Brillionaire
06-17-2009, 06:17 PM
Since I was a kid (which, I still consider myself to be in some aspects of life) I have always had a tendency to try and break things down so that I can understand how things work. If you break something down and fully understand how each part works and interacts with the other parts, you can fully understand the sum of the parts. I find it to be highly gratifying when I solve one of these little puzzles and take this approach with me everywhere I go, including the movie theater.
A writer/director/artist starts off their movie making endeavor with one simple little seed thought. Something that, with a little careful planning and nourishment, can either grow into a weed or a fruit bearing plant. From this little condensed brain fart of an idea (typically "cliche" (which, to me, "cliche" sayings are "seed" ideas that are important enough to stand the test of time)), you can branch out from the pillar idea to add artistic touch (all of the emotion that makes us human) to more fully illustrate and drive home the artist's original "seed" thought.
When watching a movie (or listening to music or reading a book or analyzing a joke) I first start off by trying to understand the "feeling" that the artist is trying to convey. This typically sets the tone for the seed thought. For example: "Se7en" (to me ("art" is all personal interpretation)) has a very dark and dingy feeling to it. The colors and hues used imply that it is more of a dark social satire. Once you get a feel for where things are heading, you can grab onto certain conversation or events that should give you some bearing.
If the movie is made properly, a series of events and conversations should be readily available to be compiled and a correlation between these compiled events should become blatantly obvious when the keystone event/conversation takes place. In "Se7en" (again, to me) the primal point of the movie takes place when Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman (the interaction between the two is really the focal point of the movie (besides the seven deadly sins)) are talking in the bar and Brad Pitt calls out Morgan Freeman about why he is quitting and moving out to a cottage in the country. Pitt pretty much says that Freeman has been jaded by all of the snuff of the world and that he no longer has the will to work for the greater good. Freeman does not respond, but the look on his face tells the whole story (good acting has a way of detailing such emotion).
A second viewing really helps add foliage (things you may have missed early on that further solidify how you feel about the movie). Solving the puzzle and condensing 2 hours of movie telling may have a way of bringing something pre-conscious (something that you are aware of but may not have pieced together in a fashion that gives it meaning and digs it up to the surface of consciousness) into a new light. It may be gratifying enough to have an impact on how you view the world around you.
A writer/director/artist starts off their movie making endeavor with one simple little seed thought. Something that, with a little careful planning and nourishment, can either grow into a weed or a fruit bearing plant. From this little condensed brain fart of an idea (typically "cliche" (which, to me, "cliche" sayings are "seed" ideas that are important enough to stand the test of time)), you can branch out from the pillar idea to add artistic touch (all of the emotion that makes us human) to more fully illustrate and drive home the artist's original "seed" thought.
When watching a movie (or listening to music or reading a book or analyzing a joke) I first start off by trying to understand the "feeling" that the artist is trying to convey. This typically sets the tone for the seed thought. For example: "Se7en" (to me ("art" is all personal interpretation)) has a very dark and dingy feeling to it. The colors and hues used imply that it is more of a dark social satire. Once you get a feel for where things are heading, you can grab onto certain conversation or events that should give you some bearing.
If the movie is made properly, a series of events and conversations should be readily available to be compiled and a correlation between these compiled events should become blatantly obvious when the keystone event/conversation takes place. In "Se7en" (again, to me) the primal point of the movie takes place when Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman (the interaction between the two is really the focal point of the movie (besides the seven deadly sins)) are talking in the bar and Brad Pitt calls out Morgan Freeman about why he is quitting and moving out to a cottage in the country. Pitt pretty much says that Freeman has been jaded by all of the snuff of the world and that he no longer has the will to work for the greater good. Freeman does not respond, but the look on his face tells the whole story (good acting has a way of detailing such emotion).
A second viewing really helps add foliage (things you may have missed early on that further solidify how you feel about the movie). Solving the puzzle and condensing 2 hours of movie telling may have a way of bringing something pre-conscious (something that you are aware of but may not have pieced together in a fashion that gives it meaning and digs it up to the surface of consciousness) into a new light. It may be gratifying enough to have an impact on how you view the world around you.