Once we do get going full-time, Alex and I have put in so many reps by this point that we have a pretty solid idea of how long a given project will take us. It all comes together in tandem—we’ll write a couple of script segments, design charts and arrange assets for those segments, then move on to the next chunk of script. It’s probably a pretty unusual order of operations, but it’s so nice to be able to test out some camera angles, pans and zooms as we’re writing the lines (Filmmaker Magazine)
Their creative process mirrors one another: using the creative model we discussed in class, Bois occupies the role of the "individual", with Rubenstein closely collaborating as "other people." Their process is almost on autopilot, and the partners do close to identical work in preparing material, writing scripts, and modeling in 3D. The saturated, quantitative domain of sports analytics is in desperate need of non-numerical statistics; Bois and Rubenstein collaborate and produce a product that fulfills this niche.
Regarding cooperation, Rubin writes "cooperation is a practice. the more skillfully we participate in the process, the more comfortable it becomes" (Rubin, The Creative Act). Bois and Rubenstein reflect this in their creative process. Through years of cooperation, they are able to reach heights previously unimagined. Their success reached a summit when their Vikings documentary was named one of the ten best movies of 2023 by the Atlantic.
The crowning achievement in Bois' filmography is his series on the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have never won the Super Bowl, despite being one of the oldest franchises with some of the most total wins since the inception of The Big Game. Bois, who is a Chiefs fan, was not so much interested in the tragedy of the Vikings; he writes "The storytelling power of a team is what really draws me into them," and reasons that the Purple People-Eaters have many tall tales to tell (GQ). |
| This model shows NFL teams to not win a Super Bowl by their total Super Bowl-era regular season wins (Notice the Vikings alone at the top). |
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| Bois' History of the Seattle Mariners, featuring MLB greats Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez |
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| Bois |
As someone who was born and raised in Minnesota, the pain of being a fan, even a casual one, of any franchise in the state is well known. I find it so interesting that he did not want to talk about the tragedy of the Vikings unusual as that tends to be the most common focus. That or the Minneapolis Miracle from at least 5 years ago. I enjoyed reading about his preference to focus on other stories that there are to tell.
ReplyDeleteI think this perspective on creativity in sports is so interesting. Obviously, covering sports is a form of creativity: the photos, the descriptive words, the journalism are all their own forms of creativity. On top of that, movement and the sports themselves are creative. However, the fact that both of these artists however focus on the story of their progression is different. Rather than their journey in a game, it is their story as people and as a team.
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