So, uh, let's make a video essay.
So I've had this YouTube channel for over
a year now, making content about movies and
television, but I've never really made a "VIDEO
ESSAY".
But it's my 2019 goal to be more proactive
about video-making and the skills that I learn,
and to kind of be a little bit more like HoustonProductions1,
so let's Far-go.
So for a long time I'd been hearing about
Fargo, both the 2014 tv series, and the original
1996 Coen Brothers film, but I'd never seen
either until I went to the store for a lil
pre-Buster Scruggs CB marathon.
BUUUUUT
I never did get to watch [The Ballad of] Buster
Scruggs.
*scene* "I'll take his spot" "If'n you play
his hand."
*/scene*
So something that has constantly intrigued
me in watching through the 1001 Movies to
Watch Before You Die list is an examination
of the factors that would make someone single
out these movies on a list among the most
powerful.
And sure, a lot of the time what makes these
movies stand out are their accessible storylines,
because that's what brings us together as
film audiences, right?
We wanna watch movies about superheroes and
singing nuns and dead therapists... *record
scratch*
I mean, that was a spoiler, but I have to
piss people off in some way or else I won't
get any views.
But something that I learnt rather recently,
after transitioning from an avid reader to
a big film fan, is that was sets film apart
from books, is... well, visual aids.
And that's obvious!
But until recently I wouldn't have really
called myself a cinephile so I wasn't really
looking into it, it wasn't cinema that changed,
it was me, I became more open-minded.
Which is something I think we all need to
remember in light of the *clears throat* recent
Bohemian Rhapsody Golden Globes controversy,
and though I could spend over half an hour
discussing the reasons why I think it's important
to have films that represent or are for everyone,
that's not why we're here.
We're here, because I watched Fargo and it
made me buy a drone.
Now there are heaps of videos on YouTube which
extensively cover the cinematography in Fargo
and I am by no means educated enough to make
one of those videos.
For example, just today I learnt about the
masterful way in which the Coen Brothers used
Shot/Reverse Shot which is so true in Fargo
and almost, almost! makes me wish I had a
filming partner.
For me it's the scenic contrasting shots which
actually inspire me and which were ultimately
the reason I was so mesmerised with Fargo
that I couldn't proceed with my Coen Brothers
marathon.
Because just like it did eighteen months ago,
almost to the DAY when I saw Dunkirk and it
inspired me to make this [channel] watching
Fargo has changed my mind about storytelling
and it's proved two things.
1.
Audience and cinephile aren't mutually exclusive
terms, they're just terms that each of us
uses against the other to make the other feel
[bad] about themselves.
You can transition from one to the other and
vice versa.
We all started loving movies because we watched
Toy Story, remember?
And;
2.
I'm super excited to go travelling because
I'm gonna be going to a whole bunch of pop
culture locations and I'm super excited to
vlog those experiences and share them with
you guys, but to share them with you guys
much more cinematically.
And that is, in part, because of Fargo.
... so please subscribe.
