There Are No Rules

Today, a great example of how a digital artist can tell a compelling process story while also advertising their work.

I attended film school when social media was first appearing. My grad film was printed onto tape and snail-mailed to film festivals. Posting video online was still a bit radical.

To this day, I still feel bound to my traditional film background. I have outdated ideas about how to approach visual storytelling. Almost like there are certain ways to film specific shots because that's how they were shown in movies.

One thing social media, smartphones, and mass storage have enabled is giving artists endless freedom to experiment and break whatever cinematic rules might've been in place.

The example I have today is from digital artist @geosyrup, who recently posted a process video for a sculpt of Pedro Pascal's Mr. Fantastic (it's actually a clever ad to purchase the printable file).

What stands out to me is the over-the-shoulder shot of his computer monitor while 3D modeling. It's not exactly groundbreaking, but to my outdated filmmaking brain, it breaks a lot of rules.

My impulse for showing a computer screen would be to use screen capture software and somehow fit it into the vertical frame. Actually filming the monitor and including the artist at work? That's allowed?! It works really well because it feels less 'tutorial' and more 'feeling the hands at work'.

✨ If social media has taught me anything, it's that there are no rules. Let go of how you think things 'should' be done! You have a camera the size of a deck of playing cards and endless storage space - it can go anywhere and you can try as many variations as your heart desires.