April 28th:

Like I said last week, I don’t think my essential question is one I can really know. It’s more of a setup for experiences. “How can we understand film?” doesn’t have an answer, not a definitive one at least. The only way to get to an answer, I guess, would be to watch films and talk about them. I’ve learned from that, watching and talking about films, but I don’t think my essential question is necessarily something I can learn about. I’ve learned through the experience of watching films and talking about them thought. I’ve learned about my personal tastes and opinions, I’ve been able to say in words why different films affect me instead of just saying “it really works”, and I think I’ve gained a deeper understanding and respect for films. Talking about and really trying to understand film as more than just a way of telling stories has been a very educational experience for me. I don’t have any further questions/our essential question hasn’t changed. And, as far as my wanting to know more, I just want to explore different genres of film, especially in the next two week where we watch two genres that I don’t like very much, and see why I dislike the genres or if the movies we watch are so good that I end up having a change of heart.

I feel like I’m answering my essential question, but not in a way that I could write in an essay. Rather, I’m answering it through watching and experience and understanding films, and the effect it’s having on me isn’t something I can convert into words just yet. But, that just about sums up how I’m exploring my essential question: by watching and talking about films. I’m also learning more about the podcast medium and how to make an engaging 30-minute conversation, which has been fun too.

At this point in time, I’m starting to feel a little burned out. I usually watch a lot of movies over breaks (usually one a day like I’m doing now) but I never have a set schedule, I just sit down and watch whatever I feel like watching. So, making myself watch all these movies when I’m not necessarily in the mood for them, coupled with the exhaustion of quarantine, is making me feel a little burned out. Of course, it’s a great problem to have, and I’m still excited to watch and talk about the movies, but I’m finding myself wanting to skip a movie more often. I’ve dealt with these challenges by just sitting down and watching the films. Again, it’s not really a real challenge or issue, so it’s easy to deal with.