I Am Now A Jogger ... And You Can Be too!

For the last seven weeks I have begun jogging. I am generally the last person who considers fitness. The following reasons forced me to make the decision:

1. Playing football at friend Richard's Stag Weekend tired me out within the first few minutes. I was out of breath and had to hide in the background whilst I caught my breath ... which took ages. Then when I started to get into it again, I was knackered soo after. Clearly, this establishes my lack of fitness in the first instance.

2. A friend from work jogged into school. He jogged 8 miles. 8-fu*****-miles. Before he even taught a single lesson. This amazed me and inspired me. He never gave the impression that he was obsessivly fit ... he just enjoyed it and improved week-on-week, to the point that he could run 8-miles in the morning before a day of teaching. Amazing.

3. I was recommend by a friend the NHS Couch to 5k podcast. Only a few podcasts which you listen to, generally, the same one, three-times a week and then week-by-week you up the pace. Starting on 1-minute running, 1-minute walking - times by eight - you run eight minutes the first week. By week 7, you get to 25 minutes solid running. That's where I am now.

As it is 25 minutes, it seems a little useless to listen to the same podcast when I can just put together a playlist of songs to jog to. I always warm-up with a 5-minute "brisk walk" and finish on a 5-minute "brisk walk", with the 25-minute run in between. With this in mind, I managed to hunt down the playlist from Forrest Gump and I use tracks that Forrest ran to as I do (the source-tracks are bookended by music from Silvestri's score). It wasn't easy to find, but I did fill the 25-minutes effectively.

This is what I will share with you film folk - the playlist for my evening jog. Not to mention how much I advise you to do the same!

5-minute Warm-Up

Hold My Hand (UNKLE) - 5.00

25-minute Run

The Crusade (Alan Silverstri) - 2.01

Running on Empty (Jackson Browne) - 4.58

It Keeps You Runnin' (The Doobie Brothers) - 4.22

I've Got to Use My Imagination (Gladys Knight and The Pips) 3.29

Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac) - 3.38

On The Road Again (Willie Nelson) - 2.33

Against The Wind (Starshine Orchestra and Singers) 3.52

The Crimson Gump (Alan Silvestri) 1.08

5-minute Warm-Down

Vision One (Royksopp) 5.00

So what about you? Do you run? And if so - do you have any amazing playlists you could share?

I'm hoping that as I continue and change my playlists, i'll share them with you guys and maybe you could join me!

A-Z #81: Forrest Gump

You can pick up hundreds of DVDs for a round-pound each - it doesn't matter. It's never about quantity, it's about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and understanding why I own the films ... or you can tell me why I should sell 'em

#81 - Forrest Gump 

Why did I buy it?

Funnily enough, the DVD release coincided with the DVD release of Unbreakable. I watched both over the weekend and ... whats the connection between the two? Robin Wright Penn! But, I first watched this when a friend in Year 8 let my family borrow the video from him and, not only did my Mum and Dad love it, but so did I. I seriously think that comparing it to Pulp Fiction, as the Oscar Nominations did, is exceptionally tough. I really don't know which one to choose.

Why do I still own it?

It really is incredible. Ionly recently watched it as part of Film Club with pupils ranging from 12-14 and they all really enjoyed it - showing that even 15 years after it was made, it still holds. The special effects are subtle and incredibly effective with a brutal story told with such heart. I can only praise this film and, asked whether I think it is a better film that Pulp Fiction I seriously couldn't pick. Pulp Fiction is more ground-breaking but ... which one do I prefer ...

You guys think - Pulp Fiction or Forrest Gump?

The Critical Introduction to Film... (Part 2)

I am currently reading Film: A Critical Introduction by Tom Wallis and Maria Pramaggiore. As I read each chapter, I shall write the few thoughts I have...

Chapter 2: The Orchestration of Detail

Continuing from the last blog post regarding interpretation and expectations, the next focus is detail. Motifs and parrallels are details placed to enhance understanding and ensure themes are brought to the forefront of the story. Wallis and Pramaggiore state "Motifs can also encourage spectators to compare and contrast characters, plot events, objects of situations". The book refers to Citizen Kane and the motif of 'rosebud'. Further to this, you could add to the list of important motifs other examples such as the graffitied cement-section in Mystic River, the triangular formation that is built obsessively in Close Encounters of the Third Kind or the black monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. These motifs focus our attention on what is important - and what we should think about. For example, what is important about the cement-section in Mystic River? The connection to childhood, the rebellious aspects of their youth dictating their adulthood - the moment whereby their lives changed forever through Dave's abduction.

Motif's signify multiple reminders of a theme, whereas parrallels may simply be the same sequence repeated or a shot which clearly asks for a comparison between two characters. So, we can consider the repeated tracking shot in Shaun of the Dead as Simon Pegg walks from his house to the newsagent - in the first instance people act like zombies, though the second time people actually are zombies. Another parrallel may be how the shot that finishes Smokin' Aces forces you to see the two comatose-criminals sat on either side of Reynolds character and we compare the two - are they important? No? Then pull the plug Reynolds. (Note how it then zooms in on Reynolds as the two criminals are not important - it is Reynolds who is important). Wallis and Pramaggiore finish this section by noting how "paying attention to repetition, motifs and parrallels can help viewers to recognise a film's deeper structure".

The details often take place at important points - such as contrasting the start and end of a film (the feather in Forrest Gump). Sometimes they structure specific turning points in the film (Every time Cobb exits a dream, again, he checks his Totem in Inception). But even camerawork can dictate the end of sequences - potentially fading out to signal the end of a sequence (I find this happens alot when huge-chunks of time separates each section, following the fade out with text "Massachussets, 1895" before continuing with the story)

Having just mentioned 'huge-chunks of time', sometimes the non-chronological structure of a story is set-up to focus your attention on different aspects. The repetition of a feature often beginning these sequences to clarify the time-period and where the sequence takes place.

Its fair to say that, at the moment, anything presented on the screen is not a happy-accident. Filmmakers choose to set-up different parrallels and motifs to make meaning and ensure that the film is structurally poetic. Having said that, there is many articles on how Tron:Legacy has much more depth to it than what may first be the case - comparing the Sam Flynn/Kevin Flynn storyline to Hamlet. Personally, it is worth being wary that meaning can be found in film, despite not beng originally intended. I don't think this is too much of a problem, as an audience, we can interpret Art in whatever way we believe is appropriate and once a film is made and exhibited, it is out of the personal domain and in the publics hands. Though meaning may not have been intended, there may be subconsious themes that speak through the film that the filmmaker was unaware of. 

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