ISSUE ONE:
BEGINNINGS

Editors' Note

“It’s better not to know so much about what things mean or how they might be interpreted or you’ll be too afraid to let things keep happening,” said David Lynch. 

True – among these “things” could well be 1984’s Dune, a case in point of the difficulty in recreating a story already told so well. In this millennium where not many things haven’t already happened, a beginning, while still demanding ingenuity, also requires courage. So much has been written on ever since the invention of cinema: so many archive films brilliantly reviewed, so many shots thoroughly dissected; so many flowers laid by Fellini’s grave, and so many eggs thrown on Tim Burton’s Batman by comics fans. Next to the daunting mount of past materials is a world of journalism in no need of another film magazine - and we’re not talking about André Bazin’s Cahiers du Cinéma, or even Andy Warhol’s Interview – a look around Oxford should suffice to make the point. 

Facing all of this rich legacy, we did struggle a lot. We discovered through our musings on beginnings that, in fact, getting started is one of the hardest parts of creating. That first word on the page, first meeting, or first edit, sometimes only goes to show just how much you still have to do. It is easy to feel defeated on the first steps (especially when every film-related name idea seems to have been taken already!). Having finished our first issue and pushed through these growing pains, we can look back with pride at how far we have come. Now we know that beginnings, as well as being the most difficult part of the process, can also be the most rewarding.

We’re making our first issue about beginnings because, this year of all years, we’re reminded that things do need to keep happening: rights need to be reasserted, democracy and normalcy restored. And films need to be appreciated, again and again, because every viewpoint is different, and every voice matters. We want to make The Reel Thing a multi-camera operation, where every angle is central to the masterpiece. 

This week’s four articles, though different in approaches and styles, all demonstrate beginning’s essential role in every story. And, to quote the great Spielberg, we hope The Reel Thing can set off with “a beginning that never stops beginning”. 

Eleanor Zhang and Maddie Day, Editors