The Most Beautiful Video Not Of This World

If you have a passion for architecture, photography or film you must watch this video. If you do not have a passion for architecture, photography or film, you will after watching this. Some of the most gorgeous, evocative visuals I’ve seen. Just awe-inspiring. And none of it real. This is absolutely 100% CGI work done by Alex Roman for The Third and The Seventh project, exploring architecture through the cinematic lens. 
In fact, go here and watch it full screen in HD.  
 

The textures, the depth of field manipulations, the elegance of it all, Alex did it all himself. The modeling, the renderings, the music, the sound design, all of it.  

Don’t believe it’s CGI? Here is the proof.

Truly extraordinary.

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Creativity Big Brother

This. Is. Big Brother. Your group task for the day is to re-brand reality television. You have four hours for this task. Your task begins. Now.

Over the weekend the latest edition of Celebrity Big Brother began in the UK. For the next several weeks a group of “celebrities” will be locked in the infamous Big Brother house performing ridiculous tasks while recorded around the clock. Though most of the houseguests will not be recognizable to anyone outside of the country they include Stephen Baldwin, Sisqo and Heidi Fleiss. 

I have to confess, I do not like Big Brother and the US variation of the “game” is particularly boring to me. My favorite “reality game show” is The Amazing Race, where contestants go all over the world performing tasks and bickering while I wonder how on earth the crew is producing the show, let alone filming it while constantly on the run. 

Dislike of Big Brother notwithstanding, as soon as I heard about Celebrity Big Brother I had an idea. I would love to see a Creativity Big Brother. A group of unlikely creatives locked in a large house, every one of their working habits recorded for us to see, solving problems as their tasks. 

The house would be a creativity dream space. A studio with rows and rows of drafting tables with lots of Field Notes available for doodling. The best in Apple computers set in a Genius Bar - Apple would probably be a sponsor of the show. A library with all the classics of literature, design, music, and all the best reference books. All the rooms in different Pantone colors. On everyone’s desks those new bladeless Dyson fans. Because fitness is important to creativity, the gym would be the only source of energy for the computers, do 40 minutes on the bike or no Photoshop for you. And the ubiquitous confessional room? Made out of legos, with tables full of Playdoh, the better to squeeze their frustrations out of their systems.  

Let’s meet the houseguests:
Christopher Wheeldon
Jane Featherstone
Jonathan Ive
Julie Taymor
David Simon
Melinda Gates
John Galliano
Sally Hogshead
Neil Gaiman
Róisín Murphy

Who would be your Creativity Big Brother houseguests?

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What is transmedia?

A follow up to the Futures of Entertainment post from earlier this week. Attendees of the conference were asked “what is transmedia?” and here are some of the answers.

 


 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What Matters Now? Things to think about and do next year.

Seth Godin asked an eclectic group of writers and thinkers the question “what matters now?” Each one of them was invited to pick one topic and submit one page with 100 words max on the topic.

As he says on his blog: “Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around. I hope a new ebook I’ve organized will get you started on that path. It took months, but I think you’ll find it worth it the effort. (Download here).”

The ebook is free and I encourage you to download it here. Some of the topics include evangelism, meaning, compassion, facts, excellence, knowledge and even sleep.  

On his blog he also encourages us to make our own contribution. Here are my thoughts:

What Matters Now?
Smarter Creativity

Not just in creative endeavors but in life, at work and while living within the mashup of the two. 

So much has gone wrong or is well on its way. There is so much to do, to learn, just to survive and even more to do and learn if we are to improve. 

We need to be open to the world around us, made smaller and more complex each day. We need to respect what came before us because we are most likely going to repeat it and really should do it better the second (or third) time around. 

We need to be smart and creative about how we handle our relationships, our finances, our behaviors and attitudes. Smart and creative about setting priorities and having the discipline to follow through.

Above all we need to be smarter and most adaptable when interacting with people we don’t agree with or understand.

So, right now, what matters most to you? 

 

 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Have you met @AlaindeBotton?

Alain de Botton is a philosopher with a decidedly 21st century edge. He is capable of presenting the works of the Philosophy masters in a way that is simple but not simplistic, while adjusting their ideas to reflect current day realities. It should not be a surprise that I first discovered de Botton via TED, where earlier this year he did a talk presenting a kindler, gentler idea of success. You can see that talk here.

The talk resonated with me and I went searching for more. What I discovered was an eclectic body of work full of deep explorations of everyday challenges from unique and interesting perspectives, the very definition of thought provoking. His most recent book “The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work” dives into, well, work. In “The Architecture of Happiness,” featured in the movie “(500) Days of Summer,” he argues that architecture should play an important role in our happiness. “The Consolations of Philosophy” led to a BBC series that can be seen below. Monocle recently asked him, and 24 other thinkers, what’s next for our world, you can see his answer here

If you want a tour guide to the world from a philosophical standpoint de Botton is your man.

 

Socrates on self-confidence:
 

Epicurus on happiness:
 

Seneca on anger:
 

Montaigne on self-esteem:
 

Schopenhauer on love:
 

Nietzche on hardship:
 

Related:
Alain de Botton: web, wiki, facebook, twitter

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
The Architecture of Happiness (Vintage)
How Proust Can Change Your Life
Status Anxiety
The Consolations of Philosophy

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.