How to Live - 5D3 short

[jcs]

We finished our first project with the 5D3.
Tagline: "What is the meaning of life?" Perhaps we should ask a different question.

http://youtu.be/BLbZ_nwm8-I

[b]Vimeo version with full HD download[/b]: [url=https://vimeo.com/44909002]https://vimeo.com/44909002[/url]

Lenses: 16-35 F2.8 II, 24-105 F4L, 70-200 F2.8L II.
FaderND gen 1.
Profiles: Faithful and CineStyle.
VO: Audio Technica 4029, Mogami cable, FocusRite Scarlett 2i2 (very low cost and ultra quiet!) into Reaper on OSX.
Edited in PPro CS6 on Win7x64, image stabilized and post sharpened.

[Axel]

Good shots.

The meaning of life is a topic well treated by Monty Python, who adress it in a way that may sound absurd, but merges the essences of many philosophers lifelong efforts: [i]It's nothing very special: Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.[/i]

It is also answered by the rabbis answer to the dentists riddle in the Coen brothers [i]A Serious Man[/i] (The dentist discovers an engraving in the teeth of a goi patient, in hebrew, that reads [i]HELP ME![/i]): [i]We must always help one another![/i]

Your film, with many references to Terrence Malicks [i]The Tree Of Life[/i], gives the "answer" for the self-involved average american, much in the way of a (film-quiz:) MindHead advertising (see the Scientology-like [i]The Secret[/i] clips). The title reminds me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j9aPApnxwE

[jcs]

Thanks Axel.

Monty Python's [i]The Meaning of Life[/i] is classically irreverent, as with all of their movies ([i]Holy Grai[/i]l & [i]Life of Brian[/i] are my favorites). They make fun of the question, as they should. Douglas Adams' [i]The Hitchhiker's Guide[/i] series wonderfully brings out the absurdity of life in civilization.

[i]The Tree of Life[/i] and [i]The Secret[/i] did not directly influence the script (heard [i]The Secret[/i] audio years ago, didn't see [i]The Tree of Life[/i] until after I wrote the script). After showing initial cuts of the movie to people, some recommended watching [i]Zeitgeist[/i] & [i]Thrive[/i]. I can see why folks make the reference, though [i]How to Live[/i] aims to simplify complex ideas into the simplest, easiest to remember forms possible.

Many religions and ancient philosophies hint at these ideas, but are much more complex and without the root concepts in math, science and iterative computation. That is, we can point at the universe and have common agreement regarding what the universe is doing: we can each observe, measure, and compare to what others said, and find agreement in perception. That is the basis of math and the scientific method. However, as stated in the beginning of [i]How to Live[/i], math (and science) cannot fully describe the universe. Problems exist beyond human logic and reasoning (proven by Gödel, who went insane). Zen philosophers figured this out over 1500 years ago: certain forms of knowledge can't even be put into words or language, let alone mathematics. In a heavily rule-based society, Zen provides a means of finding peace in a society that claims to be fair, just, ordered, and every person is treated equally, when in fact it is really unfair, highly chaotic, and people are not really equal. I found Zen very helpful when working for Newscorp/Fox/Myspace- the largest corporation I have worked in.

When studying Zen, Zen masters appear to say and do silly things to/with their students to help them break old patterns of thought. Thus it makes sense what Monty Python, Douglas Adams and other have to say about living in this universe.

The title of [i]How to Live[/i] was also inspired by Zen: it was the simplest, shortest title possible.

The next episode goes into more detail of the nature of the universe. Later episodes and interviews will discuss mind/body/nutrition. All of these concepts will relate back to the simple, two generative concepts of the first episode.