Tim Andren - At the corner of Innovation and Marketing Ideas

Anvil: The Hoop Dreams of Heavy Metal

In life, there is always a 'real first experience' that usually makes anything before it seem as though it never happened.

Hoop Dreams floored me. It will always be remembered as my first documentary.

For the uninitiated, the story of Arthur Agee and William Gates pursuing their dreams of professional basketball is as inspiring, heartbreaking, and full of that craziness called 'real life drama' as ever produced on film.

I have literally attempted to feed my addiction to the genre ever since. Every film I've watched in the post-Hoop Dreams era has had a tough standard to meet.

If pressed, I could probably come up with a list of 25 films I've seen that are on par with Hoop Dreams.

A couple of weeks ago my brother Mike sent me NME's list of '50 Awesome Music Movies', which I had no choice but to immediately delve into.

A smile came over my face as I scanned the titles. I felt as though I were looking at yearbook photos of old friends.

NME, for added drama (and a few extra ad impressions) displays the list in reverse order. I could feel a sense of anticipation as I got closer and closer to the Top Ten. Surely I'd find a classic documentary or two there. 

Then I saw it. Smack dab at 'Number 2' on the list, 'Anvil: The Story of Anvil'.

My thoughts went down this path:

"What the heck is Anvil?" "...and how come I've never even heard of it?"

"Surely it's a mistake."

Then I watched it...

A-mazing. The Hoop Dreams of Heavy Metal.

After I finished the film I immediately began an e-mail discussion with Mike and the most knowledgable music maestro I know, my buddy Jaymes:

Tim: "This list is awesome. I just watched the Anvil doc recently - it really is a great piece of work. Jaymes, curious to hear your take on this."

Jaymes: "DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! I saw Anvil on DVD about a month ago! I was floored, it was a really great shot in the arm and pick up when I needed it most. Very much the inspirational, overcoming the odds story, the real deal, LOVED IT!"

Tim: "...and there you have it, from the man himself! Mike if you haven't seen it, it is well worth hunting it down. The friendship and heart between the band mates is very palpable."

Mike: "Anvil was very, very good. You really wanna pull for them to succeed but can't help but think that the window is rapidly closing. My favorite scenes were simply the talks by (and between) Steve "Lips" and Robb Reiner..correct bro, there's some true love there."

One couldn't help but think of Spinal Tap when thinking of the words 'heavy metal' and 'documentary.' The 1984 mockumentary has an avid following and many a sublime moment of hilarity that its fans wish were true. 

Anvil has a few of those moments, but where it really delivers is in what makes documentaries so special. Heavy metal fan or not, Anvil will rock your world.

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.

Inspire: Sandpit by Sam O'Hare

Sometimes the right combination of moving pictures set to music can really do wonders. Occasionally, when watching a movie I can get a sense of a connected study of life. When the art of film is focused on this angle of 'the observer' observing us it can be quite inspiring. 

Films like the one below do a great job of telling the tales of our lives because the storytelling craft allows us to pause and reflect on our feelings about ourselves and of those around us. 

Sam O'Hare has assembled a vision of timeless grace using what we would often consider to be bland subjects of everyday life. The true artist doesn't need anything more than what we see and respond to every day - it's the assembly that counts.

For visual effect O'Hare use a process called tilt-shifting. Tilt-shift photography delivers a time lapse style while creating a 'miniaturizing' effect. Beyond that, my two classes of photography at college aren't going to do much to help me explain this process on a technical level. 

Beauty is as in the eye of the creator before the beholder.

Film: 'The Art of the Steal' and the value of art

How do you put a price on a piece of art? For some, the assembly of paint on canvas means little to nothing. 'My kid could paint that' one might say while he strokes his chin in front of a Jackson Pollock.

Where did this art economy come from? Is this piece worth more than that piece? These are important rhetorical questions, but the only answer available is that every person sees art differently. We can all learn from studying eBay that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Today, a painting by the likes of Cezanne, Matisse or Van Gogh can be valued at tens of millions of dollars by avid appraisers. Put that same painting in someone's garage with no signature on it and it might end up in a garage sale. 

Our society places great emphasis on the masters of yesteryear because they broke the grounds and created movements, essentially changing the art world forever. Surely that is worth something.

The Barnes Foundation
Last night I was fortunate enough to see Orange County's only showing of 'The Art of the Steal', a documentary that focuses on the priceless Barnes Foundation collection that was essentially stolen by means of legal manipulation from the hands of it's trustees. 

The key player in the story is the late Albert Barnes, the original founder of the foundation, who made every effort before his death to write specific terms into his will that stated his collection remain housed in a building in a Pennsylvania suburb, always to be designated an educational institution - it's works never to moved or sold. 

The film details the history of Barnes, the foundation, and the players who managed to wrangle the collection who'll ultimately benefit from moving it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Do corporate interests and art mix?
The corporate interests of the art world have commoditized an industry that so many have different opinions about. In economics it's relatively easy to determine a value of something, for instance - onions. I merely have to get a general idea of supply and demand, take a poll or survey and I can get a pretty good idea how much onions are worth and what they can be used for. 

Art, however, is an entirely different beast. No two opinions are alike on the meaning of art, therefore how can anyone decide what art is worth? Leave it to the experts, you might think - well, that's basically what much of society has done and it's created a culture of haves and have nots. 

I have never taken art as seriously as some people that I know. My background in design has given me an important understanding of art, but I often see it in practical terms. 

I enjoy a piece for what it represents as far as the cultural trends and movements of the period in which it was produced. 'The Art of the Steal' zeroes in on the reason that I feel this way. When particular pieces are valued in the multi-million dollar range we cannot be surprised that they will be treated like any other commodity. 

The day when important pieces by Picasso and the like become truly priceless, that will be the day that people will cringe at the thought of putting a price tag on them.