Roland Barthes - Camera Lucida

So the piece of Roland's refers to the aspects of photography (and to us as it relates to cinematography) and how the power of any image is based around the minute details. He describes this as Studium and Punctum.

Studium, Barthes describes as being the general details in an image to either will make you like or dislike an image, those that capture attention without much power.

Punctum, Barthes describes as being the fine details in the image that will either make you love or hate the image. They capture attention with extreme provocation. Punctum, as he notes, is a detail that one cannot really stage to be if it isn't on it's own.

Using these two elements, a photograph (or to a much grander extent, a scene or film) can be made into a pure medley of  interest, which in itself, is the base of true magic in image.

OK so Roland Barths piece is on photography which is related to cinematography and so we can try to apply these principals to our work.  So when I refer to photography in this case I mean both photography and cinematography.  There is an interesting point where Barth's describes two terms, stadium and punctum (both from Latin) to try to talk about the information in the images and the effect it has on the viewer.

Punctum is what makes a photograph interesting to the viewer, your point of understanding... Studium allows us to experience the photograph.

He mentions the camera obscura which proceeded photography.  I think we had an understanding of the ideas in an image before we get to photography and even painting.  But, Barth is trying to create a "clarification" of these ideas.

Surprise is expounded on and in some ways I think we part in thinking here for the high speed photo that stops time and reveals something interesting is a perfect example to me but Barth in unimpressed.
Finally he gets to the point that "Ultimately, Photography is subversive..."

Barth then goes on to talk about the importance of detail. and how this can provide the punctum for an image.

Finally it all boils down into the "eye of the beholder."

Will not be in todayhttp://richlanddvsummer2013.blogspot.com/

Shooting film. Actor not able to arrive until today. Will try to be in to class if finished shooting early, but unlikely to finish early.

Here is my assignment 4 on sound editing.  Enjoy.

http://vimeo.com/68877728

TED Playlist: The Power of Film

http://www.ted.com/playlists/66/the_power_of_film.html

Exercise 4: Sound Editing

Exercise 4 Sound Mixing from Richland Digital Video on Vimeo.

Soundtrack Video Uploading to Vimeo.

The Birds - Custom Audio from Hunter Murray on Vimeo.

Technologique - Video de Musique from Hunter Murray on Vimeo.

More thoughts on Eisenstein's montage writings...  The idea of a tonal montage was something new to me, but after seeing the scene from Battleship Potempkin in class I have a better appreciation for the idea.  It is representative of the idea of using the feeling of light or darkness to convey more information to the viewer.

This was also used on Hollywood films back in the 40s to the 60s in a technique called "American Night","La Nuit américaine in French and Amerikanishe Nacht in German." Filming was actually done in the daylight but with a blue filter, the film could then be under-exposed,  to make a scene look like it was night rather than day.  There was a "typical" indication that the technique was being used in that there would be shadows.  I think we just all were supposed to assume moon light but the crispness and depth of the shadow was only possible from sunlight.  This is how the technique could be recognized.

However, the illusion actually worked quite well.  And it can be seen in a lot of westerns from that period.  In 1974 a film was made that used the technique in the title: "American Night","La Nuit américaine in French and Die amerikanishe Nacht in German"  From the Wikipedia web page translated from German:

The film is a special method is used, which simulates the viewer night, although that scene was shot on the day. This filter trick is Day-for-Night called (or even American night). Here, a blue filter is placed in front of the lens and the aperture of the camera blinded down one or two levels.

The American Night is devoted to the Gish sisters ( Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish ).

Sequences from The American Night in 1978 found use in Truffaut's Love on the Run . From Scriptvolontärin Liliane is now alleged flashbacks Christine's friend Liliane, who has a brief affair with Antoine. In a dispute between Liliane and Alphonse from The American Night is Claude Jade as Christine mounted so that the impression that the scene actually belong in the Doinel cycle .

Mathieu Carrière said the texts of the German audio description for film in 2003 by Arte was created.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_amerikanische_Nacht

The point of all this history is that this technique can be used to create another type of Montage, which Eisenstein refers to as Tonal Montage, cutting from a daylight to a night shot or from an interior to an exterior night shot to support the movement of the visual story.  But, "American Night" keeps the image in the story and provides the detail to support the flow of the story.

Color Correction Using After Effects & Photoshop

This is one more way to color correct footage.
http://devowe.com/blog/2011/how-to-color-correct-in-after-effects-the-right-way

Richland College Digital Video Class Summer 2013 Exercise 3: Found Footage

Richland College Digital Video Class Summer 2013 Exercise 3: Found Footage from Richland Digital Video on Vimeo.

Responses to the Four Readings

Kino Eye - Dziga Vertov >I find that in The Kino Eye, Dziga persuades the audience of the power of film as a better way to capture life, and to turn that into collage that is inhumanly perfect; to "create a man more perfect than Adam." He claims this is achieved by capturing various images disregarding space and time. "From one person I take the hands, the strongest and most dexterous; from another, I take the legs, the swiftest and most shapely; from a third, the most beautiful and expressive head - and through montage, create a new, perfect man." To an extent, this is true. It is possible to create a man however you may desire to, yet is he really man, or a figment of imagination? Metaphors on Vision - Stan Brakhage >In this excerpt, Brakhage seems to be profoundly - or possibly profanely - attempting to assuage mankind of his fears, claiming that the "elimination of all fear is within sight," and that it must be aimed for, as it leads to an increase of ability to behold. I, however, strictly disagree, finding that fear opens our senses much more acutely in both auditory and visual cases. He ends his rant with the early history of fear in art, explaining how cave paintings depicted fearful scenes, more than likely out of desire to help the early humans to be less affected by the fear in the situations they might encounter (eg. having adrenaline boost when encountering a ravaging boar, but not being petrified with fear). The Ontology of the Photographic Image - Andre Bazin >In this excerpt of What is Cinema?, Bazin goes into detail of the history of the "plastic arts", as he so puts it - a broad category covering a range of things such as photography. He concludes that if analyzed, it may be found that the act of embalming was the forefather to these arts. He explains this as such: in Ancient Egypt, embalming was meant to preserve the body after death, as that was how they believed one could live on eternally. The art of painting is similar, as man first began as a means to preserve moments so as the memory of them could live on forever, but evolved to surround people of high birth, whom used it as a way to feel eternal in life. However, he states, when a rendering in art gave way to photography - a duplication of the outside world - painting followed the path, splitting between religious, glorified realism and true realism. As such, art is no longer about recording life, but about creating a world. Methods of Montage - Sergei Eisenstein >In his writing, Sergei states the basic ways that montages can be arranged, each differing based on which order of images may take, ranging from Rhythmic to Tonal. He also notes how Metric Montage is characterized by a "rude, motive force," similar to that of a metronome. It tends to exert a motion upon the viewing audience, capable of taking force in both meta-physical and physical realities. The second, a Rhythmic Montage, is based around the alternation of beats in a standard fashion. The third category is tonal, described as the emotional rhythm in montage. Fourthly, and lastly, is what he described as "a fresh flood of pure physiologism, as it were - echoes, in the highest degree of intensity, the first category, again acquiring a degree of intensification by direct motive force."

The Kuleshov Effect

It's slightly cheesy but I hope yall like it! :)

https://vimeo.com/68410544

The Most Famous Surrealist Film: Un Chien Andalou

Luis Buñuel: UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929) from cinema.antifono on Vimeo.

An interesting analysis of the iconic film: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/bunuel6.html.

A Foot Too Far - The Kuleshov Effect

A Foot Too Far - Hunter Murray from Hunter Murray on Vimeo.

Exercise 2: The Kuleshov Effect

Richland College Digital Video Class Summer 2013 Exercise 2: The Kuleshov Effect from Richland Digital Video on Vimeo.

This is a 1 minute video test upload to Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/68353170

Are we there yet?

Link to an interesting lighting article

Here is an interesting article on lighting... There are two videos on the page.

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/opale-henri-georges-clouzot-music-video-light/#more-57246

"Photography threatens fantasy" - Taryn Simon

Responses

Here are my responses to the three articles.

- Halbert Bai

Ersatz Reality in "The Ontology of the Photographic Image"

In his perspicacious article "The Ontology of the Photographic Image," Andre Bazin exhumes the roots of the photographic image while considering the evolution of painting. He alludes to inexorable clashes between existence and abstraction that culminate into entropy and the degeneration of reason (a theme even more relevant today than in the early half of the twentieth century). By grasping the complexity of reality and illusion, Bazin writes with a deep ratiocination of humanity while remaining rooted in the temporal world. He understands the irrationality of the human condition that forces us to adopt means of preservation. Moreover, through our continuing study of the most essential question, "What does it mean to be human?" Bazin perceptively states, "Today the making of images no longer shares an anthropocentric, utilitarian purpose. It is no longer a question of survival after death, but of a larger concept, the creation of an ideal world in the likeness of the real, with its own temporal destiny." This progressive idea may have been mostly true in Bazin's era, but the boundary between reality and fantasy has become jeopardized with the advent of new technology. We can no longer differentiate among painting, photography, and the moving image. Bazin argues, "Photography and the cinema on the other hand are discoveries that satisfy, once and for all in its very essence, our obsession with realism." The era of photographic realism and credibility, however, is over, instead these visual mediums are on a level playing field, competing to capture the essence of humanity as conduits of culture.

Visual Perception and Imposed Social Bastions in "Metaphors on Vision"

Driven by a tendency to curb innate fears and seek meaning, man establishes manifestations of lost innocence in social order to provide boundaries and conventions of behavior and thought. In Stan Brakhage's "Metaphors on Vision," he exposes the genesis and transformation of original naïveté and the implanted delusions that corrupt our perception of reality. These misconceptions are evident in hallucinations: "Allow so-called hallucination to enter the realm of perception, allowing that mankind always finds derogatory terminology for that which doesn't appear to be really usable, accept dream visions, day-dreams or night-dreams…allowing that the abstractions which move so dynamically when closed eye-lids are pressed are actually perceived." Moreover, Brakhage pushes us to fear less and "[become] aware of the fact that you are not only influenced by the visual phenomenon which you are focused upon." And once again, the essential question "What does it mean to be human?" rises out of the ashes of neglected innocence and forces us to consider the limitations that come with curbing animality through rigid social bastions while our latent desires tell us otherwise.

The Visual Compass in Kino-eye

In a telling excerpt from Kino-eye, Dziga Vertov presents the power of imagery and montage to communicate more effectively. He argues that by overcoming the limits of self-imposed rules and through the use of our mechanical eyes, we can "create a new, perfect man." In an exploration of time and space, the camera acts like a compass that establishes order within chaos. Furthermore, by verging "away from copying," we can create montages that synthesizes the most concrete perceptions of the world.

Stan Brakhage “Metaphors on Vision” - I was interested by Brakhage's take on fear. “Elimination of all fear is in sight”. I have never thought of fear that way. Also, it seems like he is disappointed with the works of today, as he feels that we do not have an acceptable grasp on the concept of fear. “The earliest cave paintings discovered demonstrate that primitive man had a greater understanding than we do that the object of fear must be objectified.”

Andre Bazin “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” - What Bazin talks about in the beginning reminds me of cryonic preservation- people trying to preserve their bodies, wanting life after death. I feel like no matter what time you are in, there is always something people are trying to do to avoid their end. Bazin talks about the styles different artists would use in their works in earlier times- expressionistic vs realistic. Then he goes into photography. Towards the end he talks about how photography has let realistic works decrease (because they were both kind of there to accomplish the same thing- a reproduction of the world as it is seen) and also let the expressionistic works to increase.

Well the video class is off to a quick start as we are shooting video and looking at the FinalCut and Premier Video Editors from Apple and Adobe respectively.  Finished reading chapters 3, 4 and 9 in the text book.  Next up reviews of the papers from the server.

Kinoeye - Dziga Vertov. This boils down to one astute and important concept.  The motion picture camera has the capability to shift us in place and time. This makes it possible to see the truth that we can't experience directly.  Actually a pretty cool idea.   And, in it's time as revolutionary as montage.  The guys politics (which riddle the paper) are interesting to think about, too.  If he only knew what 90 years would bring...

The Ontology of the Photographic Image -  André Bazin. Art is a means to escape death.  Painting and statues came from our need to leave a legacy.  Something that is part of being human. I found the article was a little pretentious and in some areas touched on sarcasm, i.e. The footnotes on page 12.  The author makes the  point that there is a conflict between the realism of a photograph and the style and representation in a painting.  Then he asserts that the very realism of a photograph gives it additional veracity.  Then he uses the term... hallucination... but the point is that the existence of the photograph and logically the cinema is also a fact.  The images captured are a reality that transcend space and time. (Back to our buddy Dziga Vertov) Once something is captured the fact of its existence allows for that existence to be sufficient in and of it's self.  The existence of the original object (person) does not diminish the images value.

Metaphors on Vision - Stan Brakhage. "...yet in these times the development of visual understanding is almost universally forsaken." And that just about sums up his viewpoint. We use the properties of the image to deal with fear.  "The artist has carried the tradition of visual and Visualization down through the ages."  But then Stan charges, "In the present time a very few have continued the process of visual perception in its deepest sense and transformed their inspirations into cinematic experiences."  The point is we deal with the big fears in our lives with images...

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I will be a bit late to class today. I hope that is okay

Hello All! This is the course blog for Richland's Digital Video summer 2013 course. The primary use of this blog is to post your responses to readings, like the Dziga Vertov writing that you are assigned to read by Friday. Please post pictures, videos, links to news stories, etc that come to mind or illustrate your points. When you make a new post, there are buttons that allow you to do so above the text area. You can also use it to post your projects, links, or anything you're interested in sharing with the class. Enjoy! See you in class!