Monday, August 03, 2009

Taken away in handcuffs

There is something hugely sad about seeing prominent public officials in handcuffs.

Part of this comes because it is so unexpected. Most of the rhetoric over the years talked about fighting crime, and now they are presented as criminals.

Part of it is the personal relationship reporters have with these figures, and suddenly, the figures are on the walk of shame.

I remember how stunned I felt back in 2001 when Bob Janiszewski got charged, and how for a week I walked around feeling chills.

Magnify this a few dozen times and this is how I felt last week when some people I know very well took the walk of shame.

These souls, of course, are innocent until proven guilty, and indeed, some will likely be found “not guilty” as a result of the rushed sting that led to their arrests.

But nothing will erase the image of them in handcuffs, or restore them to the dignified position they previously held.

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In studying “Crystal Skull,” I’ve seen things I’ve not seen before in Spielberg works.

Of course, I’ve seen the routine stuff, signature bits that are purely his style. But he’s done new things, clever things, especially in how he connects each shot. (I intend to steal wholesale from them).

But even the pacing differs from many of his other films.

I saw this when I watched “The Terminal” the other day, and saw how long (in time) many of his shots were. These films are close enough in years to show that he deliberately paced them in different ways. I saw a brief bit of “Jaws” again, too, as I update my collection from pan and scan to widescreen, and it gives a lot of long shots, too, but Spielberg hadn’t yet become the master of style he is now.

The connection of shots intrigues me most since it is the glue that holds all films together. Hand movements, movement across the frames, and other elements within the shot carry over into the next shot.

He is even using montage more, especially in the opening scenes where the hotrod races the military convoy.

I’m am very intrigued by montage, but I also realize that many bad film makers use this as a way to disguise the fact that they do not know how to connect shots more conventionally, and I am trying to avoid that mistake.

This is why some of the interrelationships Spielberg established between shots fascinates me.

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I’ve become depressed more often lately, especially early in the morning just as I’m waking.

I haven’t been depressed much since the 1980s, and it puzzles me.

Perhaps it comes with age.

My ex-wife drove herself to the ER earlier this week after her hands went numb and her chest felt tight. She called our daughter from the ER.

The doctors said everything was elevated but she hadn’t suffered the heart attack she thought she had.

But they gave her a host of additional medications to take, as if those she was taking for the possible stroke a decade ago weren’t enough.

We’re all growing old, and that scares me.

Over the years, I’ve watched succeeding generations fade, grand parents, and then parents, and now us.

This is our time to begin to leave this mortal coil – and like any bit actor, I leave it having not done all I had planned to do.