Film/movie
It all started with the Kinetoscope (early motion-picture device) in 1891. The first to present projected moving pictures to a paying audience (i.e. cinema) were the Lumière brothers in December 1895 in Paris. The films were presented in a darkened room and only last a few minutes. They were mainly about everyday life activities. There was background music, but not dialogues and it was black and white . The people’s action was still silent. From 1914 everything started to develop fast. Films started to last longer with more content in terms of storytelling and narrative. The film industry was born. Cinema became a growing industry in demand for production, exhibition and distribution . Theatres were built with ticket counters and the business started blooming. In 1927 the first movie with colour and synchronised dialogue was presented and it was called ‘The Jazz Singer’. Cinema was the main entertainment during the 1930’ and 1940’, people use to go to the cinemas, average twice a week until the Television appeared. In 1952 Cinerama tried to keep the interest in cinemas, bringing more technology to it such as using three projectors ,wide deep curved screen and multi-track surround sound. It gave the audience a greater sense of involvement and cinema kept its popularity. At the present days digital technology has taken a big chunk in the film making industry, providing the possibility of editing and special effects before transferring images to the film.The future of films as in shot in traditional ways or using the video technology of these days or a combination of both is still unknown.
Film has evolved in genres such as: Romantic, Drama, Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction and Action. It can be about Biographies, novel based or adaptation of plays. Watching a film/movie in the present days is either in the movie theatres (cinema) or in the comfort of people’s home considering the advantages that technology has brought to modern lives. It is all about what is presented in the screen in front of an audience/viewers.
Video art /Video Installations
A new genre of Contemporary Art, commonly seeing as video installation and it also stands alone as an expression of art form. It was initiated by American Pop Artist Andy Warhol followed also by Korean artist Nam June Paik and German artist Wolf Vostell. By early 60’ Sony created portable video recorders that gave people vast access to possibilities, enabling them to edit and manipulate images. Conceptual arts and performance and video art takes a variety of forms from installations to sculptures. The use of video in art became another medium for the artists. It can be composed by a single or a series of images, or blurred images destroying what is consider suitable or satisfactory. It compromises the environment where it is and is usually a combination with the assemblage or performance of pieces of work . The art work in video is more about the movement than the video itself. Since art is stationary , it gave the opportunity to give the artist’s ideas to show what they see, in movement. It is an experiment in different ways of what Hollywood does.Video art does not necessarily tells a story or has a dialogue. The audience/viewers do not need to be stationary to watch it. It a different experience of that provided by the film/movie in the cinemas or home.
Example of Film:
The Shinning – official Trailer (1980) [user-generated online] on 7 april 2012 at:
‘The Shining’ (1980) by Stanley Kubrick – American Director, screenwriter and producer ( 1928-1999)
‘The Shining’ is classified as Horror genre – a Psychological Drama based on Steven King’s novel (1977).
The Plot: An aspiring author recovering alcoholic goes to work in a Hotel called Colorado Rockies, as a caretaker for the winter, even though he was told that the previous caretaker went insane there and killed his family and himself. Jack (played by Jack Nicholson) goes with his wife Wendy and son Danny who has the psychic abilities “the shining”, to see the Hotel’s horrific past .It turns out the haunted place drives Jack to insanity which puts his wife and son’s life in danger. Stanley Kubrick worked with a small crew and the setting of the ‘The Shining’ was in real locations.
Example of video Installation :
Visiting London Guide – Exhibition review- Mark Leckey, O’ magic and the power of bleakness (2019) [user-generated online] on 23 sept 2019 at:
Mark Leckey in O’ magic and the power of bleakness from 24 Sept until 5 Jan 2020 on TATE – Britain, is a big scale exhibition of a built real life flyover (M53 motorway) within the space including videos, sounds and lights that constitute of Leckey’s existing and new works. Mark Leckey is a British contemporary artist who works with collage music and video in concepts of social history, subculture and technology . He is known by videos such as ‘Fiorucci made me Hardcore ‘ in 1999 and won the Turner prize in 2008 with ‘Industrial magic and light’. His works in videos approaches a certain darkness, nostalgia and anxiety of the elements in his youth and the subculture in the UK in the 80’. His videos include repetitive dance movements, sounds, noises, unclear, old images of various young people interacting and dancing in nightclubs and other places. It depicts the shadows of his childhood and youth in Northwest England, near Liverpool.
A dream alike sort of images, memories of what he had experienced in UK when young. There is no dialogue or storyline but fragments of situations which make sense with the environment setting. It is his very personal perspective and yet compelling to the public. The meaning of the bridge built on site , the music and lights for him growing up in a certain time and place in history. The video installation provides a whole emotional, sensorial and visual experience since people visiting are able to explore and experience it in their own pace and timing, by sitting, standing or walking around the exhibition.
Film Vs Video Installation
The main difference between films and video installations are :
Film
- Needs a Scenario or setting
- Needs a Producer
- Needs a Director
- Has a Storyline
- Has Screenplay/Script
- Needs Actors and dialogues
- Is classified by Genres
- Needs Costume designed outfits and sound track
- Needs viewers venue
Video Installation
- Suits the site or vice versa
- The artist is the producer and director
- Not necessarily needs to tell a story but the images tell messages such as social and political issues and/or information
- It is part of a whole piece of artwork or the whole of the artwork in itself
- It is a medium for the artist
- Images are shown in fragments or mini videos in different devices by artist’s choice
- It is not classified by genre
Reflection on Assignment five
Assignment 5 has expand my horizons in understanding the purposes of using video as a medium. Researching video artists such as Oursler, Nauman and Leckey has shown me the endless possibilities an artist can use to express themselves. Exploring and experimenting will always be an ongoing process in order to find an artistic language through different times. I realise that an artist shows his growth and development through his works and that is one of the reasons they are capable to keep the audience engaged . Because Art is like time, it doesn’t stop and there is not point looking back but using the past to rethink, reproduce, recreate the present and try to predict the future. It is overwhelming for me to learn what is possible to achieve with such unusual medium and enhance this experiment with a combination with various mediums to achieve a ‘full body’ of art work. In my mind, during my latest drawing and ideas, I can’t deny that I tried to project in my imagination what would be an exhibition of my own work, if I could do it, right now. If there was an offer to just express myself out there, no fear, no pre concepts of what an exhibition should look like to be considered art. Inspired by Mark Leckey , I think childhood would appeal to me. I am not from UK, I have never been to Liverpool but I certainly connected with his art. Because it is familiar in a way. Because most of us have enjoyed been inconsequent, spontaneous and full of dreams and frustrations at a certain point in our lives. What would be if my exhibition showed fragments of what dances and songs and dance steps we had in Brazil in the 80’? The neighbourhood I lived, the drugs my friends used, the outfits and objects from that time. Somehow, no matter where in the world, personal experiences connects us one way or another. The familiar is appealing to all of us. We all have memories and fragmented images in our minds. Dark, happy, disturbing, funny or sad moments. The essence of some of the artists I researched in this Part is to share how personal and somehow collective thoughts are in perceiving this world in time and space.
Feedback on assignment 5 report
I am very pleased with this report and motivated to keep reading and discovering more about new artists and different forms of art. I have developed a better vocabulary and definetely a better way of writing my thoughts and points of view. This modue has served as a great foundation for my future in writing more about art, my work and about the work of others. Bellow are my final thoughts about a few questions asked on my report.
- Does the fact that some feature films are being made in video these days have any impact on all this?
- Answer: I think it makes difference for experts of the film industry. People in general cannot see the difference between videos and film ans it is a technical feature.
- How does the simplicity of video and its availability on smartphones etc these days affect its use by artists?
- Answer: It is very convinient for people to follow all sorts of information, including watching videos on smartphones. It affects the artist’s opportunity to see the reaction of their viewers in person, to interact and discuss about it. It becomes a very impersonal way of having their art spread.
Understanding Visual Culture 