Pee Wee And Establishing Range

I’m thinking a lot about how in a presentation, or song, or piece of art – the creator establishes “average” and “deviation.”

In music it might be loud/soft (like the Pixies). 

In art it might be contrast/lack thereof (like Rothko).

In a presentation – you have to set the average, and then deviate to make it interesting. 

And you set the average by how you create contrast.  

One of my favorite movie examples is Pee Wee’s Great Adventure. Yes, it’s weird, and he creeps people out I know, but think about the movie in terms of how it defines the range it’s operating in. 

It’s G-rated. But it’s so weird it almost doesn’t feel G at all. Pee Wee is a complete G in a G-rated world. 

You can’t pluck a single scene out and drop it in any other movie. 

You can’t pluck a single scene from another movie and drop it here. 

But you can see the complete range of human emotion, through the warped mind of a G-rated G. 

Keep this in mind for whatever you’re working on. Know your average, and know how to play with the contrast to tell the story you want to tell. It’s just a kid and his bike unless we make it so much more. 

ps. Rothko stuff: https://www.nga.gov/features/mark-rothko.html