Month: November 2008

The poetic use of the dream world in cinema is a classic mode of narrational style. With frequent use, it has become somewhat of a cliche – of an “easy way out” that people chalk up to laziness, pretension, and predictability. But in certain ways, the dreamworld provides an opportunity for two simultaneously existing universes…Continue Reading The Wizard of Oz and Mullholland Drive

Parametric narration transcends movements – time periods – filmmakers. Professor Mittell raised the question of whether or not its useful as a way to read art films. Do we use these to map the text of the film, or do we take these films and try to fit them into the parameters of these theories?…Continue Reading Parametric Possibilities

Narrative presentation in Robert Bresson’s Pickpockets and Jean Luc Godard’s Vivre sa Vie After much consideration, I have decided to ground my work in the work of two filmmakers I greatly admire. My paper will address the similarity in technique, formal elements, and theoretical construction of Robert Bresson’s Pickpockets and Jean Luc Godard’s Vivre sa…Continue Reading The Proposal

I was very impressed by the projects that came out of this assignment – especially in the variety of techniques and aims used to articulate different interpretations of already existing material. The Scott and Leslie took a precise approach in constructing an entirely different narrative out of disparate parts of the show – playing with…Continue Reading Video Ventures

In the strange and rather arduous process of re-narrating Simple Men, I have found that the imagery of a movie, when re-arranged like puzzle pieces, can produce some very profound juxtapositions. The thematic echos of framing, composition, and audio refrains become distilled and illuminated in the re-arrangement of parts. The persistent presence of newspapers –…Continue Reading Dream language

I haven’t owned a television in four years. During the recent election madness I have watched alot of tv, and the experience has been both fascinating and somewhat bewildering. I was particularly struck last night on CNN, when Anderson Cooper appeared on a studio set, talking to a hologram. Its potent metaphorical value for the political…Continue Reading Narration across the election