This immediately went into my archive for reference. A lot of people are writing on here about movies; I like that you are writing about cinema, and how the medium affects the viewer’s brain.
Please feel free to use it, with my compliments! Also, reading this, it occurs to me— I’d like to put you on my list for future podcast guests, if you’re interested. I have some other good people lined up to talk about film, but I’d love to get you in the rotation.
Big fan of show don't tell. I want to be challenged when watching a movie and piecing everything together myself with little nudges from the filmmaker is a lot of fun. How good is that Jurassic Park setup!
I heard somewhere that authors should try and leave a “reader shaped hole” in their books, which is the same principle.
And yeah, that Jurassic Park scene is so good. I wanted to try and find a contrasting scene from the Jurassic World series where they overexplain the set-up, but that would have involved watching/rewatching the new ones, which I couldn’t face doing haha
A bit off topic: The first image reminds me of the scene in 'A Matter of Life and Death' (Powell & Pressburger) where David Niven happens upon the goat herder boy in the sand dunes. Which in turn reminds me of something from a Bergman movie.
This is a great piece, Ed – a wonderful (and aptly concise) articulation of so much of what matters in cinema and in literature. You point out one line in this essay that stands as a good description of what you're doing with your substack; another of your lines here captures what I'm doing with my own substack: "It's on us to engage with what we're given, to approach a movie [and I'd add books] as a participant, not a consumer."
James Baldwin's quote "you want to write a sentence as clean as a bone" kept echoing through my mind as I was reading this. really great stuff, Ed. i think focusing more on the relationship audiences have with the film (artwork) is going to be key for the future of cinema. as a filmmaker, thoughts like this are so helpful in polishing, expanding upon, and strengthening the stories in this medium. thank you.
This immediately went into my archive for reference. A lot of people are writing on here about movies; I like that you are writing about cinema, and how the medium affects the viewer’s brain.
Ah thanks so much Karl - that’s such a compliment! I may try and incorporate that description into my about page haha
Please feel free to use it, with my compliments! Also, reading this, it occurs to me— I’d like to put you on my list for future podcast guests, if you’re interested. I have some other good people lined up to talk about film, but I’d love to get you in the rotation.
Big fan of show don't tell. I want to be challenged when watching a movie and piecing everything together myself with little nudges from the filmmaker is a lot of fun. How good is that Jurassic Park setup!
I heard somewhere that authors should try and leave a “reader shaped hole” in their books, which is the same principle.
And yeah, that Jurassic Park scene is so good. I wanted to try and find a contrasting scene from the Jurassic World series where they overexplain the set-up, but that would have involved watching/rewatching the new ones, which I couldn’t face doing haha
Such a great quote! Haha spare yourself the brain damage
A bit off topic: The first image reminds me of the scene in 'A Matter of Life and Death' (Powell & Pressburger) where David Niven happens upon the goat herder boy in the sand dunes. Which in turn reminds me of something from a Bergman movie.
This is a great piece, Ed – a wonderful (and aptly concise) articulation of so much of what matters in cinema and in literature. You point out one line in this essay that stands as a good description of what you're doing with your substack; another of your lines here captures what I'm doing with my own substack: "It's on us to engage with what we're given, to approach a movie [and I'd add books] as a participant, not a consumer."
A recent essay I wrote ties in nicely with this essay, specifically with the idea that we should watch films actively and not passively: https://www.artofconversation.net/p/the-audience-cut
Thanks Matthew! Appreciate it! Your essay sounds cool - I will check it out.
James Baldwin's quote "you want to write a sentence as clean as a bone" kept echoing through my mind as I was reading this. really great stuff, Ed. i think focusing more on the relationship audiences have with the film (artwork) is going to be key for the future of cinema. as a filmmaker, thoughts like this are so helpful in polishing, expanding upon, and strengthening the stories in this medium. thank you.
Thanks, Taylor! Glad you enjoyed :)
https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/schizopolis-trailer
The best films you keep thinking about for a long time. The thinking/imagination after you've seen a film also counts, not just during the run time