J.J. Abrams talks about mystery
A vision of beauty in time lapse form.
Dramatic Sea Cliffs. Go ahead, jump...
Short and sweet. Couple of things that are keeping me up!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Discovery:Inventum
Over the last four or five years, I've dedicated myself to learning how to make a great story. I've read a number of the go-to books on the subject, consumed stories by both watching films and reading books/scripts, and I've written many, many short scripts. Yet, all the studying has been in vain because I think there is a major aspect I overlooked. Everyone has a story. Not necessarily something written or told, but rather, something we live. I have not actively lived my story.
(Books you should read to help you understand your story: Story, The Writer's Journey, and Wild at Heart)
Since this revelation a short time ago, I've decided I want to discover the source, the great meaning behind my own personal story. I think we are all given a purpose, and I think we all fulfill that function whether or not we desire to. Yeah, that is a tough pill to swallow if you believe we are destined to run our own lives. Some would argue it takes out the mystery of the journey, because they assume where they are right now could very well be what the end is like.
But that very state of mind could be the much needed call to adventure you long for deep in your heart. If you don't like your circumstances, perhaps you should change them. I've been disheartened by the post-college world. You are expected to get a job, maybe you change that job once or twice in your career, but otherwise, you are set for life. Prepared to go and finish. That is honorable, and I respect people who can do that. But that is not me. I need a malleable, shifting, mystery to follow in order to feel I have meaning. The unknown is so captivating to me, that I must at least attempt to lasso and gaze deep into it.
The great mystery, I think, is God's plan. We have no clue how our lives are going to end up. He knows where to set the edge just where we aren't looking. The beckoning into this sweeping mystery is often referred to as the call to adventure. It's one of those places where we may believe we have everything planned out and under control, but God has another plan.
I was going to make a short film. Something that I've desired to do for a long time now. It's no news to anyone that I wanted to do this. I'm a film major, its what I'm expected to do. Make some content, either written or visual, and use it as a stepping stone into the next tier of professionalism. The short film will have to wait. I was recently given the opportunity to hop on an airplane, travel 3,500 miles to the northwest Pacific, and become a deckhand on an Alaskan fishing boat.
(One of the boats in the fleet I'll be fishing in)
I've never fished before, let alone been to Alaska and the prospect both frightens and thrills me. It is the ultimate mystery. One of the best aspects about this journey, is my captains interest in documenting his work through video. He wants me to produce videos about the daily work of an Alaskan fishing boat.
Now, this isn't a line of work to be taken lightly, as I've been told. The hours can range from 16-24+ hour days. The work is physically strenuous; often requiring deckhands to pull nets full of a legion of fish for the above listed amount of hours, and on top of the physically demanding side, there is not a lot of room for error. The crew and captain, most likely, have been doing this work for many years. They will expect nothing less than great work 100% of the time.
The end result to working through the season can be very lucrative, but I seek something more than money. It's that journey, that discovery. In Latin, one word for discovery is inventum. I love the root word; invent. In English, it leads you to think "create." Create your discovery. Inventum. I am on the edge of this great story.
I'd like to write about my journey with reference to the concepts, ideas, and steps of story. The first Act is ready to begin. I know the stakes of the journey, at least in part. There could be even greater ones that are unforeseen by me at this moment, but that will only enrich the experience. It's a mystery, even if I know the setting is a fishing boat in Alaska. That alone holds enough of the unknown to me that it is exciting.
If you want to experience life as exciting, wrap your head around the fact that you live a story. It isn't just a mundane set of events every day. Rather, every new day can be seen as an adventure. You wake up, it's time for work. You know the setting, but the work could be very different today. Will Jack come over to my desk and give me a few stupid anecdotes about his golfing? Will my boss recognize the work I've done today? Will my computer die on me while working on an important presentation?
Everything can be a mystery. The stakes can be high. Don't allow yourself to settle for anything less than a great story. Starting at the end of this month, mine will begin by jumping on a plane to Alaska.
I hope you come back to share in my journey.
(Books you should read to help you understand your story: Story, The Writer's Journey, and Wild at Heart)
Since this revelation a short time ago, I've decided I want to discover the source, the great meaning behind my own personal story. I think we are all given a purpose, and I think we all fulfill that function whether or not we desire to. Yeah, that is a tough pill to swallow if you believe we are destined to run our own lives. Some would argue it takes out the mystery of the journey, because they assume where they are right now could very well be what the end is like.
But that very state of mind could be the much needed call to adventure you long for deep in your heart. If you don't like your circumstances, perhaps you should change them. I've been disheartened by the post-college world. You are expected to get a job, maybe you change that job once or twice in your career, but otherwise, you are set for life. Prepared to go and finish. That is honorable, and I respect people who can do that. But that is not me. I need a malleable, shifting, mystery to follow in order to feel I have meaning. The unknown is so captivating to me, that I must at least attempt to lasso and gaze deep into it.
The great mystery, I think, is God's plan. We have no clue how our lives are going to end up. He knows where to set the edge just where we aren't looking. The beckoning into this sweeping mystery is often referred to as the call to adventure. It's one of those places where we may believe we have everything planned out and under control, but God has another plan.
I was going to make a short film. Something that I've desired to do for a long time now. It's no news to anyone that I wanted to do this. I'm a film major, its what I'm expected to do. Make some content, either written or visual, and use it as a stepping stone into the next tier of professionalism. The short film will have to wait. I was recently given the opportunity to hop on an airplane, travel 3,500 miles to the northwest Pacific, and become a deckhand on an Alaskan fishing boat.
I've never fished before, let alone been to Alaska and the prospect both frightens and thrills me. It is the ultimate mystery. One of the best aspects about this journey, is my captains interest in documenting his work through video. He wants me to produce videos about the daily work of an Alaskan fishing boat.
Now, this isn't a line of work to be taken lightly, as I've been told. The hours can range from 16-24+ hour days. The work is physically strenuous; often requiring deckhands to pull nets full of a legion of fish for the above listed amount of hours, and on top of the physically demanding side, there is not a lot of room for error. The crew and captain, most likely, have been doing this work for many years. They will expect nothing less than great work 100% of the time.
The end result to working through the season can be very lucrative, but I seek something more than money. It's that journey, that discovery. In Latin, one word for discovery is inventum. I love the root word; invent. In English, it leads you to think "create." Create your discovery. Inventum. I am on the edge of this great story.
I'd like to write about my journey with reference to the concepts, ideas, and steps of story. The first Act is ready to begin. I know the stakes of the journey, at least in part. There could be even greater ones that are unforeseen by me at this moment, but that will only enrich the experience. It's a mystery, even if I know the setting is a fishing boat in Alaska. That alone holds enough of the unknown to me that it is exciting.
If you want to experience life as exciting, wrap your head around the fact that you live a story. It isn't just a mundane set of events every day. Rather, every new day can be seen as an adventure. You wake up, it's time for work. You know the setting, but the work could be very different today. Will Jack come over to my desk and give me a few stupid anecdotes about his golfing? Will my boss recognize the work I've done today? Will my computer die on me while working on an important presentation?
Everything can be a mystery. The stakes can be high. Don't allow yourself to settle for anything less than a great story. Starting at the end of this month, mine will begin by jumping on a plane to Alaska.
I hope you come back to share in my journey.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Movie Review: The Fall
While this review is four years over due from the films release date, I just got around to watching it last night. Now before I jump into my thoughts on this film should have a disclaimer about how I'm going to start running this blog.
I'd like to start using this blog as a place to improve my writing, learn more about movies, and perhaps build a community that can discuss movies and theology openly. Not all reviews will be deeply theological, as you will see with this one.
I've decided that a great way to start a blog like that would be reviewing films. I'm going to approach it a bit differently than just a spewing of personal opinions regarding a film maker, and his work. Instead, I'm going to give a brief background on the director (and occasionally the writer) in order to build an understanding of these people's point of view. Often we watch a movie, miss the creators point, and cast it aside as a bunch of hooey because we didn't get the message. I'm not saying every review will be unbiased, and I'm not saying every movie is good, but I promise I can't write completely bureaucratically. This is an exercise to look at the theology of a film as laid out by the cinematography and story, and think critically about that worldview.
Why don't I just jump right into this new thing?
The director of "The Fall" is Tarsem Singh. You may not know his name, but I'm close to certain you've seen his work. In the mid 90's he was directing award winning music videos for REM, and making controversial Levi's commercials with Jamie Presley (My Name Is Earl), and flying around the globe for Nike, Mountain Dew and many other tiny brands. He is of the same class as guys like Spike Jonze and David Fincher; film director's who started by directing commercials for the small screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-UzXIQ5vw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BXpAoBIQKU
The more I researched Tarsem and "The Fall," the more I was intrigued, inspired, and impressed with the guy. He's Indian, went to boarding school in the Himalayas, convinced his aircraft engineer father to send him to Harvard, instead won a scholarship to the Art Center College of Design, and started directing music videos. When his father found this out, he told Tarsem "you don't exist anymore."
A painful sentence to digest, and one that will echo in his film.
Tarsem would go on to be paid very well to fly the globe making landmark commercials and music videos in Japan, India, South Africa...you name it. The travels to the numerous beautiful locations would pay off, not literally, as he returned to many of them to film the epic world in "The Fall."
One of the most magnificent aspects of this film is the grandeur of each location, which are not CGI, save for cleaning out unsightly telephone poles and the like. From deserted islands to blue cities(which are real http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodhpur), to vast deserts; this film is an epic with a personal touch.
Set in the early age of cinema, sometime between 1915-1925, we find ourselves in a Los Angeles hospital. Our main character is Alexandria, a six year old girl (Catinca Untaru) who broke her arm. She runs around the hospital, making friends with the ailing patients. Our little hero has a vivid imagination, which serves as the epic side of this film. Alexandria meets another patient, a Hollywood stuntman named Roy Walker, played by "Pushing Daisies" Lee Pace. Roy was injured while attempting a daring leap from a train bridge onto a horse.
The stuntman's drugged up, sad mind feeds Alexandria a tale that becomes the world of Tarsem's "The Fall." Cinematically, there are few comparisons, though some have described it as a "Wizard of Oz" for adults. Just imagine if all the locations in that well known movie were actually real. Tarsem spent the better part of 8 years looking for a girl to fit the role, and when he found her, he immediately began filming in a mental ward in South Africa.
Now for some more on the making of the movie, Lee Pace' character was paralyzed. Tarsem wanted the girl to fully believe that her friend was not able to walk. In order to create the illusion the only person who knew Lee was could walk on the set, was the nurse who took Lee back and forth for bathroom breaks. Talk about committed...They filmed the entirety of the hospital scenes chronologically; the first time Alexandria met Roy, was when we also first meet him. Pretty insane, huh?
The story weaves deeper as we find out that Roy will most likely never walk again, so he sends Alexandria on missions to find medicine that will "help him sleep," in return for his stories. Alexandria does his bidding, unknowingly aiding the man in a journey to a potentially sad end.
As our characters meet daily, Alexandria's imagination begins to project Roy as her father, which Roy, plays along with for the sake of the story. Eventually, though, Roy becomes increasingly adamant about finding medicine to help him sleep. Roy echo's a line similar to what Tarsem heard from his father "I'm not your father." The personal aspect of this film is evident from the heavy subject matter.
After filming the hospital scene Tarsem
Which brings me to my analysis of what Tarsem Singh believes. Tarsem was born into a Sikh family, and for those of you who don't know the Sikh religion, it is based heavily in Punjab region of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab,_India) The religion is based on a unification with god, and they believe in equality for humankind. In "The Fall," it is clear that there is a belief of equality for humankind by the epic tale Roy tells Alexandria. She imagines five men, a former slave, an Indian (who looks very Sikh), an explosive expert, Charles Darwin (yes that one), and the masked bandit.
From the eclectic mesh of characters we see they have one goal: to defeat the evil Odious. This man has wronged each of our characters deeply, representing a sort of Satanic character, who remains largely unseen in the film. We see a battle between what feels like an unbeatable force of evil and the likes of men who have been wronged deeply in the wake of this evil.
Overall the film has a positive outlook and I think makes for a great family film, despite bouts of violence. If you are interested in a completely original, beautifully photographed movie, Tarsem's "The Fall" is for you.
I'd like to start using this blog as a place to improve my writing, learn more about movies, and perhaps build a community that can discuss movies and theology openly. Not all reviews will be deeply theological, as you will see with this one.
I've decided that a great way to start a blog like that would be reviewing films. I'm going to approach it a bit differently than just a spewing of personal opinions regarding a film maker, and his work. Instead, I'm going to give a brief background on the director (and occasionally the writer) in order to build an understanding of these people's point of view. Often we watch a movie, miss the creators point, and cast it aside as a bunch of hooey because we didn't get the message. I'm not saying every review will be unbiased, and I'm not saying every movie is good, but I promise I can't write completely bureaucratically. This is an exercise to look at the theology of a film as laid out by the cinematography and story, and think critically about that worldview.
Why don't I just jump right into this new thing?
The director of "The Fall" is Tarsem Singh. You may not know his name, but I'm close to certain you've seen his work. In the mid 90's he was directing award winning music videos for REM, and making controversial Levi's commercials with Jamie Presley (My Name Is Earl), and flying around the globe for Nike, Mountain Dew and many other tiny brands. He is of the same class as guys like Spike Jonze and David Fincher; film director's who started by directing commercials for the small screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-UzXIQ5vw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BXpAoBIQKU
The more I researched Tarsem and "The Fall," the more I was intrigued, inspired, and impressed with the guy. He's Indian, went to boarding school in the Himalayas, convinced his aircraft engineer father to send him to Harvard, instead won a scholarship to the Art Center College of Design, and started directing music videos. When his father found this out, he told Tarsem "you don't exist anymore."
A painful sentence to digest, and one that will echo in his film.
Tarsem would go on to be paid very well to fly the globe making landmark commercials and music videos in Japan, India, South Africa...you name it. The travels to the numerous beautiful locations would pay off, not literally, as he returned to many of them to film the epic world in "The Fall."
One of the most magnificent aspects of this film is the grandeur of each location, which are not CGI, save for cleaning out unsightly telephone poles and the like. From deserted islands to blue cities(which are real http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodhpur), to vast deserts; this film is an epic with a personal touch.
Set in the early age of cinema, sometime between 1915-1925, we find ourselves in a Los Angeles hospital. Our main character is Alexandria, a six year old girl (Catinca Untaru) who broke her arm. She runs around the hospital, making friends with the ailing patients. Our little hero has a vivid imagination, which serves as the epic side of this film. Alexandria meets another patient, a Hollywood stuntman named Roy Walker, played by "Pushing Daisies" Lee Pace. Roy was injured while attempting a daring leap from a train bridge onto a horse.
The stuntman's drugged up, sad mind feeds Alexandria a tale that becomes the world of Tarsem's "The Fall." Cinematically, there are few comparisons, though some have described it as a "Wizard of Oz" for adults. Just imagine if all the locations in that well known movie were actually real. Tarsem spent the better part of 8 years looking for a girl to fit the role, and when he found her, he immediately began filming in a mental ward in South Africa.
Now for some more on the making of the movie, Lee Pace' character was paralyzed. Tarsem wanted the girl to fully believe that her friend was not able to walk. In order to create the illusion the only person who knew Lee was could walk on the set, was the nurse who took Lee back and forth for bathroom breaks. Talk about committed...They filmed the entirety of the hospital scenes chronologically; the first time Alexandria met Roy, was when we also first meet him. Pretty insane, huh?
The story weaves deeper as we find out that Roy will most likely never walk again, so he sends Alexandria on missions to find medicine that will "help him sleep," in return for his stories. Alexandria does his bidding, unknowingly aiding the man in a journey to a potentially sad end.
As our characters meet daily, Alexandria's imagination begins to project Roy as her father, which Roy, plays along with for the sake of the story. Eventually, though, Roy becomes increasingly adamant about finding medicine to help him sleep. Roy echo's a line similar to what Tarsem heard from his father "I'm not your father." The personal aspect of this film is evident from the heavy subject matter.
After filming the hospital scene Tarsem
Which brings me to my analysis of what Tarsem Singh believes. Tarsem was born into a Sikh family, and for those of you who don't know the Sikh religion, it is based heavily in Punjab region of India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab,_India) The religion is based on a unification with god, and they believe in equality for humankind. In "The Fall," it is clear that there is a belief of equality for humankind by the epic tale Roy tells Alexandria. She imagines five men, a former slave, an Indian (who looks very Sikh), an explosive expert, Charles Darwin (yes that one), and the masked bandit.
From the eclectic mesh of characters we see they have one goal: to defeat the evil Odious. This man has wronged each of our characters deeply, representing a sort of Satanic character, who remains largely unseen in the film. We see a battle between what feels like an unbeatable force of evil and the likes of men who have been wronged deeply in the wake of this evil.
Overall the film has a positive outlook and I think makes for a great family film, despite bouts of violence. If you are interested in a completely original, beautifully photographed movie, Tarsem's "The Fall" is for you.
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