as soothing as the sight of clouds and the scent of the stiff cold air can be for today, i take time to reflect on the images i like the most out of favorite films and music videos. these certain pictures are iconic to me because they inspire my muse and get me going in the direction of the writing i want to achieve.
i loved this scene, even before i saw the movie. i knew what the movie was about, but seeing this still i knew somehow i'd be drawn to this movie. paper lanterns, string of lights, a rooftop looking out to a magnificent and familiar skyline-- and a couple that looks into each others eyes like that's enough of the world that they need. it's so dreamy, all of it. little did i know this scene technically doesn't exist in the film (going to spoil if you haven't seen it because YOU SHOULD see it), that this was an expectation Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character Tom had versus the bleak reality of being alone at Summer/Zooey Deschanel's party. no wonder it seemed to fantastic and ethereal, because that's how Tom would have liked to have it. but of course, it's a story about love, not a love story! you don't always get what you want with love in the end, especially with the real world.
but with this photo i just like to forget about the real world and focus on their chemistry of the two lovers, on the scene that just seems perfect for a kiss in a matter of seconds after this shot.
from the end of Amelie, Hipolito is published
oh gosh. as a writer i can deeply relate to this quick scene at the end of the lovable quirky French film classic. Hipolito frequents the café Amelie works at, writing and despairing over his writing, because no one will publish his work. a hopeless romantic, he wins at the end. Amelie goes out of her way to do good for the people around her; this act was the least she could do for the poor writer to feel like someone rich. as a writer, who wouldn't want to have their work quoted in public for all to see? it's considerably only the best and most famous writers or philosophers or activists who get this special commencement. and to see that a virtually invisible person like Hipolito can be seen, it's reassuring. it's not just for the happy ending for him that i enjoy this shot, but because of the personal encouragement it gives me as well.
of course this scene. who doesn't love this scene, what girl doesn't! it's romantic, offbeat, and totally not how Truman Capote's novel ended. but still! it's 60's cinematic fantastic, i say; a typical romantic, mainstream ending for the masses who love Audrey Hepburn. and i adore George Peppard as "Fred." it's a still that says so much: the always glamorous and carefree Holly Holightly is now careless of her clothes and the life she's always been wanting, independent and uncaged. now she searches for Cat and accepts the love she has for Paul; despite the rain and dismal setting of a gritty sketch New York alleyway and being underdressed nothing else matters, except for Paul and Cat. i can't help being drawn to scenes of people ignoring their surroundings, their outer world. it doesn't even have to be into someone else's eyes, just thinking about someone staring out blankly is captivating. it tells the viewer that something's going on, inside their mind. something more important than the zillion things in motion around their tiny self.
"Lindsey Wells," B side of Franz Ferdinand
it's like an ode, this song, and it just has a zest and Scottish jolliness to it that i'm sure i'd hear in a pub in Glasgow somewhere. at the center of the music video for this is a girl, a young perky soul wandering the streets in search of something, anything, whatever. on the swings, kickin' it with a swan, rambling through a graveyard and mocking storefront models get her going. it's all too weird. but i do like weird. as the song says, "i wish that i could feel be so good as you." the cherry on top to this video is the 60's feel of the song and story by the black and white filming and Lindsey's simple but sleek classic clothing (à la Holly Golightly!) what i want to be, what i feel i am sometimes, but then again i'm not in Glasgow, i'm in San Francsico. nonetheless, always looking for adventure.
always a classic, steady little song for an evening in or driving along a highway, in my opinion. watching this video i know the streets, the familiar architecture, and the Powell BART station for crying out loud. this is all on location in San Francisco. YES. and because of that, i really like how Billie Joe, Tre, and Mike casually walk along the boulevards as the song plays and the story unfolds (portmanteau in that people look out to neighbors living their lives who in turn look out to reveal a chain of events across the City). i love the city life, and i love how a main essence of urban lifestyle is the vastness and diversity of people, humanity, within the city limits. as all of these events are happening, Green Day moves on, seemingly like they're aware of these lives but focusing on just walking on with their own, knowing they too are a part of everything around them.
Alison Mosshart's sultry singing of "Black Balloon"
i'm not crazy about the whole vampire mania, but this song is sooo good. it's slow and seductive, but sings of something despairing as well, which makes the music video a good blend with the song. Alison Mosshart randomly becomes a vampire at the end, and kills Jamie Hince. this shot of her fangs and stained lips close to a blood-drenched mic is just so strange, and admittedly, sexy!
whether it's lowering blood pressure or pumping me up for some serious creativity, images like these work.
(images via google)
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