Stanford Health Care
HELLO
There was an idea that was presented during our conversation that has been sticking with me. I found that this idea was even keeping me up at night, changing the way that I thought about medicine. The idea was that “medicine is art". This has struck a chord with me and has continued to drive my internal conversation about this piece. I hope that in some way we can help change peoples perspective about medicine and healthcare. Maybe we can begin the conversation of looking to doctors as artists and leaders in changing the way we see the world we live in. I’m excited for the opportunity to collaborate and dream with you.
APPROACH
There are three elements that I feel should define these films. At the same time, they will work together in harmony. They’ll lift each other up in order to create a piece that feels both universal and timeless. These three elements are Art, Science, & Humanity.
ART
The world of medicine is a mixed bag of mystery. It often feels too complex to begin to understand. I want to address these issues of perception by treating these ideas with things that we can all relate to. Art is the way we as humans begin to make sense of the things around us, in order to start conversations, to create change, and in this case, change the very way we breath. We want to represent medicine as art in these films, in order to better understand how we should interact with the world we live in. Here is an example.
"If we can create a heart valve using a patient's own tissue". We see quickly see a number of colorful paper mache pieces, wet and textured. We see finger tips begin taking some of these squares and moving them and places them out of frame, we take notice of the details in these hands. We cut to reveal the last piece of paper mache being placed, creating a frame of one color. Everything in its right place.
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HUMANITY
Also in these films we want try and open up peoples minds to a new perspective of the world, a perspective that pulls us out of our everyday, to see the world as extraordinary. We want to create the feeling of looking closely at ones self in awe of who we are. The very cells that make up our existence begin to feel alive inside and around us. We all go through a lot of our lives as passengers. Our bodies are suites for us to desire and accomplish what we will. I want to try and begin another perspective. The very fabric of our bodies are a work of art, created by stars exploding through the universe to arrive here in this moment in time to realize just how amazing it all really is. Here is an example.
"Imagine what we can do for arrhythmia, and hypertension, even heart disease." We see our doctor. Here we begin wide, pushing forward towards a doctor and a patient inside of hospital room, he's listening to a child's heart beat. We begin wide, seeing people moving about through hallways as we move closer into the door frame. We cut to a close up of the stethoscope on his skin, and then a close up of our doctors face. He closes his eyes to listen for a moment. Cutting straight back into an explosion of art.
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SCIENCE
Working through our elements of art and humanity, science should play an equal part in bring forward these ideas. Science is what will ground us in reality. Where art may feel flighty, science is the practice that draws us back down to earth, without losing the mystery and awe of art and humanity, but instead furthering these ideas but merely in a way that feels organic. We want these scientific elements to seem joined with our artistic elements. As if they are coming from the same stroke of the brush.
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-SUMMARY-
Every bit of science in these pieces should be presented as art, and every human in these pieces should be presented as an artist. Every element works off of the other, nothing singular or separated. By doing this we will find ourselves deep in this world we have quickly created. A world that feels like its reaching into space, grabbing a handful of the universe.
Visual Language
FACES
Our doctors in our films will need to exude with passion. It needs to feel like it defines everything they do. We want to present them more than anything as artists, Innovators in the way that humans live. With this passion comes a number of different feelings and moods, we don’t want everyone to be smiling, we want to represent a truth about the challenges and internal struggles that artists feel. More times than not this is a contemplative wonder. This is key for us, to represent them as humans. These doctors are incredibly smart, and have achieved amazing things. We want to know the why behind their eyes.
-More On Movement-
The movement of these films will need to be precise. We want a cohesion throughout all the films in order to be able to create more then one film, but as well as keeping them visually aligned in every way possible.
The forward movement will accomplish a number of things visually for us. it gives us a feeling of energy yes, but it also pushes us into a moment of human interaction. In the beginning of the shot there may be "noise", or people moving through frame. But the closer we move in, the focus is drawn into a singular moment. These moments will be a number of different subjects and items. We'll push into a group of doctors looking over x-rays, frustrated, trying to find a solution. We'll push in on a single doctor, sitting in his office as a moving portrait. We see the passion underneath his eyes, trying to contain itself. We'll follow two doctors moving down a hallway, charts in hand, talking over a specific treatment. Some moments will feel fast, following a certain hustle that these doctors have, and some will feel more silent in the midst of noise.
Above all, we will feel passion.
Mixing Art & Science
This is the place that we really get to tie everything together. This is where we mix our science with our art. Whenever we are describing a scientific method in one of our stories, we should always represent it in a way that does not feel too real. We want to present it as a work of art, or science integrated with art. Inside of our 2D organs we want to integrate certain textures to create different feelings. These textures will be abstract, and also textures that remind us of space. We'll use these textures and the way they move to juxtapose the organ and illness that is being referenced. These textures will also have the ability to coincide with the look and feel of whats being shot around these elements. The look and tone of our live action footage shoot be interpreted into these 2D shapes and textures.
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I want to paint the picture for you on how we will represent these medical ideas as more so symbols or metaphors. We want to take on the challenge of saying it without saying. Describing things in a artistic way that doesn’t need over realistic elements in order to understand. For example, when we talk about “boosting an immune system” we represent this with a bubbling source of energy traveling quickly through water. We can represent a transplant of tissue as a stroke of paint from an artist. DNA as ones and zeros or coding, seizures represented by a moving light across someones eyes. I think the goal here is to allude to the world around us, making us see the way that everything is connected. We’re tied together by tiny moving particles swirling around us at a million miles an hour, to give us experiences that define us as humans.
Collaborators
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When making films, we're only as good as the team we have around us. I believe having the right people strategically around you will make or break a project. Its imperative that we find people that carry intangible qualities in their work that will lend themselves to the goal of our films. There are subtle qualities that can translate into the final films that may go unnoticed by most. This is the part of film making that gets me the most excited and eager to jump into a project. The ideation phase I believe is one of the most important parts in the process. I believe with the right team of people around us, we can create something that transcends advertising, but moves into a universal piece that people can draw from internally. These are some artists that I would love to work with on this project.
Sean Porter
Director of Photography
Sean Bagley
Director of Photography
Artjail
Title design/Animation
We Are Royal
Title design/Animation
Joaquin Trujillo
Photographer
Josh Goleman
Photographer
THANK YOU
I’m truly inspired by this project. I believe in the power of film, and the way that it can create internal conversations with a viewer. I believe this is one of those projects. I want to say thank you for being open to the creative process, and inviting me in and allowing me to dream with you. I look forward to continuing the conversation, and together do our best to make beautiful things.