So it's been a while since I've posted, but move-in and the first week of classes has kept me plenty busy. I believe I will probably just try to post weekly for a mental check-up. Or, if my research heats up and I get excited, I'll just post on here. As for now: 3 things.
First and foremost, I got the writing center job and will be starting the 31st! There I will conduct one-on-one student consultations to examine issues in their writing, and give my professional opinion on how to fix said problems, and, despite the horror stories, I'm excited. This job will give me a chance to get some tutoring experience while looking for ways to develop my own writing before graduate school next year.
Secondly, this semester is exciting so far, but I have some valid concerns. Some of my courses, specifically my "Comparative Slavery" course, will be both thought-provoking and challenging. The amount of reading and note-taking will test me, and push me further in my writing and research skills. Conversely, I have courses like "History & Historians" and "Survey of Blues & Rock n' Roll" that make me want to strangle myself out of boredom. They're like a bad joke. The only thing that could redeem the blues n' rock class would be mind-numbing, MUS 351-esque, listening quizzes, and intense, discussion-based lectures. Alas; no dice. No matter, I'll find way to make it interesting.
Thirdly, I was watching one of my favorite films with Tbird, and it got me thinking about the nature of diegesis in film, as well as one of my own strange quirks. The film was The Truman Show, probably the single most important role Jim Carey ever played (I've never seen Eternal Sunshine, so this is slightly biased).
In the film, Jim Carey is Truman Burbank, an honest, hardworking nobody who lives on the most beautiful place on Earth, Seahaven. (Spoilers) As one watches, they learn that Truman's entire life is a television show in which he is the star, and everyone else is just actors. Truman has no idea about this; he was born and raised in Seahaven, and because of a debilitating fear to leave the island, has not had contact outside of Seahaven. It's a top notch film and I couldn't recommend one better.
My point, though, is about the blending of both non- and diegetic musical elements in the film. Diegetic music is sound that the characters in the movie can actually hear. For example, if a character plays a piano, or if a record player is playing in the background. Non-diegetic music, conversely, is music that only the audience can hear. Examples include the score, the sound effects, or any other sounds that are not directly being made in the charcter's sphere of existence. Now the odd transitory deigetic moments that I am talking about happen around 1:01 and 1:11. Music is playing that fits the scene; definitely non-diegetic to Truman, but when the camera is showing the control room with Christof, you can see Philip Glass (the composer of the film) playing the exact piano part. The music transitions between non-diegetic in Truman's world, to diegetic in the "real world". Apart from the diegetic musical elements, there are cinematic diegetic elements that I'm not really all that qualified to talk about :P
Now for my quirk: Sometimes, when I'm working out and listening to music, I pretend that the music I'm listening to is non-diegetic; that if someone was watching the movie of my life (god-forbid) they would be hearing that exact music at the time. I do the same thing in the car as well. The soundtrack of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment