Commentary

Sep 25, 2011 06:26

As it's evolving on the NetCommentary on art forms (fiction) has been around for a long time. One of the things that delighted me about Chinese novels when I first discovered them was that people added their commentary into the text when copying them. In Western Europe, with the evolution of print, we didn't go that way--commentary developed in ( Read more... )

commentary, tv, books, film, discussion

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Comments 24

laetificat September 25 2011, 15:56:28 UTC
I absolutely love commentaries and interviews where actors and others who work in Hollywood enthuse over everyone and anyone they've ever worked with, call every single set they've been on "a family," blah de blah. Certainly a set is a workplace, and certainly everyone has horrible/crazy workplace stories... I always wonder who's telling the truth and who is just lying through their teeth so they'll continue to work. :)

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sartorias September 25 2011, 16:01:42 UTC
Heh!

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rachelmanija September 25 2011, 17:20:35 UTC
I love Sharpe! Do you own the Rifleman Harris commentary discs?

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sartorias September 25 2011, 17:25:37 UTC
Yes I do! Help yourself next time we get together!

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rachelmanija September 25 2011, 17:26:06 UTC
I shall, thank you!

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marycatelli September 25 2011, 19:44:39 UTC
People did comment on books when copying them in Europe. And even in the margins after they were printed. C. S. Lewis once got his hands on a book owned by a famous critic. He had commented on the first pages of all the stories, but no more.

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sartorias September 25 2011, 20:00:13 UTC
Yes--though I think marginalia is different. But I bet there is probably more commentary pre-print.

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sarahtales September 25 2011, 20:10:20 UTC
Oh commentarying. I do think it's fascinating to see writers talking about their work (and the makers of movie-and-TV-shows too, but I am such a verbal girl). Something like finding Diana Wynne Jones talking about how she found it difficult to write a girl protagonist, and how she was inspired to do so, is both fascinating and inspiring (if Diana Wynne Jones had trouble sometimes, then things are not so desperate ( ... )

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sartorias September 25 2011, 20:18:19 UTC
LOL! Yes. (And to the writer who went on at length in an interview about their own genius, my thought was, I have this cloth here that is so very fine that ordinary mortals cannot see it . . .)

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filkferengi October 3 2011, 14:37:50 UTC
Was the Diana Wynne Jones comment on-line, or in one of her books?

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sarahtales October 17 2011, 14:38:56 UTC
Online, but damned if I bookmarked it...

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fiveandfour September 25 2011, 21:41:14 UTC
I agree that many creators seem to have difficulty in realizing that the reasons people have an interest in commentary aren't related to being sold on the work. I think in some cases it's not so much that the sales pitch is necessarily what they want to do, but more that they have no idea what to do instead ( ... )

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fiveandfour September 25 2011, 21:51:12 UTC
And, oh heck, I'll admit it: I'm also hopelessly drawn to DVD commentaries on comedies because they are a lot of fun to experience. The people doing them are generally in high spirits with a good camaraderie, and hearing some of the antics that happened while things were in production can be damned funny. Interestingly, you also seem to get a lot more detail about the creative process with comedies than with other film types. I take it as proof of what people say about making things that are funny is harder than making things that are touching and that there's more work involved in making something humorous than most people appreciate.

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sartorias September 25 2011, 22:18:32 UTC
I hadn't thought about that, but it's true!

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sartorias September 25 2011, 22:20:21 UTC
Good questions, and no easy answer, at least that I see.

But yeah--it seems we have a lot of similar reactions to commentary.

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