Readings

Susan Sontag Reflection

Photography is important for showing life through different perspectives. With the use of photography and graphic design I want to represent myself in ways that challenge me as an artist. I also want to express myself in ways that showcase my personality, and photography is a great gateway to highlight my likes and interests without words. In the article, Sontag elaborates on how photography has become important to everyday life and showcasing individual lives and perspectives. Photos become personal with each experience associated with them. Using photography with graphics and text can create a deeper connection with the artist and the message they're trying to tell their audience. The accessiblity of photography also allows most people to capture scenes to share their own ideas, messages and beliefs.

Motherhood in Crisis Reflection

In Kadiatu's graphic novel showcasing her experience with motherhood, the illustrations give a visual representation of her struggles and outcomes through this time in her life. The combination of photography and illustration gives audiences an image of the setting because they may be unfamiliar with it. It represents people and places that may not have been captured by photographs, to fill in any gaps so readers can have. a clear understanding of the story. The use of images sets the tone of the graphic novel as it reminds us that it is sharing the stories of real women and the struggles they face in Sierra Leone. In this case, providing only text to tell these stories instead of the photography and video elements also creates different interpretations. The illustrations and videos evoke emotions from the audience that may be difficult to convey with only text.

Before Technicolor: Early Color on Film Reflection (Extra Credit)

On 10/6 I went to the Museum of Moving Art for the first time and experienced the Before Technicolor: Early Color on Film exhibit. This exhibition showcased different films that used color as special effects. It was interesting to see the different ways films used to incorporate color before it was common. The use and intent of color also differed depending on the film. For instance, in the exhibit one of the films shown was La voix du rossignol (The Voice of the Nightingale) 1923 by Wladyslaw Starewicz. The film used pale or pastel color which created a fantasy and dream-like tone throughout. Unlike Starewicz’s film, the film next to it in the exhibit, L’antre infernal (The Internal Cave) 1905 by Gaston Velle used very saturated red, yellows, and greens throughout the film. The setting and the fire in the film was highlighted the most in contrast to the people as the details of their face, body, and costumes weren’t filled in. The difference between these two films was striking next to each other in the exhibit because of the clear differences in techniques used by the filmmakers. With most of the films in the exhibit, the color throughout the films feels like they’re on top of the scenes instead of in the scenes, details, people, and setting. Compared to films in color, these feel more experimental in the sense that color was added not to present realism, but to create the ideas and tones developed by the filmmakers.

The next two films Sunshine Gatherers 1921 by George E. Stone and Technicolor Test 1954 produced by Pioneer Pictures have the most realism in this section of the exhibit. With the film Sunshine Gathers, I noticed that in some scenes some details would be highlighted with color but the rest would be in black and white. There was a scene with a field of flowers and only the flower petals were in color and the rest of the scene wasn’t. In the Technicolor Test, most of the color was used to represent how people and details of the world actually look in reality. As someone who grew up in a time when advanced technology was already established and being refined, I’m curious to know how these effects used in the film industry impacted its audience and their view of the world after watching these films. The Illustration of Greta Garbo on the Cover of Cinema Arts 1937 by Jaro Fabry in the exhibit showed an in-depth illustration of the use of color within photography and film. To me, color on film wasn’t as interesting as other aspects such as camera angles and dialogue. However, after experiencing this exhibit I have a better understanding of the different ways film uses color to tell and portray stories. I’m also interested to know how these techniques have influenced newer filmmakers and their decisions about color and visual effects in their films. Overall, I enjoyed going to this exhibit and learning about the early use of color in film.