CNN and Al Jazeera

Moscow has increased its number of troops near the borders of two independent, but internationally unrecognized regions in the country of Georgia. CNN writes about it here:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/29/russia.georgia/index.html

Al Jazeera writes about it here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2F438282-A456-40B9-A111-B3151D8FF936.htm

The two images that are used are very different. CNN uses this image:

While Al Jazeera uses this one:

Compare and contrast

Both of these photos were taken during the day under natural light. That is where the similarities end. The CNN image chose to focus on the protest of the Georgians in response to the troop increase in the region of Abkhazia. The central image in the CNN photo is a man holding a protest sign, in English, calling for “Russian Aggression OUT of Georgia.” The black letters on white paper are large and easy to read. As noted before they are written in English: the main language of Georgia is Georgian. Men in the background are holding Georgian flags, framing the sign with red and white patriotism. Compare this to Al Jazeera’s choice of image. They chose a photo of two soldiers walking towards a tank. The soldiers are in very sharp focus while the focus of the tank is a little softer. Framed behind the blurry bars of an out of focus gate. The bars give the image a prison feel; the soldiers and tank give the photo a rigid, military feel. Although images were taken in natural, outdoor lighting, the effect achieved is very different. The colors and the light in the Al Jazeera photo are dull and muted giving it an eerie, impending doom sort of feel. The CNN photo is full of sunlight and bright colors giving it a calmer, less abrasive atmosphere.

Analysis

In regards to which organization provided better coverage on the two, I don’t know. They both brought up different aspects to the story and omitted certain aspects. In fact, I had to do a little research and find out what Abkhazia and Ossetia were and what their relations to Georgia and Russia were. So in informing me what was happening to who and where, they both failed. This story is also unique because it involves Russia and both the United States and the Middle East are watchful and weary of Russia and what it will do next. This enables both sides to portray Russia as the other, but in different ways. CNN chose to present the Georgians in their representations. The men in the photo look very much like a Westerner. Their sign is in English, so we the viewer can side with them easier and more naturally. We relate with their sign of wanting “Aggression OUT” and then relate Russia as the providers of that aggression. The word “aggression” also reminds us of George Bush Sr.’s speech during Desert Storm where he said, “This aggression will not stand.” We relate the aggressors in that conflict as the others and thus the aggressors in this conflict as the other. Al Jazeera has the same effect of “othering” Russia but go at in a different way. They use scare tactics. The soldiers walking towards the camera are confident and intimidating. The tank takes an intimidating feel too; there is an open tube that looks like the barrell of a gun pointed right at us. The bars separate us. We are on the outside looking in. They are in control.

Both Al Jazeera and CNN represent Russia as “the other” in their articles. CNN’s other is a faceless oppressor, while Al Jazeera shows us an intimidating military force.

The Evil Other

For me, one of the most frightening characters ever is Hannibal Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins In Silence of the Lambs (He also appears in the sequel Hannibal, but for the interest of this assignment I’m only going to focus on the original). He epitomizes the idea of “the other.” For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, Silence of the Lambs is about a young detective, Clarece Starling, (Jody Foster) who is on the case of the serial killer Buffalo Bill, who imprisons and eventually skins his victims. Starling is running out of leads so she begins to interview the captured serial killer Hannibal Lector. Lector was a world renowned psychiatrist and important player in the New York elite when he began to kill and eat his victims.

Personal:

He scares the crap out of me. He is a highly educated and well respected man who has a dark secret. He is so well respected he is able to feed one of his victims to friends at a dinner party and they are clueless. His intelligence is his greatest asset; no one suspects that such an amazing psychiatrist would be a psychopathic killer. Afters seeing that movie I became less trusting of just about everyone.

Historical:

Silence of the Lambs was released in 1991. During that time Jeffery Dahmer was caught and put on trial. Dahmer, if you will remember, was charged with 17 murders between 1989 and 1991, some of which involving cannibalism, rape and necrophilia. Although the character appeared in novels much earlier than Dahmer, the timing is pretty crazy. Hannibal Lector originally appeared in the novels of Thomas Harris. In the 1960s Harris worked as a crime scene reporter, giving him some inspiration for the character. Harris says that no one in particular is the inspiration for Lector, but some of the interviews I’ve seen with Charles Manson are very similar to scenes from Silence of the Lambs (although Manson is a whole lot crazier and a whole lot less intelligent). Here’s a link to a Charles Manson interview that is pretty hilarious. I also bring up Charles Manson in this because the hysteria around his crimes is similar to the hysteria around the crimes of Hannibal Lector.

Technical:

I’m going to analyze the youtube scene from the movie I have linked about. In first representing him as “the other” he is strapped to a gurney with a muzzle on his mouth. He is in all white clothes like the ones that we would associate with a mental institution. His eyes are wide and have a crazy look to them. This is in stark contrast to the other characters the scene who are dressed in suit and tie, the women in the scene is also dressed formally. When he is introduced the music intensifies when his name is said and then goes quiet when the camera goes to him. His speech is very calculated and calm. He has a slight British accent laced with a twinge of arrogance; the other characters in the scene have the muted southern drawl of a midwestern accent. Also when he talks, his voice echoes in the buildings loudly. This reminds me of a priest at church, like what he is saying has some sort of importance and that he and only he should be listened to and focused on. The echo also has a morose feel. When he begins to share the information about Buffalo Bill the camera pans in slowly on Lector, focusing on his eyes. This intensifies what he is saying. The shot is edited to the man at a medium close up and when it returns to Lector we are at an extreme closeup. Lectors words have more meaning then the others in the scene because of these closeups. Another thing to notice is the light from the sirens and how it strobes onto Lectors right side. This adds to his criminal feel.

Ethical, Cultural, Critical

Lector is part of American upper class and ends up being a complete psycho. He has an amazing mind in understanding people and crime. The police need him to solve the crimes and find Buffalo Bill, yet they will never let him out. Are they using him? Is this a fair way to treat someone? I don’t know, but I’ve always found it weird that the villain in the story is so disproportionately more intelligent than the good guys. I’m used to the hero being the smart guy. This leads me to my next thought: Is Lector actually the hero in the movie and not Clarece. Although the movie portrays him as evil he becomes the protagonist and central character of the story. The viewer does sympathize with him and, I at least, like when he escapes. I guess this tugs at our own morality versus how the picture is directed–can we sympathize a serial killer? Apparently I can, because he is one of my favorite characters of all time.

That’s Questionable 4/10

In class while discussing the scene from The Shining when Jack is at the party, one student noticed that his glass changes from empty to full and back to empty. Kamila suggested that there was some sort of symbolism alluding to his alcoholic past. I don’t believe this is the case. I think they just screwed up and the ice was melting while they were filming this scene, changing the level of whiskey in the glass. I do agree that everything in a movie is calculated and controlled to a point, but sometimes mistakes are made. This is one of those mistakes.

Movie Scene

Here’s a link to the imdb page http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/trivia

My movie selection is from award winning director of Lord of the Rings ,Peter Jackson. I dug deep into his library and found the zombie epic Dead Alive. Apparently it was released in America as Braindead, but my copy says Dead Alive, so I’m sticking with that. This movie is said to be the “goriest movie of all time” because the the record breaking 300 liters of stage blood used in the scene I am going to analyze. The scene to be discussed is the climax and I think the reason Peter Jackson made the movie. Although it is super gory it is done in a comedic and almost goofy way. It begins at 1:23. To give you a brief summary, Lionel the hero of the film, enters into a room full of zombies that have surrounded his love interest. He walks through the zombies with a lawnmower roped to his body and literally “mows through” the zombies and saves his lady. You can watch it if you want (video quality on youtube sucks) http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tkaz_gT7mAY. Be warned it’s gory. 5 gallons of stage blood were used per second. It pretty much rules. Now down to the analysis of why this scene is so effective (other than that much fake blood would make anything cool…).

Light
The scene is shot indoors and begins with standard lighting. When the door opens a blue light that is diffused with smoke shines from behind Lionel. This gives him a holy, supernatural feeling. Throughout the scene that blue back light falls on him.

Sound
Upon Lionel entering the scene the music shifts from sad, ominous violin music to something that can be described as optomistic and epic. This music stays with him for some time while he is plowing the zombies down, then it stops. The only sounds remaining are the amplified screams of the zombies, the lawnmower and of course the squishes and splatters of blood, guts and limbs as they are eaten by the mower. The second pass through the zombies the music shifts to a walz (seriously) as Lionel dances through the remaining zombies. This juxtaposition of three very different sound choices have drastically different feelings side by side. The first being hopeful, the second being gruesome and the third being downright funny (yes, I’m sick and twisted and get a kick out of this stuff). The sound’s impact on the scene is drastic and changes at the will of the director to convey whatever mood he chooses.

Camera
The scene opens with a smooth follow shot of a zombie head sliding to the door. Next we have a still establishing shot of Lionel as he enters the room. From then on out it is almost all close up and extreme close up with handheld and over the shoulder cameras. This creates an unsteady, unnerving, unruley scene. The audience is forced right inside the carnage, on occasion feeling as though he or she has to duck to avoid blood splatters or zombie arms. You are placed right in the action with no way of getting out. There is wide focus, so you can see everything in its fullest, clearest glory.

Editting
After Lionel begins going through the zombies the shot changes from on to the next very quickly. I never found a shot longer than 3 seconds. All the shots are basically the same idea of gore and carnage from different angles but by constantly changing from one the other instability is created. It also makes it feel like there are hundreds of zombies being slayed (in actuallity this is really low budget movie so there couldn’t have been too many). The editting then cross cuts to the kitchen where Lionel’s love interest has escaped and is pureeing a zombie head in a blender. This creates a break in the action and takes away from the monotony of a dude mowing zombies back and forth. The editting is really effective to convey instability.

History
This isn’t technically necessary but I find it cool bits like this are scattered all through the movie making it really enjoyable to horror movie dorks like myself. The shot with Lionel entering the room holding the lawnmower is influenced by Evil Dead 2 when Ash emerges with chainsaw for an arm. It looks identical except a lawnmower instead of a chainsaw.

That’s Questionable Feb. 28

The helvetica movie.  I think that says enough for a “That’s Questionable” assignment, but since I am getting a grade I will elaborate. 

Who in their right mind makes a documentary about a font?  Seriously. 

Now that damn movie has made me see helvetica everywhere.  I can’t go anywhere without noticing it.  It truly revolutionized graphic design.  This leads me to the next question: when are graphic designers going to use something new?

The next part about this rant goes out to the people at the Toronto Film Festival and the people at the Sundance Film festival who made this movie an official selection.  Do they hate their audiences?  When I saw those stamps on the cover of the film I thought, “It must be good.”  And it was: for about 12 minutes it was very interesting.  But a whole documentary? 

That’s Questionable for the week of March 12

Others have talked about it, and I feel it’s a topic that warrants more conversation.  It is in regards to the video we watched with guest speaker Shirley Sneve on March 6.  The video in question is the one about Osama bin Laden hiding in the desert and the two Native Americans discovering them.  One of the men said something along the lines of “not wanting to turn in one terrorist into another terrorist.”  This hits a nerve with me and in light of the speech Sen. Obama made last night about racism I think it deserves some extra attention.

Early American treatment of Native Americans is one of the worst, if not the worst thing in our brief history.  The actions and policies they set forth hundreds of years ago are responsible for much of the poverty today for those living on the Rez.  It also sets the stage for deep resentment Native Americans feel towards white Americans.

I understand this resentment but I am not responsible for it.  I don’t want to feel like I have to apologize for the actions my ancestors.  In fact, my family immigrated to America in the 1910s.  To paraphrase Sen. Obama in his speech last night, we need to stop looking at each other and seeing what’s best for black Americans (or in this case Native Americans) and start doing what’s best for all Americans.  The joke in the clip played with the feelings of resentment felt by Native Americans towards white Americans.  These feelings at their core are racist and looking at them in a humorous way only perpetuate them and solidify their place in our culture.

That’s Questionable for the week of March 5

This is the first in a series of make-ups for the “That’s Questionable” portion of the class.  Some time has elapsed since questionable things have been said or written, so they are going to be all out of order.

 Questionable this week was the assignment about finding our zeitgeist from high school so soon after high school.  The assignment was good, but it was extremely difficult to find something that felt like a shared experience during high school.  Professor Lenert showed us several pictures from the 60s that represent his time in college.  He was able to do this easily because he has been detached from that time and new zeitgeists have taken hold.  We are not detached yet, and thus had difficulty.  Many of us handled this by doing our own personal zeitgeist and not the zeitgeist of the time.  I think in a few years we will be able to find images that represent a more unified culture.

I guess the counter argument to the reason many of us handled it by making personal zeitgeists is that this generation has been raised with rebellion and individualism at its core.  This has created thousands of subcultures and cliques that may or may not relate with one another and have a different set of experiences than other subcultures.  Each subculture has a zeitgiest completely unique from the other.

Reno subculture

This is a picture that I feels represents the fixed gear subculture in Reno.  As Reno is developing into more and more of an urban place, urban subcultures begin to pop up.  Fixed gear is one of these subcultures.

Personal:

My instant reaction to this photo is that I want to ride my bike.  This is a scene I see almost every day.  The blur of the road gives me a feeling that I am moving (which I was when I took it).

Historical:

There is no historical representation mimicked with this photo, but I do believe that a brief history of fixed gear bikes adds relevance to the photo.  Fixed gears are the oldest form of bicycle.  The chain is connected directly from crank to cog with no coasting mechanism.  Basically this means as fast as the rear wheel is moving is as fast as your feet are moving.  Speed is controlled by the cranks and not with brakes.  In fact many fixed gear riders don’t have brakes.  Because there is no coasting no derailleur can be put on the bike and it is therefor a single speed.  Fixed gear bikes are also called track bikes, as that is the type of bike used in races on a velodrome type race track.  A velodrome is a circular race track with banked sides, for those of you that don’t know.  Now why are a bunch of young 20 somethings in a town with lots of hills and no velodrome riding inefficient bikes that are just as hard to ride downhill as they are uphill?  For years bike messengers in large cities rode fixed gears while they were working.  They chose these bikes for a number of reasons.  First the relative simplicity of these bikes makes it so they don’t break often and when they do fixes are generally quick.  The second (and most important to a town like Reno that lacks a need for bike messengers) is the feel of a fix gear.  People that ride them say that they are more fun than traditional bikes with a freewheel.  I can vouch for that.  I’d rather ride my fixed gear even though it is slower and harder than my other bikes.

Technical:

This photo was taken in natural light in the late afternoon.  ISO 400 f/5.6 1/125.  I was riding my bike at the time so I set the camera at shutter priority 1/125 and went for it.  I chose this speed because I thought it would keep the subject crisp but also would blur the road slightly, creating a feeling of movement.  The subject has plenty of lead room leading the eyes forward.  Graphic vectors from the fence, curb and top tube of his bike also lead the eyes forward.  His body is an index vector also leading the eyes forward.  The photo is shot looking slightly up at the subject giving him a powerful presence. The top of the photo is over exposed, which I’m not particularly exited about but a big part of what I wanted to capture was the energy of riding a bike and I don’t think this could have been done with a set up shot.  Days spent riding bikes are improvised  and that feeling would be lost in a set shot.

Ethical, Cultural, Critical:

I chose this photo out of a stack I took that day because I felt it summed up a feeling of Reno.  The first thing to notice is  the clothes he is wearing sit in contrast with the picket fence.  Slim fit jeans, a tight black hoodie, dangling keys, Vans and a Chrome messenger bag scream urban.  But in the background we see houses with tall trees and little picket fences that look like anywhere in suburbia America.  This shows this subcultures willingness to adopt a big city lifestyle into their own.  The next thing to notice is the lace of bike lanes.  This town has very few and riding around forces fixed gear riders to hug the right side of the road and pray you don’t hit loose gravel or drivers in their SUVs see you or someone doesn’t open a car door and hit you.  Many fixed gear riders in this town don’t own cars.  They say it’s their way of dealing with high gas prices and a easy solution to environmental problems.  This picture shows that there are ways to get from point A to point B in this town without hopping into your car.  There are people out there who are riding bikes not only for fun, but for commutes and errands.

Zeitgeist

I thought a lot about the zeitgeist of my high school.  During the four years I was there, I feel it is hard to knock it down to one encompassing idea that is true for all.  The only major thing that happened while I was serving my time was the attacks on Sept. 11, but that happened during my senior year (while I was deep into senioritus), and it had little effect on how I feel about high school.  I think the only way to approach this assignment is to look into myself and get my own zeitgeist of the time.  Find something that represents my constant, my true happiness while I was there.  That is what leads me to this picture:

To analyze this photo I will use Lester’s approach.

1. Personal:

This is the cover shot from a Transworld Snowboarding 6 years ago. It brings me right back.  Kevin Jones frontside boardsliding the handrail at Northstar.  It has the quintessential yellow jacket, that was all the rage six years ago, draped over one of the best snowboarders ever at nearing the end of his career and still killing it.  Throughout high school every snowboard movie I watched and every magazine I read had this guy in it.  I wanted to be him.  To have his style.  To make a living snowboarding.  I’ve even tried replicating this shot with my friends, but not as well as Kevin.  To me it looks plain fun and captures a part of snowboarding that was just starting to develop.

2. Historical

This is at Northstar at Tahoe Ski Resort in the parking lot.  This shot came from the Mack Dawg Productions video “Technical Difficulties” and was the first time anyone had done that particular handrail.  It has the look of so many other covers of magazines but given the time, this was huge.  I remember people freaking out about this shot and how crazy Kevin Jones is.

3. Technical

The light on this photo is kind of fun to look at, because you can very easily see how it was done.  This is a night time situation so flashes are the only light source.  The key light coming from the left side and lighting the front of Kevin.  It creates attached shadows in his jacket and pants giving them a nice amount of depth.  I don’t notice any use of a fill light, but I do notice a back light that one can see in the upper right of the photo.  This light illuminates not only the rider, but also some of the snow and trees behind the rider adding more information to the picture.

This is a long shot and it’s necessary to use a long shot because it shows the entire length of the rail.  Had it been any closer the size of the rail would have been lost and the image would have lost a lot of meaning.

The rail provides a natural graphic vector leading the eyes to the rider.  The rails point from the top and bottom, easily defining the subject of the image.

The semiotics of this photo are hard to spot, but they are there if you look hard enough.  On his board on the left side is the symbolic sign and logo for DVS shoes.  Having that symbol there probably made the man a couple hundred bucks from DVS shoes.  The snow denotes that it is winter and cold when this photo was taken.

4. Ethical, Cultural, Critical

This serves snowboarders.  It doesn’t have a cultural changing meaning.  It’s not going to save the world, or get someone to better society.  But it does show how to have fun.  Keep in mind this is six years ago, before snowboarding was cool or an accepted Olympic sport.  Shots like this gave kids like me an idea or something to strive for.  It brought together a subculture to one understanding and to one place for what snowboarding is do and should be doing now.

Now my mom would look at this picture and tell me that they are vandalizing public property and what they are doing is wrong.  But a snowboarder looks at this picture and it unleashes a world of creativity about what is possible in snowboarding.  To Kevin Jones he is not a vandal, just an athlete in a sport that wasn’t quite recognized.

Now that I’m off my soap box, I’m out.

Movie Poster

Let it be known this is my favorite movie of all time and choosing it to analyze  was a simple choice.  Now down to the nitty gritty.

The choices in art direction give the two characters an appearance of divinity, but also convey some of the symbols and themes of the movie.

Light:   The first thing to notice with light is yellow lit clouds at sunset (possibly sunrise) that make up the background.    This is not a natural occurring light but it was used in Renaissance and post-Renaissance paintings depicting divinity.  Furthering the feeling of divinity is the back lighting surrounding Walter (John Goodman) and the Dude (Jeff Bridges).  It leaks around the two giving them a yellow glow or an appearance of a halo, two tricks also used in painting to signify divinity.  A diffused key light from the gives them a soft and smooth appearance.  This light was likely diffused to mimic the diffused light from the sun at dusk or dawn.

Composition: The composition furthers the motif of divinity.  The camera is placed below Walter and The Dude giving them a powerful presence.  The photographer placed them just slightly above so that it is not very noticeable and registers more in the subconscious.   The two are placed in the center of the image, taking up the majority of poster.  This makes them the central figures and of the utmost importance.

Vectors:  The artist used a number of vectors to direct movement in this piece.  The one that strikes me as the most powerful is the index vector created from the gun in Walter’s hand pointing to the title of the film.  It immediately moves the eye to the most important feature of a movie poster. The eyes of Walter are another great index vector.  They point directly back to the viewer and create a feeling of confidence and power in Walter.  There are some good graphic vectors at work here too.  The ones that grab me first are the lanes of the bowling alley pulling the viewer’s eye’s back to the pins.  Bowling is a central theme in the movie and it is important that the viewer see it on the movie poster.  These vectors give it that importance and notice ability.   Another set of vectors that I find interesting are created in the unbuttoned/unzipped tops of Walter and The Dude.  I’m not sure if they are intentional, but they do lead to viewer’s eyes to faces of the two.  The Dude’s striped pants also lead up.

Symbolism:  There are many symbols in this poster that give it meaning.  I’ll start with The Dude.  The first is his wardrobe: V-neck t-shirt, dingy sweater, hammer pants, sun glasses, long hair and beard.  The connotation associated with someone who wears this in public is that he/she is a slacker.  In this case, pretty accurate.  He’s got his hands in his pockets, which generally signifies boredom or disinterest in a situation.  Next onto Walter, who I think has a few more symbols with him.  The most prominent is the gun in his right hand.  A gun is an indexical sign signifying violent power.  His crossed arm and confident stance further this sign of power.  The cargo shorts, boots, vest and crew cut hair signify to his military past.  The background also holds many powerful symbols.  The first that I notice is the clouds in the background that wrap around their feet.  This signifies heaven and places Walter and The Dude in that place.  This is an iconic sign depicting them as angels or divinely inspired.  I don’t know of a story in the Bible where a slacker is hired to deliver ransom to group of nihilists, but  maybe I’ll catch it on my next reread.  One more symbol to be discussed, the lanes and pins are a synecdoche for bowling.

Together the image evokes feelings from violence to laziness to bowling to heaven.  At first glance it’s a very simple poster that gets more and more complex as it is looked at more and more, much like the movie itself.