Friday, December 07, 2007

The future ...

... and what it may look like: Not According to Script.

Today cameras are ubiquitous and production software is easy enough to use that nearly any American with an interest in doing so can put together a film and post it online for public viewing. That many of the videos showing up on the Internet are just as or even more compelling to watch than what Tinsel Town throws up on the silver screen is both an indictment of Hollywood as well as an opportunity. It's of little mystery now what kind of war films consumers want to see. Most of them involve the good guys winning.

I think this is true of more than just film. People don't want a "take" on the information so much as the information itself.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:45 PM

    I apologise in advance for the return to crudeness, but that shit I mentioned I take regularly is more compelling to watch than what Tinsel Town throws up on the silver screen. I have to mention my hatred for the most vile word ever used, and that of course is the fourth last in the sentence, "It's of little mystery now what kind of war films consumers want to see."
    What a piece of work is man...I mean, What a piece of work is the consumer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, TS, I tend to agree regarding much that Tinseltown puts out these days, and war is bad. But why do you think the Iliad has lasted as long as it has? Why do you think people like Casablanca. It isn't because they like war. It's because they know that wars, like other disasters, happen, and that when they happen there is often a side that ought to win and a side that ought not, and that on either side the best is often brought out in individuals. Life is complex, often ugly, often terrifying, often beautiful. We should be grateful for it in all its messiness and not regard it as some stage work we are charged with passing judgment upon. Try to be a little happier, TS.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:28 AM

    I think you got me wrong there, Frank. My remark was wholly directed towards the very tangential issue of man in the age of materialism labelled "a consumer", which is to say a cog in a materialistic machine. I wouldn't call my dog(if I had a dog) a consumer, so I certainly wouldn't demean man with this label. It's much more than a label of convenience; it's an expression of materialism. Think of its meaning; that one is defined as a being as a consumer of otehr material: eating material, entertainment material, etc.
    And because I know that reality bears no relation to such false visions, I am actually a much happier person than you might imagine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. People don't want a "take" on the information so much as the information itself.

    I agree, and I think this is the healthiest development in newscasting in years. No one really trusts the big networks anymore, that I know, except maybe PBS and CSPAN which aren't that big anyway; the rest all put a spin on the news, or overinterpret it.

    It's the same with the weather. I pretty much go directly to the source, online, since I can, and interpret the weatehr for myself. I'm just as accurate as the TV guys, to be honest. Oh look, there's a strom heading my way! Better take cover!

    About cameras being ubiquitous, my partners and I just acquired an HD digital camera, and it rocks. Better picutre quality than anything I've ever seen, and almost the smallest and lightest camera I've ever used. I'm not into YouTube, but I am into making my own short films. I'm glad to see this wave of Do It Yourself filmmaking, which really does contain some amazing work.

    ReplyDelete