22 Rules To Phenomenal Storytelling, Pixar Way

Story telling is an art. Not everyone has it. But if you learn a bit, its not that hard to learn. Your grannies stories, your mom's stories, your favorite teachers stories, they had all one thing in common. They were engaging, memorable and always left you wanting more.

Pixar did the same with the movies they created. They were amazing form of story telling. Have a read through the slides created with minimum and yet precise words that throw light on the subtle art of story telling.

Pixar's 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling from Gavin McMahon

Iconic Street Art Of Dr Dadasaheb Phalke In Mumbai

Mumbai is behind when it comes to street art. You can find a lot of street art campaigns along the Tulsi Pipe road along the Western Railways barrier walls. You will find a few here and there, which are more of a nuisance. But hardly one's that are officially created by artists.

Here's one I clicked. Its located on the corporate building of MTNL (Maharashtra Telephone Nigam Limited) and it is dedicated to the legendary Dr. Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian Cinema.

Dada Saheb Phalke painted on MTNL corporate office at bandra, Mumbai. #Streetart #creative #painting #Mumbai

A photo posted by Hemant Nagwekar (@hemantnagwekar) on Jun 10, 2015 at 10:30am PDT

If you ever get a chance, visit this place. Here's how you get there.

Dr Dadasaheb Phalke

 

If Only For A Second

What if you can give someone something to smile about. What if a small gesture, however insignificant or mundane it may seem, would brighten the darkest of dark.

If only for a second, happiness can given to someone suffering for terminal cancer. If only to give them a moment in their life that makes them feel carefree, silly, joyous and live life, the way they would have want to live.

A touching effort by Mimi Foundation and Leo Burnett France.

Mind Blowing? Really?

Ever heard someone say 'mind blowing'? Well, how about seeing that happen?

Looks more like a stressed out mind just loosing it, right? So stop using that expression. Your brain would appreciate some self-empathy.

Thank you +Sergii Daniloff for the share on +Google+  

Imagine - In Search Of A Elusive Writer (Haruki Murakami)

Haruki Murakami

A short documentary which attempts to understand the enigmatic and influential Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. The documentary attempts to trace the journey of Murakami and understand his influences and passion for writing such masterpieces. What I like about this documentary is that it provides some beautiful scenes enacted from several of his books with the with a voice over that reads out excerpts of those scenes.

A definite recommendation for a laid back watch. And, there will be some sweet jazz as accompaniment.

Once There Was Magic In Cricket

Nothing experiences happiness like a good game of street cricket

[Image Source: 500px.com]

Carnage, hammering, Storm ... these are words not associated with anything pleasant or positive. And yet, such reactions are invoked when people watch the game of cricket, more so in the new format of T20 Cricket. Its entertainment, and less of sports, so to speak. A gamble where you take the best possible scenario which otherwise would be impossible to observe and throw in a bunch of rules to keep the events tight and compact and create an concoction that's explosive, to say the least, as an outcome.

I have been a cricket fan since childhood. But that has drifted into another dimension now. Cricket for me is a shadow of its former self. A gentleman's game gone wrong. Something that was meant to be passionate now gets bid upon. Players are so busy playing for their clubs and country that they have lost out on the passion for the tribe, so to speak. When the tribe keeps changing, you are no more bonded but merely a part of something. With big money being poured in and the natural high of fame and pseudo power makes one simply corrupt.

Its not just the players or clubs or institutions, but also the fans who have started shifting alliances. And that for me is the death of a game. Or at least the decay having set in.

But the game is rocking and hugely profitable. Player are earning wages unheard of. The clubs are as rich as most football clubs in Europe  The format is nothing new. Its simply an adaptation of that the game of football saw as it evolved. So if football is not being critically looked at, why is cricket? An interesting question for which the answer lies in how much you you see your team as a team, i suppose. Club football is something that happens year after year and then there is the world cup which happens once in four years. Alliances change as patriotism takes over. But once its all over. The club legion takes prominence and life goes on. Thats not the case with cricket. And there, I believe, lies the problem.

I am no expert in this game nor a big fan in any remote way. But as a mere observation, I just want to speak out about the game that has taken a wrong turn. being commercial is not bad, but the risk of commoditization is in the culture of supply demand. That's not what sports is all about. Or at least that was not how I saw sports as.

Tickets get sold, sponsors get their hands full, clubs and player have a ball and the audience gets entertained. End of the game everyone goes home happy and content. But then, life goes on and the events of the game are forgotten just like the last movie I say, as I step out of the movie hall. If sports does not invoke strong memories, the olympics would be just one big party and nothing else. But that's not what it is, is it?

I hope people save the game while they can. Perhaps by picking up and bat and ball and hitting the nearest street corner or park for a innings of fun. You will probably get the point I am trying to make.  

What a wonderful world

Just have a look at this beautiful picture and listen to the song below. It says it all.

Louis Armstrong played a song for his wife.

Credit to BuzzFeed for this picture. [link]

Global Metal - An Anthropologist's Perspective

Came across a very interesting documentary created by a Metal head and an professional anthropologist. What's unique about the video is its take on Metal music through people, their cultural context, their associations with the music genre and roots of their loyalty.

A must watch for loyalists and skeptics alike. It's a long movie, so you better grab a beer with it. Cheers!

One Cutting Chai

I cannot say with credibility about the origin of Cutting Chai but I believe that Mumbai is one place where this concept has originated or so has the lingo. So what is Cutting Chai? Well, Chai meaning tea, when served in small portion becomes 'cutting' tea. Literally, like cutting into smaller portions.

A Cutting Chai. 

Cutting Chai is, I believe, one of the measures of inflation for us common folks. How, you might ask. Its the least your have to spend to eat or drink something when you are out of your house. Tea, a favorite hot beverage that  is consumed by most Indians is a morning necessity and a fuel to make you stay focused through the day. As of date, a cutting chai costs between 5 to 6 rupees for a glass. There was a time when it was available for 2-2.5 rupees and the quantity was way better. Now a days there are some tea stalls that still serve a rupee 2 chai but the portions will make a tequila shot glass look like a beer mug.

A Walk Down Mumbai Lanes

Visiting Flora Fountain area of South Mumbai is a pleasure on weekends. This place is maddening with people and traffic on week days. But by evenings or on week ends, its another story. Here are some snaps that I took recently when I visited a friend around the Fort area of South Mumbai.

A colonial past that is a major landmark in Mumbai not only for tourists but daily travelers to South Mumbai.

Flora Fountain at Fort, South Mumbai

Hey Boy!

My first attempt at drawing with my new Wacom Bamboo Tablet. I love this tablet as a beginner. I migh probably do a quick overview on it in my future post. For now, this is what I could come up with in a 2 min sketch with Bamboo and Adobe Photoshop.

Hey Boy! (A digital sketch)

 PS: I user a crumpled paper texture in the background which I found on the internet.

Choices we make

Choices among choices

The work was done in Photoshop when I was helping my wife identify an image for a concept she was developing. Though it didn't work out because of my dark approach to the visual, I eventually kept it instead of trashing it. Felt like sharing my thoughs on this with all of you.

The though behind the visual was to show that sometimes the choices we make are not the ones that are available to us. Rather they are the choices that are made available to us by others or by circumstances. The distractions lure us to think about the possible and make us miss out on the obvious. Good or bad, right or wrong, critical or mundane .... there is always a pitch made to us.

Hope you like it.