The Chair is Actually Blue.

Hello, internet!

Today’s blog assignment is to basically blog about something. Not anything in particular, just 250 words on some topic. So... I need a topic.

I think I’ll talk about why I like making movies so much. Yeah. That sounds like a good enough topic.

First of all, I have startling news for you. Ready? You don’t actually live in reality. You see, reality (and I know this is incredibly clichéd, but whatever) is in the eye of the beholder. What you experience is your brain’s way of interpreting the world. You experience a computer in front of you, but you have no way of knowing that it’s actually there. You assume that it is, because your brain is telling you that it is receiving tiny electrical impulses, transmitted along myelin shafts from nerve endings in your retina, your inner ear, your olfactory receivers, and your temperature, pain, and pressure nerves in your hands.

So. Your reality may or may not be accurate. We will never know.

And now, a question: How do we communicate? If I have a fantastic idea, or concept, or belief, and I really really really need to convey it to you, how do I do that? I could tell you? Sure, I could tell you. You will hear my voice, your brain will automatically transcribe it into text, and, along with cues from my visual appearance as I talk and the minute changes in pitch and timbre, your brain will decide what I’m trying to convey, and you will generate your own opinion.

Text and pitch variations. Not an incredibly efficient way to communicate. Effective, yes. The best? No.

So I need to communicate better. How do I do this? Well, the best way to communicate in theory would be to manipulate your reality so that you truly experience what I have to say.

Now, that is patently ridiculous. Not only is it practically impossible for me to take total control over your understanding of the world, it’s more than a little creepy.

So what am I to do? I really really really need to express myself.

Well, how about this? I’ll create a reality, not impose it on you, but rather present to you, and you can experience it as you wish. I’ll do this by putting you in a dark room with no distractions, and manipulate your visual and auditory experience. You can watch and listen if you want, or you can get up and walk away.

What will I present to you, if you care to watch? I will manufacture an experience, capture it, and modify it to convey my point.

Thus, we have film.

Think about it. Film, even digital video, can convey so much more information than text, mono oral audio, or still pictures. One single frame of digital video contains over 300,000 pixels, each of which can be one of over 16 million colors. Furthermore, each pixel changes its color almost 30 times a second (29.97 to be exact), faster than the human eye can detect. Furthermore, straight video is augmented by sound. Six separate speakers, each emitting a distinct separate audio track, synchronized perfectly with the video, with a range that can replicate the entire gamut of human hearing.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Video is an illusion. The illusion of motion. You see 24 or 30 pictures flashed in front of you, and you believe that the car that was on the left side of the frame actually moved to the right side. Video is the illusion of life. You perceive that what is happening