Cinema as Memory, You will never forget a great film
Cinema is the ideal medium to get people to listen to your messages and not forget them. Although a lot of modern films are all about special effects and Hollywood stars a few seep out of the cracks that really stick you to your seat and implant in your mind. A few films come to mind when I think about this subject, for instance Schindler’s list. Never have I left a film feeling so unearthed about my lifestyle and it is these films that truly have the power to change people. However even in Hollywood these sorts of films can emerge from unexpected places. My main example of this is Seven Pounds by Gabriele Muccino. After watching this film I couldn’t forget about it, even though it doesn’t have a huge political message it still had the power to move me. It helped to remind me that even in this corrupt world where everyone is out for themselves a few individuals still have humanity and compassion. All this entwined with the beautiful score made me tell all my friends about it and pass the film on. Now I know that its not as epic as some such films like ‘The Pianist’ but it just goes to show that film, however it is distributed, has the power to make you remember about the plight, message or just heartache that some people endure and that’s enough for me.
Radio as Memory
Radio has the disadvantage of only being audio, however when it comes to getting you to remember things, I believe that radio has the upper hand. It seems that I can remember a lot of radio frequencies by singing their station ID jingle; 95.8…capital FM! I find myself walking around singing little songs that they have made up during the broadcast and I haven’t ever done that with a TV show, not even the title music really. Chris Moyles is the pioneer in this field, he frequently parodies songs that are in the chart and even creates his own songs and realises them in the chart. The most notable one these past few months is ‘Nana Window’ I couldn’t get that song out of my head for days, its on YouTube and listeners remixed it and they broadcast them on air. They were inundated with texts about how they couldn’t stop singing this song. It shows how powerful a radio show can be with a large enough audience.
Banksy as Memory
‘People either love me or hate me or they don’t really care’.I can’t imagine anyone who has walked past a Banksy painting in London or Bristol and not told their friends about it the next day. Banksy uses images that stay in your mind along with the message that he is trying to get across and has worked as a very effective method so far. Banksy uses these images below as very powerfull truths that people try to ignore, whilst these companies are making millions people are still starving, and whilst they try to hide it, Banksy puts it in their faces just as they put their products in our faces. Touché.
