While we wait for Darren Aronofsky to announce his next feature project, the below clip is as good a placeholder as any. The filmmaker recently participated alongside psychologist and neuroscientist Jeffrey M. Zacks at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences event "Movies in Your Brain: The Science of Cinematic Perception." And as you might expect, the discussion from the event contained in the clip is fascinating.
The filmmaker talks at length about the "pan-cultural" connection between myth and storytelling, while Zacks details how humans in general conceive and relate to narrative. It’s part of a broader discussion of how movies impact the brain, our perception of events, and what that means for a director. And as the clip closes, Aronofsky shares his views on the general value of tragedy in storytelling, a powerful quality he feels has been slowly wiped away by Hollywood’s desire for happy endings. Watch below.
Totally OT: he looks like Steve Jobs
@ DANIEL. I AGREE. NO PANELIST DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN 'STORY' & 'MYTH' NOR DEFINES EITHER. FAPPY. FROM THE DISCIPLINE OF ANTHROPOLOGY, I'VE LEARNED THAT WHILE ALL MYTHS ARE STORIES, NOT ALL STORIES ARE MYTHS. MR. ARONOFSKY, I'D SURE LIKE TO KNOW WHAT OBJECTIVE & SUBJECTIVE CAMERA ANGLES, ETC., HAVE TO DO WITH EITHER. THOUGHTS?
Boring.
Certainly didn't have much of value to say. Not one of them.