Midnight Mulling - Green Screen
Midnight Mulling continues its look at building reality in 2016.
The Prelude:
If you watch television, what percentage of your screen real-estate is false? 0%? 10%? 15%? 80%? Depends on the scene. ("Real-estate" in this particular situation refers to visual square inches - 'true' and 'false' refer to actual things and imitation things.)
You could ask 'How do you know which parts are 'real?' But instead, ask yourself two questions: "How thick is the glass table in front of your favorite discussion panel; and how do they keep off the rings of moisture under the cold cans? Is evaporation outlawed by the rules of TV? Do elves wipe-away rings when the other camera is "on?"
Scene 1: Green Screen - a set of lyrics by jabney - 2016
I live in a GREEN SCREEN
Charcoal crayons define me
Twenty four grows to thirty
Frames for filling
Frames to drop
You live in the fifth row
One ticket for tearing
Two eyes for tears
One hand waiting
The other holds
For the concession
An ovation for your exit
For the scenery
For me
And the GREEN SCREENYou live in a GREEN SCREEN
I live in a GREEN SCREEN
Let's lunch on the atmosphere
They're watching my wasting
In front of believing
Breathe the air
Of the difference
We live in a GREEN SCREEN
Scene 2: An explanation of mid-level green-screen technology era 2016
A warning You will not be able to un-see the following link - at least for a while:
http://tips.newtek.com/get-better-green-screen-results-from-your-tricast...
Note: If you want to believe in the realness of reality TV, do not view this article.
The Postlude: Santa Claus, professional magicians, and the green-screen have one important thing in common: belief.
Comments
Hi jabney
ok, so help me understand you --- I'm sometimes slow to catch on to the meanings in poetry --- I really want to understand what you're saying here --- I didn't click on the link because I heeded your warning. I'm awake for another 30 minutes or so --- you still hanging out here?
Thanks
For the set of lyrics to be understood, the term, "green-screen" has to be familiar as well. And that means the belief in "Santa Claus" (in the case, the green-screen) has to go. View Scene 2 and you'll understand. And if not, multiple meanings are cool too.
best, john
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
Hi John
Sorry, got side tracked listening to music by Kid Cudi --- my first time hearing his music and powerful lyrics.
ok, so, in scene 1, freedom from the green screen --- there's a ticket that I can take to be free --- free to be alive on the living action stage --- no screen to look at --- no framed box --- a standing ovation awaits to cheer my release --- I no longer believe in Santa Claus and I no longer watch TV --- but I live in a world where so many are still trapped in the green screen....
Am I on the right track? Yes --- I remember the disillusionment of losing Santa Claus when I was a little girl --- lol a real fuckin downer
John, thanks so much for helping me see your meaning --- I'm still trying to work up the nerve to click on that green screen --- but, there is a part of me that doesn't want to go there because I am free of that fake ass "reality" world and I never want to go there again! I do miss Santa Claus sometimes --- that innocent, childish belief that seemed to fill-up my heart.
Goodnight/morning --- until next time my friend --- Lori
Lyrics vs. poetry
For my lyrics there are often characters. "You" and "I" or "He" and "She" for example. Drama, in other words, (and it's very easy to find: watch some television ads, you can have lots of fun analyzing TV ads - Heroine, Villain, supporting cast - in 30 seconds). Or melodrama.
In other words - the story.
(A set of lyrics does not have to be a story. For example, the list. Easy, right? I disagree. The list starts out easy, but finishing a list song? Not so easy. And Oscar Hammerstein II made it look so simple. Sadist --grin--)
An efficient way to start analyzing a verse or a chorus, is to find the Singer and the Singee. The major element - for me - is the Line. (Numbering the lines in pencil might be useful to some analyzers - but you may want to erase the numbers later.) Then, you match the singer with the lines about the singer - in other words: Me.
Here is a fragment written for this reply, (jabney 3-31-16):
So if you look at the lines, which are about the Singer and which are about the Singee? And which lines are unclear? Would additional editing alter the designations? Would another verse make things clearer, or would another verse make things more muddy?
Pre-editing work can be disappointing. That's one of the reasons "Midnight Mulling" is a comfortable time slot: stumbling in front of a small audience has its advantages. The alternative path is to edit, then edit again, then do some more editing. Both paths have their fans.
best, john
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
Simply beautiful!
John, you are truly talented! Thank you for sharing your creative ideas. I am less than a novice. I feel totally inadequate to discuss poetry or the creation of poetry. It has been years since I've written poetry.
I look forward to what I'll learn from you my poetic friend
Lori
That is very kind
Thanks.
Now, class time: which line or lines in "April" is/are completely about the singer (the "me" making the squawk noises)? And remember, April is not the singer.
best, john
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
ok, let me see
Answers to lesson one: Lines completely about the singer (you) are 1,2,5, --- I'm struggling with the chorus --- I'm getting stuck on "completely".
Thanks for the lesson --- good exercise for my concentration.
Your words "April says "Goodbye Winter" remind me of a poem I wrote for English 102 in undergrad .... "Winter stay a while longer...enfold me in your solace embrace" --- I can't remember all of it --- I'll dig it out of my file cabinet tomorrow.
Gotta go to sleep now --- have to arise at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow ugh
Sweet dreams my friend,
Lori