Analysis of "The Sneeze"

"The Sneeze" by Thomas Edison Company was easily one of the most amusing films I've seen all year. It gave a new definition for what is considered short and sweet. The text in the beginning was used as a build up with an elaborate explanation of what happened and how it was supposed to happen. This build-up is what tricks the viewer into thinking they're about to see a long drawn out film of a sneeze and analysisfrom any angle or aspect. The four second clip of the actual sneeze would not be as effective or humorous without the immediate appearing of the text "The End". For me this is one of the most early examples of how editing and quick cuts and completely change the overall feel towards a film. Had the ending not followed the shot right after it was over I do not think it would have been as effective at making it funny or pointing out how overly explained it was.

Connecting "Duck Soup" and "The Way Things Go"

After seeing Duck Soup and The Way Things Go I found them to have a lot of similarities. In The Way Things Go I thought there were "characters" that kept re-appearing in each seperate reaction such as the spinning garbage bag, the tire, or the little car with the candle on top of it. Not all these objects are used in every sequence kind of establishing their place in the film and what their role is. This is obviously similar to Duck Soup because not all the main characters are used in every scene. The movie is mostly a collection of several short scenes with two or three characters playing jokes and pranks on each other until the scene is over just like how the objects react with one another to make a final reaction.

Artist/Interventionist "Andy Warhol"

For this blog assignment I chose the artist/interventionist Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol is known for "Pop Art", avant-garde film, and painting with the intent of creating rare and new work that no one has ever attempted or seen before.

3 Facts

1). Warhol made over 300 Underground Films, the first of which was called "Sleep" and simply showed a man asleep for 6 hours.

2). In 1968 Valerie Solanis shot him in the chest, she was an ex-employee at "The Factory". Although escaping with his life, Warhol had to wear a bandage for the rest of his life.

3).

Discussing Frampton's Formula

For this blog assignment, I chose to evaluate the film "Love's Refrain". Since Frampton's formula is based on whatever you see most in the film is what the film is about (which makes logical sense) it does however pertain to, as Kevin said in class, the sound aspects of the piece. For me when I see a silent film, I tend to hear the sounds of what is going on as though I'm auto-correcting it to make it seem right to me. It reminds me how the brain fills in the blind-spot in your eyes so that you see fluidly.

Anyways, if I were to choose a word to describe this film it would be silence. Sadly, in contrast to Frampton's formula, I'm not sure if this can be related to the film overall because it's like saying, "I saw the screen the most, therefore that's what the film is about." However if this silence therefore make me hear a distinct sound repeatedly throughout the film, shouldn't that be what I believe the film to be about. In conclusion, I think that Kevin's statements are what really disprove Frampton's formula because it can be looked at in many layers and ways. In order for the formula to work in my opinion there needs to be boundaries such as within the film or within the viewing space.

Body Worlds Milwaukee Public Museum

A few weekends ago, I had a chance to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Turns out it wasn't creepy at all. Rather than thinking that every body was once a living person, they all just seemed to look like models to me. They're was obviously some artistic vision put into these because they were mostly positioned to what type of person the body belonged to. In all honestly, I believe this artistic interpretation actually hurt the exhibit. For me the exhibit was supposed to be about the science of bodies including the muscle system, joints, or the nervous system. When they had a normal muscle system of a person standing up and the muscle system of a football player being tackled, you were supposed to be able to see the different muscles in use on the football player. Honestly there was no difference and the outrageous position of a body made up only of muscles just sort of added to the fakeness of it all. I think the most effective way the artist could have portrayed the bodies as real was finally seen at the end of the exhibit by a body that was cut into 5 or 6 layers from front to back and everything was included such as skin, hair, and visible tattoos. This really gave me the impression that this person was once living and I think it was that layered appearance the artist gave it that made much more of an impact that the ridiculous poses of just muscles and bones.

3/24/08 Lecture

I chose to analyze the image of the dump trucks unloading the rocks into the water during the construction of the actual spiral jetty. In relation to the film, we see the completed spiral throughout most of the film including the film. For me this shot was really the only one which showed the construction of spiral and how a man made object can look so natural and connected with nature and the surroundings. This shot was really the only one showing machinery, being the dump truck, reminding us as viewers that this was man-made and that man-power was really the only way for something like this to happen in nature. I think this can be viewed as both a good and bad thing. It is good because it helps ground us by knowing how it was made but bad at the same time because it ruins that illusion and mystery about it and not allowing the imagination to dream up the ways it could have been formed. After this shot in the film, I believe it was followed by the creator sort of jogging the entire spiral until he reached the middle from a helicopter's point of view. I think this technique should have been used in the dump truck scene rather than the eye-level view because it would have put the spiral jetty into perspective more of it's actual size. A helicopter view shot of the dump truck would have also contrasted nicely of the man jogging shot earlier stated.

Table Top Video

Artist's Statement:
My goal for this project was to demonstrate the use of colors and music together to show how they can come together in an interesting way. I wanted it to start out with no color in the shot and then by the end, have a large variety of colors making up the shot.

Consideration of Performance:
After my performance I thought it went fairly well. I had only practiced with using the actual colors once so I was a little unsure as to how it was going to go a second time around. I wanted to make sure I didn't put two of the same color right next to each other which I think I did a good job of that. Since I was rushing around so much before my performance, my hand was shaking most of the time during the video. I think this might hurt the project since I wanted the feel of a smooth and steady flow with the song.