It was a crisp autumn day in 2006 when my English teacher revealed to the class that we would be reading The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. I am not much of a reader but this novel changed the way I read, write, think, and view the world. Not only was the novel influential but so was the film and the reoccurring symbol of a sunset. After finishing the book the inspiring 6th grade filmmaker in me convinced the teacher, with some help from my fellow students, to watch the movie. She set aside three class days to watch the film which put us way behind schedule with all the snow days we had already but it was not a concern of hers or mine.
The book not only opened my eyes to what it means to actually enjoy a book but it also helped me as a writer when I was younger. I aspired to draw images in the readers’ mind like S. E. Hinton did in her novel with the sunsets. She barely said a word about the actual way the sunset looked but she left it up to the reader to imagine his or her own sunset and this idea is what really inspired and shaped me. When I write stories or poems or screenplays I leave a lot up to the reader. It is a risky approach in academic writing but I always support my case.
The book not only opened my eyes to what it means to actually enjoy a book but it also helped me as a writer when I was younger. I aspired to draw images in the readers’ mind like S. E. Hinton did in her novel with the sunsets. She barely said a word about the actual way the sunset looked but she left it up to the reader to imagine his or her own sunset and this idea is what really inspired and shaped me. When I write stories or poems or screenplays I leave a lot up to the reader. It is a risky approach in academic writing but I always support my case.
“It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren't so different. We saw the same sunset.”
When it comes to filmmaking, don’t even get me started on Francis Ford Coppola. The Outsiders was the first film of his that I saw but nothing compares to The Godfather but that’s beside the point. The Outsiders was my favorite film at the time and really got me in to making movies. I remember taking out the shitty family camcorder and gathering together some friends to make a really, really bad “movie” (I put that in quotations because I do not think it really qualifies as a movie but the young Liam was very proud of his work).
Sunsets. Holy guacamole, sunsets. These beautiful pollution oil spills in the sky changed my life as an artist both through words, music, and visual arts. Whenever I am writing I really try my best to paint an image in the reader’s head because that is what my teachers have taught me ever since, like, second grade. If you can make the reader see exactly what you saw, you’ve done it right. In music, whatever I am playing, I imagine something beautiful. My drum teacher in third grade told me this great advice and I have stuck with it ever since. In the visual arts world it is the perfect time to do anything: take pictures or film. Golden hour is the best. The beautiful golden color that sweeps over the landscape when the sun hits that perfect position above the horizon is flawless.
Sunsets. Holy guacamole, sunsets. These beautiful pollution oil spills in the sky changed my life as an artist both through words, music, and visual arts. Whenever I am writing I really try my best to paint an image in the reader’s head because that is what my teachers have taught me ever since, like, second grade. If you can make the reader see exactly what you saw, you’ve done it right. In music, whatever I am playing, I imagine something beautiful. My drum teacher in third grade told me this great advice and I have stuck with it ever since. In the visual arts world it is the perfect time to do anything: take pictures or film. Golden hour is the best. The beautiful golden color that sweeps over the landscape when the sun hits that perfect position above the horizon is flawless.