OOOOH JUNG MAN!!!

As a result of researching modern magick and pagan ritual for me movie, I ended up - through someone's throwaway suggestion - looking at the work of Joseph Campbell and the psychologist Carl Jung.

I studied Psychology at "0" level when i was trying to decide what i wanted to do, but at 18 or 19 in did not really resonate for me. Education is wasted on the young!

I also have a craving for understanding the crazy world of dreams and what came out of studying what Jung had discovered brought me onto the power of symbol and its inherent presence in our consciousness based on where we are from and what we are exposed to. Race, culture, class all having an impact upon the significance of those things we label 'symbolic'

The idea that we have inherited certain visual stimulus from times past that resonate on our current world without acquiring them through study or exposure, seemed obscure yet really hit home for me.

I have never been a fan of the sort of intellectual analysis some feel the  need to place upon art especially film. so reading about symbolism and Metaphor usually produces a huge gagging response.

However once i started to understand that symbols were not clear cut and took some detective work to really get to understand, the game was afoot.

I knew that I loved stories about heroes struggling against their flawed selves to overcome monsters both internal and external, but never really connected them with archetypal figures and events, that have been present ever since tales were recorded.

So now I am exploring my many and varied roots in a effort to tap into the things that drive me in both endeavor and the feeling of well being and inspiration brought about through movies and books

to be continued

Why do we watch movies?

Film has become many things - a business, an art form, an ambition and a mysterious world where outsiders either want in or don't dare enter.

The whole 'genre' thing has provided templates or molds for people to juggle and just insert character names, plot incidents and place holders for special effects, chase sequences, explosions or gags.

We attend courses by renowned gurus on the subjects of structure, genre, writing scripts that Hollywood will make you rich and successful for, and the whole time are told that creativity can't be taught but successful filmmaking is a learnable craft.

All of this seems to take us further and further away from what we loved about films in the first place, the story.

What had inspired me most is that tingle of excitement and catharsis I feel at the end of a good story, whether it be on screen or on the page. 

Wanting to tell stories we will enjoy watching should be the only reason to write and for that matter direct a movie, in my honest opinion.

We strive for success, and ambition can be a healthy thing, but how should we feel if our work is compromised or driven by the budget or the marketplace? 

If you are happy just to be a part of the 'industry', step away from this blog NOW!

Ok if you are still there, lets talk some more.

I love movies, not all of them but will give almost all a viewing that cross my path. I even recently tried to watch the Da Vinci Code, and lasted 27 minutes before needing to kick something.

Now just to get this straight, if anyone can raise the necessary resources to get a film made and exhibited regardless of quality then so be it. I have no desire to bitch and moan about the wastefulness and insanity of big budgets overriding good story- telling. I mean if you have big names, big locations and high concepts, why worry about engaging your audience right?

No here i would like to vamp on what makes a film so compelling and inspiring that we don't even know or care about the budget, the structural analysis or the genre.

In the next few blogs i am gonna let loose on my pet subject, the collective unconscious and why we need well told stories to keep us sane. 

Beginning the Beguine, or some other romantic dance style

This is my first attempt at dumping a whole bunch of non original but provocative thought on an unsuspecting and probably uninterested world.

it coincides with the near completion of my first feature script and when its out and about i will diarise its progress for posterity and pomposity.

Let me begin with these questions?

Why is the human race more important than any other life form in our current sphere of awareness?

Is it important to believe we are more important or just an assumption that is comforting and safe?

Can we truly be alive without belief in something we cant prove exists or is at least beyond our grasp?

Why do we need stories?