I love group analysis. I learn so much more when topics are tossed around and massaged.
On the issue of the eye dominating, I’m doing that. I could do it the other way and force you to the music, but that’s not what I’m after. For 34 years I’ve been making these and I think it’s the fact that I’m working with the beat and am choosing visuals based on the sound that keeps you in the visual over the music. I’m telling a story, and you’re paying attention to the story. The music sets the mood for the story. I was actually taught to hear the stories by a nun in high school, though I’m sure she had no idea how I’d eventually use her teaching.
My mother was an art major at U of Chicago before I went there, and she had a total recall of the jokes her professors told. She was my hero. So I tend to think of knowledge as flowing smoothly through the years, always there when you need it. I was a physics major for 3 1/2 years, then took Shroedinger Equations and ran screaming down the street. Mother insisted I stay in school and wanted me to switch to her major, but I didn’t have her talent so went for Art History and took an extra year to graduate. They wouldn’t take my Russian, so had to take a year of French. I have NO ear for human languages, so the teachers always cringed when I recited. Thank goodness Chicago was a research school and they really just wanted you to read. It’s just wonderful to be rolling over in the topic again.
Yeah, I think story is key. I am a retired rock musician with a background in history and philosophy from the U of T. I’ve also just graduated with a Masters in Theology — so I’m all over the map. I appreciate good stories and have tried to combine story with music. I wrote a mini musical/opera called “Judas Iscariot.” Here’s a quick synopsis: Jesus dies a horrible death on the Cross, goes to Hell (Apostles Creed) and can’t remember who he is. He meets Judas in Hell who helps him remember that he is not just a man but the Messiah, the Savoir. Judas is actually a good guy who betrayed Jesus — not for the money – but because he loved Mary Magdalene. Mary only had eyes for Jesus... so it’s a love triangle. There are flashbacks to the earth and Jesus eventually regains his memory with Judas’ help. Jesus forgives Judas and they both ascend from Hell (a happy ending).
So far I haven’t been successful getting the musical off the ground but it is still a worthwhile accomplishment. The visual in this musical would be a spectacle. I can’t think of any opera or musical with Hell as the setting. A set designer would have a field day.
Speaking of Chicago, I actually went there to see the U of C campus after reading Allan Bloom’s book “The Closing of the American Mind.” He studied with Leo Strauss and was quite taken with the Gothic architecture. The campus is also close to a Buddy Guy’s blues club “Legends,” but the area is run down and dangerous. What a visual contrast!