Category: Craft

Make It Count

courtesy: goandshoot.com From Casey Neistat's commercial for Nike.

courtesy: goandshoot.com
From Casey Neistat’s commercial for Nike.  

I like when minds are different. I like when one person looks at a piece of abstract art and sees their mother in law on the Eiffel tower, and another person sees bacon falling from the sun.

One mind that looks at the world differently is filmmaker Casey Neistat. He was hired by Nike to make a commercial about their new wristband that counts steps. More specifically, he had to show the world in one commercial what it means to “make it count”.

Neistat is known for his risky approaches. In this particular film he starts out by telling viewers “Nike asked me to make a movie asking what it meant to make it count. Instead of making their commercial I spent the entire budget traveling around the world with my friend Max. We’d keep going until the money ran out. It took ten days.”

A quote that shows up on the screen is: “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all,” said by Hellen Keller. The camera lenses capture Neistat’s journey through footsteps. He goes from his New York apartment to the airport, to the Eiffel tower, the pyramids in Egypt, the Buckingham Palace and Big Ben in London, the rainforests in Zambia, the Vatican in Rome, Bangkok, and back to his New York apartment. Whether if he’s running, walking, jumping, or flipping, he is always in motion.

No matter how many times I watch this film, I always feel inspired at the end. There are several quotes throughout the video. The ones that I take with me to Élan are “Do one thing everyday that scares you” said by Elanor Roosevelet  and “Action expresses priorities” said by Ghandi. I entered Élan this year as Art Editor. Like anything else, it can be scary taking a new role, but I’m here because I’m passionate about art.

In Élan I get to surround myself with art and writing, and it’s as if I’ve traveled all over the world, through different concepts and different minds all by staying foot in one place, in this one classroom, where Élan’s literary pages come to life. To me, that’s what matters, that’s what counts.

-Kathleen Roland, Art Editor 

Watch the commercial here! Follow the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxfZkMm3wcg&list=UUtinbF-Q-fVthA0qrFQTgXQ

Do What You Love

Madison BP picGoing into this year I was extremely excited to get back into the swing of things. At the end of last year the staff had a really good routine of updating the blog, laying out the book and creating a brand for ourselves and was on the road to launch the new and improved Élan! I have to say that this year has been nothing but good. We have made goals for ourselves and now we are well on our way to accomplishing them. As a senior, I feel like that leaving the staff at the end of the year will be bittersweet. Of course it will sad to leave but I will feel very proud of what I am leaving behind.

Taking a lead in both Homecoming and Marketing this year has really inspired me to look into careers like Marketing and Public Relations as well as Event Planning. Mrs. Melanson always says that being on the Élan Staff is like having a job without getting a paycheck. But, being so heavily involved in the planning of Homecoming and really jumping into the Marketing process has made me reconsider my possible career choice.

Having marketing meetings, planning and executing our ideas is something that I look forward to and receive extreme satisfaction from. I get a little adrenaline rush when I get to sit down at a table with my agenda flipped to the notes section, my pen in hand.  I think that being on the staff has inspired me to do what I love and what makes me happy. I love the global idea of branding, planning, and being able to work in a team. I look forward to going to Élan and to pick up right where we left off the previous day. I feel that I accomplish a lot personally as well as working with the rest of the staff as a whole.  There is always a sense of true appreciation after leaving second period every day and it’s something that I am going to miss next year.

-Madison George, Social Media Editor  

When We Least Expect It

stephanieThey told me that you can never run out of ideas. That writer’s block was a myth. That you can find inspiration if you just try enough.

I wish that they had all told me the truth.

My biggest concern last year when I was going to be the marketing editor was how was I supposed to come up with creative ideas whenever I wanted to. And now—two commercials, a stockpile of merchandise, and one print book later—I still sometimes worry. Sometimes my fellow members of Élan come and ask me for marketing strategies. They do not know that inspiration rarely comes when I want it to, and sometimes it doesn’t even come when I need it to.

I always want the ideas—for writing, for marketing—to come immediately; I want them enter into my mind before I lost the hunger for them. I want to digest them before I forget how the creative spark tastes in my mouth.

When I was younger I didn’t have strict boundaries of homework, school, and deadlines. As a senior, I’ve lost some of that urge to be spontaneous, to be willing to sacrifice so much for the sake of something so simple, like finding out what happened to Harry, or if Percy made it to the labyrinth. I used spend hours beneath the covers with a book propped between my elbows, so that I could hold the flashlight and not have to worry about the pages turning on their own accord.

I’ve found that sometimes inspiration comes to us when we least expect it; it guides us along the raging rapids of our thoughts so that we can plan the next Homecoming commercial or create a new t-shirt design or even just help a fellow Élan staff member with their marketing goals.

-Stephanie Thompson, Head of Marketing