Barren and Cramped

Yesterday, while editing The Warren, I fell to discussing film clichés with the director. As the movie we're making is more than half spoof, it's good to be aware of them so you can exploit each overdone convention to the fullest. One in particular kept cropping up - the use of jumpcuts to increase the intensity of action or to give a disjointed feel. We've incorporated this effect several times, in some instances tastefully and other occasions less so, but each time we had a reason. It occured to me later that though the jumpcut is a far cry from the way we percieve life, it's not so different from the way we remember it. We see an uninterrupted stream of events, but if asked to recall a particular event, day, occasion et cetera, we (if we are paying close attention) will notice that small clips stuck together, rather than smooth continuity, is presented before our minds eye. All pieces of a picture that we regard as insignificant are relegated to oblivion. Perhaps this is why we're such so learners. How many babies do we throw out with our mental bathwater? How much gold is lost, never to be recovered? But we can't help it I hear, that's how we're wired. It's not our fault. That's true; it isn't. But here's my point: we should be very slow to assume that we have a firm grip on the big picture. We may have been there, we may have heard all sides, we may have worked it all out logically - but would we be flawless? I say not. Once information enters us it is tinted, sculpted and interpreted. Realsing this can be a little disquieting for some. They feel that it kills truth, or the need for it. But I don't think it does - the quest for truth shouldn't be abandoned, but the key factor in our search must be humility. Without this vital quality we will fall to existing solely in an isolated, user-defined world that is barren and cramped.