Saturday, August 22, 2009

Note from Amber on BIZ



Dreams to reality; dare to take action

Everyone comes to Hollywood with a dream. They come here to make it big, to become a star, to live the fancy life most people just see on television. These desires are not just a dream to many artists, but a definite way they MUST live. They must do what they love, they must have their own expression, and through the entertainment business they feel they can finally fit, they can finally belong, they can finally make their dreams a reality. Artists are my favorite kind of people. Artists think differently than non-artists. They must dance, sculpt, write, act, paint, or create in their own way or they are depressed. Artist’s give who they are internally, and find a way to express it to the world.
Here is what I found as a definition of an artist.
n.
One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.
A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill: You are an artist in the kitchen.
One, such as an actor or singer, who works in the performing arts.

In my opinion who would want to do anything else? I can say that. I’m an artist. Everyone has a deep need to contribute to the world in his or her own special way. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has even said that it’s a deep human NEED to contribute, and that everyone must in some way. Contribution comes in many ways but for Artists it’s a way of life. I am thankful for the artists that have contributed prior to me, and grateful for those who are continuing to create works of aesthetic value.
Artists are the ones who demonstrate history for us. Because of artists we understand the ways of life of those who lived before us. We understand the life of a man in the 20th century when we study Picasso. We learn of the ways of life when looking at the old walls of Egypt We understand comedy and tragedy when we watch an old Chaplin movie, and how history changed forever with Lumiere’s film Arrival of a Train. In the short film, terror gripped audiences in only fifty seconds as they witnessed an everyday occurrence on film for the first time. A train pulls into a station. Simple for us to understand because in modern films we watch buildings blowing up, people disappear, and worlds created by artist’s imaginations. However, in film history this small film made the audience run for safety, scrambling to get away from the locomotive because they had never experienced film, and the movement of something unreal. That gives us understanding of a time before us. That’s history. That’s an artist’s work. I remember the tragic day airplanes struck the world trade center. I watched it from my television on the first day I arrived in Los Angeles. I was helping a friend cast a project and many of the actors called in and said they couldn’t make the audition because of the tragedy. I didn’t comprehend the gravity of the situation at that time because I was numbed to seeing this sort of thing in films for years. It took me about 2 days to realize what this was really about, how lives were really lost, and the significance of the horrible day in America. I didn’t run from the screen, I didn’t scramble for safety. However History shows us that modern cinema has also numbed tragedy through entertaining audiences. Never underestimate the importance of being an artist, it is one of the most significant contributions to society that one can give.