A log for all our uncreative people.
Plus a storytelling hack and a mental framework. | ~3 min read
Howdy y’all!
All three boys uploaded this week on YouTube. Major, major dubs all around. But before we get into those, here are three nuggets of information for your creative journey. Caption Tejas, take it away!
This log is for all my fellow ‘uncreative’ people.
I recently made a friend with a beautiful artist, Annalaura. She is one of the most creative people I know with the superpower of being able to portray nostalgic and loving stories through her watercolor comics.
“Annie, how the heck are you able to do this,” as I gazed at dozens of her comics, “how are you able to just have an idea and express it so creatively? I suck at that.”
She then put me through the thought exercise above, beginning with asking me for a simple request, “I’m going to draw three things and your job is to tell me which one is not a candle.”
She draws the first, a very normal candle.
Then she writes the word, candle.
Finally, she draws a wild abstract shape (for simplicity I just put an apple above) and then puts a small wick and flame at the top.
“So tell me Tejas, which one is not a candle?”
I froze. Her simple doodle on the back of a scrap piece of paper connected two neurons in my brain like never before. All three of those were candles in their own respect, even the third one. The only difference, the medium in which they were presented.
Practically, this example told me to question the way we see ‘normal’ things. I have an interview segment in my next video, and instead of it just being a back and forth Google Meet, what if I played a role and made it a skit? What if this animation instead was drawn in person? What if this thing I say was instead said a different way?
At the end of the day, all three of those to the audience said ‘candle’. But each one made you feel and see different.
CHRONICLES:
Finish up long form video and upload by Saturday! ❌
GOAL: This darn video will go up on YouTube.
Hit a bad rut this weekend. Questioned everything, felt very behind and lost. But luckily, my circle in Colt, Annie, Shervin, Hayden Trowbridge, Taha Khan all picked me up. Feeling as refreshed as ever and excited about how this video turned out! Pushing the boundaries of my creativity.
Say it all by saying nothing at all.
What am I talking about? Montage. A powerful tool for editors, the art of montage allows creators to succinctly explore compelling narratives or glide through time. I use them frequently. In my latest Adam Sandler documentary, there are three main examples. Here, we’ll discuss the Uncut Gems sequence, where Sandler plays Howard Ratner.
The first call of action when cutting a montage is to identify what you need to say. My priorities here were to build reputation, curiosity and tension. There are a few other clips scattered throughout, but the montage is really made up of only three scenes from the movie.
For my sequence, these 3 scenes all followed the same protocol:
Howard trying to claim control
Howard facing backlash
Howard losing the fight
These three key sources are your homebases. Make sure their emotions match. Go through each source, and select three important moments from each. You’ll then have nine clips – assign them into the three categories you made previously (like above).
In my video, there are a few extra decisions and flourishes made, but that 9-clip formula is all you need to start building a compelling montage. Focus on the natural ebbs and flows of momentum, fill the gaps, heighten the intensity, and Bob’s your uncle.
Honing this skill meant there’s seven full minutes without voiceover in this video. I can say everything I need by stringing together relevant clips. If you’re interested in developing this trait, study this Uncut Gems sequence! There are many tiny details I hope you’ll pick up. Get cutting.
Chronnies
Previous week’s goal: upload finished video and relax a little! ✅
Next week’s goal: shoot and edit a brand deal for TikTok
The Adam Sandler Paradox is uploaded, and ready to be watched. It’s 20 minutes long, so only watch when you’ve got some time to spare on the couch! It was quite an experience getting this made, and I’m happy it’s behind me. I have a new PS5 to play with so I’ll be swinging through the NYC skyscrapers as Miles Morales for the next week or so. Up next is my first short in 4 months (it’s an ad, but boo hoo, I’ll still make it cool). See you next week!
I have figured out how to hack my brain into being as productive as humanly possible.
Some call it deep work, others “the zone,” but no other term best sums up this kind of workflow other than “flow.”
Maybe you’ve experienced it too - your effortless actions being brought to fruition as if by magic, and hours blurring into one another. If you have experienced it, you know that there’s no better feeling than locking in, and flowing through your to-dos at lightning speed.
But how does this work? And moreover, can we step into the flow state at any time we want?
According to Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - yes we can! But only once you understand how it flow works.
Flow happens at the apex of your skills and the difficulty of the challenge at hand. In other words, if you’ve got what it takes for a task, and you happen to love the task, you’ll find yourself slipping into flow.
However - a misalignment of these two results in different emotions. Some good, some neutral, and a few that are not great. If you’ve ever felt discouraged or unmotivated during a task, it’s probably because the task doesn’t hit that sweet spot to match your level of skill.
So how can you hack your brain into entering the flow state? After interviewing athletes, musicians, and artists, Csikszentmihalyi found that those who enter the flow state most often do so by creating an environment that promotes focus on only the task you want to be doing.
The next time you sit down to work, try entering the flow state. If your skills surpass the task at hand, then allow yourself to be challenged in favor of working more efficiently.
Chronnies
Last week’s goal: edit youtube video ✅
Next week’s goal: Upload!
Made some great progress on my video! Shot it all and assembly edited in one day. Finished over the weekend. I have an email blast locked and loaded. All that’s left to do is make the thumbnail and press publish! Keep an eye out, feeling like a Saturday upload :)
Tiktok shorts from dodford!!!! it's back!!!