NJIT's Student Newspaper

The Vector

NJIT's Student Newspaper

The Vector

NJIT's Student Newspaper

The Vector

Zero-One: A weekly column about Film

Life is a very strange set of actions, dramas, comedies, mysteries, and many distinct genres which encourage the production or encouragement of filming; whether of a fiction or nonfiction vocabulary. Throughout the many years of film’s presence, life and its challenges has graced the screen with such dynamic feats as jumping the hurdle, beating that final boss, breaking the wall, following the lines of battle, and many other trajectories which land either on common ground or no ground at all.

This is film; this is how life has been created or recreated, whether of a historical variety or of a new or futuristic foreshadow.

Film’s capability to contain its genres is unfathomable. As life and its many actions split into multiple, perhaps infinite subtopics, so does film into its many categories that are each taken up, risen to fame, impoverished for a timespan, dusted off, retuned, given a new name, and finally retaken up again with a new name to repeat the cycle once more.

Before film, the theatre was where entertainment reigned and that is where many of the genres we each observe today possibly originated from. Before that there was the literary device that we know still as literature or books which allowed imagination over physical presence. Before books, off the top of my mind were the cave drawings that transformed caves into a “person of the times” autobiography which later transferred to history books, was recreated on a stage, and eventually given the big-screen treatment using the technology or special effects available.

Film captures life. The last time you were at the movies, did you ever think, “What if I was in that life up there on that screen?” or “Could this really happen?” I on the other hand ask the question of “Why” compared to that of “What”. Questions like “Why should I watch?” or “Why would this film be made?” could redefine how films are viewed altogether.

That’s the thing about film; that who, what, when, where, why, or how questions of a film should direct towards the genre. I guess a question like “How does this film perform under its genre?” might fit this case. Being human, we should question what we see. We do it all the time, but I am writing to question film whether on a current or previous timeline.

With film these days we gain a new perspective on the past, present, or future. So far a lot has linked to the past or present, while the idea of the future has arisen by looking back to the medium of books and extracting it for future viewing pleasures. It’s taking a similar concept, but moving forward with a different medium. These are the types of things that I will question as well as quandaries like, “What would really happen if (insert film name here) would really happen?” or “Is (insert film name here) really possible?” and supply my own answer based on what research I can find as well as my look on the “real life” human dilemma in film.

By “real life”, I mean asking questions like, “If (insert film name here) would actually happen, how would we really react?” with or without including how the film took the human perspective into context. Besides those series of questions I will also review films that I see, giving credit where due, giving discredit where due, using said credit or discredits for later ideas, and eventually moving forward with a fresh start.

All films are susceptible to my acknowledgement so whether they’re in theatres, in trailers, in production, recently announced, newly released to the population, getting anniversary releases, on Blu-ray/DVD/VHS, or shown on any known means of imagery equipment. This is my idea that I will work on and also off of you, the reader’s suggestions.

What films do you wish of me to look at? What idea in film do you want me to examine? Send messages, comments, and opinions. I know you watch some form of films with certain genres on your “must-watch” list, and I will attempt to protect these items while honoring my own. This is just an idea after all.

Scott M. Waldman

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