Welcome to Film as Literature

Dear reader, 

As a student of English Language and Literature, I am regretful to share (and uniquely delighted, as well) that I read little in college.

Well, that's not exactly true.

I read books in order to finish them. Classes have deadlines, as they should, ones that cannot be avoided. I could see the words, I could pronounce them, I could generally understand their dictionary definitions.

I wish more people took on a degree in English. It really isn't just a reading and writing proficiency; it is a wonderful communications degree. That said, reading so much under importunate pressure was like firing blanks at bottles of Bud. It sounds fun, satisfying even, but it just doesn't quite work.

This is one reason I took to film. I had been positively infatuated since I was five or six. The possibilities brought by the magic of the Star Wars and the wonder of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson franchise taught me of the power of movie magic, and the humanity to be found in it. But what I had really been searching for was that reason of why I was so enveloped.

Along came Kurosawa, Fellini, Truffaut, Jarmusch - grandiose visionaries who challenged everything I know of the movies and about life. I wanted more to read, to write, because of all these new perspectives in filmmaking.

So when I did read, I read the likes of A.O. Scott, Michael Phillips, Matt Zoller-Seitz, Gene Siskel, and - more than anyone else - the late, great Roger Ebert. And I wrote as well, the speed and vivacity I was writing at hardly gave me time to notice that I was writing out my passion.

In my final years of college here in Oregon, two initially uncomfortable instances came about: first, that I was watching and thinking about FAR more films than I was ever about novels for class; and second, that what I was writing about and daydreaming about were the literary principles in film. Film has a plot, characters, conflict (most of the time), themes, motifs...the list goes on. 

So when you read this blog, it is my pleasure and my goal to be an entertainer and an educator. By viewing film as a piece of literature, we can discover a furthered appreciation for the art, and maybe better understand one another in our unique experiences and stories. I lean into films because of what they can show, not by what they can tell. And it compliments literature so, so well.

But more on that later.

I am a writer, avid filmgoer, forever student and hopeful teacher of...who knows what, yet. I also dabble greatly in film awards season mania (Oscars, Golden Globes, etc.), so be on the lookout. My name is Rory, and I would like to warmly welcome you to my blog, A Thousand Words A Frame. And to better, further welcome you, here is my favorite introduction from one of my all-time favorite films.