By Lindsey Campbell Photos by: Lindsey Campbell
1. The pace. We live in a VERY fast paced world where everything is available NOW. We get a constant flow of information coming to us from our computers, phones, tablets, televisions . . . need I say more? Hello distractions. I’ll be the first to admit, when I am sitting in my apartment watching a movie, I check my phone at least three or four times. Is that necessary? Mostly no, but I cannot be still. I was not always like this. And my guess is, neither were you. Thank you, society.
1. Even in more modern movies, technology permeates the screen. Anyway, with this information megamall, what do we do? Watch an older movie, perhaps one from the “Golden Age” of Hollywood. We all know the cliché “some things just get better with age.” Well this applies to many movies made from the years (approximately) 1930-1960. All years have their duds, but there are some real treasures to be found. It’s like when you are at a garage sale and you find that old childhood toy (which you haven’t seen for years!). Remember that elation? That’s what it is like to watch a really good old film. Something you will notice is that the scenes are longer and the camera does not change angles or close-ups nearly as much. Focus is on the content.
2. Less distractions, no trickery. Yes, most people really love the special effects of the twenty-first century. Fine. They are cool and can add believability to make-believe. Hello Transformers. Not saying Transformers is a “bad” movie, but special effects can also make a bad movie seem better. That’s how you know the older movies are either good or not so good. Nothing fancy dressing them up. If anything is fancy, it should be you.
3. Rather than name off a list of movies that are watch worthy from the past, I will simply advocate for one that I like, because that is how I am. Hitchcock’s film North by Northwest (1959). This is one I watched in the Film and TV Aesthetics class here at Milligan. I pick this one because it requires the viewer to pay attention; no one is who they seem to me. Hitchcock would use editing to give the audience a “crumb” to keep them engaged. There is a specific scene where the main character is being chased down by an airplane. Obviously, having the actor being attacked by a plane was not a reasonable solution to the scene. Lacking the special effect capabilities of the 21st Century, Hitchcock relied on a very basic part of film production: Editing. Watching the plane scene will give you an idea of lack of computer generated imagery, and how both the scenes and shots were longer in the older films.
4. Nostalgia. Many yearn for a different time and place, and older movies can give us a glimpse into a different time and a different reality, if only for a little while.
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