Age of Aquarius

Yesterday I briefly mentioned Pixar, but I was looking at their website a little bit more and I realized just how much I love their short films. I love reading short stories too. To me it has always seemed there is so much more substance packed into a short story or film than a long drawn out explanation. Short stories and films are so much more stimulating because they pack in delicate and intricate information that the audience must discern. I sometimes loath to see full length films, they are so obvious, especially classical Hollywood cinema. But it is not my intention to complain about the film industry.

If I had to pick, my favorite short story would be Greasy Lake by T.C. Boyle. It's the story of three friends who think they are bad characters. Until they run into a situation on the third night of their summer break where they realize just because they look bad, wearing torn-up leather jackets, slouching around with toothpicks in their mouths and wearing their shades morning, noon and night, doesn't mean they're bad. The reader learns one of the characters is letting his parents pay for his college tuition, dead giveaway these boys are not actually bad characters, but it is just a subtle hit Boyle gives his readers into the character development. I love this story because the diction, imagery, details, language, and syntax are all so rich and perfectly fit to this story.

So anyway, back to Pixar, I saw the film Lifted this summer in the theater and find both the story and the animation to be amazing. I found a version on YouTube which doesn't have the original sound, but due to copyright I am sure it would be very difficult to put the real version on my blog. I'm sad I can't show the real version, because the sound is fantastic. I realized this past term in my digital art class how often sound it taken for granted, but how much extra emotion it adds to the piece, but still it's good never the less.