Sarsential 17: Center of Gravtity [ Identity ]

"The creation of any modern nation state is characterised by the elaboration of an official history, a legendary narrative produced for purposes of unification, an ideological construct that glorifies a more or less imaginary ethnic group and encourages the rejection of any kind of otherness, regarded as inferior, indeed contemptible. Given that no-one escapes such cultural tensions [...] our intention is not to stigmatise these artefacts of identity, but rather to minimise them, in order to highlight the multicultural and multiconfessional profusion [...]"

French qānūn performer and conducter Julien Jalaleddin Weiss, in accompanying booklet to double CD recording of 'Ensemble Al Kindi Perfums Ottomans',first published in France by Zamzama Productions, Paris, 2006

"Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian military theorist who thought of the center of gravity as a focal point,  the one element within a combatant's entire structure or system that has the necessary centripetal force to hold that structure together: "The CoGs of Alexander the Great, Gustavus Adolphus, Charles XII of Sweden, and Frederick the Great, for instance, resided in their respective armies. In different circumstances, the personalities of key leaders, a state’s capital, or its network of allies and their community of interest might serve as CoGs. What all of these various elements have in common is not that they are sources of power, but that they perform a centripetal or centralizing function that holds power systems together and, in some cases, even gives them purpose and direction. Strictly speaking, an armed force is not a “source” of power. Rather, it serves as a focal point that draws and organizes power from a variety of sources: a population base (recruits); an industrial base (weapons and materiel); and an agricultural base (foodstuffs). The same holds true for the personalities of key leaders, state capitals, or alliance networks. These things draw raw power from different sources and refine, organize, and redirect it."

Read and download 'Clausewitz's Center of Gravity' on the Strategic Studies Institute website: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/Pubs/display.cfm?pubID=363

Ensemble Al Kindi website: http://www.alkindi.org/

Link to original post with 3 pictures: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/41-muiderslot

Above: PGIA 22K SAR BLMTT. Sarsential 13: mission [ get your stuff together, unite ]

"Zoals alle geniale dingen bleek de geheime succesformule uiteindelijk heel erg simpel te zijn. Net als E=MC². [...] De geheime succesformule ziet er als volgt uit: H + Pr = P5. Dat is de hele formule. Dat is al honderd jaar het geheim van Hollywood. [...] H staat voor Hoofdpersoon, Pr staat voor Probleem en P5 staat voor Plan 5. [...] De Hoofdpersoon kan pas zijn Probleem oplossen met zijn Vijfde Plan. [...] Het Probleem van de Hoofdpersoon is de tegengestelde Kracht, die hij pas met zijn Vijfde Plan kan oplossen."

("Like all great things, the secret formula for success turned out to be, like E = MC², very simple [...] The secret success formula looks like this: P + Pr = P5. That's the whole formula. That is for hundred years the secret of Hollywood. [...] P stands for Protagonist, Pr stands for Problem and P5 stands for Plan 5. [...] The main character can only solve his problem with his Fifth Plan. [... ] The Protagonist's main Problem is to solve the opposing Force situation [ antagonist ], for which he needs his Fifth Plan.")

From Dutch book 'Het Geheim van Hollywood, de gouden succesformule voor schrijvers, acteurs, regisseurs en alle andere filmliefhebbers', by Dutch producer, director and author Paul Ruven, with Marian Batavier, page 11 - 13, first published in The Netherlands by Theatrebookshop, Amsterdam, 2007 (1)

"The invocation of psychopathy to validate the good-versus-evil narrative and all that comes along with it […] is misleading. [P] ower in a complex society arises from story: from the system of agreements and narratives that scaffold our world. Our current story facilitates the rise of psychopathy and empowers the psychopath. [I] t is story, and not force, that ultimately empowers those in power, it is on the level of story, and not force, that we must act in order to take away their power and change the system. That is why advocating force as the primary instrument of change is counterproductive -- it reinforces the very same Story of Separation that is at the root of our condition to begin with. One facet of it is the story of the good people finally rising up to topple the bad people."

Charles Eisenstein, on page 183 of 'The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible',published by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 2013

Charles Eisenstein's website: http://charleseisenstein.net/

Paul Ruven website: http://paulruven.nl/ 

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(1)  (It figures that) all screenplay teaching books, seminars and the likes are full of wit, completely interesting, yet incredibly useless [ i.e.: being too loud, noisy, vulgair, dishonest, cynical, greedy, dangerous, unpleasant, corporate-approved, loveless ] for storytellers who do not repeat the same thing over and over again. Useful guidelines could come from working writers, such as from writer/director Louis Malle: [ what is story? ] [ answer: ] An attempted quest for unity of the characters: "The central story [ of Au Revoir Les Enfants ] is the arrival of this new boy and how he and Julien become friends." [ what is at the core of story? ]  [answer: ] What is at the core of everything -- which breaks it all up. [ What is an effective structure? ] [ answer: ] Structure is how reality affects story: "When I examined what the structure  [ of Au Revoir Les Enfants ]  should be, I thought it was important, little by little, to see the war breaking in." From: 'Malle on Malle', edited by Philip French, first published in 1993 by Faber and Faber Limited, London. Other sources might include  Jean-Claude Carriere: ‘Does what I’m writing have any appeal, any value, any interest for the audience?': http://www.webofstories.com/play/jc.carriere/69;jsessionid=76FC291F95B079E22FFFC4553E103E3B, Quentin Tarantino "... on Writing a Script" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5NI7kN7P3o, Robert McKee, screenplay-book-author and writing-class-teacher: "All screenwriting books are bullshit. All. Watch movies. Read screenplays. Let them be your guide. [...] The so-called screenwriting guru is really the so-called screenwriting con man. Don’t listen to them, if you don't know their movies. […] If you love and want to make movies about issues of social import, get your hands on Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay for Network.", Six Second Screenwriting Advice and Why All Screenwriting Books are a Con:  http://www.indiewire.com/article/six-second-screenwriting-advice-and-why-all-screenwriting-books-are-a-con  

A new story comes into existence trough a miraculous unity of people. Structure more often than not seems to be present, but not in words (more like a 'backlight', surrounding and shining trough the words). Maybe as an idea, something to trust upon, an instinct. It works counter-intuitive and destructive to apply a structure from a book. Creation is finding and using its miraculous working-power-driving-force while creating the story -- over and over again, from scratch, with a beginners mind. Eventually it is not the preconceived knowledge and application of structure, but the doing-it, that leads to the living and creation of new stories: "When you put your paintbrush on the canvas, you don’t know exactly what you are going to do. You have an idea, you have an inkling, but it is only when you’re actually present, in front of it, when you start to get an idea of exactly what you are going to do, or maybe not even then, and then the structure or the form takes over." (from: The Finger and the Eye, A conversation between Steve McQueen and Marlene Dumas, 2006).

See also: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/123-sar-epilogue