Brandon's Blog

 https://frenchculture.org/events/9921-breathless     This week during class we watched "Breathless" directed by Jean Luc Godard. This film had many surprising and questionable actions by the main character Michel. The first scene begins with him calling himself an "asshole" and we see later why he calls himself that. From the start of the film we see Michel steal cars and kill a cop. Michel's actions do not stop there as he steals money from one of his girlfriends and would leave restaurants without paying.      The scene that shocked me the most was Michel's reaction to Patricia saying that she is pregnant. Michel responded quickly by telling her she needs to be careful and that it definitely isn't his. Michel's treatment of women, especially Patricia, is uncalled for and makes for cringey moments.      There was one scene where it reminded me of a Bonnie and Clyde where they steal the car from t...

  https://www.flickr.com/photos/psychpics/3428948856     A couple weeks ago in class we discussed Hugo Munsterberg and his philosophy behind photoplay. There was also a great YouTube video that better explains the theory of photoplay and how it can play a key role on how an audience may see something. Something that stood out to me during the video was the psychological answer and the aesthetic answer. The psychological answer, is the mental functioning of the cinema spectator and is distinct from that of the theater spectator. The aesthetic answer, is the aesthetic properties and techniques of the cinema are distinct from that of the theater.      After watching through the second act of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I would say that this film used aesthetics to make certain shots look the way it did. One of the more repetitive  techniques used in this film was the darkening of the sides to create a focus on...

       The first chapter discusses many different topics and theories but the one topics that stood out to me was techniques to construct "socially useful art objects-objects that would enhance everyday life" (Art into Life 169). A group of artists came together and created a movement known as constructivism and their slogan was "art into life".      I found this segment of the chapter to be interesting because it seems to me that artists wanted to enhance their work to make it more appealing or entertaining. It seems that they wanted art to be a part of peoples everyday life without forcing people to consume their work. When reading this part of the chapter the first thing that came to mind was Wallace and Gromit. Wallace and Gromit is a claymation that involves characters made from clay and are placed differently in each shot to create a film. It is a unique way of displaying artwork while also making multiple films from these clay cha...