed back, we want Fast Track and an action pack, a shootsac, and the app for that, the Purple Cow and we want it now. We're stuck in this metafiction and we've traded in metaphor for metadata, just stop tweeting on my facebook. So think outside the softbox and waylay hard knocks because some are making images even if the rest of us are taking photos. It's full frame, with a long lens, high iso and large format. Mini sessions, on a tiny budget, with little kids in a small space. The middle of the oreo isn't included in the package anymore and someone took the cereal out of the box. The middle is gone and we complain there's no left left but there's no right, right? So we retreat, re-brand, re-blog, re-tweet, re-calibrate, re-touch, and re-compose. We don't snooze, so we can't lose and we all know P is for Professional and 1.2 is an aperture, not a style. A disc of digital files is included though, right? Nope.
We read about A-listers in the B-School using C-Stands and a D3 over E-Mails about F-Stops on our G-Drives in HD and it's all on our I-Phones. [Which sync with shootQ] You can buy megapixels at a mini mall, micro thirds in a mega store but maybe instead of buying that prime new zoom lens, we could all just get off our asses and take a couple steps closer. We buy pre-sets and we pre-sell, pre-screen, pre-design, pre-package, and pre-approve the post-process. Our output is down, but income is up. So go ahead and take a short position on the long bond because our revenue stream has its own cash flow and the truth of the matter is that there are no rules for good photographs, just good photographs. All this has very little to do with what we see and everything to do with how we see it.
We're a modern bunch aren't we? You can go ahead and drag your couch out to the middle of a field and surround it with old non-working cameras and typewriters, shoot it with lens flare and a tilt shift. We're this modern bunch seemingly searching for something timeless and instead finding something old. But hey, we're digital and for better or for worse we're going over 100 miles an hour.
We get lit and shoot raw: bigger is hotter and faster is cooler. We close our eyes and shoot wide open. We're tireless and we're wireless and we see dead pixels and live streams in photoshop and camera stores. The sales are up, the site is down so we spray and pray, scoot and shoot, grip and grin, and drag and drop. Our inbox is out of control and the software on our hard drive is Lightroom in a dark space [and you know your second shooter just blogged it first.] We write in HTML 5 during our 4 hour work week, shoot the rule of 3rds with our mark II's, and we wonder. Forget the feed back, we want Fast Track and an action pack, a shootsac, and the app for that, the Purple Cow and we want it now. We're stuck in this metafiction and we've traded in metaphor for metadata, just stop tweeting on my facebook. So think outside the softbox and waylay hard knocks because some are making images even if the rest of us are taking photos. It's full frame, with a long lens, high iso and large format. Mini sessions, on a tiny budget, with little kids in a small space. The middle of the oreo isn't included in the package anymore and someone took the cereal out of the box. The middle is gone and we complain there's no left left but there's no right, right? So we retreat, re-brand, re-blog, re-tweet, re-calibrate, re-touch, and re-compose. We don't snooze, so we can't lose and we all know P is for Professional and 1.2 is an aperture, not a style. A disc of digital files is included though, right? Nope.
We read about A-listers in the B-School using C-Stands and a D3 over E-Mails about F-Stops on our G-Drives in HD and it's all on our I-Phones. [Which sync with shootQ] You can buy megapixels at a mini mall, micro thirds in a mega store but maybe instead of buying that prime new zoom lens, we could all just get off our asses and take a couple steps closer. We buy pre-sets and we pre-sell, pre-screen, pre-design, pre-package, and pre-approve the post-process. Our output is down, but income is up. So go ahead and take a short position on the long bond because our revenue stream has its own cash flow and the truth of the matter is that there are no rules for good photographs, just good photographs. All this has very little to do with what we see and everything to do with how we see it.
We're a modern bunch aren't we? You can go ahead and drag your couch out to the middle of a field and surround it with old non-working cameras and typewriters, shoot it with lens flare and a tilt shift. We're this modern bunch seemingly searching for something timeless and instead finding something old. But hey, we're digital and for better or for worse we're going over 100 miles an hour.
Intro to my Inspire Boston 2011 talk on Storytelling and being OK with doing things the way you feel is right, not the way the industry says that you should.
seek the joy
eric
image credits Grazier Photography, Bruce Plotkin, Athena Blude
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10 comments so far
Elena Hernandez says:
I loved George Carlin and your twist adding photography in to the 'old' mix is fabulous! Great humor is always a good way to make a point.
Blessings,
Elena
Emilie says:
Weehooo!!! I felt like I was there, could hear your voice saying this out loud. You're the best, e. xoxox
(03.26.11 @ 10:22 PM)
Nicole Taylor says:
Thank you for posting this Eric. It's funny because as I read it, I can HEAR you saying it. GREAT stuff!
(03.27.11 @ 09:55 AM)
Robert says:
Love it. Please record a video and post to the YouTubes so I can do a lipdub.
(03.29.11 @ 01:23 PM)
kelly says:
thanks eric. this just got its own bookmark, because i know i will read it again and again :)
(03.31.11 @ 10:01 PM)
jennifer armstrong says:
hey, eric. It's a long way from vancouver but distance is a funny thing. Great post. Truly. A joy to discover & read. Have fun out there (i can sense you are, my friend). :O)
(04.10.11 @ 07:37 PM)
Leon says:
This is fantastic, like the others, I really wish I could hear it in your own voice.
(04.11.11 @ 05:49 AM)
Karen Lee says:
As always, so well put. This won't be the last time I read it - thank you for the dose of perspective. xoxo
(04.14.11 @ 03:10 PM)
Tanya Malott says:
Well thought and well said. Refreshing to read. Definitely worth re-posting. Thank you for sharing.
(07.07.11 @ 03:36 PM)
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