- Back in January I was approached by an ad agency that was hired to design posters for your new film, Oldboy. They wanted me to design some comps to present to you. They told me the budget was small and that they could only pay me peanuts for the comps but if you and the studio liked any of them I would then be compensated fairly through the licensing buyout fee.
Anyone who has worked in media will know where this is heading...
Most people think that because some designers produce images with a computer, the work is easy and has an endless yield. You can tell them otherwise, but it won't sink in. The concept of photoshopping has become so cheapened that it's value, in certain circles, has been diminished to that of a parlour trick. 90% of my work is drawing and making images. On a computer. I make images that people, not long ago, could only make by hand. And let me tell you what - people in established fields don't respect the computer crafted image. There is a real contempt for it I think. This contempt has trickled up into corporate practices the industry over. Your work on a computer is worthless = YOU are worthless. Add that to the fact that many in advertising find their own business suspect and without a generative core. What you're left with is a toxic brew of cannibalism as a means of base survival.
Wow. An astute and concise summary of a really bleak state. I've been feeling this way for awhile regarding digital photography. It may also have become true along the way about digital audio recording. The playing field has definitely been leveled technologically speaking, which reduces the degree of awe and thrall in which experts and artists can hold us. To some extent, I regard this as a good thing, as far more players are allowed into the field, and any idea can rise to the top. It certainly has made us jaded to the value of craft, though.
I'd be interested to know how this develops. If you are following this and hear of any response from Spike Lee etc, please update here. Content creators are treated like crap these days, it's amazing to me.
Oh man. Prepare to get angry. Spike Lee just responded.
Spike Less got called out by name for some shit he had no involvement in. Why should Lee, who got called out as a scammy cheapskate, do anything but tell this guy to fuck off? Notice how the author didn't mention his endless creative meetings with Mr. Lee? Or any involvement with him what so ever? Pretty sure if I just had my name drug through the mud with absolutly no basis my reaction to the mud-dragger would be "Go Fuck Yourself." I also notice that the add agency isn't named one time in the entire piece?
I'm not angry, he's likely telling the truth. My anger is with the agency, let's see how they respond.
Exactly. His response is something that I would expect from a bratty high school kid. Staying quiet or simply saying "I'm looking into this" would've been infinitely better.
I agree. He seems to be fully engaged in preserving plausible deniability (which he may well be entitled to, or may have been up until now). And I agree with thenewgreen that he may well be following protocol established exactly for these types of situations -- which does not even remotely absolve him. Complicity is a many tentacled terror.
My guess is that if he openly admits looking in to it, he opens a pandora box of these types of assertions. He has people that will likely look on to it.
Guess what's on the front page of Grantland right now. EDIT: it'd be neat if some of you with Twitters would consider sending this Wesley Morris' way; he wrote the article. Also what the fuck are they doing remaking Oldboy anyway.