A
VERY SERIOUS
…LY SILLY
SITE
After years of even my close friends having no idea what I do (“film projects?”), I decided maybe it’s time to just make a website.
I’m sure there will still be some head scratches but the intent here is to let people in to my world a bit in a fun way while promoting the work we do with personal storytelling.
This site is created particularly with teens & young adults in mind.
My friend Beck calmly doodled this portrait a while back as I was running around doing 10 different things. Thanks for the inspiration, Beck.
COLOR
My old stumpjumper. Probably manufactured around the year I was born, Stumpy has seen a thing or two in its 35+ years. It’s been sitting out in the PNW rain most it’s life but somehow starts up every time.
Maybe grey is ugly… but it’s versatile and I think it’s a good color to represent the messiness of our personal stories (ya know- life ain’t so black and white) .
7 STEP STORY STRUCTURE
Something we teach at Prodigy Camp is the idea of the seven step story structure. Brian Mcdonald is the guru of this- if you’re interested in this stuff, I’d highly recommend reading Invisible Ink.
Art can surely break these rules but think about some of your favorite classic stories and you’ll quickly see how these seven 7 steps apply. The homepage of this site is structured this way too.
1. Once upon a time...
There was a dude named Max.
2. And every day...
He created things.
3. Until one day...
He failed at creating things.
4. And because of this...
He questioned his self-worth. Depression. Anxiety. "Who am I?”
5. And because of this...
He was forced to engaged in self-reflection and processing of his own personal story.
6. Until finally…
He discovered you can't put all your self-worth into what you do. It must be put into who you are- the company you keep, the values you have. It’s about your character. "Who you are" is something no triumph or disaster can take away from you and ultimately leads to better relationships and perhaps more authentic creations...
7. And ever since that day…
He has strived to let who he is define what he creates, instead of what he creates define who he is.
As the site nav says… “MAX IS (homepage) ABOUT (bio) MORE THAN (blog, etc.) WORK (projects)”
EASTER EGG HUNT
I was recently called out as being the “gimmick king.” It bugged me a little which means it’s probably true. Nevertheless I’ve decided to embrace it…
NOTE: You can keep track of how many eggs you’ve found and reset your egg tracker in the footer of this site ;-)
Enjoy.
-M