All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered.
—The Medium is the Message: An Inventory of Effects by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore

Twitter and Facebook started the masses communicating in bite-sized nuggets of entertainment. Instagram gave us a platform to easily communicate in photos. Vine has us editing micro-moments of video. Whether these companies and tools survive does not matter. What matters is the change they have made in how we interact with each other and the world. If we look past the content and consider the form of the container, how is it changing us? What does it say about us?

I see shorter attention spans. I see more acute expectations of a quick payoff. People get bored easy. They could be watching the most amazingly crafted masterpiece and tune out because the first scene is not stimulating enough. They could be listening to the next major hit and move on because the intro was seconds too long.

Because we have these newly accessible ways to share moments in such tiny chunks, we will be remembered as the distracted generation. Is it any wonder that attention is the most valued currency these days?

Then Versus Now

Our parents had the telephone. It took a moment to dial and the other party picked up to see who was calling. Today, we touch a screen and the other side doesn’t have to ask who is calling; it shows up on their screen.

Music used to have long introductions with a slow build to a big chorus. Today, if the song doesn’t skip right to the big chorus, people start tuning out.

Our parents had the newspaper, the periodical, the written letter. We have online tools that give us such immediate information that to use the old media feels like a complete waste of time. We are indeed moving at a faster pace than ever before. Change is happening at a faster rate.

Marshall McLuhan first introduced the phrase, “the medium is the message” in his book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. A book with a similar title came out a few years later and created a huge tribe around it. His message is as relevant today as ever, describing the Age of Anxiety.

I hear people say that content is king. But boil down the content, take a step back, and give in to the distracted culture. What do you remember? The louder message just may be the media used. The shape the content takes speaks on a level more profoundly and subconsciously than the content itself.

Marie Forleo

Her content takes the shape of an inspirational talk show for women. She is the distracted generation’s Oprah. Don’t have time to watch Oprah for an hour? Watch Marie and move on in five minutes.

Granted, her high production values, quality content, and fun personality took her far, but I wonder whether her chosen format helped her more.

Hugh Macleod

His art is for a generation on the go. It fits on a business card, where he drew it first while stuck in the corporate world. Short, pithy statements married to his style of art. Hugh’s choice of a business card for his canvas speaks volumes.

His content presents the struggle between art and business but his chosen media alone represents that struggle inherently — creativity on one side, business on the other. By using business cards, regardless of the art on them, he also shows that art cannot exist without the business side to organize, promote, and take the art to the audience.

Skrillex

Skrillex makes dubstep music. From his glasses to his dark techno look, Sonny Moore represents the face of a total invasion of dubstep, or more affectionately brostep, into popular American culture. The music as a genre across the globe, with all its beats, breaks, belches, and dark aggression, speaks to this cold machine of technological change and distraction affecting us daily. It is the kind of music that necessitates a computer to create. Dubstep is an infant as a genre, and it grew along with the very communication technology it so fittingly represents.

Sonny could have stuck with his post-hardcore rock genre and faded into the background culturally. Instead, he struck out on his own and traded his guitar in for a computer. And in the process, that move made more difference than any message he could give.

…

I’m sure you can think of many more examples. The implication for us then, is to reflect on what our chosen media says about us and our message. When our audience forgets what we said, what message did our chosen media leave behind?

In a surprising twist for this blog post, Al Jazeera English was kind enough to include some of my thoughts on air.

…

Balance. It is an ideal of perfection in life many strive to attain. The idea is, if we can live in balance, we will not go overboard in anything and thereby hurt ourselves or others. We will not focus too much on any one thing and miss out on all the other things life has to offer. We will exist in harmony. We will attain peace. We will stay healthy. Evil will stay at bay. Good will spread.

It sounds great. But what am I really talking about here? I have no idea either. Balance is merely a catch-all phrase and red blinking warning light for a lack of boundaries, an inability to say no, a refusal to focus, a lack of priorities. An admission that we don’t really want what we say we want. It means we must put down the fun work and do some hard heart work.

What do we really want when we say we want balance? I can tell you what we don’t want. We don’t want to hear the real answers.

Work-Life Balance

We don’t want to hear that we stop work at 5:00 p.m. sharp from now on, no excuses. Either inefficiency reigns in our work causing us to work late, or we are kissing our boss’s rear. Neither is a good thing. Either we are avoiding something hard at home, or we are absentmindedly passing the time at work to get to our exciting lives outside of work. Neither is a good thing. So we say we want balance.

Actually admitting the harsh detail of what hurts instead of wrapping it in the vague idea of “needing balance” will start the healing process.

Eating A Balanced Diet

We don’t want to hear that we can no longer eat these foods anymore, period. Either gluttony reigns supreme, or a healthy body image is filed under the impossible category in our minds. Neither is a good thing. Either we are afraid of what our family and friends will say about our new choices, or we subconsciously signed up to commit suicide in slow motion. Neither is a good thing. So we say we want balance.

Actually admitting the truth hurts too much. But here’s where it gets powerful. When we get specific, it forces us to name the real problem and deal with it. We can keep peeling back the layers standing in the way of our dreams and use stronger and more effective tools to deal with each one.

The Balance of Marketing Versus Art

We don’t want to hear that we stop using social media and checking our phone entirely while we create our new masterpiece. Either goofing off online is more important than our art or we are simply procrastinating and calling it marketing. Neither is a good thing. Either we don’t think the world really needs our message, or we are lying to ourselves about how important our art is to us. Neither is a good thing. So we say we want balance.

Actually admitting creating meaningful art is more important than marketing nothing will help us make real progress.

Not Average

Average is not thinking about the heart work you must do before you bloom in life. You are definitely not average. You are most likely an overachieving, highly successful, intelligent smartypants that has some work to do. And you know it. You find yourself, like I do, saying this balance word all the time.

Now dig. What do you really mean? Name it. Face it. Become a stronger person.

When you are confronted with the fact you are addicted to information, you deny it. Once taking a break doesn’t quite work out, you start paying attention. Then it gets on your nerves. And you know what you must do.

Some delete their Facebook account, stop checking every blog on the Web, or delete all those iPhone apps that would make a hypnotist jealous. OK, not just a hypnotist. Try every real person we are around when looking at our phones.

Some have been through the cycle over the years so many times that their relationship with data overload is like weeding the lawn instead of stopping an addiction. More filtering. Less cold turkey.

I started by limiting my Twitter feed to 150 people. Dunbar’s number sounded like a good start. Then it was Facebook. Facebook is where I go occasionally to feel guilty I don’t load more photos of how cool I am. Cough.

As “going analog” has crept into my lexicon, my mind has more room to breathe. To think. To reflect. To consider my ways. To create instead of consume.

During this time of evaluating where I spend my attention, Nathan Little of Moody Publishers sent me a new book to check out called Inciting Incidents: 6 Stories of Fighting Disappointments in a Flawed World.

The book is a beautifully printed work of art. It has raw, touching stories, artful typography and design, along with artwork to go with each chapter. None of this could be found on a tablet or e-reader. It reminded me why printed books still have a place – when the publisher steps up their creativity level.

A few things hit me as I read the book.

• I was not racing to get through it like a blog post. I could pace myself and spend time with each author.
• If these authors could overcome their disappointments and write about them so powerfully, there is so much hope for the rest of us.
• Should I be reading this? The stories are like journal entries and emotionally compelling.
• I really like these authors! David Wenzel, Jeff Goins, Blaine Hogan, Tracee Persiko, Mandy Thompson, David Hickman, Sarah Cunningham

Definitely consider checking out this book if you follow any of these authors and bloggers online. You will learn a side of them you don’t yet know. And you just might meet someone new and be completely inspired.

As for me, I’m writing this post instead of consuming one for a change. I suggest you go do the same.

And then let me know so I can go read it.

While dying is not optional in this world, crossing out certain reasons for dying is up for grabs. When I have the same health conversation several times in a row, I know it’s time to write my thoughts here and let it go. Ultimately, people are going to do what they want; facts be damned. They will either seek and find the truth, or die not trying. For those seekers out there, this one’s for you.

The first two leading causes of death in the US are:

1. Heart Disease
2. Cancer
3. View Top 10

Number four, stroke, is highly related to heart disease, so we’ll call that a twofer.

My interest in health started in high school when I realized I could simply move some weights around and grow muscles to fill out my wrestling singlet. I reasoned that if I could prevent disease from even starting, I would live happier, healthier, and longer. My mom was on to something with her nutritional theories. I have to thank her for forcing me to eat my broccoli. Some call it genetic. I call it learning from your parents’ habits.

The first real book that holistically summed up much of what I was finding was Dr. Joseph Mercola’s book, Take Control of Your Health.

Dr. Mercola showed me that there is no one right diet for everyone. That one statement could stop a few health wars right there. I liked how he wasn’t just focused on diet either. He understood that environmental and emotional factors among others played into one’s total health. He introduced me to the Weston A. Price Foundation, which pointed out that there is a huge difference between good and bad fats, dairy, and meat. Of course, all the bad versions are the only ones readily available. You have to really try to eat the good stuff.

Oh, you want to eat the good dairy? Sorry, it is illegal in the US.

People lie to make money. You are the only one looking out for your health and what fuel runs your body. Trust, but verify. Everything.

Then came Netflix. Bless Netflix. Every health documentary on the planet was at my fingertips. And the watching and reading began. Forks Over Knives opened my eyes to the possibility that there were still more “facts” I had not even questioned. Maybe choosing the right meat, diary, and oils was not the key question. Maybe the question was how much. Maybe the question was choosing the right fruits, vegetables, and legumes. The ideas were definitely life-changing.

• Our bodies make all the cholesterol we need.
• Moderation kills.
• Plants can give us the perfect amount of protein.
• Diet plays the starring role in avoiding the top deadly diseases.

After reading T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr.’s Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, I questioned the approach to testing one thing at a time instead of a holistic system. When dealing with something as complex and wonderful as the human body, how could we ever draw sound conclusions from simply raising or lowering one ingredient in our diets?

People can argue all they want with the research of these two men but I believe their conclusions are so highly controversial because they call out so many lies the population already took as fact. They are basically saying the world is round in a flat-believing world. Not popular.

More documentaries followed. More educational books on health. More ringside seats to blog fights between meat-eaters and plant-eaters, those overwhelmed and those who know it all, doctors and patients, the government and the people.

The pinnacle of ideas so dangerous, they are illegal, lay inside Healing The Gerson Way by Charlotte Gerson and A Cancer Therapy by Dr. Max Gerson. These books backed up what the plant-eaters were saying but since they were attacking the behemoth cancer therapy industry, they lost. The Gerson Therapy cannot be given in the United States. I’ll let you figure that one out.

The message of these books? The incurable is curable. With examples.

The challenge of these books? We live in a world acting against our health at every turn. We can give excuses or we can learn. We can see what happens later in life or we can start making better choices today.

As a person who loves reading, life-long learning, and growing every day, I cherish what these books have taught me. I hope they encourage you and challenge your mind to think differently about how you live.

Thanks to all those who came out to PodCamp Nashville this year, and especially those who attended my session. There were well over 100 of us in the Karma Lounge, so thanks for making my debut as a speaker at PodCamp an awesome experience. My hope is that you connected with someone new, finished your video bio plan, set a deadline, and will find success using video in your business.

For those who asked for a copy of the presentation, I embedded it below, including the popular Video Bio Plan Handout.

Twitter Challenge

I’m excited to announce the big winner of the Twitter Challenge! Congratulations to Chris McCulley, whose winning tweet is below. He will be getting a free video bio produced for his website! Remember, post all your videos you produce as a result of our PodCamp session at the Video Bio Channel on Vimeo.

@jeffdolan I’ve gotta ask, do you own all the action figures in your presentation? #pcn12vidbio

— Chris McCulley (@ChrisAMcCulley) April 14, 2012

How many bands do you know these days that are known for more than their music? Or have moved beyond music entirely?

I have been noticing a trend over the past few years that is an interesting result of the democratization of technology. The media band. A group of multidisciplinary artists that create together in the areas of video, music, art, design, etc. Music may simply be a part of what they do if at all.

Media here means the various ways of expression including music. Band refers to a group of artists that consistently create together for hobby or profit. Some form traditional companies and some enjoy getting together to just jam creatively.

I call this concept a media band simply because I believe it is larger than the platform that helped launch it, namely YouTube. These bands would exist with or without YouTube, although YouTube did an excellent job of cultivating groups like this to grow. I hesitate to call them strictly YouTubers for the same reason I wouldn’t call a band iTuners.

Granted, you could argue this concept has been around forever for all the Top 40 popular bands dating back decades. But never to the degree it is available today with the low barriers of entry to produce compelling content and share it so easily online.

I want to call attention to a few examples to illustrate what I mean when I say media band. You might know some more.

OK Go has done such an incredible job at producing music videos that their videos are more anticipated than their music.

Wong Fu Productions is a band of three video producers who are rock stars in their own right but do not release music.

Rhett and Link have been producing their own brand of comedy for years together and made a career of it.

Julian Smith has attracted a roster of actors and producers that consistently produce entertaining content including ringtones, music, and merchandise.

Freddie Wong and his partner in crime, Brandon J. Laatsch, produce a strand of action comedy involving guns, video games and explosions that has attracted Hollywood talent.

Yes, the content varies as much as the genres of music vary but I hope you see how the media band concept encompasses more than just music and video. These bands throw concerts. Julian actually plays Jellyfish live. Rhett and Link have released CDs and films. Wong Fu is practically a movement. Freddie will most likely become an action film director one day.

What starts out as a little garage band with friends can now become much more than simply a rock band. I’m sure each of these guys looked at the traditional path of a musician before choosing their current path. The bands of the future will look more like these artists than they did at any other time previously in history.

Some of us are on a journey to find ourselves. Others are on a journey of remembering who we are. A few have not only found or remembered, they have transcended beyond themselves to help others imagine a better journey. These people are the masters. Those who have integrated everything they are into a positive force in the world. Master artist Stanka Kordic lives this ideal. She inspires us all to follow her lead.

She paints her vision of the world while using actual paint. She has been faithfully doing so for decades. And my job was to translate this enormously talented artist’s voice on canvas into the medium of film. “Could it be done?” I asked myself. No, but maybe I could create something new and give a voice where there was none. I agreed to try.

While her art speaks for itself, for the first time, the artist herself speaks. Imagine: The Art of Stanka Kordic is a short film that introduces a beautiful person who inspires others with her art to see life differently. Our lives can transform simply by re-framing our perspective. And paintings can speak to this transformation every time we look at them. They can become close friends, as art collector Sara in the film explains.

I thoroughly enjoyed diving head first into the art of translating art. Painting with moving images and sound. Stanka even cleared music rights with shared favorite cellist and composer, Zoe Keating, whose ambient neo-classical music could not have better fit this film. How symbolic it was to create with a soundtrack as layered and progressive as Stanka’s paintings!

You will notice in the film some of my own experimental shooting techniques that Stanka welcomed openly. Because of the organic layering and experimenting in her own art, she immediately appreciated me doing the same. Working with another artist in this way became its own artistic process. She saw me painting with a different brush, recognized what I was doing, and played off that energy.

Imagine will take you on a multi-layered journey with Stanka as your guide through painting her latest masterpiece, evolving into a new art style, and stepping into the unknown. I invite you to watch and be moved.

Be sure to look out for her latest gallery show called the The Rhythm of Stillness starting 11/11/11 at BAYarts in Bay Village, Ohio. To see her art online, visit www.alternativeportraiture.com.

In the film world, working solo is becoming a reality where before it was almost impossible. The indie filmmaker now has the tools and technology to act as the director, cameraman, sound guy, producer, editor, and marketing team. Himself. And in greater numbers than ever before, herself.

The affordable digital technology rivaling Hollywood is driving innovations that are rewriting the rules on what it means to produce video for audiences. Especially when that audience can be anywhere in the world online. I love that I am living during one of the largest transitions in the history of film.

But as one starting off as an indie, I am quickly realizing that there is wisdom, power, and magic in the team. There is a reason Hollywood has developed all the distinct roles for each position on a set. And when you get to work with a team of like-minded folks, however small, the excitement level bumps up a notch.

For this music video, I worked with a small team that brought that inspirational spark for upcoming Nashville folk artist Matthew Rineer. We had a wonderful Director, John Paul Penrod, who brought his vision for what he wanted to see happen. We had a beautiful actress and model, Bethany Dickason, who came prepared with a great attitude. And we had a band of musicians that really cared about presenting their music in the best possible light to their fans. Matthew was the perfect gentleman and encourager.

I ran the camera, or as the film industry would say, I was the Director of Photography.

As solo Swiss Army knifes, some indie filmmakers list off all the jobs they cover. I like to keep it simple and say I acted as Producer in that case, but this is so new, everyone is making it up. I heard three different filmmakers recently call themselves three different things for essentially doing the same work – videographer, cinematographer, filmmaker. When you can also take still frames out of the videos, you also become a photographer. At that point, what are you? A photographer slash videographer? A visual artist?

All in all, I highly recommend working in a team on any production set if possible, whatever roles you fill. I wish Matthew and his band all the best with their music and career. They invested in a solid music video that showcases their music visually, and I hope they are proud of what they have accomplished to date.

I can honestly say that after hearing his song on repeat all day during our shoot, I never got tired of it. It’s that easy on the ears.

When was the last time you got that awkward feeling that the dream you thought you wanted — the one you may even be pursuing right now — is not it. The dream you fought for years to do. That one. Yeah. Not it.

In Blaine Hogan‘s new book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on The Creative Process, he describes this strange and extremely awkward feeling. As he drove away from wrapping season one of 20th Century Fox’s show Prison Break, where he was finally starting to take off with his acting career, an undeniable feeling swept over him. Not only was it highly uncomfortable, it was down right absurd, he says.

He felt a deep sense to give up his current path of acting to go to seminary.

And the amazing thing is, he listened. He decided to stop running. His confession came out. And his life, as he shares in vivid emotional prose, was freed to become a better version.

I couldn’t help but identify with his story because I have been there as well. Many of us have. The creative life takes so many turns, paints with so many colors, that we start to chase our favorites without asking the hard questions. We simply do not think. We do not commit to contemplate, as Blaine says.

We do not do the inner work that needs to be done first. We let the medium come before the message.

We determine we like music or photography, film or acting, and we do not first consider why those mediums work for our story. Or in what capacity we should engage and express our story. We may like music and try to be a singer, ignoring our heart to serve behind the scenes instead of on the stage. We may like photography and blindly pursue it, ignoring our heart to use words to build others up.

As Blaine shares in his philosophy as an artist:

1. Content must come before the medium.
2. Don’t set out to prove a point. Set out to tell a great story.

We can waste years chasing something that will never free us to become who we truly can become. But the good news is that it is all part of our journey. And that journey is what Blaine points to as the deepest well for our creativity.

If we are willing to do the work to find the parts that move us, and that give us the lump in our throats, we can take others into a truer more powerful art that deeply moves them as well.

To move and be moved. To love and be loved. Isn’t that why art captures us in the first place?

Building 429 and I have been trying to find ways to work together for years now, so I was delighted when I got the green light from Provident to film the guys making their latest album, Listen To The Sound. The series of nine videos, entitled Listen To The Sounds From the Studio, gave fans a unique behind the scenes look into the creative process of recording.

They released one video every week leading up to the album launch date and generated over 15,000 views. The album shot straight to #1 in the Christian & Gospel store on iTunes. Congrats again to a job well done guys!

Jason Roy, Michael Anderson, Jesse Garcia, and Aaron Branch created what many are saying is their best album to date, after a solid four albums under their belt and thousands of shows around the world. Award-winning co-producers Jason Ingram and Rusty Varenkamp, along with rock producer Rob Hawkins, crafted a mature, memorable album.

The key impression I got after seeing the guys on this record versus past records is that they were just having fun. They were not anxious, under pressure, super intense, or even jaded as many artists can be in the studio. They had clearly hit their stride in their career, and I could tell they were producing something special they were proud to share with the world.

It was an honor working with their management team at Thomas Vasquez, the folks at Provident Music Group, their worship team who sang on the album’s opening track “Made for You” and “Where I Belong,” as well as special guest Dawn Michele, Fireflight’s frontwoman, who sang a duet on “I’ll Be With You.” Everyone was open to working with me and sharing ideas on what would make the series more compelling.

One thing you will probably notice is that there are nine videos in the series but only eight were released. The ninth video covered a hilarious prank they pulled on one of their musicians. They messed with the tuning on his parts when he listened back to them just to mess with him, and the reaction was priceless. To protect the innocent, they were probably wise to keep that one private, but I think it speaks to how much fun they were having creating together.

I love artists. I love music. And I love artists that make music.

My work on this project was incredibly rewarding, and visually documenting this period in their lives was a blast. Their story is one of love, hope, and grace conquering all, even when life throws everything negative your way.

Check out the entire series below and visit Building 429′s website to listen and buy the record if you like it. I hope this video series conveys their heart behind these songs, and gives you a greater appreciation into how they were created.