By Hermann Vaske. Published by Die Gestalten Verlag. 337 pages.
Speak to any advertising person and, chances are, the conversation is likely to cover two topics: ads and movies.
Not surprising really when you consider that, consciously or not, each often inspires the other. Which is why I wasn't at all surprised when a colleague of mine handed me this book. It was a natural segue from our conversation after all.
The book quite simply does what most of us would never have the chance to do - speak to the biggest, most legendary names in advertising and film and ask them stuff (personal or professional) that we'd like to know.
Through Hermann Vaske, of course.
An impressive list, the book's a veritable who's who. And it would be hard to imagine anyone (in advertising, that is) who wouldn't be curious to know what made Arden, Krone, French and McCabe tick. The kind of work that excites Hegarty, Clow, Trott and Della Femina. Or the things that inspire Droga, Serpa and Freeman, to name but a few.
On the film side, interviews with Tarsem, Ridley and Tony Scott, Tony Kaye, Joe Pytka, Dennis Hopper, (the list goes on) reveal aspects of character that one might not have expected to see.
(For example, who knew that Tony Scott actually wanted to make 'Top Gun', perhaps his most famous Hollywood film, feel like an 'Apocalypse Now'. Or that Tony Kaye considers Ridley Scott 'more a commercials director'. Yes, there is quite a bit of bitching. Fantastic!)
Written in an interview style, right off the bat Vaske doesn't waste much time waxing lyrical over his various interviewees' past achievements.
Instead he spends his time probing into the reasons behind whatever it was they wrote/art directed/shot. Was it an accident? Was it intentional?
What were they thinking?
One also senses that the respondents treated each question asked with respect. Answering as they would a revered peer rather than just some guy with a press badge and a microphone. Then again, I suppose that's got a lot to do with the author.
Vaske is a respected and highly-awarded creative, as well as an acclaimed director, producer and author. In fact, I would imagine that prior to this book, many of us would have looked forward to reading his interviews in the bimonthly Lurzers Archives with the same degree of enthusiasm we reserve for the ads inside. He knows the industry and he knows the people he interviews.
The resultant honesty and banter, in my opinion, is refreshing; cutting through as it does the usual stock interview answers that anyone of us could come up with.
And I imagine that's what Vaske intended to do with the book. To show all of us that even the big names don't always get to have it their way but that they always find ways to get around any issues. And that it's the various (and sometimes humourous) methods they use to circumvent these obstacles that makes them stand apart.
In fact, I reckon a fitting conclusion to this review can ironically be found at the start of the book. Where as Vaske says in his preface, "Instead of starting from scratch, and trying to reach the same heights they have, we can assimilate their knowledge and give ourselves a head start. Then perhaps we can reach higher than them. By standing on their shoulders."
Cool.