Week 8 -- Linguistics + the Visual World

I may be behind on these posts. I need to look at a schedule and see what week we are in for the semester.

I'll try to make this short, sweet, and to the point. I have plenty to do so there's no point in overstaying.

I just got my linguistics midterm back and I have come to the discovery that linguistics is well suited for film. Linguistics looks into the core concepts behind words, what visuals come out of those concepts, and the sounds used to convey a word, which holds a concept. I apologize for the muddy language here.

If at the core of words is concepts and visuals, then how much more can the world of film be improved by studying linguistics? Linguistics is like biology: it traces words, like fossils, down to their origin. Therefore, if we study words, we should be able to find more appealing visuals, and not only that, but how those visuals connect with other visuals (a symbol a director plants into a film may end up having more density than intended). I think one of the keys for good film making is finding how visuals can best tell stories. Sometimes in production, crew members and the like become distracted by movement in itself but forget how to make things connect in a compelling and or visceral way.

There was a section in my linguistics class on studying dreams. I for one am the type of dreamer who goes through series of abstract visuals from spinning staircases, giant fountains with roses, dragons at tea parties, and castle in clouds. There's no end to what may happen. It doesn't always make sense to me, but the dreams that actually stay with me, that I wish I could have again, are the ones with images that are beyond me. The purpose of dream linguistics is to look into how a language the conscious mind not be fluent on, but fluent in the subconscious, how this other language can be made accessible.

I think what I'm getting at is that film makers need to venture out to find more incredible graphics while also finding ways of breaking these images down for the audience to understand. Sometimes we are not in tune with the absurd, the beautiful, or the complex, and therefore, the art of writing strong visuals is to edit it together in a way that the eyes can read, the mind can enjoy, and the heart will keep for years to come.

Basically, my post here is to say that studying linguistics may be a fine tool indeed for any film student, film amateur, you get the point, to have on their list of talents.

*I struggle to write on the topic of linguistics clearly. I may need to look this post over in the future for fine tuning purposes.