Picture Perfect

Before I begin this post, I’d like to discuss something that’s been brought to my attention several times. I’ve been getting some complaints about the length of my posts. Actually, quite a few complaints, so I’ve decided to try something new this time. And if it works out, I’ll stick with it. I don’t really plan out the lengths of my posts, but if it’s something I get excited about, they tend to go for quite a while. So this is what I’ll do. If I see that the entry is pretty ridiculous in length, I’ll add a brief summary of it at the end. So in the beginning of the post I’ll have a disclaimer saying something like: “For abridged version, scroll down.” and then at the end of the post i'll have an "ABRIDGED VERSION" sign or something like that. Let me know how you like it.

NOTE: For the abridged version of this entry, scroll down.

So. The topic of choice today is the often overlooked phenomenon of photography. A picture. Does anyone actually take the time to think about the genius behind it all? It boggles my mind every time I do. Let’s take a very brief and completely incomplete history of the camera. With its roots in the camera obscura: essentially a room with a hole in the wall that projected whatever was on the outside to the wall across it upside down. Then of course the camera became much more accessible. Then jump over to Eadweard Muybridge who was the first to take a series of consecutive pictures and essentially discovered what we still call motion pictures. Now it’s almost mandatory to have a camera in any electronic device and no one thinks twice about the awesome power they have in their hands. The power to take a picture. To treasure forever less than a second of our reality. A perfect reproduction of an exact moment in your life on a piece of paper. A piece of paper that immediately transports you to that instant no matter how many eons ago it took place. How? No matter how many times I read about the science behind it, I am still marveled by its workings.

As you may already know, it’s kind of impossible to talk about the impact of pictures without talking about movies. And like I mentioned above, they are in fact called the motion pictures. As in, moving pictures. As in, pictures that move. But they don’t really move. Pictures are pictures. Which brings me to yet another phenomenon. And you can’t say it’s not a phenomenon because it’s actually called the phi phenomenon. This is what makes us think that pictures move. You’ve seen it at work all the time in traffic signals when they have those lights in the shape of arrows that turn on and off in a specific order to make it look like the lights are moving. Are they actually moving? NO. But the illusion is created, and the brain is fooled. Isn’t that freakin amazing?! Or am I just completely alone in this? But that’s not even the best part. No no no no no. The best of all is the persistence of vision. That’s the real trickster in movies. A lot of people seem to not realize that when they watch a movie in the theater, they’re actually watching a series of pictures rolling in front of them in succession. These are called frames. Generally, they go by at 24 frames per second. In between each one of these frames, there is a black, empty space. So really if you think about it, every second, you look at 24 pictures, along with 24 black spaces. You may be asking why you can’t see these black spaces. Well, it’s thanks to the persistence of vision. When the brain sees one frame, it briefly holds on to it long enough so that it’s overlapped by the next frame, interpreting it as continuous and completely overlooking the black space in between. If anyone doesn’t find that amazing, leave a comment. And if you do find it amazing…also leave a comment.

ABRIDGED VERSION: Pictures are cool. Movies are cool too.



...she was like the water that freezes inside a rock and breaks it apart

Congratulations Mr. Jordan Streiff & Co.

So I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate my good friend Jordan Streiff on winning the Best Comedy award for his short film A Meditation on the Speed Limit. This congratulating also extends to Amanda Hunter who worked with Jordan on this project. She is also amazing. I'm pretty sure there were other people who helped them out, but uhh...they're the only ones I know...so yeah.

But anyway, without further delay, I strongly suggest everyone go download their film. You will not be disappointed. Unless of course, you DON'T check it out. So that's all for now. Expect a more thorough update soon.



...uncommon beauty is commonly overlooked