Möbius strip

Have you ever worked on a graphic design project for a client who evaluates your proposal with the gaze of an expert, even though it's essentially unclear what that gaze is derived from? Yes, we know such clients too - people who seem to have graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, in addition to three semesters of art history and one year of classical drawing. And they make all the comments that aren't really related to the subject matter like mystical prophecies

It starts innocently enough. The client asks for a proposal, he doesn't know exactly what he wants, but ok, so it happens. The graphic designer sits down, thinks, creates a concept, one, two, three, finally proudly sends it to the client. And then.... bomb. “It's not that”, ‘I don't feel it’, ”Maybe something else..... I don't know... with soul?” The graphic designer sighs but corrects. The second version - better, but still.... no. The third? Even worse. The fourth? Fifth? Nth? We're getting close! On the eighth version we go back to the first one, because “it had something special about it.” Exactly like the animation above, a slightly modified joke that has been circulating on the web for many years (supposedly a joke, but unfortunately reality sometimes surpasses a joke in its weirdness). And for the record, to be somewhat consistent with the title of the article, in such cases we move along a Möbius ribbon, which has only one surface, even if it is twisted like a string in a pocket.

The same applies to film productions. If the client does not provide a specific script, which can sometimes be difficult, expect problems. And, by the way, even if there is a script, later edits sometimes cannot be avoided.

By the nth revision stage, everyone is tired. The graphic designer has shadows under his eyes, the client has shadows in his soul. Worst of all, no one knows if it's over or if more sleepless nights and hectolitres of coffee await. After all, a list of revisions is a natural occurrence for some, like morning tea or scrolling through Instagram. And that the graphic designer or editor sacrifices his time, ideas and energy? Well, after all, it's ‘at a price’, the client must be satisfied, or the popular ‘customer is our master’, right? Well, that's exactly it - and this brings us to the point.

It is worth pausing for a moment before starting a project and really thinking about what you want to achieve. Are we sure we can define what we want? What kind of atmosphere, what kind of style, what really appeals and what is just an echo of a recently seen ad on the underground or a film on the computer. Clear guidelines, even if only sketchily drawn on a napkin or, in the case of a film, giving a concrete example of how one would like to have the footage edited, can cut the whole process in half (or much more).

Corrections? Of course, they are normal. Nobody hits it perfectly the first time, it's like throwing to the basket from half court when you've never played basketball. But let those corrections make sense. Let them lead to the goal, not like following a Möbius ribbon to the starting point, even though we seem to have been on a completely different page.

This is even more of a problem when editing a film, when corrections are applied essentially on virtually finished material. It's half a good thing when there are some substantive or compositional changes in the middle of the work, but at the final stage of the work, it's every correction that needs to be re-synchronised with the music, sometimes replacing the entire music or soundtrack. Every reasonably literate editor arranges the shots in a certain rhythm of their own, according to their own sense of aesthetics and sensibility. It's really difficult to tear it down and recreate it in a different arrangement. But that's just a personal comment.

Working on a graphic design or film project is a collaboration. It's worth remembering that there's a human being sitting on the other side, too - with his knowledge, time and a limited number of working hours per day. Neither a graphic designer nor an editor can read minds, but he can conjure up miracles if he knows what is expected of him. Therefore, let's respect each other. Let the customer speak concretely, let us listen carefully And then - who knows - maybe the first proposal will turn out to be the perfect one? And if not, at least we won't do any more laps around our title ribbon.

PS - If the art of filmmaking is at stake, I heartily recommend watching the documentary "Final Cut: The Magic of Film Editing" in which many world-class directors, editors and actors talk about the art of film editing. About their arguments, conversations and joint decisions about whether to leave a few frames more or less after all.