Viewers Like You

Curation is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days. Have you noticed it too? Everyone is a curator! I will literally gasp when the careful editing of information is presented to brilliant seduction—I might even applaud. (No joke, ask Chelsea.) But there is something about deliberate withholding that I too, find crazy potent. What you don’t experience being as important and what you do. It’s a subtle difference, collection and omission. I’m grooving on the later.

With Mad Men’s final season premiere, there is a lot of publicity. And hooray! I happened on an interview that includes details about the look of the show—a mid-century modernist’s wet dream. It is no secret that Director Matthew Weiner is beyond exhaustive in his research on the era. He also skillfully rides that edge of collection and omission. Take note of the reason behind why he “withholds” in his shooting style:

It’s a classical style of shooting—no gratuitous camera tricks. We put so much time and care and love into the design of these sets and the design of these clothes and the hair and these people that the frame is going to look full and rich. You don’t have to do some fancy camera move to try to add some excitement.

There is a time and place for showing off your assets: products, back story, good taste. It’s easy to get carried away when there is so much goodness to share. Knowing where that perfect point is, just this side of saturation, is the embodiment of sound design.

Article: Ari Karpel for FastCoCreate.com
Image: Unattributed.

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