The Blacklist Declassified

 

🔴 Whose “Intentions” Matter?

October 6, 2015

Essay on Artists’ Intentions: 3:2 The Troll Farmer

I did some photo enhancement of the mirror shot referred to by roominthecastle [on Tumblr http://bit.ly/1Oi6d3P%5D and came up with this. What was not clear before was the image at top center which is a composition of Red and Liz’s faces. Viewed onscreen, the figures are simply black silhouettes, the image in the upper center a black blob [“before”]. What emerges is much more interesting [“after”] This reminded me of the “kiss illusion” in 2:10 Braxton2 [“after” inset]. It turns out both episodes were directed by Michael A Watkins. I learned in college and grad school that the artist’s intentions are irrelevent in interpreting a work of art, but there has been an situation lately with a writer indicating that the Tango scene did not have romantic implications because he did not intend them to be there.
 

 
Assuming for the moment that intentions do matter, these two scenes clearly show that more than the writers’ intentions are relevant. The director’s intentions are as well. And what of the actors, editors and other pre- and post- production crews? Creating a series like this involves the “intentions” of many people at many levels. What keeps them all in synch? Is it even possible for a coherent work of art to emerge?. i actually posed this question to Daniel Knauf (the writer referred to above). He suggested the writing of the King James Bible was a good comparison of how different teams of writers, directors etc can produce something of lasting beauty, value (or whatever the measure is). I looked this up and it’s a fascinating history. Christianity in Britain at the time was in complete turmoil and there were pressures involving the roles of the monarchy and nobility as well, – and yet with the guidelines established by the king, teams of scholars and churchmen were able to write what was clearly a literary and religious masterpiece.

 

@BlacklistDCd The King James Bible is but one example.

— Daniel Knauf (@Daniel_Knauf) October 5, 2015

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I think it’s an interesting comparison. It is clear that the kissing illusion and the appearance of Red and Liz’s faces in the mirror in 3:1 Troll Farmer a way reflecting their emotional connection (and alienation) have indeed been “intentionally” placed in the scene – regardless of what may have been intended by the writers. Where does the overall direction come from? Is Jon Bokenkamp the equivalent of King James? – a sort of over-mind who keeps the show from crashing down to earth or spinning off into outer space [ie shark-jumping]? Or maybe you have to go even beyond the showrunner(s) and TPTB and hope that God/gods/muses or who/waterever somehow are at work to produce a result that we can really sink our hearts and minds into – that somehow, a masterpiece emerges despite the complexity of the creative process – not to mention the pulls of commercial interests, popular prejudices and political correctness.

 
David Auerbach (The Cosmology of Serialized Television http://bit.ly/1FEDhkq 2014) argues that most American serialized dramas fail due to the intrinsic complexity inherent in the genre and that the few that have succeeded have required strong and sustained leadership from the top. I hope for more successes in this emerging genre. I hope and pray that The Blacklist will one of them.
 
[ Cross-posted under “Writers’ Room”]

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TheAmericanReader, David Auerbach (2014): The Cosmology of Serialized Television http://bit.ly/1FEDhkq

Christianity[.]com, Ken Curtis, Ph.D.: The Story Behind The King James Bible http://bit.ly/1j1iXQk

RoomInTheCastle [Tumblr] (10/3/2015): Smoke. Manufactured to draw the camera away from the real fire http://bit.ly/1Oi6d3P

 
 

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