thoughts on character choices / A Date with Your Family

This morning when I grabbed by bowl of cereal and plopped down in front of my computer at home to check mail and weather before heading to work, I turned on the desk light beside the monitor on the desk for some light. When I entered the room I considered flipping the switch to the light that lights the entire room but opted instead for the lamp. Probably because I light the light it gives off better... I hate ugly light... and wasting power... Plus Steve was still in bed so didn't want light peeking under the bedroom door and into his eyelids. But without thinking I turned the switch on the desklamp twice... That lamp used to be on my nighttable next to my bed for many years. It had a bulb in it that you could turn on, then on then on, you could get 3 different levels of light, the third switch being the brightest. We haven't had the right bulb in it for a long time to get that effect anymore, but without thinking I just twisted the on switch twice. I haven't really thought about the fact that it doesn't go 'on/off' with the two switches, just that it's 'on-stays on'. But I ended up thinking about this all at some point today and how it has to do with character and the choices that a character makes, whether that character thinks about their actions or not and why. I will have to inspect the lamp when I get home.

Another thing I did today was rush off to the bathroom. I had a lot of coffee and tea today but wanted to get to the end of a scene and was holding off on leaving the scene for just a few extra minutes. So when I did get up and go for the door out of the studio, I ended up pushing on the door a split second before I turned the handle. This results in my slightly smacking into the door before I turn the handle and get out of there. Normally I wouldn't do that. So would a real slick character ever turn the handle slightly after pressing their weight on the door? I guess normally I don't even put my weight to the door, I just turn the handle and push the door open all with one hand. It's weird how many routine things we do each day and we don't necessarily know exactly what we're doing. We don't need to think about it. And if someone doesn't need to do something, generally they don't. I do think there are a lot of choices that people make on a daily basis that involve more conscious and subconscious thinking than we realise. Like what T-shirt I put on. Well... I think about it... and thought Steve tried to convince me there is zero thought in his clothing selection I'm sure there is the occasional thought... Even if someone simply picked a shirt up from a pile of other shirts, why that one? Was it simply the closest?

While doing some research on the 1950's on the weekend I stumbled across a certain video on youtube.com. This very video- is probably the biggest inspiration for my shortfilm. There are many other pieces and ideas and thoughts that have come into the picture since that fateful day when my grade 12 history teacher showed his class this very video, but this was the spark that got the idea inspired. It was shown to us not to be followed in life, but more as a reflection on history and partly as a joke.... Please watch A Date with Your Family.