Aurel's laurels

We just got a new High Definition TV. I think, as everyone gets it, it is going to change the media of what we see. Already we can see wrinkles, spots, skin blemishes and too much makeup that we did not notice before. Why is Brad Pitt wearing pancake and lip gloss to be interviewed? Gosh, I did not realise our familiar news reader was so old. On the other hand these men against, (or with), the forces of nature let us into their very selves, as we see them distinctly, warts, sweat and all. But the big change is going to be movies on TV. We watched one of our favourite films, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?". So I had seen it before, maybe more than once, soon after it came out and we are very familiar with the music, which we often play on a CD. Nevertheless, I could not stop seeing the mechanics of each scene, the sets, the lighting, now the camera was tracking, now the actors had just been waiting for the directors to call "Action!". It did not take away from my enjoyment of the film, but I was not involved in the story. I still laughed and cried, but I knew I was watching a produced product, I was no longer immersed in the story. Some films have already caught up. Slumdog Millionaire was, I gather, shot in Digital HD with shots from photographic still cameras added. They took over three months to edit it and the result is quite unlike any other film I have ever seen. There is almost an assault of words, pictures and music, which give me a fuller picture not only of the story, which is quite simple, but also a running documentary on life in India. Rather than too little audiovisual, there is often too much, so that I am forced to open my eyes and ears wider and, at times, determine that I will catch something half missed on a later viewing. On TV only 30 Rock has found a similar enthusiasm from me.