Different Perspectives: Doing Art vs. Consuming Art

[WordMan]

Inspired by this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7115561#post7115561) where the ever-interesting Left Hand of Dorkness asked about Cirque du Soleil. A number of folks answered the question from an audience member's point of view, whereas other posters answered from a cast-member's point of view.

What are other examples where the artist/performer may have a completely different point of view than the audience - in a way that is not expected? I'm not talking about situations where a performer at Disney is so fed up with people wanting to take their pictures, or an actor on stage hates cell phones - something more insider and cool.

Here's one from my perspective as a musician: super-rich musicians and mid-life crisis strummers shell out HUGE bucks for vintage instruments. Other players, like me, can't afford those, but spend countless hours poring over what wood is used in the guitar, what tubes in the amplifier, etc. And mass-produced, digitally-driven gear is look upon snootily.

Ah - but session guitarists - guys/gals who don't make a ton of money (unless they are one of the top players) but who are always trying to get a new gig for a commercial jingle or backing up a musician on a tour? They love the new digital stuff - all they care about is reliability and whether the gear comes close to getting the right sound - their hands can do the rest. I was talking with one really great session player and, while he acknowledged that his rig was the Chevrolet of gear not a Mercedes Benz, made a great case for how it served his needs.

How about you - any other insider scoop that an outsider wouldn't realize?

[Selkie]

Sculptor checking in. I doubt the general public understands the importance of skilled moldmakers, or the advantages/limitations of various casting media. Both can have an enormous affect on the end product, often in ways that are wrongly attributed to the skill (or lack thereof) of the sculptor.. There are shapes can be reproduced in porcelain but not in earthenware. There are even more shapes available in a cold cast resin from a flexible mold that no fired medium which comes from a rigid plaster mold can reproduce, and so on. Until my own work was being reproduced, I had no appreciation for the difficulty of moldmaking or its importance in the final product.

[RealityChuck]

As an author, I often see mechanical things in a book or movie that people overlook.

For instance, in Pulp Fiction, there's much made about the band-aid on the back of Marcellus's neck. As an author, it's clear why it's there: the audience has to identify Marcellus immediately when he crosses the road in front of Bruce Willis (otherwise, it would be mystifying as to why Willis tries to run him over). Yet we have not seen Marcellus's face up to that point. Obviously, the band-aid is used to identify him: it allows Tarantino not to show his face, yet still make his identity clear when the audience needs to know. It's very smart story construction.

I see things like this from time to time.

Another thing I see is people thinking a writer is an expert on some subject because he has a character saying something expert about it. But many times, the few lines needed for the story are the only ones the author knows about. The best example of this is in the book McTeague, in which Frank Norris describes a dental procedure in great details. Critics took this as a sign he spent long hours researching, but a check of Norris's library records shows he borrowed a book on dental procedures and lifted the description almost verbatim.

People also seem to think that fantasy writers just make up things. However, most fantasy writers I know spend hours on research to get things right; I'm working on a story right now that is taking me more time to research than to write (and I have to stop writing from time to time to research it). When I finish it -- and if I've done it right -- 90% of that research won't be noticeable to the casual reader.

There are also many misconceptions about authors that the general public has. For instance:


Few authors (even successful ones) are rich. The average income for a writer is less than what you'd make at McDonald's.
Authors don't get so wracked with writer's block that they have to steal a manuscript and call it they're own (I do know of one case, but that was highly unusual).
Editors don't steal manuscripts.

[garygnu]

I learned quickly in college that in art and animation, there's no such thing as "cheating."
Stealing, yes, but the end product matters most.
If you find a better, faster, easier way to do it: do it that way.
(This did not apply to math (etc.) classes.)

To the end viewer, it's more like "I don't know art, but I know what I like."
If it looks good, you did it good.

BTW, creativity is a process.

[kunilou]

One of the challenges in writing for video is that wordsmiths don't understand that the pictures always dominate. The words have to match not only in terms of narration, but mood, tempo and voice.

Linda Ellerbee (who came to TV after writing for newspapers) once said the hardest thing she had to learn was "writing silence."

[DfrntBreign]

Nothing much to add. I just wanted to say this is one of the more interesting threads I've read here. Thanks for starting it WordMan.

I have noticed a very large disparity between musicians and non-musicians when it comes to opinions of which guitarist, drummer, whatever is more talented. I don't think that's anything new, or particularly astute of me, though.

[garygnu]

One of the challenges in writing for video is that wordsmiths don't understand that the pictures always dominate. The words have to match not only in terms of narration, but mood, tempo and voice.

Linda Ellerbee (who came to TV after writing for newspapers) once said the hardest thing she had to learn was "writing silence."
First rule I learned in scriptwriting class was "Show, don't tell."
Knowing the rule didn't make it any easier, though.

[alice_in_wonderland]

I collect art, as well as being a trained artist (that sounds much more pretentious than I mean it - I went to art college).

I've had friends and family members look at some of my artworks and say "Huh! My child/I/A monkey could do that!"

My art training allows me to point out why most people COULDN'T do "that".

Also, when I see a $60 paint brush I drool, as opposed to think "You've GOT to be kidding me."

[Sam Stone]

As a very beginning painter, the first thing that surprised me is how technical it can be. I always looked at paintings with awe because I always thought an artist just 'saw' it in his head and painted it. But after studying painting techniques I discovered that much of it can be very precise. One famous painting of rowers on a lake by Thomas Eakins turned out to be backed up by perspective drawings, math, log scales drawn with a ruler over paper, etc. He even calculated the angles of incidence of the light on the lake to work out where to draw reflections and bright spots. Some early famous painters have erected huge wire grids to put in front of their subjects, and then drew the outlines on a paper with a patching grid to get all the relationships and angles right.

Of course, there are artists who can just see images in their heads and put them on paper, but many approach it much more technically, at least at first.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

In woodworking, most people don't seem to realize the massive difference between making one of something and making a bunch of identical somethings.

When building a single item, a great deal of time goes into hand-tweaking.

When building a run of matching items, a great deal of time goes into designing and building jigs. It takes twice as long to build the first one, but half as long to build the second one...

On a completely different subject, it never ceases to amaze me how many beginning writers think they're going to produce a high-quality book all by themselves, never realize that professionals have publishers, editors, copyeditors, proofreaders, fact-checkers, cover artists, layout designers, sales and PR people, agents, indexers, and all kinds of others helping them out. We don't all use all of the above (I do my own indexing and don't have an agent), but this staff of experts backing us up is what makes for really great books with really great sales.

[Askia]

On a completely different subject, it never ceases to amaze me how many beginning writers think they're going to produce a high-quality book all by themselves... I'm shooting for a high quality book I do on my own, not necessarily presuming I'll get there, if only to differentiate my work from the dreck created by others.

[WordMan]

This is cool - thanks everybody.

As a musician, you always talk money first. Thanks for calling, yep, we're friends and had some good times - how much are you prepared to pay? You going to meet my rate? Cover my costs if I get roadie help? You have adequate dance flooring? Access to heat and proper lighting? Adequate power? At least 2 30-amp outlets on different circuits?

Nothing sucks worse than not being in a position to rock the house because of inadequate planning. Some people think it's being bitchy, but to the extent that playing in a rock band and getting the audience going in an art, it serves the art to have everything right. So yeah, I'm a hardass about it.

[Selkie]

Also, when I see a $60 paint brush I drool, as opposed to think "You've GOT to be kidding me."

Og, yes! I can't believe it hadn't occurred to me to talk about equipment envy! Anything from the perfect paint brush to the perfect rotary tool can be a source of awe and wonder to those who use as opposed to those who buy. A potter friend of mine used to work as a machinist, and when the factory closed down he was given the most incredible goodies, including a vacuum chamber he uses for drying plaster and clay. He also bought a foxhair brush with handcarved bamboo handle that's as beautiful to look at as it is to own.

[Brynda]

As a very beginning painter, the first thing that surprised me is how technical it can be. I always looked at paintings with awe because I always thought an artist just 'saw' it in his head and painted it. But after studying painting techniques I discovered that much of it can be very precise. One famous painting of rowers on a lake by Thomas Eakins turned out to be backed up by perspective drawings, math, log scales drawn with a ruler over paper, etc. He even calculated the angles of incidence of the light on the lake to work out where to draw reflections and bright spots. Some early famous painters have erected huge wire grids to put in front of their subjects, and then drew the outlines on a paper with a patching grid to get all the relationships and angles right.

<snip>.

I'm not an artist, but I wanted to thank you for this post. I will think of this when I am admiring paintings. Very interesting.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

I'm shooting for a high quality book I do on my own, not necessarily presuming I'll get there, if only to differentiate my work from the dreck created by others.Been there, done that. I self-published a couple of books, doing all my own writing, editing, layout, indexing, artwork, cover design, paper selection, marketing, sales, and so on. It had better be a labor of love, because it's a *LOT* of work, and it's hard to even break even.

If you're a great writer, but a mediocre cover designer (or artist, or layout designer, or whatever), you're book simply won't be as good as it could be if you worked with professionals. You have to be good at all aspects of the job. After those self-published books, I always hire a cover designer, and my books are better for it.

Even if you do try to do it all on your own, break down and pay a couple of proofreaders and a copyeditor. No matter how good you are, you'll be surprised at what they catch. It's really difficult to proof your own work and catch your own mistakes.

[WordMan]

*bump*

sorry to be self-serving here, but I found what other posters have had to say interesting so far...

[Thirty-Nine]

The chapter "All About Music" from Frank Zappa's book is one of the most illuminating things I've read for a while. At one point he has this line in bold:
[b]Music comes from composers – not musicians[/b

Yet, when I bring up Frank Zappa in conversation people will always comment on his ability to play guitar. It's funny how often songwriting is overlooked, yet it is generally what determines the fate of a group.

[Askia]

It's really difficult to proof your own work and catch your own mistakes. Sheee. My POSTS on this message board are a testament to my inability to accurately proofread my own work. My three biggest miskates: I keep makign dunb typegraphical and spelling errs, or mentally inserting words that are to be there, or I'll words invert in a sentence.

[FlyingRamenMonster]

As an artist I realise that being good requires practise. I hate it when people say "Well of course you can do that, you're just naturally talented." All it means is that they can't do whatever it is you just did, but considering that they haven't drawn anything since fifth grade, it's not very surprising. This probably happens to people whatever they do.

[RealityChuck]

Well, talent is part of the equation, but it's far less important than practice and determination. Plus you need to know the limits of your talent and develop the skills to use it to its best advantage.

A lot of people write books and don't understand what makes a story worth reading. The assumption is that if a person sees a book -- any book -- they will buy it, read it, and tell their friends how good it was. Even though they are unlikely to do that -- I'd guess that people will browse at least ten books and put them down while in the process of buying one.

People also have very unrealistic beliefs in the chance of success with self-publishing and of a vanity press. You can succeed with a self-published book if it's specialized nonfiction (e.g., the history of My Home Town, or 1001 ways to cook venison) and if you market the hell out of it. But a self-published novel has no real chance of succeeding (there are a half dozen real examples of it happening -- and hundreds of bogus ones*).

A vanity press has even less chance. And a vanity press is always going to blur the distinction.

*No, John Grisham did not self-publish his first novel (though he did market it himself). Edgar Rice Burroughs only began self-publishing when he was one of the most popular writers in America. Yet these examples come up time and time again.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

One of the biggest drawbacks of vanity presses and POD (print on demand) publishers is the illusion that they're doing the work that a "real" publishing house does. Writers figure that they are paying the vanity press to produce a book equivalent to what Random House, University of Nebraska Press, or Simon & Schuster would produce. In reality, they provide little or no proofing or copyediting, the cover comes from a plug 'n play template, the cover paper is so cheap it curls on the bookstore shelf before anyone even buys it, the layout is pure cookie cutter, and the promotion consists of adding it to a few databases.

Yes, there are a few titles from PublishAmerica and iUniverse that I carry at my bookstore, but only because they're written by well-liked locals who send their friends in to buy them.

[The Hamster King]

What are other examples where the artist/performer may have a completely different point of view than the audience - in a way that is not expected?
A fairly question on game developer message boards is "I have a really cool idea for a game, what do I do with it?"

The surprising answer is: NOTHING. Game ideas aren't like movie scripts. Game companies never buy ideas or even finished designs from outside the industry. (Although they may occasionally hire a professional designer to produce a design for them.)

Ideas are cheap. I've personally got half-a-dozen ideas for future projects that I'm kicking around right now. Most professional designers I know are the same way. Game design isn't about have one big, Brilliant Idea. It's about having hundreds of little Good Ideas consistently, week in and week out.

[RealityChuck]

Yes, there are a few titles from PublishAmerica and iUniverse that I carry at my bookstore, but only because they're written by well-liked locals who send their friends in to buy them.And, as a bookstore owner, I'm sure you can confirm that the lack of returnability is usually a deal-killer.

For others, POD books, unlike standard books, are not returnable (all major and most minor publishers books are held in bookstores essentially on consignment: if they books don't sell, the bookstore gets a full refund). Bookstores aren't going to shell out money for a POD book because they're stuck with it if it doesn't sell. About the only time they'd do it are circumstances that InvisibleWombat lays out: a local author who has lots of friends.

[singular1]

I have been obsessed with different artistic activities at different times all through my life. At one point, I was absorbed in floral design. I had taken a parks department 5-class course and fell inlove. I would spent hours in the library, comb fields and interstate median strips for wildflowers to practice with. I was talking with a friend about the movie Pretty Woman (trust me, this is going somewhere), and we were bothsurprised by the details we noticed in the luxury hotel and party scene in the beginning. I was dazzled by the floral arrangements, and impressed by the placement of small elegant floral touches throughout. I used the word "architectural" in describing some of the impressive arrangements, and my friend began to wax poetic about the moulding and doorknobs and plumbing fixtures - because she was studying interior design. It's impressive to me that the filmakers know there will be obsessives of all stripes watching the film, and the good ones will add all the touches to make it work.
I have been working primarily in beading for about ten years now. In the past few years I have begun making my own lampwork beads. I will never again see a necklace of symmetrical lampwork beads without being extemely impressed. I've sold a few necklaces, and the focal lampwork beads are always good for a long conversation. So now, I always notice the necklaces of the talking heads on the news and wonder if they made them or bought them (Robin of Robin & Company on CNN Headline News is a great example - she has so many beaded necklaces that I'm tempted to write to her and ask if she makes them herself). Also, seeing cheap but beautiful beaded jewelry instores baffles me - how can they sell such work-intensive items so cheaply? I'm guessing Chinese and African labor, but it is disheartening to know I can't sell my stuff as easily because of the easily available cheap stuff.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Also, seeing cheap but beautiful beaded jewelry instores baffles me - how can they sell such work-intensive items so cheaply?My brother was selling some of his scrollsaw work for a while, and then tons of really cheap stuff started appearing in town. He asked the guy that made the cheap stuff how he could afford to spend four hours making a clock and sell it for $20, especially when the wood and clockworks cost around $8. The reply: "I'm retired, and I'm just doing it for fun. I don't really need the money."

A woman spotted a music box I made that took first place at a woodworking competition. She asked what I'd charge to make her one just like it. I put in 50 hours building it, so if I wanted $20 per hour, I'd have to charge her $1,000 (not counting materials). I told her "never mind."

[Rocketeer]

A woman spotted a music box I made that took first place at a woodworking competition. She asked what I'd charge to make her one just like it. I put in 50 hours building it, so if I wanted $20 per hour, I'd have to charge her $1,000 (not counting materials). I told her "never mind."

Yeah, it's the same thing with models. Someone wants a model of a car they had when they were a kid; but you can't charge them enough to make it worth your while.

Exception: I once read an article by a guy who was making fairly good money building models of funny cars (drag racers). He had it down to a science: the cars were all pretty much the same, except for paint, and he marketed to the race teams.