A few things to talk about this week.

A talk with the Bossman.

A broken drone.

Plans for filming.

Thoughts on value.

I imagine it feels like I talk about these philosophical notions on value just about every week.

Buckle up.

So,

Shin and I were talking the other day.

He’d sent me a video made by Toyota that was basically a 1.5 minute CGI sequence of the modern world we see around us transitioning fluidly into a self-sufficient and all-around pleasant future world we could potentially create.

‘Potentially’ meaning, if, you know,

we humans get our shit together.

It was pretty cool, but nothing new. Nor was the CGI. I mean, the whole concept of us creating a better, healthier, happier world through making sustainable decisions and efficient technology.

Who doesn’t love that?

But who’s actually walking the walk…

well that’s a different, and more important question.

So there’s probably a reason you don’t see it asked often.

The ones too busy talking are not walking.

Anyways

He was telling me how he’d really like to create something like this and was asking if I was interested in learning CGI or if I had any experience in it.

Here were my thoughts:

• CGI costs a lot.

It’s a huge investment to learn it, and a huge investment to purchase it.

Why? Because the only CGI that’s worth putting out there is top quality stuff.

If it’s not the best CGI, chances are it looks like garbage. Let’s be honest. This commercial by Toyota, a world class company with world class cash… it looks like a college student’s end of term project to me.

•You don’t need to make the stuff that’s considered the best, you need to make the stuff you have the best you can.

Can’t figure out a more eloquent way to say that. 

However, I think it’s really true. One of the hardest things about trying to create content while on the other side of the world and stuck in a house with no props or materials was feeling like I couldn’t make anything I wanted to. I was limited by my environment.

But during our talk I thought about Geico. They don’t necessarily have the best quality visuals, the best quality actors, the best product. They just had an idea, a framework for their commercials, and ran with it to pump out content.

In the mass of output that would follow, surely there would not only be a few times they struck gold, but they would build loyalty and recognition with their fans.

Shin’s talked a lot about creating a fanbase of sorts for the company and this has always seemed weird to me.

It was hard for me to look at one product and see a bunch of possibilities for advertising and building a customer/fan base around it.

However, lately I’ve been able to take a step back and see things as I like to see them… that is, the ideas behind the product, not the product themselves.

And stak’s ideas are this: technology creating a better world, creating more time for people so we can enjoy more quality in our lives. 

Now we’re talking. 

Worry less about if you’re making the perfect product, and spend more time perfecting what you’ve got. 

Worry less about finding the perfect idea, and instead perfect the ideas right in front of you.

Other Stuff.

My drone’s gimbal is shot. I guess the Mavic Pro seems to have an issue with some cable inside of it that connects to the gimbal.

I was going to use it to get some shots of Great Falls and other areas around here to use in my last video of here, the first video of the next chapter of my involvement with stak.

Ordered the part and I’m going to try fixing it myself tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes.

Good news is that stak is in possession of a Mavic Pro 2, so assuming I get back to Japan with no problems (not like last time) we’ll be gravy from here on. Excited to try it out.

I’ve been taking care of so, so many things to get ready to get back there.

The list is endless. Life goes in waves.

Nothing for a while? Everything comes next.

I’ll update about all of that, but for now, it’s focusing on the video to be made here before I leave.

Back at you next week with that.