I'm glad to see you back here, hopefully, I'll establish a good set of common readers soon, those who constantly show support through reading each post. Thank you, to those people. This week, I wanted to talk about film, so sorry to the people who know me very well, I'm spouting out even more discussion on the topic. Unlike last time, this isn't going to be an explanation of a certain topic throughout my life, instead, it'll be an explanation of why I like films, which films I like and why I find myself hunting down certain genres and plots in film. I hope this will be of some interest.
Why I Love Film and What I Love About It.
Film, the art of telling a story through moving images and audible speech, an art, that in recent years, has grasped my attention and violently pulled me in. Although I'm not sure how or exactly when that happened. The first (and most obvious reason) I watch films is purely for enjoyment, like anyone else, no matter who they are, they watch films for entertainment, even if that is not their primary reason to do so. I find watching films relaxing, they are my favourite way to start a day, most weekends I will wake up, shower, then put a film on. This leads me nicely onto my next point, which is thinking. Starting a day with a film gives plenty of time around the clock to think about and soak in what I have watched, I can really develop critical thoughts throughout the day, and if I happen to talk to a friend or family member who enjoys film, I have something to talk about (which saves a lot of fumbling around for a subject).
In a film, I'm always looking for things to pick apart and find meaning in, or to critically rip to shreds, but mainly, enjoyable aspects. There are three main aspects of a film I will look closely at because those three aspects are the ones that spike my interest the most: cinematography, screenplay and performance. Cinematography (the visual aspects of a film, including composition, lighting, camera angles and movement, etc) interests me greatly, due to its ability to make or break a film, I'll compare it to books. Imagine you had a copy of your favourite book, which I'll assume has a good story, so you'll always want to go back to it, but the book is in horrific condition, so bad, that it is embarrassing to display, the pages are torn and the ink is smudged. Though the book is telling a great story, it is painful to look at, therefore, very hard to read. At the other end of the scale, the great cinematography, the cinematography that earns directors the title 'visionary'. This cinematography compares to the really nicely kept books that sit on the top shelf, those golden edged, hardback books that have a flush, clean appearance. These books are lovely to look at, you want to keep looking at them, just like films with good cinematography, but, just like my book analogy, those books could have an awful story, take Kubrick's The Shining, for example, it looks incredible, but the writing is hideous. I can use the same sort of comparison for the writing of a screenplay, the story may be very good, but the speech has to believable, if it is not believable, then it is impossible to feel anything for the characters, but even if the script is written well, performance is crucial. If delivery is not right on even one line in a scene, the whole character could fall apart. I love to watch films to take this all in and review it all, even if I may not feel satisfied after a bad film, it is fantastic when you find a film that does all of these things very well, these films supply to me the same enjoyment I'd imagine parties or hallucinogenics supply people, and those sorts of films also leave long-lasting effects on me. So, by that logic, Tim Burton and Wes Anderson throw the best parties and definitely deal the best drugs.
A Ghost Story, one of my favourite hard drugs.
What Sort of Films I Look For.
When deciding which films to try to find on DVD, or go to see in cinemas, I generally focus on a couple of things, the first is, again, like most people, a plot that I like the sound of, even only slightly, which doesn't rule out much, since I'd like to think I am open-minded about film, though I draw the line at James Corden, Rebel Wilson and Judy Dench prancing about dressed as upright felines. I will look for specific plot points or ideas, some of my favourites being twists, outsiders or anything remotely supernatural (as long as Robert Pattinson doesn't appear as a vampire in said film). I also pay a lot of attention at who is in the film and who has made it, there are certain directors who I will never say no to, no matter what, including Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, Denis Villeneuve and Alfred Hitchcock. The same goes for actors, but definitely not so much.
Certain genres of film also appeal to me more than others, those being: fantasy, science-fiction (I tend to prefer soft science fiction), horror and pure melodrama. I find it very interesting to know other people's favourite genres and go-to films, that is, if they like to rewatch films, which I love to do, I love this because I think you can learn lots about a person by their film taste, I find when talking about that subject you can find out lots too, which is great, not a creepy way, of course.
I hope you've enjoyed an insight into why I enjoy watching films, sorry if you found it boring, I'm working on making my writing as engaging as possible, any advice would be much appreciated. I'd also love to talk about film with anyone who wants to, which I'm hoping doesn't sound too much like a cry for attention and friends. Next week I plan on writing either, a piece about the series of Doctor Who that will have finished, or another insight into my mind, specifically my Asperger's, which may explain my obsessive nature, among the many questions about me that may haunt you (Why does he always mention Doctor Who at any given opportunity?) but it would also help people better understand my thought processes. I would like people to suggest some topics I could write about, as I'm sure it would be nicer to read about something you'd like to be reading about, rather than the drivel I produce on a weekly basis.
Thanks again for reading until the end, I hope you'll read my next post.
J.