This project, THE CREATIVE ADVENTURE, was designed to be as much a creative experience for the audience as it has been for the author. These videos explore the metaphor of love and human sexuality implied in the creative process. Dr. Young, the producer and director of THE CREATIVE ADVENTURE, shows how conceptual creativity mirrors and extends biological evolution.
This work deliberately goes beyond a training piece with its highly focused audience and linear presentation. Instead it is truly a piece of "e-duc-ation," drawing forth, a multi-leveled experience for many ages and abilities. Like a piece of art, poetry or music---one takes from it what one brings to it. Thus, it is suitable for general audiences.
The art, for this presentation, was done in the minimalist tradition to convey the essence of the creative experience. Dr. Young drew all the graphics on the computer using various versions of the software Coral Draw. There are over two thousand drawings and graphics integrated to flow from one image to another. Many of the illustrations are simple line drawings, designed to "delight a three year old and challenge the graduate student." Dr. Young combined the graphics and illustrations with other paintings he has done. His art exhibits many different styles and approaches that give color to the presentation and serve as a backdrop to many discussions.
Dr. Young and Mr. Crawford creatively solved the problem of limited hard drive space on the home computer. At 1 megabyte per picture and 30 pictures per second, the presentation could have been restricted to a five minute animated short. But Dr. Young says, "We used 'near-animation.' We designed drawings to merge into one another. And to create further flow, we videotaped actual image formations as they arose from the Corel Draw program. New transitions were devised for the Fast Machine editing. Thus we created an illusion of animation throughout the show, with occasional true animations to spice up sections." The second hour, completed two years later, benefits from newer animation programs and shows greater sophistication.
The project was designed like a piece of music with an ABA' form. It begins with "A Simple Love Story" of Joe and Mary and concludes with "The Ballad of Joe and Mary" in the credits. Certain themes are presented and developed over the course of the two hours. There is repetition for learning and remembering, but each time a subject returns, some aspect changes or develops.
The video was also designed like poetry. Less is more. Simple line drawings suggest more than they explain. Dr. Young portrays various points using poetry he created over the years. There is an extensive use of metaphor, the predominate one, the idea of love and human sexuality, with various leitmotifs. Themes from "The Ballad of Joe and Mary" sung by Angela Conti, extend throughout the show.
The piece begins with a sailing metaphor in a song sung by Gino Conti called an "Invitation." It is based on a poem by Dr. Young, which encourages us to take the creative adventure of sailing into the new wind, bravely facing change, and using it to help you move forward in your life. It ends in Part Two with a animated duet, "Like a Diamond," sung by Angela and Chris Conti that tells of the many facets of love and creativity and shows how love helps us learn who we are, thus extending human consciousness.
Like any piece of art, music or poetry, this video was designed to be re-experienced time and again. There are many dimensions that can be discovered and enjoyed, similar to the creative experience itself.
Dr. Young says, "This project was a labor of love, a continuous peak experience." Ideas developed over 25 years of work have been distilled into the concentrated effort of the last three years. Most of the project was done on a 486 Prostar laptop using Word Perfect, Coral Draw and Adobe Photoshop, and later edited on a Pentium Computer and a Fast editing machine.
Dr. Young says, "A special aspect of the project was bringing the experience and skills of two highly creative individuals, Mr. Harold Blanchard in music and Warren Rusty Crawford in audio video production."
Harold Blanchard composed and played music to the "Introduction." He wrote the music to "The Ballad of Joe and Mary," with lyrics based on a poem by Dr. Young. Mr. Blanchard arranged and played "Invitation" and "Like a Diamond," based on music and lyrics by Dr. Young. One evening while watching the show, Mr. Blanchard spontaneously improvised background music on a Kaiwi Grand Piano. In the studio he created other background music on the fly using different instruments. Dr. Young says, "It was fun watching this creative person create."
Dr. Young says, "Working with Rusty Crawford was a creative adventure. We took the program beyond what the Fast Machine was supposed to be able to do. We showed live video and animation simultaneously, created our own sophisticated transitions, and at times made two tracks seem like three. Mr. Crawford knew almost every facet of the video business, from recording and mixing sound, to sound effects and set changes, to conceiving the best shots and finding the best video angles. He could absorb every new software program that came along that would enhance this show.
"Every problem was the stimulus to new discovery and creativity. Computer images, for example, are delightful to draw and easy to modify, but they had a major drawback for television: the "jaggies." The Corel Draw program was designed for printed images, not for television. To solve the problem of the stair-step curves, we transported images from Coral Draw into Adobe Photoshop and shrunk them by a half. This brought into play the anti-alizing feature that smoothed the curves and letters. Thus we learned how to use the computer and different software programs creatively. The synergy was a pleasure."
The second hour explores more of the creative processes, the use of the negative space, imagination, using metaphors and simply trying things out. Whereas the first hour focuses on the creative process, the second focuses more on the creative person, although Dr. Young's psychological insights about creative learning, loving and living extend throughout the show. By the end of the second hour we understand as much about love as we do creativity. We all can learn to function more creatively.
This video is intended as a stand alone presentation for television audiences or can be used as part of a workshop or even a whole course on creative functioning. Dr. Young plans to introduce continuing education programs for teachers and those in the mental health professions based on ideas presented in this video. A CD Rom is being developed to accompany the video for those who want to go further in the subjects presented in the program.
Call your local PBS Station to show your interest in this program.