Finding Cinema

This is not a normal blog entry.
This is a personal entry.
As personal as ones and zeros get.

I found Cinema at a very young age. I had several guides along the primitive road of motion picture discovery; Steven Speilberg, John Hughes, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Quinton Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Howard Hawks, Darren Aronofsky, The Coen brother, Christopher Nolan, etc...

I found Cinema during a fascinating time for the art form. I have this satisfaction in common with two of my favorite "guides" through my motion picture education; The Lumiere Brothers.

The Lumiere Brothers found cinema in 1985 because their blood and sweat created cinema itself. A integral component in bringing the cinematographe, one of the very first film cameras, to fruition, the Lumiere reign as technological and innovative pioneers in the early period of cinema's birth. Their 1985 short Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon was one of the first recorded images ever to be seen on film the world over. They developed the perforated film stock that would allow film to run through the reels of a camera and projector; a process that is still used today. By showcasing private screenings in public coffee houses in France, the Lumiere brothers in essence created the film festival. It can be argued that The Lumiere Brothers fathered the art form of cinema.

Lumiere, translated into English means light.

Cinema is various shades of light illuminated on a white screen in a dark room.

The audience in that room is illuminated.

But after the film ends, and the lights come back up in the dark theater, is the mind of the audience still illuminated?

We live in a time of fragmented media, of digital communication and an age of limitless knowledge. However, and maybe because we live in this era, we are still sitting in the theater, not noticing the credits role; leaving contemplation behind with the discarded popcorn bag and empty soda cup. We are sitting in that coffee shop in 1985, sipping coffee, glancing at the flickering Lumiere images on the wall and turning back to our table, giving up the opportunity to see beyond the "screen". Now is the time to see the light behind the images; watch it pass from the projectionist booth behind us, filter through the air above us and cast a myriad of colors and shadows on the blank wall.

It's time to let a bit more light into the theater. Enough light to leave an impression on the audience. Enough light to keep the film going. Enough light. Lumeire.

In retrospect, I did not find Cinema. The Lumeire brothers and the other early film innovators who had a dream of capturing the essence of life, they found Cinema. They found it and unleashed it's brilliance of light, interpretation, beauty and infinite possibilities on the rest of the world.

Cinema in turn found me. It found you as well. And now its up to us to open our third eye to the lasting wonders of the world of cinema.

Because cinema has been good to us, it's time to be good to cinema.
It's time to be resourceful and knowledgeable.
Time to be both an intellectual and casual spectator of the motion picture.
To be an alternative viewpoint, to be a faithful critic to this young form of art.
To be a contributor to the work started over a hundred years ago.
To enable the continuance of light.

For those of you who have followed this blog, know that this entry marks the beginning of the venture beyond. Its time for the trailers to end and for the audience to embark on the journey of the feature presentation.

Be Cinematic.