Comfy Socks

I have discovered how much one can increase comfort level by simply wearing thick socks. My toes are toasty and I'm happy.

Calculust

After spending 2 hours reviewing over a semester's worth of calculus, I remember how much I enjoyed it. It's too bad that my differential equations course sucked so much that it left a stinging flavor in my mind that kept me from remembering either subject in a positive way. Perhaps this quick infusion of ideas will help me pursue more maths in the future.

I Have No Sense of Color

I don't care that every time you look at my site you get a horrible selection of colors. I know this. You know this. I prefer variety to actually good-looking web sites, don't you?

The Simultaneous Nature of Theatre

Seeing RENT last night made me realize a few key differences between the film and live theatre media. Film allows for cuts, pans, multiple perspectives, special effects, and all sorts of other improvements (including watching at home and controlling your environment; big plus for me), but it does not allow for much simultaneous action. It can be done, but seeing multiple things happening at once either complicates a shot, lowers the resolution you see each action, or breaks the fourth wall by doing some camera trick that distances the viewer from the action.

However, in a play the stage can be filled with lots of little areas that can be lit or darkened to call attention to many different areas even if they are supposed to be in vastly different places or areas. In RENT particularly, the death of Angel makes more of an impact when it is shown simulatneously with a ballad sung by a different couple and yet another couple is silently still in anger. In the film adaptation of RENT, that ballad features only the two singing, with occasional cuts to the other pairs. However, cutting seems like an afterthought instead of the constant awareness the stage brings.

There were multiple spots where this was really necessary to understand the fast-paced lyrics of the songs, especially the opening number that involed at least three phone calls, two locations of conversation, and a bunch of people dancing in the streets, I think.

I don't normally enjoy live performances because I prefer recorded media. If I could just watch a well-edited video of a stage performance, I would prefer that to the film or the play any day. That way, I can get the detail that comes with close-ups, pans, and cuts, but also the spatial behavior of the stage and I can watch it on the couch without anyone around but those I want. I also know that I'm probably the vast minority in this opinion.

Linguistic Sophistication

I don't really find it surprising that for every word I understand in a Kurosawa film there are at least four I don't. However, when watching the Japanese characters during the new NBC show Heroes, that ratio is reversed. Not surprising at all.

The Moulin Rouge and Recursion

I particularly like films that are deeply self-referrential. The Moulin Rouge is one that does not get enough credit. The lines between levels of fiction blur in the film that is about a writer writing a story on his own experience writing a play about his love with the lead actress. The play itself is based on this love; it predicts his own experiences, and his motivations change the play during conception and execution. The constant camera tricks that suspend belief only further remind the audience that the story is fiction, creating all sorts of levels of self-awareness.

Movies like this need more credit, especially when it's done well.

Running, Causality, and Renarration

I recently saw Run, Lola, Run, and excellent film. The plot is very simple and presented in the first five minutes. Lola has 20 minutes to save her boyfriend from an urgent and serious situation. However, she doesn't do a very good job, and requires three attempts.

The film has a reoccuring theme that she gets different outcomes by using the same strategy, but having very different results due to very small differences in what happens. It also shows the people's lives that she interacts with through a short burst of polaroids, with very different results based on this very short interaction.

When watching Bambi, my film professor defined a term I haven't been able to find anywhere else: Denarration. In Bambi, all other characters exist solely to support Bambi's story. Their lives and purposes have no meaning and are lost immediately upon scene exit. This enforces a very self-centered view throughout the film. Again, I can't find that interpretation of the word anywhere on the internet. Maybe you can do a better job.

However, Run, Lola, Run is an example of the opposite. Every single character presented has their own story and purpose for doing something. Also, through this polariod effect, their entire life story is played out at rapid speed. I decided to coin this as renarration, being the opposite of denarration, but more detailed than just regular narration.

Blogger Sucks

I apologize for the lack of posting. Part of my absence has been due to Blogger's horrible uptime. Whenever I got an idea for a blog post over the last few weeks, I have not been able to make the post. Then, I would forget what I wanted to say before it came back up.

Sorry, Stack

Nothing makes me feel like more of a slob than my roommate cleaning up my mess.