A Weekend of Consuming Art

What a relaxing 3-day weekend away from work, away from people and away from pressure!

This weekend I focused on finishing and editing my feature for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. This allowed me time to relax, read, write and drink way more coffee than I normally do. But, in my free time, I found myself either working out or consuming other people’s art.

Of interest to me this weekend were:

entergalactic (2022)

Entergalactic is an adult-animated, musical rom-com with a hint of drama. It’s a beautiful and very real story of love in the messiness that can be New York streets. Kid Cudi creates the perfect album for this visually vibrant adventure that I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed.

Not to mention the fact that the cast included: Kid Cudi, Jessica Williams, Timothee Chalamet (who I am currently obsessed with), Laura Harrier, Jaden Smith and many more.

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Again, I have to say that Timothee Chalamet is an actor ahead of his time at any time that you’re reading this! He is insanely talented and that is a huge reason why I was captivated by this movie. His mannerisms, how odd he was and how he emotes was to true to his angsty and yet confused character. This is the story of unexpected love and the beautiful, and difficulties, that come with it.

Controversy aside, I truly liked this movie and that it was a piece of art worth viewing.

Creatively

Creatively, I was in peak-feature mode which meant that I was submerged in the world that I was writing for my feature film. Because I happened to be writing a Rom-Com myself, watching these two movies that had similarly strong connections was so helpful because I was able to listen to what the characters were saying as well as look at the emotions conveyed to get ideas of what works on-screen and what just works on paper.

Another thing that’s always so valuable for me to watch on screen is a character’s story arc as well as their development. Understanding where a character begins, how they interact with the world, how they interact with other supporting characters, and how they navigate their issues is so important to building the characters that an audience can relate to. Seeing Elio in Call Me By Your Name grow into what he was experiencing was helpful to me in allowing for my character to grow out of what she was experiencing that simply wasn’t working for her.

Myself, along with so many others say, “the best way to create art is to first consume art”.

I can truly say that I enjoyed my long weekend taking in creative pieces that are new to me and wish that this long weekend didn’t have to end!