"The genius of the movie business is that the only thing the purchaser gets is a memory."

I am babysitting, and reading timeout. There was an interview with David Fincher about his new film "The Social Network", about Facebook. I just thought he said some interesting things, like

" The first scenes in a movie should teach the audience how to watch it."

And later in the interview, David Jenkins (interviewer) asks Fincher
This is your most talky film. As a director known for your distinctive visual sense, did you have as much fun sculpting words and performances?
Fincher replies-
"There are two things i'm responsible for. One is whether or not i'm presenting believable behaviour, which is totally subjective. The other thing is camera position: from where am I going to see this person? People think of directing as the Big Circus:yes, 90 per cent of directing is getting the money and getting the right equipment and the right people and departments to create the right feeling out of the right context. In film, we sculpt time, we sculpt behaviour and we sculpt light. Audiences only get to see what we show them at that moment, I control everything they hear and see. I'm hoping that these elements will translate into feeling. It was Louis B Mayer who said, " The genius of the movie business is that the only thing a purchaser gets is a memory." That's what directing is. "


I think all these things are very true.  To tenuously link this thought to our current cabaret project, I think it's relevant to remember that we are presenting a visual image in our performance, and that people just take away a visual memory. How can we make that coherent and strong?