Hey all,

As another installment in my defense of the role of artistry (artificial
affectations to evoke reality), I offer the following examples:

Movies

In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," the director (artist) chose to render
the color in the film toward the muted side. The colors were not crisp and
realistic, but rather artificially muted. This was an affectation that was
effective because most viewers have a mental concept of that period based on
antiquaited footage and old movies where the color is absent or muted. The
result of this non-realistic affectation is that the movie experience was
"more real" for viewers. Artistry is a slave to human perception.

Movie soundtracks usually constitute far more than 50% of the viewing
experience. This might seem odd since real life has no soundtrack. Dramatic
events in real life occur most often with nothing but the ambient sounds of
nature/city/home/car/etc.. Case and point: Imagine the movie "Jaws" without
the familiar soundtrack theme for the shark (Dun dun dun dun dun dun....).
That movie would have been a complete flop without that theme. The public's
ensuing fear of sharks and the ocean in the years that followed the release
of that film would likely have never surfaced as a result of the movie. It
was the music that produced all the fear. The fake shark was just a
supporting prop.

More on soundtracks; while good moviemaking can be accomplished without the
use of a soundtrack in every (or most) scene(s), an inappropriate soundtrack
will completely ruin any chance of the desired viewing experience.
Interesting how something that has nothing to do with real life drama has so
much power.

By the way, the idea in bonsai that the pot is like the "frame" of a
painting is not one that I support. I rather believe that the job of framing
the work is best performed by the stand. The pot is the soundtrack. The pot
establishes the entire mood. The tree just supports it. Screw up the pot and
nothing about the bonsai will work.

FWIW

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
zone 8, Texas

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