Sunday 8 May 2011

Five Questions For You

Would love for you to answer these, and also pass this on to anyone else who might be interested.

1. Has a film storyline or character ever inspired you to say or do something in your life that, otherwise, you wouldn't have said or done?

2. Artists die, but their work stays, as long as we keep viewing it. Why is the past important? Where do Chaplin, Capra and Hepburn fit into a world of iPhones and social networks?

3. What do you dislike most about movies?

4. Please sum up in only ONE word, what you are looking when you watch a film.

5. When you think of your love for movies, what one image comes to mind? (could be an image from a movie, could be a flashback of you as a kid eating popcorn, could be anything!)

Care to share?

17 comments:

  1. Great timing, Kid. Am just working on questions that will help identify sustainable ways for women to make movies, and it's hard yakka! So seeing your questions really helps.

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  2. No. 5: The mirror scene in The Lady From Shanghai.

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  3. http://sugarycynicism.blogspot.com/2011/05/five-questions-from-kid.html

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  4. 1. Yes
    2. The past is important so we are reminded of what has already taken place. Chaplin, Capra, Hepburn, etc., were the social network of the golden age in film. Everyone either identified with them, wanted to look like them, people got together to watch their films and of course talk about them.
    3. Weak storyline
    4. STORY
    5. Cary Grant in drag in I was a Male Warbride

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  5. 1) Yes. And the days where I'm drawing from George Bailey are probably better than those where I'm D-Fens.

    2) The past is important, but there's a lot of it, and it keeps getting bigger. You decide for yourself what's worth holding on to. That inspiration influences your work, and the past lives on. Can't decide whether the new media help that process with their bounty of ideas or just clutter it with opinion.

    3) Behind the pretty pictures lurks Big Business.

    4) Revelation.

    5) Pelting out of the cinema, coat worn like a cape, arms thrust out in front of me, feeling simultaneous joy at what I've just seen and dread that maybe the real world will never match up to it.

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  6. 1. Absolutely. Whether its consciously or subconsciously.
    2. They don't, but to be fair, most of my social networking interaction is for promotional purposes. Those conversations tend to happen one on one.
    3. F/X for F/X sake.
    4. Story.
    5. Not an image, but a feeling. I work at a theater and this feeling has gone and never returned. But before that, walking into a theater on a matinee and the excitement of seeing a movie coupled with that familiar movie theater smell has always stuck with me. One day, it will return...hopefully.

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  7. 1) Yes, most definitely.

    2) Certain a artists and creators have a timeless quality and that certain something which continues to influence future generations. Films, music and art capture something about the people making it as well as the period in time they were made. By continuing to view important pieces of work we can get inspired to create and hopefully find our own voices at the same time.

    In terms of how artists like Chaplin, Capra and Hepburn fit into a world of i-phones and social networking I don't think they do, but I also don't think that's a bad thing.

    3)Too much CGI and Special Effects at the expense of a good story.

    4)Magic.

    5)Holding my Dad's hand after watching Superman as a child at a cinema in London as a Christmas treat. There was snow everywhere and for once the reality following the film's close was just as magical to me as the film itself.

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  8. 1. Yes. one of the results is start movie blogging :)
    2. I don't know if they fit now, but yes their work will last forever. because to me, they are far more original than the icons now.
    3. lack of depth (in the movie that requires depth)
    4. I guess I look for movies that are both entertaining but moved me in a way too, smart thinking ones that able to give me inspiration
    5. watching it at a quiet home where I got my full concentration, and a snack ofcourse ^^

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  9. 1. A film inspired me to propose to my first wife.
    2. I'm not sure where or how they do.
    3. Overloud soundtracks.
    4. Escapism.
    5. The film burning out from the centre at the end of Two-Lane Blacktop. One of the best endings in film history.

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  10. 1. Ea. time I see a great movie it's inspiring to know it can be done.

    2. knowing the history of art can serve to expand your imagination and continue building upon it, taking it somewhere new.

    3. When they don't even try to say something; or don't give an ending; implied is ok but I'm watching for 2 hours so the writer takes me on trip.

    4. journey

    5. When the director uses everything film has to offer = sound, visuals & story

    certain scenes from movies like: The Fall 2006, Hero, Bram Stokers Dracula, Tetro, etc.

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  11. 1. To start writing about film in general.
    2. They will be here, long after Apple and phones.
    3. When ignorance is perpetually made possible by terrible stereotypes.
    4. Enrapture
    5. The wonder in my eyes as I saw Beauty and the Beast in theatres (first experience).

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  12. 1. Yes, often. Or it inspires me by provoking me to ponder on something.

    2. Without the past there would be no present. Without what these great artists have accomplished, there wouldn't be inspiration for what comes next. The past is important because it reminds us of these landmark moments in history that allowed media to progress to where it is today.

    3. When they lack a good plot or are just fluffy nothing-ness and contain just enough "air" to make money.

    4. "Interesting" or "Plot"

    5. Can't think of a specific image, but I do think of favorite scenes, such as Maximus's last scene in Gladiator, William Wallace's last moments as well as Hamish throwing the sword across the battlefield in Braveheart, the end of the play at the end of Moulin Rouge, and many more.

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  13. 1. Yes, most definitely!!!

    2. I think, for one, without all those brilliant actors before, there would be no inspiration for now. Also, it's so wonderful to know that good art lives on. How do they fit in? Not quite sure. They just do!

    3. When a good movie is over and I wasn't part of it. ;) (and also too much CGI.)

    4. Oblivious to all else. (not really one word.. don't know how to say that.)

    5. There's not really just one image. A lot of them are epic scenes from various movies, but also from theater plays (for example at the end when you can see the smiles on the actors faces! I think that's from where my love springs for movies and acting springs forth! ^^)
    Maybe this wasn't quite the answer you were looking for!

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  14. 1. Akira. Kaneda. Taught me to get gangster.

    2. Well, in a sense their art can live on through a different medium. Fuck netflix, it's a 8 inch screen. I think Chaplin will always look better and WORK better on an Ipad than transformers ever will.

    3. They end. But in truth, the thing I hate about modern movies is that they are so streamlined it's nearly painful. Watch ONE scene of an older film and look at how so much time id given to the individual nuances an actor can bring to a character. It's a crime against truly amazing actors that they have to run to TV because the latest toy adaptation wants them to use their powers atleast 3 times every act. Screw character development.

    4. Immersion

    5. Kaneda and the capsule crew
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz5uSnxi4Sw&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESkO94iUm34v=lz5uSnxi4Sw&feature=related

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  15. 1. Yes.

    2. the past is like a foreign country. Classic cinema endures for the same reason that greek tragedy or the works of shakespeare are still produced despite their antiquity: because it communicates a human experience broad enough to apply to any time.

    3. i dislike it when directors decide that they need a "sex scene" to sell their movie. Classic directors were able to communicate more through innuendo then many modern directors communicate with blunt imagery. Sex scenes--unless acting as genuine expressions of characterization--are not only tragically predictable, but also detract from whatever overall theme the film is trying to communicate.

    4. Catharsis

    5. "Captain O' My Captain!" (scene from Dead Poets Society)

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  16. Great questions!
    1) Yes, though I can't think of an example right now. It probably has to do with declaring my love to someone in an embarrassing way.
    2) The past is important because human stories are timeless.
    3) I dislike how underrepresented women and minorities are, and how stereotypically they're portrayed.
    4) Passion
    5) Honestly, the Titanic. It came out when I was in elementary school and it's the first movie I saw multiple times in theaters. I was in love with everything about it and everyone in it.

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  17. could be a flashback of you as a kid eating popcorn. hahaha

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