So I hope this isn't me just asking wierd questions again but just wondering, what is it about movies? Why do people like them so much? Thinking back to like the late late 19th century people were like oh yeah! Moving images! Fun!! Let's make it happen?"
But why has this art form endured? Why has it just exploded? I mean think about it! Writing and poetry and theater have been around for thousands of years! But movies, just over a hundred years!
100 years ago we were still refining film, there wasn't even sound!! And now we are putting people in front of green screens and having planets blow up. Anyone else think it happened really fast!! I mean relatively speaking. What was it like 30, 40 years ago that George Lucas was pushing the limits of special effects with the first edition of Star Wars and now in 2011 it seems almost outdated to him and he's gotta go back and make it bigger and brighter!!
WOW! Set aside how you feel about Lucas changing a few things about Star Wars and just think about the practically of it. Movies have just exploded! The technology is getting so cool!!
But then we always have to remember that even though we are blessed with all these technological wonders we can't ever think that they should come before a good wholesome story. To put it in the words of Darth Vader, "Don't be to proud of this technological terror you've constructed. That is insignificant next to the power of the force!"
Or to put it in Jesus' words. "Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given."
What makes special effects even more spectacular? When they are used to tell a really, really, really good story!!!
Forgive me, I know I quoted Darth Vader wrong. But its pretty close!
ReplyDeleteWarning: This is a rant. So sorry! Haha!
ReplyDeleteI believe people used to go to movies because they were new. I mean, how cool are moving pictures?! :P
There used to be these little boxes outside of shops and such, where you insert a coin and watch a little clip play. These little clips transferred into longer clips with a story line. These little clips hit the big screen. Movies became entertainment.
Then World War I hit, and movies became much more than entertainment. Movies became an escape... an escape to a world were there was no war, a world were a husband or a boy was still home. Movies gave people hope that life would go back to the way it was, or that life would somehow become glamourized, like in the movies. It was during World War I where I think movies really took off.
After the war, well, I suppose people were so used to seeing movies that they kept on going. People became attached to an actor or actress, or the latest Hollywood couple.
Something happened though, in the 50's or somewhere around there. Movies became a way of life for some. The movie industries were pumping out movies like crazy, shooting some movies in 3 months, give or take. Actors and actresses came to Hollywood for the fame, the producers came for the money, and the audience came for entertainment. The magic of Hollywood's golden age was lost.
But! Being the optimistic that I am, I believe that slowly but surely movies are regaining that lost magic. Some of that magic is in special effects. Special effects let movies take us into a whole other world easily. I also think that some of that "magic" like you said, is in a good story. That's where I feel Hollywood is lacking. But, I like to think that things are looking up. :)
As a side note: I'm a little upset about George Lucas' changes. But I understand that it's his masterpiece, so if anyone should change it, it should be him. And the changes are minor... I guess I'll live. :)
Warning: this is also a rant!
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing your opinion! Yeah I don't know exactly where I stand with Lucas' changes either....oh well its his movie!
Thank you for your little history of film there! i did not know about the clips or the world war 1 stuff.
When do you think Hollywood's golden age was? I feel like high streaks in the industry cycles in and out, like any other industry I suppose. But yeah, the golden age....I agree with you about it being pre- 50s. I LOVE TALKING ABOUT FILM HISTORY!!!!!
I also can see your point about things looking up...do you think its at all related to post-modernism? Kinda that whole asking questions and not being afraid to dig into deep stuff?
I feel like I need to be more aware of the non-mainstream. because that stuff is really good too. the stuff we watch in class is not mainstream and it is good!
Although I have a special call to Hollywood, that in no way entitles me to listen to only their voice. There are lot of filmmaker out there! Like professor Leeper said, "You gotta have something to say that's worth listening to."
And although mainstream/hollywood stuff may not be the deepest material in the world you have to give them props to the fact that they know what the public wants!"
Hmmmm, random speculation, is Hollywood saying what they ought to say? Hmmmmm, interesting spin on Buechner's words! Not every great idea sells tickets!!
I think what is especially amazing about movies and why people love them so much is that it's our fantasties becoming visual. People love to see things with their own eyes. It makes it REAL to them if they can see whatever they're looking at/being told/reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm also sure lots of people love to act because they get to be in adventures that look real to the audience and get to feel the thrill but not actually, you know, die. (I mean, I'd love to be an FBI agent and go catch bad guys and read them their rights, but I'm not interested in getting shot.)
That's my take on why movies are so popular, anyway. :)
This a great conversation ladies! I hope you get a chance to continue it face to face as well. And you're right on both counts Rachel. Hollywood absolutely knows how to give the largest possible audience what it wants...or at least what they think they want. And great ideas don't necessarily sell tickets...especially when your audience is all hopped up on what they think they want. Somehow the best film know how to bridge that gap. They meet their audience where that their at AND manage to leave them with something more.
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