Koyaanisqatsi- Godfrey Reggio
My final revew is of one of the more famous experimental videos, Koyaanisqatsi.
The title, translated from the Uto-Aztecan language Hopi, means ''crazy life, life in turmoil, life out of balance' and the film reflects that well.
There is no real structured story in this film, just a series of cleverly films scenes pieced together over a soundtrack by American classical music composer, Philip Glass. The scenes depict life moving from cave people to modern life, with some scenes moving slow and others moving really fast.
So mentioned already the video is shot over a soundtrack, but this music is not actually in the scenes so it would be classed as non-diagetic.
The idea behind this video is enviromental, it is about how humans have ruined that which is organic and natural and how our lifes are moving so fast when it could be much slower without technology. In Godfrey Reggio's words,
"These films have never been about the effect of technology, of industry on people. It's been that everyone: politics, education, things of the financial structure, the nation state structure, language, the culture, religion, all of that exists within the host of technology. So it's not the effect of it's that everything exists within [technology]. It's not that we use technology, we live technology. Technology has become as ubiquitous as the air we breathe..."
After watching this movie I was a little bit confused, it took me a while to work out what message was trying to be brought across. It was, for lack of a better word, a little boring but it was impressive how well made it was and the music was seven shades of awesome.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Experimental Video Review #4
Doll Face- Andy Huang
This is one of my favourite experimental videos as it combines both craft and concept to get its point across.
The story is about some kind of mechanical face that tries to copy the images that it sees on a T.V screen. The screen moves further and further away and the face tries to get closer and closer so it can keep on copying the images. Eventually the T.V moves too far away and the face breaks itsef because it cant get close enough.
The film is shot completly using CGI and is very sleek and modern. There is no real sound in the vide except for some music and sound effects, the little sound there is could be described as diagetic as the sound fits the soundtrack.
The idea behind this video in my opinion is that we as people are obsessed with looking how people on the T.V tell us to look and that we will go to extraordinary lengths to copy these images even though it is practically impossibly due to the amount of airbrushing and photoshop used in the media.
As I said at the beggining of this review, this is one of my favourite videos as the point was clear and I got it nearly straight away. It made me feel like you dont need to try and look like the people on T.V because you just cant.
This is one of my favourite experimental videos as it combines both craft and concept to get its point across.
The story is about some kind of mechanical face that tries to copy the images that it sees on a T.V screen. The screen moves further and further away and the face tries to get closer and closer so it can keep on copying the images. Eventually the T.V moves too far away and the face breaks itsef because it cant get close enough.
The film is shot completly using CGI and is very sleek and modern. There is no real sound in the vide except for some music and sound effects, the little sound there is could be described as diagetic as the sound fits the soundtrack.
The idea behind this video in my opinion is that we as people are obsessed with looking how people on the T.V tell us to look and that we will go to extraordinary lengths to copy these images even though it is practically impossibly due to the amount of airbrushing and photoshop used in the media.
As I said at the beggining of this review, this is one of my favourite videos as the point was clear and I got it nearly straight away. It made me feel like you dont need to try and look like the people on T.V because you just cant.
Friday, October 10, 2008
First assignment- 800 word analysis
Experimental media might not be for everyone. It requires thought, patience and an open mind... there are many different ideas and hidden messages in experimental videos, for example Andy Huang's 'Doll Face'. The message behind the video was that we, as human beings, are so obsessed with the media and looking how the people on the T.V look that it can lead to our self-destruction. John Smith's 'Girl Chewing Gum' has a similar message but is presented in a slightly different way. Whereas 'Doll Face' was made using CGI (Computer Generated Images), 'Girl Chewing Gum' is all about concept over craft, it shows the narrator as a voice of power who tells you what is happening. The message behind this story is you shouldn't just go along with anything the media tells you. Similar messages, different methods of getting them across. 'Telling Lies' by Simon Ellis is also about not believing what you hear, but it is more about what people really think than what the media is trying to tell you.
Some people would not like 'Girl Chewing Gum' as much as 'Doll Face' or 'Telling Lies' because it is an older piece (it was made in the 70's) and is less pretty and was made on a considerably lower budget, but this does not mean that the message is any less stronger or important. Even tthough 'Doll Face' may be easy on the eye and 'Telling Lies' may be more comedic and these two may appeal to the masses more, they are all as good as each other. No one is better or more right than someone else in experimental media, especially if one was made a couple of years before the other. In fact in my opinion this makes it even more cutting edge because it was made before it's time. In experimental video if you want to get a point across you do not need to spend tons of cash, you just need a clever idea and a camera.
Storylines in experimental media do not have to follow a simple narrative. The beginning, middle and end do not have to be in order, or it does not need them at all. For example in 'Koyaanisqatsi' there is no conventional plot, just an assortment of cleverly photographed scenes. It has a more complex and different structure to some, for example 'Doll Face' has a clear beginning (where the face starts to watch the T.V), middle (where the face tries to copy the images on the screen) and end (where the face gets broken because it tries to follow the T.V when it moves away). There is no need for a simple structure, it may make it easier to understand but those videos without it still get across their message.
I have a few ideas on what I might do in my experimental video now I have seen a few others. I am thinking of doing things a little differently in my experimental video (as you do). I want to create a piece that shows that life isn't insignificant or passing us by. I want to show that life can be GOOD and POSITIVE if only you just let it. I havn't got a lot of ideas on how I am going to show this but I know what message I want to get across.
When we watch videos as a class there are usually a lot of different reactions. This is good because an experimental video is not supposed to have a clear message, you are supposed to think about it a bit and make up your own conclusion as to what it means, just like in art. When you look at a painting you don't have someone telling you what it is supposed to mean, you have to work it out yourself.Experimental media is what you make it. If a certain piece hits close to home and you think it has a certain meaning than you cant be wrong, that's what makes experimental video so easy. It is hard to critique because it might not mean something to you but it might to someone else.
Some people would not like 'Girl Chewing Gum' as much as 'Doll Face' or 'Telling Lies' because it is an older piece (it was made in the 70's) and is less pretty and was made on a considerably lower budget, but this does not mean that the message is any less stronger or important. Even tthough 'Doll Face' may be easy on the eye and 'Telling Lies' may be more comedic and these two may appeal to the masses more, they are all as good as each other. No one is better or more right than someone else in experimental media, especially if one was made a couple of years before the other. In fact in my opinion this makes it even more cutting edge because it was made before it's time. In experimental video if you want to get a point across you do not need to spend tons of cash, you just need a clever idea and a camera.
Storylines in experimental media do not have to follow a simple narrative. The beginning, middle and end do not have to be in order, or it does not need them at all. For example in 'Koyaanisqatsi' there is no conventional plot, just an assortment of cleverly photographed scenes. It has a more complex and different structure to some, for example 'Doll Face' has a clear beginning (where the face starts to watch the T.V), middle (where the face tries to copy the images on the screen) and end (where the face gets broken because it tries to follow the T.V when it moves away). There is no need for a simple structure, it may make it easier to understand but those videos without it still get across their message.
I have a few ideas on what I might do in my experimental video now I have seen a few others. I am thinking of doing things a little differently in my experimental video (as you do). I want to create a piece that shows that life isn't insignificant or passing us by. I want to show that life can be GOOD and POSITIVE if only you just let it. I havn't got a lot of ideas on how I am going to show this but I know what message I want to get across.
When we watch videos as a class there are usually a lot of different reactions. This is good because an experimental video is not supposed to have a clear message, you are supposed to think about it a bit and make up your own conclusion as to what it means, just like in art. When you look at a painting you don't have someone telling you what it is supposed to mean, you have to work it out yourself.Experimental media is what you make it. If a certain piece hits close to home and you think it has a certain meaning than you cant be wrong, that's what makes experimental video so easy. It is hard to critique because it might not mean something to you but it might to someone else.
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