A Scale for Artistic Depth

From its inception, cinema has experienced significant evolutions driven by visionary filmmakers. I hold the highest regard for those filmmakers who boldly attempt to reshape the cinema through their audiovisual choices. And, of course, I hold an aspiration to contribute to this cinematic evolution as a filmmaker. This admiration runs so deep that I’ve developed a habit of overlooking works that don’t align with the experimentations I like. But, over time, I got into the filmmakers whose styles are distant from my taste. Surprisingly, I encountered films that, despite being in line with my favored audiovisual style, failed to connect with me. It was here that I noticed a more profound factor at play: Artistic depth.

If an artist’s point of view truly captures me, I become incredibly open to various styles and preferences. Conversely, even a film within a style I typically enjoy can lose its worth in my eyes if I don’t like the filmmaker’s perspective. So, I’ve come to understand that what fascinates me is an artist’s distinctive viewpoint. But the problem is that whenever I encounter an approach that captures my interest, I often hesitate to classify this phenomenon since it is not something that can be tangibly addressed like audiovisual choices.

So, through introspection of myself and observing the evolution of other filmmakers, I have created a potential scale for evaluating an artist’s perspective, which I now present (I totally agree with the point that I haven’t exactly made an innovation, this is just some contemplating).

A Scale for Artistic Depth

1- Seeing: Gazing at the world around.

2- Connecting: Interconnecting societal threads, being part of activism, politics, and community pulse.

3- Empathizing: Inspecting the human culture, identity dilemmas, and struggles of societies.

4- Reflecting: Focusing on intimate experiences, exploring existential and individual dimensions.

5- Encompassing: Accessing universal human emotions and experiences, addressing every human being across time.

6- Transcending: Crossing beyond human boundaries, channeling a divine essence into an artistic cosmos.

On this scale, the first two depths feel overly superficial. Depth 3 is mediocre. Depth 4 is the sweet spot. Depth 5 reflects a position achieved by rare masters. And, depth 6 represents an unattainable state that is never reached but should always be aspired to.

But who’s gonna decide where a piece of art lands on this scale? Godard once said that a film’s real critique is another film, which I find to be wise words that underline how cinema evolves and develops. So, I believe an artist’s real measure comes from other artists, especially those down the road. And I dare to say that my affection for a film (first and foremost) parallels this scale.