Ataraxia
Epicureanism, The Science of Sound, and Some Film Recommendations
I’m in the middle of preparing an online class and this entire past week felt like a script-writing marathon. I didn’t get to consume lots of content because of the amount of focus that writing requires, but I still got a couple of things worth sharing.
By the way, if you struggle—like me—talking to the camera and want to create any sort of video content, I have to tell you that one of the best investments I ever did on this area was this teleprompter. You’ll have to write everything but it does make a huge difference.
On Articles
I read this article talking about Epicurus and the idea of living in “ataraxia,” which refers to a sense of tranquility without pain or anxiety. I personally haven’t spent a lot of time researching or reading about Epicureanism or Stoicism so I am very ignorant about all of their philosophy, thoughts, and principles. This article, however, was interesting enough for me to reflect about the idea of happiness, desires, and what it means to have satisfaction. I discovered and loved the word ataraxia, by the way. I’m always on the lookout for new words.
I read this article on sound, its propagation through waves, how our ears work, and a lot of other interesting facts. I am personally much more into how sound works as a form of expression and not so much into how it works in terms of physics and science. Still, I couldn’t stop reading once I got started. It truly is amazing just to see how everything works and it’s undeniable that—as Tim Urban says in this article—talking is a miracle.
I read this article that touches on the topics of productivity, self-growth, and prioritizing. It explains how we can make best use of our time by having personally meaningful and valuable goals. It’s a great read.
On Apps
A couple of days ago I downloaded Hyperduck. It’s a simple utility to send links from iOS to your Mac and it has been one of those things I didn’t think I need until I had it. You can read about why is it better than Airdrop or Handoff in the page. Best of all, it’s free. The developer has several apps that are simple and useful just like this one, if you’re on Apple devices make sure to check them out.
On Literature
I finished reading The Dark by Leonidas Andreyev. Probably the darkest book I’ve read from him and also the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far. The description itself may raise some eyebrows: The Dark is a novella about a desperate young man, a "terrorist and nihilist," trying to avoid arrest by taking refuge in a brothel. The story focuses on his unfolding relationship with a prostitute in the brothel and the internal conflict which torments him. In some aspects the tone of the story reminded me of Raymond Carver, author I was reading a few months back.
On Cinema Interviews
I watched a SXSW keynote by Mark Duplass where he addresses challenges for young and aspiring filmmakers and gives practical advice for those trying to enter the industry. If you are young and into filmmaking chances are you’ll find this talk inspiring, like most viewers. I personally found it a bit more depressing than inspiring, but I can’t deny there’s a lot of wisdom and truth there, especially in the Q & A.
I watched this interview with Jim Cummings & Ruben Östlund. I like the work of Jim Cummings (my favorite film of his is Thunder Road) and I love everything by Ruben, though his most popular film to-date must be Triangle of Sadness. The interview itself was interesting in terms of how Ruben Östlund deals with actors and performances. I wish the interview would have gone more towards his creative process, the perspective Ruben has on the human condition and how he translates all of that into his own cinema. There’s THIS OTHER TALK which is more insightful about all of this.
I watched this talk by Sara Dosa on the making of “Fire of Love.” Fire of Love is a documentary built from hours and hours of footage captured by the couple of scientists who star in the film itself. Listening the director talking about the production was very interesting. This was a HUGE project and the director really did the story justice. If you haven’t watched the film I highly recommend it.
On Cinema
Funny Pages by Owen Kline. I don’t know why I had not heard of this film (produced by the Safdie brothers, btw). It tells the story of a young and aspiring comic artist and his struggles for finding direction in his career. The story itself is super simple, but I loved the way it was told.
Stockholm by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. At first I felt it was too dialogue heavy, in some ways trying to follow the vibe of Before Sunrise, but soon the story went in a different direction and it turned out to be a pretty good film. Not your typical romantic movie. I really like how this director takes topics that could very easily go wrong but saves them by giving them unexpected turns—that plus a very precise and smart use of the cinema language.
Taxi by Jafar Panahi. I discovered this director after watching Hit the Road by his son, Panah Panahi. I LOVED Taxi. You’d imagine that there’s not much going on when you read the synopsis: A taxi driver mounts a small camera on his dashboard in which the daily journey and the conversations of the people on board are recorded… but it truly is so much more than that. This film captures the human condition and it shows how little you need to create cinema. In some ways it reminded me of the work of Abbas Kiarostami.
The Whale by Darren Aronofsky. I was waiting for this one for months and was happy to finally watch it. I can see how Darren has shifted over the years from the big and spectacular to something smaller and perhaps more intimate and personal. Definitely worth the watch.
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