Faces of Psychiatry

Recently finished four profiles of psychiatrists for the APA. The project was created to show the face of modern psychiatry. No more couches and old white men in beards. In fact, our four psychiatrists included two women and two men.

So who were they? The first was the highest ranking psychiatrist in the Armed Services. She helped reorient the military toward addressing brain trauma and issues like PTSD. She also reached out to the NFL and families of troops to address the stigma that prevents people from seeking care.

The second psychiatrist mentors Residents and helps run an outpatient clinic. We saw her in action and she tries to give her young doctors new ways of seeing and understanding their patients.

The third, a child psychiatrist, has a private practice and works in a hospital ER. We watched his interaction with "patients" and were struck by his empathy and ability to put people at ease. And he liked being able to help adolescents navigate the often rocky path of moving toward adulthood.

And the fourth, a research scientist at NIH, has spent his career trying to understand and then combat the stranglehold of addiction. In recent years he's been working on strategies for involving communities to effectively reach out to kids at risk. And they've been having some success.

So what have I learned from the experience?

The face of modern psychiatry is a rainbow of people and possibilities.

That the brain remains one of the most complex and mysterious parts of our bodies, and yet, there are often effective treatments that can make a huge difference in the well-being of patients.

That there is a great need for the services that psychiatry can offer and yet, a stigma persists against getting treatment.

That there are many practice options open to psychiatrists, and yet among many policy makers, illness of the brain is still not viewed the same as illness of the heart, liver or lung.

That there is great optimism among the psychiatrists we spoke with.

And that they find fulfillment and fascination in their work.

In all, an inspiring project. And an excellent example of what I like best about what we do, which is learn about people and practices we would most likely never encounter in the routine of daily life. And also, I got to ask a psychiatrist, "tell me how you feel about that..."

Printing Press Then and Now

As part of our series for the Folger Shakespeare Library celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the King James Bible, we did a short video on the printing process. This illustration gives you a good idea of what was involved in a typical print shop back in the day. There's one person inking the plate, another operating the press, still others setting type, one person checking what's been printed, a young boy apprentice in the foreground helping out. Way in the background you can see a woman bringing in a load of paper. And above on drying racks is the results of the days efforts.

It would take weeks to print a book, thanks to the labor of all those people.

The printing process has certainly changed. A typical printing press for a modern newspaper is a pretty self-contained unit, It can run up to 3000 feet per minute (that's a lot of newspapers) and it also cuts and shapes the paper to size. Obviously requiring a lot less people per page. But I'm wondering if this behemoth isn't also rapidly becoming as outmoded as the first print shop pictured above.

Perhaps a better example of the printing press of the future is the little item pictured below.

The Face of Modern Psychiatry

Working on a short documentary for the American Psychiatric Association. The APA wants to put a face on modern Psychiatry and the video will profile four Psychiatrists. What stands out is that these days Psychiatry bares little resemblance to the early days of Freud, Jung and the rest of the gang. In fact, modern Psychiatry has transformed itself from an argument over competing theories of personality to a modern medical practice based on research and science. And yes, psychiatrists still do therapy and they can use brain imaging to shows its effectiveness. I guess you could say they've moved from an emphasis on the "mind" to a focus on the brain.

And the video? One psychiatrist we're profiling is a government research scientist trying to combat addiction. His agency is partnering with local communies to put in place early intervention and prevention strategies. The second works with brain trauma and helped create a strong public outreach and education program. The third works with children and adolescents in private practice and the ER, working one-on-one with patients in both an office and hospital setting. And the fourth manages an out-patient clinic for a University Hospital. She's concerned with caring for patients and mentoring young psychiatrists-in-training.

And while it is not the focus of the video, many people still give mental health a low priority compared to physical health. There is still a stigma attached to it and we seem to have difficulty understanding that mental illness is a disease and not simply a lack of will power.

Hopefully, the video will help us gain a little insight and a new perspective on these issues.

Art for Art's Sake

Google is changing how we experience museum masterpieces. The Google Art Project is a partnership between Google and 17 of the world's leading arts organizations. A short video explains what they are doing.
And for some of the museums, there's a virtual tour of the galleries as well. Easy access for anyone with a computer and curiosity. If this keeps up, we'll never have to leave the comfort of the old rockin' chair...

Photojournalism: Something Old, Something New

It all started with a

blog in the NYT about the death of photojournalism. Quoting Neil Burgess, former UK Bureau Chief of Magnum: "Magazines and newspapers are no longer putting any money into photojournalism. They will commission a portrait or two. They might send a photographer off with a writer to illustrate the writer’s story, but they no longer fund photojournalism. They no longer fund photo-reportage. They only fund photo illustration."

His comments remind me of one of the great examples of modern photojournalism that originated in the NYT photography blog, Lens. One in Eight Million was groundbreaking, based on the simple concept that NY is a city of interesting characters. Each piece (running about three minutes) plucked a New Yorker out of their every day life and told their story with a sound montage of their voice and evocative B&W photography by a NYT photographer. The people came from all walks of life and the series described as an "ode to the city," won an Emmy for "new approaches to documentary." I found "One in Eight Million" fascinating, posted several blog entries about it, "One in Eight Million" "Letter to Michelle McNally" , told friends and colleagues. It takes empathy and considerable skill to create a compelling story arc in three minutes. You can still see the pieces by following the link above.

But that was that. For whatever reason, the NYT decided to end it. I'm sure that Emmy was a bittersweet moment for the series producers and photographers.

I see other examples, too. Here's a link to NYT Photographer Chang Lee's innovative "Second Chance" series that also died on the vine. It launched in the NYT website in June, 2009 and I believe ended later that year. I wrote several blog posts "A New Way of Seeing" and "Capturing the Stillness" about his work, too. Chang was incorporating video and photography to frame a person's story in key "moments." He created those moments to allow the viewer time to pause and reflect, and gain a deeper insight into the story he was telling. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Chang Lee helped show the truth behind the cliche.

So, for about a year or two, the NYT was one of the most innovative sites on the web for using video and photography to tell stories. And yes, I still see the names of their great photographers in picture credits, but now it's news photography, not explorations of ideas, issues, people, environments, etc. that seemed to offer such promise in the early days of Lens.

Well, I can't end this post with such a downer, so I want to point you towards something new. New to me, anyway. And that's a new site devoted to photojournalism. It's called Fraction Magazine and it features a wide variety of work, much of it devoted to telling stories with pictures. And reviews. And sometimes wonderful surprises, like the work below, created in the 40s by Gita Lenz. Her work, recently rediscovered and published, was featured in the Edward Steichen-curated exhibit "Abstraction in Photography" at the Museum of Modern Art and calls to mind some of the great work of that era.

And these days, Fraction is a great place for those interested in new ways of using images to capture character and exploring the art and ambiance of storytelling. And, hopefully, it will be around for a long time as a source of inspiration for all of those involved in the visual arts.

Time and Space

Working on a short video celebrating the contribution Planning Director Amanda Burden makes to the City of New York has me thinking about space in more ways than one. I've been editing and interweaving the comments of five people (architects, planners, innovators, etc) describing the impact she's made on the city. I organized their dialogue thematically, added pauses between their thoughts and selected music to bind everything together and create an emotional arc. I've found that designing video this way makes it easier to absorb their thoughts. So all of this had to be accomplished before adding images of a revitalized New York.

And while they're all talking about Amanda Burden, creating a livable city, urban design, space and sustainability, I'm thinking about how to create a different kind of space within the boundaries of this short three to four minute video.

First, some background:

Editing what people say is quite a different experience than editing their words on paper. Most people tend to speak quickly; their thoughts tumble out a melange of phrases, repetitions, with stops, restarts, stutters and an often twisted sentence structure. Reading allows you to stop and consider. But video keeps on rollin' by, so if you're not careful with the words, music and images, it's easy to bombard, overwhelm or simply bore your audience. So how one fills up the space in a three to four minute video is the difference between ho hum and wow.

And what makes it more complicated is this:

When we speak face-to-face we can usually decode what someone is saying by paying attention to their tone of voice, emotional cues, hand gestures, facial expression and body language. But making a video, we usually try to avoid "talking heads," so all those comprehension cues get thrown out the window as we cover up their visual insights with images. Which makes the ability to carefully edit and place spoken comments all the more important.

And you have to do it invisibly, making it seem and sound like the words weren't edited at all.

Once you've mastered that skill, you need to orchestrate how the words are delivered for maximum impact. Any seasoned public speaker knows that timing is the riverbed through which the words flow. It's what comedians and actors live for: Timing. And that's also crucial when editing and structuring someone's words.

And no, I don't change their meaning. I use editing to enhance what they're saying, making their remarks succinct and crystal clear. And then I surgically add space between the phrases, sometimes even adding full stops, to create, with the music, an internal rhythm. Giving greater weight and impact to the words that remain. And giving the viewer the space to process what's being said.

It's a little like a poem,

where the visual space

on the page

gives the words

greater meaning.

Ultimately, it's more like designing than editing, with each moment constructed as a brief embrace and then sending them on to the next.

What You See/What You Get

Is what you see inevitably what you get? Well not necessarily. Here's an example of what I mean:

Working on a video for the US Conference of Mayors about JFK and the Call to Public Service. Using still images from his presidency and moments from his speeches to capture that sense of who he was and how he inspired others. And opening the piece with just a few comments from mayors talking about how he inspired them and the nation.

Since this was to be an introduction to the video, I wanted to keep the comments short and succinct. So I chopped up their statements to pare down their thoughts and organized them to get the flow I wanted. So far, so good. But then the question: what images should I use? It would have to be something to visually play off what was being said.

Since this video is being created for the 50th anniversary of his presidency, I wanted something dreamy and nostalgic for starters. That, plus the right kind of music, would give more emotional weight to the opening and more power to the comments. When I saw this photo, I decided to shape the introduction around it. This photo is a great example of the difference between seeing and perceiving. What do you "see" when you look at this image and how do you perceive or take in what you are "seeing?" In considering the creative process, each question gets a different answer. Here's what I mean:

Objectively speaking, the photo above shows President Kennedy consulting with his brother Robert, who was then Attorney General. Their body language shows a personal and "private" moment and reflects the seriousness of what they are discussing. The president is obviously distracted by something or someone. Probably the photographer. He is looking away from his brother, and facing the camera. That's the first thing I "saw." But I perceived something else. If the photo was cropped to focus just on the President, it would give the image a totally different context. Still a serious moment, but more abstract. And now you can read much more into the photo. The President's gaze seem as if he was looking right at the viewer, as if sending a message. Which makes it very engaging.

And look at the background. You can see leaves, but they're white. Meaning it was a sunny day and the Kennedy brothers were in shadow, probably standing under a portico at the White House. Also, the photographer was some distance away, using a telephoto lens, which flattens the image. Now the background is out of focus, making the image a little less "real" and more abstract. If the photo was exposed for the sun striking the leaves, the President would be in darkness. But printing the photo so you can clearly see his face also gives it a grainy quality. Again helping make the image more abstract. And that abstraction takes you out of the "reality" of the moment and makes it easier for you to add in someone's thoughts or feelings. The bottom line? You get a dreamy, almost ghostly quality to the image. Perfect for a representation of nostalgic memory.

The Power of Ideas

When our nation's Mayors talk about what encouraged them to enter public service, their focus often centers on President John F.Kennedy.

We've been listening to his speeches and selecting images from his presidency to create a short documentary for the US Conference of Mayors. And one thing that comes up over and over is how much he seems to resonate with every day people. You can see it the photos. A gift for empathy and an ability to inspire. Coupled with a call to help others. The kind of role model that asks us to reach out to serve others, and by doing so, serve our nation. That's the power of ideas.

David Hockney, iPad Artist

David Hockney, ever the experimenter, has found a way to capture and present his art, via the iPad. Here's a link to his latest exhibit. His art involves vibrant color, dreamy images, and the fascination of seeing the work evolve. Perhaps that's the best part of this new creative experience, witnessing the artist constantly change the essence of the object. And as such, seeing the object continually redefined in terms of form, texture and color. I find the process hypnotic. And the interview on the web site illuminating, like his work.

A Black and White World in Color

Dorthea Lange, Walker Evans, Jack Delano, Russell Lee. Great photographers of their day, hired by the Farm Security Administration (now the USDA) to photograph America. They traveled our nation documenting how everyday Americans lived and were coping with hard times. It was the first effort of its kind. And the legendary work they produced personifies the Dust Bowl era. The photo of the Migrant Woman and Children by Dorthea Lange is perhaps the best known.

And the whole period is engrained in our collective memory in black and white.

But there's also

work in color.

Who knew? It was one of our first Kodachrome moments as photographers used the new color film stock to give a different view of those difficult times. Does color prettify the images? Is trouble better communicated in black and white? What do you think? The images at the Library of Congress are available here. A haunting memory of how we were.

Glow in the Dark

Neon creates its own fantasy world. I think that electric glow carries its own magic. Certainly draws your eye. Recently the NYT did a piece about one of the few remaining neon shops in NY, Let There Be Neon. The shop was founded by Rudi Stern who used to do neon shows for the psychadelic guru Timothy Leary. There's an homage to Stern on their web site and a nice slide show of some of their stuff. But many say neon is no longer a sign of the times. No longer a city's defining moment - Tokyo, Las Vegas and Times Square not withstanding.

But there's another side of neon beyond the prosaic. There's the work of inventive neon sculptor Lili Lackich, long known by her signature piece, MONA, originally created for the Museum of Neon Art. Her work is displayed in her book, Neon Lovers Glow in the Dark available on her website. Her website is a fascination in itself. And a great reminder that artists help us see the world through a different lens.

Collaboration

Creativity, in our business is all about collaboration. Camera and Sound. Producer and Editor. Director and Actor. And so it goes. Collaboration can be bliss or chaos. Sometimes both. When two conflicting visions vie for a voice, sometimes the result is glorious harmony. Say, as in the work of Leiber and Stoller, whose book details how they came up with some of Motown's greatest hits. What was it like? Here's an inside view of their approach to working together: "I can't remember if it's Mike or Jerry who describes their relationship as a 50-year-old argument," says David Ritz, who ghostwrote Leiber and Stoller's joint memoir. In their words, it was "long, long years of stepping on each other's words and toes and sentences."

And then there's the dynamic duo, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In Keith's new book, Life, he describes yet another turbulent collaboration, but a winning partnership too. And that dichotomy is also the subject of a recent NPR story on the powerful energy unleashed by polar opposites.

For me, the key to a successful collaboration in music or any other creative effort is to find a way to harness that energy. I think it's normal, even predictable to have different approaches, different points of view. That's part of the creative process. But then it's about listening, hashing it out, exploring and synthesizing. You can travel parallel paths, zig and zag, but eventually you have to come together. And when you do, you can really rock and roll.

DBA and the Age of Anxiety

Given all the Holiday gear newly acquired in all our households, it's now time we prepare for that electrifying malady known as DBA. What's DBA, you ask? With DBA we're talking the latest viral video ploy: Dead Battery Anxiety, as created by a Charleston, South Carolina firm Slant Media for Philips Electronics.

Yes, it's a little stupid, which is what makes it funny. And yes, it conjures all those TV ads touting the drug of the day. So there's that familiar strain about it. And it's a little self-conscious too, which seems to play fine on the Web. And there's that "hey, we're in on the goof, cause we're as cool as you" hipster attitude. If you strike the right tone, it works well with the genre. And I think this one has appeal.

The ads are simply shot and edited (good for the Web). Fun punch lines. My favorite is "Plug Hawk Tazed at Airport" because it just relies on physical action and that funky consumer camera look. You can watch them all at the DBA website.

The NYT wrote about the campaign in Stuart Elliot's advertising column. We learn that consumers "worry about power" constantly, since smart phones are kinda dumb about how much power they use. And the campaign was designed for the online world, because Philips and Slant think their consumers have pulled the plug on TV and print.

So there you have it. If you want to follow their rules for a viral campaign, hang on to a style everyone already knows, add some humor, keep it simple, make your point and get out of the way, and don't try to be too slick. That's my take away.

Radioactive, the Book

A new "graphic novel" biography of the Curies, Marie and Pierre, is getting rave reviews. The Press Release:

A VISUAL JOURNEY INTO THE LIFE OF MARIE AND PIERRE CURIE AND THE HISTORY OF RADIOACTIVITY, AS TOLD THROUGH THE DAZZLING ARTWORK AND WRITING OF

ACCLAIMED AUTHOR AND ARTIST LAUREN REDNISS.

To create the visuals for the book, she combines vibrant backgrounds captured on photographic paper via the rays of the sun and her stylized line drawings. And she is a powerful storyteller, as her work is described in this NYT review: "... it’s a deeply unusual and forceful thing to have in your hands. Ms. Redniss’s text is long, literate and supple." The review continues: "The electricity in “Radioactive,” however, derives from the friction between Ms. Redniss’s text and her ambitious and spooky art. Her text runs across and over these freewheeling pages, the boundaries between word and image constantly blurring. Her drawings are both vivid and ethereal."

Here's two examples from her book

Like all powerful artists, she offers a new way of seeing and thereby new insight into the world we live in. Not to mention that the Curies themselves make a fascinating story. And coupling her distinctive visuals with a talent for language should put Radioactive high on anyone's reading list. And, hey, the cover glows in the dark.

Just Joe and a Great Idea

Any one working in our business knows its hallmark is collaboration. Yeah, we hear about the Director as Auteur and the Client as King. But nothing happens without a bunch of people working together. One-man-bands only work on street corners. So here's a new approach to an old concept. Maybe brilliant. Maybe unworkable. But like any new idea, it's worth a closer look. And if what you see is any example of what may be, then it could be a definer for how we creatives will come together to play in the web sandbox in the next decade.

Joe Gordon-Levitt is the proud creator of HitREcord.org which is a site for many people to work on a project as each contributes and/or reforms the work. It could be as simple as a remix or as complicated as a grand production with Joe as the Director/Prime Mover. Joe's concept explainer video is here. And a fantastical collaboration video, inspired perhaps by his great work in the (500) Days of Summer can be seen in the fanciful Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date - The Zeppelin Zoo. Check out the language. That in itself is worth the price of admission.

One Man Makes a Difference

An essential part of America's mythos is that one person can make a difference. We celebrate those that do and encourage others to follow their example. Today NPR ran a story about one such person, Bernie Marcus. Upset about so many of our troops returning with brain damage, he wanted to help. Funded a program to do so and pitched it to the VA, saying he would help finance it. According to the NPR story, the VA said thanks and did nothing. Bernie, a co-founder of Home Depot, went ahead on his own to set up Project Share, and the results of his philanthropy are documented in the story.

A number of years ago I worked for the VA on a biography of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, noted heart surgeon. What I learned from that experience was that DeBakey served in WWII, learned about medical trauma, developed the concept of the MASH unit to provide immediate attention to wounded troops and successfully fought the military bureaucracy in order to institute it during the Korean War. He also helped create a system to track surgical outcomes, trained hundreds of surgeons and continued to work closely with the VA to insure quality of care. That was a time when the VA was a proud institution.

I think the NPR story is a good example of how big organizations can become tone deaf to their original mission. And in the process lose touch with the needs of the people they were set up to serve. It's a process that seems to repeat itself over and over again. Making the NPR story an excellent example of what good journalism can accomplish.

Both Sides Now

Lt. Col. David Richardson makes his home within two worlds that often collide. Sometimes he's an abstract artist. Other times a marine. Fascinating that he can keep the two facets of himself compartmentalized. But understandable as well. I know nothing about his service in the Marine Corps. But I very much like his art. It's bold and yet inviting. The work seems to take you on a journey, and within the splashes of color you can get lost in its checkered landscape or invigorated by unraveling the fabric of some unknown army off to war. I think he's found a way to envision his own symbols of territory, might and power. Much of his work at a local gallery in Washington, DC is inspired by the Trojan war. Fitting, right?

To rise to the rank he now holds, he has to have a mind that's orderly; that deals with systems, evaluation and logic. To work as an abstract painter, he has to have a mind that's creative, open to experience, in touch with an emotional landscape. I find the contradictions fascinating and empowering.

Because to understand how to communicate effectively, and to work successfully in our business, you need to be able to flow freely between those two worlds. You should possess all the evaluative and creative qualities evidenced in the two lives of Lt. Col. Richardson. And, given how separate those two lives must need be, I admire that he gives voice to both. That definitely takes commitment and courage.

And why does he do it? Here's a quote from a NYT article: I was never interested in painting ugly paintings,” Colonel Richardson said. “We often say to the general, ‘Here is the bottom line up front.’ My bottom line up front is I want to create something beautiful. To me there are enough disturbing and ironic things in life.”

Making it Real

Sound in a video or movie is the "making it real" part of the puzzle. We think about the images and often those are what stick in our mind. But it is sound that brings it all to life.

Imagine a beautiful landscape and the sound of birds. Sets you up for a good feeling. Now imagine the same landscape and the sound of approaching helicopters. Could be trouble coming.

Same picture, different realities, thanks to sound. And creating a sound scape for video or film can be enormously satisfying. A long long time ago I was hired to do sound design for a USDA film, "Day of the Killer Tornados." I know, sounds like a joke. But this was a long time ago. And while a dramatic story was told about the Government's tornado early warning system, most of the images had no sound whatsoever, just narration and a few moments of dialogue. It was my job to find and sometimes create the missing sounds. As one of my first jobs as an editor, it was a great lesson for me in how sound can bring the story to life.

NPR recently ran a piece entitled the Sounds of Star Wars. It talks about sound effects and how they found signature sounds for those movies. And created R2D2's memorable character in the process.

What’s with those new discs?

We don’t normally spend a lot of time talking about equipment, but we’ve been working with Sony’s XDCAM system for a little over a year, and it deserves a few kind words.

XDCAM started as a disc-based field recording system for standard NTSC. The camcorders now shoot gorgeous HDTV images on discs that use technology similar to Blu-ray DVDs. The real difference is that the video is recorded as individual files, rather than as a continuous stream on a videotape. Each file is recorded twice; you get both a low-res “proxy” file to view or edit and a high-res HDTV file to finish your program with.

The proxy files are easy to put on a disc for screening on a PC, and you can quickly load them into the Avid for editing. In fact, they load so quickly that it offsets a good bit of the extra cost of shooting in HD. As the video is recorded directly on a disc, you have a piece of physical media with your original footage that you can keep on your shelf.

While this may seem trivial, a lot of digital video is now recorded on reusable memory cards and then transferred to portable hard drives for storage. I’ve never been comfortable with this. It’s not unusual for video to be transferred incorrectly and the mistake not noticed until the original memory cards have been reused. Then you’re out of luck. That won’t happen when you record directly to an XDCAM disc. It’s a much more robust solution.

XDCAM is great for mastering, too. While it’s essential to keep a master copy of each project, videotape masters are obsolete. Our solution is to archive projects on XDCAM discs. Not only do we put a hi-res digital copy of the finished video on the disc, we put all the files related to the project on the same disc: the Avid project file, files for a DVD, a video file for the Internet, raw graphics files, etc. So you have everything you need in one place if you need to change the video down the road.

Over the years, I’ve found that it’s good to be skeptical about the never-ending stream of new formats that come along. XDCAM was worth waiting for.