What is Cinema

Our reading “What is Cinema” described the ontology of the photographic image by recounting the “mummy complex”, the concept in which man has a need within to withstand the fatality that time often brings. It seemed to be at first a comparison between the images that are forever saved to a piece of film, a piece of life that is embalmed much like that of the flesh and face of a mummy. I discovered as I continued to read that it is much more of an evolution of this “mummy complex”. Due to the fact that even Egyptians used the arts to withstand the time that tends to slip away to leave a message for the future.

            Painting typically took on two forms, creativity within the mind, and also images that reflected the outside world that existed during the same period.  Most would argue that those two forms exist in film and art as well by truth and fiction. Documentaries and typical cinematic experiences today definitely exemplify these two different reflections of art back then. The psychology behind the need for someone’s mind to wander past the bridge of normalcy into a world of magic and creation is somewhat astounding. I find that this tendency continued to evolve into what it is today absolutely mind blowing.

The “Reflections on Photography” piece really opened my eyes to the instantaneous past that is created by taking a photograph. The author did a superb job of describing this contrast of the current subject when the photo is taken versus the piece that is sparks history the second it is printed. It was exemplified by the experience of death and life. This comparison was very interesting because it’s something we can understand in a physical sense. A fleeting moment in history is something that can’t be easily described by much else than life and death. One day the moment is here and the next it is just a distant memory, and we sometimes grasp for exact details in those moments, just as the author yearned for the exact memory and detail of his mother.

The two phrases that stood out to me regarding the superimposition were “in Photography I can never deny that the thing has been there” and also, “it has been irrefutable present, and yet already deferred”. This is a powerful tool because it documents anything that enters its path. It was interesting that the author chooses to believe that photography was created solely by science even as an artist. This train of thought seems to be brought on by a thought that many of us have which he also mentioned in the reading as “Why is it that I am alive here and now?” The coexistence of past and present is something that we can physically document what we are doing with our lives, and it was intriguing to see how an artist can drives his work by this idea.

Final Project- Stefan Williams

With the final project and the end of the semester approaching we have been asked to present details on our final project. As discussed in class, I would like to present a film which is fused together with music, emotion, and experimental film. Out of the numerous techniques, we have used and watched, the cynotype film process sparked a particular interest to me, especially in regards to music videos. Thus, I would like to use this process to add a certain element to my film.

            Regarding the topic of my final project, as stated above it will be a fusion of emotion, music and experimental film. I will be presenting a music video, with music from my own personal work. Although, my music is  heavily Electronic Dance Music focused, for this particular piece I am aspiring to make a song that is a more emotional in nature, and that follows a very emotional particular storyline. Thus, the music will have a large amount of orchestral elements, which account in my mind to big emotional scenes in the film. It is paramount that I follow the storyline of the song, when shooting. As the song will have a lot of emotion, the moments captured must also follow it. If I would like to make the impact which I am looking for, both the music, the film and cynotype processing must be executed correctly, which will hopefully lead to a fantastic overall piece of work!

Response to Tom Gunning

I do not believe Gunning's theory of rejecting the original responses by spectators to the then new technology of film, such as in Lumiere's Arrival of a Train at the Station when historians recall what Gunning describes and denotes to "the myth of initial terror," in regards to audiences reactions to the portrayal of the train coming towards them on the screen.

Although I do accept that Gunning is correct in the way that this is not the sole basis for film's existence and people's fascination with it, I still also believe that the optical enhancement of film has been derived from this specific value for watching hyperrealism on a screen, and draws people in by how illusive it can be.

If that is not the case, then why is it that box offices have made fortunes from action packed movie "available in 3-D" that gives modern viewers the same thrills as spectators viewing a film for the first time? It's the sheer fact that people want to get lost in a film, and animators know people want computer graphic effects to look as realistic as possible, for the sake of falling for the illusiveness.

Yes, I also agree with Gunning that the more timeless the viewer, the more understood that it is all an illusion. Often when we are children, we believe what we watch in movies as real, until mature and grow older and realize everything is a set, that's not really a house of a flying saucer, and then if you further your education in film, you figure out how animators and set makers create these hyperrealistic movies such as Avatar. Credit is due where credit is due, and if this initial shock value was worthless, technology today would not have built on it for the viewers' pleasure.

Resources

To get Cyanotype Chemistry and D-19 developer (HIGH CONTRAST):

http://stores.photoformulary.com/the-new-cyanotype-kit/

http://stores.photoformulary.com/formulary-substitute-d-19/

For Black Leader:

http://urbanskifilm.com/supplies.html

For e6 kit:

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/ulune6fideki.html?ref=lexity&_vs=google&_vm=productsearch&gclid=CLr05_uVkNMCFQaDaQodG40NXA

For Color Reversal Film:

https://www.dwaynesphoto.com

Ken Paul Rosenthal Hand Processing Guide

http://www.kenpaulrosenthal.com/antidote.htm