visual poetry: Depression and Creativity

visual poetry: Depression and Creativity:

...during a depressive or manic phase, an individual is not motivated or organized enough to actually create. It is only after they emerge from that state that they are able to use those experiences as fuel.

Pork and Beans

dir: Matthew Cullen

Genius music video that pooled as many internet youtube memes into one music clip as possible. As Cullen himself says, 'The web has become the new home of the music video... MTV has become an afterthought.'

Guitar Zero - Uber Expert Mode 100% with No Hands!

an 8 second short i did for Hamish and Andy's Infuriatingly Short Film Festival.

Aaron Stewart-Ahn on Nagi Noda

Aaron Stewart-Ahn, director of several Chris Walla videos, wrote the following on japanese multimedia artist Nagi Noda who passed away last week:

I was lucky enough to have met Nagi. It was one of the more interesting evenings in my life. What was supposed to be a short chat over coffee turned into an up til 3am ramble on just about everything. One time meeting a person is never enough, but she was extremely endearing.

Nagi exuded and lived art, as it was something to be lived. It made me feel like an amateur - so connected was her feeling about life invested in what she wanted to do. She had no barriers, pretty much laid as much of her life story in our awkward English (littered with impressive words) as she could. She talked about the unfairness of being a female director, how she felt she had to act twenty times as tough as she was just to get the modicum of respect necessary to do her job. She told me about the start of her artistic life lived with her parents - both artists themselves who had given her a sense of how difficult it can be to navigate the world of art. She also talked about the need for artists to not be divorced from the divine, past lives, a recent trip to Angkor Wat so full of meaning - which planted the seed in my head which led to me shooting there in my last video.

The drawing above was something she put down on the napkin in front of me - she told me it was the secret to the universe, but I shouldn't tell anyone. I think it's ok now. She said most of us look out at the world, but if you close your eyes and look up, you're looking at the universe through your mind, looking at the universe.


She struck me as free spirited, eccentric, and beneath it all incredibly strong. In one evening in her company she affected me greatly. I miss her.

from antville.org

Daniel Powter - Bad Day

dir: marc webber.

horrible, horrible song. But one of the nicest, fuzziest videos I've seen in a while.

A strong story with a gorgeous mural in the subway being the interplay between two characters who live similar lives but who never meet.

(Yes, I made my film even before I was aware of this clip. Jung's collective unconscious to blame again.)

Brilliant piece of narrative for a less-than-average song. Compare with previous two.

Counting Crows - American Girls

dir: marc webber

case in point (see previous post)

Very beautifully shot with very beautiful people that serves the purpose of the song, but doesn't do much more than that. Can't argue with the snappy editing and stylish visuals. And the pretty women. Great direction and choreography. And the pretty women.

No wonder this became a coke ad soon after.

Compare with previous and next post.

P.S. Universal has limited video embedding for this song, so if it says the video's unavailable, just go straight to youtube at this address: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBshRZcrXU

Weezer - Perfect Situation

dir: Marc Webber

Marc Webber makes expensive music videos for expensive people and often (not always) rises above the cookie-cutter moulds by telling an empathetic narrative.

The very lovely Elisha Cuthbert stars as the faux ex-lead vocalise of 'Weeze'