Changing My Viewing Experience

I watched star wars: a new hope tonight, and I have to say I did not enjoy it as much as I normally do. I think my main problem with it was that everything was pretty under control and almost all the dialogue and events were feeding directly into the story. I kept looking out for pointless or unplanned moments but there were hardly any. The movie was just so straight forward. My favorite new line in the movie is when one stormtrooper is talking to another one while Obi Wan is walking by. Their discussion goes something like this:

"You seen that new VT-16?"

"Yeah. Some of the other guys were telling me about it. They say it's quite a thing to see."

I thought it was a really funny line because it seemed so unmotivated by the story. I also liked that it wasn't a funny line but simply by existing through its randomness it was funny. Of the past few movies that I have watched, my favorite parts have all been similar moments. Just small interactions between characters that seem genuine but unnecessary to the plot.

I had a couple ideas for some short videos. They are actually more like production techniques that could be used for more than one project.

The first one was shooting several friends, (or strangers if possible), and focusing on their actions and facial expressions. Then during editing all the audio would be re-recorded, including all the dialogue using brand new lines that may have not been used at all in the original. Sound effects could also be added to change the original feel of the moment. I think it would be fun to transform a casual conversation into something really serious or vice versa.

The other idea was basically the opposite. Record a conversation between some people. Then shoot new footage to add to the sound. The actors would have to learn the lines and remember the pacing but it would maintain the spontenaity of the original conversation. The scene could also be staged very effectively to enhance the original sound recording. In my opinion, the funniest things said aren't always meant to be funny. I think scripts often don't leave room for the way people talk normally.

I re-enacted the 'bet you can't laugh without smiling' video today with a friend that hadn't seen or heard of it. He actually played the part of the second guy really well, only he completely lost it when I started laughing without smiling. There were actually four of us in a car at the time and we were all laughing super hard. For me, the whole thing was at least as funny as the original video. I want to talk to more friends now that haven't seen the video yet.