We watched A Life in a Day last week, Ridley Scott's compelling knitting up of You Tube footage showing one day in July 2010, crafted out of video diaries from all four corners of the world. It was a vast tapestry showing pretty much all of human life, a flickering tale of the humdrum and the poignant, the joyful and the tragic.
The technical skill involved in putting it together was awesome, a masterclass in construction that anyone interested in narrative in any shape or form would do well to study. The premise was to take a single day and the narrative arc moved from early morning to late at night. Within this framework director Kevin MacDonald created a warp and weft of people's experience that blended the life-changing with the trivial. 4500 hours were distilled down to 90 minutes -- a brilliant example of editorial economy and rigour and although there was not a single protagonist for the viewer to identify with, we were able to relate emotionally to the universality of human experience.
I suppose the main lessons for a writer were in pace -- the action never flagged - and in the use of all different kinds of contrast: geographical, social, emotional, and in significance too. It was a work of art supported by a concept and themes rather than being plot driven.
Catch it online -- there's lots to learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment