The Sparkistan Solar Saga
PROLOGUE:
My newly-found voracious appetite for documentaries has been largely insatiable these days. Some of the interesting works I've come across:
I loved the Paula Scher documentary most. And I'm no designer. But to an aspiring designer, she would be something of a wet dream. Holds the same reverence in the world of graphic design as David Ogilvy does in the advertising world. You ain't one if you don't know him. Or haven't read Ogilvy on Advertising.
Then comes the Bjarke Ingels documentary, a disruptor in the architectural space.
Now what do these two legends have in common. On the face of it. Nothing. An American graphic designer. A Danish Architect. Polar opposites.
Common denominator - they disrupted their respective fields by fusing together two uniquely distinct disciplines. That too dirt cheap. Paula changed the cityscape of New York. Bjarke brought architectural splendor right down to the masses. Downside? In the process they became pariahs of their times and industry.
We desire to do the same. In the Solar Space. Or spreading the canvas - in the Renewable Energy Space. It's a mouthful, isn't it? Let's call it RES.
How do we do that?
The Missionary Route:
It has been a while since we conceived Sparkistan 4.0 theme. Still trying to wrap my head around what kind of creative masterpiece we can bring forth into this world.
And Still haven't the faintest idea of the format or the style.
But what we need to do. Crystal.
Before I delve deep into the missionary route, let me first define the word itself, lest someone assumes the pop culture interpretation.
Definition of missionary
noun, plural mis·sion·ar·ies.Also mis·sion·er for 1-3 .
You see, we've been at this problem from the wrong angle. Or perhaps it was the right angle, but had been done to death. The dilemma remains the same. We've been so fixated on creating an Award-Winning Feature Length Documentary that we missed one thing along the way.
Why not, instead of creating the conventional documentary, celebrating the achievements of the past, what if we do the opposite?
Make a documentary that incites a revolution of the future, instead of covering a revolution of the past.
Hence the missionary route. We leave believers in our wake. That becomes the Mission.
But if the mission keeps on evolving with its own set of twists and turns, how can a single documentary rooted in one instance of time encapsulate it all?
So we change our paradigm. Shift from singular to plural. Who says only a single stand-alone documentary can win awards? Or make waves for that matter.
Who says it can't be a series of documentaries?
Put another way - a Documentary Series. Case in point - Netflix's Abstract Series. I'm sure the Creative must have watched at least one episode because they pitched that very same format to me - remember the Nike episode? That series.
This missionary approach solves two problems - the crushing pressure to get it right the first time around - Aaar ya Paar mindset. And the flexibility to keep on experimenting, innovating and evolving the series with time creating a sustainable ecosystem of brand recall. The journey. The Missionary Route.
Think Coke Studio.
I know it's a crude analogy. But you can't help but mention it and not light up Coke in your brain. In the same token, it also relieves us of the pressure to hire the perfect director for the movie - parha likha bhi ho, lamba bhi ho, gora bhi ho, lambay baal, Acha kamaoo, chabaoo, sughar..... you get the idea. If such a heavenly creature even exists.
Like Coke, you start with an untested Rohail Hyatt and by the time you reach the 14th season, you'll have String, Nooris and a string of other celebrities under your belt..... or the Holy Grail - Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. We can't afford her. But we can certainly seduce her into the job. For that to happen, the seduction has to be long, gradual, tantalizing, and humungous at the End. Work backwards from there. But the sooner we start, the sooner we reach the tipping point where she, and others like her, sit up, and gobble it up.
Romancing The Solar:
Let's disrupt this space.
But what kind of revolution can we lesser mortals, the 'Hashrat-ul-Arz', conjure up?
Create a fusion of two disparate disciplines. Like the legends Paula Scher and Bjarke Ingels.
One discipline we have already decided is RES, with all its solar fare.
Second fusion element? What are we good at, us Pakistanis??What makes us attractive, arousing, for the Proverbial Gora (Or Gori)?
Think Truck Art.
I don't know about the rest, but Bilal shouldn't have any trouble envisioning this fusion. Because he conceived one such idea himself. Bilal remember the Calendar Theme Futuristic Pakistan? The flying Bedford trucks? The floating rickshaws, straight out of Back to the Future. Ok it was actually hovering skateboards, but you get the idea.?
Why not do the same to Solar Panels?
Paint the hell out of solar panels, windmills, tubewells, and God knows what cums under Renewable Energy. Pepper some Maula Jhatt on it. Get some humor going. Or perhaps some straight-faced Saqafat thingy.
The RES space doesn't suffer from a RTB {Reason to Believe} syndrome, but from a lack of RTF - Reason to Flaunt. You make that happen. You are in business.
If this has been already done, we cover that.
If not, we induce it. Incite it. Encourage it. And that effort becomes a documentary series. It can't be a one single feature length film, because we are starting from scratch and we don't know where our efforts will lead us. We make history as we go along and the documentary evolves.?And the series need not end. Just like the Tariq Aziz Show/Neelam Ghar. Ok it did. But after 25 long years.
If you watch a whole lot of documentaries in one go, you'll start to see a pattern emerge.?
You think it's too much for us?
This ought to get your creative juices flowing.
If an entity like Iqra University with a group of merely 33 students can come up with this Enchanted Odyssey, certainly we can do better. Or can't we? If you haven't seen it as yet,
领英推荐
The Why:
This would do to Re Energy space what Andre Agassi did to tennis back in the 80s, break the white code. Or what Nike did to sports shoes, use outrageously flashy pink or orange instead of the safe blue or red. Or what Paula Sepher did to New York cityscape. Or what Malik Riaz did to the gated community space. I can go on for forever about disruptive paradigm shifts.?However, the question remains.
Why.
Because we can.
Because it adds value. Maybe not functionality-wise. Definitely going to up the aesthetics bar of the Pakistani cities.
Thought-Provokers:
The Creative's Proverbial FAQs:
I've also preempted Creative's oppositions cum reservations. Send me those I missed.
Here's how this conversation would ensue. C is for Creative. B is for Brand. So it's not the BC you imagined.
C: Are you a fkin Retard? Did the thought ever cross your mind that perhaps the reason no one paints the solar panels is because they can't be painted? Or are you too fatheaded to consider the possibility?@#$!
B: I have to agree with you. I do realize I'm a retard when it comes to the normal things in life. However, when it comes to the Art of illusion, Deception, Manipulation, Treachery, or just good old-fashioned torturing my rivals/enemies to paralysis, I am. Something else.
As for this objection, it's a valid one. I've penetrated into this conundrum, but not deep enough as yet. There are certainly technical challenges, but most of the research articles I indulged were at least a year old. I'm hoping a solar breakthrough would have ensued since then. Here are some:
Let's play the Devil's Advocate and say it's still not possible. We'll go with the solar frame art, or something around it to make it more sexy. And remember we are under no compulsion to be fixated with solar. Take a step back. Look at the renewable energy space. We can certainly graffiti the hell out of windmills, tube-wells....hell, anything that moves or breathes and doesn't run on fossil fuels. Paint a human baby, for Christ sake. Call it Babes Art. Just get the machinery in motion.?
C: Ok perhaps not a fuckin retard but definitely a fuckin idiot.?One on hand you want us to step back, spread?wide open the canvas, dubbed as the Renewable Energy Space. On the other, you stupidly brand it as Sparkistan Solar Samurais.
B: Ok first, one of the branding conventions is that you make the name rhyme or semantically identical. Hence the S3 Brand. Secondly, we're implicitly creating a connection with a future sub-brand 'Samurai' with this initiative.
Thirdly, why the hell I'm doing all the naming, maiming and shaming work. Saara kaam mein hi kyun karon, Aap log anday seekhnay to aaye nahi, except of course those who have attained the Zen Path. So get up from your butt, do a bit of digging around for starters, then get creative. First do the research.?
C: We don't have a Director shortlisted.
B: Yes and No. We can start with any Director with a modicum of credentials. We don't need a Goliath as yet. David would do.
C: WTF are you talking about??? Why would any director be willing to work on a project another director started?
B: Cuz it won't be a single documentary. But a documentary series. The idea is inspired by the Netflix documentary series, I've been engrossed in lately -Abstract. In our case, it helps in two ways - we don't have to spend an arm and a leg at a single instance in time - spread the body parts over a longer period of time. It can even spawn over several fiscal years. Like The Never-Ending Story - an absolute classic from the 80s.?Stranger Things fans must have noticed its soundtrack at the end of season 3 when?Suzie cajoled Dustin to sing along with her. But I digress.
Second benefit - we can evolve the series over time. Take the plunge now. We don't have to know all the answers. Right here. Right now. Go figure.?
C: Would Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy be interested in a project later on the game, a project she wasn't involved in at the outset, or didn't envision it herself?
B: Hard to say. But there have been precedents in the Western World where a series or a Trilogy was started by one Director, and taken up by somebody else. The Bourne Series, Jurassic movies, BBC Earth Series. Take your pick. Whether our own Oscar Queen would come down from her pedestal and bestow us with her wisdom is anybody's guess. But that's for sure that we can't afford her at her current going rate. Not by a long shot. I've done the home work.?
C: But we haven't shortlisted or talked to any Director as yet!
B: I have. Been talking to them directly all this time. So don't worry. I've got this covered. You do your part.
C: We don't have even a semblance of a script?
B: We never do. When it comes to Sparkistan. Always create history on the fly. No reason why history can't repeat itself. It always does when it comes to shitty stuff. Might as well do for the good stuff too.
C: How soon?
B: 26th December.
C: How long How long?
B: This is the first wave. It won't last more than a week. And I don't foresee rigorous travel. So just take it easy, Relax. Let your creative juices flow. The rush is to get started. Not to rush the process. Slow down time, let things reveal to you spontaneously.
C: We don't have time. We are too busy spewing out yet another one of Wasim Ariel's infuriating spiels. All brain power engaged on those mindless tidbits.
B: Well, in that case I would cajole you using the?Steve Jobs persuasion tactic, successfully making the legendary pitch in 1983 to President of Pepsico John Sculley: "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?"?
Are you in?
If still too busy, I'll just have to outsource it. Not changing the timelines this time around.
@Bilal you wanted a chance at breaking away from the mind-numbing boorish TVCs. I'm giving you that chance. It may not come at an opportune time, but opportunities seldom land in your lap at your convenience. But you have to grab them anyway. Not the ideal time for me either, but I have to make good on this, before a budget cut wipes out the project itself. And you never know, once we do get started, we may get an opportunity to shoot an episode on foreign soil when we are shooting the Tubular TVC. It might be a distant future, but it would never come to pass if we don't get started right now.
The Three Step Recap:
What This is Not:
What This Entails:
Electives:
The electives are just that - electives. Won't be living with us, Won't be traveling with us. They might come in for a cameo brainstorming session. Just to add spice to the mix. Again this is something which can be decided later.?
Off The Tangent:
I get hold of a qual moderator, perhaps the same one we used for the Tractor Focus Groups. And we do a couple of small casual focus groups, using a cross-section of the society. We can shoot that too. Whether we use that footage or not, again, to be decided. But we have our B-roll. And that gives us ample ammunition to take the documentary in any direction we like. We are iterating and compiling stuff as we go along. It does not have to be right or wrong.
EPILOGUE:
Let's make RES, especially Solar Panels; C.H.S - Cool, Hip & Sexy.?Make them project the reflection of our culture. Arm them with flaunting rights for the owner.
And who knows. We might even trigger a worldwide fad along the way. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.?
Let's roll the dice and see where it lands.
My Parting Words:
" Anything worth shooting is worth shooting badly."??- Saqib Khan feat G. K. Chesterton
"The Journey of a Thousand Shoots Begins with a Single Shoot".?-Lao Tzu feat Saqib Khan
"Inspiration is for Amateurs. Us professionals, we just go to work in the morning." - Chuck Close