La Jatee

I thought this was a very interesting work. It was different from normal films in that the story was told through a collection of still images, which changes how we perceive and interpret the film. At the end I got the sense that the movie was similar to the film 12 Monkeys, and found out that it was indeed a remake. The individual shots themselves reflect the directors attention to lighting, symbolism, framing and what he is trying to specifically convey. While it was apparent that it was a lower budget film (indeed maybe it was more of an art piece than a film), it still was fairly well orchastrated and organized.

It was interesting to see the parallels between student work and the real movie. The classis general tendency to pick the most interesting frames seemed to coincide with the most important frames in the movie. Many of the relationships student's saw also matched up with the relationships in the movie. To me this says that the students are improving in their ability to think about time and movement, which will immesurably help them for their image projects.

McCLoud Reading Questions
1. The spaces in between panels, the size of a panel and the number of panels a moment in time occupies affects how long we as viewers perceive that space to appear to be.
2. McCloud describes closure as the mental process by which motion is produced BETWEEN panels.
3. Single images can have a duration if some indication is made for movement, as explored by Futurist artists such as Giacamo Balla and Japanese manga artists.
4. The duration and dimension of a panel or sequence of panels can be defined by various types of motion lines and the effects used to link or separate frames from one another.
5. Time can be suspended by either presenting a frame with no clues as to its duration or by 'bleeding' a panel off the page, making it escape into timeless space.

Embedded Criteria

Embedded Criteria are criteria, aka guidelines to follow, that are present inside ones work of art. For example, if I were to do a performance piece, my 'embedded criteria' could be specific rules governing what actions or movements I make. In a traditional art piece, they might be boundaries or limits as to what u can create visually and aesthetically. Embedded criteria can help to guide a piece towards having a sense of unity (or disjointedness, if thats what one wants.) Without any embedded criteria, a piece of art can seem to have no direction.

3 things i learned in class:
1. Techniques for conducting research for my project
2. The concept of an art piece can be just as important as its form
3. Having a personal connection with a piece will generally improve its overall quality

what dreams may come...

I have begun a dream journal, in the hopes that I will better remember my dreams. Most of the time I don't remember them at all, or rather forget them instantaneously. My friend Ben showed me a website about 'lucid dreaming'(), meaning being able to be conciously in-control of one's dreams. This sounds like an amazing experience/possibility, so I am going to pursue it. Sadly I only remembered one small detail of the dream I was having as I woke up, but I am confident more will come...