SAR_act_2.1.3

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Above: FP 30K SAR BL training. SAR [ act 2.1.3 ]: licensed beginner.

SAR_5_Along_the_way

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Above: FP 32K SAR Best-Level-Training on dunetrails and in beachscape. Intertwining wind, rain and high-tide provide excellent dynamic circumstances.

" […]… suddenly it rained, there was a storm. We decided to use it. We grabbed the Steadycam and we just did it. Then the rain stopped. I think we could do it in two takes. That forced us afterwards to get rain on the street because there was only a dissolve and it was supposed to be three minutes later, but that worked in our favour. This is a very old trick. If you wet all the streets you have twice as much light. It doubles all the reflections. It has been used in old gangster movies of the thirties and forties. in our case it just happened and we where forced to do it."

Nestor Almendros about his work on the Three-part-anthology ' New York Stories ', episode -- ' Life Lessons ', directed by Martin Scorsese (1989), in the (unpublished) report ' Framing; A Symposium on Cinematography, 1990 ', edited by Andreas Fischer-Hansen, Igor Koršic and Tina Sørensen (page 81)

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

Consolidation

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Kennemer dunes, today. Consolidation [ together we know more ]

Min/max temperature: 3°C/10°C; humidity: 91%; precipitation: 9 mm; sea level pressure: 988 hPa; wind SE 33.8 km/h; visibility: 10.0 kilometres; Clouds: Few 609 m., Scattered Clouds 1249 m

"Our era is the individualistic one, and the myth of the happy single obscures our longing for the other in combination with our distrust of this other. This is strange. We live in one of the safest regions of the world and we have never been so afraid of one another! Why do we view the other as a possible threat? In my opinion, the explanation is to be found in the dominant nature of neoliberal ideology, setting the tone of the past thirty years or so. When it started , Margaret Thatcher produced a very prophetic formulation: ‘There is no such thing as society, there are only individuals’. In the meantime, neoliberalism has installed a society with isolated and ever competing individuals. An unexpected side effect was the growing need for top down control of everything and everyone. We have been turned into lonely hedgehogs filling in forms for every step we take. And we have to take it, that’s for sure. The golden goose is called success. Michael Douglas puts it quite clearly in one of 1987’s blockbusters ‘Wall street’: “Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works.” Neoliberalism has realised its own principle, a ‘rational’ selfishness. We do no longer parent, or teach or love. We invest in parenthood, education and relations. And if the investment does not return satisfactorily, we dump the lot, and move on to the next. Get rid of the weakest links in order to boost productivity. The other is first of all a competitor. Team spirit has become rare and needs to be boosted by team building weekends, ironically enough filled with survival of the fittest games. In the early stages of neoliberalism the principle was limited to industry and trade, but today it dominates everyday life. An ironic example can be found in so called ‘reality shows’ on TV, with striking titles such as 'The Weakest Link', 'Temptation Island' or 'Top Starter'. The irony is that they pretend to show us who we really are, whilst they are dictating how we should behave. Their message is clear: the ideal human is a rat-raceloving player, always looking for number one. We have to score. In bed, at work, in life. The winner takes it all. Under the skin of our successful society, fear thrives, from fear of failure to a general distrust of the menacing other. Indeed, if everybody is only looking for number one, then no one is to be trusted. […] For the last thirty years, our neoliberal society has been promoting competitive individualism and top down control. Today, the smoke is clearing and we are left with a world of winners and losers, all of them on their own. The winner, swell but lonely at the top. No favours for the lady. The loser, lonely and ignored anyway. Both of them controlled by Big Brother, with almost no autonomy left. And we are sick of it, both literally and metaphorically."

Paul Verhaeghe 'Ted-X talk', first published in 2013. Transcript available as Pdf

" [ Jim: ] "I'll tell you one thing about growing up in Beverly Hills. Rich people are fucking weird. Money makes you weird. What I finally realised was these people worked their whole lives, a lot of times -- it's not old money, it's tons of new money -- worked their whole lives to get this stuff that's gonna fix 'em, that's gonna make everything okay, you know, the wife and the car and the house… and it doesn't work. So they get really pissed off and start acting out in really strange ways, like doing large amounts of cocaine and sleeping with prostitutes. People's fathers were doing things like that. […] It was really a trip growing up in this environment. Huge amounts of corruption and drugs and sex. I remember kids in fifth grade that were already in recovery. They had AA chips, but I didn't know what they were at the time. The moms are constantly on antidepressants -- these soccer moms. There are huge things of pills in everyone's house. They would take their kids to the doctor if they had a bad haircut. Everybody I knew was on some sort of allergy medicine, Ritalin or Valium or Percodan, something -- everybody was being treated."

David Weddle in 'Among the Mansions of Eden', Tales of love, Lust, and Land in Beverly Hills', page 231, 232, first published in 2003 by Harper Collins Publishers Inc., New York

"Let me repeat once more that identification is emotion. You might start gently to arouse emotion in us, but your success or failure will depend on whether you can sustain the rising emotion which also corresponds with rising suspense. […] Why has emotion such fatal power over our lives and, finally, why do other peoples' misfortunes arouse in us such thunderous reaction? Fear for their lives drove our forefathers to live in the trees and hunger and fear drove them down to the ground once more. Although we think of fear as a concept, something we cannot touch, the moment it permeates our consciousness it becomes a dreadful reality, causing real pain. Fear is a universal emotion and one of the deadliest of all human experiences. But this singular emotion is responsible for man's survival. It is paradoxical but true that hate or love, treachery or loyalty, spring from one and the same source -- insecurity. Emotion then is a thousand-pronged weapon to safeguard our lives. It spells out for our survival the basic tenet of our experience, insecurity, and now it has become a truism that life would be impossible without that insecurity of which we are so mortally afraid. Insecurity gives impetus to inventors to safeguard our existence. But insecurity […] can disguise itself as any one of an endless variety of things. It is almost impossible to recognise the naked fear behind the disguise of, let's say, philanthropy -- a beautiful gesture, a sign of understanding, love -- is the outgrowth of fear. [ All ] human emotion and conflict, whether personal, national, or international, spring from the same source -- insecurity. Logic doesn't always have a change to win against emotion, because emotion has the power to melt even granite and make prejudice blush with shame. It is the most potent weapon man can wield against man, the prime power behind all human conduct. Reason may triumph in the end but emotion will carry a project to success. […] Our emotions are aroused to the highest pitch whenever -- in reality or imagination -- our security is endangered. No reason or logic governs emotion. Most of the time it is spontaneous […] It is the forerunner of evil or happy tidings and the invisible guardian of our well-being. […] The spectre of danger haunting people in creative literature reminds us of our own safety. Whatever happened to others can happen to us. This is the reason then that even the shadow of danger panics us and our emotions are instantly aroused."

Lajos Egri in 'The Art of Creative Writing', page 26, 27, 28, first published in 1965 by Kensington Publishing Corp, New York