HELLO AGAIN.
HELLO.
This Film is Free is about learning from your peers. It’s about what it takes for you to solve problems. It’s about what your creative process is and is not. It’s about the fascinating selection of non-linear steps resulting in both personally intuitive decisions and logical relationships. The project you are now a part of exists to give you knowledge and give other creative individuals the opportunity to learn from your work.
ONE
KEEP A LOG OF E VERYTHING YOU THINK OF
If you write down all the bits of ideas, then you have more to combine when someone else has a good idea. THIS FILM IS FREE was first sketched out on a
All we ask is that you chronicle the way you
napkin by photographer Erik Simkins on a normal
approach the problem and your own creative
rainy Northwest morning. Partnering with designer
process. After you are finished, we will upload the
and friend Jonathan McConnell, the two have set
images and your documentation to our website;
out to help other creative people learn from the
allowing you to view the “how” and “why” of your
best. The best includes you, your colleagues, your
work in comparison to other creative people from
friends, the people you watch on the blogs, and
around the world and gain from that experience.
anyone you happen to find inspiration from.
We've set up a system where you will receive a set of variables, a roll of 35mm film for use in an analog camera, and a notebook to document your creative process in.
TWO
KNOW WHEN TO LE T IDE AS DIE & WHEN TO NE VER STOP
You don’t have to have a point, to have a point. Not having a direction is difficult when working on
What is THIS FILM IS FREE?
a creative project. Not having a direction on a
It’s a system where you learn from other people.
self-authored project is worse. But if you believe in what you’re creating, that it will help someone
It’s a way to share your creative story with
learn or grow, then it’s worth it. So long as you
someone else. It’s through this process and
stand by it, you will be successful in what you are
comparison of work that has a common root that
trying to accomplish.
will provide knowledge to learn from. This is not a school assignment, this is putting yourself out there and having a dialogue about what it is we do with other people in the same position.
The goal is to create a constantly growing documentation of the creative process - a research project that is not a bound book or case study, a social experiment to document the way we look at the world.
TFIF
T HRE E
ACCEPT THE FACT of NOT LE AVING YOUR STUDIO BEFORE 2AM, E VERYDAY (decline to participate)
Initial invitation to participate Custom package and label
Possible friend on board and get another participant
Name specific invitation Explanation and instructions
Acceptance to participate
Yeah. Those are real statistics. Part of making your ideas happen, is just putting
And when you decide to make a project real, you’ll
in the time until it happens.
realize what you’ve gotten yourself into. So long as
Actual package sent to participant
Sealed Notebook and film in box
Theme & Constraint cards actual film
you still stand by your work, jumping into a large pool of PHP and trying to swim will seem fun. Shoot 24 frames based on topic and condition
Upload to Flickr
Document the creative process in some fashion
Brought in to TFiF Web Interface Eventually the website will drive more participants to join. Thus the process will sustain itself. Website and Interface Scanned, tagged, bagged, catalogued, documented, color corrected, interviewed, content is the king
The end result of the project being that participants will gain more critical & creative thinking skills and approach problems in an honest, more cohesive manner
FIVE
GO BIG or GO HOME & DON’T LOOK BACK
Go to the extreme example. Whether it’s successful or not, you will either enjoy what you’ve made or hold a large notebook of what you’ve learned. This is the flow chart of the user experience from
As successful and simple as this sounds, it is yet
initial printed packaging to the web interface, and
to be implemented. If you would like to participate
the representative final results.
or talk about it, feel free to drop me a note.
FRIENDS
PRODUCTIVITY
FOUR
BALANCE YOUR LIFE BY ACTUALLY PUT TING YOURSELF IN YOUR WORK
Use your own experience, it’s the most honest source you have. The project is about the creative process as
I used my own 35mm B&W prints to flesh out the
exemplified in the shooting of a roll of film.
branding materials for the packaging and website.
Thought, pressure, composition, adrenaline,
This personal connection drove me to continue this
tension, creation. Release. Repeat.
project with the goal of making it a real living web community of creatives.