From the Film Reel: Side by Side (2012) & Aud's Musings on Art and Storytelling In The Digital Age

Side by Side Trailer

Side by Side is a feature length documentary discussing the the science art and impact of digital cinematography. It features Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, David Lynch, the Wachowskis and Lena Dunham, to name a few talking heads and their views, preferences and musings of the use of digital cinematography in storytelling. It poses questions like, what are we losing versus what are we gaining with this new technology? 

Ok, Im not exactly a videographer myself - actually, scrap that, I'm not a videographer at all. I've never made a movie, or video recorded anything, but as a novice photographer, which I hardly consider myself to be either, I have 'grappled' with the same issue - film or digital? The artist in me absolutely loves film - its romantic, you do things with your hands - you can manually amend things in a photo. That tangibility I feel creates a deeper connectivity between the  artist and their art that digital falls to replicate, a phenomena which has always intrigued me - for instance, I would refer hardcopy drawings to say a digital copy - the changes are just so much easier to make! Another example, I absolutely love my book collection. I've got all my titles where I can see them, so if I feel like reading one day, I can totally just pick up whatever's on my shelf. I like to see and feel what I have - it feels more natural. So, what does that say about the future of art? The way we express ourselves? I find most of the poetry in art comes through the natural lines and sinuosity of how people's lines show so much about themselves. There's a great scene in the documentary War Photographer, where James Nachtwey is directing an assistant who's editing a photo "manually" in a sense, by physically adjusting the amount of light that emits onto a projected image/screen (I'll try to find a vid of that scene and post it) – it's the perfect example of  how manually perfecting a piece of art can bring about organic experiences in the creative process. Are we destined to lose this culture as we ride this new digital wave?

Now, I haven't watched to Side by Side yet, but watching to little snippets of the doco has got me thinking... How involved are we in our own artistic experiences? Or any experience  How wired are we really? Are we involving ourselves in life truthfully? For instance, like Gerwig (see second clip below) and her Netflix account, I buy books and rent DVDs depending on what I think I should watch - it is name dropping in a sense, because we think we should but should we really watch it? Do we even want to? Is it based on our own wants and desires? Or is it name dropping? I admittedly have several books in my library which I  havent read, but that doesn't mean that I won't read them, one day, and also validtares my likes, my wants, my interests and tastes which separates me from otehrs, but is my experince being enhanced? Is this really me? or is this what I think I should like? And how does that reflect my own identity and how I interpret myself and the way I experience things?

This leads dialogue leads to to bigger questions regarding our sense of self and society, the way we, as a society are constantly connected to others and the world around us and the constant sensory overload is not being registered by us as alarming, its the norm, going to a big cosmopolitan city like Singapore definitely shows makes that more apparent to me. But is this the way we want to experience life, and is this where the future is leading our cities? Are we destined to become zombies floating through life? I remember when I was a kid listening to my Ipod and censoring out whatever noise form the outside it heightens our hedonistic pleasure in the moment of ourselves, in that moment, and has "real life" been relegated to a backdrop of images just flashing past us? What are we experiencing  What does this do to the reality of situations? How much of ourselves are we giving up? In a sense, this documentary can be a metaphor for our own lives, for our society. Is the process of being present within our world different? And are we distorting our futures rather than enhancing it? In saying that, there can be some sort of romanticism in our technological hopes for the future, and what it brings. What kind of experiences and stories are to be had with this new coming, only time will tell. 

Regardless of everything, I'm super excited to see this film. I'm sure there'll be more for me to think about once I step outta the theatre.

Below are some snippets from the film, with the doco's narrator and producer, Keanu Reeves, discussing the digital phenomena, and its repercussions in length, some of which inspired the body of this musing today. Enjoy! 

"You have to be a dude who knows how to operate machines to do this!" - Agreed! On a side note, I also love her use of the term "Ivory tower". I haven't heard that in a long while.