Movies As Metaphor For Changing Time: Stimulate Dont Contemplate

Scales have long been a symbol of balance. In most images of scales there are two plates suspended by chains hanging on either side of a pole that teeters on a post. Place weights on one side and the arm dips until an equal amount of weight on the opposite plate brings the plates back into balance. It is a great symbol the cant be achieved with electronic scales or industrial scales. Changing from scales that balance to scales that quickly provide a digital number is a great metaphor for our times and our lives. More information can be retrieved in a minute then our great grandparents could gather in a lifetime. This data has led to great advancements in many fields from industry to medicine. It has also increased the pace of our lives. Where once there was a spring where information bubbled up, now we are in the midst of an ongoing flood of information impossible to consume or digest. Movies are a great mirror of this changing pace.

In the past editing a film used to be done on a flatbed. An editor would find segments of film from a bin that would have strings of clips hanging from little hooks and dropping into a giant canvas bag on wheels. The editor would choose what he wanted to insert into the film, go to the bins, find the clip, cut the film on the flatbed then splice and tape the piece to be inserted. The editor would do the same thing for the sound. Each change required a physical insertion which took time. Aware that each cut was a commitment to time and effort, the editor would be thoughtful about the reasons for the edit, considering the effects and imagining the outcome prior to cutting the film. Every physical cut meant destroying a frame and a half of the work print. Every cut was deliberate and well considered ahead of time.

The advent of digital technology changed the way films are edited and viewed. What would have taken hours to accomplish can now be done in minutes or even seconds, without damaging or altering any work product. If an idea flashes through the editors brain, he doesnt have to consider it or try to imagine it. He can do it and see if it works. Visualizing an edit is replaced by quick action, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The limitations of cutting and taping film are gone. Because of the ease of making an edit the number of cuts in a typical scene has multiplied dramatically. The old rules of filmmaking are changing and the language of film has evolved.

Compare a film from 1950 to a current action film. The amount of visual data given to an audience is radically different. Current movies are frenetic, exciting, stimulating assaulting the senses and immersing the audience in a full out rapid fire experience. Comparing old movies to new movies is similar to the difference between being moved by a painting and being flung about by a roller coaster. Most teens find the pace of an older film almost impossible to endure. The rapid stimulation and movement of films made today reflect the larger social trend; while we are capable of processing more information quickly, it has accelerated our pace of life to almost addictive frenetic levels.

There is much to be gained by our ability to collect and process massive amounts of data quickly. However, if we lose our capacity to sit quietly and reflect on what it really means have we gained anything?

Connor Sullivan recently spent time researching electronic scales for a customer he does work with. He purchased several industrial scales to use for his business. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

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