I currently work at a television network (within the realm of series development and programming) and when I began working in the entertainment industry, I originally saw this space as entirely based in creativity. After working in television development for few years, I've determined that there's actually a science behind what I previously considered to be an "artistic" space — related to calculating our audience response, applying digital analytics, tracking social media trends, etc. — all of which are used to achieve higher ratings and ultimately, more money for the television network.
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| The Hollywood Reporter: 4.3.15 Television Ratings http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ |
This week, I was most interested in David Bohm’s discussion of creativity, seeing as I, too, find it extremely difficult to define creativity in terms of my job. While I like to say that my job is “creative,” there is definitely a distinct order and process to what I do — In other words, there is detailed, almost scientific process to go about when creating a television show. It becomes easy to “fall asleep” during the process, as Bohm says, which I why I think it’s important to always be making uncomfortable and somewhat risky moves in the entertainment industry to keep your creative ideas flowing.
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| The Making of Best Picture 'Birdman' http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/making-birdman-alejandro-g-inarritu-761407 |
As John Brockman says, its impressive to find someone “who can take the materials of the culture in the arts, literature and science and put them together in their own way,” and quite honestly, that’s how I feel that the entertainment industry functions. There’s no specific track that one needs to follow and/or coursework that one needs to complete to break into the industry. I meet people everyday in this industry with science backgrounds, art backgrounds, accounting backgrounds etc. I think that knowing that I get to interact with and cross the “the dangerous [cultural] divide” everyday is what makes me most excited about being apart of the entertainment industry. I find the industry to be a melting pot of people from either side of this cultural divide.
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| Deciding Which Path to Tread: Lauren R. Crother's Blog http://lauracrothers.com/2013/11/03/a-straw-man-walks-into-a-bar-the-scientism-vs-humanities-debate-goes-on/ |
WORKS CITED:
Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.
Graham-Rowe, Duncan. "John Brockman: Matchmaking with Science and Art (Wired UK)." Wired UK. N.p., 03 Feb. 2011. Print.
Decisions. Digital image. Laura R. Crothers PhD Wordpress Blog. N.p., 03 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Hollywood Reporter: Friday Night Ratings. Digital image. The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 04 Apr. 2015. Web. 04 Apr. 2015.
Making of Birdman. Digital Image. The Hollywood Reporter. N.p. 08 Jan. 2015. Web 04 Apr. 2015.
Williams, Christopher M. “A Dangerous Divide: The Two Cultures in the 21st Century.” The New York Academy of Sciences. 24 Jul. 2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
As a science major student, it is harder for me to relate science and art in my academic study. Therefore, it is really awesome to hear your ideas of how art and science are related in your own academic and daily work. Also, it is really nice that you provided some examples and data of how science is used in art in order to improve it. Maybe it would be nicer if you could slightly mention how art is put into science. Still, I really think you did a good job of expressing your ideas and relate them to your real life!
ReplyDeleteLoved how you related the topics discussed to how they relate in your workplace (which is really cool, by the way!). The way you described it from your initial impressions of seeing it more from the artistic side to how it all intertwines with technology and statistics was very fascinating!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how in high school I used to think that once I chose a major and if I stuck with it, my job would be related to my major. But in reality, many people who work in a certain field come from different education backgrounds. Obviously that's not the case if you plan on becoming a doctor or something along the lines of that. Even though it's kind of cliche, I think the beauty of life is that people with different backgrounds and circumstances can end up being successful. UCLA is a good example of high achieving people that come from different backgrounds and circumstances. Learning about people, where they come from, and their culture is interesting to me.
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