By now those few who read my stuff have probably developed some opinions. You probably think that I have way too much time to waste or that I am a sedentary person who just watches the world go by instead of being active like playing golf, hunting, fishing, building something, etc. Why do I spend so much time going to movies, concerts, NASCAR, Disney, Las Vegas, etc.? Why?
I have already admitted to be a fan and a watcher, but there is more to it than that.
The facts are these 3 ideas.
1. I learned something about myself about 40 years ago. I get my most creative ideas during movies and concerts. I have become a student of performances first. By the time a concert starts I usually know how many stage hands are visible. How many spots. How large is the sound board? Is there someone at a computer how effects? How many are in the band? How many are involved in "the Show". The planning. The first rock concert I intended I realized that only half the performers are "on stage".
When the concert starts and the performers bring to me the intended performance, my mind goes crazy! I have designed elements of a current project during a Rock Concert, and I have gotten marketing ideas from Willie Nelson. I can't explain it. I just expect it. Concerts are adrenalin rushes (a drug if you will). I do enjoy the music and the entertainment. The rush is always a serendipity, but something I look forward to. So Don Henley or Jimmy Buffett or Brad Paisley give me creativity on display. I designed the Garnett Church building at a concert. I got ideas for the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame at Disney World.
At movies the visuals or the dialogue gives me ideas for Sunday school classes, for how to deal with clients and as character studies that I file for future reference.
In my mind these trips should be business expenses as going to a seminar! As a matter of fact a trip to Orlando or Vegas is like taking an advanced course in how to manipulate the senses. These places are where every visible item is being focused to move the visitor to a response whether for fun or for gain. You might see these environments as plastic throw away items and moments. I see a giant performance!
2. Watching performers work at their best, inspires me to do my best. My occupation (and probably yours) is about performing. This past week I interviewed for a school project and I made four intense presentations to a church client. These were mixed like this: Eagles concert: Saturday; School interview: Wednesday; Kenny Chesney: Wednesday after the interview! Church presentation: Thursday; Styx concert: Thursday after the presentation; American Idol concert: Saturday; Three presentations to a church client: Sunday. By my count there were 9 performances listed. The unusual part of the week is that I got to alternate watching with doing. We perform. We don't task. That is why as I watch someone fake playing guitar, my brain goes: Ok, Mike don't try to fake out a client! If I can see it with Miranda, my clients will see it in me if I try to "air guitar' an answer to a client's question. However, when I see Joe Walsh of the Eagles play his guitar like it is his last show ever, I realize that my interview with a client, may be my last "show" as well. I try to finish with no regrets. Not always possible but always intended. In my show business, the encore is to be asked to work again for the same audience.
This is also I am bad at creating discussion when I do a class at church. I think creation and performance. Getting off course when discussion goes to unplanned points, freaks me out!
It is like sound problems in a concert or someone talking in a movie! The performance needs a challenging beginning, a compelling middle, and a grand finale! Getting off subject in a class or meeting is like heckling!
3. Movies are crafted the same way buildings are. The Director is the project manager. The actors are the design team. The special effects are the CAD techs. The audience is the client. as so on! I study Disney, Spielberg, Coen Brothers, Ron Howard and George Lucas just as much as my favorite Architect, Robert Stern.
The idea that "The whole world is a stage." is not lost on my little brain.
Imagine Create Inspire
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