The Value of Incremental Progress

There's a lot of creative value in experimental baby steps. Especially when you're stuck in a rut.

This week, rather than attempting something epic, I've focused on making a small improvement to an effect I tried in the past.

It was for a Logitech campaign and featured this effect where I trigger the frame to turn into a photograph that would then retreat into the shot:

Cool enough effect, but it never really sat right with me. I'm triggering each transition with an action, but there's never really a bridge between the real footage and the photographs. They kind of just 'pop' into frame.

So that's where this week's experiment came from. Can I make a small improvement to the effect? I thought it would be interesting to have my hand briefly leave the frame and then reenter to grab the photograph. That way, it feels a bit more like I'm breaking through the fourth wall - almost like my hand is magically grabbing the screen.

Nearly everything I make contains some percentage of, "Ahh, I wish that thing would have turned out better!" But rather than dwell on it for eternity, I find it valuable to return in some way and try to fix what failed. It's a good exercise for the times when your schedule's a bit overwhelmed or you feel stuck not knowing what to make.

There's a lot more creative freedom treating your body of work like a sketchbook rather than a portfolio.

Making the Video

1. Pose with hand to camera - to serve as a dummy pose.

2. Print last frame of that video (1).

3. Film video grabbing photograph (2), ditching it, and then reaching toward camera with other hand.

4. Print last frame of that video (3).

5. Film video grabbing photograph (4), ditching it, and then reaching toward camera with other hand.

6. Goal is to get end frame of (5) as close as possible to dummy pose in (1).

7. Lots of video editing to blend my hand entering frame and quickly dissolving to photographs.