Stumbled across a great site the other day. Great except for one major flaw. The words overlaid on the picture made it look like he had a bull ring in his nose. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t intending that…but it looked a little something like this:
(and yes…that’s a ruggedly handsome 17-year-old version of me)
So that brings me to a tip I’d like to call proximity. In all sorts of creative disciplines, proximity is an issue. In photography, for instance, you need to be aware that the photo becomes 2-dimensional once captured…so a pole 30 feet behind your subject will look like it’s sticking out of their head.
As creators, it’s easy to see each individual element that we used…but we need to see the whole picture. That’s why it’s good to get a buddy who hasn’t been involved in the project to pick it apart.
There’s a particular song from the Jonas Brothers where I wish they would have observed the rule of proximity with their chorus. The song is called Poison Ivy. He’s talking about a girl who is “poison ivy” to him. Here’s the chorus:
Everyone’s allergic to poison ivy
Everyone’s allergic to poison vy
Everybody gets the itch
Everybody hates that…
Everyone’s allergic to poison ivy
Notice how the whole song rhymes except one part of the chorus (which also seems to be missing a syllable)? I’m pretty sure the Jo-Bros weren’t planning on their listeners filling in their own word on the “everybody hates that…” line…but I sure did. That five-letter word seemed like the perfect option for this song. Perhaps my brain isn’t as pure as theirs…but I wish someone would have pointed that out to them.
So look for proximity…what will the viewer/listener see and hear? You can use it to your advantage if you want to have an inside joke…just be aware or proximity.
