by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve written before about being intentional about free time. By doing a little planning ahead, I feel a lot more relaxed and recharged. Instead of looking for something good to read or good to watch (and sometimes failing or running out of the precious free time in the process), I’ve carefully built up a list of things I want to read and watch.
That worked so well that I’ve made another discovery in the process. By being intentional about what I read, watch, and listen to, I’ve been able to broaden what I’m consuming and help inform my writing in the process.
I’ve made a conscious effort to expand what I’m consuming into new genres, international films, translations, and different types of music to write or read to. In return, I’ve had a real rush of creativity and new ideas (or even new ways to approach older series).
With that being said, I thought I’d run a short series on finding and tracking media. Today I’m covering what I use for film and television. Friday, I’ll cover music. Monday, I’ll cover books.
Sources:
For many years I told people that I didn’t really watch television. This was true–because I wasn’t a fan of sitcoms or reality television or whatever else happened to be running on TV at the time. But curating and watching good shows and films on demand is so much better–you know you’re getting something good (and you can determine later whether it’s to your taste or not). It also amuses me to call it ‘television.’ I don’t think we even have a true TV in our house anymore…only monitors.
I’ve developed something of a system for discovery. Again, the idea is to pick something that’s well-reviewed, but perhaps not something that I’d ordinarily watch (and definitely not something that I have watched).
Worth mentioning is the fact that we’re basically unplugged from cable at our house (we have a very basic program). Instead, we watch on demand: using Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS (we’re donors and can use their ‘passport‘), and Sling (yes, this is still cheaper than satellite and cable here, ha!) You can also find many movies and shows through your local library. I’m a fan of Ann Cleeves as a reader and when browsing my library’s offerings in her series, I found the television series based on her books. I could watch the shows free through the library via Hoopla.
Lists of well-rated content to stream:
Digital Trends updates their list of top Netflix picks monthly.
Collider does the same.
For a wider range, look for highly-rated foreign films and shows (sometimes I’ll pull up older articles on the topic and just add the shows that aren’t currently available for streaming on my watchlist for later).
Helpful articles for foreign films are:
Jane Friedman in her Electric Speed newsletter (I subscribe to this free, semi-monthly email…her archives are here) recently recommended using the New York Times ‘Watching.’ I created an account there. By looking up and marking (by clicking a heart) my favorite shows and films, the site came up with recommendations (and told me where to stream them). By clicking the bookmark icon, I developed a watchlist.
Also, the more good content that you watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu, the more good content that their algorithm pulls up for you as recommendations. I’ve gotten some great, tailored recs from all of the streaming services.
Tracking what we watch:
Maybe this isn’t as important to everyone else, but my memory is terrible. When I can’t remember what I’ve watched (or listened to or read), it keeps me from finding more things that I’d like. Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t think the streaming services do a great job of helping me track. And having a bunch of stuff on my watchlist that I’ve already watched (unless it’s a series in progress), isn’t helpful, either.
So far, the most helpful thing I’ve found is the above-mentioned NYT Watching.
Do you watch much television or films? How do you find what you want to watch? Do you track it?
TV and Film as Inspiration: Finding What's Good: Share on XPhoto on Visualhunt.com
Between NetFlix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, we can always find something new to watch. Having an Apple TV box gives us access to so much. Plus I note what movie and television geeks are reviewing. Because yes – there is great inspiration in watching movies!
I’ve also gotten some great suggestions from your blog!
I’ll have to follow some movie and TV geeks. :)
I couldn’t agree more about planful and careful viewing. I find myself inspired, too, when I watch something I’ve thought about and decided to watch, if that makes sense. And, with so many viewing choices out there, what with Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and so on, there’s always something that will broaden as well as entertain. And careful viewing exercises different sorts of thinking, so it gives the creativity muscles a burst, too.
You’re so right–it really can lead your mind in different directions.
I don’t watch too much TV either but I have a few series I tape and I like the series and movies on Netflix.
It’s nice to be able to pick and choose!
We still have a TV and satellite service – one step up from basic so we can get Investigation Discovery and MLB. I can’t imagine watching TV or movies from my computer. It’s on my desk, in my office, with the standard office chair. I like my recliner and the remote.
These days I hardly ever watch anything fictional. Mostly, I watch true crime shows, cooking shows, animal shows, real estate/remodeling shows… The fictional is old movies or reruns (Home Improvement, House, Criminal Minds). The only new show we watch right now is The Durrells in Corfu on PBS. It’s a British show. And when the British mysteries come around – Endeavor, etc. – we’ll watch those. I do try other things from time to time. JBS had a lovely concert on the other day -The International Jewish Children’s Choir, I think. It was mostly in Hebrew, but the singing was beautiful, so we watched.
Oh, your setup sounds like my husband’s desk upstairs. Definitely not for relaxing in front of TV! I have a laptop and that makes things a little easier for me.
I love the Durrells! This season had some pretty surprising twists, I thought.
The choir sounds amazing!
Some other bloggers and I are taking on bingeworthy shows on Netflix and other outlets this month, so this is timely :-)
I have mixed feelings about the Netflix algorithms. I keep hearing how granular they are, but they always recommend things I’ve already watched–on Netflix. But they have also pointed me in the direction of some things I really loved and might not have found otherwise.
Netflix will cough up some good recommendations for me from time to time–I find that the shows they *email* me about are usually more of a match than the “suggested for me” shows on their site. Although I think the fact that other members of my family watch shows on my profile sometimes messes that up, ha! I’ll end up with a slew of military-themed films and then I know for sure. :)
Oh yes! My husband’s viewing of Penny Dreadful and The Magicians definitely throws off my recs.
I can imagine! :)
Hi Elizabeth – I love non-fiction things with interesting content … and I love to learn. I must check out the NYT Watching thing – there must be something similar back in the UK. I hate getting tied in to watching reality tv, or fictional things – but I do love a murder mystery … Morse, Endeavour and similar … thanks for the thoughts here – cheers Hilary
I enjoy nonfiction, too, especially bios of interesting people. Thanks for coming by!
Elizabeth, you’re so right about tracking! It’d be super-helpful to have a list of what you’ve watched, not just what you want to watch.
– B.E. and Hilary –
It’s nice to see fellow Endeavor fans in the house!
Once I started tracking, I found out how helpful it is! I had no idea.