Considering Narrative Voice in Documentary Film

1. Considering the articles you've read for class today, which documentary mode or modes does the film borrow from? Please explain specific elements from the film to support your observations.            

Thing to remember using experimental documentary expository and poetic mode, the film uses photographs combined with emotions and feelings. The film also uses a very unique automate narrative voice to tell the story, and a Non-linear way to present using cuts and special editing ways to show the documentary, such as the elements of flashing images and slowly dissolving photographs of landscapes. 

2. Why do you think the filmmaker chose to automate the voice of the narrator? What does it add or detract from the film?             

Personally I think the automate voice of the narrator is very different than a real human narrator. When people read some thing, they would somehow add their own feelings and understandings in their voice, however, the automate voice tells the story in a cold emotionless feeling. Automate voice is very inhuman, similar to a direct quote and fact from dictionary or Wikipedia, which make the real historical contents of the film even more serious and believable. The robotic voice making the historical event “the atom bombing Japan” seems hyper-realistic, as if its such a truth that nobody can deny.

3. What were some of the more experimental aspects of the film in terms of image and storytelling?     

The film tells the story between America and Japan, and the influences on both side when the atom bomb happens in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of experimental images seamlessly connects two worlds into one, drives the audience back and forth, and provides strong contrast to each side. The flashing images sequences of wings and images, which symbolizing flying and preparation of the bombing; and the slowly dissolving mountains transferring into another mountain, brings the audience into a surreal state of mind, as if someone just woke up from a tremendous event.

"Blood For Oil" on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"

1)       "Blood for Oil" is film studies scholarship that supports its argument by thinking through metonymy.  What is metonymy and why is it important for analysis and creative practice?

The mentonymy is the substitution of the name, of an adjunct for what that thing meant, a word that stands for another meaning. Metonymy is important because it symbolize a certain meaning, like a metaphor but in a more mysterious way. In creative practices, using metonymy can create a deeper meaning through out the whole film, leading the viewer to think and feel the metaphoric theme of the piece.

2)      "Blood for Oil" studies scholarship that is new historicist in its framework.  What is new historicism and why does it matter?

        “New historicism concerned with ideological products or cultural constructs which are formations of any era”. In “Blood for Oil”, the author brings up new historicism which describes the dark and filthy culture background and political influences in the movie “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.

3)     The article begins with an analysis of the written and aural components of the film’s opening.  Why?  (This analysis carries through to the analysis of Franklin, the generator, and the chain saw itself).

          The article “Blood for oil” starts with an opening text to illustrate the tone to the movie, which is very important for the reader. Because it establish a feeling showing what is coming next, which gives us a broader outline of the film

4)      Corporate signage figures heavily in the argument.  Why does genre matter to how we think about corporate signifiers? 

      The genre of the film categorizes as a horror film. The film use scary settings and characters to give the audience a motivation to find out what is the cause of all this absurd coincident, why is these horrible bloody things happening to the normal teenagers? Which lead to a very unique point of view of storytelling.

Romeo Juliet Film response

Romeo Juliet and Prince of Cats

Romeo Juliet and Prince of Cats

The literature classic Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare has been told in different media for countless times. It is such a high concept love story that everybody would understand it. People from different time period and different background, would read it and analysis it in their own unique way.

It is shocking to see such a diligent romantic story could be portrait in such a dark stylized way. Prince of Cats, a Brooklyn ghetto version of Romeo and Juliet, immediately took my mind into the world it creates. I couldn’t help thinking of the original story and the plot from the Shakespeare’s version when I was reading Prince of Cats, however, it is almost impossible to make the connection between both world even though the story is both about two young lover, Romeo and Juliet. Even though both characters from the literature and graphic novel uses “thee”, “he who” and “verily”, it seems a little unbefitting and confusing.

The Drawing from an artist standpoint is very stylized and successful, saturated neon color with detailed line work, which perfectly illustrates the disorderliness and violence in the world.  However reading the original version of Romeo and Juliet, we can somehow sense the darkness undertone of their society too, the pain of separating from your love because of family conflicts, death of the cousin and friends, and eventually death of the young lovers. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet brings us a glimpse of darkness in the 1500s of Verona.

Even though both of the story has a dark undertone to it.It would be easier to recognize them as two completely different pieces, and try to make strong connections between them. In my opinions, both of the versions are fascinating in their own way. However, making the transition of adapting such well-known classic literature into a stylized graphic novel can be difficult.