BWW Blog: All the Wasted Time - What Have I Been Missing?

As a predominantly theatre artist and performer, I grew up not knowing too much about the film world. This past semester I took my first ever film class and my entire life was changed.

This film class I took was an intro course. We learned so much about the ins and outs of film and all it encompasses. It never occurred to me just how similar each art form is. Sure, there are multiple differences. However, each art can be traced back to identical ideals.

For starters, let's just talk about how much time and effort goes into creating sets for each thing. I mean, the elaborate backgrounds that are imagined are magnificent. This aspect falls under something in film called mise en scene. Mise en scene is the way we see frames and how things are placed in a specific scene. Talking about sets, they are created and strategically placed so that it can enhance the actors and actresses in the film. The same can be said for theatre. The set's role is to enhance the story and the world in which these characters live in. Another realm under mise en scene are costumes. Costumes are kind of self explanatory here and how they are similar. Costumes again enhance the story, and give us as the audience a sense of who is who etc. In film, and in theatre, both of these things are super connected and do the same function. I just thought this in particular was something I had overlooked so it was nice to be able to make that connection.

Genre paradigms are another aspect of film that relates a lot to theatre. Throughout film, there are mixes of different genres in movies. In theatre, it can be the same way. A lot of musicals and plays can be one genre or they can have a few different ones that might make it hard to pinpoint just one genre. I thought that was interesting to learn in depth. When I analyzed film in this regard, I saw how intricate it actually is. Theatre is very much in that same realm of intricity, so understanding this aspect of film came naturally.

We learned a whole bunch of other stuff in the class, but something that this class gave me was honestly better analyzing skills and writing skills. This is helpful for me in a number of ways. In the class, we would watch a film each week and then have to write about it. I had to analyze each film, and really dissect the films. I already think critically and am able to analyze theatre, but learning how to be a film critic was extremely beneficial. Because theatre is not able to really happen now, I have been missing analyzing theatre and having that immersive experience. Taking this class and learning how to do that for an art form I am still able to participate in at the moment was really awesome.

This class opened my eyes to so much. My passion for writing grew wider, and deeper. My inner film critic made her debut. I realized there is tangible life to film instead of the 2-D image I sometimes tend to only see.

Finding other passions now is important for me, and should be for everyone. The last few months have been quite dark. I looked forward to this class every week because it was one thing in my life that brought me joy. It brought back my creativity that I buried away under ashes and rubble from the raging war that never seems to die down. This class, in a strange way, made me appreciate theatre even more than I already did. I feel energized after taking this class, and I feel refreshed. I have found a new love that connects so much with my already found love. I could not be more grateful for film, and the ability it gave me to uncover the adoration that lies within.

All the Wasted Time...I am so glad I do not have to waste anymore.