I’ve spent these past three days amongst more than a hundred ambassadors for change—from international students and educators to green experts and social entrepreneurs. After three consecutive 9-hour-long shifts, I had definitely received a colossal bulk of information—too intense to process all at once, almost—however, it was extremely inspiring.
Still, besides what could be called a “narrow” focus on climate concerns, there were other applicable things I was able to pick up on; there was one particular expert panelist who’s work caught my interest.
Still, besides what could be called a “narrow” focus on climate concerns, there were other applicable things I was able to pick up on; there was one particular expert panelist who’s work caught my interest.
Jaret Pescott is a documentary filmmaker who had a vision for emphasizing (what he considers) the most critical branches of global warming through an array of perspectives. His latest piece, Disruption, is already on the Internet—for free. Apparently, in his case, purpose comes before capital--which was cool. But, besides my keen curiosity in the creation process of a film itself, it was his sincerity when he shared some of his personal struggles that felt the most relevant. |
He shared that he was frustrated, at times, when he tries to reach his target audience because of the same thing we tried to tackle in one of the IA aristocratic seminars this week: There is no demand from society for material that rubs their mistakes and self-provoked tragedies in their faces. In the fast-paced traffic jam we live in, people want to be exposed to what is gentle; people want agreeable and easy to process information; people don’t want to be challenged. Because of this, producers who orient most of their work around global issues have it harder than it may seem:
How can you share an idea powerfully and move an audience
when it feels like It's "already been told"?
Pescott added, that as a storyteller, he tussles with emphasizing his passion for the issue while adding his own personal value to it when it tends to appeal as dull or repetitive to his audience. He fears his work will come out flat. If you think about it:
But here's why I brought this up in the first place:
In a parallel situation, as I was planning my pol, I was, like him, stuck in the expected structure of my story. Unlike him though, my story was not focused on climate change, but rather on my learning this semester as the media director for BlendZ. I mention this because it was surprisingly easy for me to outline my idea--which appeared odd to me since, when I’m inspired, I tend to take a lifetime to craft a story. The thing was, I had the vision for the visual aspect: contrasting the left and right hemisphere of the brain through two different color schemes and patterns.
But, just like the director mentioned, the key in producing is not focusing necessarily in attaining the “perfect image”, but rather the wholesomeness and originality of the content. In this case, content is priority; after all, that’s where the genuine reflection, the voice, and the personal growth as a student come in. And, once my outline was done, the reason why it didn’t satisfy me was clearly because it didn’t have enough of if.
It clicked: I was indisputably bored with my own story because I wasn’t doing anything new; I wasn’t innovating within the topic of reputation just like Jareth at first didn’t know how to innovate within the topic of climate change. And because this is the third time we do a POL on who we are as IA students I’ve realized it’s easy to fall into what we consider is producing a “quality” key note, checking things like quotes, studies, evidence, and a casual anecdote off the list.
But, just like the director mentioned, the key in producing is not focusing necessarily in attaining the “perfect image”, but rather the wholesomeness and originality of the content. In this case, content is priority; after all, that’s where the genuine reflection, the voice, and the personal growth as a student come in. And, once my outline was done, the reason why it didn’t satisfy me was clearly because it didn’t have enough of if.
It clicked: I was indisputably bored with my own story because I wasn’t doing anything new; I wasn’t innovating within the topic of reputation just like Jareth at first didn’t know how to innovate within the topic of climate change. And because this is the third time we do a POL on who we are as IA students I’ve realized it’s easy to fall into what we consider is producing a “quality” key note, checking things like quotes, studies, evidence, and a casual anecdote off the list.
But I don't want to simply give another presentation.
I have to forget what a POL is “supposed” to be and rethink about my reputation, rethink on what is the best way to synthesize all I’ve learned through my role as the media director. I have to ask myself what has producing advertisements, video clips, commercials, and the kick starter meant for me in a the bigger picture; I need to get pumped (strange as it might sound) about sharing all of it, because that’s the only way where I will genuinely be able to transmit that to the audience.
So, I’ve decided that the next step I’m taking is (just like I repetitively heard in the Clima talks) following the three R’s. But wait. Don’t assume I’m crazy right away, I don’t mean it in the sense of what they regularly stand for; Instead, I’ve got to Reread, Rethink, and Redesign the content of my whole outline. I’ve got to turn the words I hastily typed up, into having true meaning. I have to rethink all of it, and I’ve got to do it quick! Because, if there’s another thing I was able to connect to from Jareth Pescott’s talk, it is certainly that storytelling has release deadlineZ, and ours—tense/exciting as it might sound--is just few weeks away. |