Collaboration in Motion – First Contact

Both of my teammates had met our artist (DUAN) previously through their podcast series, however this week was the first time I had made contact. What I had learnt from the Dawn Shadforth reading permeated my thoughts prior to the meeting as this was the instance in which we were going to feel out the creative possibilities that lay between our vision for Bloom and his. From a purely business standpoint it was crucial that we found middle ground for this project to even come to fruition, but beyond that there was an area of creative collaboration and compromise that I was anxious to feel out. During High School I, like most, was in charge of my own projects and all decisions were ultimately made by me… compromise was a muscle I never had to stretch. Considering how different the song is to my usual style of music I knew there would be differences; our team was pitching a much more despondent tone than the song itself contained. This however excited me more than I expected. Expansion and collaboration are a key part of my growth as a practitioner and my entry into the industry, and so I found myself intrigued at how we would compromise with our artist, how his creative vision would force us to leave the comfort zone of our own.

With Tessa in the role of Director and San Producing the project I found that, whilst I interjected occasionally, expanding on the concept and explaining some techniques, I, for the most part, was watching the other two interact with Dan. The interaction itself
I found fascinating. As is to be expected of any artist Dan was obviously sentimental about his work and there was an obvious anxiety about having its visual companion connect with and elevate his work. Due to this we got him to explain what the song was to him, which I believe was a fantastic decision (kudos points to San for that one). Both sides of the discussion were obviously attempting to feel out the other, to be accommodating, but also to maintain creative vision. Having him expand on what the song meant to him allowed us to have some ground to stand on, which was crucial for us to start pitching our idea. We admitted to our belief that our vision was slightly darker than the song it would accompany, however from there we were able to pass the ideas back and forth, gauging what he was and wasn’t liking about the concept. He was obviously and rightly nervous at first about the tonal shift that the visuals would bring; the song is about rebirth and rejuvenation after all. This anxiety was somewhat quelled though by discussing how we envisioned ideas of becoming as a process of shedding a previous iteration of ones self. The further we linked our visual ideas with the concepts within the song the smoother the conversation became as the gravity of the conversation shifted from to apposing forces to an orbit around a single focus: the song.

Ultimately I don’t think that I can claim we completely dispelled all of his trepidation, and some of his faith in the project can definitely be attributed to his previous relationship with Tessa and San. This itself was a point of learning for me as I started to understand why the industry gates are in many cases held by the connections one has rather than the skills one acquires. Dan felt comfortable giving his work to people he knew; people whose work ethic and skills he could vouch for. The prior relationship set at least some framework for the conversation we had and played a key role in the compromise between the two parties. It set precedent, something I had previously overlooked as a factor in the compromise. Even accounting for these two factors, the conversation took us leaps and bounds further into the production and solidified the groundwork of our collaboration with Dan. Over all I think that the conversation was an enlightening experience that will inform future professional collaborations I do. It was a practical example of what I had learnt from the interview with Dan Shadforth which has worked to solidify in me a lot of what I have learnt about what it means to collaborate with other creatives