In the late ’90’s, digital technologies began to level the playing field. No longer were large budgets required to create compelling content that could stimulate action- either a vote or a consumer purchase. This accelerated when broadband network capabilities were established. We had the digital tools and the distribution… time to play!

All one needs now is an idea, a group of friends, a digital camera, a video editing system and YouTube. Oh, and the other thing is an astute eye for story telling in a motion environment… or not.

The result of this massive shift has been to accustom viewers to hand held footage… shaky, off center, low production value, shifting contrast, single angle, etc. This isn’t a bad thing, but it has lowered our expectations of how communications must be presented. This is the reason for the rise of commercials using unprofessional “effects.” It speaks to an authentic experience. We feel comfortable with amateur. Professional is often suspect as cynicism spreads to every aspect of our lives.

All of this is tied to the success of the “wo/man on the street” phenomena. Look to music, fashion, cinema, politics and marketing for confirmation of this statement. We could write this movement off as the “dumbing down” of American culture and lament the loss of high-brow or intellectual aspirations in our society. However, I put forth a ray of hope to those craft-oriented, commercial directors.

The grittiness and amateur quality of communications will eventually result in a greater demand for professionally produced content. As with every medium, fatigue will set in after experimentation with “how low can you go” fades. Most everything will “live” on one end of the spectrum (amateur) and suddenly a beautiful messaging campaign with lush film-like imagery will appear on the other end of the spectrum. A spark of new found excitement will inject the next aesthetic into messaging. Professionally produced content, with digital tools, will be “reintroduced” as a valued execution.

Of course, lessons will have been learned and the integration loop will continue through its next cycle. We get “change” whether its a campaign slogan or not.

Get out the vote! Then, once the elections are done, get back to- Get out your IDEAS! This is why we must celebrate the rise of low-brow culture. It allows for expression without intellectual censoring. It allows for fast manufacturing of ideas in the same vein as Andy Warhol’s work.

Lastly, I commend both Nicole Betancourt and Jose Conde for the creation of this upbeat salsa political video. Nicole’s talent was first noticed with her self-made documentary on the death of her father who had AIDS. HBO took notice and her career in that medium began.

Right arm, Nicole! Go people-powered messaging!!!!

However, the process leading up to this entertaining video was less than satisfying. If I had to do it again, I would order the boxes built, but have the finish work done on site to maintain control. I would also have a 3-d model built in Google SketchUp to experience a virtual version. There was a real disconnect between the blueprints and the final version.

The final quality was not up to my standards and does not reflect the building finishes of this region. The finish work was marginal at best, sloppy and unacceptable, at worst. The design and order process was not detail-driven and left a few visual items out of the discussion. It is better to control the finish work that a home owner looks at every day. After all, most houses are just a series of volumes tied together.

Users beware: take your time in the design stage. Unlike stick-built construction, once it arrives, its final.

This morning I went to the mosquito infested property to propose my idea of moving the ditch about 20 ft. north in a 100 ft. section to give me some more workable space for the house foundation. I met with Judy X (name eludes me) and Paul Nezlanic (sp?). Paul is an old ranch had fellow who knows the lay of the land and the water rights in the area. I have no water rights, but the ditch runs through the property.

We walked the ditch, discussed its condition, where I would move it and what part would be pipped. After some back and forth, they realized this was NOT the Slough Ditch, but a part of the Banning Lateral. In other words, it was a secondary ditch that is a seasonal overflow route. Well, that made all the difference in the world!

Afterwards, I went out to Rose Ln. to inspect a culvert diameter that Paul encouraged me to use. Their I met an older red pickup truck. It was classic- the woman in the driver’s seat was smoking her fifth cigarette of the day (it was 8:30am) and seemed to have a few broken teeth! Her friend was a guy who looked to be in his sixties, but was probably late 40’s. His bulbous, veiny nose revealed a lifetime of hard drinking.

The upshot of the whole affair- I can move the ditch…

Now I just need to get it in writing, or should I blow that off and just get a handshake? That’s more like how I’d like to handle it.

I created a floor plan that was a mashup of two models from Bar Vista Homes. Of course, I made some tweaks. Pre-fabs are meant for that, dammit! Bar Vista is a front-range factory home builder. I found them last summer after interviewing a number of pre-fab companies and, most importantly, talking with some builders who had studied the field for clients.

These pre-fabs are built in a controlled environment using stick-built practices. They assemble the walls into boxes using a manufacturing line model. Shear walls are put up everywhere ’cause these boxes have to travel at 65 MPH. Try that with your custom built house! I’m trying to utilize their efficiencies and do as much work in the factory as possible. The less site work the less additional or higher cost. Labor and materials in the Roaring Fork Valley are substantial.

The thing about a pre-fab is that there are certain design elements that when studied, scream “modular!” or “mobile home!” or “cheap housing!” An attempt to subdue those qualities may fool the viewer into believing this was a stick-built custom home.

Who knows, I may actually achieve my goal of building a house for a reasonable square foot cost. I’m shooting for $150/sq.ft. in an area that is double and triple that cost depending on the finish. The devil is in the details and I’m workin’ those details!!

Here is a link to the most current elevations where the window placement went from shite to improved. The factory designer appears to be fairly lazy and didn’t put the windows on the elevations where the floor plans had indicated. Additionally, the roof won’t have bird-box fascia and eave endings. Also, the roof pitch is 7:12, not the displayed 5:12.

Tomorrow the manufacturer will send back my initial numbers. I’ll post those… just because I can… and someone actually may benefit from my research and work.

More later…