Caméra-stylo

Abstract
• Alexandre Astruc envisioned a new breakthrough for film as a medium, no longer only as an entertainment medium, but as a fundamental tool for human communication:
○ ‘the cinema, like literature, is not so much a particular art as a language which can express any sphere of thought’
• there are three implicit conclusions:
○ new technology provides new means of expressoin
○ there is space for a more democratic use of the medium
○ there are new possibilities for modern and different forms and usages

I think cinema definitely offers any kind of thinker a platform for expression. I think cinema is also a more appealing medium than something like literature in this world, given the way movies are supported by big advertising, the way people are more interested in consuming things conveniently, and the way cinema offers one a larger experience than most mediums.

I really admire Terrence Malick’s work. From the moment I watched The Tree of Life I was curious. I checked out To The Wonder, Days Of Heaven; and then one night I watched The Thin Red Line and I fell in love with his messages. It was such a beautiful film. I read some articles and found out that Malick studied Philosophy at Harvard, and that he got some money together with some people when he was young and ambitious and shot a cool indie film called Badlands. I guess this highlights how cinema really is an opportunity for anyone with an idea.

As his career has progressed, so has his style, and its almost as if all he wants to explore is the way human relationships are affected by human nature, and the way human nature is affected by environment– because he doesn’t really conform to any Hollywood trends or story conventions. He does his own thing, and maybe thats why he’s becoming one-of-a-kind.

Moving images
• from invention to industry and now to common property; cinema is now a medium that is applicable by the general population given the economic availability, miniaturisation and new and alternative forms of distribution

I think these days anyone with a DSLR, FCP and a Vimeo account can get their work out there. The way I see it, when our generation becomes the dominant consumer, television will be irrelevant–we’ll all be getting our news fix from the internet and watching shows online.