And speaking of the Joseph Campbell thing...

I realize that Joseph Campbell is kind of screenwriter/ filmmaker cliche. I mean there's a picture of Luke Skywalker on the cover of Hero With a Thousand Faces for crying out loud (as my Mom used to say.) But there's a depth to Campbell that goes far beyond Hero. Even beyond The Power of Myth, which is the Bill Moyers interview with him that basically amounts to a Reader's Digest version of Campbell, there is a tremendous depth to his work and reading his stuff always get the synapses in my brain firing at an incredible pace. Right now I'm reading The Masks of God: Oriental Mythology, which is part 2 of a four part series. It's pretty rich stuff - not light reading at all. But there is insight in it and even when he's talking about civilizations that are thousands of years old. And most of all - most relevant for the world of film - it's really all about stories. Especially the first book, Primitive Mythology, which is about story at is most primal level.

Talking with the Union

I started talking with the Union the other day. I'm a member of 600 the Cinematographer's guild - and it's becoming less and less relevant to my life these days. Basically over the last two or three years I've made just enough money on union jobs to pay my dues. Breaking even is not something I aspire to. Though I am reluctant to drop out. I worked hard to get in and if I ever get the chance to shoot it would be important. You never know?


And I watched The Shield last night. I still think it's the best show on TV right now. It's still a cop show, but at least there's some depth to it - and there is actually a story beyond the "current murder investigation." To me it's far, far closer to something like the Sopranos (which, as an Italian-American I must note that I feel somewhat conflicted about liking or having liked - no matter how much that let's-shoot-the-Russian-in-the-head-then-have-him-run-off-into-the-woods-and-never-mention-him-ever-again shit drove me crazy (though not really that much)) than Law and Order or CSI.