Theorising Media

 

This here is a successful use of a montage sequence with the scene cutting from the boys reaction to two different people. In the first scene we see the women twirling her umbrella and smiling, and from this we see the reaction of the boy look concerned. At this moment we are unaware why his face is like this as there is nothing signifying to the audience that we should be concerned. But with the use of editing, we cut to the image of the limbless man waving, which gives some explanation to the viewer to possibly why he feels uncomfortable to wave. Later on we see the boy is somewhat forced to wave and this begins to create some questions for the viewer.  The most important thing to understand form this is with the use of a montage you have the possibility to lose geographical location and because of this the viewer has to question what the individual is looking at. This is a good tool to use in your work, as it allows for each viewer to have a different view of the scene. It is no...

 

 

 

 This reading was predominantly about 'practice-led research' and the benefits of learning as you go, rather than having a dedicated time to prepare before you start your practice. Practice-led research is a process where the 'theory emerges from the reflexive practice at the same time that the practice is informed by theory.', in some sense it is a mutually beneficial process for both areas of the practice as they grow together.  Within the reading there is an argument from Martin Heidegger 'In being and Time' where he states 'we do not come to 'know' the world theoretically through contemplative knowledge in the first instance. Rather, we come to know the world theoretically only after we have come to understand it through handling'. This is seen extremely often, even at University. In our course it's all good learning about the different theories, but you only truly learn and understand them, when you finally put them into practice yoursel...

 

First slide Intro to what Dogme is  The 'Vow of Chastity' Aims of Movement Social affect (women in film)  Social affect (women in film) x2 Success or not? Will affect my work? Questions

What is it? A film movement that has a manifesto with a set of rules that a film has to follow in order for it to be considered part of the movement. Introduced by two Danish directors:  Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, When? On March 13th 1995 a conference was held to celebrate 100 years of film. It was here where Trier was invited to speak and where he revealed this manifesto, in front of many influential people.  Aims It intended to generate a greater focus on the values of traditional storytelling, performance and specific themes. With an emphasis on these core aspects of filmic storytelling, Dogme 95 was a backlash against the over-reliance on technology such as special effects and groundbreaking digital tools. In this way, the movement was in direct opposition to commercial studio filmmaking at the time, and was a clear attempt to give greater power to independent creative team. Manifesto - Vow of Chastity Shooting must be performed on location, without providing pr...

Within self-portraiture there is of course a representation of the individual who made the piece, however this does not mean that in these pieces of work the work doesn't negate from the individuals actual 'self'. A prime example of this is looking at Cindy Sherman's work, where she photographs herself, but in a form that is of course not her true 'self'. Within her work she presents herself in a grotesque manner that defers form the norm of how women are presented in the media. This is an example of a Masquerade, as she is hiding herself with something else. In this case, she is hiding herself with an excess of make up and props. This is one example of how you can hide your 'self' through self portraiture or self representation.

 

 

 This article explores the history of women being presented in a sexual manner as an explanation to why we have seen this transfer into today's common selfies. A quote used in this reading by Berger is used as a historical look on this matter: 'men look at women. Women look at themselves being looked at'. This gives some explanation to why throughout history we have seen a frequent depiction of women in this way, for male pleasure.  This articles overall explanation for the posting of sexual selfies is that it is an 'evolutionary game' and the winners 'maximise their lot in life'. Of course this is somewhat reductionist as it implies that the attention of a man is the only thing to strive for, as with it you have 'won' in life. But, this idea stems from the history of it all, where this was true. So it is possible to argue that those ideologies have been inheritably passed onto to todays society, therefore giving an explanation for why so many female...

A masquerade is something that covers up another part of yourself that you are trying to hide. In this reading an example that it pointed out is homosexual men. The example of a masquerade in homosexual men is when some exaggerate their heterosexuality as a 'defense' against their homosexuality, it is argued in this reading that women do the same too. It is well known within any form of media dating back centuries, women are presented to us more often than not from the perspective of the male. This is known as the Male Gaze, the idea that the perspective we see women in the media is through the phalic lens, in other words, we see them from the male perspective for males pleasure. In this reading it is being stated that 'womanliness' just like 'manliness' can be worn as a mask, to hide the possession of masculinity. The reason for having this masquerade is most likely due to the fact the idea of a woman being womanly is very much pushed within society, and those ...

 The idea of 'value' in any piece of art is extremely subjective for each individual who indulges in this craft. This value may be in the work of art itself, a reproduction or not, by enjoying the work of art for what it is. It could also be in knowing that the one piece you have is the only piece in the world, the value being the authenticity of the piece.  There are many different ways a viewer of art can deem the value of it. But, a more objective way of looking at it is the monetary value some artwork hold. The higher the price is a much more objective way of looking at the idea of more value. We see the highest priced artwork is in fact the authentic piece of work, the very first piece. This is due to the fact this original version is deemed to still withhold it's 'aura' and therefore it's true value. So one way to identify 'value' in a work of art is to identify whether it is the authentic piece of work and not a reproduction. Of course that object...

 

 This reading highlights the idea that through your work you can present a perspective for the audience, but addresses that this is not necessarily a good thing to do. Steyerl discusses the idea of a linear perspective, an objective perspective we are all given in different forms of media. In history this was typically the view of the coloniser and by doing this it ignores the various other perspectives out there. We can see in this reading she is going through different ways of viewing and what one is best for the viewer at home. She brings up the idea of vertical viewing, but this holds connections to the idea of classism and looking up to someone 'above you'. This is where she brings up the idea of a 'free fall' view, where each viewer can have a subjective view on what they see not making any viewer feel forced into a view that the previous ways suggest.  I can definitely take something from this for my own project, in the sense it is very important in our documenta...

Mechanical reproduction is the copying and reproducing of pre-existing images/prints/paintings. In this reading Benjamin seems to be arguing that the rise of mechanical reproduction has killed off the authenticity and the 'distinctive atmosphere or quality that surrounds' the artwork, in other words, the aura.  The rise of mechanical reproduction happened around 1900 where it had 'reached a standard that not only permitted it to reproduce all transmitted works of art and thus to cause the most profound change in their impact upon the public; it also had captured a place of its own among the artistic processes'. This process now becoming frequently used created some issues for Benjamin in the fact that the reproduced pieces of work 'lacked one element: its presence in time an space, its unique existence' and on top of this they would all miss the 'physical changes over the years' that would stay with the original for its existence. He puts this perfectly ...

At the beginning of this module we were asked to choose an individual or a movement for our report this term. I have chosen and been assigned the Dogme 95 movement, this is something currently I would be interested doing my essay; depending on how my research goes for it in my report. I found basic information on them in my previous post.