The Joy of Motion

Screencaps from the raw footage from Lost.

My buddy Chris Park once said "Where stills are two-dimensional, video is is three-dimensional because of the added element of sound".

I think it's 4D because of the added dimension of sound and time.

And these two elements have made my work extremely fun lately. Since the end of the post-production of Lost, I've been enjoying *almost* every moment of the pre-production, production, and post-production of the videos I'm working on.

There are still moments I don't enjoy. Like deadlines and fretting over audio cutting and worrying whether or not the audience will be engaged for the entire duration of the video.

And don't get me wrong, I love stills. Always have and always will. There's something elemental about capturing lightning in a bottle. But with video, the storytelling possibilities are endless (given enough budget). Sure some asshole will argue "Stills are great for storytelling too! You're just not doing it right with all your fashion nudes!"

Doh, you got me! Guilty as charged!

But indulge me for a second. If stills are so great for storytelling, why do Vogue editorials have to supplement their pretty pictures with paragraphs of text? Hmmm, could it be the possibility that the "story" simply isn't as robust without the captions???

:)

Each vehicle has its place. Television didn't kill radio. Watching movies didn't replace reading books. Each medium has its pros and cons. And they're all still around in one capacity or another.

And are you really going to argue that still images are better at storytelling than video? Don't be an asshole.

I'm just saying the added dimensions time and sound have given me some freedom. Like when the Blue Fairy turns Pinocchio into a real boy, I've really come to life lately with the videos I'm working on. I feel liberated. Like an origami crane that started life as a flat piece of paper. I can't fly but at least I can sit and look pretty on a table which is infinitely better than being two-dimensional.

What's the point of this post? No point. Why does there have to be a point? If you're always looking for a point, you're missing the point of the journey. If you can't enjoy the work, you're doomed to live for a destination. The destination is a "point". But a point is an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent. A point is a place, not a thing, it has no dimensions... says wikipedia and google.

That's what I've realized about "destinations" and being "goal-oriented". You're not even living to enjoy a single moment of time. Because that destination, the fraction of the moment that it takes you to even realize that "I'm here". It's already gone. It's done. Over. Kaput. In the past. It isn't any length of time, not even millisecond. It's a point.

So the point is, I haven't felt this way since over 3 years ago when I started on this journey. When I didn't know how to dodge and burn properly. When I didn't know the difference between glamour and fashion. When everything was new and everything was fun and there were no expectations.

Those were the days.

If you're living these days now, enjoy them. They won't last long. Because when they're gone you'll wish you could go back to those days.

Now back to FCP.