Can you believe it? Where has this year gone?
And more importantly, how are you holding up amongst the frantic pace of it all?
It's exciting but simultaneously petrifying. So much happens, but so little time do we get to stop and mull.
When we do, the need to dig deeper hits us at bizarre moments. One minute you are doing a quick email check, hours later you are reading about nuclear fission on Wikipedia. At 2am.
But that's part of the fun in life, isn't it? Taking time to go beyond the superficial. Lifting the rock and seeing what's underneath?
That's where life get's interesting.
Remarkably, the compulsion to dig deeper is fairly universal. It's a foundation trait of humanity. Natural curiosity.
It's the reason why camera shy directors end up in a sound booth recording commentary for their movies. If you have made people feel something, anything, they want to know more. How did you tap into their emotional response?
While I respect the question, I find a lot of the extra content pretty dry. Borderline unwatchable.
Recently, however, a friend sent me a link to an amazing piece of additional content created for the TV Show, 'The Walking Dead'. It is an interactive, comic book style, animated web site, showing how the zombie hoard, called 'walkers' are created. Of my favourite tid bits:
- actors who play 'walkers' have to go to zombie school;
- walkers in zombie school go through an obstacle course, where each 'walker' has to learn 10-12 different ways to move around an obstacle; and
- the colour of the blood on the zombie's is called 'Zombie Dark' and the formula for it is top secret.
http://www.cabletv.com/the-walking-dead
I find this fascinating, but what is truly noteworthy is that this additional content grabs and holds my attention on its own merits. Intrinsically.
And before you accuse me of bias, labeling me a 'Walking Dead' fanboy, you should know that I have never seen the show.
I have also never watched 'Game of Thrones', although I seem to know a lot about it from the horrified cries of the fanverse on Facebook. My ignorance, however, was no barrier to me being enthralled by the news that a dragon skull 'washed ashore' in England. The photos in this article capture it best:
http://geektyrant.com/news/2013/7/17/giant-dragon-skull-washes-ashore-to-promote-game-of-thrones
Shortly after, it was revealed to be an elaborate promotion for 'Game of Thrones'.
And yet, it was still remarkable enough for me to take a moment to see it. That is the power that great content, even if it is just the additional content, can evoke when it meets human curiosity.
The power to draw an audience.
This power may seem trivial but, in a world where we are constantly bombarded with information, and seven months can fly by in a blink, such power is impressive.
But what does this mean to you?
For content creators, it goes to show that, when you create something with skill and care, rather than as an after-thought, it can grab attention. Even in a time poor world.
In short, never do anything half-assed. Not when people are creating fantastic content as the additional material for their main work.
And for the rest of you?
It means it's July.
Soon it will be December.
Time passes too quickly.
So, for your own sake, whether its a zombie, a dragon skull or something else that makes you smile, take a moment to appreciate it.
Moments are all we have.
- - - - - - - - -
WANT TO COMMENT? THEN BECOME A SUBSCRIBER AND ALSO GET THIS WHIMSICALLY OPTIMISTIC NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL. http://www.openingactfilms.com/contact-us.html
