Heres a little something i typed up earlier on Talk Magic, and i thought i would share it here to as i hope it will be interesting for you guys too.
I just finished watching Tarantino's Kill Bill V1 for the fourth time, and it seemed just as vivid to me as the first. If you ask me what my favourite film is, just the one favourite, i would have to say Kill Bill, because to me, it echoes every genre i have ever loved.
It prompted me to observe what film really means to me, and somehow it reminded me of magic. You may be wondering how exactly i will tie the two, but if you love film, then you should understand me. That said, i think even those of you who are not that enthusiastic about film will still understand.
Finally, before i begin, i would just like to say that although i am new to magic, i am not new to film, and i thought it would be an interesting subject to discuss, were i to link the two in a definitive way.
* * *
Ill start by saying that my revisitation to Kill Bill earlier today was in Blu-Ray. This had quite an influence on encouraging me to write this short piece. Mainly because Blu-Ray brings out extremely vivid colours and sound, as the picture is eight times better than normal DVD quality and four times than High Definition. Therefore i noticed a lot more colour and aesthetic cinemtaography than i did the first three times i watched it.
It can be said that Magic, in any form, is very colourful when pulled off by a good magician. The contrast between red and black in a fast moving deck of cards to the dark, black atmosphere that is usually associated with magic are the literal interpretations of colour present. Although it may not be magic itself, card flourishing carries a certain fascinating dexterity to its kinetic pace, and could be described as colourful through the spinning motions and shapes created, colourful being used as a adverb now instead of an adjective. Sleight of hand also carries a certain 'colourful' aura to it, the ability to manipulate cards and objects in deft, delicate and often intricate movements is very broad when it comes to the artistic beauty of its appearance. This theme stretches throughout magic, and I believe applies to every form of it.
On a deeper level, to take the mood that surrounds magic further, the term 'colourful' can be elaborated to represent more than just visual appearances. For example, the reactions of people in disbelief at a well executed trick are somewhat colourful, in the way that they add to the atmosphere that a magic performance creates. Whether it be a stunned silence, a scream of astonishment or just plain denial, the emotions that respond to a magic act are colourful in their own way.
When we bring this use of 'colour' back to the subject of film, i percieve Kill Bill to be a very rich and vivid creation, with many classic, cult and artistic images created in both the looks, style and narrative. The music, colouring, dialogue and characters all contribute to this image, and it is one that describes the meaning of film in a way i feel to be magical through the emotions it causes me to feel. Contemporary swordplay in a gentle snow covered japanese garden, abnormal angles that carry combinations of flavours, and death drenched scenes with seriously excessive helpings of blood and gore provide incredibly deep contrasts that have been generated throughout the history of film, bit by bit.
When you take all of this into consideration, you can begin to imagine how the worlds of both film and magic combine together. Both in their different ways, creating beautiful pieces of kaleidoscopic motion-picturesque, accomplished through, and with the use of, emotion, visualisation and more specifically colour.
I may seem to be misleading you here, magic in the terms i speak of is different to the ones we discuss on these forums. But, dare i say it, there is a huge link. At first, the way i use magic is casual, and in the artistic sense, as i am referring to the production of film perfection and how this can be observed as magical in its ability to touch us emotionally. Yet is this use of magic as a description correct?
Yes and no. When in the world of film it is correct, but obviously in the world of magic it means little as it does not apply. However, if i was to break down the term 'magic' and find its foundations, maybe you can start to see what i am getting at. The very basic definition of magic as a word and not a culture or art form, is; a mysterious quality of enchantment that produces baffling and admirable effects. Now, when you examine the ability of a brilliant film to capture and amaze its audience through the images they see, and then contrast this to the ability of successful magicians to perform magic that baffles and amazes the audience, it seems they both achieve similar reactions and effects.
Nowadays, there is a multitude of film and magic being produced and churned out. In film there are only a minority of 'true' films in every dozen or so Hollywood-like flicks, and in magic there, as it appears to me, seems to be a quite similar degrading effect as a result of over exposure by media forms. Although film is bound to this over-exposure by its nature, and magic less bound but more inclined, it is safe to say that both have suffered, over time and throughout history, at the hands of said catalysts.
Rewind to the beginning of the last one-hundred years and you will find the birth of the saplings that grew to create our modern cultures and societies. Magic had its characters like Houdini, with their fantastic abilities to combine showmanship and skill for the benefit of entertainment, and the very first productions of film had the work of geniuses on display, that combined acting and art for a new form of show business.
Both film and magic began with similar traits, and have now evolved with those same signiture abilities to capture an audiences emotion in many different ways. Although quite different on the surface, they have carried these characteristics up to this day, although not as proudly as they were once displayed.
But when you watch an artistic film with deep colours and vivacious performances of fiction and human emotion, not only the modern classics like Kill Bill, but the true films such as the works of Hitchcock, John Ford, Akira Kurosawa and the rest of the greats, your mind can appreciate just how magical film can be. Audiences have derived pleasure from the entertainment that performances, art and stories have provided for millenia, and yet there is something incredible about the feeling you get inside of you when you witness a film or magic performance that just blows you away...
This may seem like me rambling on, but I hope that i have provided something that everyone can relate to and discuss.
Steve
_______
I just finished watching Tarantino's Kill Bill V1 for the fourth time, and it seemed just as vivid to me as the first. If you ask me what my favourite film is, just the one favourite, i would have to say Kill Bill, because to me, it echoes every genre i have ever loved.
It prompted me to observe what film really means to me, and somehow it reminded me of magic. You may be wondering how exactly i will tie the two, but if you love film, then you should understand me. That said, i think even those of you who are not that enthusiastic about film will still understand.
Finally, before i begin, i would just like to say that although i am new to magic, i am not new to film, and i thought it would be an interesting subject to discuss, were i to link the two in a definitive way.
* * *
Ill start by saying that my revisitation to Kill Bill earlier today was in Blu-Ray. This had quite an influence on encouraging me to write this short piece. Mainly because Blu-Ray brings out extremely vivid colours and sound, as the picture is eight times better than normal DVD quality and four times than High Definition. Therefore i noticed a lot more colour and aesthetic cinemtaography than i did the first three times i watched it.
It can be said that Magic, in any form, is very colourful when pulled off by a good magician. The contrast between red and black in a fast moving deck of cards to the dark, black atmosphere that is usually associated with magic are the literal interpretations of colour present. Although it may not be magic itself, card flourishing carries a certain fascinating dexterity to its kinetic pace, and could be described as colourful through the spinning motions and shapes created, colourful being used as a adverb now instead of an adjective. Sleight of hand also carries a certain 'colourful' aura to it, the ability to manipulate cards and objects in deft, delicate and often intricate movements is very broad when it comes to the artistic beauty of its appearance. This theme stretches throughout magic, and I believe applies to every form of it.
On a deeper level, to take the mood that surrounds magic further, the term 'colourful' can be elaborated to represent more than just visual appearances. For example, the reactions of people in disbelief at a well executed trick are somewhat colourful, in the way that they add to the atmosphere that a magic performance creates. Whether it be a stunned silence, a scream of astonishment or just plain denial, the emotions that respond to a magic act are colourful in their own way.
When we bring this use of 'colour' back to the subject of film, i percieve Kill Bill to be a very rich and vivid creation, with many classic, cult and artistic images created in both the looks, style and narrative. The music, colouring, dialogue and characters all contribute to this image, and it is one that describes the meaning of film in a way i feel to be magical through the emotions it causes me to feel. Contemporary swordplay in a gentle snow covered japanese garden, abnormal angles that carry combinations of flavours, and death drenched scenes with seriously excessive helpings of blood and gore provide incredibly deep contrasts that have been generated throughout the history of film, bit by bit.
When you take all of this into consideration, you can begin to imagine how the worlds of both film and magic combine together. Both in their different ways, creating beautiful pieces of kaleidoscopic motion-picturesque, accomplished through, and with the use of, emotion, visualisation and more specifically colour.
I may seem to be misleading you here, magic in the terms i speak of is different to the ones we discuss on these forums. But, dare i say it, there is a huge link. At first, the way i use magic is casual, and in the artistic sense, as i am referring to the production of film perfection and how this can be observed as magical in its ability to touch us emotionally. Yet is this use of magic as a description correct?
Yes and no. When in the world of film it is correct, but obviously in the world of magic it means little as it does not apply. However, if i was to break down the term 'magic' and find its foundations, maybe you can start to see what i am getting at. The very basic definition of magic as a word and not a culture or art form, is; a mysterious quality of enchantment that produces baffling and admirable effects. Now, when you examine the ability of a brilliant film to capture and amaze its audience through the images they see, and then contrast this to the ability of successful magicians to perform magic that baffles and amazes the audience, it seems they both achieve similar reactions and effects.
Nowadays, there is a multitude of film and magic being produced and churned out. In film there are only a minority of 'true' films in every dozen or so Hollywood-like flicks, and in magic there, as it appears to me, seems to be a quite similar degrading effect as a result of over exposure by media forms. Although film is bound to this over-exposure by its nature, and magic less bound but more inclined, it is safe to say that both have suffered, over time and throughout history, at the hands of said catalysts.
Rewind to the beginning of the last one-hundred years and you will find the birth of the saplings that grew to create our modern cultures and societies. Magic had its characters like Houdini, with their fantastic abilities to combine showmanship and skill for the benefit of entertainment, and the very first productions of film had the work of geniuses on display, that combined acting and art for a new form of show business.
Both film and magic began with similar traits, and have now evolved with those same signiture abilities to capture an audiences emotion in many different ways. Although quite different on the surface, they have carried these characteristics up to this day, although not as proudly as they were once displayed.
But when you watch an artistic film with deep colours and vivacious performances of fiction and human emotion, not only the modern classics like Kill Bill, but the true films such as the works of Hitchcock, John Ford, Akira Kurosawa and the rest of the greats, your mind can appreciate just how magical film can be. Audiences have derived pleasure from the entertainment that performances, art and stories have provided for millenia, and yet there is something incredible about the feeling you get inside of you when you witness a film or magic performance that just blows you away...
This may seem like me rambling on, but I hope that i have provided something that everyone can relate to and discuss.
Steve
_______
The guys there are really good, although sometimes a bit sarcastic but i guess you get like that as you get older