|
What Saul Bass can teach us about creativity and much more! $$PLAIN_TEXT_PREVIEW$$
MY FAVOURITE THINGS | Make It Better
|
“Some have fought with arrogance and fierce pride. Some have celebrated life. Some have burned with faith. Yet among all the variety of human expression a thread of connection. A common mark can be seen. That urge to look into one’s self and out at the world and say; this is what I am. I am unique. I am here. I am.”— SAUL BASS
|
|
While washing my car a few Sundays ago, which incidentally fell on the hottest day of the year to date, I found myself reflecting on the emotional turmoil that has come and gone in the past twelve months. It got me to thinking about a fashion film I shot in Paris last year and the paralyzing fear that swallowed me whole for several days beforehand. Every time I watch the final product I’m reminded of this discomfort and its enervating effects. How it stretched my creative muscles in pursuit of some ineffable magic. That sixty-second film, which is one of my favourite commercial creations to date, helps to remind me that adversity is a gift and my favourite path to fulfillment. This is my final letter for the year so if I don’t see you before 2020 closes out I hope you have a beautiful time celebrating with your favourite people. Xo
|
|
I’ve loved the work of Saul Bass ever since I came across his incredible VFX openings to so many Alfred Hitchcock’s classics with this obsession compelling me to hunt down an original one sheet from Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three and a behemoth six-sheet poster from Otto Preminger’s Exodus. I’d never heard of this short film but after coming across an incredible vintage print I hunted down a link to one of the most successful short films ever made. Embodying the irreverent wit of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Bass examines the creative process and its universal connection through the ages. I love the way the New York native frames the titular question, infusing each and every sequence with a sense of irreverence and play. For the simple truth is that creativity is about sparking joy, getting all messy in the pursuit of something pure and transcendent. The perfect lunch break accompaniment.
|
|
Take a moment to ponder a simple question. How often have you found yourself down a Wikipedia wormhole? I can’t tell you how many hours have been lost (invested?) on this online encyclopedia and was hella curious to discover its origin story. Jimmy Wales’ creation is one of the most searched websites in the world. Yet compared to his tech compatriots, Wales pales in comparison to his billion dollar competitors, enjoying a net worth of one million dollars. Wikipedia, the largest collection of knowledge ever assembled, is protected under a non-profit statute which (thankfully) prohibits the use of advertising of any kind. It’s also due to celebrate its twentieth anniversary next month, its success indebted to a global collective of armchair experts. To think that this open-source encyclopedia continues to solidify its credibility in the age of ‘fake news’ is reason enough not to give up on humanity. “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.” — Jimmy Wales
|
|
There were a lot of things about this Australian rom-com that left me grumbling. It was more than the fact that the whole enterprise felt like a thinly-veiled tourism campaign for our lucky country. It was the fact that the film’s producers and supporting state agencies pandered to the lowest common denominator. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t go out for these films on a regular basis but the lack of complexities to the characters left me reaching for my phone one too many times. That said it’s a rare treat to have a broad Australian production feature a first nations woman in the lead, filling the shoes of a fully fleshed out character with genuine heart and relatable shortcomings. And while Miranda Tapsell’s character arc failed to take my breath away, baring witness to her journey of rediscovery at the top end of Australia was nonetheless worthwhile.
|
|
My London chum Alex Marechal-Ross turned me onto this fascinating Tim Ferriss chat with the one and only Jerry Seinfeld. Having digested pretty much everything the New York native has created, — seeing him perform in Los Angeles left me aching from happiness — I’d never heard him deep dive into his process quite like this. Hearing him speak to his daily creative process, sitting down with a blank page and allowing himself to veer in any creative direction is the true secret to creativity. As almost any creative individual can attest, this is never as easy as it looks but is the ultimate answer to bringing our dreams to bear. His fascinating doctrine of gamifying life’s challenges, turning each and every obstacle into a fun-filled challenge, ensuring we never lose contact with our inner child. The man is a miracle worker. “I always say that pain is knowledge rushing in to fill a gap. When you stub your toe on the foot of the bed, that was a gap in knowledge." — Jerry Seinfeld
|
|
Peter Morgan continues to mine some fascinating territory in his runaway Netflix hit with S4 celebrating the rise of women from Margaret Thatcher (brilliantly portrayed by Gillian Anderson) to Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin is remarkable). It’s more than the lush cinematography — which feels like a character in its own right — but the thought-provoking themes accompanying each family member’s journey. I personally savoured this season’s up close and personal look at the Iron Lady and was held spellbound seeing her ironing (pun unintended!) her husband’s dress shirts on the eve of her inauguration and personally serving up a home-cooked meal for her cabinet at 10 Downing. That Britain’s first female PM was also the first leader to stand up to its monarch’s tyranny of tradition made this season that much more appetizing. A rare delight.
|
|
A mid-week lull compelled me to stream this brooding noughties period piece. From the opening montage of nineteen-sixties New York, Roger Deakins’ painterly frames swallowed me whole. Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley and adapted from his hit stage play of the same name, the film offers a potent examination of community outliers. Much of the film plays like a chess match. Seeing Meryl Streep and the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman slug it out within the silent strictures of this Catholic school was like witnessing electricity conducted in a vacuum. To say this film moved me is an understatement. In point of fact Shanley’s narrative is the perfect vehicle for re-aligning perspective. We have a choice in how we choose to see the world, to paint every day with shades of light or darkness. As this film attests, it’s all too easy to let fear cloud our judgement and so very hard to absolve these past transgressions.
|
|
One thing stuck as I digested this curious exposé. The emergence and explosion of so many different types of cultures and sub-systems in the last fifty years is absolutely astounding. In this rather tongue-in-cheek profile, Rebecca Mead takes us on a curious journey following the trials and tribulations of two feckless detectorists from the United Kingdom. Detectorists is a modern word used to describe hobbyists who search out buried treasure with the help of metal detectors. Like their ASMR and E-Sports compatriots, detectorists co-mingle via online forums and Facebook groups and it was here these rapscallions tried to offload their million-dollar booty in violation of The Treasure Act. After stumbling over the trailer for The Dig, a new Netflix original about an uncovered Viking ship in nineteen-forties Britain, I’m excited to learn more about the roots of this nascent movement.
|
|
I stumbled back over an incredible Xmas mixtape — a collection of irreverent mash-ups featuring the indelible voice of MF Doom — and quickly discovered a treasure trove of other acoustic delights including this Tapas mixtape. While each and every playlist offers a rather unique sound, all of them display a sense of joy and irreverence in their sampling that always brings a smile to my dial. These compilations, available for sale on the producer’s Bandcamp page, are also a clear reminder that the music business has forever been changed by the Internet. The prolific beat maker’s latest Christmas mashup offers up some phat and juicy samples from The Notorious B.I.G and has been blasting on repeat in my Apple Airpods. Boy can this Spaniard spin some magic.
|
|
No matter what you think of him, the Hollywood hitmaker’s visual storytelling packs a punch. David Denby does a magnificent job of getting at the heart of Steven Spielberg’s unique ability to connect to the child in all of us. Allowing us to marvel, over and again, at the very emotions we’ve grown so detached from. The endless horizons we implicitly understood as youths. Reading this piece brought back memories of Julia Phillips’ mind-blowing confessional You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again (if you love movies and salacious gossip this book is a rare treat!) and her candid experiences producing Spielberg’s Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. And while the Arizona native is now an honorary member of the septuagenarian club, I love that the boy genius never grew up where it matters most. “Spielberg has always understood that one of the sheer pleasures of movies is joining the action, not simply watching it.” — David Denby
|
|
I gobbled up Joan Didion’s heart wrenching novella last week, a vital respite from my recent reading list. There is something so visceral in its simple prose. Having lived in the City of Angels, I intuitively understood the world she unravelled and could put myself in the middle of so many of its sun-bleached settings. I’ve been a fan of the California native ever since I soaked up The White Album, a collection of articles exploring the underbelly of the nineteen-sixties counter-cultural movement. It was here that I came upon the work of her late husband John Gregory Dunne including The Studio and Monster: Living Off The Big Screen. I even discovered that the pair had scripted Panic In Needle Park, one of my favourite verité films starring a baby-faced Al Pacino. This 1970 publication offers rare insight into the young writer, her potent reflections aging like a fine wine. “Didion’s mordant lucidity is like L.A. sunlight, a thing so bright sometimes it hurts.” — Richard Lacayo
|
|
I tuned into an archival SuperSoul conversation with the late Maya Angelou during a morning workout. To hear Oprah and Angelou dive deep into the author’s harrowing upbringing was not only sobering but a gentle reminder that self-love and vigilance heals all wounds. I was ignorant to the fact that the Missouri native penned and published seven autobiographies through the course of her life and was thrilled to discover that her first and penultimate memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and A Song Flung Up To Heaven both reference the same seminal poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Angelou’s infectious joy for life in the face of so much tragedy and sorrow has left me hungry to explore her writings firsthand. “Anybody who can’t be used is useless. You must not be misused, overused or abused but you must be of use. To somebody besides yourself.” — Maya Angelou
|
|
My brother Wilk sent across his wonderfully inventive music video for Emma Donovan and The Putbacks a few weeks back featuring their catchy new single. There is a power and radiance to Donovan’s voice that reminds of the late great Sharon Jones. Hailing from a long lineage of musicians, the New South Wales native spent a good chunk of her early years on the move with family before she formed The Stiff Gins, her first vocal group, at the age of nineteen. The itinerant talent has released solo albums and collaborated with celebrated Indigenous groups like The Black Arm Band before joining The Putbacks in 2013. Crossover is her second outing with the Victorian quintet and a phenomenal achievement. A fire that won’t be put out.
|
|
Thanks for reading. To show your support, forward it to someone who’d like it.
If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues and subscribe here.
|
|
|
|
|
