Pet Topics

Scales are a standard a icon of balance. In most images of scales there are two dishes hanging by chains on either side of a pole that teeters on a post. Put anything on one side and the arm dips until an equal amount of weight on the opposite plate brings the plates back into balance. It is a wonderful emblem that cannot be achieved with electronic scales or industrial scales. Changing from scales that balance to scales that quickly provide a digital number is a great metaphor for our times and our lives. More information can be retrieved in a minute then our great grandparents could gather in a lifetime. This information has led to great advancements in many fields from industry to medicine. It has also accelerated our lives. Where once there was a spring where information bubbled up, now we are in the midst of an ongoing flood of information impossible to consume or digest. Films are a great mirror of this changing pace.

In the past editing a film used to be done on a flatbed. An editor would find segments of film from a bin which has strings of celluloid hanging from little hooks and drops into a giant canvas bag on wheels. He would decide what he wanted to insert into the film, go to the bins, find the clip, cut the film on the flatbed then splice and tape the piece to be inserted. The editor does the same process for the sound. Every editdemanded a labor intensive effort which took time. Aware that each cut was a commitment to time and effort, the editor would be thoughtful about the reasons for the edit, considering the effects and imagining the outcome prior to cutting the film. Every physical cut meant destroying a frame and a half of the work print. Every edit was deliberate and thought through ahead of time.

The introduction of digital technology altered the way films are edited and viewed. What would have taken hours to accomplish can now be done in minutes or even seconds, without sacrificing any work product. If an idea flashes through the editors’ brain, he doesn’t have to consider it or try to imagine it. He can do it and see if it works. Visualizing an edit is replaced by trial and error, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. All the restraints of finding, slicing and taping clips are gone. As a result the number of cuts in a typical scene has increased dramatically. The old rules of editing are changing and the language of film has evolved.

Compare a film from 1950 to a film made today. The amount of visual data given to an audience is very different. Films are frenetic, exciting, stimulating assaulting the senses and immersing the viewer in a full out rapid fire experience. It is like the difference between being moved by a painting and being literally moved by a roller coaster. Most teens find the pace of an older film slow and dull. The rapid stimulation and movement of films made today reflect the larger social trend; while we are capable of processing more information quickly, it has increased our pace of life to almost addictive frenetic levels.

There is much to be gained by our ability to collect and process massive amounts of information quickly. However, if we lose our capacity to sit quietly and reflect on what the information really means have we gained anything?