Why we wrote our story the way we did.
The dictionary definition of obsession is as follows; an idea, thought, someone, or something that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.
Though this is accurate and expected we cannot help but wonder what about passion? What about loving and enjoying that idea, thought, someone or something?
In order to show that people can get satisfaction from obsession we decided to focus on the microbrewery culture and find someone who was obsessed with what they created.
Again and again the people that we interviewed thought of being obsessed in a positive way in which they often used passion and obsession interchangeably. The goal of our story, which focuses on a man who is obsessed with his job as Head Brewer at Falling Sky Brewery, is to show that obsessions can be life changing and turn into success. Scott Sieber proves this as he talks about the process of creating a well-crafted product that gives people a good time. We wanted anyone that sees Scott’s story to think about obsessions in a more positive way that inspires people to become obsessed or let their obsessions develop.
We were lucky in getting an interview with someone who was so passionate about what they did and even admits that they obsess over their work. We would not have changed who our subject was because we feel that we achieved telling an inspiring story about someone who is obsessed with brewing beer as a career.
If we could do it again, we would have tried to access more brewers to add to the story other than Scott Sieber from Falling Sky and Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi. Rather than focusing our Q&As on just obsessions we would have liked to have a wider pool of people who were specifically obsessed with brewing beer. Although we achieved a great interview that focuses on both obsessions and our sub topic of microbreweries, we could have dug deeper into the culture of breweries.
What went into our design and video?
When it came to the design and strategy implied in this project, our group decided it would be best to keep things simple and clean.
The blog is a white on white design implemented with Falling Sky Brewery’s brown color for the text headers. Their website and store has very natural, “oaky” tones, so we believed it would be best to represent that in our blog. Along with that, we installed a sliding mosaic on the front page to increase visual appeal. It allows readers to look through our stories quickly and easily. Also, within the text story, we linked Falling Sky Brewery and OregonCraftBeer.org to draw in more readers looking on the internet for beer discussions.
When it came to our actual video, we wanted to shine a positive light on the term obsession. Often times people associate obsession with a strange addictive hobby, but to us we saw obsession as a form of passion. We wanted to highlight a person behind the scenes of beer brewing because there is so much more that goes on. Talking to many brewers, along with Scott Sieber, we saw that the connection between obsession and passion went hand in hand. Sieber told his story to us and we wanted to not only represent him a positive manner, but all others who may have jobs that force them to “obsess” over little things.
In Sieber’s case we wanted to show what went into brewing beer along with what he felt was a reward for all of his hard work and time. We wanted to revolve our video and photos around those themes. Much of our b roll was comprised of shots of the actual brewing process and the restaurant. By showing what happens behind closed doors and then contrasting it with the open restaurant, we felt that this was the most efficient way to represent a working class of men and women who dedicate most of their time to brewing a drink that others can enjoy.