Contextual Studies - The Impact of Technology on Art

In our most recent contextual studies lesson we looked at technology's effect on art. The main question we asked was whether technology has destroyed or enhanced arts/life. We had a look at what the world was like before photography, film or computer animation arts.

We looked at three philosophers in the lesson; Walter Benjamin, who said technology was having a bad impact on art, Marshal McLuhan who states that 'the medium is the message', and Jean Baudrillard, who had an interest in hyper reality, and how that could lead to losing contact with the real world.

The arts, however, was trying to do something that technology is now doing today - it wanted to make things realistic for the viewer. This is achieved easily by CGI in the modern day. We also looked at the development of self portraits now that technology has been introduced. We looked at Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and then the latest development of selfie sticks. Looking at these examples, we noticed a difference behind the meaning of self portraiture: Van Gogh is trying to capture emotion, Warhol is trying to replicate images, whereas taking a selfie is all about looking good.

So, do we care more or less for the images we create? I think we care less. It's easy to take a quick snap and then delete it if you don't like it. If you were taking a photo with an older camera it would be a painstakingly long process to get a perfect photo. However, nowadays if you take a bit of a rubbish photo you can always enhance it using Photoshop. Before, we couldn't do that, so photographers had to be very precise and skilled.

We also had a look at reproduction. The Mona Lisa has been reproduced many times, had lots of photos taken on it, and been put on Google. So why would you go and see the real painting if you've already seen it online? The answer is that most people wouldn't. By using reproduction in this way you are losing the uniqueness of the image.

The last thing we looked at was the 'Avatar' blues. It is the concept that films are so amazing that when you've finished watching it and go back to your less amazing life, you actually end up more depressed than you started. Movies are becoming a kind of escapism for people, and some viewers would rather be in the movie than in real life. This is a problem because more and more of the population will be left longing for something that they can't have. Are we becoming too reliant on film in this way?

Contextual Studies - Rabbit in The Headlights

In this contextual studies lesson we looked at how film communicates different concepts. We learnt the definition of semiotics, which is the study of signs, and how this is used to signify different things in film.

We got a few different points on how to 'read' and image for film review:
-colour
-light and shade
-form
-composition
-line
-tone
-setting
-symbolism
-character analysis
-reference to other paintings or films
-image context and content

We also took some pointers on what the main components are in a film review:
-condensed plot synopsis
-background information of the movie if needed
-set of arguments and analysis of those arguments
-evaluation
-motivation (how it is composed, etc)

As well as this, we learnt about different functions of film reviews; for journalism, advertising, criticism, and rhetoric. After this we had a look at mise-en-scene and what this means. The definition of this describes everything that appears on stage - props, characters, even the set.

We used our new knowledge of what mise-en-scene was to analyse The Wizard of Oz. We looked at the use of colour in the film and how it corresponds to the birth of technicolor. The set design also says a lot about the film and the time it was made in: all of the props are plastic and fake, and unrealistic. In a period where times were hard for the people in America, it was nice to escape to a crazy, colourful world of Oz where they could try and forget about the nightmare of daily life. Sound is also something that plays a part. There are two kinds of sound; diegetic, which is when you hear the real sounds that go on in the film, or non-diegetic, which is when you hear sound imposed over the top of the footage you're watching.

We were asked to work on our essays and they're due in this week, so I'll post that up onto my blog soon too!

Contextual Studies - Genre Part 2

In contextual studies we had a look at documentary and melodramas. We started with documentaries, having a look at where it all originated from. There are actually paintings that are used for documentary practices, something which I found interesting because I'd never thought of a painting being used in this way before. The common perception about documentaries is that all of the information in it must be true. However, we found out this wasn't the case. Even before things like Photoshop and editing, photographers would often manipulate objects in the scene before taking a photo. One example of this is Matthew Brady's picture called Federal Dead on The Field of Battle. It was taken in 1863, and is shown below:

Obviously this photograph was taken before the editing technology that we use today had been developed. For this reason, many people might take it as truth. However, Brady was working for a specific newspaper that wanted him to portray the opposition as the enemy and the Federals as the innocent: to do this, Brady manipulated objects in the scene. It is a common thing after a battle to take anything of value from bodies, and Brady has made that rifling seem a lot more prominent than it actually was, which then makes the people the Federals were fighting look like the bad guys stealing from dead men, even though this wasn't the case!

We also covered the five different types of documentary; expository, observational, interactive, reflexive, and performative. They each have different functions and roles in the wider genre and we learnt about what each of them mean and examples of this. A few interesting videos we watched was the trailer for Loving Vincent, and Adam Curtis documentaries. I'd like to watch the full clips at home if I get the chance!

Contextual Studies - Genre Part 1

In our last contextual studies lesson, we went over genre. Studying genre means that you can analyse films more effectively. Genre influences how objects are designed, including costumes and environments. It also helps to show the connotations and meanings generated through the design of these elements.

We looked at a lot of remakes during the lesson, where we watched all of the trailers for every Alien film that has been released so far. We were asked to consider how it has evolved politically and globally, and how time changes influence how the genre has grown. For example, sci-fi that was make in the 1950's isn't the same a sci-fi today.

Genres are set patterns that film makers follow, to give the audience something they want with their movies. It also conveys different messages about society depending on how the plot of the story pans out. For example, we watched the trailer for When Worlds Collide (1951), and looked at the happy ending of the film. During the time this film was made the US was in a great depression and was in the Cold War. The message from this film is telling society that it's all going to be ok: it's giving people what they want to see and hear. This pattern is reflected through a lot of movies, both recent and old.

One interesting thing that we noticed when going through all of the Alien trailers was that they are all the same but with different characters each time. This creates certain expectations of what the film will be like and how it'll end, which conditions the response the audience will give. I found this really interesting, because although it's essentially the same film re-recorded over and over again, where the character fights the alien and survives in the end, it's still hugely popular today. Genre can offer solutions and reinforce social values by offering imaginary responses to real problems.

Contextual Studies - Essay Presentation

Contextual Studies - Realism

In our last contextual studies lesson we looked at realism, marxism, and propaganda. We talked about the different kinds of realism: visual realism; aural realism; realism of motion; narrative and character realism and social realism. We learnt about what each of these meant and also had a look at other thing that aren't realism - photo realism, magic realism, and hyper reality don't fit the definition of realism.

We also talked about the features realism include. What people consider to be realism isn't - soaps and kitchen sink dramas may be perceived as realism, but there's too much action for it to fit into that description. Realism would actually be quite boring, with a lack of drama to reflect how we would live our every day lives. We learnt a few more definitions in the lesson like:

Marxism - Meaningful to society, art should have a function

Semiotics - Language of symbols

Ideology - Expectations, a subtle form of propaganda.

For our next lesson we need to make a presentation about the essays we have chosen to write. More to come soon!

Contextual Studies - Back to Basics Part 1&2

I wasn't well for the contextual studies lesson last week, so this week was a bit of a catch up for me. I learnt that last week was 'Back to Basics Part 1', and we looked at avant garde, which is part of early modernism. It describes new and interesting change, things that haven't been done before. In film, this could mean experimenting with the camera or editing, or even changing the narrative around to have the end first, then the beginning, and then the middle! At first there is a shock factor to avant garde work, and then it gets accepted into mainstream society.

In yesterday's lesson, which was 'Back to Basics Part 2', we looked at surrealism as a feature of avant garde. Surrealism has some example like 'Beauty and The Beast', or 'Spongebob': it describes objects coming alive when they usually inanimate. Psychoanalysis also links in with surrealism, so we moved on to learning about this. Psychoanalysis is research into dreams and mental state, looking at our conscious and unconscious thoughts. We learnt about Sigmund Freud, who analysed what was going on in people's heads. All of this relates to film in many ways: it covers violence and sexual topics, repressed taboos, and other subjects that are not generally talked about/heard of. It talks about fantasy vs reality, and there are examples of this in the film 'Inside Out', where it's very surreal: you're inside someone else's head, trying to figure out what is real and what isn't.

Freud interprets dreams and fantasy, and the impact on culture and intellectual life. We then looked at the short film 'Destino' which was a collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, a surrealist artist. I found it extremely interesting, and I'm seriously considering writing my contextual essay on 'Destino'. The features include the characters morphing, the environment becoming dreamlike and changing, and things being generally 'weird'. One of the reasons I really enjoyed 'Destino' is because you can distinctly see the two styles of Disney and Dali combined.

After this, we watched 'Un Chien Andalou', which is a banned short film made by surrealist artists. There were a lot of violent and sexual connotations to it, and the most disconcerting thing about it was that there wasn't an actual story to it! That really annoyed me, because every single film usually has a story it in. However, it really made me understand surrealism and psychoanalysis a bit more: how it's meant to make you feel uneasy and like something's wrong.

I found this lesson very interesting and I was glad I was able to catch up on the lesson I missed easily. I'm going to do some more research into 'Destino' as it was an incredibly captivating film, so I'm sure there will be an update soon!

Contextual Studies

Today we had our first contexts lesson and I found it very interesting, so decided to do a quick blog about it. We were given the brief to write an 1000 word essay by December, which I think is very possible in that time frame. I would like to write my essay about post-modernism in film, but I don't have much development on this idea yet.

What really captivated me was when we had our first lecture, where we were helped to really look at different inspirations for our Invisible Cities brief. We were introduced to a few different ideas, and I've made a small list of things to consider when attempting my next thumbnails:

• Angles
• People - who lives there?
• Map
• Style of time period
• Does it tell a story?
• Level of detail
• Utopia or dystopia?

One subject that also really interested me was the concept of 'non-places'. This is a phrase used to describe a place where human beings remain anonymous and where they do not hold enough significance to people to be described as real places. For example, a bus stop or a supermarket could be described as a non-place. This is something I felt really drawn to, and I'd like to explore this further in my next thumbnails for Invisible Cities. I now feel a lot more inspired after this lesson, and I can't wait to get started on some more drawings. More to come soon!