Meet Launch Media’s associate video producer, all the way from Slidell to the big Baton Rouge. Get to know Chris Jeansonne with our Friday Q&A.
How do you get in the zone for a busy week?
Music. I have a tone of playlists on spotify, and I kind of pick my playlist according to my week. And, from there it lets me set myself in the right tone. I need something like that to just focus. It’s part inspiration, part motivation.
What is your most unusual talent?
I’m decent on a razor scooter. There was a point in time in high school where I was just really into the 2 wheels with the handlebars, used to be able to do all kinds of tricks with it.
What drives a good story?
The obvious answer is the narrative. The story that you’re telling: is it compelling? Is it interesting?
You have to be able to find the beauty in your subject. It could just be a bunch of people in a corporate office, you know, typing or something. But, there’s beauty in that. There was something I recently posted on instagram. It was this Orson Welles quote. “A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet.” And, that’s our responsibility as content creators and influencers in this industry – to always approach every job through that eye.
What would be the worst movie sequel ever made?
The Notebook 2. I just don’t see where you could go. That story was told perfectly from the beginning. And, if you ever try to mess with that, you’re just going to mess it up.
Where do you believe creativity comes from?
Personally, creativity for me comes from nature, you know, from being in a natural environment. And, design is very prominent in nature. There’s a lot of organic patterns that are reflected in media that you don’t necessarily even realize. Like textures that some designers use are inspired by the texture of a bee’s wing. I see a lot of that in modern design and just in art across the board. And, it’s all coming from our environment.
I mean imagination plays a huge role in that as well, but it’s coming from nature. Even if people don’t know that they’re drawing inspiration from that, it’s subconscious. Like if you go see Yosemite, you know? And, it’s just this megalithic thing, and you might be a lawyer, but now you have a new attitude toward that that gives you more appreciation for something within your practice. So, that’s where I think a lot of creativity gets drawn from.
Do you believe in originality?
No.
I think everybody is doing a derivation of something that has already been created. You would have to go way back to cavemen. So, you can’t reinvent the wheel. But, you can have really innovative derivatives.
What makes a good video?
Pre-production makes a great video. Very thorough, detailed pre-production. So, that come time for the shoot, everybody understands what they’re doing. Everybody has their roles. Everybody knows their job. And, that in turn, makes the editing and post process very efficient. Because when the producer or the director is very in line with the vision of the spot as a whole, they can direct the editor to the more poignant pieces of the spot to expedite that guesswork on his end. And, then that gives you more time with the client and for more nuanced edits. You have more time for polishing it.
How has this job shaped you?
It’s fundamentally changed me. You know, creatives are all over the place. But, at the same time, it created a structure for me within the chaos. That’s what I needed the most. Like, you can have a million great ideas, but the execution of a great idea is a very different thing. And, here it’s like I have no excuse but to do it. Because if I’m doing that, then I’m getting better as a creator, so in turn Launch is getting better, and we’re all supporting each other.
Why does video matter?
There’s a reason that there’s creatives and there’s non-creatives.
The people who are creating the video are seeing things that most people do not. And, the only way you can show that is through video. You can tell a story, and you can leave it up to your imagination, but not everyone can see that. Some people only see things in black and white.
There’s a bunch of nuances between the lines that you’re reading that tell the story also. It’s not just the words, it’s the visuals. It’s the textures. And, that’s why video is a necessity today. Because most people, in my experience, need that visual representation to see the scope of something.
