the inner cinematographer in you

...finally got the chance to dive into henri bergson, also, re-reading gilles delueze but with special focus on the cinematics, discovering the beauty of robert bresson through his little zen-style book 'notes on the cinematographer'... agh all the frenchs... they are actually one people that I would really envy because of the numbers of mind-slicing intellectuals that they contributed to the modern civilization...

... my life these days... eight hours in architecture eight hours in cinema and eight hours in dream... which one is? all three deal with the realm of constructing meaning… in one way or another shuffling around images, sounds, and other sensory experiences with consciousness… through the same wires in the brain… that’s why I was always fascinated by dream… because that’s when all these images and sounds constructions coalesced together, trespassing their own boundaries… like the scene in toy story when the silent toys all ‘wake-up’ and come alive when the door is closed… a magnificent movie editing box right inside yourself… that’s it! that’s why cinema, that is the composition of images and sounds, as a medium is so emotionally captivating… it mirrors the very fundamental experience as a human, to dream, as important as to breathe… dream is when information is overlapped, layered, fade in and out, cut, juxtaposed, multiplied, exaggerated… remember michel gondry’s science of sleep?

a little confused

a little confused now, i lost my passport in the mail...

March 18 Speech

I just want to share Obama's speech (in the attachment) he gave this morning. I believe we are living and witnessing a very exciting moment in American politics and history in general. In every period of time and in every generation, there is always a spark of history definining event or character that creates profound shift in society. This speech could be one of it. We never know, but like MLK's "I Have a Dream", only history will tell us 20 or 30 years from now. Meanwhile don't miss some of what could be history-defining events unfolding in front you. Personally, it just feels great to read something positive and optimistic like this in the midst of news filled with negative stories, wars, scandals, etc.

the joy of movie making

I went to see Michel Gondry's Bekind Rewind after work today. It was Monday night and less than 15 people in the theatre, actually the best moment to see large screen films. The film itself is just another beautiful film from Gondry, ... absolutely love it. Gondry with his playful style reminds us all the joy and romancticm of movie making and movie watching.

Something quite funny and personal for me. I just got a VHS 1987 video camera from a friend at church that she bought for $40. It is the same type of camera depicted in that film as well. That's probably the camera that Michel and his generation used when they were young. John Carney from Once also mentioned about using that old VHS camera and playing around making movies every night on the streets of Dublin.

And just a couple weeks ago I just showed a strange movie that me and my sunday school gang created. The great thing is that it was shoot and directed by Gabe, who was just 8 years old, with my small digital camera. Although it was a silly movie and received quite "chilly" by everyone at church, I was really proud of it as a work of art by the kids. More importantly it also taught me about the real and fundamental joy of movie making.