Omission, Simplification, and Collaboration

This has been an exciting week of looking at old and new films and television clips. I have enjoyed reminiscing about my favorites in T.V. and movies, but this week I had to ask myself the question why? Why did I find these films so compelling and why even after years of seeing any one of these clips do I remember it so well? Just some of my favorites include The Goonies, A Beautiful Life, Under the Tuscan Sun, What Dreams May Come, Lost, Flash Forward, and The Amazing Race. To first analyze why many of these movies and T.V. shows are memorable and ultimately compelling, I first had to distinguish these categories from any other art form. Previously I looked at the medium of photography. After two weeks I came to appreciate the work and talent that goes into capturing a moment in a still photograph. I realized this week that film is unique because it combines motion and sound in addition with all of the other visual elements associated with photography. After reading some articles about film I began to realize more of the complexities that go into making the motion and sound so compelling. Overall I realized that editing was crucial in film and television. A photographer must think about what to include in the frame of a photo where as film editors have the daunting task of going through hours of video to figure out what to include and what not to include. In an NPR interview with film editor Walter Murch he speaks about the importance of omission in terms of video and sound. In fact the first thing he does when editing film is omits the sound so he can focus on one element at a time. I tried to do this with the very popular rehearsal dinner scene in My Best Friend’s Wedding. I came to the conclusion that sound is essential to the art of film especially in this case. Then I began to think about omission in terms of teaching. Teachers have a similar job of determining which information to include in a lesson to insure the most success. There is a lot of editing that goes into designing a lesson pan. Teachers must consider who their audience is and what is the least amount of vital information necessary for students to obtain the knowledge or skills intended. In my first few years of teaching I learned that I was long winded and needed to be able to teach with more clarity. I got a tip from my mentor teacher who said that I must sum up my lesson in one sentence and let the students know my clear objective at the beginning of the lesson. From there on out I have had more ease and success in planning and delivering lessons. While reading The Film-maker as a Story Teller by Katalina Groh I found a similar message when she explained that she must be able to tell a story in two sentences or less to be able to sell the idea to investors. Simplification is necessary to the effectiveness of teaching and of teaching. Lastly I learned this week that collaboration is necessary to making film and television a compelling experience. In Conversations with Film Editors by Gabriella Oldham, Paul Hirsch speaks about how directing and editing go hand in hand. I can’t help to agree and emphasize the fact that so many people contribute to a great piece of film and television; people like producers, actors, writers, makeup artists, properties manager, camera operator, special effects specialist, lighting technicians, etc…The same is true of teaching. Good teachers make collaboration a habit and try to teach their students that collaboration is necessary in life. Teachers often need to collaborate with students, parents, colleagues, and community members. This week I was able reconnect with some old favorites and evaluated some new film clips. I learned that a lot of individuals help to create the films I love and those films are carefully edited to emphasize emotions and to highlight things that may not be noticeable all of the time. Editors try to show audiences nuances of life that they may have never noticed before in unexpected, original, and interesting ways.