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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   34988 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 13, 2023

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20 years ago, it was LotR getting the Hollywood treatment while Dune was the flagship for an existing player's first forays into the miniseries format. How the tables have turned! Though Frank Herbert's Dune was well-received, probably because it occupied a sweet spot between passion projects and big budgets.

I'd say good media is the intersection of a decent premise and an artistic vision. Since we're talking about adaptations of famous works, the premise is already met. Then it's up to the director/producer/etc. to make a cohesive piece of art rather than a checklist. I know that's kind of a cop-out, but...that's the key. Design by committee reduces the risk of outright bad media at the cost of some of the good.

There's a whole other argument I want to make about market share, deconstruction vs. reconstruction, and postmodernism, but tonight is not the night.

Design by committee reduces the risk of outright bad media at the cost of some of the good.

Is is frankly astonishing to me how expensive some movies are and how few people are responsible for the artistic vision, even if it is a committee. It's even more astonishing if it's just left up to one producer. How is this kind of trust formed at all?

There's a hidden assumption in your astonishment that spreading the responsibility to more people would make movie production safer from a financial perspective. Is there a reason to believe that?

Hmmm. I guess I don't have a solid explanation for why committees are safer. My vibe is that committees operate by consensus and this means individual weirdnesses get sanded down in the process, thusly ensuring the outcome is more firmly within bounds.

That's great in manufacturing or engineering, it's often detrimental in art and entertainment.

Indeed, some works shine thanks to the Auteur Theory.

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