death of the author

This week we analyzed The Shining further and it was really interesting to see how every little thing in a movie contributes to it. When I first watched The Shining… I noticed the television playing but did not really bother to pay attention to exactly what was on it. When we watched scenes again I found it very interesting to notice that while Wendy was alone in the kitchen, the T.V. was playing a news story about a wife who was murdered while she was alone in her husband. If you pay attention to that it really foreshadows the movie.

We then went over The Death of the Author… good job Band 3.. you did great! I was really interested when we were talking about the Author and his work and then relating it to a father and his child. An author creates something then once in the real world it is interpreted in many ways. It is just like with kids. A father will raise his child but when the child is set off in the real world on his own, he is off to make his own decisions and be life to his own interpretations. I also like the idea that Barthes brings about when he says we need to stop brining in authors life and background into their work and just appreciate the work for what it is. Band 3 used the example of Van Gogh’s painting and how whenever you look at his paintings its hard for people not to think about his madness. “The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or woman who produced it.” Instead we should just look at a work for what it is. I decided to include the painting by Van Gough and when you look at it just appreciate it for what it is and do not think about Van Gough or his life.



Amie Orner

written by: anonymous

This week we went further into The Shining. There were so many different aspects of the movie that are hard to notice when you watch it for the first time. One particular thing that was discussed in class was the television. Before the class discussion, I barely even noticed the tv in the different scenes at all. Now that I was informed to watch out for what the tv was saying, I saw how the tv was a crucial part of the scene. The tv was more than just a prop: the words on the tv were carefully constructed to accompany the storyline of the movie. Another thing that was explained in class was the scene with the man dressed in the animal costume. When I first watched the movie, I was so confused on that part. It seemed so random and just put in for no reason. In class we discussed how it was supposed to symbolize the loss of innocence and the perversion of childhood. It was an interesting scene selection and now that I know the reasoning behind it, it makes perfect sense.

This week Band 3 made their presentation on "The Death of the Author". This was definitely one of my favorite readings by Barthes so far. Like Thiago pointed out, I also believe that Barthes theory is correct for writing and text but not film. The intent of the filmmaker is generally always considered in the analyzation of a film. Barthes theory intrigues me because it goes against many things I learned in high school. Many times when we read a piece of writing, we spent time analyzing the author as well. Many teachers have expressed how important it is to read behind the lines and see what was going on in the author's own lives. They said that more times then not, this will help explain why the author wrote about the topic he or she chose. Barthes completely discredits this idea. I do not personally agree with Barthes. I do agree that when you read a work, you should focus on the story and not the author. This will better focus you on the actual story and force you to make your own interpretations. But, I do feel it is important to research the author when you want to know why the story was written in that way. This is also true of artists. A great example of this is Pablo Picasso. When one of his friends committed suicide, he began a period of art known as the blue period. His sadness in real life was displayed in his paintings. Here is an example of a painting that was created during Picasso's blue period entitled Crouching Woman.

Shayna Tucker

Thiago's Thoughts

Last week I wrote that a correct interpretation of a scene required the filmmaker's (author's) intent and that any interpretation a viewer might have that wasn't intended by the filmmaker is not significant. Now this week I had some guy named Barthes try and tell me the exact opposite. Barthe's claims that a "text's unity lies not in the origin (the author) but rather the destination" (the reader). So to Barthes, it's the reader's own interpretation that is important and that "to give a text an author is to impose a limit on the text."

To Barthes, limiting the interpretation of a text to only what the author intended is the desire of the critic (me i guess) to find a "secret" or "ultimate" meaning to the text, and to the critic "discovering the author beneath the work" is the only step in explaining the "ultimate" meaning. But Barthes believes this is impossible since "text is not a line of words releasing a single meaning (the author's) but rather it is a multi-dimensional space in which, a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash." Furthermore, Barthes beleives that in the "multiplicity of writing, everything is to be disentangled, nothing deciphered." So to Barthes, no definite "explanation" can be obtained from analyzing just the author and is also not desirable.

So given everything I said last week, reading "Death of an Author" was difficult because I held a believe that was the complete opposite and so had a hard time understanding where he was coming from, but I guess according to Barthes I shouldn't be trying to understand where he's coming from but where I'm coming from. So here goes:

I still don't agree with Barthes' ideas in "Death of the Author" especially when it comes to film analysis. In film, Auteurism is the belief that the filmmaker is the most important creative force in the work. So i'm a big supporter of this "author theory" especially when it comes to directors who have unique, identifiable styles, such as Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, to name a few who are considered auteurs. When it comes to watching their films, obtaining meaning from the filmmaker's (author) intent is a must.

Maybe Barthes' theory only applies to writing and text and not to film. I thought about this and it did make more sense. When I read a book or novel, I hardly ever think about the author or look up their biographies to better understand the story they are telling. Even author's that I really like and have read more than one of their novels, such as Bret Easton Ellis, I never take them into consideration when it comes to interpreting the story and characters. So, I guess I agree with Barthes when it comes to writing, but not movies.




Here's Patrick Bateman (cristian bale) from the movie American Psycho based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. In the novel, Bateman is a psychopathic mass murderer. So does this mean that the author Ellis is a psychopath too? Probably not.

red rum, red rum, red rum!

This week was definitely my favorite week of class so far. I agree with Thiago in that film analysis requires you to watch movies in a different way. I think it's very interesting to look past a movie at face value. There is so much more going on behind the lines that you fail to notice when you just watch the movie and only consider what is in front of you. The mis-en-scene article we read was beneficial when we watched the movie The Shining. It helped me notice things about the movie that I certainly would not have noticed on my own. As Amie pointed out, the class discussion in which we talked about camera angles was really interesting. It's crazy that the same scene could seem completely different when you change the camera angle and lighting.

The Youtube trailer we saw in class was hilarious. It put a completely different spin on the movie and I absolutely loved it. The rest of the class seemed to enjoy it as well. Like I said earlier, it's amazing how the same scene with little alterations could end up being so different: polar opposites!

I thought the movie The Shining was great. I love scary movies and I had always heard good things about it. It was pretty cool to get the chance to watch it while doing my homework at the same time! Definitely one of the best homework assignments I've ever had! The character typage in the film was excellent. The people in charge of casting the roles did an excellent job. Jack Nicholson portrayed the role of Jack brilliantly. The lady was perfect in that she seemed so fragile and you sympathized with her in why she stayed with Jack. To sum it up, it was a great movie!

Another exciting thing this week was finishing our personal narratives. It was such a long, tiring process but it came out great in the end. My bandmates did an excellent job on theirs. It was crazy to go through my finished project knowing that I created it all by myself. Hopefully all my hard work pays off in the end! ;)

Shayna Tucker

camera work

The Personal Narratives are finally due and complete and I am happy to say I am actually really thrilled with my finished product. I think we all actually did really good jobs. I am now trying to think of what movie to use for Film Memory project.

We had to watch The Shining this week and I have to say I did not enjoy watching it at all. If you are into those kinds of horror movies then I guess it is great, but that is not the movie for me. It is crazy that the mixture of lighting, sound, and camera work can make a movie seem so scary. It was funny to hear how many people actually jumped from the popping of the word TUESDAY… because I did. When we were examining the beginning scene of the film, it is interesting to see that if you were to just film a car with a straight shot the difference it really makes to film the same shot by having the camera zoom in and out and through different angles in a zig – zag fashion. It really makes that scene seem so eerie.

Jack Nicholson was the perfect typage for his role. As Kate said in class his eyebrows and facial expressions were essential to his part.

I thought the trailer we saw in class was hilarious. It so cool how someone could still use every shot that was from the movie, just put it together differently and makes it seem like an entirely different thing. It is actually really funny because as I am typing this, Solsburry Hill just came up on my play list, playing from my IPod.

For my image I am including a site that contains a lot of images of different things that effect your perception of something. Just like how camera work and lighting can drastically effect your perception in a movie. http://www.scientificpsychic.com/graphics/

Here is one of the kinds of images you will see on the site:

The center circles are both the same size.

AMIE ORNER

Thiago's Thoughts

This week we started on film analysis, and I think its pretty interesting concept because it requires you to watch movies in a different way. Usually when you watch a movie, you watch to be entertained, lose yourself in the story, characters, etc, but when you are analyzing film for different elements, it requires active thinking. Instead of just focusing on the plot, you have to focus on different elements such as cinematography and mis-en-scene, and also then have to interpret how the director uses these elements to emphasize a point or add a connoted meaning to the denoted images on screen.




For example, in The Shining, there is a scene in which Jack is overlooking a miniature model of a maze and the scene then seemingly cuts to an extreme overhead shot of Wendy and Danny in the actual maze. So, it's almost as if Jack is overlooking them, and they are small and helpless by comparison. So I think this helps establish a relationship of power (of jack over his family) and also I think it also contributed to a further sense of disconnect between Jack and the other two. So here, extra meaning is derived from analyzing the use of these different elements and might have been missed if you weren't actively "looking" for it.


One issue that I have with film analysis is that it is not objective. In my view, a viewer can interpret meaning in a scene where maybe there was none or where it wasn't the filmmakers actual intention. In my view, if a reading of a scene is not what the filmmaker intended, then it's insignificant. Even my example in the previous paragraph could be over analyzing on my part and finding meaning where there is none. So film analysis is subjective to a viewer's own knowledge and how they use it to interpret a scene. Your reading of a scene could be entirely different than mine. Therefore, it's ambiguous as to who is correct. Is each viewer's individual interpretation correct? Is the majority opinion correct? or does a reading require filmmaker's intent for it to be correct? This I don't know, and why I believe film analysis is not objective.

Thiago's Thoughts

Personal Narrative Week

First of all, I'd like to point out our new layout and group name. I think the new layout looks slicker and simpler, so good job Amie, for working on that. I also like that we finally have a group name that defines us. The Procrastigators is a great name. Combines our love of procrastination and being a Florida gator. The image also is a funny touch, combining our faces with gator bodies, and we all look pretty relaxed and laid back just like veteran procrastinators. So again, good job Amie on working on these things and giving our group a better self image. The motto also fits us well, since even though we might stall to get things started, we will eventually get things done. And getting things done is exactly what I've been doing all week.

For example, I did not make it to class on Friday because I was busy finishing up project for two other classes--these other projects also kept me from working on my personal narrative, but I made sure to get all those other projects done, so that I would have the whole weekend to work on my personal narrative. Like Shayna, I too have been having problems implementing my ideas. In my head I have an idea of the way I want the page to look, but actually getting the page to look that way takes a lot of time since I don't have much experience with Dreamweaver and Photoshop and been having to rely on reading online tutorials to get things done. For example, I wanted to embed a video of a scene from a movie onto my page, but to do that (i learned) required several steps including: downloading the whole movie, converting it from .avi to .wmv, using Adobe Premiere to cut the desired scene, converting the file to flash form, and finally embedding it onto my page. All these steps took several hours and it was just to accomplish something that overall will have a small role in my personal narrative. But, this hasn't been frustrating because I'm actually learning a lot about web design, photoshop, etc. and it's one of the reasons I signed up for this class. So even though I don't mind that it's taking me a long time to learn how to do something the way I want it, I just hope that I will be able to get my personal narrative the way I envision it by Wednesday, when it's due.

I checked out my bandmates pages and both their pages look very good and it looks like they're both almost finished. Shayna's looks like it's almost done and I really like her layout, especially the menu buttons she created on top of each page. I'm really curious as to how she accomplished that and even tried looking at the source code to get some answers, but nothing. I guess I'll just ask her. Amie had a similar effect on her page, by having the same image on the bottom of every page that leads back to the home page. I think it's a cool idea and I might use something similar to help people navigate on my site. Only thing I want to point out is that Shayna, check your "Future" page, its text is the same as your "Past" text.

Also for this project I've been busy getting into contact with family and friends from Brazil to get them to scan pictures I could use for my project. It's been fun talking to them (some of my friends I haven't spoken to in years), explaining to them my project, and remembering the memories I have with them. These memories where further brought out when I received the scanned pictures. Also, since we are only limited to 20 MB of space on the plaza server, and since I felt that I needed more space for my project, I had to find a way to get more space. But internet space is not free, but luckly I have a friend who owns some web space and he gave me 200MB of space to use for $10. So now at least I don't have to worry about not being able to do everything I plan on doing due to limited space.


This is a candid picture I took on my built in webcam of me working hard on my project. See how focused I look? Maybe just pissed off.

You betcha that was a heck of a debate...

Right from the start, Palin continued her quest to be the average hockey mom. When she walked on the stage, she shook Biden's hand and asked if she could call him Joe. That simple line was indicative of her whole persona. When answering questions, Biden was direct and to the point. He sounded professional and knowledgeable. Palin was aiming to be more likeable. She used informal speech throughout such as "I betcha" and "heck of a lot". During her response to Biden's claim that McCain said the economy was great at 9 a.m. and then at 11 a.m. he said there was an economic crisis, Palin even went as far as winking while she said "that's what McCain meant by that." In the next question about who is responsible for the subprime mortgage situation, Palin begins her answer with "darn right it was the creditor lenders." As the debate wears on, certain points get heated. During the question on tax policies, disagreement is very evident. Palin is more on the offense, stating many negatives about Obama. Biden goes on to disprove her accusations. I feel he handled her attacks very professionally. Throughout the debate, Palin would look down at her notes after Biden would speak. This occurred several times. All her speeches appeared to be premeditated. It is almost as if she was told to stick to her notes and add a little "average American" flair to it. Ideas and concepts didn't seem to be her own. Biden just appeared more prepared. Palin seemed to sway the question to topics she was more comfortable discussing. To sum everything up, Palin's "average folk" approach backfired and Biden remained cool, calm, and collected. I would be way more confident having Obama and Biden leading our country during a time of economic crisis than an old man and a hockey mom. I am including a link to the debate for your comedic pleasure! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89FbCPzAsRA

Shayna Tucker

Venting...

To start out with, I'm going to offer a disclaimer: I've had a rough time with my Web site, so this blog is a little lengthy. Enjoy!

Creating my personal narrative has had so many ups and downs. In the beginning, I really enjoyed the creative freedom of the assigment. I was having fun learning about the different things we could do to manipulate and mold a Web site based on a vision within our own minds. During labs, I felt comfortable using Dreamweaver after the in-depth explanations given by Kate. Everything was much easier than I thought! My happiness only lasted so long.

On Thursday night, Amie and I decided to go to the library to work on our projects together. I opened up Dreamweaver and continued working on my Web site. Everything was going great! I then decided to open up my Web site on Internet Explorer to check my progress. This is where all the trouble began. None of my images were working! How could this happen? They were all working before and in Dreamweaver and now, NOTHING! To be honest, I freaked out. There was nothing more I could do in the library because I didn't know how to fix the problem. I knew I had to ask Kate the next day in class. I left the library around 11:00 p.m., but I still had one problem to deal with. On Fridays, I finish class at 2:45 and I was supposed to head straight home after class this particular week. My whole family is in town from Los Angeles for the weekend and my sister has a huge performance in South Beach that I need to attend. How was I going to be able to leave for home after class when I had to finish my project?! I don't have Adobe Dreamweaver on my computer. I looked online about purchasing it, but it was VERY expensive.

My first instinct was to call my dad. Ever since I was little, he has always been the one to bail me out of my problems. He suggested I call Marc, our family computer fix-it man. He gave me the number and I called. He told me I would be able to download a free 30-day trial straight from the Adobe Web site. That sounded perfect! Little did I know, the worst was yet to come!

The next day in class, I described to Kate my issue with the disappearing pictures. She told me how to fix the problem. I now felt comfortable driving home. I was just informed how to fix my dilema and that I would be able to use Dreamweaver on my own computer at home. Problems solved...right? Wrong.

After my classes were done for the day, I packed up my car and made the long, 4 1/2 hour journey to south Florida. When I got home, I immediately went to the Adobe Web site to download Dreamweaver. File Error...that can't be right! I tried it 23498729843 times and the same message came up every time! I immediately called Marc the computer man again. He tried doing it on his computer and received the same message. Of course the only program on the whole Web site to have problems would be the only one I needed! He told me to download another html editing program called CoffeeCup. It took a little bit of time to figure out, but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Yes I know that sounded very tacky, but for my own mental health I need to make this situation better!

To sum it all up, I enjoyed actually making the Web site, but not the headache that came along with it. Hopefully all my hardwork pays off (wink wink Kate...an A!!). I am including a picture of me on Friday night. ;)

Shayna Tucker

blog 4

As I mentioned in my first blog, our layout of the blog was just a temporary thing. I decided to change the layout of our entire blog and make it black. I know that you guys will be so sad that Celly is gone, but I took the liberty to go further with Thiago’s idea of Procrastigators. I found pictures of all of us and put our heads on different gators. I think this suits us so well because everyone in our group procrastinates with everything. When I check out the blog we always seem to have submitted our blogs the last possible minute, but we do always end up submitting them. The due date for the personal narrative is coming up and luckily I was able to fix some problems I’ve had with it. The other day I was not able to just apply a link to a picture without the website also appearing. It’s great what you can do on the Internet. Today I searched google, “applying a link to a picture,” and a multitude of sites appeared. I clicked one and used the code it told me and now my links are working great. For some reason also my one of my tables were not working out. I ended up just deleting that table and redoing it and now it is working great. Shayna and I were at the library working on ours the other night so I was able to see some of hers and it looked really good. She then loaded it again randomly and none of her pictures appeared. So hopefully she can find a way to fix that. The film, Night and Fog, that we saw today was definitely one of the most graphic movies on the Holocaust I have ever seen. It was very hard to distinguish if it was a documentary or nonfiction film, with some of the footage that was included. An interesting concept to this film that also makes it different than other Holocaust films is that this was is about, “Need to remember and impossibility of doing so.” Other Holocaust films are you must remember. It is very important to keep watching Holocaust films. The Holocaust is just so unimaginable that the idea just needs to keep being reiterated so people do never forget especially since there are not many people left that were actually around during that time. Future generations need to be informed. The image I am including is a poster from Holocaust Remembrance Day. Even though this film states, “the impossibility of doing so,” it is so important that people make it possible because this event can never be forgotten. 

Amie Orner