The Artisan and the Artist: A Life of Creativity and Innovation

As a child, I was always fascinated by movies and the art of filmmaking. I would spend hours making flip books out of any materials I could get my hands on, from books to random objects in my house. One of my favorite projects was creating a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the boulder was chasing Indy, and another project involved recreating Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader's famous fight scene from Star Wars.

My love for movies extended beyond just making simple flip books. I also built a model of the flying wing from Raiders of the Lost Ark using balsa wood and other random parts that my brother had lying around. It was one of my favorite projects, and although it was a bit crooked, it still holds up today. Another project I worked on was recreating ET's iconic scene where he is flying over the moon. I built a model of Elliot's head, which I used in the effects shop when filming live-action scenes.

My love for dinosaurs also led me to create a paper clip skeleton that could be animated. The dinosaur, who had its arm eaten off by another dinosaur, was part of a film called Space Adventure 3000. Another project I worked on was creating a gorilla character with a missing arm, which was featured in the film "The Land That Time Forgot" or something similar. These projects not only showcased my creativity and resourcefulness but also honed my skills as an artist.

As I grew older, my passion for movies continued to grow, but it wasn't until I discovered music that my creative journey truly took off. I had always been fascinated by the soundtracks of my favorite films, and I spent countless hours listening to them on repeat. It was during this time that I began to learn how to write music, and I eventually started working with a piano teacher named Paul Coletti.

One moment in particular stands out as a turning point in my creative journey. When I was around 13 years old, Paul Coletti sat down at the piano with me and explained the concept of chord progressions. He showed me how these chords supported the melody, allowing it to change and evolve. This moment was like an explosion that went off in my head – I suddenly understood music on a whole new level. From that day forward, I dedicated myself to writing music, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Fast-forward to adulthood, and I've had the privilege of working on some of the most iconic films in the industry. Projects like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strumming have allowed me to combine my passion for music with filmmaking. Each project has presented new challenges and opportunities, but I've always remained true to myself as an artist.

In reflecting on my journey, it's clear that creativity is a multifaceted beast. It can manifest in unexpected ways, from making simple flip books to writing complex music. While I may have started out with a passion for filmmaking, it was ultimately my love of music that led me to the industry I'm in today. And as I look back on those early days of creativity and innovation, I am reminded that the spark within us is always there – waiting to be fanned into flame by the right inspiration and guidance.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody it is the last day of the week of making on tested we have been featuring a different maker si every single day I started off with number one and now we are finishing it off number seven with a personal essay by everyone I'm Michael chiquinho and I'm here with tested for the national week of makers now I make music normally but I wanted to share some stuff with you that I used to do as a kid and which sort of set me on this crazy journey making movies with all the people that I get to make them with now today so in here I have I used to do animation as a kid all the time and I used to make these flip books any any books or anything I could get my hands on I would use so we have here a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark the boulder is chasing Indy that kind of stuffs I used to do come to those I have like Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader fighting home I spent so much time doing that I wanted to make when I was I guess around 12 a model of the flying wing from Raiders of the Lost Ark this is one of my favorite movies but I made this out of balsa wood and some random pieces of models that my brother had I took it apart and sort of did that and painted it and it still survives today it's a little crooked though I should probably fix that there's that another time I was doing an et movie I wanted to recreate the whole movie of ET on 8 millimeter regular 8 millimeter film not video not this was a long time ago and here's the model of Elliot I did for the effects shop when he is flying over the moon I got this bike and as you can see there's actually Batman is inside you can see that there's Batman so I was around 12 again 12 13 when I made this ETS head is lost to history I don't know what happened to it somewhere I could probably get another one that there's this dinosaur that is he has a skeleton made of paper clips you can hope you can really see but he's jointed here in here and his mouth is jointed as well so I could animate him and he was used for a film called space adventure 3000 which was an amazing come I'll tell you that anyway so that's the dinosaur from there and then we have this was from another one called the land the land that time forgot or something strange some you know thing like that anyway this was a gorilla that got his arm eaten off by a different dinosaur so there's this stuff I used to make as a kid of this is the et head that I made for the film the close-up this was for the live action shots this would sit in the basket of the other thing with the kid was playing Elliot who was my neighbor who was at the time anyway so I used to make all kinds of things now all my love of movies led me to start working into in music as well like what I love most about the movies with their soundtracks and I listen to them all the time so as I got older I wanted to learn how to write and I started writing more and more music but I remember the time the thing that there was a moment where I had this sort of aha thing happened and I was with my teacher my piano teacher Paul Coletti and I was probably a ninth grade I guess and he kept having me practice scales and do all this stuff and having to read you know just read down music and I said look this is all fine and good but I'm still not understanding one thing about how do you write music like I can I understand melody right so I would play the star wars melody just one note at a time baba baba and and I understand that but what is happening underneath that melody and he was like oh you mean like chord progressions and I was like yeah what is a chord progression and he sat down at the piano with me because I will you have a bump you know your board is what supports the melody it can change so those chords I remember that moment for me was like oh my god I like understood everything I had been listening to music just listening to it and not quite understanding what was really helping support all of those ideas but when he showed me these chord progressions I was like that was it for me I was like now I understand I just started writing more and more music and it was probably one of the most influential moments for me I know it sounds weird because was just me my piano teacher in front of it you know piano but but I will never forget that moment it was like an explosion that went off in my head and from then all I wanted to do was make music and and that led me to the film's I've been lucky enough to do like The Incredibles and ratatouille and up and Star Trek and Planet of the Apes and spider-man and dr. strumming all these crazy things that I've been so lucky to do if you were to ask me when I was a kid okay if you get to work in movies when you're older what is it you'd like to do what kind of movies I feel like all the movies I'm doing at the time the exact kind of movies I would have wanted to do so anyway happy makers week have a great time I hope this was interesting and maybe someday we'll just talk more about it take care and thanks again to test ithey everybody it is the last day of the week of making on tested we have been featuring a different maker si every single day I started off with number one and now we are finishing it off number seven with a personal essay by everyone I'm Michael chiquinho and I'm here with tested for the national week of makers now I make music normally but I wanted to share some stuff with you that I used to do as a kid and which sort of set me on this crazy journey making movies with all the people that I get to make them with now today so in here I have I used to do animation as a kid all the time and I used to make these flip books any any books or anything I could get my hands on I would use so we have here a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark the boulder is chasing Indy that kind of stuffs I used to do come to those I have like Ben Kenobi and Darth Vader fighting home I spent so much time doing that I wanted to make when I was I guess around 12 a model of the flying wing from Raiders of the Lost Ark this is one of my favorite movies but I made this out of balsa wood and some random pieces of models that my brother had I took it apart and sort of did that and painted it and it still survives today it's a little crooked though I should probably fix that there's that another time I was doing an et movie I wanted to recreate the whole movie of ET on 8 millimeter regular 8 millimeter film not video not this was a long time ago and here's the model of Elliot I did for the effects shop when he is flying over the moon I got this bike and as you can see there's actually Batman is inside you can see that there's Batman so I was around 12 again 12 13 when I made this ETS head is lost to history I don't know what happened to it somewhere I could probably get another one that there's this dinosaur that is he has a skeleton made of paper clips you can hope you can really see but he's jointed here in here and his mouth is jointed as well so I could animate him and he was used for a film called space adventure 3000 which was an amazing come I'll tell you that anyway so that's the dinosaur from there and then we have this was from another one called the land the land that time forgot or something strange some you know thing like that anyway this was a gorilla that got his arm eaten off by a different dinosaur so there's this stuff I used to make as a kid of this is the et head that I made for the film the close-up this was for the live action shots this would sit in the basket of the other thing with the kid was playing Elliot who was my neighbor who was at the time anyway so I used to make all kinds of things now all my love of movies led me to start working into in music as well like what I love most about the movies with their soundtracks and I listen to them all the time so as I got older I wanted to learn how to write and I started writing more and more music but I remember the time the thing that there was a moment where I had this sort of aha thing happened and I was with my teacher my piano teacher Paul Coletti and I was probably a ninth grade I guess and he kept having me practice scales and do all this stuff and having to read you know just read down music and I said look this is all fine and good but I'm still not understanding one thing about how do you write music like I can I understand melody right so I would play the star wars melody just one note at a time baba baba and and I understand that but what is happening underneath that melody and he was like oh you mean like chord progressions and I was like yeah what is a chord progression and he sat down at the piano with me because I will you have a bump you know your board is what supports the melody it can change so those chords I remember that moment for me was like oh my god I like understood everything I had been listening to music just listening to it and not quite understanding what was really helping support all of those ideas but when he showed me these chord progressions I was like that was it for me I was like now I understand I just started writing more and more music and it was probably one of the most influential moments for me I know it sounds weird because was just me my piano teacher in front of it you know piano but but I will never forget that moment it was like an explosion that went off in my head and from then all I wanted to do was make music and and that led me to the film's I've been lucky enough to do like The Incredibles and ratatouille and up and Star Trek and Planet of the Apes and spider-man and dr. strumming all these crazy things that I've been so lucky to do if you were to ask me when I was a kid okay if you get to work in movies when you're older what is it you'd like to do what kind of movies I feel like all the movies I'm doing at the time the exact kind of movies I would have wanted to do so anyway happy makers week have a great time I hope this was interesting and maybe someday we'll just talk more about it take care and thanks again to test it\n"