ATTENTION S P A N

 

First of all, let me say I do not use my phone to text or watch videos. My dumb flip phone is not used for Internet.

With that said, it seems we communicate to each other through motion pictures taken on our ‘smart’ phones. YouTube calls them ‘shorts’, Facebook calls them ‘reels’ and TikTok is made on them. They are 2-3 minute videos from old television shows or movie snippets or commentors or influencers or old Beatles clips or best songs from or rude or mean confrontations or silly human attempts or cute animals…

Being encapsulated by the cold, I am as bored as everyone else looking for something to pass the time. Without a television, I awake to the NPR news. Other than the Olympics, reminder of how cold it is and no other distraction but the constant wars, I turn to the Internet.

Constant scrolling through different news sites and social network only comes across a series of these video snippets. Some are old black and white shows I remember and watch while others are just nonsense that must be quickly scrolled to the next one, then you realize another hour has gone by wasted.

Some of these old television shows I went back to YouTube to watch the full sequence and was surprised that these snippets were the way television was made back then. A short clip of characters then a cut to a different scene with other characters. Maybe this is our attention s p a n?

The first television were long shots of soap operas and entertainment because cameras were huge and not easily mobile. Two cameras had to be edited live which was still experimental. There was no CGI and sound quality was weak. If mistakes were made, they were covered up like radio.

Seems these early television shows were two-minute conversations then scenes of cowboys riding around the same rock or long distant horses riding or cars driving around the city. Only later did the special effects come in to show action figures amid explosions and make-believe fire. Maybe that is why pop songs or 3-minute? That is as long as we can pay attention?

Ever been to a play? When the curtain goes up, the actors have to keep your attention with limited movement on a stage, speaking loudly without a microphone and interacting with others until they take an intermission to pee. As an audience, you have to focus to keep track of the story presented live.

Ever read a book? The author has to describe every detail of a situation so the characters make sense in your minds’ eye. You can always turn back the page and re-read a chapter to try and expand your interpretations or the plot.

Time to get a bite to eat and scroll some more, constantly searching for something different.