Elements of Awe

We can have awe looking at a painting, reading a book, listening to music, watching a movie, etc. Is it awe because of the completed project or image itself, or is it a combination of elements that creates an entire experience of awe?

I've got a basic idea of this question (perhaps a rough thesis for my final paper) or what the combination of elements are that function in creating awe. Here's a rough draft of the three elements of creating awe I wrote in my writing journal last Friday:

1. The Idea

Wikipedia Images Creative Commons

This is the starting point before anything can be created. After +Paul Bills presentation on the video games, I had to tell my roommate about the game Brothers. I commented on his blog post about how just the idea of the mechanics and lessons taught in Brothers was enough to awe my roommate when I told her about it. She didn't witness what happened, but it captured awe nonetheless. Paul replied saying it was like "the moment in 2001 when the ape-man first realizes he can swing the bone as a club." The idea sparks awe. It ignites the potential to create an awe inspiring work.



2. The Senses

Infinite Dreams by artist Rhads

To experience awe we have to at least see it, smell it, taste it, touch it, hear it, or think it. A picture is visually-intensive. I posted a link to some incredible pictures on Google+ here. Paul, +Andrew Perazzo, and +Erin McMullin seemed to find a sense of awe in them too. Erin said "he takes the simple and mundane and makes it great." I've discussed the hearing sense in some more detail here, where I had a lot of input on what songs inspired awe from Paul, Andrew, and +Jane Packard. So it's clear elements of awe can individually create awe. But what about in a movie that combines visual, script, and sound?


3. Combination
I'm still developing this idea so bear with me. I think many people (especially English majors and book-lovers) too often discredit movies by saying "it isn't as good as the book." Movies are not intended to "be the book." It's a movie. It is meant to recreate awe from a book with a new perspective for the book-reader, and to express awe to those unexposed to said book. I've done some research on how movie makers are recreating awe. Check out here and here (embedded video), and comment with your ideas!

Talking about the movie Apollo 13, special effects supervisor Rob Legato took people's memories of the actual spaceship's launch to emulate it in the movie. He combined the awe felt by different people to create his own scene. This new scene, scientifically inaccurate to what an actual launch would entail, created a new sense of awe because of the combined memories of people. The nostalgia was there; the graphics were there; the cinematography was there. These efforts recreated awe in a new light.

I think if you take single elements you can have feelings of awe. If combined, though, imagine the potential for these elements to create or recreate something even bigger. What do you think?