Moving Pictures ©
By Michael Casey
We watched Seven Pounds on tv last night, it got me thinking about moving pictures. The movies, the flicks, because the pictures moved, or flickering when they were first invented, they always touch our hearts. Or they should if they are any good, people were scared when a car or a train was speeding towards them, now we have 3D to scare us.
But what makes a moving picture? If you can connect with the story then it will have more power. In the story there is a hospice with an old lady in it, this reminded me of my dad in the old people’s home, it’s nearly 12 years since dad died. So that obviously made me connect more to this story.
Do writers and producers have a list or a menu, with a pick list of characters to make the story more attractive. The Julian Assange film flopped, they had a great actor, the Sherlock one, and the story was “tarted” up, freedom of press etc. But in the end it failed, maybe because it was about a selfish, arrogant person. So the audience had no sympathy for him.
Disney does have a pick list, if you have young kids in your family, you have to endure Disney. Yes sometimes it is good, very good. But laughter tracks on shows, this really is the pits, you want to throw things at the tv. Then the too sickly sweet aspects and characters. If that was your child, you would have him adopted. So this is moving to hate, instead of love.
Style in a film makes such a big difference, as does the look, is it big and bright with lots of light, or the washed out look. Sometimes just from the credits you know the film will move you, to switch it off. Big thick silver credits, like 1970s glam rock, is a switch off.
So it’s the story which is king, the Shawshank Redemption is a great film because we feel for the hero, the style and the look and the feel all grab us. Robin Hood the Alan Rickman version, again this moved as well as entertained, AR did steal the film too.
So we can go through the list of our favourite films, I can remember Alan a guy I worked with admitting he cried when he saw ET. So Hope and Love must be in the film if it is to touch us. Sex and Violence does sell films and computer games for that matter. However if it’s a just a series of sex and violent bits the film will soon be forgotten, and it will sink.
If a mother just beats her child, the child will not love her. There has to be an X factor to the film, stars don’t make films, stories do. The Pianist is a great film because it’s about real people, its dramatic and you want the pianist to live. You really feel for him. When we saw it we didn’t know who the actor was, we connected to him and the situation, and not just because our daughters were learning piano. We wanted him to live, contrast the Julian Assange film, do we care about Julian, no. And nor does anybody else, hence the film flopped.
It’s hard to know what will finally work, they have test screenings, and even recut films in an attempt to save the producer’s money. On tv years ago Eastenders was shot in gloom, for atmosphere, but if you cannot see a thing how can you enjoy a show. Theatre has fallen into that trap too, I’m not saying everything should be lit like Fox News, but all the toolkit has to be used to make the film work.
Knowing your audience, and not being arrogant to think they will follow anything you put on the screen is important. A conflict and a clash, and a fight and an escape all make for good cinema. But everything starts with a writer for it’s us, who write moving pictures.
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