Cogitation

A post from the office of the Unit One Chief Scientist, Proton Bletchley.

What is cogitation?

Let’s begin by looking at the dictionary.

cogitation n. c.1200, “thought, idea, notion,” from Old French cogitacion “thought, consideration, reflection,” from Latin cogitationem (nominative cogitatio), noun of action from past participle stem of cogitare “to think, reflect, consider, turn over in the mind,” apparently from co-agitare, from com- “together” (see co-) + agitare, here in a sense of “to turn over in the mind,” literally “to put in constant motion, drive, impel,” frequentative of agere “to move, drive” (see agitation).” Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

At Unit One, people cogitate. They may even ponder. What they don’t do is philosophize. The reason is not just the difficulty in spelling the word, nor is it the fact that philosophy, along with kayaking and drumming, is the domain of Charles Justice, http://earthjustice.blogspot.ca/

What is philosophy?

Again, let’s begin by looking at the dictionary.
Philosophy n. ca.1300, “knowledge, body of knowledge,” from Old French filosofie “philosophy, knowledge” (12c., Modern French philosophie) and directly from Latin philosophia and from Greek philosophia “love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom; systematic investigation,” from philo- “loving” (see philo- ) + sophia “knowledge, wisdom,” from sophis “wise, learned;” of unknown origin.

Cogitation vs Philosophy

When one philosophizes, there is an expectation that ideas will refer to the works of a whole bunch of old geezers who, through the millenniums, have thought and written about fundamental issues. The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, E3 (2005), defines philosophy as: “A study that attempts to discover the fundamental principles of the sciences, the arts, and the world that the sciences and arts deal with; the word philosophy is from the Greek for “love of wisdom.” Philosophy has many branches that explore principles of specific areas, such as knowledge ( epistemology ), reasoning ( logic ), being in general ( metaphysics ), beauty ( aesthetics ), and human conduct ( ethics ).”
People at Unit One just aren’t (that) disciplined. There is no attempt to discover fundamental principles. People ponder and cogitate simply to make the world a better place.
Mental activity Sport Other hobby
Charles Justice Philosophy Kayaking Drumming
Unit One Cogitation Surfing; Sparking Mechatronics; Robotics

Future Posts

In the future there will be additional blog posts featuring cogitations. Titles will take the form: [subject]: cogitations

Updates

If a topic is revisited, the post title will be followed by, E[integer], [date] so that people who follow the blog can receive updates. E stands for edition. It was decided that using V (for version) might be confused with V (for volume). Minor revisions, will not be given an edition number.

Filmmaking with a social conscience

Over the next few weeks Unit One will share exclusive comments by Jade Marmot on the V&P film project. Today’s topic is low-cost filmmaking approaches.

Jade

To understand filmmaking a person has to watch a variety of film types. A good place to start are these four films: Citizen Kane (1941), Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), The Celebration (1998) and Sicko (2007). These go over more than 65 years. Admittedly some are more low-cost than others, with Sicko costing $9 million.

François Truffaut (1932-1984) devised auteur theory in the mid-1950s. It stated that the director was the “author” of his work. Great directors, such as Jean Renoir (1894–1979) or Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), have distinct styles and themes that permeate their films. While this invokes a filmmaking style that focuses on artistic intent, it concentrates on a director’s personal creative vision, denying the other participants (cast as well as crew) artistic integrity. Orson Welles’ (1915-1985) Citizen Kane (1941) is a textbook example of an auteur film. Truffaut made his feature film debut with Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959) [The 400 Blows].

Citizen-Kane-Welles-Podium
Kane (Orson Welles) makes a campaign speech at Madison Square Garden. Citizen Kane

In 2006 David Kipen wrote The Schreiber Theory: A Radical Rewrite of American Film History. He argues that auteur theory has wrongly skewed analysis towards a director-centred view of film. Kipen believes that the screenwriter has a greater influence on the quality of a finished work. Much of Scandinavian television production uses this approach in their 10 episode thrillers, with a number of directors being responsible for one or more of the episodes, but with a co-operating script-writing team.

Many low-budget film colleagues refer to themselves as guerrilla filmmakers. Guerrilla filmmaking involves corporate independence, low budgets, skeleton crews, and simple props. They shoot scenes quickly in real locations without permits, permission or warning. Corporate independence means that the filmmakers are not accountable to anyone but themselves.

“Guerrilla filmmaking is driven by passion with whatever means at hand”, said Mark Hill, Yukon Film Commission Manager. Guerrilla filmmaking focuses too much on technique, rather than on content. For pacifists, there are also problems with the military connotations of the title. Film critic Roger Ebert described Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) written, produced, scored, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles (1932-), as “a textbook on guerrilla filmmaking.” If you cannot find this film, an equivalent example is Robert Rodriguez’ (1968-) El Mariachi (1992). It cost about $7,000 to make, with money partially raised by volunteering in medical research studies. While originally intended for the Spanish-language low-budget home-video market, it received international distribution. Rodriguez described his filmmaking experiences in his book Rebel Without a Crew. The book and film continue to inspire filmmakers to make no-budget films.

Sweet-Sweetbacks-Baadasssss-Song
Sweet Sweetback (Melvin Van Peebles). Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

The Dogme 95 approach to filmmaking turns auteur theory upside down. It codifies filmmaking in a 10-point Vow of Chastity written by Lars von Trier (1956-) and Thomas Vinterberg (1969-) that prohibits expensive and spectacular special effects, post-production modifications and other technical ploys. Filmmaking concentrates on content: the story and actors’ performances. Here the director is a nameless servant; at best a coordinator. One of the most powerful films is Vinterberg’s Festen (1998) [The Celebration]. Note: It can be a bit too powerful for people with assorted family issues that can be triggered. For those people Italiensk for begyndere (2000) [Italian for Beginners] a Danish romantic comedy, written and directed by Lone Scherfig (1959-) is more appropriate.

Festen

Political cinema may refer to films that do not hide their political stance, but this does not mean that they are pure propaganda. Most films are political, including escapist films offering entertainment. In Nazi Germany, the authorities organized a large production of deliberately escapist movies. Today, Hollywood cinema misrepresents black, women, gays, working-class people, and others frequently in the form of stereotypes. Michael Moore (1954-) is one of many political filmmakers, with Sicko (2007) being one of his most popular, and lucrative. It investigates American health care, with a focus on health insurance and pharmaceuticals. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba. Moore rejects the label of political activism as redundant in a democracy, “I and you and everyone else has to be a political activist. If we’re not politically active, it [presumably USA] ceases to be a democracy.”

That’s it for today!

Come back next time, when Jade Marmot writes about the institution of cinema itself, and its mission to pacify spectators, and how Joyful Marmot Productions aims to change this. Until then, think about the cinema, and how people congregate but do not to act together or to talk to each other, but sit silently, and isolated from each other.

Spiritual Growth! material sustainability

13 June 2009

“Spiritual Growth! material sustainability.” is my current motto.  Unfortunately, there has been far too much emphasis on economic growth, especially for those who have too much from before, and not enough demand for the one product where supply always exceeds demand – spirituality.   Since I’ve now passed my 60th birthday, it is probably time to start a blog.  My main concerns in life have to do with the survival of this planet.  Additional economic growth, will almost certainly place additional pressure on our planet’s ability to survive.  Additional spiritual growth, with its focus on God, will lead to a more harmonious life.

One work that examines the problem of unnecessary economic growth is “Prosperity without growth!” Unfortunately, most economists – as well as politicians – have ignored this problem.  Their only solution is growth whether it suits or not.