When I metformin side effects was a little kid I used to think about how it was physically possible for a film to be made. I thought maybe it was shot in real time and that everything on screen was occurring simultaneously and filmed in one swift motion to create the complete motion picture. Crazy, yes, but I was a kid, and what did I know?
There are metformin side effects appetite filmmakers throughout history who championed bringing to light the mechanics and process of filmmaking. Of course there were different approaches, where Mel Brooks used these elements to comedic effect, Jean-Luc Godard used varying techniques to empower the camera and lift the medium to a level of true art. In some form their intentions were similar but just approached it from a different viewpoint.
During my first experience with filmmaking as a student at the New York Film Academy, one of the things that excited me the most was learning the way people spoke and uncovering the simple, basic elements of a film that all of us in the film-going public know, but may not be able to exactly articulate. While I may have initially thought this would spoil the theatre experience because my mind was running on different and new cylinders, this in fact made me enjoy it more. I’d start thinking about directors intentions, writing, editing choices, etc. There was a whole new world available to me and it enriched my experience in a way I never thought possible. The magic perhaps became even more magical than it was for me before.
In studying these elements and realizing how they were right in front of my face all along, I felt like I had become a part of something and how I wished for others to also share in that experience. And I do believe that you, the general audience, already are in on the same experience I love. You just don’t know that you are. This may sound like I’m referring to technical elements of film like shadow lighting in cinematography or narrative devices/tools in storytelling like the McGuffin, but that’s not at all what I mean.
I’ve always been the kind of person that will see a movie twice, even if I hated it. More often than not it’s for a movie I love, but I have no problem revisiting something I didn’t to see why, reaffirm my initial reaction or possibly turn around and see the film in a different way. In the case of Avatar, it was obviously for reasons of love, but my second time watching the film I noticed something which kind of blew my mind. The first time around, maybe I was so entranced in the action and the 3D that it didn’t occur to me, but naturally, the second time I was paying closer attention. What really struck me as why the movie and the 3D works so well is because of the camera work. It never feels like there is ever even a camera in the room, in the jungle or in the sky. If there ever was a film to showcase the camera as a character in itself, Avatar is as appropriate as any.
I say that because you constantly are put in a position where it feels like you’re standing in the lab, or running through the forest, flying through the air, etc. The camera moves naturally with the characters as if you were right there along side them. Thinking about this during the film, I was even more involved than I previously was. Avatar certainly isn’t pioneering a new camera technique here, it’s one rather championed by the first Rocky, which used a camera rig that brought you inside the boxing ring, moving with the characters in a way never seen before on film.
It wouldn’t take long to drum up a much longer series of examples and ways you can break through the fourth wall and explore the techniques present in film and television. Next time you go to the movies, whatever it may be, think about the art. Think about how things are done, think about what the actors go through in their preparation for a role, or the intentions of a director. What is the director trying to communicate? How is the editor cutting the film in a way that accentuates or brings out certain aspects, or focuses on certain elements that could foreshadow future pieces of a story? The answers are there right in front of your face. They won’t spoil the experience, I promise you. Think about it.
(I use the example of Avatar simply for reasons of popularity and familiarity. I promise, second to last time I talk about Avatar.)
