As someone who is involved in the process of putting a documentary together (yes, I still am, and yes, it’s taking a bloody long time), I think a lot about the bits and pieces that make a film a film. You know, the small stuff like story, style, narrative, composition, and framing. I think about what music to use under what shots, what shots should come before or after other shots, how to make a sequence out of a group of shots, and how to put sequences together to make up an act.

Sometimes I wonder how filmmakers (or reviewers, even) can sit back and just enjoy a film if they are so aware of how films are made. One might think that a deep knowledge of craft could pull one’s attention from the film as an entity unto itself and draw it towards the minutiae of the process.

This evening I did a little experiment. Not intentionally; it just sort of happened. I was given a free movie pass at work today (always a good thing), and, in a flurry of spontaneity, I decided I would also use it today. Before leaving work, I checked the Empire Theatres website to see what was playing downtown. There wasn’t much I wanted to see, but I was mildy interested in Contagion, as I had seen the previews and thought that a big-budget, big-cast, high-stakes thrill ride was just what I needed after a day at the office. So off I went, stopping at Starbucks for a chai latté along the way, low expectations in hand. (more…)