Are We Loosing Our Creative Breathing Room?

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Technology allows us to deliver content and spectacular speeds to an audience of ready fans.  We writers can get our eBooks out faster than anyone in publishing dreaded of a decade ago.  Those of us in gaming can get out a game in parts, or keep the DLC flowing until a game's sequel comes out.  Musicians can deliver one tune at a time until the DVD burns or concert season comes up.

We can keep delivering content all the time.  There can be almost no gap between one product than the next – in the case of novels, with continual e-chapters, it never has to end.

I'm wondering if this is a good idea, or if at the very least it'll be hard to adapt to:

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Fanimations: Animation, Technology, and Animated Fanworks Of The Future

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Last week bonnie discussed Bad Thai Disney Ripoffs and how technology for animation was putting it in reach of everyone.  She speculated on how animated fanworks could one day be much, much easier to do.  I of course wanted to add my own analysis.

Namely, taking the idea that someday technology could give us reasonable-to-high quality, quickly-done fan and amateur animation.  Laugh as we will at the Thai Faux Disney, the quality of the animation is not horrendous – if it were a fanwork it would be considered pretty decent.  So, building on the idea that technology is making animation easier and easier, what points do we have to reach to get to many people using available tech to jump on the animation bandwagon?  When do fan animations (fanimations?) reach a point where, like music videos and so forth, anyone can at least give them a go?

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Steve Explains: The Un-Crush Objects and His Broken Heart

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Last week I talked about what makes a Fan-To-Pro Crush Object and/or a Resume Worthy company, at least for myself.  In figured this week I'd take the time to explain what gives he the hiring heebie-jeebies when I see a company in the news.

So in no real order, here are the red lights that set off my warning bells . . . and push me into mixed metaphors.  Not all of these immediately make me say "hey, no one should work there," but as they build up . . .

  • Job cuts.  Look, not all job cuts are bad, but still when you need less people, then certainly I'm not sure that you're resume-worthy for the readership.  Also I find they're often made in desperation.
  • No direction.  Who are you and what are you doing, company?  If I can't make it out and all I see is meandering, then I'm going to be concerned you're not a target for the readership's career choices.  Size doesn't matter here.
  • Bad location.  Good companies can be anywhere, but some places show more promise than others.  As cool as you may be, do people want to live where you area?  For that matter, are you in the kind of place where investors rain down Venture Capital or not?
  • Clueless advertising and marketing.  Sure it's almost certainly done by some outsourced agency who creates your ads and adulations, but if you can't give those people good direction or clamp down on dumb ideas, then you've got an issue.  Bad management is bad management.
  • No stability.  Stability is a bit hard to classify – or expect – in tis day and age, but at least make a try.  If everything is changing all the time, you're moving, the product is changing, etc. it doesn't look dynamic and innovative, it looks desperate and insipid.
  • Disrespect.  Show some respect for your customers, employees, and competitors.  Otherwise you're not only a jerk, you're undermining your relations with the people that pay the bills, do the work, or can crush you.  It also shows that you've got too many people who are egomaniacs, and even if they succeed, the company may not.
  • The wrong kind of retro.  There's old-school that's hip, then there's just backwards and clueless.  If you're old-school, show enough savvy to show you know it – otherwise you may look backwards or even be backwards.
  • A lack of a sense of humor.  A lack of humor is a lack of awareness.  I am not too turned off by not being humorous, but an extreme lack of humor is a dangerous thing.
  • Follow the leader.  Innovate, OK?  Even a little bit?  If you imitate at least imitate your way?  Otherwise you seem unoriginal and unoriginality isn't a confidence builder.
  • Doesn't provide value.  If all you do is shift cash around and do nothing then I'm not interested

So there's the rather abstract guide to what makes me take a company out of my "the readers should work for it" lists.  I hope it helps.  it was at least therapeutic to write on my end.

– Steven Savage