Here’s something I should be thinking about as I try and put some pictures I took into story format: “…correlated enough to create a pattern but chaotic enough to be interesting.”
That is what the Gilden Lab at UTexas Austin has to say about Fractal Structure and Attention. Their site was brought to my attention by an article, “Bringing New Understanding to the Director’s Cut,” in the Science Section of today’s (3.2.10) New York Times, written by Natalie Angier.
Apparently story telling in movies is getting so good it is approaching a ratio “1/f” (one over frequency) called pink noise which is an internal rhythm close to the human heartbeat. A sexy star, well paid gaffers, and an awesome DP (e.g. Harris Savides) can’t hurt when making a movie though, right?
The first time I encountered the idea of the heartbeat as a narrative was in Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart’s book “Drumming at the Edge of Magic: A Journey into the Spirit of Percussion.” When your in a band in your 20s there is a lot of spare time. I spent some of it reading the book, listening to his Diga Rhythm Band and, um, relaxing.
This is the killer sentence:
“If you’re sitting at a task, Dr. Cutting said, ‘sometimes you’re good at it, sometimes your mind wanders, sometimes you’re fast, sometimes you’re slow, and the oscillating patterns that occur are generally one over f.’”
Related mind wandering thoughts (is it possible I spend more time in that cycle than in the “good at,” or “fast” cycle):
–The next post should be “Pink Noise plus the Golden Section Equals.” With the answer my photos will slay.
–Gaia Theory, Interval Training, and the see saw… all related?
–Personal experience with pink noise: The ARP 2600.
–I thought “Back to the Future” was good because of the skateboarding and the Delorean.