Sunday, February 26, 2012
Stephanie Colb - Paris, Texas
Throughout the film, Paris, Texas, the display of improvements in communication as well as the filmography used were both important aspects in portraying messages in the film along with the character’s journeys and individuals. At the start of the film, the main character, Travis, is shown wearing a suit and a red hat while in a desert seemingly disoriented from civilization and any means of communication. The picture shown in this scene remained distorted with little exposure, similar to the way we believe Travis was feeling during this time. The filmography used allowed the audience feeling more connected to the feelings and emotions in scenes. Soon, a hawk is shown in the picture, along with mounts of rocks that are falling down. Again, the film creators used filmography to connect the audience to the emotions and the character’s journeys. Travis continued to walk, following power lines, which are the next means of communication displayed. While walking down this straight path, Travis comes across his brother, Walt. During this scene the use of the camera and background images were used in a clever way to display differences in the two brother’s lives. Behind Travis stood a mountain filled with trees and obstacles and Walt’s background mountain seemed to be clean with a more fulfilled, completed life. During this scene, Travis’ brother said that it looked like he had just gone through a whole lot of obstacles; reflecting the view of the mountain. The use of filmography and background images such as the falling rocks and the clutter-filled mountain helps the audience see that Travis’ life is not fulfilled or he is attempting to reach satisfaction; however, many troubles have come between him and happiness. After his meeting with Walt, many more means of communication come into play: the train, trucks, freeways, telephones, and airplanes. The way that each scene was shot had the purpose to show more about characters and the type of society they lived in. The display of progression of communication and the clever use of film was used to better understand the story and journeys of the individuals.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Allie Stough Cabeza de Vaca
Cortez conquered Mexico and a ship wrecked in Florida. Most of the crew were killed and the rest went by land to Mexico. There were only four people left 8 years later. The leader of the group is called the Cabeza de Vaca, the head of a cow because he is the head of the group. He was captured by Shaman Indians and was a slave. They are burning a woman because she has died and they are mixing Shaman and Christianity. The are preforming a funeral procession. The are going to burn the woman in the cave. A man says that she is alive and he brings her back to life with a stone. Just like the lady, Lazareth was untied and brought back to life. Estabone, the Spanish slave, is amazed. There are men that leave. They cant believe what they just saw happen. The lady walks out of the cave. The healer is in the tomb and is laying like a crucifix. The four men are now in Mexico. He stands between the desert and a town being built. He doesn't know which way to go. He is no into the destruction and he is going to talk to the captain. He is in between a gulf.
Pink Floyd "The Wall"
the boys name is Pink and his mom hovers over him because his dad died when he was very young. There is blood going down the drain from a crass. He is sacrificing for nothing. Men sacrifice their lives and there are walking men. The grave markers represent the men who sacrificed their lives. There is a red cross in the British flag which represents the religious wars. People have unique faces but when they come out of the machine they all look the same. Society makes everyone look the same and no one can be unique. Pink is punished for writing poetry and creativity is not productive. He gets married and he gets his love from someone other than her. People use materialistic things to make them happy. If you don't follow technique then you don't fit into society. People mug and steal to go up in society because they are poor. The flowers are fighting and the woman flower is rough and eats the male flower. People get alienated for being different.
Emily Jackson Dunlop- Liminality
Communitasse is a connection to other people around you while you are in the liminal state. The bonds that are formed in the liminal state are much different to those formed outside of it. It occurs only where social structure is not. To reach liminality one must first separate and leave society behind.
In Turner's book, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, he discusses liminality and how we perceive others while we are in the liminal state. When we are in a state of liminality, the word "you" has no borders and can't be defined. We can experience another person as a "you" during the liminal state because we understand that they are forever a mystery, forever becoming and happening continuously. Other times when we don't focus on having a genuine relationship with someone they become simply "he" or "she" meaning that they have boundaries. We don't make the connection of "communitasse" while we are outside liminality. Unfortunately, when we experience the liminal state cannot be controlled so we must make the most of it when it occurs.
In Turner's book, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, he discusses liminality and how we perceive others while we are in the liminal state. When we are in a state of liminality, the word "you" has no borders and can't be defined. We can experience another person as a "you" during the liminal state because we understand that they are forever a mystery, forever becoming and happening continuously. Other times when we don't focus on having a genuine relationship with someone they become simply "he" or "she" meaning that they have boundaries. We don't make the connection of "communitasse" while we are outside liminality. Unfortunately, when we experience the liminal state cannot be controlled so we must make the most of it when it occurs.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Emily Jackson Dunlop- Chronos and Kairos
2/14/12
According to the ancient Greeks, time can be interpreted in two different ways: chronos or kairos time. Chronos is simply time that can be measured, time on the clock. Chronos or chronological time passes by as it always does and there is nothing spectacular or numinous about it. But kairos time is a very different experience. Kairos time is when the most beloved and important memories are made in our lives. Kairos time can not be controlled although we would like to be able to control it rather than live in the monotonous world of chronos time. We must make the most of Kairos time as these moments are comprised of the most important moments in our lives.
According to the ancient Greeks, time can be interpreted in two different ways: chronos or kairos time. Chronos is simply time that can be measured, time on the clock. Chronos or chronological time passes by as it always does and there is nothing spectacular or numinous about it. But kairos time is a very different experience. Kairos time is when the most beloved and important memories are made in our lives. Kairos time can not be controlled although we would like to be able to control it rather than live in the monotonous world of chronos time. We must make the most of Kairos time as these moments are comprised of the most important moments in our lives.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Steven Chung Student's Choosing Blog 2
Not this past Saturday but the week before (the 4th of February), I got to experience the transformation of an ordinary place into an extraordinary place. As mentioned in Lane's Landscape of the Sacred, the second axiom states that sacred space is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. I got to experience such a phenomenon first hand as I participated in the pledging initiation for Kappa Sigma's new Fraternity Colony here at Christopher Newport University. In every other circumstance (for me at least), McMurran 114 was just an ordinary lecture room used for classes and meetings through out the week. But during the pledging initiation process held that morning, room 114 became more than just a regular lecture room. It became a special place of gathering amongst me and all the other Kappa Sigma brothers. My pledge brothers and I underwent a special ceremonial event together that we will never forget for the rest of our lives. We participated in different rituals and rites that transformed an ordinary class room into a sacred place that enveloped more significant value. This particular occasion made clear to me first hand how sacred place is just an ordinary place, that can ritually be made extraordinary.
-Steven Chung
-Steven Chung
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Allie Stough Decalogue
1. How does the visual medium of film work as Midrash?
The medium of film works to depict Midrash in many different ways. Midrash is the whole series of short story books of holistic preaching teaching on the Torah about ethics and morals used in the Jewish faith. The film works as Midrash through visual medium by depicting the Ten Commandments through acting. The film media is the perfect medium for telling a story because the viewer can see and hear the story being told. Another characteristic of Midrash is asking questions about the story. In the beginning of Decalogue 5 the viewer is asked many questions and is shown many statements which gets the viewer thinking about what he is gong to see. For example, ‘Punishment means revenge.’ ‘It aims to harm but doesn’t prevent crime.’ ‘The law should improve nature.’ ‘People invented the law.’ ‘We observe it or break it.’ These statements make you think. Do the innocent make the rules? The film uses the Midrash technique of storytelling to help one understand.
2. Be specific in answering this question, relating the answer to the Commandment and the way the medium works to throw you into the struggle to find meaning.
Instead of just telling us about the Ten Commandments, they are acted out with much description. Faces are used as a way to show meaning. In Decalogue 1 the film is getting you to question your faith. The boy is questioning life. The medium of the film is trying to get the viewer to question their faith. People have thoughts that are fighting against their feelings.
Decalogue 1
There shall be no other God before me.
The dad thinks that he can use reason instead of faith in God. He lacks faith. The aunt blindly believes and has faith. The telling of the story and the focusing on the characters tries gets the viewer personally into the story.
Decalogue 5
Thou shalt not kill.
Is killing ever justified? The 21 year old just killed the taxi driver. He may have had mental issues because he is guilt ridden about his sister’s death. Jacek and his friend had been drinking and his friend ran over the sister with a tractor in a meadow. Jacek feels that his sister’s dearth was his fault. The attorney felt empathy towards Jacek almost like a son. He struggles with the idea of death and killing. People try to live their life based on the commandments, but life is not black and white. The viewer is brought into the struggle that the attorney feels.
3. Do any of the visuals of the films work as symbols that bridge the gap of understanding?
There are visuals of the film that work to help better understand the meaning. For example, in Thou shalt not kill; the boy uses a piece a rope to choke a man to death. He uses a rock to throw over an over pass. It hits a car and the car swerves. He pushes a man down in the bathroom. They all are showing us the mental tormual of Jacek over the death if his sister. It leads up to the hanging and what your beliefs are about it. There are also symbols in I am thou God, you should have no other gods before me. I believe that there are a lot of representations of God in this movie: the man sitting by the pond, the woman playing the chess game, when the dad sees the computer say, “I am ready.” The dead dog symbolizes death that is to come. The pond represents life. The ponds ice changes from when the dad checked it and the boy went on it: life changes. The man by the pond is like Christ because Christ is always watching us and knows what will happen. Just like the Lords prayer “Thy will be done.” The computer is like a false God and the father believes the computer over faith. The dad thinks he can solve everything rationally. There is a church by the pond where Jesus like man is. The ink that the dad spills is like the blood of Christ, and then the dad washes his hands of it. He doesn’t believe. The symbols make the viewer think more about what he is seeing.
4. How did the film relate feeling to meaning?
The film helps relate feeling to meaning in many ways. There is love between the Father and the son, Pavel. The Icon at the church has a tear in its eye as if it is crying over Pavel’s death. We see a lot of faces in the movie and they have a lot on emotion and feeling. The Aunt, Irena, says that life is a gift. The computer says, “I am ready.” He listens to the computer instead of using his faith. The dad knocks over the altar in the church because he is mad at himself. The attorney goes to a meadow where there is a light. This is where his sister was murdered. The light seems to symbolize the sister. During the execution they put a pan under him, because you loose all of your bodily fluid when you get hung. The boy struggles and thrashes as he walks up to be hung. All of the focusing of the events in the film makes the viewer thinks about his feelings. For example, in the scene where the executioner is preparing everything for the hanging the viewer cant help but think about how that might feel to be hung. In the end of Decalogue 5 the attorney yells over and over “I abhor” – I hate it. He hated that he had to do his job. He couldn’t save Jacek. The law is the law. His screaming makes us feel the turmoil of the death penalty.
5. Note that Kieslowski said, “It very quickly became clear that these would be films about feelings and passions, because we knew that love, or fear of death, of the pain caused by a needle-prick, are common to all people, irrespective of their political views, the colour of their skin or their standard of living.”
Kieslowski is the Polish writer of the film. He wanted it to be universal to all life and not just Polish. He is trying to level humanity and he used the medium of film to portray the morals of the commandments in a way that everyone could understand.
6. Finally, does this film cycle work to contextualize the integrate the code into an individual’s life, bridging the flux of the moment to the ultimate meaning of eternity?
The film cycle of the Ten Commandments in the Decalogue’s relates the meaning of the commandants in an everyday way. The director takes a moment in time and makes you think beyond this work. He makes them more alive because he brings them to events that are happening today. It is a mental picture that one cannot get out of their head. The Ten Commandments become alive and help the viewer think beyond the moment of where they are.
The medium of film works to depict Midrash in many different ways. Midrash is the whole series of short story books of holistic preaching teaching on the Torah about ethics and morals used in the Jewish faith. The film works as Midrash through visual medium by depicting the Ten Commandments through acting. The film media is the perfect medium for telling a story because the viewer can see and hear the story being told. Another characteristic of Midrash is asking questions about the story. In the beginning of Decalogue 5 the viewer is asked many questions and is shown many statements which gets the viewer thinking about what he is gong to see. For example, ‘Punishment means revenge.’ ‘It aims to harm but doesn’t prevent crime.’ ‘The law should improve nature.’ ‘People invented the law.’ ‘We observe it or break it.’ These statements make you think. Do the innocent make the rules? The film uses the Midrash technique of storytelling to help one understand.
2. Be specific in answering this question, relating the answer to the Commandment and the way the medium works to throw you into the struggle to find meaning.
Instead of just telling us about the Ten Commandments, they are acted out with much description. Faces are used as a way to show meaning. In Decalogue 1 the film is getting you to question your faith. The boy is questioning life. The medium of the film is trying to get the viewer to question their faith. People have thoughts that are fighting against their feelings.
Decalogue 1
There shall be no other God before me.
The dad thinks that he can use reason instead of faith in God. He lacks faith. The aunt blindly believes and has faith. The telling of the story and the focusing on the characters tries gets the viewer personally into the story.
Decalogue 5
Thou shalt not kill.
Is killing ever justified? The 21 year old just killed the taxi driver. He may have had mental issues because he is guilt ridden about his sister’s death. Jacek and his friend had been drinking and his friend ran over the sister with a tractor in a meadow. Jacek feels that his sister’s dearth was his fault. The attorney felt empathy towards Jacek almost like a son. He struggles with the idea of death and killing. People try to live their life based on the commandments, but life is not black and white. The viewer is brought into the struggle that the attorney feels.
3. Do any of the visuals of the films work as symbols that bridge the gap of understanding?
There are visuals of the film that work to help better understand the meaning. For example, in Thou shalt not kill; the boy uses a piece a rope to choke a man to death. He uses a rock to throw over an over pass. It hits a car and the car swerves. He pushes a man down in the bathroom. They all are showing us the mental tormual of Jacek over the death if his sister. It leads up to the hanging and what your beliefs are about it. There are also symbols in I am thou God, you should have no other gods before me. I believe that there are a lot of representations of God in this movie: the man sitting by the pond, the woman playing the chess game, when the dad sees the computer say, “I am ready.” The dead dog symbolizes death that is to come. The pond represents life. The ponds ice changes from when the dad checked it and the boy went on it: life changes. The man by the pond is like Christ because Christ is always watching us and knows what will happen. Just like the Lords prayer “Thy will be done.” The computer is like a false God and the father believes the computer over faith. The dad thinks he can solve everything rationally. There is a church by the pond where Jesus like man is. The ink that the dad spills is like the blood of Christ, and then the dad washes his hands of it. He doesn’t believe. The symbols make the viewer think more about what he is seeing.
4. How did the film relate feeling to meaning?
The film helps relate feeling to meaning in many ways. There is love between the Father and the son, Pavel. The Icon at the church has a tear in its eye as if it is crying over Pavel’s death. We see a lot of faces in the movie and they have a lot on emotion and feeling. The Aunt, Irena, says that life is a gift. The computer says, “I am ready.” He listens to the computer instead of using his faith. The dad knocks over the altar in the church because he is mad at himself. The attorney goes to a meadow where there is a light. This is where his sister was murdered. The light seems to symbolize the sister. During the execution they put a pan under him, because you loose all of your bodily fluid when you get hung. The boy struggles and thrashes as he walks up to be hung. All of the focusing of the events in the film makes the viewer thinks about his feelings. For example, in the scene where the executioner is preparing everything for the hanging the viewer cant help but think about how that might feel to be hung. In the end of Decalogue 5 the attorney yells over and over “I abhor” – I hate it. He hated that he had to do his job. He couldn’t save Jacek. The law is the law. His screaming makes us feel the turmoil of the death penalty.
5. Note that Kieslowski said, “It very quickly became clear that these would be films about feelings and passions, because we knew that love, or fear of death, of the pain caused by a needle-prick, are common to all people, irrespective of their political views, the colour of their skin or their standard of living.”
Kieslowski is the Polish writer of the film. He wanted it to be universal to all life and not just Polish. He is trying to level humanity and he used the medium of film to portray the morals of the commandments in a way that everyone could understand.
6. Finally, does this film cycle work to contextualize the integrate the code into an individual’s life, bridging the flux of the moment to the ultimate meaning of eternity?
The film cycle of the Ten Commandments in the Decalogue’s relates the meaning of the commandants in an everyday way. The director takes a moment in time and makes you think beyond this work. He makes them more alive because he brings them to events that are happening today. It is a mental picture that one cannot get out of their head. The Ten Commandments become alive and help the viewer think beyond the moment of where they are.
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