Nature and Constructed Space: Blue Planet and my love for Christmas

While I enjoy buying dresses and snazzy shoes as much as the next person, I am mostly a consumer at Barnes and Noble. I recently purchased the documentary series by the BBC called the Blue Planet: Seas of Life to accompany my copy of Planet Earth. Needless to say, both documentaries are filled with breathtaking video.








Tonight, it seemed appropriate to watch Blue Planet since I have also started filming for our own documentary about "nature". As I watched what could have potentially been boring, repetitive shots of ocean waves (except that each shot was utterly captivating and would most likely be boring to someone who thinks only white walls are pretty to look at),



a fear crept into my mind. I thought about how even the most beautiful of locations can look flat, unmoving, and dead if the shot isn't framed/set up well. As a infant cinematographer, I am bound to make such mistakes...repeatedly. I do believe the the assured way to get better, familiar, and lucky, is to be filming as much as possible. If not filming, then at least remembering to ask, "Hmm...I wonder what this would look like if I were able to frame 'it' like this?" So that's my plan.


On a more philosophical note, I also watched A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight (that's why it's so late - and my roommate is telling me a fantastic story about Dinosaurs being alive in the Congo - and if you want to visit the dinosaurs, you need space suits because its too toxic).





As Charlie searches for the true meaning of Christmas, we are searching for the meaning of "nature". Charlie is unsatisfied with the seemingly self-centered and commercialized nature of Christmas. In fact, one could argue that Charlie is deep down, an idealist - one who hopes the world is different than it seems. Anyway, Charlie is lucky enough to have a prophet in his life named Linus who explains the true meaning of Christmas to Charlie. Somewhere in this film process, I hope we find a Linus who will simply explain the underlying meaning of humanity's complex relationship with "nature".