Elevating the ordinary to inspirational
April 5, 2013 11:50 AM Subscribe
I came across a video for Wichita Lineman that is a montage of telephone lines in various settings, states of condition and construction. And I want more.
There is an obsessive compulsive quality to this type of montage, where the creator is paying homage to telephone/electrical lines and elevating them to a romantic status as the song suggests is appropriate. I enjoyed idea of taking normally uninspiring object and featuring it so that it takes on a fresh and deserving level of importance, particularly if it’s in relation to an awesome song, like Wichita Lineman, or in a story. I’m recalling the ceiling fan that made several appearances in the movie Angel Heart. I would like to see more videos, montages, or films where a common object takes center stage, even a cameo, and is elevated to such status and importance, but not gratuitously.
There is an obsessive compulsive quality to this type of montage, where the creator is paying homage to telephone/electrical lines and elevating them to a romantic status as the song suggests is appropriate. I enjoyed idea of taking normally uninspiring object and featuring it so that it takes on a fresh and deserving level of importance, particularly if it’s in relation to an awesome song, like Wichita Lineman, or in a story. I’m recalling the ceiling fan that made several appearances in the movie Angel Heart. I would like to see more videos, montages, or films where a common object takes center stage, even a cameo, and is elevated to such status and importance, but not gratuitously.
It's been quite a while since I saw it but I remember that montage of transatlantic phone lines is featured prominently in Krzysztof Kieślowski's "Red."
posted by Currer Belfry at 12:07 PM on April 5, 2013
posted by Currer Belfry at 12:07 PM on April 5, 2013
This is one of those situations where I would suggest if you can't find more videos to scratch that itch, you should consider making some.
posted by zadcat at 7:21 PM on April 5, 2013
posted by zadcat at 7:21 PM on April 5, 2013
One of the things I loved about the Wichita Lineman song was the explanation I once read, which described how the arranger used the strings to mirror the sound of the how the old super heterodyne radio receivers used to whine as they tuned to and away from am sidebands. Any kid who has every tuned a radio next to his bed at night (I'm dating myself here) knows this sound with the affection of far away trains or distant thunder. To me, the song, the arranging and the video are one unit, one organism. Sort of like, how part of a great soufflé is the soufflé dish. Romantic is a good word to use in describing that song.
Anyway, I think another movie where inanimate objects play a central role is the mirror in the movie Momento. The central character keeps returning to it as he struggles to make sense of his post it notes and the writing all over his body, and it becomes the center of his life. It's the one stable point in the movie.
posted by CollectiveMind at 10:26 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anyway, I think another movie where inanimate objects play a central role is the mirror in the movie Momento. The central character keeps returning to it as he struggles to make sense of his post it notes and the writing all over his body, and it becomes the center of his life. It's the one stable point in the movie.
posted by CollectiveMind at 10:26 PM on April 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by waving at 11:51 AM on April 5, 2013