The Big Screen

The arts is such a vast and varied collection of creative activity and expression emanating from depths of the human mind. It is life captured and translated into different forms with the goal of charming and enthralling some, or provoking and inspiring others.

My first introduction to the arts was by way of crayons and coloring books. As a kid, I was enamoured by the fact that I could assign whatever shade I want to the shapes and forms drawn on pale white, sometimes drab gray, pages.

A little later after that, audible art found its way into my ears and became a staple art form in my life for years to come. Music soothed me, excited me, motivated me, consoled me, and accompanied me through the many seasons I have been through.

Much later still, I got into photography and discovered I had a knack for it. Taking pictures afforded me opportunities to capture what I considered interesting and attractive in life, and immortalize them in polaroids, photo paper, and pixels.

As I got much older, I delved into the performing arts via singing, songwriting, playing instruments, and dancing. At different times, I was able to gain a decent level of proficiency in and develop a love for each of these expressions.

In over four decades of learning about and gaining exposure to the arts, I have come to appreciate most of its appealing variants. They each bring their own peculiarity into my life to enrich and entertain, encourage and educate.

Of all the diverse forms of art I have come to encounter in my life, the one that I would say is my most favorite belongs to the visual category: cinema. "Often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it*", the art of cinema combines several forms of art into one. As a person who has a love for beauty, variety, and aesthetics, the amalgamation of visuals, sounds, writing, producing, and acting seen and heard in a movie is feast for the senses and for one's sensibilities.

Movies do not only rouse your eyes to fixate on stunning images displayed onscreen; they also show you places you've never been to or scenarios that could become possible. They give your ears sweeping symphonies to delight in, while intriguing it with the intricacies of sound design and effects. Scripts played out in motion pictures do not only attract your attention to the fine art of eloquent writing and storytelling; they also bring focus to the relatable realities of life in imaginative ways. And in some cases, when all the filmmaking stars are aligned, you get thespians who compellingly convey deep emotions and play out abstract concepts through the art of acting.

Films have been my medium of choice when it comes to taking a break from the routines of life, and when I desire to escape to some far away place or time. I have enjoyed cinema as an art form that utilizes several other art forms, and it continues to enrich, entertain, encourage, and educate me.

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*from wikipedia.org