First of all, in my reading for Film Music, I learned a bit about silence in film. We all know that it's one of the big faux-pas in film to have an actor look directly at the camera. It's cheesy, looks weird, etc, etc. Lots of problems. That we know even as an audience member. What we don't know is that even when there is silence in a film, it isn't silence. There is a very low level of white noise, always (in popular films). Without that "protection of this sound blanket" (Figgis, page 2 of Silence), everything becomes so harsh. We feel as an audience member as if the floor has dropped out beneath us and suddenly, we're faced with actual silence. I feel like some of us may have experienced that more in live theater - that moment when you are jolted out of your willful suspension of disbelief and realize that you're sitting with a bunch of strangers in the dark watching other strangers on a stage. The walls come down when there is no sound and we all suddenly remember reality.
Secondly, I have been reading Black Swan Green lately, a book given to me by my grandmother and written by David Mitchell. Last night, I came across some things I wanted to share here. First of all, there was a scene in which a young boy was chased by some dogs (dobermans) since their owner thought the boy was stuck up given where he had grown up.
"The dog man despised me for not being born here. He despised me for living down Kingfisher Meadows. That's a hate you can't argue with. No more than you can argue with mad Dobermans."
(p. 72)
That made me think of my RSS course, about how I don't mind hearing opinions opposed to mine. It's the blind dismissal of other points of view that bothers me - precisely what Mitchell stated above, that it's something (in many cases hatred in that class) that "you can't argue with". Very hard to deal with.
The last thing I wanted to say was inspired not only by passages in the book but also by clips that I have watched in both of my film-related classes this week. I feel like everywhere I look, I see paths, roads, trees and greenery, people walking or driving or hiking - just being out there. I want to go walking down paths I haven't seen before - walk with some food in a bag and spend the day without reading an article, book, or internet page - without typing anything or turning in homework. Next Friday (the 19th) is our mid-semester break. Yes, only one day. Pathetic. On the other hand, mid-semester. YIKES! Anyway, on that weekend, I will be in Santa Cruz and I can't wait to do some serious walking. This morning on my run I discovered two corners of the campus that I hadn't seen before - something that surprises me after my years here, but makes me happy nonetheless. I do get to live on a beautiful campus, and I'm quite grateful for that. If I can invent something that helps a camera move more smoothly while the camera person walks or rides a bike, I will give you some video proof of this campus' beauty. (I realize something has been invented for just that, but I'm not working on a Hollywood budget, here. :) )
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