As I talked about yesterday, Life and Times have conspired (in a good way) to afford me the opportunity to devote myself to more creative pursuits, in the hope of becoming the creator and storyteller I want to be, and support myself by my passion. With a direction in mind and the shimmer of a destination on the horizon, it’s now time start to sinch my shoelaces firmly and set off on the winding path of Creative Wanderlust.
These Statement of Intent posts, more than just letting you wonderful humans of Steemit know what to expect from me, are also about consolidating these thoughts in my own mind, getting to grips with what I want to do, in the process resolving my myself around them, and thus creating a solid platform to stand on going forward.
I’ve already discussed Step One on this road, being Fantasy Fight Club, now it’s time to detail a bit more thoroughly on the next step on my journey:
Film, or more precisely, the experience of watching films, is important to me. All video content in fact: anything that inspires creativity and thoughtfulness from the various and discrete Black Mirrors that permeate modern life. Actually, storytelling in general, in all its myriad forms.
But Film and Television, for me, hold a particularly special place. I love the sacred ritual of going to the Cinema, the intimacy of watching a movie or series alone at home, of just letting the world that video creates intermingle and merge with my own, oftentimes replacing it entirely, even if it’s just for a little while. For those two hours, give or take, I am transported into the lives others, fantastical or not, and get to experience and feel something completely different, as worlds and lives emerge from the defined bounds of a particular aspect ratio.
To quote David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, the “screen is the retina of the mind’s eye”. The context of the film deals with Television and the perversions that it facilitates in the privacy of one’s own home, but I feel like this sentiment can be pulled out of the gutter, so to speak, and applied to the role of Film and Art in general. Art is meant to affect emotion, to be a springboard for ideas and self-reflection. It offers a mechanism for vicarious experience, for sympathy and empathy, for distilling the hopes, dreams, and fears of humanity in general, or offer insight into how particular people deal with the affliction that is existence. Art is internalized and interpreted, and the discussion and exploration of those mechanisms, as they are filtered through an individual’s own life and experiences, is absolutely fascinating.
Film’s confluence of Sound and Visuals, the mise en scène of the film as a whole, as a holistic experience, its allusions and influences, what exactly a film is trying to say, and the mechanism in which we are able to make sense of that message, interpret it, decode it---and the differences therein---are what interest me. The dichotomy between the Director’s vision and the film's execution, the difference between a creator’s idea and each individual's interpretation, is a compelling process in and of itself.
When I view a film, my first instinct is to note how it made me feel: to what extent the film managed to affect me, if it managed to do so at all, to what degree, and what cinematic mechanisms and techniques functioned to elicit that response. Be it surging anger and frustration, overflowing joy, serene sadness, or the forceful current of dread. Certain films taught me that extreme disgust is an emotion too, (and if a particular piece of art managed to expound that level of feeling, then it surely must be Art).
More than just the experience, though, I love discussing that experience with others. To engage with other viewpoints and see things from different angles.
So, all that said, I’m planning to post a weekly “review” (probably more accurately characterised as “essays”) of films and video content in general, as I offer up my own opinion, interpretation, thoughts, and inspirations about the wide-reaching marquee that comprises my own personal esoteric taste.
I hope to use these as a space to investigate how films manage to affect our emotional lives, and how the thoughts and ideas that Film introduces and engages with, and how those lessons and insights can be applied to the great paradigm of Human Existence, because Film also has a didactic function: it can teach, offer a lesson or insight, say something of what it means to be human, while at the same having the ability to entertain and enthrall.
From Sci-Fi that offers a means to view humanity from a comfortable distance as vast as time and space itself, and engage what it means to be human from that comfortable degree of separation. To Horror, that deals with the base uncertainties and paralyzing fears that lurk in the back of our minds. From Arthouse to Mainstream, Drama to Comedy, Animated, Anime, and Live-Action, Foreign and Western, both past and present, I look forward to sharing my passion with you.
Tomorrow I’ll post about the next subject I hold very near to my heart, and how I want to incorporate it into my Journey:
Till then, I’ll to see you in the comments!
