I disagree on two points. While spectacle can be excessive, it can be used to help the narritive in creating a sense of wonder within the audience which makes them easily manipulated by the filmaker. Where this stops is when the spectacle overtakes the narrative and the resultant product is only a shell of what is ought to be. What it boils down to is, the person watching the film starts to enjoy the sets or effects more than the characters. (George Lucas has interesting comments on this.) Secondly, I seriously doubt that in this day people have trouble assimilating virtually any kind of visual information. What examlpes can you site that would support your viewpoint? ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]