SAR_sarsential™_toolbox_x

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Above: SAR¹ 30KMS BLMT² midpoint [ x ] training. Sarsential x: the Kambei-Point of View [ midpoint in the narrative; redirecting negativism towards reasonability and decisiveness, from an empathic POV ].

"The waterwheel makes its regular noise throughout the scene, emphasising the pauses." -- Akira Kurosawa in 'Seven Samurai' shooting script.

Midpoint: the Samurai squad-leader Kambei-character -- performed by actor Takashi Shimura in 'Seven Samurai' (1954) -- moment. The moment where the character shuts-down negativety ("I know how you feel, but you have to. We can't defend these outlying farms."), previsualize's victory (battleplan) and starts building it! Eye's off the self now, eye's on the team-effort!

In the midpoint scene in the film, the Samurai-squad-members share their strategy for dealing with the bandits and protect the village and the inhabitants. The villagers respond reluctant, negative, scared, hysteric. It seems negativism is hysteria in the making! At midpoint x, it is removed and replaced by a positive attitude, radiating decisiveness. 

From the original shooting-script, page 137:

Close-up of GISAKU in the wind mill with a women behind him looking worried. They both look towards something off-screen. The woman puts a hand on the old man's shoulder with a cry of distress.
Medium close-up of MOSUKE with GOROBEI just in shot beside him.
He looks at GOROBEI fearfully. Other farmers are gathered behind him, open-mouthed with amazement.

MOSUKE: You mean I have to leave my place?
(Close-up of GISAKU, with his son and his son's wife, just behind him, frowning worriedly. The son stands up but his wife pulls him down, looking away nervously.
Medium shot of GISAKU sitting in the middle of the room with KAMBEI , his son and his wife behind him and GOROBEI and MANZO beside him. KAMBEI is holding a small child in his arms. Tilt up with him as he stands up, still holding the child. He paces backwards and forewords in the foreground, back to camera. The waterwheel makes its regular noise throughout the scene, emphasising the pauses.)

KAMBEI: I know how you feel, but you have to. We can't defend these outlying farms.
(KAMBEI continues to pace about. Suddenly the wife bursts into tears.)

From: Seven Samurai and Other Screenplays by Akira Kurosawa, collection first published in 1992 by Faber and Faber Limited, London.

More on "x": http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/123-sar-epilogue

More on Akira Kurosawa: http://bartvanbroekhoven.com/en-US/running/97-sar-7-along-the-way

¹ Strategic Alert Running

² Best Level Mixed Terrain

Action

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Kennemer Dunes 360° today. Preparation [ depth, focus, trust, unity ]

Min/max temperature: 4°C/15°C; humidity: 72%; precipitation: 0 mm; sea level pressure: 1018 hPa; wind from ESE 4.9 km/h; visibility: 24.0 kilometres; Clouds: Overcast 4500m.

"[ LM: ] Do you think the formula for a good picture is preparation?
[ Hall: ] Yes, I think it definitely is. All the ones that look unprepared were usually prepared the hell out. It's very difficult to get an "unprepared" picture that works by going unprepared."

Conrad Hall as quoted by Leonard Maltin in 'The Art of the Cinematographer, A Survey and Interviews with Five Masters', page 126, first published in 1971 by Dover Publications, Inc. New York 

"A […] sculptor looks into a quarry for lump of marble. He selects a particular specimen because what he wants to sculp is […] 'already inside'. It only has to be freed. In [ Taoism ], the metaphor of the 'Uncarved Block' is used […] to denote the True or Original nature. In this state, nothing has yet been done to manipulate, change or improve the block; 'it' is already present. This means that whatever is done to it will only result in a blurring of the original, leading us away from what is also called 'The Source'. […] Charlotte Selver […] writes: "The sensations from within are like stars, which only appear when the artificial lights are turned off. When there is quiet enough, they can be very precise." [ It ] is not to be identified with physical stillness. Selver's 'artificial lights' don't necessarily connote external stimuli. [The ] readiness manifests itself in clinging neither to silence nor turmoil; it can be present, so to speak, in the midst of battle. It is a prerequisite for timing, and thus, in The Way of the Samurai, for winning. […] According to Selver […] as soon as more readiness, more openness for what is happening develops, we find that the first thing in which we can recognise this increased openness is our breathing. […] "When the heart is touched, when the inner is touched, when we really allow something to -- as we say so nicely -- touch us, then something in ourselves opens, becomes awake and interested, and simply makes us breathe. We don't make ourselves do it. It makes itself felt." A person's liveness is directly proportional to the degree to which the person is awake, alert and connected to the environment."

Michael M. Tophoff in 'Chan Buddhism: Implications of Awareness and Mindfulness-training for Managerial Functioning', page 27, 28 203, 204, 205, 209, first published in 2003 by Michael M. Tophoff, The Netherlands

"Michelangelo once remarked that one test of good sculpture was roll it downhill, and whatever broke off would be nonessential."

Nathaniel Kaz in 'The Art of the Artist', page 172, first published in 1951 by Crown Publishers, Inc., New York

"For whether we are content with our illusions or frightened by them, we are equally possesed by them, and hence the non-attachment of Buddhism and Taoism means not running away from life but running with it, for freedom comes trough complete acceptance of reality. Those who wish to keep their illusions do not move at all; those who fear them run backwards into greater illusions, while those who conquer them, 'Walk on' […] 'Walk on!' for we can only understand life by keeping pace with it, by a complete affirmation and acceptance of its magic-like transformations and unending changes. By this acceptance the Zen disciple is filled with […] wonder, for everything is perpetually becoming new. The beginning of the universe is now, for all things are at this moment being created, and the end of the universes is now, for all things are at this moment passing away."

Alan W. Watts as quoted by Yasuo Kuniyoshi in 'The Art of the Artist', page 97, 98, first published in 1951 by Crown Publishers, Inc., New York

SAR_6

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Above: Footprint after 32K SAR-training. Clear-, refreshing-, sunny-, with playful-tide-, friendly wind and general-summer-atmosphere on beach and in dunes.

SAR_13_along_the_way

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Above: FP 30K SAR BL training. Start it, do it, consolidate it.

“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist, moving an audience…making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark.” Gordon Willis on Jon Fauer's 'Film and Digital Times'

"I’m Gordon Willis. I’m a Director of Photography." Gordon Willis, ASC

"The largest grip/electric truck the world has ever seen backed down Mr. Willis’ precariously steep driveway. One slip of the brakes, and his very large, beautiful  house would be toothpicks. Gordon was watching, looking amused. “What’s with all this stuff?” he asked. Ken Perham,  gaffer, explained that he was under strict orders from Tibor not to scratch, blemish or scrape anything,hence lighting with big HMI PARs from outside, with no heavy metallic feet  touching the inside of the house. “Too complicated,” said Gordon. “Just bring in one Kinoflo.” So, one 4-bank 4-foot daylight Kinoflo it was. After it was all over, Gordon asked the electric crew to turn the light off. “Aha,” he said, “that’s better, isn’t it—no light at all.”" Jon Fauer in 'Remembering Gordon Willis, ASC'

" […] media violence is causing its citizens to accept violence as a viable alternative. Governments around the globe, try as they might, have not been able to [ protect ] citizens [ from media violence ]. And they will never truly be able to control violent crime unless they stop infecting their children. One common response to any concern about media violence is, "We have adequate controls. They are called the 'off switch'. If you don't like it, just turn it off." Unfortunately, this is a tragically inadequate response to the problem. In today's society the family structure is breaking down and even in intact families there is enormous economic and social pressure for mothers to work. Single mothers, broken homes, latchkey kids, and parental neglect are increasingly the norm. The worst thing about the "off switch" solution is that it is so blatantly, profoundly racist in its effect, if not its intent, […] Bronson James, a black Texas-based radio commentator whose show I was on, observed that this is identical to the genocidal process in which for centuries the white man used alcohol in a systematic policy to destroy the culture of the American Indian. For a variety of cultural and genetic reasons, the Indians were predisposed toward alcoholism, and we dumped it into them as a crucial part of the process that ultimately destroyed their civilization. The pumping of media violence […] today is equally genocidal. Media violence-enabling […] is the moral equivalent of shouting, "FIRE!" in a crowded theatre. As a result, murder is the number-one cause of death among black male teens, and 25 percent of all black males in their twenties are in jail, on probation, or on parole. If this isn't genocide, then it is close.

What makes the "off switch" solution so racist is that, if these murders and incarceration rates were happening to the sons of white upper- and middle-class America, you can bet that we would have seen some drastic action by now. Viewed in this light, I think that most individuals would agree that the "just turn it off' solution probably rates right up there with "let them eat cake" and "I was just following orders" as all-time offensive statements. In developmental psychology there is a general understanding that an individual must master the twin areas of sexuality and aggression (Freud's Eros and Thanatos) in order to have truly achieved adulthood. In the same way, the maturation of the human race necessitates our collective mastery of these two areas. In recent years we have made significant progress in the field of sexology, […] After nuclear holocaust, the next major threat to our existence is the violent decay of our civilisation due to violence-enabling in the [...] media." Dave Grossman in 'On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society', chapter: 'Introduction to the paperback edition', Page 23 'Just Turn It Off, or Let Them Eat Cake' (first published in 1995)

Gordon Willis interview here: http://www.fdtimes.com/2014/05/20/remembering-gordon-willis-asc/