CompuServe Messages

Paul: >>would you have known the original STAR WARS movie's setting…without that lengthy crawl that recedes into the horizon? << >I hated that. I remember sitting there thinking "Lucas, this sucks! Is this what they teach in film school?" THEN, from the moment that huge Imperial cruiser thundered over my head, I was absolutely slack-jawed. Stupified and humbled all at once for 120 minutes. <g> I wouldn't have cared if the film was a remake of Queen of Outer Space at that point.< Oh, I actually liked it–but I think it was as much because I recognized it as a "quote" from Saturday matinee serials as anything else… (Not that I'm *quite* that old <g>–I grew up on an Army base in Germany, where they continued the "kiddie matinee" well into the Seventies…including showing an episode of old Republic serials every week…) >>Your paragraph is practically word for word what I wrote in a column on editing for VIDEO last year!>> ><blush> Ok, you figured it out. I've been regurgitating your own words just so I could laugh when you disagree with yourself. I had a professor once who said, "good writing is not invention, it's discovering what should've been obvious to everyone from the start." Perhaps this was obvious.< <laughs> Don't worry, I'm not going to sue you for plagarism. I happen to agree w/your professor on this one… >Even if I show a certain multi-dimensionality in story devel, I'm seldom even-handed :-). So, yes; you can't help it. It sneaks in during production mostly. The way a subject is shot kinda reflects my prejudice.< It does w/everybody, Paul–Hunter Thompson (stop me if I've said this before) once mocked "objective journalism" by saying that the only *true* objective journalism he'd ever seen was a 7-11 security camera! The best you can do is make certain that you're not totally one-sided–at least acknowledge there may be another valid side to the story (unless, of course, you're doing advocacy media, in which case you may not *want* to…). F'instance, I'd be the *worst* person to do a piece on the Republicans' "Contract on–" er, "With 😉 America", since my antipathy for this batch of Republicans and all their works is SOOO strong I'd end up presenting them as a bunch of bullies, crooks, fixers and thieves, and what they're trying to do as the destruction of America! Okay, that's what *I* think they are–but the only audience I'd have for it would be people who agreed w/my viewpoint (what a friend of mine refers to as "preaching to the choir"). I wouldn't be able to persuade, say, my own family (who are staunch Republicans <oy!>) of the rightness of my view–which would be the only reason I'd *do* a piece like that… >In a similar vein, perhaps you can 'splain somethin' from your experience. I've only seen about 10 wedding videos. <SNIP> Whenever I see rituals; I see a story about people's feelings. <SNIP> But *every* wedding video I've seen portrays the ritual as documentary. <SNIP> Why? How un-human. Is this what newlyweds want to buy? Or is this all that is offered in 'the package'? Does anyone ever watch these vids? And if so, does the viewer just want to remember a 'fact' like fat aunt Ruth wore a pink dress? Or does he want to watch the story of two people in love and what they did about it? >Weddings seldom happen by accident. Where are the emotional, close-up, moodily lit, personal exchanges? Where are the revealing 'behind the scenes' shots in the dressing rooms, with the florist, the caterer, the car parks? Where is the panic, apprehension, self-doubt, joy, courage, honor, tears? You can be sure MTV would show all of this, and only a few seconds of the stuff everyone already knows about; the rituals.< I *guess* the reason wedding/special occasion videos are usually done in a documentary fashion is a combination of economics and pleasing the customer. It would be *far* too expensive (and intrusive) for a camera crew to follow the parties through the steps to the altar (which is *where* you'll get those revealing moments)–and a lot of times, the people involved don't *want* those moments preserved! Private/revealing moments (the moments that make a "good story") are often personally embarrassing to the parties involved–and after all, those are the folks paying your bills… An "objective" documentary, OTOH, is safe, both for the folks viewing and for the videographer. Apparently, people *do* want special occasion videos that are the video equivalent of "happy snaps". Seeing a safely neutral portrayal of the ritual helps trigger their deeper memories of the event, and works as a historical document of an important occasion (and don't forget, "history is lies agreed upon" <g>). Best, Tim