Comments on: Being

By: Vernon

Vernon — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:52:11 +0000

WOW! i like the lalalalala. nice! Nicholson. yes! the rest was a reason to come home and slap you!!!! i appreciate that you are out there but for f* sake, are you teaching at SAC already!!! Michael, you are inundated with what you do. you are great. i know it. stop f*ing around. get out there. i remember when you were not safe.

By: Rupert

Rupert — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:51:06 +0000

also, your graymattergravy fullscreen video experience is awesome

By: Rupert

Rupert — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:49:49 +0000

How come I never saw this?
It’s fucking brilliant.

I feel the need to do what YouTube commenters do, just write out the best line and add LOL!!!!

JUST FUCKING MAKE SOMETHING! LOL!!!!

By: rob parrish

rob parrish — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 02:15:23 +0000

I’m just seeing this b/c I’m way behind on the watching part of the vlogger compact. But, anyway, as others have said you expressed very well a part of the creative process we all go through. Thanks.

By: Verdi

Verdi — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:50:33 +0000

Also,
Kent & David: The words and the idea came out after about 15 minutes of noise. Recording the voiceover took about 3 minutes. Actually making the video took a long time.
Ryanne: Oh yeah. So are you.
Richard: Oh yeah, I’m that too.
Miss B: You are such an artist.

By: Verdi

Verdi — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:41:56 +0000

Hey Kent, Thanks for the comment and the reminder about your post from videoblogging week 2006. In my world that's not promotional because we're people not brands. I really loved all the videos you guys did that week. They're so honest and intimate. Those are what got me excited about meeting you guys.

By: Kent Bye

Kent Bye — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 06:31:24 +0000

So I watched this a day ago.
I came here via your twitter on Heath’s comment.
Then I watched the video.
It was a beautiful piece — tangibly the animated background texture was awesome (you really put this together in 15 minutes ?!?!)
But much more than that is that old Michael Verdi punditry, which speaks of the essence of a particular feeling that I’ve had, but have never heard articulated before.
In this case, Ze Frank’s famous “Brain Crack” video comes to mind as something that’s sort of similar. That is the idea that ideas can stagnate like poisoned water if we let them sit in our minds for too long. Much better to sit your ass down and get rid of some brain crack.
So that’s what I’m doing now after the Web Video Summit.
Getting rid of brain crack.
Why?
Because I read Heath’s comment. Watched the video. Saw that there were already 20+ other comments or so. And didn’t feel like I had anything extra to add — except for the fact that Jen and I did a video talking about the difference between “Doing” and “Being” on the last day of videoblogging week 2006.
But then I thought, “No, I shouldn’t share just that because that would look too promotional — trying to steal the thunder and beauty of your post.”
But I’m back after a day of letting it simmer and deciding that I’m going to process some of this brain crack I’ve got stored up.

By: ryanne

ryanne — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:53:58 +0000

it’s that burden of being creative.
for me i feel, like you, like this thing in my head just can’t be made, i have it so perfect in my head. how will i ever get that out in the way i imagine it?
then i get stuck.
but then i remember that doing it is better than not.

and also….

you hippie!

By: missb

missb — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:40:37 +0000

You are so ON it! This is a constant roadblock. Always getting bogged down in comparing my stuff to others and then, even worse, to myself. Worrying so much about if I can’t churn out the goods. I wish I know when this shift took place…I must have not cared at some point, or else I’d NEVER have posted a thing! My “There’s no way I can post this” folder gets bigger and bigger and my fears of whether my ideas are somehow decreasing in “quality” increase right along with it. I’m not even sure when i started thinking “I have to have an idea” before i make a video! I didn’t used to!

Adding to my self-imposed nonsensical suffering is the nagging feeling that I totally know better; I’ve seen the artistic process in action, I see what stymies my artist friends. The stumbling, the wavering, the procrastinating, the perfection issues…trouble is, I’ve never embraced my videoblogging as art. I’ve never considered myself an artist of any kind. Of course, I TOTALLY think all other videobloggers as artists. So when I find myself beating myself silly about matters of worth I dismiss myself as “lazy”, “boring”, “I got nothing” or simply “I stink” it has an extra layer of “who am I kidding? I’m no artist.” which slows me down further–makes me not even want to try even if I DO have an idea in my head.

It’s gut wrenching.

I only got into this medium to communicate. I wish I knew when I started thinking of it as something else.

I will, however, sit my ass in the nearest chair and just MAKE something instead of worrying myself half to death about it next time.

Thank you so much for this reminder/kick in the pants.

By: David Meade

David Meade — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:35:35 +0000

Wow, this was a great video.

I am constantly not doing various creative things because either I don’t think it will compare to the things which inspired me to want to do something creative in the first place … or fear that it wont measure up to some other useless self-imposed rule of ‘worth’.

The “uhg I just don’t have time to do it ‘right’” mantra is paralyzing.

Having seen this video and having spent some time figuring out if the video or the voice over came first … I’m off to solve the chicken or the egg thing now.

- Dave