Beyond the Frame

Mono No Aware: 

I’ve been working with the idea of Mono No Aware for some time.  I knew there was power in a phrase that deals with the awareness of things, specifically implying the awareness of their transience.  Cognitively, I’ve accepted that beauty is fleeting.  Its fleeting nature is what makes it valuable.  But there is more to the story.

As an aside, the motion picture is the most powerful medium to capture this true sense of beauty.  Not only is film subject to time, it can also change our experience of time through the edit.  The greatest masters of cinema are able to exploit this adroitly.  I see them do it.  I understand the technique used.  Why do other directors, including myself, fall short?

They are missing the intangible moment of Oh!  The film negative needs to be imbued with the natural wonder that the director has of the world around her.  They would not be a director otherwise.  The road is too long.  The journey is too difficult.  They feel compelled to capture and navigate the world in order to show the viewer a road less traveled, one where the world is always something compelling, nothing is ever mundane.  

Mono No Aware is the embodiment of this.  It is not a technique.  It is a lifestyle.  If the world does not constantly surprise and impress you with its everyday beauty, you’re doing something wrong.

~ü

[Image: Schmüdde Untitled (2000)]