In developing the debut issue of monotone mag, co-editors Ahlia and Alexander sat down to discuss a few firsts in their worlds of cinema.
What is the first movie you remember watching?
Ahlia: I’m pretty sure it was The Land Before Time, the first one. Originally came out in 1988, I watched it at some point in the 90s on VHS. I only wanted to watch the animal movies, no people ones. I was deeply disinterested in the human centred narratives. In writing this I wonder if this was the start of my future in the environmental sector.
Alexander: We had it on VHS, it was Fantasia. Which like you in some way really speaks to where I have ended up. Fantasia is a film with so many strange technical and imaginative elements, almost like a crash course in cinema.
First cinema experience:
Ahlia:My first in-cinema memory was going to Flubber at the drive-in cinema in Aspley, Brisbane/Meanjin. I recall being distinctly bamboozled by the sheer size of the screen and that the story felt like it was jumping out at me. Robin Williams stayed with me forever.
Alexander: It was Finding Nemo, I remember it as sort of a proto-avatar, it seemed so hyper real. I would have been about 10 years old and clearly had not yet developed the ability to distinguish between the animated and the real. Somewhere in the Adelaide CBD my first formative memory of communally giggling at a screen.
First camera you used:
Ahlia:Definitely not for any serious film making but I got an Olympus waterproof, drop proof camera one year for Christmas. My friend and I would make music videos and I’d often include various pets, dog, cat, chickens, etc. Truly thank god we did not have access to the internet or ability to upload our own content at the time. I think the videos are probably still on my parents computer. I might go through the hard drive next time I’m back home for critical reappraisal.
Alexander: My first camera was the under-appreciated PlayStation EyeToy. At some point realising my brothers and I could repurpose the gaming device into a stop motion camera led to the creation of some of the lowest resolution films made by man.
An older first - first film obsession:
Ahlia: This one I’m struggling to recall. I’m sure I had obsessive interest in some movie field before this but the one that’s jumping to mind is when I used to pick an actor, catalogue every piece of work they’ve been in and then watch every single one and update my spreadsheet with a rating. I later decided that was embarrassing and promptly halted the process.
Alexander: I’ve got the answer, it’s very straightforward. My first film obsession was The Matrix. Everything in my life has occurred because I watched that film over 50 times a year for several years at a very tender age. Everything from my taste in music, to my honours thesis stemmed explicitly from this obsession.
Ahlia: Jesus Christ Alex.
A new first - new film interest:
Ahlia: I’ve recently had a new appreciation for short films. Maybe it has stemmed from the general frustration I’ve had in the past few years of most major movies being about 40 minutes longer than they need to be. Maybe my attention span in general is just shot. Maybe I was too small minded in the past to really appreciate how much of a story can be told in under 5, 10, or 15 minutes.
Alexander: Something I’ve been enjoying more recently that I was definitely not across or exposed to before is African American cinema. It’s not like I didn’t see any of it growing up but I was totally ignorant of its history and depth. Now seeing more and more of it from critically acclaimed to the absolute tasteless, it really has been an insight into the collective weirdness of the American.
Not your first but one that you like, Movie rituals:
Ahlia: There’s nothing I love more than going to a matinee alone, especially when it’s a film I have no interest in having other people's opinions on. This perhaps goes against the premise of a film critic magazine. Or perhaps because I spend so much time critiquing and discussing films that sometimes it’s nice to be able to sit with just my own thoughts and share them with no one.
Alexander: Regardless of the film or where I’m seeing it I always find that my seat wriggling is consistent and is a ritual to myself. I sit forward, I sit back, I cross my legs, I recross, I practically swivel and somehow work out my core. This makes it sound more like I’m bored but it’s almost more like I’m physically engaging with the film itself.
