In Movies

I look at so many movies that sometimes I feel as if I'm moving through my own film dramas. And maybe I am. Lots of strange though small-scale things happen around here, and also in my house are a number of windows inset with second panes of stained glass.

The apparent illogic of the latter part of that statement comes from seeing so much stained glass in the windows and doors of movie settings that I am convinced that movie-makers are highly partial to it when scouting for locations. But maybe that impression comes easily to someone who has only recently taught himself the art and who has his own stained glass workshop. (Below is one of my first results, a pane measuring close to 2x3 ft, a variant of a pattern in a how-to book.)



Still, there's the question of why the moviemakers bother. The answer must be that it's purely to give the general appearance of their films some added flair, because otherwise the characters themselves never notice those beautiful "paintings" made with glass and light, or at least not enough to say anything about them. All the stained glass is just another prop, like a second big interest of mine and another favorite of directors -- chess sets, displayed in atmospheres where you know that words like "the Guioco Piano" or "the Falkbeer Counter-Gambit" have never passed anyone's lips.

Lately my wife's beloved scrabble sets have been trying to make inroads, but I don't believe those little pink and baby blue squares have a chance against the long-established, deep, dark mystique of chess pieces.