For the March 12 class.
I definitely try to look at the silent characters on the screen while anyone else is talking. I also try to observe the character’s surroundings for anything that might play a role in the movie as a whole. It is hard sometimes to do, because it is a habit to look at the person who is speaking. You can see inaudible people making certain faces or body movements in reaction to the speaker. I feel that when these silent people continue to act out what they think or feel from the situation, it makes the movie much more enjoyable. Everyone is separated into individual beings who can walk and talk on their own, without waiting their turn.
My favorite television show right now is LOST. Everything in the show connects with everything else, it’s awesome. There will be something in the background where the people are, and there will be a word or a picture that holds some relevance to the overall show. These sort of things are really cool and I like it when I am able to catch them. Well in last nights episode (3-15-07) one of the characters, Claire, was trying to set up a trap made of netting so she could catch some birds. She’s speaking to a Korean family who were also stranded on the island. (It would be way to hard to explain the show to anyone unless they have seen it. You can go to the iTunes Music Store and they have a FREE video called “The Lost Survival Guide” that will tell you everything that has happened up until now in the show. If anyone is interested.) The Korean husband, Jin, cannot fully understand everything Claire is saying, but she asks for his fishing netting. He does not move right away, because she continues talking. Then he understands what she is trying to do and turns to leave, but as he does so he lifts up his hand and shakily points it, as if he was making the statement “Oh, I got you.” Just little things like that make me feel really good for some reason. I don’t even know why or how to explain it. It’s like that happened and I said “That’s why this show is great.”
I can remember this happening in one scene from the 1994 “Little Women.” It is when Mr. Bhaer and Meg are walking toward the March house, and Laurie and Jo are walking behind them. Those followers never say a word to break the conversation, but I saw Laurie (Christian Bale is the man by the way) making facial expressions to show his curiosity in his teacher’s talk. It also happens with Beth’s eyes while Marmee was reading the first letter from father. She looks away in the distance, probably thinking and imagining her father at war.
I guess I just love sweating the small stuff.