Movies.

most movies in a nutshell:
1) we get the opening image. the "before" picture. the image that tells where we are... what's going on.. who we're dealing with
2) we get the opening hook. the theme introduced. we get more of a feel as to what sort of character we're dealing with.
3)now comes the catalyst... an incident which finally gets the movie going.. usually something is mentioned .. we get some sort of "news" as to what's going on
4) the setting starts to develop. we get images upon images of what the "ordinary world" looks like for the main characters
5)we're hit with a mini crisis. We learn what the movie is about. our character realizes what he/she must do.. he/she figures our his/her goal.
6) we reach the point of no return. our character starts out on his/her journey to his/her goal.
7) the "B" story begins... a "B" story is added to take our mind off the main goal, to slow things down... sometimes the "B" story is a romance.. or, as found in many recent movies, a "bromance"
8) there's a moment of testing for our main character.. the main character fails.. heshe goes toward his/her goal and FAILS.. tested and fails (this is usually mirrored again in the climax, except, in the climax, he/she succeeds)... OR we get our first indication of love if there's a romance involved
9)we reach the mid point.. the turning point..for the first time, our character does something completely out of character
10) we reach the big pit.. something is lost.. almost everything that can go wrong goes wrong.. although not EVERYTHING is lost, NEARLY everything is
11) we reach rockbottom.. our character is helpless.. it's worse than the big pit.. our character is alone.. isolated... everything is gone.. and then he/she reaches an epiphany in which he/she realizes what he/she must do to achieve his/her goal
12) climax to finale. our protagonist and antagonist face off to get to the goal.. our character is tested and he/she succeeds.
13) we are given a final image.. the closing image.. the "after" picture to contrast with the "before" picture that we were given during the opening image.
THE END.

so, i'm taking intro to film.. and now, when i watch movies, i can see this play out time after time after time.. with nearly every movie... it's like you can predict what will happen next... it sort of ruins the entertainment part if you think about it TOO much.. but yeah... if most movies follow this outline.. it's really almost like .. every movie is the same.. in some way. Yet, they're not. they're completely different.

and so, this leads me to believe that.. the most important person of the movie making process is... the screenwriter. it is, afterall, the screenwriter that comes up with/creates/develops the story.. it is the screenwriter who gives birth to the characters we come to love.. it is the screenwriter who brings to life the lines and quotes we come to love and repeat... it is the screenwriter who is able to take an idea and begin the process of making a visual representation of it for all of us to see... it is the screenwriter who presents the story in such a way that we're able to either relate to it or merely be entertained by it. horray to the screenwriters. horray for their ability to make movies worthwhile.

<3

organized religion

haha. hyde deserves a high 5 for this one:



and talib kweli deserves TWO high 5's for this one!

NYC trip =)

so... i just got back from my 1st trip to NYC =)

loved it.
did a lot. one of my favorite things is probably the amount of people there.. and the type of people... it's crazy.. there are SO many tourists.. from SO many places... it's really interesting.. i also loved going to Brooklyn and finally being able to hear that Brooklyn accent all around me haha. I enjoyed being around a lot of historical landmarks and being able to see many of the places mentioned in literature and film =) as soon as i got there i thought HOLDEN CAUFIELD. haha.

i have A LOT to say about the trip... but i also have A LOT of hmwk to do. so all i'm going to say is.. one of the places i WASN'T too fond of (other than Harlem) was Carnegie Deli! i mean... sure.. the hot pastrami tasted pretty darn good.. but.. are you kidding me?!



disgusting!! like... why would you want SO MUCH meat?.. one of my english professors, Mr.D, let me know that the "sandwiches were big enough for two"... and boy was he right.. more like 3! or 4! .. it was insane... we ate about HALF of what we were served. it was insane. I wonder how much meat they throw out daily. oh and the video they play within the restaraunt is close to horrifying. They show the sandwiches and everything.. but, personally, i think it's more scary that appetizing.

so, basically, want to waste food and ask for a heart attack? go to carnegie deli. haha. OR be smart and only order ONE sandwich!.. go on from there.

i <3 NY.

whaaat

i like this =)

decisions, decisions.

So i'm reading this book...




by, might I add, this handsome young fellow:




lol.

But anyway... i've only read the first chapter so far.. and the thing that got to me the most was the way Lehrer describes emotions as a VITAL part of decision making. Often times i've heard, "you have to let go of your emotions when you're making tough decisions, crystal!".. think rationally... logically, or what not. and yet, here, Lehrer is saying, NO. logical/rational thought that doesn't include any emotion is USELESS. emotion is necessary.

makes me think twice about the way i make certain decisions =]

"V" is for Virgin.

hahaha...this came up on my "recommended for you" section on my youtube account... and i just had to post it. haha. I wasn't really drawn to this video... thought the intro was kinda lame haha... glad i stuck through it and watched the whole thing though. It's not the best, but, it made me smile and laugh. haha.

I'm a virgin, and proud! =) hope all you other virgin's out there find this atleast a TAD bit humorous or entertaining lol.

love it.

So... i went to the library to try and look for some stuff on Jhumpa Lahiri and Jorge Luis Borges.. for my research paper... and... i had been planning to do my paper on Borges, but then i was beginning to think about switching it to Lahiri because i just love her.. butttt... the guy who helped me at the library said that he thinks i'd probably have better luck finding more things on Borges (even though his actual literature is more challenging to read than Lahiri)..and so i stuck with Borges! & the guy.. or man, whatever u wanna call him, that works at the library knew so much! i was like thanks dude! you really helped out =) ANYWAYYY... this is not the point of my post... the point of it is..:

Afterwards, i went to look for the Murakami book i had returned a few days before... and upon finding it, i ALSO found other Murakami books.. one of them being "After Dark." The cover reminded me of something i'd seen in "Lost in Translation," and so, considering i'm a fan of that movie, the cover sorta drew me in... i opened to the first page... and wowww... i found myself smiling and shaking my head side to side thinking "Murakami, you're so clever." i totally want to read the book now but i have too much hmwk... so i'm going to try and read it over spring break. =) but yeah... here's the opening paragraph =) hopefully i'm not the only one who'll enjoy it:

"Eyes mark the shape of the city.
Through the eyes of a high-flying night bird, we take in the scene from midair. In our broad sweep, the city looks like a single gigantic creature-- or more like a single collective entity created by many interwining organisms. Bountless arteries stretch to the ends of its elusive body, circulating a continuous supply of fresh blood cells, sending out new data and collecting the old, sending out new consumables and collecting the old, sending out new contradictions and collecting the old. To the rhythm of its pulsing, all the parts of the body flicker and flare up and squirm. Midnight is approaching, and while the peak of activity has passed, the basal metabolism that maintains life continues undiminished, producing the basso continuo of the city's moan, a monotonous sound that neither rises nor falls but is pregnant with foreboding."