Dec
4
PaRappa the Rapper
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The video game I’ve been playing is called PaRappa the Rapper and yes, its as fun and hilarious as it sounds. Its a Japanese rhythm game, with a similar skillset to that of guitar hero in that the player’s goal is learning to press the right buttons as the on screen avatar gets better at […]
Nov
13
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 […]
Nov
12
Parametric Possibilities
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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? […]
Nov
10
The Proposal
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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 […]
Nov
10
Video Ventures
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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 […]
Nov
10
Dream language
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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 – […]
Nov
6
Narration across the election
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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 […]
Oct
26
When (story) worlds collide – The Singing Detective’s grand finale…
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The world of Potter’s Singing Detective may not be three dimensional visually speaking, but in terms of storylines, the world opens out in three distinct directions – often using the same actor to represent multiple characters in various settings of time and place. The three worlds that are woven together are the present hospital world, Marlowe’s […]
Oct
20
Narration across Daniel Johnston
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In my endless pursuit for productive procrastinatory activities, tonight was a good night all in all. I finally watched a documentary I’ve been wanting to see for a long time, called The Devil and Daniel Johnston.videosearch?client=safari&rls=en&q=the+devil+and+daniel+johnston&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title# For those of you who don’t know, Daniel Johnston is a mentally challenged Jesus enthusiast, musician and cartoonist. He’s more or […]
Oct
20
Finkin’ about influences…
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Leslie’s post about echoes of Weimar cinema in Barton Fink got me thinking about influences and associations. I found an interview with the Coen brothers which sheds some light on this matter…its sort of long so I’ve included some highlights… “Well, whatever. Let it suffice to say that Barton Fink does a tantalizing job of confounding an […]