Loose Cannon

So going viral is all the rage these days, but is that a good thing? Yeah, it can get you a lot of views, but who really remembers the product the viral video is for? This is the most recent in attempts to draw upon the viral virus. A weak attempt. I was watching this having no idea where it was going and when the brand logo pops up at the end, I furrowed by brow and curled my lip in disgust. WTF? Art for Arts Sake (if you can call this art) doesn’t work for me. Have a strategy. Hopefully this video doesn’t go viral and I have to eat my words, but lets just hope not.

If you don’t know what a QR Code is, I can explain it as a very smart barcode. They are a coded image that when photographed by a smart phone, it sends it a link to an image, URL, video, etc. It’s being used in a new don’t drink and drive campaign, posting above a urinal, calling a cab automatically when you’re to drunk to drive or even dial, and more effectively, IMHO by Lupe Fiasco for his new album.
What a brilliant idea to spread a sample video of your new song. This could be used in so many amazing and cool ways. With smartphones being in the hands of every man, woman, and child old enough to speak, the possibilities are virtually endless. Take a picture of a starburst wrapper and watch the newest crazy advertisement. Scan one on a billboard for a new album and get an iTunes sample of the song with an option to buy now or a million other opportunities. They are evening embedding them into logos now so they won’t be a terrible black and white eye sore on your print or other medium. Going to be interested in seeing where this technology goes or where I could use it.

So I have quite a bit to talk about in this post. It’s a lot to read, so I’ll break it down in case you want to skip ahead and just read what interests you.
First, Condoleezza Rice came and spoke at my University. So I summarized it and put down some of my thoughts.
Second, a little bit about the Advertising industry from Richter7, and a question I pose to you about my career in Advertising
Third, some good news about my next project in the AdLab.
So take your pick. Here goes…

Had the opportunity to attend an address from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday morning. It was a great speech and there was a lot to take away from it that I was able to relate to particular situations in my chosen field. She spoke about growth being led by the private sector and there, with it’s risk-taking, innovation and creativity, lay the keys to our recover as well as international recovery. I found this interesting as I am going into Advertising which is sometimes looked at as an unethical industry. Condoleezza Rice, however, seemed to state that this free market economy is what drives our country today. We are advertising to support the free market economy. It is that freedom that we have in the private sector which allows anyone to do anything they wish and have the opportunity to become successful. “It doesn’t matter where you came from, it matters where you’re going,” said Rice. “We are held together by an idea and a promise…we have a responsibility to carry this idea forward.”
She also spoke on integrating knowledge of what is with belief of what might be. Do not discount the role of faith. It is a special responsibility that faith and reason go together. They are integrated with who we are. Be optimistic. We have been blessed with wonderful possibilities. Jeff Sheets mentioned this recently in a meeting I had with him. To be at BYU is an incredible blessing, too much so to be lazy. It’s driven me to take full advantage of the great opportunities that have been offered me. I spend as much time as I can working on the various campaigns that Jeff has brought to the AdLab where I’m lucky enough to be involved. I’ll go into that a little more later, but back to Condoleezza’s speech. Along the same lines, she spoke on not seeking entitlement. We can’t control our circumstances, but we can control our response. With entitlement comes a loss of control. We become lazy and unambitious. Hold up those who do not fall to cynicism, and do not see the world how it is, but how it can be. She closed with a quote I wish I would have written down word for word, but the main idea is this: if you find yourself in the company always saying “Amen” to whatever you say, find other company. If you are only talking to yourself, you’re persuading no one, and heaven forbid, you might just change your mind. I thought this was a great idea to close with. Our differences and varying opinions is what makes us great and is an incredible way to learn and be exposed to different aspects that we may never think of on our own.


Back to my involvement in the AdLab. Thursday night I went to the AAF meeting for our BYU chapter. Dave Newbold, President and CEO of Richter7, and advertising agency based in Salt Lake, came and spoke to us. It was a great discussion and he had some great points. One that stuck with me was the idea of always basing our creative on our research and to never do art for arts sake. I think that is incredibly important. We have a message to deliver, we have a strategy to fulfill, and fancy beautiful artwork alone won’t cut it. He also told us of the earning potential that lies in this business, but also of the consequences we will face. He has a daughter currently working in New York for a large agency and has been split between accounts with Converse and Nike. Recently she was offered a great opportunity to be placed under a great Art Director and focus her work on one campaign, Nike. This is an incredible opportunity for her, one that is sure to be lucrative and also lead to other great positions of responsibility. However, they also want her full commitment to it. This would mean working most weekends, including Sunday’s, as well as long hours, most times working until 1 or 2 in the morning. She was also recently married. He put the question to us, “What would you do?” He honestly didn’t have an answer for us. He just recently received the email from his daughter letting him know of her situation. I’m sure at some point in my career I’ll be up against the same question. So I put it to you. What would you do?

Lastly, the opportunity. I have been selected to be on the team to put together a campaign for JCPenny that will represent BYU and our chapter in the AAF NSAC, that’s the American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition. This is a great opportunity for me to get a head start on some of the things that i’ll be needing to master as I go through the program of advertising. It’s basically a head start on some of the upper division classes that I’ll be doing later on. It was really exciting for me to be put in this group to come up with this campaign. I know BYU has a long list of awards and hope that I can be part of putting together something great, and possibly worthy of recognition. If we win in our district, we will advance to compete at the national level at the AAF National Conference in June.
I think that’s all for now, and thus it is.

Real quick I wanted to share this video. This is a video done by Ryan Woodward, a professor of Animation down here at BYU. I originally came down to BYU to try and get in to the animation program but as I investigated the major it seemed a bit too closely related to parts of the film industry I was trying to get away from in my future career. So needless to say I pursued Advertising. It was really exciting when the professor who runs the AdLab, Jeff Sheets, showed this piece of  work done by a great animator, right here at BYU. Jeff used the video to motivate us and tell us to put our heart into our projects, that we are too blessed to be lazy and really make something special from our time here at BYU and as we go into our careers in Advertising. It was a great connection from the Advertising world to Animation for me and that there is a exciting process and work that goes into every advertisement, just like a piece of animation or a film. It still requires that great collaboration of creative and strategy to make an effective advertisement. I’m excited to be a part of that process. 

Some additional interesting info can be found in the News release on the BYU website.

So I started back at school again today. I felt like I was ready to go back. I’ve had a couple weeks off. I’ve been able to enjoy some leisure time and sleeping in an massive amounts of video games (rare for me) so rather than wasting my time sitting around home I’m better off getting back to school, right? Well for the most part this is true. I like being in school, all except for the being in school part.

I can’t complain though. I actually really love my major, love all my professors, and have a great group of classmates and enough AdLab jobs to make me feel like I’m really already working at an advertising agency. It’s going to be a busy semester for me but I suppose thats good. Maybe I’ve had to much time to sit around in the past and that’s why I always feel like I have plenty of time to do my assignments, which I never actually really do, but I’ll stop procrastinating tomorrow….

So anyways, I’m back, right back into the flow of things. Had one class and was on campus for about 6 hours and I think that’s just how it’s going to be this semester.

But like I said, I’m having a blast, best major in the world. Here is what I learned today.

And I know it’s a little late, but here’s my favorite Christmas song sung by an icon of my childhood, Silent Night, and you can never have too much Christmas Cheer.

So Enjoy! That’s all for now! And thus it is…

For the past 6 years I’ve been working as a sound tech in the film industry. It’s been a great job, very lucrative, and has given me some great experiences and opportunities. Because of it, I’ve been able to travel all over the world and put away a good amount of money.

I’ve met amazing people and have had some amazing, unforgettable experiences. I’ve hiked Machu Picchu with Aron Ralston and had the opportunity to work on the recently released “127 Hours”, the movie about Aron’s story of survival in Moab with him (played by James Franco) and the great Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). It’s been an incredible journey, but it was supposed to be my last movie.

I was working all the time and wanted a social life and a “normal” job so I retired from film about a year ago and got into the Advertising program at BYU. It is one of the best advertising programs in the entire nation. So I thought I had done my last movie. The thing with film is this though, you spend so much time doing it and invest so much of your life to it, that it becomes a part of you, and becomes really hard to leave behind. Since I’ve “retired” I’ve done four commercials and two more movies. But now I’m officially retired.

So this past week I got a phone call to shoot another show. The call was to work on the shooting of a TV series, “Dr. Who” for BBC America, down in Arizona….and I took the job. So much for officially retiring. Now, it’s not that big of a commitment, but the thing is this, I still love the excitement of film. I still love getting the call for “the next big job.” I’ve been very successful and could easily continue to be even more successful if I could just commit to it. But I’m stuck in this limbo, halfway between Advertising and Film. I’ve been really spoiled working in the film industry and wonder if I’ll ever be able to leave it behind for a more “normal” job.
I guess that’s all I was thinking about, and thus it is.

In the beginning there was the word…and these are the beginnings of my words. I’ve been wanting to start a blog for some time now, but have lacked the motivation to start one, knowing it would most likely be short lived. However, I’ve got to start by just putting down some words or the fuse won’t even be lit. So I hope to make this blog somewhat of a journal of events while I attend school and learn the concepts and creativity of advertising and live in a culture few, if any, really understand. I hope to mix some insight and entertainment into all this to keep you reading. So the fuse is lit, hopefully it explodes and doesn’t turn out to be a dud. So who am I?

I am a Loose Cannon. Made in the 80’s, raised by the 90’s, influenced by the extreme sports industry, corrupted by the film industry, and now reborn into new understanding, but before I can really move forward, I must unlearn everything to understand anything…..Deep? Not really. Better than a long boring introduction? I hope so. And thus it is…