Logicless Logic

paint a picture in your head.

This post was inspired by some incidents which happened in the past week and some thoughts which lay dormant. Firstly, it was before the class Harry Potter outing which I didn't go to. My reason was that I was going to watch it with someone else. I had another reason as well. I prefer the book. It was the same case for LOTR except I really enjoyed the movies as well. The other just happened. I was talking to Zhen Yu about song lyrics for some reason or other. And the lyrics to some songs are so good they allow you to imagine a place, an idea or stir up feelings.

What exactly do these two incidents have in common. That the pictures don't do the words justice. The movies don't do the books justice. The music videos don't do the lyrics and tune justice. Why? Because they are so limited. They bind the words to the mere things they are showing. Before seeing things with my eyes, I see it in the words. The lyrical description allows for my own interpretation on what the place, the person looks like and feels. Once I see the movie, the sight is narrowed down. I am being limited to what is being shown to my eyes. It might be good but it's not as good as I thought it was.

To quote a movie director(ironically) whom I forgot his name:

"No budget is as big as your imagination"

I think he's right. In my head, the budget is unlimited. I can make the scene as I like it. Movie directors have to contend with feasibility, budgets, time limits, actor capabilities. The product therefore comes out inferior to what the director has visualised in his head. A book full of words may paint many different pictures to many different people. If what I visualise is different from what the director of a movie visualises from the same words, I am more likely than not to end up disappointed.

I think the saying "A picture says a thousand words" should say

"A picture says a thousand words, but a thousand words can paint a more beautiful picture"

justin.

posted by justin @ 5:20 PM