Ex. Credit : Irish Men (shell)

The Irish men that came to the shell were fantastic. They really let Centenary see the folklore of the Irish. The flag behind them really allowed them to bring Ireland to us. They danced and really got in to their show. I left feeling happy and bouncing all over the place because of the way they sand the songs and taught us of Ireland. I would love to visit Ireland someday. I did not get to go to the "after show" because I had some homework I needed to finish but I bet it was fantastic.

Ex. Credit : Mikado Opera

I went to see the choir's production of Mikado which is an opera comedy. The visual art that I saw was that everything was red and the center was black which drew you to the black because of how the lines of the sides of the set pieces were arranged diagonally to draw you to the characters of the play. The audience had to have left feeling wonderful, because of how funny and relaxing the opera was.

Film Studies

Samuel Becket is a talented actor/director. He is Irish and left Ireland in the 20s-30s. He moved to Paris and was in Paris during the experimental film era. He was considered one of the 20th Century's greatest play writes. He was very interested in the theater of the absurd. There are collections of his plays that people have put on film. One of these is Breath which is a ball of mess. Hospital bed, bed pans, cigarettes, and other items that would be found in a hospital with someone who may have lung cancer or emphysema. There were little things that were noticed in the film. The cigarettes were placed very intelligently in a swastika formation. It was kind of scary because the breath sound made me think of The Grudge, a movie with the same sound when something bad was going to happen.

This chapter is mainly about what film is. Film is a narrative story that gets a psychological identification with the viewer. It is simply light and shadows where as a photograph is more tangible. The illusion of reality is shown in film through manipulation of time. Films are like dreams which is why we enjoy movies with the lights off. Films are mythological meaning not that they are lies or fake, but stories. A shot is a serious take before the film is edited. Sequences are several shots with the same goal in mind by the cast, editor, and director. Classical Hollywood Cinema means that Hollywood is a business. Some people may see it as an art, seeing the story with form and lines and reason. In Madonna's "Like A Prayer" video, a lot of controversy was brought over the struggle with religion and racism. An interpretation of the video may be seen as Madonna's character having a struggle with a religious experience. The icon comes alive and essentially makes love to Madonna which is seen by the innocent kissing and passionate touching when he whispers in her ear. It ends with the icon not being able to do anything else and Madonna has to take over and do what is right. Films tell stories and make a statement about something as well.

Chapter 9: The Photograph as Fine Art

When photography is a fine art, we see it with more of the lines, texture, form of the photograph. Some nude photographs are seen not with the individual but with the way the photographer captured the lines, texture, and the form of the object. People, history, or places are not what is important in this kind of photography, but the picture itself. When the reader looks at the photograph, it looks for a message or text, but can only see the beauty in the picture not really much more. They get lost in the dark negative space and such.

Chapter 8: Documentary Photography

Taken in the twentieth century, photographs taken for the soul purpose of "remembering" what happened during these times. Some may say that this is the most intimate form of photography. There is a great bond between the on-looker or reader of the photograph and what the photograph is saying, or showing. These may be scenes from disasters or wars, people helping or a political campaign. I like the photograph called Sharecropper's Home because it shows us how the sharecroppers lived.The news papers on the walls as their wall paper. It is very similar to Interior of a Black Farmers House that was taken around the same time. The older furniture and the clippings on the walls from newspapers, show us how they lived and what they went through. The photo of the migrant mother crys out, "Sympathy" to the reader as if to say, "Feel sorry for me" the photograph speaks so loud that anyone who looks at it would feel this way. These people are dressed in what they have and are about to begin a new life away from eveything they know.

Chapter 7: The Body in Photography

Oh boy! Camaras love the body. The body is something that shows who the person is, kind of. The body can be mysterious. When a photograph is taken of the body it is usually because of the lines the body creates, not becauses there are perverted people who just want to look. It is telling a story. The lines of the body are curvy and are nice for the eyes to look at. Photographs of the body can be kind of graphic, but when looked at close can really tell a story. The photos of the backside show a sort of innosence. The person in the photo does not want to be seen front on, and it shows a sense of shyness.