That's the trouble with you readers, you know all the plots!

I enjoyed watching Sunset Boulevard very much. I kept forgetting to take notes about all the cinematography and such, the discussion at the end of class made the movie 1000x more interesting (not that it wasn't before the discussion).

After class I was thinking about a lot of the things that everyone said and it occurred to me that we could have talked for hours about themes, cinematography, sound and all those other aspects of the film. Once one thing was said, five other people would realize or remember something else in the movie that meant or expressed the same idea. For example, Camille realized that when Betty and Joe were discussing one of Joe's pieces, Betty told Joe she liked the part about the teacher because it was real and heartfelt. She added on to take out the part about the psycho. The comment ended there but I kept thinking about that scene: After Betty tells Joe to take out that part about the psycho, he claims that everybody loves a psycho! Well, everybody loves Norma Desmond. At least to the point of humoring her insanity. So I just have to ask, is everything that we pointed out, whether out loud or just personally, intentional?

It will take lots and lots of practice for me to be able to watch a film and take notice of things like lighting without prompting. That's ok, I don't mind watching lots and lots of movies if it means a more comprehensive film experience.

I guess it's time now to venture on to a short film of my own. I can't promise that every little cohesive detail will be intentional, but I can promise that it will be at least 2 minutes long.

WOW.

Let me just say, a lot of shit goes into making a film, a LOT.

Art for me is personal and intimate. It is hard to fathom a work of art such as film to be created by so many different artists (script writer, director, editor, sound editor and more). If I were a scriptwriter, I'm not sure how well I would take a director "making it his own." What if my vision was lost? What if it doesn't convey the story I intended it to?

Maybe I just don't play well with others. When I have something specific in mind, I find it hard to accept others' suggestions or changes. Making a short film in class will definitely be a challenge for me, and the people who have to work with me... I apologize in advance. I will try and keep an open mind :)

I'm glad this first film assignment is individual work. I hope it will get me comfortable enough with the editing programs and concepts to be able to contribute something productive to our group film. I really am excited about the project, don't let my hesitation fool you.

So, last class was pretty long. I open this paragraph with that statement because it is the first thing that I remembered about class. It felt chaotic and the terms/concepts were definitely overwhelming. I repeat, a lot of shit goes into making a film. It's disenchanting but incredible at the same time. This box o' footage is either going to be a piece of cake or living hell, I hope the former... The StarWars and LotR clips seemed very helpful.

I look forward to our next class.

First Impressions

My first thought about a "film class" is the pronunciation of the word "film" with two syllables, "fil-lum," spoken in a high class English accent (how my mother sometimes says it). It makes me feel very defensive in the sense that I want to shout, "Just because I don't know the director of a movie doesn't mean I can't enjoy it!"

Camille, I was laughing to myself when we were talking about this class because you said something about how you like film because it's not elite at all, anybody can enjoy it or be good at it. I don't know anything about film. So when people talk about it, whether it's actors, directors, philosophies behind it, or history of, I feel excluded, inferior, not elite; therefore making film and anyone who enjoys film to a greater extent than me, elite.

These thoughts are film are just first impressions of the world itself. I know that just because people like a subject a whole lot and love to talk about it with their friends doesn't make them elitist pricks. I suppose I just have somewhat of a "men are inherently evil.." opinion about it.

That aside, I really enjoyed my first day of film class. Syllabi are always fun to go over and the bathroom break was welcomed enthusiastically. But really, I am very excited about the weeks to come. This class will bring me out of my element, something I have been expecting to happen eventually in the Honors College.

Bring on the fil-lum.