A Sampling of Automotive Design

Aventador

Infinity and Cirque du Soleil commissioned artist Heidi Taillefer to paint a celebratory G37 for their 20th and 25th year anniversaries.

Sketches from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

FORD BUG Concept by Jason Chen

From My Sketchbook: Portrait 14

A Sampling of Architectural Design

Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright

This is the house of Ruth Handler, the founder of Barbie

 

Photo by Dan and Lalza

Gateway Arch by Eero Saarinen

Shoreham Street by Project Orange

The World Trade Center

Photo by Toshio

What Really Sells

                Okay, here’s the age old mantra at Hollywood: “Sex and Violence Sells.” But what does that mean for the screenwriters who want to keep their scripts clean and uplifting? Are they out of a job just because they won’t bend their moral standards? If that mantra is true, then what about movie industries such as Pixar, how can they say that “sex and violence sells” when obviously Pixar movies have none of those things in them and yet almost every movie they crank out is a box office hit? 

                Perhaps what people mean when they repeat the over used saying is this; sexual content and violence are simply two different types of conflict. Good stories that sell, therefore, have conflict that drives the story forward and keeps the audience from being bored. Perhaps that’s what they really mean, whether they know it or not. This concept for understanding Hollywood’s obsession with these two things is in no way an original idea on my behalf. Skip Press, one of my very first screenwriting teachers, is the one who introduced this idea to me. He used the movies Gone with the Wind and High Noon as examples of the concepts of sexual content and violence being strong in each, consecutively, without the characters ever being together in the first, and not much physical violence being shown in the second (Press 83). Although I am sure these are good examples, I have never actually seen either of those movies, so instead I’m going to tell a different story I’ve heard that gives me perspective on what really sells in movies.

                Everyone knows Toy Story, right? Lovable sheriff toy that loyally protects the ones he loves and a strange, new astronaut toy that comes into the story and brings the conflict of change. The situations of a talking sheriff and astronaut toy at odds with each other are hilarious! Kids love it. Adults love it too. But the heartwarming story that everyone knows and loves didn’t start out so clean. Pixar wanted to bring a new generation of animation movies to the public; movies that would appeal to adults, not just to kids. So they kept pushing the script. It needed to be edgier, it needed to be dirtier, it needed to be more dangerous. Finally, one day, they sat back and took a look at what they were making. They realized that the road they were on would land them with an R rated movie. Woody was completely dislikable; smoking, drinking, swearing every ten minutes. The whole atmosphere of the movie was dirty and felt like eggshells in your mouth. Thankfully, they woke up and threw the whole thing out. Taking up a pen and a clean piece of paper they said “Okay, let’s just focus on telling a good story.” That’s exactly what they did and they’ve been telling good stories ever since.

                I’m not saying I completely buy into the idea that everyone who says that “sex and violence sells” really are just saying that a good story needs conflict driving it forward, because I don’t just take everything I read as gospel truth. There are people who think that movies are boring if they don’t have enough violence and sexual content in them. The more we watch that stuff, the more desensitized we become, so that next time it will take just a little bit more to shock us and make us squirm in our seats. I’m standing on the side lines watching the train of media hurtle at break neck speeds down an old train track with no brakes and it scares me – but that’s another topic. I will just say that I believe that sex and violence isn’t what movie audiences really want to see, at least, not the majority of them. What we all want are good stories that make us root for the hero and in the end have the satisfaction of seeing good triumph over evil and injustice. That’s what really sells.

FunnyJunk.com

Bibliography

Press, Skip. "Sex and Violence Sell: What That Really 

        Means." The Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting. 

        3rd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha, 2008. 83. Print.

 

Surprise Endings

“Your daughter is dead.”

That's the news the group received as they traveled along the road to make it to the girl in time.

It was too late

The father had left his daughter’s sick bed to go and find a man he had heard was healing the sick. It was their only hope.

But now? It was too late, they were too late, Jesus was too late.

Then Jesus says it, to the father suddenly stricken with grief; “don’t be afraid.”

In the middle of his world suddenly crashing down around him, in the pain of hearing his only daughter had just died, the man is told to not be afraid. To top that off, Jesus says something even more startling;

Just believe, and she will be healed.

If that had been me, I would’ve been like; “didn’t you just hear the news? She’s d.e.a.d. it’s too late to heal her!”

But I wonder if God doesn’t tell us the same things.

In the middle of our deepest pains, our darkest days, facing the most impossible looking circumstances, He whispers to our hearts,

Don’t be afraid.

Don’t worry.

Just trust me and you will see miracles happen.

You will see the impossible become possible.

You will see the dead rise.

I wonder if most of us would be like the crowd gathered to mourn at the house. When Jesus arrived there, they were making so much noise – wailing even. And Jesus tells them “Stop wailing. She is not dead but asleep.”

They laughed at him. They mocked him.

They knew she was dead, they had seen it with their own eyes. This guy didn’t know what he was talking about, he was crazy, delusional.

They trusted in what they could see in their limited view of the whole story, instead of having faith in the one who knows the ending. 

In our own lives, too, we do this. I know I do. I focus on the present, impossible looking circumstances, then I look at my own already waning strength, and I despair, thinking

How am I ever going to survive this?

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Jesus went to where the little girl lay, took her by the hand and told her to wake up.

“Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up.” Luke 8:55

Life was breathed into the dead, in a surprise ending that no one could’ve foreseen.

The dead was raised and the impossible became possible because the God and Creator of the universe is writing this story and. He. Is. Working. All. Things. For. Good!

And He is writing the story of our lives as well. Things might look hard from where we’re standing – even impossible at times – but God knows what’s coming. He knows the ending. And He asks us to trust Him. To not put our faith on what we can only see, but to trust that some way, somehow, God will work ALL things – including This thing, whatever it may be – for our good. 

Just trust Him.

Imaginary Companies

 In my design class for my second semester of college I am currently learning about typography in designs. As a project, I had to come up with a typographic design for five imaginary companies. With Little Sister around to bounce silly ideas around with, it didn't take long. DigiU is completely her idea, she dreams of an animation system that allows you to take live action video and then animate the people in there as if they were computer generated. Smart Wheels is probably my dream company, a lifestyle service that would allow you to have the company look after your car while they give you some other type of transportation (moped, motorcycle, four wheeler, etc.) in return. That way you can try out car-free living without selling your car. They would even have a taxi service that you would give them permission to use your car for, so the monthly fee to be apart of the program would be extremely cheap. Doesn't that sound like the coolest thing ever!? These were a lot of fun designing. Personally, I like Helium Inc.'s slogan the best!

 

From My Notebook: Susan's Sick Day

Susan always liked it when she got sick. Sure it meant pain, fevers and missing out on some of life, but it also meant she could spend all day in her soft bed, surrounded by fluffy blankets and her favorite things to keep her entertained. The bowl of cereal sat in her lap, steadied by her hands, but barely touched. It was going soggy. Jacob had been over this morning and had gotten it for her. He always was there when she needed help. She smiled, happy to have such a great friend. Suddenly her body was wracked with a violent coughing spell. As it subsided she leaned wearily back into her sea of feather pillows. Before her were her snapshots. She loved taking pictures with her replica vintage Kodak camera. It was her hobby, to capture all the beautiful details of her life. She kept them in shoe boxes, organized by year in her closet. She had a handful spread out on her bed now, from the last month. A lot of them had Jacob making funny faces at her. She always grinned when she saw them. Her journal was open too. It was her other occupation that used up her free time. Writing about life; the joys and pains and events and her ponderings. Jacob always teased her that someday he’d steal her journals and publish them and she’d become famous for her wise observations of life. She didn’t think they were all that wise. It was only her trying to make a little bit of sense in this world. All around her the room was neutral tones. Cream walls, earth grey blankets, even her sweater was a grey. The colored Polaroid photos stood out with pops of color against it all. Susan sighed contentedly. This was her life, it was simple, it had very few earthly possessions besides her photos and journals and camera, but it was beautiful and it was all she needed. Well, that, and her best friend.

Image Inspiration