I just read two threads that sparked my interest. The first was asking for a suggestion on POV titles. The second was "for any ADTer who cares," or some such.

On the POV thread, some people were discussing the definition of point of view as it relates to literature and film. I wanted to reply to them, but then I realized they were posted last November. I then read the lengthy discourse on posting inflamatory remarks for the sake of airing one's conscious, however hurtful and meaningless. I believe the hypothetical thread used as an example was, "More double anal, please." Within this thread, it was mentioned that a person could in fact post something that he/she was nearly sure no one cared about. It is in that vain that I make this post.

Writing-
First person point of view is when a character is telling the story. All experiences are felt through this character, all knowledge is obtained through this character. An example of this writing is:

I went to the store for a six pack, but when i got
about half a block away, I noticed that there were cop
cars all along the street in front of the building.
When I got there, I asked the nearest uniformed man
what happened.
He said, "Robbery."
I said, "Anyone hurt?"
"No, but the owner's a little shaken up."
I went back home before the officer could ask
anything of me.

See how the story is told utilizing the "I" perspective? I did this, I went there, I heard him say.

Third person is the most flexible of the three. In third person, we have the inner workings of the character. However, we can have this in two ways: the first is what I call third person limited. This is a narrow field of vision limited to this one character's mind. We learn through him, we feel the events through him, we experience through him, and we NEVER know the inner monologues of the other characters. The second version of third person is third person omniscient. This where we, the readers, are gods. We know everything that's happening. We know, learn, and can feel through any character because we know what they're all thinking. This is a favorite method of Stephen King, to name the most popular I could think of. In a King tale, it is rare that the reader is limited to the thoughts of one character. For example, King will tell us what a character is thinking, and then jump out of that character's head to tell us he's wrong and future events will prove that. A third version of this point of view is when you see everything that is happening but know nothing of the interior working of the characters. Think of a play. You, as an audience member, watch the play from a point far removed from the actions and thoughts of the participants. Unless you are told by one of the characters exactly whet they're thinking at a given moment, you know nothing of their thoughts. An example of third person point of view writing is:

Billy ran down the center aisle toward the altar.
The Priest was there, closing a book - the Bible,
Billy guessed - and walking down the back steps.
Billy called: "Father!"
The Priest turned and when he saw the state of
the man who called him, his heart went out.

You see how this story is told at a distance away from Billy, but we still have his thoughts? We know he had to guess at something. But, we also have the Priest's feelings because we know that his heart went out to Billy.

Second person is the hardest to accomplish and bring off well. This is used to put the reader into the story. I read a short story once where the reader was placed in a hospital bed dying of AIDS and by the end of the story, I wanted to run out and get tested because I thought I was dying. It was brilliant. This is the technique used by most "Choose your own adventure" books from years and years ago, or "Pick your path." An example of this writing is:

You're tired, now. You've been up all day,
calling the hospital, the funeral home, relatives,
caterers. A nap and you'll be fine, no problems to
worry you while you're sleeping. It's so good to
sleep, to lay your head on your pillow, close your
eyes. None of them know. No one in the rest of the
family knows what it's like to lose a child. You're
the first.

See how you are put directly into the story? That's second person.

Film-
In film, the idea of point of view isn't different, so much as it is parallel. If there is a main character that has a narration of his own thoughts, I guess that would be third person intimate or limited. The only time it would be strictly first person POV is if you are looking out of the character's eyes AND you get his thoughts and feelings. It's like the Halloween movies, along with others. At many instances we are looking out of Michael's eyes. However, we do not have his thoughts or feelings, so to say that it is a strict first person shot isn't exactly correct. But, a first-person-shooter game IS first person because you look through the eyes of the main character and are privy to his thoughts b/c those thoughts are yours. It is not second person because you are looking out of another's eyes. It is not strictly "you" in the game. But, when a game includes your name to identify your character, where other characters in the game refer to your character by your name, then this is first person whether it is a first-person-shooter or not. It gets weirder and weirder the more I think about it. Getting back to film, an example of a second person film would be those rides where you stand up in a big theatre with a bunch of other people and the screens around you show you certain images like flying in an airplane or riding a rollercoaster and you feel everything as if you're in the film. It's different than a regular movie because a movie is designed to make you either feel what the characters are feeling or feel a certain way about what's happening to the characters as is the case with a comedy. Jesus, this is becoming more and more confusing and more and more pointless the further I go.

Let's let it die....

[Link]