I started out with the intentions to watch just a few of these videos, but was fascinated to the point of watching all of them. Each one had its own allure about it, but a few really stood out to me for several reasons. One of the primary enticing factors for me when observing different forms of art is if it challenges me, whether that means the piece urges me to put more thought into the subject or meaning, pushes my buttons on a controversial topic or simply stirs my emotions in whatever manner.
My favorite video was the one that focused on Mark Romanek. His view of tapping into emotions with his work is at the very core of what I believe to be great artwork, whether it’s writing, film, music, painting, and so on. For me, the arts are simply a tool to evoke emotion and Romanek does that in such an amazing way. The attention to detail, the drive for perfection in a shot is incredible. The shots of Johnny Cash’s eyes in the video for “Hurt” captures so much emotion and tells such a story in its own right.
His ability to connect with viewers on an emotional level through his videos is extremely inspiring.
The other that really stood out to me was Design Matters: Malcolm Gladwell. I am a huge fan of Gladwell’s and the insertion of illustrations into his books was brilliant. Not just the idea, but how it was approached and the thought process involved with how to illustrate the books and what the meanings within the art would hold.
As a journalist, I have always been told to maximize the presence of a story with photographs. Oftentimes, the photos steal the show, so to speak, and in many ways tell their own story. At times, I have seen authors attempt to make similar use of illustrations within in their books. I believe in doing so it is a careless use of design and defeats a writer’s primary goal – to reach readers through words.
Prior to watching this video, I wasn’t sure how to articulate those thoughts, or why I believed excessive illustrations to be a downfall of great books. Gladwell puts it as eloquently as possible when he said:
“The illustrations can’t distract the reader from the story, they have to enhance the experience of the story.”
These videos helped continue the evolving process of how I look at art and the meanings and thought behind it all. Loved this assignment!
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