An update.

So a good friend of mine recently asked me to update my blog more.

Something about "intelligent film discourse"?

Here I go!

I'm currently taking a video production class and I am SO HAPPY with it. The professor is (I think?) a visiting professor from UCLA.

Usually in my film classes I feel like I already know a lot of what they're telling us (history, significant films and film movements, etc.). There are only so many times I can watch the scene of the Odessa Steps, or discuss the many ways in which DW Griffith and Edwin S Porter advanced the art of editing and continuity. Right?? I mean, it's not that I know so much already, but I feel like every class I take starts AGAIN at the beginning and covers the same shit. But in this class, I feel like she uses things I already know to teach me more. I'm also actually learning, which is refreshing.

We read an article about video art and time. If you think about it, the main difference between film/video and other visual arts is TIME, in many respects. For example, video can have a duration predetermined by the artist. Film can also manipulate time by speeding up the passage of time, or slowing things down, speeding them up, playing them in reverse or out of order.

I think that part of the reason I am so happy with this class is due to my summer internships. I became sort of disillusioned with the whole industry over the summer. I have always been into film as an art form, a means of expression, whatever. And I used to look at some of those stupid mainstream blockbusters and think, "Who thought this was a good idea?!"

But I've realized I'm a huge snob in that way. And that I have an appreciation for more sophisticated movies. And I can't help it. Is it just that people don't know that there ARE better things out there? I'm not sure, but I'm straying from my point.

The point is that I realized this summer that the movie business is just that-- a BUSINESS. It's not about making something meaningful or powerful or even very good, it's just about making MONEY. This makes me a bit sad. And it makes me less excited about my eventual career in the industry, or whatever. I don't know.

So, I signed up to volunteer at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles. They call it the "Cinefamily." It's a small theater that shows indie/cult movies and has screenings with people from the industry. They are definitely about quality. And significance. Anyway, tomorrow is my first day of volunteering, and I'm excited. I need a "cinefamily." They're doing a series of Jacques Tati films, so that's what will be showing when I'm there. I've never seen any of his films so I hope I get to watch a bit.

Well, it's the weekend (for me, no class tomorrow!), so I'm going to go find someplace to start a ruckus.

That is all.