I got this great tip from Derek Sivers about adding a WHAT AM I DOING NOW page. This saves time, gets to the point and offers a fast overview for those times when you drop out of the regular social web world and are knee deep in a building phase. That is where I've been for several months now.
Please peruse, and do your own.
This is a piece I directed for the NIMA COLLECTIVE earlier in the year. We have been experimenting with projectors quite a bit.
It's been a busy time, but also, one in which a certain amount of recalibration and silence was needed. I am back on this space, and intend to update more frequently.
Hope you're having the time of your life.
am
ANIMALS Media Labs (my startup development/commercial house) delivered ahead of schedule our first major broadcast spot for American Supercar Maker, Rezvani Motors.
We present, THE BEAST supercar.
Credits:
Produced by Nima Rezai, ANIMALS, Merge Productions
Directed by Amir Motlagh
DP: John Honore
First AC: Alex Lim
Key Grip: Marty Anthony
Steadycam Op: Tim Dolan
Art Direction: Ali Sabet
Written by Charles Borg & Amir Motlagh
Voice: Amen-Ra Palacio
Sound Design: Ojan Missaghi, Mike Moeding @ STEMSPOST
Score: Randin Graves
Color: Kelly Reese @ DELUXE
Grooming: Mikal Sky
Why have I not been updating consistently? I guess you will see soon enough friends. Ok, not to be cryptic, but yes, projects have been consuming of late. My development house ANIMALS has had a couple commercial projects due, and I helmed one of them.
And between that, and the film I currently have in post, its a nice balancing act that I enjoy, but I have to subtract somewhere.
This is the subtraction, but only for a brief time.
Also, THINGS WITH AMIR MOTLAGH is going to continue, regardless of how you feel about it.
Cheers,
am
Hello friends, and an apology for my radio silence. In a bit of progressive irony, this very episode is the reason for my quiet, in that, what has kept me away from updating, has been the thing which takes precedent in my very own MATRIX.
So, without further ado, and since this video is above the text which means you might have pressed play before reading, and thus echoing the same sentiments, I proudly bring you episode #8 of THINGS W/ ME!!!
I mostly talk about one thing (Wait But Why blog) but make reference to another thing. Here below, are these things.
"Procrastination Matrix" on WAIT BUT WHY:
http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/03/procrastination-matrix.html
7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People
In this episode, I talk about some of the gear we used in an upcoming music video/movie trailer hybrid(MIRS + THREE WORLDS) , a great blog post I read about the Fermi Paradox, and the most recent book I ingested. Also, coffee.
Finally figured out what I'm going to do with this particular series of videos by calling it, "Things w/ Amir Motlagh", an apt titled explaining the content embedded in this fuzzy, broken codec.
So, I'm set on keeping this template & execution so that I can actually deliver the goods. I'll simply, recommend stuff that I use ("use" is a broad category of noun) and give a quick update of various things happening from last video, to the latest.
Yes, it's not groundbreaking, but NOT everything has to be, correct?
With that said, hope you enjoy, and please subscribe if you haven't!
Things discussed in this episode for you to peruse:
Hollywood Shot Designer:
http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/sd_index.html
Moleskine:
http://www.moleskine.com/us/
As I sit here with responsibilities mounting, time slipping, and enthusiasm temporarily dipping, the last thing I should be technically doing is writing in this white space ahead of me. But, I've committed. A few lines is all we ever need.
Love,
Process
“The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.”
I've run across this quote often, but tonight, I felt the need to really spend time with it. It's such a simple idea, but incredibly profound. That's what makes it such an effective message. Who owns the future, as Jaron Lanier asks critically? I do.
Before I get to the item at hand, I will admit that this beard is in desperate need of attention. Apologies.
Now for the things discussed in this episode or you to peruse:
1) First things first: Add me on snapchat @ amirmotlagh
2) My article on DIY Film in the Digital Age, a part of the Mastering Film Series published by Focal Press can be found here:
http://masteringfilm.com/big-brain-%E2%80%93-small-budget-amir-motlagh-still-lover-khoobi-35-year-old-man/
3) My favorite book purchase this week is Cool Tools by Kevin Kelly. I absolutely love having this thing on the coffee table:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cool-tools-kevin-kelly/1116999473?ean=9781940689005
As always, please subscribe to the Youtube Channel and come say hello.
Not only do you get a 2D cartoon representation of me, you also get some quotable gems I've probably (wisely) moved away from.
Cartoon Amir.
In all honestly, this is a cool film series published by FOCAL PRESS with some interesting, and talented(this word is meaningless in many ways, but not always) filmmakers.
I however, did not reread this after it was sent 6 months ago to be published, because, what is the point of revising archived opinion?
With that said, can it possible be the best thing I've ever written? Not sure.
Enjoy, share and let me know your thoughts.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
This is a quote from science fiction GRAND MASTER, Robert Heinlein, possibly & ironically most famous for in recent pop culture, as the original source of the Hollywood dud, STARSHIP TROOPERS, a book he penned in 1959. (this is also one hell of a dud sentence, but it's my fucking website, so kindly deal with it)
Most people react to the last sentence in Heinlein's quote, which forgoes context. Given at face value, its a cry against our Western ideal of mastery, and an endorsement of the "Jake of All Trades" pejorative . But in context, both as a quote and in the world we are living in, I think it's a very critical thought. Specialization is an industrial desire, and in our idea centric world, a sure way to be locked into a pivot-less occupation, when the world is accelerating exponentially.
I am a propionate of mastery. But, mastery in it, and only of itself is akin to obsessive compulsiveness. It's a limit of human potential, and of living an interesting and fulfilling life. We should all master one thing, but we should all carry that curiosity and drive into other things that are deserving of our attention. This well rounded pursuit is not to be at the top 5%, or 1% best at all things, but to be capable human beings well suited for adaption. Human beings with ability, empathy, & drive.
So, learn how to code, play an instrument, build a table, or pick up a chemistry book because it is through these other things that you can become indispensable on a higher level at the one thing that really gets your blood boiling. Ultimately, learning is the great human gift.