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Relationship between media and society
Relationship between media and society
Relationship between media and society
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Taking Pictures:
“Taking Picture” focuses on several Australian film makers, and the films they made in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s-90s. It displays the Western tradition of studying and recording other people's lives, raising questions about illustration and filming in a different culture. For anyone who has watched the films discussed in "Taking Pictures," the video is a penetrating and thoughtful analysis about the realities, politics, philosophies and aesthetics of producing documentaries in other cultures. It investigates the issues and drawbacks of filming across a cultural border line. This film captures the liveliness and flaws of a nation shifting from a recessive society, to a youthful nation in the modern world.
“Taking Pictures” begins with the visually unforgettable and captivating film of frightful and impressed New Guineans seeing Caucasian men, the kids at the shop excited at being interview , while the women with them, were acting shy at being filmed, responding the questions with laughter. This innocent interaction is interrupted by an angry man demanding to see...
The film Jindabyne, is a story about death, marriage, and race in an Australian town in New South Wales called Jindabyne. In the film, four men go fishing, and one of them discovers the dead body of a young indigenous girl. Instead of reporting what they found to the police immediately, they decide to stay and continue fishing. They decide that there is nothing they could do for her, so they tie her legs to a tree and continue with their fishing, reporting the death only when they return home. After they are done with their weekend of fishing and report the incident, conflict starts, as the men are criticized for not respecting the dead. Through the story of the town’s reaction to the four fishermen’s response to the dead girl, the movie shows Australia to be fragmented and divided over white-indigenous relations.
One of the first representations encountered in the film Jedda is the portrayal of Australia as a tourist destination in the exposition of the film. This glorified view of the landscape is conveyed to the audience through the use of bold visual images and birds eye camera angels. The visual images, as well as portraying Australia as a tourist destination, also adopt the romanticised Hollywood view of the landscape that many American westerns use to emphasise their appeal to an audience of European background. An example of this romanticised view can be seen in the incorporation of camera shots of landscapes such as rolling planes of dry grassy land, and areas of steep rocky hillsides. This style of filming has been incorporated into the exposition to highlight the drama, beauty and primeval nature of the landscape, and to entice the audience into continuing to watch the film. The films documentary-like voice-over also contribute...
Beyond the Lights, is a romantic drama film Directed by Gina Prince-Blythewood. The film premiered in September 2014 at an international film festival held in Toronto, and this followed by its release on November 14th, 2014 in the United States. The film is one of the strangest music industry romance based films, alternating between the entertainment business, wisdom and heartfelt flourishes. Yet, Gina Prince-Blythewood manages to show all the elements of her play into an irrefutably entertaining package.
On October 14th, 2016 in class we watched “Two Spirits” by Lydia Nibley. Basically the film explored the cultural context behind a tragic and senseless murder of the main character. Fred was part of an honored “Navajo” youth who was killed at the age of sixteen by a man who bragged to his friends that he was nothing but a “fag”. While walking home from a carnival he was chased by one of his friends. Once his friend caught up to Fred, he pulled him down from a mountain and smashed his head with a heavy rock. Fred laid there for five days straight where two young boys found his body lying there. He was labeled as a “two-spirit” who was possessed of balancing masculine and feminine traits. In the film, there are two parts that are put together effortlessly like the people it discusses. Most of the documentary focuses on Fred’s murder, but the real issues in the film were those of the lesbian, gay, and transgender community and how its members were viewed in a
Curtis’s work represents the ideological construction of foreign cultures in the 'way of seeing' that is suitable for the audience of the photograph and the photographer. This illustrates the highly political motives of photograph, carrying multiple meanings in order to craft certain imaginations of the subject (Berger, 1972). As a result of the power that the photographer has on its subjects, certain messages and ‘way of seeing’ are depicted through photographs. For instance, expected gender roles are played out in photographs of the Indian subjects, portraying the expectation of Curtis and his audience of the masculine and feminine behaviour by the subjects conforming to such gender standards (Jackson, 1992). Indian men are captured in what Jackson (1992) describes as ‘active poses’, such as fishing or dancing, juxtaposed with the ‘passive poses’ of female subjects, photographed in more decorative postured of waiting and watching. Though it can be argued that the manipulation and selection of images by Curtis as an artist’s ‘creative manipulation’ of their work, Curtis’ photography was used as a scientific measure, and hence should be devoid of such influences (Jackson,
These difference in opinions can lead individuals to new attitudes and insight. The central protagonists of ‘Go Back To Where You Came From’ majorly hold stereotypical Australian ‘leftie’ views which empathetically convert in typical right hand perceptions. This is the case when Raye is further propelled into her journey of discovery through the exposure to the Malaysian midnight raids. This event challenged the Australians on their perceptions of illegal “in transit” refugees, by witnessing their capture and arrest. This change in perspective towards the Malaysian “shadow world” is brought about by their newfound introduction into the traumatic, confrontational experiences of Maisara and the attachment with the “in transit” Chin people. The hand-held camera footage frequently cuts between the participants and the raid to mirror the chaotic and disorderly nature of the assault. When transitioned to Raye, a medium shot reveals her shaking her head in disbelief, and frantic repeated stuttering of “I don’t know. I don’t know”. Her acute tone of agitation and body gestures suggests that she was overwhelmed by the inhumanity and abrasiveness of the raids, again forcing her to confront her views on refugees. Raye grows an empathetic heart for the refugees on her journey of discovery encompassing direct confrontation with their plight of despair. On the other hand,
The 1989 film Do the Right Thing displays a story about racial tension in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. Spike Lee not only directed and produced this film but he was also the main character, Mookie. In spite of maintaining these three jobs, Lee incorporated cinematic techniques that allowed his film to unlock controversial ideals for both Caucasian and African-American viewers. Through the use of camera elements Lee was able to display emotions and tone of the scene without using stating it directly. Lee exhibited film methods such as low-angle shots, close ups, slow motion and panning.
Within the German Democratic Republic, there was a secret police force known as the Stasi, which was responsible for state surveillance, attempting to permeate every facet of life. Agents within and informants tied to the Stasi were both feared and hated, as there was no true semblance of privacy for most citizens. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to spy on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to see the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's use of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
The film Sunset Boulevard, presented in 1950 is a black and white film. The film is about Norma Desmond an old actress, who has issues accepting that she is becoming old. The main actor in the film is Gloria Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, an older woman who believes she is still young. Desmond is not content with the fact that Hollywood has replaced her with younger actresses. The next actor Nancy Olson, plays Betty Schaffer who falls in love with Gillis despite being engaged to his friend. The third actor is William Holden who plays as Joe Gillis, who has financial problems and decides to turn himself into a gigolo to earn money. The dilemma with Joe is he does not want Betty to know about his job because he knows he might lose Betty as
Smoke Signals, directed by and starring Native people, ushered in the golden age of Aboriginal cinema. The story was not about what occurred one hundred years ago but about current-day “nativeness,” where there are no stereotypes and no stoic Indians.
“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!” (Sunset Boulevard). The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder focuses on a struggling screen writer who is hired to rewrite a silent film star’s script leading to a dysfunctional and fatal relationship. Sunset Boulevard is heavily influenced by the history of cinema starting from the 1930s to 1950 when the film was released.
The world before her is a film of hope and dreams for Indian women. We examine two girls with different paths but one goal in common, empowerment. This term conveys a wide range of interpretations and definitions one of them being power over oneself. Both Prachi and Ruhi manifest a will for female empowerment but both have distinct views on how this is achieved. Prachi believes the way to achieve empowerment is through her mind and strength, while she still confines to tradition views of Indian culture. Ruhi desires to achieve female empowerment by exposing her beauty in a non-conservative way while maintaining her Indian identity.
1980. Warner Bros. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Music by Wendy Carlos and Rcachel Elkind. Cinematography by John Alcott. Editing by Ray Lovejoy. With Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd.
The importance of ethics when making a film is paramount. They exist in the filmmaking world to “govern the conduct [because] no hard and fast rules suffice, (Nichols, 2001). As Bill Nichols has argued, the essential question to consider when making a documentary is “How Should We Treat the People We Film (Nichols, 2001)?” The welfare of the people who participate in the film is vital to recognise because they are “cultural players rather than theatrical performers, (Nichols, 2001)”, they are conveying is real life according to them. Each of their movements and words are not scripted, and are real. A filmmaker is documenting their actual lives because they believe that the value lies in presenting something of interest to themselves and to its audience. It is because of this reality that the issue is much more important because it “adds a level of ethical consideration to documentary that is much less prominent in fiction filmmaking, (Nichols, 2001).” People are portraying their real selves and are not masked by a personality that has been asked of them to depict by a director. What must also be considered is how attending to the ethics of filmmaking is the benefits that it holds for the filmmakers and the audience. “Ethica...