Love Note to Hollywood

Dear Hollywood,

I'm somewhat embarassed to admit this...but I...well, I love you. There are lots of people who complain about your love of money or your loose morals or whatever else. And to be honest, sometimes your movies really just suck. But I don't care. I still respect you.

Last night, I watched "Miracle"—the one about the USA's 1980 gold medal hockey team. The film was well done. Nice, non-intrusive score by Mark Isham. I'd have to watch it again to listen for anything special there. Everything was done well, including the acting of the hockey players, many of whom were not professional actors. This was no caricature of 1980, I really felt like I was watching people live there lives just as the 70s are coming to a close.

But the point of this note was not how much I loved this individual movie. It was okay. I could take it or leave it. What really impressed me, however, was the "Making of..." reel. Just the casting alone for this movie was an incredible task. They needed to find guys who could act, really play hockey well, and look like the person in real life. Then there were the plays. Can you imagine choreographing hundreds of true-to-life plays? Can you imagine then shooting those plays with cameras on an ice rink, pushed around by ice skaters?

They had one guy who actually animated all of the plays they were going to film. From there they could look at print outs of what the players had to do when. The actors and crew spent plenty of fourteen hour days on the ice...a lot longer than a real NHL or olympic player would!

Now let's talk about sound. All of the sounds during the games were overdubbed...thousands of them...from pucks hitting things to skates scraping against ice. Somebody sat there and recorded all of these things and then somebody else mixed them into the soundtrack of the movie.

I could gush on, but hopefully I've expressed one of the things I love about film...good film that is. When artists go to such great lengths to make every detail count, I believe they deserve our utmost respect. They do this, knowing that most of those details will never be noticed by the average viewer. Nonetheless, the details add up. Little by little, they create an alternate reality that suspends our disbelief to the point where the announcer, who actually saw that famous game against Russia, and has watched the video tape probably a thousand times, said that he actually began to feel like he was watching the real thing.

So I'm blowing you a kiss, Hollywood. I love you despite your many faults. You're not as bad as they said you were. In fact, every once and awhile you're magnificent. You can stop by my house any night!

Sincerely,
Bill

Comments

[will]

Love it! I have been having my own little affair lately. We signed up the "all you can watch" deal at Blockbuster, and we have been blowing through a backlist of movies. Isn't it great to see imago deo in action?

[Bill]

Yes. I resisted the urge to make a comparison to the church. Do we have people putting the same effort into the details of our worship services? I know I don't.

I don't have the same budget, mind you, but that's not a good enough excuse.

And not that things have to be slick, either. I'm talking about artfulness (if that's a word), not that dread of looking unprofessional I seem to have sometimes. Anyway, this is all a subject for another post.

[Patrick]

Yeah, Bill... effort is a big issue! We got to such great lengths to create things for ourselves, but what about creating for God's enjoyment!? (an issue I am struggling with)
We dream but, but what is our excuse for not carrying out the dream!? hmmmmm...
Anyway, I agree with you on "Miracle"... a good, good flick!
It's funny, we have been going to movies & renting them like crazy lately... Bourne Identity on night, then took Tracy to see Bourne Supremecy (both good stories and great action!), Butterfly Effect (weird, but makes you wonder about the "little" decisions we make each day!), The Village (better than the bad reviews it's getting!)...