(Robert) Masseo Davis
May/ 9/ 2008
Seth Parker
Process Paper
“From Me to You” Choreography by R. Masseo Davis
In the beginning there was no title, no steps, just a desire to talk about people. Perhaps it was my lack of filming, and my obtuse amount of time dancing that made me desire to try my hand at choreography. There was an opportunity with the Umass Dance departments, Emerging Choreographers Series (ECS), that gave undergraduate students to choreograph a piece assuming that they were not seniors for they had their own concert where they were required to choreograph.
In my extensive experience of dealing with BFA dance students, not only here but prior to my own college years, I’ve come to recognize a trend in student choreography. Many times students tend to either over think their concept/ theme, make extreme claims that they cannot really substantiate, or try ridiculously hard to be “innovative” and create some pretentious work that nobody in the audience could ever understand. I didn’t want to fall into that trap, I merely wanted to paint a picture, and say that this feels nice. I didn’t want to choreograph any show stopping, jump out of your seat, masterpiece, just a humble, intimate little scenario of tenderness.
Ultimately, my piece was about “the morning after”, and two people who learn to find comfort with one another. As a man myself, I am aware of the stereotype that claims that men are dogs; and I have seen the situations were the couple has their night of passion, and then the guy leaves in the middle of the night. I switched the roles, where the man is emotionally attached and the woman tries to leave him. The dance is to “Where Are My Panties?” by Andre 3000 and “Take Off Your Cool” by Andre 3000 featuring Nora Jones.
In the beginning my cast consisted of two friends of mine from the dance department, Megan Brown, and Jeffery Labbe. They had known about this idea I’ve had for about a year prior to official casting. The problems started to arrive when official casting time came. Jeffery was cast in two other duets, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I decided to cut Jeff from my cast so to not possibly look like I was copying other people, and because I didn’t want people to miss out on the choreography and get caught up on the fact that Jeff was in all the duets. Thusly my options were to either cast myself in the piece, or find someone else. This was an interesting situation because I would have loved to have been cast in the dance that I eventually choreographed, but I never would be, based on the kind of mover I am. Anyways casting myself was out of the question, because it was my first choreographic experience and I needed to see it, to really make corrections.
The other men in the dance department, in a sense aren’t really men on stage. Yes they do consider themselves homosexuals, and their feminine traits are visible when they perform. This is not intended to be a low blow towards those men in the dance department, nor against the gay community. I merely feel there is something powerful about seeing a man dance, next to a woman, and I craved that contrast for my piece. Eventually I built up the courage to ask Thomas Vacanti, who is the Ballet Professor for the University of Massachusetts. He too considers himself to be a homosexual, however you would never know onstage. He eventually agreed, and he was a perfect match.
Having Thomas on my cast list was a problem in disuse however, not because he was hard to work with but it really put pressure on me to put together something that I was proud of. The challenge when Thomas joined the ranks became choreographing a dance that overshadowed the fact that I had convinced a Professor to dance for me. I wanted people to love the dance and the message not the cast. I defiantly wanted my audience to enjoy the performance of the steps by my cast but not the cast alone with or without the choreography.
Thomas and Megan prior to this dance solely had a student-professor relationship and I still wanted to paint a picture about how at times “the morning after” feels nice. I really just threw them into their roles rehearsal one. I choreographed the whole thing in two hours. I made my dancers incredibly embarrassed immediately and we all got over it quickly and the process went smoothly.
I knew this had the potential to be really awkward, so I made sure I had my thoughts in order every time I went into the studio. I took inspiration form not only the way that I discovered my dancers moved, but from works of other great choreographers. I watched lots of Twalia Tharp, Roland Petite, Olivia Davis, Jiri Kylian, and Gene Kelly. This set the sage for a really mature romance between two adults. Thomas’s presents made Megan seem older and more mature, and not the other way around, that was a nice surprise.
While I did finish the choreography for the dance in two hours on the first rehearsal, I then proceeded to change steps and arrangement for the duration of our time together in the studio. Eventually I found myself changing chucks of the dance every time we met. I could have done this forever; fortunately for my dancers Showtime came up and I had to just stop and be content with what I had accomplished and rehearse that for the performance.
I came up with the dances title just before show time. I had been thinking about what I wanted my program notes to say. I wanted to give my sincerest thanks to the department, and signify that my dance was a gift from me to them, as my minuscule attempt at giving back to the dance world from which I have taken so much. Then it hit me, “From Me to You” it could have multiple purposes. It stood as a narrative implication as well as a message from me the choreographer to the audience.
In the end of it all I had a mixed review from the spectators of my dance. It has been called “Beautiful” “inappropriate, in the best way” Sexual” “intelligent”. Audience members have said “Way to make to most inappropriate dance ever.” And “ That was beautiful I want to see more of your work.” I guess given the extremely contrasting views on my dance I can conclude that the work did find it’s humble little place in the program. It was not necessarily something to be remembered forever but it had its own special moment.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Written & Directed by Masseo Davis, "BLANKETS. Cuddles & Smooches."
Blankets: Cuddles & Smooches
written & directed by R. Masseo Davis
-Over Black- “ It’s okay to look back on the past, just don’t stare.”
– Charlie Nicholson
Opening Credits…
Music- Bob Marley; “Could You Be Loved”
(Montage of Kevin waking up, almost in dance form showing that his life is a routine, that he can do his mornings with his eyes closed.)
--Kevin walks and you see him meet with his friend Sean. On the way he passes a man playing a guitar (Jason). They acknowledge each other.
--Kevin also catches sight of a beautiful girl (Raina) they exchange glances of interest and move on.
#1, Stability with the appearance of Conflict
(Kevin Meets Sean)
Sean: Oooohh Shhhh,!!! Hey What took you the whole afternoon?!
Kevin: Sleepin’ I was in know rush.
Sean: Screw you! I haven’t got all day, what’s on the agenda?
Kevin: I’m actually kind of hungry.
Sean: oohh really I could eat.
Kevin: I know you could.
Sean: AAAHHH MY NAME IS KEVIN HAHAHAHAAA
Kevin: hahaha let’s get something to go..
-----CUT------
They come out of sandwich shop with food.
Kevin: Where are we gonna eat.
Sean: I have a blanket in my car
Kevin: You would you old women
-----------CUT---------
Sean: How did I let you talk me into this?
---------CUT (Back) --------
Kevin: You would you old women.
Sean: (smaller) AHHHHAHA come on we could sit in the park.
Kevin: (Sigh) okay.
----------CUT--------
Sean: It was like 5min ago.
Kevin: Whatever, I do what I want.
Sean: haha ass hole.
Kevin: haha … so how’s the wife?
Sean: Don’t call her that.
Kevin: Not so hot huh?
Sean: Look who’s talkin’!!!
Kevin: Whatever man I do what I want.
Sean: Yeah I know and look how your last relationship ended. Have you dated since..
Kevin: She slapped me!!!
Sean: So what it happens..
Kevin: Are you serious. No that’s where I draw the line, don’t slap me!! It’s not cool.
Sean: Did you ever consider that she didn’t mean it?
Kevin: Then why did she do it, Sean ?!
Sean: Kevin you aren’t the easiest person to get along with all the time. I mean you and I are best friends and we’re disagreeing right now.
Kevin: (Sigh) Whatever.
Sean: Listen there are a few things girls want out of a relationship.
1) They want to know what they’re getting themselves into. Where we men like spontaneous women who can continually surprise us they need assurance. Sure they are humans and like surprises just like the next person but they really are the more logical sex so it is what it is…
2) The other-
Kevin: -Since you know so much about women, why are you and your women having troubles?
Sean: No one’s perfect, no matter how seamless things appear, be aware the seems are there.
Kevin: …Yeah.
Sean: Come on, I have to meet “the wife” downtown soon anyway. Where do you want me to drop you off?
Kevin: Um I’ll come and roam town aimlessly.
Sean: All right, man.
#2, Conflict
(Kevin Meets Raina)
Music- Prince; “Starfish and Coffee” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs; “Maps”
--Montage Kevin and Sean head downtown and on the way they pass the man playing a guitar (Jason) Kevin stops to give him money Sean walks by without noticing.
--Later while Kevin and Sean are heading downtown Kevin spots the beautiful girl across the street and while remaining on track watches her, focused and falls down a flight of stairs. Sticks his head out of the stairs and she’s gone.
--Montage Sean helps Kevin up and they go there separate ways
-- Kevin walks around thinking about Raina and the day as he is just roaming aimlessly
-- Kevin sees the man playing the guitar (Jason) they acknowledge each other.
--Later Kevin finds himself in the movie store looking for a movie when through the movie shelf he sees Raina.
Kevin: (Frightened) Ahhh!! Oh my god!!
Raina: I’m sorry did I scare you?
Kevin: No I’m fine it happens; are you okay?
Raina: (Laughing) Yeah thanks.
Kevin: Sorry
Raina: It’s okay I’m fine
Kevin:. Hi my name is- (bumps his hand into movie rack and knocks movies over off the rack) bends over and hits his head only knocking over more movies)
(To himself) Smooth Kevin Real smooth.
Raina: (Laughing) are you all right, what happened?
Kevin: I’m being a dumb ass hold on I’ll come around.
Raina: No I’ll come help (She goes around)
Kevin: (She helps) Thanks.
Raina:…….. (Looking at Kevin Standing there)
Kevin: Hi my name is Kevin
Raina: Raina… My name is Raina.
Kevin: Nice to meet you
Raina: Like wise.
Kevin: Um what are you looking at there?
Raina: Oh it’s nothing
Kevin: Really come on tell me.
Raina: Ahh it’s just this graphic novel I was told was good.
Kevin: I love comics.
Raina: Really, well Really!!??
Kevin: Yeah
Raina: Um okay I’ll show you. I only just started so I really don’t know what’s going to happen but it seems to be- well it really is kind of like a chick flick.
Kevin: Is that what you’ re looking for here?
Raina: (Sarcastically) NNoooo..
Kevin: Okay
Raina: Anyways, you know what I’m talking about; it’s one of those romantic comedies though I have a hunch it’s going to end disastrously.
Kevin: Well that’s a shame.
Raina: haha … Yeah.
Kevin: … Yeah….
Raina: Hey do you want to grab a bite to eat I haven’t eaten yet… My treat.
Kevin: (Flashback to Eating with Sean) I’m starving…
# 3 Climax
Music- Jason Mraz “ Sleep All Day”
--Montage they walk and get food they have a good time doing various activities.
-- They talk they get to know each other better.
-- At Raina’s House
Kevin: So where are you from?
Raina: Here actually yeah I’ve lived hear all my life, but I’m heading off to college in a week.
Kevin: A week?!
Raina: Yeah..
Kevin: One?!
Raina: Haha Yeah…
Kevin: Damn…
Raina: …Yeah..
Music- John Mayer; “Your Body is a Wonderland”
Sequence ultimately leading to them for playing it.
#4 The Crash
Kevin: …I Love you Raina.
Raina: (Kisses his nose, gets up and slaps Kevin’s butt) Come on lets Walk!!
--At swing set they are talking and having a good time then…
Raina… Hey?...
Kevin: What?
Raina:… I don’t know… Never mind.
Kevin: Yes you do. Come on tell me.
Raina: Why did you say you love me?
Kevin: Because I do.
Raina: What do you really mean by that?
Kevin:… Aaaah?-
Raina:- Well I love you too… but?... I guess what I’m trying to say is…
Kevin:… What?
Raina: Everything ends!! No! “End” is too graceful a word! Everything degenerates!
Kevin: Crumbles.
Raina: It makes me wonder how anyone could fall in love.
Kevin: I did
Raina: How?! When?! Why?!
Kevin: Do I need to Know?
Raina: Yes!!
Kevin: Do You?!
Raina: Yes
Kevin: You do?! Then How, when, why?!!
Raina: I asked you
Kevin: I don’t know I just do.!!
Raina: That’s not good enough for me.
Kevin: What’s your reason?
Raina: Don’t make this about me.
Kevin: It’s about us!!
Raina: Us!? I just met you..
Kevin: Then lets not be off to a bad start… Please I’ve had a great time today.
Raina: … So have I…
Kevin: … So then where did this come from?
Raina: I’ve been thinking about it all day.
Kevin: You have..?
Raina: You haven’t..?!
Kevin: (Sigh)… Not all day.
Raina: Well at least you know what I’m talking about!
Kevin: So!.. I mean-
Raina: - No so! I leaving in a week or did you forget already living this fantasy. Besides I want to know what I’m getting myself into!!!
Kevin: OOH!! MY!! GOD!! Sean was right!
Raina: What so your already talking to your friends about me?!!
Kevin: Don’t put words in my mouth. I never said that..!
Raina: That’s what you’re implying.
Kevin: … Raina I love you.. That’s all there is to it.!!
Raina: That doesn’t make any sense. I mean I don’t know you!!!
Kevin: So we have a lot to discover.!!!
Raina: No Kevin in a few days I’m leaving for college!!!
Kevin: Are you going to bring that up every time we don’t get along!!? Cause if your going to be this pessimistic!!-
Raina: (SLAPS Kevin)… I’m not pessimistic.
Kevin: I’m sorry for everything… (Gets up and leaves)
#5 Recuperation
(Kevin Meets Jason)
Music- Broken Social Scene, Tuck and Patti, & Feist
--Walks and revisits all the places he had been that day
-- Ends up at the park where he ate with Sean and sits
Jason: (Plays guitar)” … Hey kid
Kevin: (Waves)
Jason: (Continues playing; notices Kevin is obviously upset) Hey kid you want to talk about it… Here I’ll make it easier for you my name’s Jason. (Holds out his hand)
(Kevin doesn’t shake it).
Jason: … (Pulls his hand back)… I was in love too once… I saw her for the first time a couple years ago. It seems like a lot longer then that. She was sitting at the table three tables ahead of mine. She was reading a book I think, I was reading the paper and we both had bagels I had a ______ bagel, she had a ______.... (Books down; food bite; drink; books up; leg peek and catch eyes; smile; go back to reading)… It was like we were the same person… I’ve heard opposites attract but with us it wasn’t about filling any holes, but more along the lines of adding icing to the cake. (Small laugh) I never thought about it but now thinking back I never said anything to her until like the third time we met… She was a person ahead of me in line for her bagel and she was short a quarter…
--Montage Jason and Girl getting to know each other; (Under blanket on butterfly chair cuddled together)
… She made this blanket for me.. It’s all I have left reminding me of… us… We were together for a long time, then one day… she was gone… I don’t know what happened. Maybe I met her too soon, maybe I had to do something before we were to meet… I don’t know It’s like I never knew her.. Funny how life seems to be a big contradiction that way.
Kevin: Kevin… My name’s Kevin.
Jason: Nice to meet you Kevin (They Shake hands)
Kevin: I’m Sorry
Jason: For?
Kevin: What happened..
Jason: Don’t! It is, what it is, tomorrow is another day. Besides the way I figure it is, life is what you make it so why angry or sad.
Kevin: Then why do you still have the blanket?
Jason: It was a gift.
Kevin: You said it reminded you of the two of you… together. How could you get over her with that??
Jason:… I don’t know.
Kevin: ..Sorry.
Jason: It’s okay
Kevin: Thank you
Jason: For ?
Kevin: You said exactly what I needed to hear.
Jason: Which was?
Kevin: Life is what you make it so why angry or sad. That doesn’t mean it will be easy or that I’m over her but at least now I know where to start… Have a nice night….
End Credits...
Music- The Wannadies; “ You and Me Song”
--Shows Kevin Waking up again going through his normal routine just a little different meeting Sean in town again where he saw Jason the evening before only Jason isn’t there but his blanket is draped over the bench where they met.
written & directed by R. Masseo Davis
-Over Black- “ It’s okay to look back on the past, just don’t stare.”
– Charlie Nicholson
Opening Credits…
Music- Bob Marley; “Could You Be Loved”
(Montage of Kevin waking up, almost in dance form showing that his life is a routine, that he can do his mornings with his eyes closed.)
--Kevin walks and you see him meet with his friend Sean. On the way he passes a man playing a guitar (Jason). They acknowledge each other.
--Kevin also catches sight of a beautiful girl (Raina) they exchange glances of interest and move on.
#1, Stability with the appearance of Conflict
(Kevin Meets Sean)
Sean: Oooohh Shhhh,!!! Hey What took you the whole afternoon?!
Kevin: Sleepin’ I was in know rush.
Sean: Screw you! I haven’t got all day, what’s on the agenda?
Kevin: I’m actually kind of hungry.
Sean: oohh really I could eat.
Kevin: I know you could.
Sean: AAAHHH MY NAME IS KEVIN HAHAHAHAAA
Kevin: hahaha let’s get something to go..
-----CUT------
They come out of sandwich shop with food.
Kevin: Where are we gonna eat.
Sean: I have a blanket in my car
Kevin: You would you old women
-----------CUT---------
Sean: How did I let you talk me into this?
---------CUT (Back) --------
Kevin: You would you old women.
Sean: (smaller) AHHHHAHA come on we could sit in the park.
Kevin: (Sigh) okay.
----------CUT--------
Sean: It was like 5min ago.
Kevin: Whatever, I do what I want.
Sean: haha ass hole.
Kevin: haha … so how’s the wife?
Sean: Don’t call her that.
Kevin: Not so hot huh?
Sean: Look who’s talkin’!!!
Kevin: Whatever man I do what I want.
Sean: Yeah I know and look how your last relationship ended. Have you dated since..
Kevin: She slapped me!!!
Sean: So what it happens..
Kevin: Are you serious. No that’s where I draw the line, don’t slap me!! It’s not cool.
Sean: Did you ever consider that she didn’t mean it?
Kevin: Then why did she do it, Sean ?!
Sean: Kevin you aren’t the easiest person to get along with all the time. I mean you and I are best friends and we’re disagreeing right now.
Kevin: (Sigh) Whatever.
Sean: Listen there are a few things girls want out of a relationship.
1) They want to know what they’re getting themselves into. Where we men like spontaneous women who can continually surprise us they need assurance. Sure they are humans and like surprises just like the next person but they really are the more logical sex so it is what it is…
2) The other-
Kevin: -Since you know so much about women, why are you and your women having troubles?
Sean: No one’s perfect, no matter how seamless things appear, be aware the seems are there.
Kevin: …Yeah.
Sean: Come on, I have to meet “the wife” downtown soon anyway. Where do you want me to drop you off?
Kevin: Um I’ll come and roam town aimlessly.
Sean: All right, man.
#2, Conflict
(Kevin Meets Raina)
Music- Prince; “Starfish and Coffee” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs; “Maps”
--Montage Kevin and Sean head downtown and on the way they pass the man playing a guitar (Jason) Kevin stops to give him money Sean walks by without noticing.
--Later while Kevin and Sean are heading downtown Kevin spots the beautiful girl across the street and while remaining on track watches her, focused and falls down a flight of stairs. Sticks his head out of the stairs and she’s gone.
--Montage Sean helps Kevin up and they go there separate ways
-- Kevin walks around thinking about Raina and the day as he is just roaming aimlessly
-- Kevin sees the man playing the guitar (Jason) they acknowledge each other.
--Later Kevin finds himself in the movie store looking for a movie when through the movie shelf he sees Raina.
Kevin: (Frightened) Ahhh!! Oh my god!!
Raina: I’m sorry did I scare you?
Kevin: No I’m fine it happens; are you okay?
Raina: (Laughing) Yeah thanks.
Kevin: Sorry
Raina: It’s okay I’m fine
Kevin:. Hi my name is- (bumps his hand into movie rack and knocks movies over off the rack) bends over and hits his head only knocking over more movies)
(To himself) Smooth Kevin Real smooth.
Raina: (Laughing) are you all right, what happened?
Kevin: I’m being a dumb ass hold on I’ll come around.
Raina: No I’ll come help (She goes around)
Kevin: (She helps) Thanks.
Raina:…….. (Looking at Kevin Standing there)
Kevin: Hi my name is Kevin
Raina: Raina… My name is Raina.
Kevin: Nice to meet you
Raina: Like wise.
Kevin: Um what are you looking at there?
Raina: Oh it’s nothing
Kevin: Really come on tell me.
Raina: Ahh it’s just this graphic novel I was told was good.
Kevin: I love comics.
Raina: Really, well Really!!??
Kevin: Yeah
Raina: Um okay I’ll show you. I only just started so I really don’t know what’s going to happen but it seems to be- well it really is kind of like a chick flick.
Kevin: Is that what you’ re looking for here?
Raina: (Sarcastically) NNoooo..
Kevin: Okay
Raina: Anyways, you know what I’m talking about; it’s one of those romantic comedies though I have a hunch it’s going to end disastrously.
Kevin: Well that’s a shame.
Raina: haha … Yeah.
Kevin: … Yeah….
Raina: Hey do you want to grab a bite to eat I haven’t eaten yet… My treat.
Kevin: (Flashback to Eating with Sean) I’m starving…
# 3 Climax
Music- Jason Mraz “ Sleep All Day”
--Montage they walk and get food they have a good time doing various activities.
-- They talk they get to know each other better.
-- At Raina’s House
Kevin: So where are you from?
Raina: Here actually yeah I’ve lived hear all my life, but I’m heading off to college in a week.
Kevin: A week?!
Raina: Yeah..
Kevin: One?!
Raina: Haha Yeah…
Kevin: Damn…
Raina: …Yeah..
Music- John Mayer; “Your Body is a Wonderland”
Sequence ultimately leading to them for playing it.
#4 The Crash
Kevin: …I Love you Raina.
Raina: (Kisses his nose, gets up and slaps Kevin’s butt) Come on lets Walk!!
--At swing set they are talking and having a good time then…
Raina… Hey?...
Kevin: What?
Raina:… I don’t know… Never mind.
Kevin: Yes you do. Come on tell me.
Raina: Why did you say you love me?
Kevin: Because I do.
Raina: What do you really mean by that?
Kevin:… Aaaah?-
Raina:- Well I love you too… but?... I guess what I’m trying to say is…
Kevin:… What?
Raina: Everything ends!! No! “End” is too graceful a word! Everything degenerates!
Kevin: Crumbles.
Raina: It makes me wonder how anyone could fall in love.
Kevin: I did
Raina: How?! When?! Why?!
Kevin: Do I need to Know?
Raina: Yes!!
Kevin: Do You?!
Raina: Yes
Kevin: You do?! Then How, when, why?!!
Raina: I asked you
Kevin: I don’t know I just do.!!
Raina: That’s not good enough for me.
Kevin: What’s your reason?
Raina: Don’t make this about me.
Kevin: It’s about us!!
Raina: Us!? I just met you..
Kevin: Then lets not be off to a bad start… Please I’ve had a great time today.
Raina: … So have I…
Kevin: … So then where did this come from?
Raina: I’ve been thinking about it all day.
Kevin: You have..?
Raina: You haven’t..?!
Kevin: (Sigh)… Not all day.
Raina: Well at least you know what I’m talking about!
Kevin: So!.. I mean-
Raina: - No so! I leaving in a week or did you forget already living this fantasy. Besides I want to know what I’m getting myself into!!!
Kevin: OOH!! MY!! GOD!! Sean was right!
Raina: What so your already talking to your friends about me?!!
Kevin: Don’t put words in my mouth. I never said that..!
Raina: That’s what you’re implying.
Kevin: … Raina I love you.. That’s all there is to it.!!
Raina: That doesn’t make any sense. I mean I don’t know you!!!
Kevin: So we have a lot to discover.!!!
Raina: No Kevin in a few days I’m leaving for college!!!
Kevin: Are you going to bring that up every time we don’t get along!!? Cause if your going to be this pessimistic!!-
Raina: (SLAPS Kevin)… I’m not pessimistic.
Kevin: I’m sorry for everything… (Gets up and leaves)
#5 Recuperation
(Kevin Meets Jason)
Music- Broken Social Scene, Tuck and Patti, & Feist
--Walks and revisits all the places he had been that day
-- Ends up at the park where he ate with Sean and sits
Jason: (Plays guitar)” … Hey kid
Kevin: (Waves)
Jason: (Continues playing; notices Kevin is obviously upset) Hey kid you want to talk about it… Here I’ll make it easier for you my name’s Jason. (Holds out his hand)
(Kevin doesn’t shake it).
Jason: … (Pulls his hand back)… I was in love too once… I saw her for the first time a couple years ago. It seems like a lot longer then that. She was sitting at the table three tables ahead of mine. She was reading a book I think, I was reading the paper and we both had bagels I had a ______ bagel, she had a ______.... (Books down; food bite; drink; books up; leg peek and catch eyes; smile; go back to reading)… It was like we were the same person… I’ve heard opposites attract but with us it wasn’t about filling any holes, but more along the lines of adding icing to the cake. (Small laugh) I never thought about it but now thinking back I never said anything to her until like the third time we met… She was a person ahead of me in line for her bagel and she was short a quarter…
--Montage Jason and Girl getting to know each other; (Under blanket on butterfly chair cuddled together)
… She made this blanket for me.. It’s all I have left reminding me of… us… We were together for a long time, then one day… she was gone… I don’t know what happened. Maybe I met her too soon, maybe I had to do something before we were to meet… I don’t know It’s like I never knew her.. Funny how life seems to be a big contradiction that way.
Kevin: Kevin… My name’s Kevin.
Jason: Nice to meet you Kevin (They Shake hands)
Kevin: I’m Sorry
Jason: For?
Kevin: What happened..
Jason: Don’t! It is, what it is, tomorrow is another day. Besides the way I figure it is, life is what you make it so why angry or sad.
Kevin: Then why do you still have the blanket?
Jason: It was a gift.
Kevin: You said it reminded you of the two of you… together. How could you get over her with that??
Jason:… I don’t know.
Kevin: ..Sorry.
Jason: It’s okay
Kevin: Thank you
Jason: For ?
Kevin: You said exactly what I needed to hear.
Jason: Which was?
Kevin: Life is what you make it so why angry or sad. That doesn’t mean it will be easy or that I’m over her but at least now I know where to start… Have a nice night….
End Credits...
Music- The Wannadies; “ You and Me Song”
--Shows Kevin Waking up again going through his normal routine just a little different meeting Sean in town again where he saw Jason the evening before only Jason isn’t there but his blanket is draped over the bench where they met.
You’ re Beautiful” Written & Directed by (Robert) Masseo Davis
You’ re Beautiful”
Written & Directed by (Robert) Masseo Davis
This film is open-ended and is meant to both force the audience to question their feelings regarding the context and to reflect on human behavior and our inexplicable attachments to moral values. Not to say that the film is plausibly immoral, quite the contrary, the film is meant to make the viewers wonder why like this, as in the film’s narrative construction. The audience is not provided with an easy read of how to take the story as a whole. Ultimately it could be said that choice is the central theme of the film and it forces many accompanying concepts on the viewers such as paranoia, reality vs. dreams, fate, pre-destined sets of circumstances, and even empathy towards characters.
Choice as a driving narrative force is usually seen as a typical standard of films because most narrative films are motivated by the characters’ development and thus resulting in their specific character choices. In relation to the film’s narrative construction, choice could be written off as irrelevant because any audience member could say, “it was all a dream.” but with this conclusion many other thematic ideas are brought to the table. Was it real or a dream? Is Lauren (the female lead / wife) being paranoid, or do we as an audience member allow our own personalities manifest in the characters within the film? What is the fate of this woman? What and why ultimately do we as audience members are? Is it not Celeste (the other leading lady) who is truly hurt? Breaking the film into three sections allows for the sequence to seem like a study of people’s choices, rather than a narrative about a woman stuck in an unfortunate situation more like a documentary experiment, as opposed to a linear storyline. The study of choices bears for all of us regardless the outcome. We each make choices everyday, often it is as mundane as whether to have breakfast or not.
Other themes that swarm the film are paranoia; questions of who’s the lead (who is the protagonist- who is the antagonist), and how the film pretends to be more than it seems and yet, it is merely the story of two people talking in a room. “You’re Beautiful”, is a film that doesn’t let the viewers become attached to any secular character, regardless of the fact that there are only three characters in the film and the one lead male only appears momentarily in the films final segment. The story itself revolves around Lauren, who is quickly tied directly and indirectly to Celeste. Their dialogue unveils what is most unexpected and would change their lives forever. Lauren and Celeste are both good people. They are juxtaposed to set the audience for a reaction. The audience is asked to make their own ties with characters. Who will they choose? This is meant to keep the film from becoming an escape and totally entertaining. This film is not one where an outside reality is created and the audience is readily embraced. The film sets out to keep the audience members separate from the narrative and invariably question the moral fibers of the 2 women.
The last section of the film was not meant to seem as a section that makes the juice of the film meaningless. The notion of the story being a dream was meant to further the awareness of the film’s purpose. The “open-ended -ness” of the film is deliberate and what makes the narrative a series of questions. Based on the information provided by the film, the viewers can’t help but become curious about what happens next for some sense of closure. By not giving the audience that desired closure “You’re Beautiful”, illustrates a narrative that is hopefully entertaining by making those of us watching not only want more but also makes us continue the dialogue beyond the theater. Many of us moviegoers are addicted to closure and this film makes the audience create its own conclusion. .
“You’re Beautiful”, is not meant to be like Jean-Luc Godard films. Godard films that imitate other movies by keeping the audience separate from the films’ narrative and allowing the audience to question the film’s purpose. .“You’re Beautiful”, does not establish a main character nor makes any effort to persuade the audience to be tied emotionally to any one character. Often films create a character that is the “main character” or “lead” and it is within their character and their choices for action or non-action conduct the events of cause and effect that predetermine the course of the narrative within the film. The film should make people question their own perception of the film’s conclusion. What does her husband have to talk to her about? And more importantly, what does each audience member think he has to say and why? “You’re Beautiful” is a film about our lives and choices we make. We live in a culture where we hold so dear a set of moral values. Oftentimes, we judge each other harshly according to these virtuous ideals. We are quick to draw conclusion even without merit. .“ You’re Beautiful” presents us with a situations that only we as an audience member can decipher how to make one’s action righteous. The characters’ actions are not distinguishable as simple black and white. Hollywood has made billions by building and nurturing an audience that are quick to see everything in black and white. By those standards, “You’re Beautiful” is a shade of gray.
Written & Directed by (Robert) Masseo Davis
This film is open-ended and is meant to both force the audience to question their feelings regarding the context and to reflect on human behavior and our inexplicable attachments to moral values. Not to say that the film is plausibly immoral, quite the contrary, the film is meant to make the viewers wonder why like this, as in the film’s narrative construction. The audience is not provided with an easy read of how to take the story as a whole. Ultimately it could be said that choice is the central theme of the film and it forces many accompanying concepts on the viewers such as paranoia, reality vs. dreams, fate, pre-destined sets of circumstances, and even empathy towards characters.
Choice as a driving narrative force is usually seen as a typical standard of films because most narrative films are motivated by the characters’ development and thus resulting in their specific character choices. In relation to the film’s narrative construction, choice could be written off as irrelevant because any audience member could say, “it was all a dream.” but with this conclusion many other thematic ideas are brought to the table. Was it real or a dream? Is Lauren (the female lead / wife) being paranoid, or do we as an audience member allow our own personalities manifest in the characters within the film? What is the fate of this woman? What and why ultimately do we as audience members are? Is it not Celeste (the other leading lady) who is truly hurt? Breaking the film into three sections allows for the sequence to seem like a study of people’s choices, rather than a narrative about a woman stuck in an unfortunate situation more like a documentary experiment, as opposed to a linear storyline. The study of choices bears for all of us regardless the outcome. We each make choices everyday, often it is as mundane as whether to have breakfast or not.
Other themes that swarm the film are paranoia; questions of who’s the lead (who is the protagonist- who is the antagonist), and how the film pretends to be more than it seems and yet, it is merely the story of two people talking in a room. “You’re Beautiful”, is a film that doesn’t let the viewers become attached to any secular character, regardless of the fact that there are only three characters in the film and the one lead male only appears momentarily in the films final segment. The story itself revolves around Lauren, who is quickly tied directly and indirectly to Celeste. Their dialogue unveils what is most unexpected and would change their lives forever. Lauren and Celeste are both good people. They are juxtaposed to set the audience for a reaction. The audience is asked to make their own ties with characters. Who will they choose? This is meant to keep the film from becoming an escape and totally entertaining. This film is not one where an outside reality is created and the audience is readily embraced. The film sets out to keep the audience members separate from the narrative and invariably question the moral fibers of the 2 women.
The last section of the film was not meant to seem as a section that makes the juice of the film meaningless. The notion of the story being a dream was meant to further the awareness of the film’s purpose. The “open-ended -ness” of the film is deliberate and what makes the narrative a series of questions. Based on the information provided by the film, the viewers can’t help but become curious about what happens next for some sense of closure. By not giving the audience that desired closure “You’re Beautiful”, illustrates a narrative that is hopefully entertaining by making those of us watching not only want more but also makes us continue the dialogue beyond the theater. Many of us moviegoers are addicted to closure and this film makes the audience create its own conclusion. .
“You’re Beautiful”, is not meant to be like Jean-Luc Godard films. Godard films that imitate other movies by keeping the audience separate from the films’ narrative and allowing the audience to question the film’s purpose. .“You’re Beautiful”, does not establish a main character nor makes any effort to persuade the audience to be tied emotionally to any one character. Often films create a character that is the “main character” or “lead” and it is within their character and their choices for action or non-action conduct the events of cause and effect that predetermine the course of the narrative within the film. The film should make people question their own perception of the film’s conclusion. What does her husband have to talk to her about? And more importantly, what does each audience member think he has to say and why? “You’re Beautiful” is a film about our lives and choices we make. We live in a culture where we hold so dear a set of moral values. Oftentimes, we judge each other harshly according to these virtuous ideals. We are quick to draw conclusion even without merit. .“ You’re Beautiful” presents us with a situations that only we as an audience member can decipher how to make one’s action righteous. The characters’ actions are not distinguishable as simple black and white. Hollywood has made billions by building and nurturing an audience that are quick to see everything in black and white. By those standards, “You’re Beautiful” is a shade of gray.
Balanchine
(Robert) Masseo Davis
Balanchine
It’s interesting that many of the great people who set the standards of their fields seem to stumble onto their paths of fate. George Balanchine is no exception to this ironic truth. In the ballet world of the 20th century Balanchine is regarded as one the fathers of this seamlessly upheld tradition.
“The mark of greatness is when everything
before you is obsolete, and everything after
you bares your mark.”
- Dave Chappelle
- “Inside the Actors Studio”
It’s not to say that dance, or even ballet in the modern world is mere imitations, quite the contrary, however there is something to be said about the standards that were both required and upheld today.
It has been said in regards to the four leading men in American Ballet Theater, Jose Manuel Carreno, Angle Corella, Vladimir Malakov, and Ethan Stiefel in the dance documentary “Born to Be Wild: The leading men of American Ballet Theater” that,
“They set the standard for dance, now.”
-Kevin McKenzie,
“American Ballet Theater Artistic Director”
Those standards that Kevin McKenzie, spoke of, were the groundwork, required, as well as demanded by George Balanchine, of his dancers. George Balanchine is responsible for arranging what the western world recognizes as traditional ballet.
In regards to the American audience George Balanchine is arguably the countries primary influence, and contribution to the vast history, and lineage, which is ballet.
Sure we didn’t train him as a dancer; there were no notable American ballet schools until he came. And Balanchine is not of American decent, however his legacy is now, and forever will be apart of the American ballet tradition.
In regards to George Balanchine the man, not the choreographer, he was always referred to as a levelheaded man, humble, happy, and easy going. Balanchine, however was not afraid of work he welcomed it, Balanchine would say, “First comes sweat…then comes beauty if you’re vairy lucky and have said you’re prayers”.
George Balanchine was a simple man who at the end of the day did nothing more than express a profound love for the dance. His legacy was not one of legend until after his time, just as the “Golden Ages” in history were not referred to as the “Golden Ages” until much later.
In regards to the evolution of the modern ballet tradition, George Balanchine’s, contribution, his work and his legacy are equivalent to man standing upright the
homo-sapien. Balanchine is the pinnacle of what we recognized as the traditional ballet movement.
In St. Petersburg Russia, on January 22, 1904 Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze was born. It wasn’t until approximately twenty years later that Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze changed his name to George Balanchine, when he joined the Ballet Russes in Paris. Serge Diagilev, merely found “Balanchivadze“ to be a name far too difficult to pronounce. Balanchine’s father was Meliton Balanchivadze and his mother was Maria Nikolayevna. Balanchine’s parents had three children together; George was their second child. Tamara Balanchivadze was George’s older sister, and Andrei was his younger brother.
As a choreographer Balanchine has been noted and recognized as being very musical mover and creator. Balanchine’s father was a well-respected musical composer who raised his children with a modest fortune and respectable reputation. This would lead most to believe that with a musician as a father that he would play the role in leading his children into a musically involved lifestyle; quite the contrary it was Balanchine’s mother, Maria who got their children involved with music at a young age.
“It’s like watching light pass through a prism.
The music passes through him, and in the same natural
yet marvelous way that a prism refracts light, he
refracts music into dance.”
-Martha Graham
(Balanchine, A biography by Bernard Taper)
“Balanchine composed the choreography as he
listened to my recording, and I could actually
observe him conceiving gestures, movement,
combinations and compositions. The result was
a series of dialogues perfectly complementary to
and coordinated with the dialogues of the music.”
-Igor Stravinsky
(The George Balanchine Foundation)
Balanchine’s, mother started teaching him how to play the piano when he was 5 years old. His lessons later were given to him by, “an imposing, bespectacled German lady…”
In the beginning George didn’t enjoy playing the piano or even music for that matter, because like most young boys Balanchine found practicing to be tedious and boring. It wasn’t until one faithful day when he was working on a section from a Beethoven Sonata. He found the music so beautiful that it brought him to tears as he practiced. This new found love and appreciation for music would prove to be very beneficial for his future, and in a sense beneficial for the entire ballet world.
When Balanchine was 10 years of age he was to become a naval officer his mother was going to enroll him in the Imperial Naval Academy, and his sister, Tamara was returning to The Imperial School of Theater and Ballet, for her second attempt at being admitted to the school. Coincidentally the naval academy that year was overloaded with applications and there was no room for young George to enroll in the academy. As a result of the navel academy’s tremendous overflow, he wound up applying with his sister at the Imperial School of Theater and Ballet, ironically he was admitted and she again was not. The tedious amount of classes he took at the school bored him just as his early stages of piano lessons. Eventually, George Balanchine had his first taste of the stage. It was costmary that students from there second year on at the school were to be used in small parts and performed with the company on the legendary Maryinsky Theater. George Balanchine appeared as a cupid in the last act in the company’s performance of “The Sleeping Beauty”. This performance was an experience that changed his perspective, similar to his experience with the Beethoven Sonata. All the work he had been involved with at the school had a purpose, with the beautiful sets, décor, and costumes Balanchine found a new respect for the medium of dance.
Over the course of his following years at the ballet school Balanchine appeared in several other ballets amongst which include the “The Pharaoh’s Daughter, Paquita, La Jota Aragonese, The Nutcracker” and many others.
In 1924, George Balanchine, Tamara Geva, Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Efimov were allowed leave from the newly formed Soviet Union to tour Europe. All four of the dancers were invited to join Serge Diaghilev Ballet Russes, and never returned to Russia as students of the Imperial Ballet School.
Balanchine quickly worked his way up to being the company’s ballet master, and principle choreographer, with the Ballet Russe Balanchine created such works as “L’Efant et les Sortileges, Romeo and Juliet, the Prodigal Son etc”.
After Diaghilev’s death Balanchine formed Les Ballet, a small group who’s solo season was short lived however, the touring of this company can be blamed for introducing Balanchine to a man who will with Balanchine’s help bring ballet to America.
“It was during its London
engagement, however,a meeting occurred
that would change the history of the
20th-centurey dance.”
-(Pg1, The George Balanchine Foundation)
During Les Ballet’s, London tour George Balanchine met Lincoln Kirstein, and he convinced Balanchine to help him bring ballet to America. Kirsten had always wanted to see an American ballet company not dependent on European ideals or standards of repertory. Balanchine agreed to take part in this project, however his request was to first build a school. Balanchine came to the big apple in October 1933, and under one year later the School of American Ballet was founded in January of 1934.
Balanchine choreographed Serenade, on the students of the ballet school, and it was his first of many works in America.
The students and the school however did not have a permanent residency until years later. A year after the schools opening Balanchine had succeeded in establishing a professional company. They had their premiere performance at the Adelphi Theater, in March of 1935. The company later became the resident ballet company of The Metropolitan Opera. This merger was brief for the Opera was not interested in showcasing ballet and Balanchine’s company was only allowed two all dance programs per season.
By 1946, after an exclusive performance of Balanchine’s new works on the company, which included The Four Temperaments, and Orpheus, George and Kirstein and the company were invited to join the New York City Center of Music and Drama. The rest is history, the birth of the New York City Ballet had arrived and Balanchine and Kirstein’s dream had been realized.
In conjuncture to the School of American Ballet, and the New York City Ballet, the company, Balanchine remained the Artistic Director and the company’s choreographer creating a plethora of original works until his death, on April 30th 1983. George Balanchine died at the age of 79. (The Balanchine Foundation/ Taper)
“Mr. B. is with Mozart and Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.’
But we have not lost Balanchine- not the essential Balanchine,
who lives in the great catalogue of masterpieces that have so
shaped and refined our understanding of ballet and given it-
and us- thrilling life. And we are not without the other essential
fact of his work: his school and training system that has tuned
American bodies as the ideal classical medium for his ideal classic
vision. We can never be without Balanchine. He is so central to the
“dannse d’ecole in our century, so surely its guiding force, that grief
becomes mere self- indulgence. Gratitude and joy must be our feeling
for what he gave us, and determination that his work and ideals be
honored and preserved and used to illuminate the future of ballet.”
-Lincoln Kirstein
It could be said that George Balanchine, was highly influenced during his four years with Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe. There is something to be said on Balanchine’s pedagogy method in relation to his experiences in Paris with Diaghilev.
The relationship between Balanchine and Diaghilev was different than that of any of the previous choreographers of the Ballet Russe; he was the first one to in a sense trust in his own work without the felt need for approval from Diaghilev. All the other choreographers would go before Diaghilev with their work before show time, because the Ballet Russe as a project ultimately was Diaghilev’s baby, just as The school of American Ballet, and the New York City Ballet would become Balanchine’s.
Since Fokine, Balanchine was the only choreographer of the Ballet Russe to not be bread into the choreographers seat by Diaghilev, as was Nijinsky, Massine and Najinska.
However, while Balanchine was a unique character in that sense, not being trained to choreograph by Diaghilev Balanchine did receive a different kind of education, which is reflected in the way New York City Ballet is organized and upheld.
While Balanchine was with Diaghilev, Diaghilev would bring him everywhere imposing other art forms on him such as paintings. These were the artists that where creating the décor and set designs that the Ballet Russe was so famous for having. Balanchine in turn noticed something about the company that the public had yet to realize.
Though the Ballet Russe offered a visual spectacle, in terms of décor and set, the dancers weren’t that talented.
“One of the variations in “Apollo” was not to Diaghilev’s
taste. He thought it was to long, too repetitious…He told
George that the variation was no good, and that he didn’t
like the music. George said, “It is your dancer that isn’t
good.” (It was [Alice] Nikitina.) George wouldn’t change
the variation, so Diaghilev took it out. One day, in Covent
Garden, just before the performance of “Apollo”, Diaghilev
rushed looking for George…”put the variation in quickly…
Stravinsky is in the audience.” So George had to grab the
lady who was dancing Tersichore and quickly rehearse her
just before she went on stage.”
(pg 197, Garafola and Baer)
Balanchine felt that dance execution was at the forefront of the work and it could be argued that that is way when Lincoln Kirstein convinced him to come to America Balanchine insisted on first having a school. The case being that if could not find talented dancers that could do his work; then he would raise them.
Another influence that Diaghilev left on Balanchine is the tradition of collaboration, with other artists. When Balanchine was partaking with the Ballet Russe Company he was in back stage area with acclaimed artists such as, Picasso, Rouauly, Utrillo, Miro, Gris, de Chirico, Braque, Derain, and Tchelitchev. At the time Balanchine didn’t realize the company he was with, but he later continued this tradition with a musical artist, Stravinsky.
The relation ship as a creative force of Balanchine and Stravinsky is comparable to Petipa and Tchaikovsky, or filmmakers and their leading actors, like Martin Scorssese, and Robert DeNiro. (Taper)
As a result of his experience with the Ballet Russe Balanchine was capable of being a founding member of Americas premiere ballet training method and school, as well as one of the best ballet schools in the country.
Ever since the New York City Ballet found it’s permanent home Balanchine lived out the rest of his days as the company’s ballet master, culminating with a total body of work consisting of 425 works. His final piece was Variations for Orchestra (1982), which was a solo for Suzanne Farrell. Other works that within his catalogue of master pieces are, Bourree Fantasque, The Firebird, Scotch Symphony, Western Symphony, Jewels, The Nutcracker, which was his first full length ballet for the company, and many more.
The members of his company held him in high esteem and their love for him play a part in helping keep his tradition alive today.
“I went to his aphartment in New York and we sat on
the couch and I didn’t say, “May I please come back?”
and he didn’t say, “Would you like to come back?” It
was “When do we get back to work?” I was committed
to Bejart until December, and Maurice said he was sorry
to lose me, but he knew how important Mr. B. was to me.
He knew this had to be. .. I knew I was going to go back where I belonged.”
-Suzanne Farrell
In conclusion, George Balanchine while he did change the face of ballet as it was known. The truth is as a humble man; he did not ever set out to do that. Balanchine didn’t set out to change the world, he didn’t intend on influencing the world, he didn’t expect to do anything more than just create good work. All Balanchine ever really did at the core of it all was express his unbridled love for the art medium, dance.
“We must first realize that dancing is an absolutely independent
art, not merely a secondary accompanying one. I believe that it
is one of the great arts… The important thing in ballet is the
movement itself. A ballet may contain a story, but the visual spectacle…
is the essential element. The choreographer and the dancer
must remember that they reah the audience through the eye.
It’s the illusion created which convinces the audience,
much as it is with the work of a magician.”
-George Balanchine
Balanchine
It’s interesting that many of the great people who set the standards of their fields seem to stumble onto their paths of fate. George Balanchine is no exception to this ironic truth. In the ballet world of the 20th century Balanchine is regarded as one the fathers of this seamlessly upheld tradition.
“The mark of greatness is when everything
before you is obsolete, and everything after
you bares your mark.”
- Dave Chappelle
- “Inside the Actors Studio”
It’s not to say that dance, or even ballet in the modern world is mere imitations, quite the contrary, however there is something to be said about the standards that were both required and upheld today.
It has been said in regards to the four leading men in American Ballet Theater, Jose Manuel Carreno, Angle Corella, Vladimir Malakov, and Ethan Stiefel in the dance documentary “Born to Be Wild: The leading men of American Ballet Theater” that,
“They set the standard for dance, now.”
-Kevin McKenzie,
“American Ballet Theater Artistic Director”
Those standards that Kevin McKenzie, spoke of, were the groundwork, required, as well as demanded by George Balanchine, of his dancers. George Balanchine is responsible for arranging what the western world recognizes as traditional ballet.
In regards to the American audience George Balanchine is arguably the countries primary influence, and contribution to the vast history, and lineage, which is ballet.
Sure we didn’t train him as a dancer; there were no notable American ballet schools until he came. And Balanchine is not of American decent, however his legacy is now, and forever will be apart of the American ballet tradition.
In regards to George Balanchine the man, not the choreographer, he was always referred to as a levelheaded man, humble, happy, and easy going. Balanchine, however was not afraid of work he welcomed it, Balanchine would say, “First comes sweat…then comes beauty if you’re vairy lucky and have said you’re prayers”.
George Balanchine was a simple man who at the end of the day did nothing more than express a profound love for the dance. His legacy was not one of legend until after his time, just as the “Golden Ages” in history were not referred to as the “Golden Ages” until much later.
In regards to the evolution of the modern ballet tradition, George Balanchine’s, contribution, his work and his legacy are equivalent to man standing upright the
homo-sapien. Balanchine is the pinnacle of what we recognized as the traditional ballet movement.
In St. Petersburg Russia, on January 22, 1904 Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze was born. It wasn’t until approximately twenty years later that Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze changed his name to George Balanchine, when he joined the Ballet Russes in Paris. Serge Diagilev, merely found “Balanchivadze“ to be a name far too difficult to pronounce. Balanchine’s father was Meliton Balanchivadze and his mother was Maria Nikolayevna. Balanchine’s parents had three children together; George was their second child. Tamara Balanchivadze was George’s older sister, and Andrei was his younger brother.
As a choreographer Balanchine has been noted and recognized as being very musical mover and creator. Balanchine’s father was a well-respected musical composer who raised his children with a modest fortune and respectable reputation. This would lead most to believe that with a musician as a father that he would play the role in leading his children into a musically involved lifestyle; quite the contrary it was Balanchine’s mother, Maria who got their children involved with music at a young age.
“It’s like watching light pass through a prism.
The music passes through him, and in the same natural
yet marvelous way that a prism refracts light, he
refracts music into dance.”
-Martha Graham
(Balanchine, A biography by Bernard Taper)
“Balanchine composed the choreography as he
listened to my recording, and I could actually
observe him conceiving gestures, movement,
combinations and compositions. The result was
a series of dialogues perfectly complementary to
and coordinated with the dialogues of the music.”
-Igor Stravinsky
(The George Balanchine Foundation)
Balanchine’s, mother started teaching him how to play the piano when he was 5 years old. His lessons later were given to him by, “an imposing, bespectacled German lady…”
In the beginning George didn’t enjoy playing the piano or even music for that matter, because like most young boys Balanchine found practicing to be tedious and boring. It wasn’t until one faithful day when he was working on a section from a Beethoven Sonata. He found the music so beautiful that it brought him to tears as he practiced. This new found love and appreciation for music would prove to be very beneficial for his future, and in a sense beneficial for the entire ballet world.
When Balanchine was 10 years of age he was to become a naval officer his mother was going to enroll him in the Imperial Naval Academy, and his sister, Tamara was returning to The Imperial School of Theater and Ballet, for her second attempt at being admitted to the school. Coincidentally the naval academy that year was overloaded with applications and there was no room for young George to enroll in the academy. As a result of the navel academy’s tremendous overflow, he wound up applying with his sister at the Imperial School of Theater and Ballet, ironically he was admitted and she again was not. The tedious amount of classes he took at the school bored him just as his early stages of piano lessons. Eventually, George Balanchine had his first taste of the stage. It was costmary that students from there second year on at the school were to be used in small parts and performed with the company on the legendary Maryinsky Theater. George Balanchine appeared as a cupid in the last act in the company’s performance of “The Sleeping Beauty”. This performance was an experience that changed his perspective, similar to his experience with the Beethoven Sonata. All the work he had been involved with at the school had a purpose, with the beautiful sets, décor, and costumes Balanchine found a new respect for the medium of dance.
Over the course of his following years at the ballet school Balanchine appeared in several other ballets amongst which include the “The Pharaoh’s Daughter, Paquita, La Jota Aragonese, The Nutcracker” and many others.
In 1924, George Balanchine, Tamara Geva, Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Efimov were allowed leave from the newly formed Soviet Union to tour Europe. All four of the dancers were invited to join Serge Diaghilev Ballet Russes, and never returned to Russia as students of the Imperial Ballet School.
Balanchine quickly worked his way up to being the company’s ballet master, and principle choreographer, with the Ballet Russe Balanchine created such works as “L’Efant et les Sortileges, Romeo and Juliet, the Prodigal Son etc”.
After Diaghilev’s death Balanchine formed Les Ballet, a small group who’s solo season was short lived however, the touring of this company can be blamed for introducing Balanchine to a man who will with Balanchine’s help bring ballet to America.
“It was during its London
engagement, however,a meeting occurred
that would change the history of the
20th-centurey dance.”
-(Pg1, The George Balanchine Foundation)
During Les Ballet’s, London tour George Balanchine met Lincoln Kirstein, and he convinced Balanchine to help him bring ballet to America. Kirsten had always wanted to see an American ballet company not dependent on European ideals or standards of repertory. Balanchine agreed to take part in this project, however his request was to first build a school. Balanchine came to the big apple in October 1933, and under one year later the School of American Ballet was founded in January of 1934.
Balanchine choreographed Serenade, on the students of the ballet school, and it was his first of many works in America.
The students and the school however did not have a permanent residency until years later. A year after the schools opening Balanchine had succeeded in establishing a professional company. They had their premiere performance at the Adelphi Theater, in March of 1935. The company later became the resident ballet company of The Metropolitan Opera. This merger was brief for the Opera was not interested in showcasing ballet and Balanchine’s company was only allowed two all dance programs per season.
By 1946, after an exclusive performance of Balanchine’s new works on the company, which included The Four Temperaments, and Orpheus, George and Kirstein and the company were invited to join the New York City Center of Music and Drama. The rest is history, the birth of the New York City Ballet had arrived and Balanchine and Kirstein’s dream had been realized.
In conjuncture to the School of American Ballet, and the New York City Ballet, the company, Balanchine remained the Artistic Director and the company’s choreographer creating a plethora of original works until his death, on April 30th 1983. George Balanchine died at the age of 79. (The Balanchine Foundation/ Taper)
“Mr. B. is with Mozart and Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.’
But we have not lost Balanchine- not the essential Balanchine,
who lives in the great catalogue of masterpieces that have so
shaped and refined our understanding of ballet and given it-
and us- thrilling life. And we are not without the other essential
fact of his work: his school and training system that has tuned
American bodies as the ideal classical medium for his ideal classic
vision. We can never be without Balanchine. He is so central to the
“dannse d’ecole in our century, so surely its guiding force, that grief
becomes mere self- indulgence. Gratitude and joy must be our feeling
for what he gave us, and determination that his work and ideals be
honored and preserved and used to illuminate the future of ballet.”
-Lincoln Kirstein
It could be said that George Balanchine, was highly influenced during his four years with Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe. There is something to be said on Balanchine’s pedagogy method in relation to his experiences in Paris with Diaghilev.
The relationship between Balanchine and Diaghilev was different than that of any of the previous choreographers of the Ballet Russe; he was the first one to in a sense trust in his own work without the felt need for approval from Diaghilev. All the other choreographers would go before Diaghilev with their work before show time, because the Ballet Russe as a project ultimately was Diaghilev’s baby, just as The school of American Ballet, and the New York City Ballet would become Balanchine’s.
Since Fokine, Balanchine was the only choreographer of the Ballet Russe to not be bread into the choreographers seat by Diaghilev, as was Nijinsky, Massine and Najinska.
However, while Balanchine was a unique character in that sense, not being trained to choreograph by Diaghilev Balanchine did receive a different kind of education, which is reflected in the way New York City Ballet is organized and upheld.
While Balanchine was with Diaghilev, Diaghilev would bring him everywhere imposing other art forms on him such as paintings. These were the artists that where creating the décor and set designs that the Ballet Russe was so famous for having. Balanchine in turn noticed something about the company that the public had yet to realize.
Though the Ballet Russe offered a visual spectacle, in terms of décor and set, the dancers weren’t that talented.
“One of the variations in “Apollo” was not to Diaghilev’s
taste. He thought it was to long, too repetitious…He told
George that the variation was no good, and that he didn’t
like the music. George said, “It is your dancer that isn’t
good.” (It was [Alice] Nikitina.) George wouldn’t change
the variation, so Diaghilev took it out. One day, in Covent
Garden, just before the performance of “Apollo”, Diaghilev
rushed looking for George…”put the variation in quickly…
Stravinsky is in the audience.” So George had to grab the
lady who was dancing Tersichore and quickly rehearse her
just before she went on stage.”
(pg 197, Garafola and Baer)
Balanchine felt that dance execution was at the forefront of the work and it could be argued that that is way when Lincoln Kirstein convinced him to come to America Balanchine insisted on first having a school. The case being that if could not find talented dancers that could do his work; then he would raise them.
Another influence that Diaghilev left on Balanchine is the tradition of collaboration, with other artists. When Balanchine was partaking with the Ballet Russe Company he was in back stage area with acclaimed artists such as, Picasso, Rouauly, Utrillo, Miro, Gris, de Chirico, Braque, Derain, and Tchelitchev. At the time Balanchine didn’t realize the company he was with, but he later continued this tradition with a musical artist, Stravinsky.
The relation ship as a creative force of Balanchine and Stravinsky is comparable to Petipa and Tchaikovsky, or filmmakers and their leading actors, like Martin Scorssese, and Robert DeNiro. (Taper)
As a result of his experience with the Ballet Russe Balanchine was capable of being a founding member of Americas premiere ballet training method and school, as well as one of the best ballet schools in the country.
Ever since the New York City Ballet found it’s permanent home Balanchine lived out the rest of his days as the company’s ballet master, culminating with a total body of work consisting of 425 works. His final piece was Variations for Orchestra (1982), which was a solo for Suzanne Farrell. Other works that within his catalogue of master pieces are, Bourree Fantasque, The Firebird, Scotch Symphony, Western Symphony, Jewels, The Nutcracker, which was his first full length ballet for the company, and many more.
The members of his company held him in high esteem and their love for him play a part in helping keep his tradition alive today.
“I went to his aphartment in New York and we sat on
the couch and I didn’t say, “May I please come back?”
and he didn’t say, “Would you like to come back?” It
was “When do we get back to work?” I was committed
to Bejart until December, and Maurice said he was sorry
to lose me, but he knew how important Mr. B. was to me.
He knew this had to be. .. I knew I was going to go back where I belonged.”
-Suzanne Farrell
In conclusion, George Balanchine while he did change the face of ballet as it was known. The truth is as a humble man; he did not ever set out to do that. Balanchine didn’t set out to change the world, he didn’t intend on influencing the world, he didn’t expect to do anything more than just create good work. All Balanchine ever really did at the core of it all was express his unbridled love for the art medium, dance.
“We must first realize that dancing is an absolutely independent
art, not merely a secondary accompanying one. I believe that it
is one of the great arts… The important thing in ballet is the
movement itself. A ballet may contain a story, but the visual spectacle…
is the essential element. The choreographer and the dancer
must remember that they reah the audience through the eye.
It’s the illusion created which convinces the audience,
much as it is with the work of a magician.”
-George Balanchine
Monday, May 12, 2008
Death at a Funeral, Directed by Frank Oz.
(Robert) Masseo Davis
April/ 5/ 2008
Death at a Funeral
Death at a Funeral, Directed by Frank Oz.
Rating: 4/5
Frank Oz, director of the film Death at a Funeral, has created a film that has been applauded as “A comedy to die for” Today Magazine, “Insanely Funny” Time, etc; However the film has not be recognized for one of it’s greatest traits. Oz’s film is an incredible character study.
It was great to see a film that deals with a lot of characters, in a short amount of time, while allowing for all the characters to be active participants to the films narrative.
The film also seems to utilize all of the films players in very crafty/ quirky ways. There is a man who is always stuck doing really awkward manual labor; every time there is something to be done he happens to be near enough to that area to be dragged into the situation. It’s a film of great movie magic and a fine example of verbal/ scenario based slapstick.
In conclusion, this is one of those movies for people who tend to enjoy crafty dark humor. If you find pleasure and humor in really awkward situations then this is the film for you. A word to the wise however is that to truly enjoy this film your brain has to function properly. It’s not a film strictly for academics just that you must somewhat intelligent to enjoy the film.
April/ 5/ 2008
Death at a Funeral
Death at a Funeral, Directed by Frank Oz.
Rating: 4/5
Frank Oz, director of the film Death at a Funeral, has created a film that has been applauded as “A comedy to die for” Today Magazine, “Insanely Funny” Time, etc; However the film has not be recognized for one of it’s greatest traits. Oz’s film is an incredible character study.
It was great to see a film that deals with a lot of characters, in a short amount of time, while allowing for all the characters to be active participants to the films narrative.
The film also seems to utilize all of the films players in very crafty/ quirky ways. There is a man who is always stuck doing really awkward manual labor; every time there is something to be done he happens to be near enough to that area to be dragged into the situation. It’s a film of great movie magic and a fine example of verbal/ scenario based slapstick.
In conclusion, this is one of those movies for people who tend to enjoy crafty dark humor. If you find pleasure and humor in really awkward situations then this is the film for you. A word to the wise however is that to truly enjoy this film your brain has to function properly. It’s not a film strictly for academics just that you must somewhat intelligent to enjoy the film.
Diana’s Reefer Mission, by R. Masseo Davis
Diana’s Reefer Mission
There once was a man who wore a hat, he was very small a mighty fat. I asked him for a couple dimes, and in exchange he wanted rhymes. I said, “that’s fine I rhyme all the time, I’ll just kick you a line and we’ll both be sublime.” I told him that was my rhyme and to give me my dime. He said, “don’t waste my time with those lame ass lyrics, if that was your rhyme then I didn’t want to hear it.”
The man wearing that hat left me defeated, leaving me without my drugs when indeed I really needed it. I wondered, what was wrong with my rhyme? Why didn’t I get my dime? I gave him a rhyme, and I need to be sublime. I told myself then that before the day was threw, that I’d have my answer and I’d know what to do. I sat there and pondered as I grasped onto my belt, and it hit me there like lighting, I’d ask my friends for some help.
I still consider rhyming to be an art. So I figured my poet friend Jordan was a good place to start. I found my friend Jordan, alone pondering life, in one hand a skull, and another hand a knife. I approached Jordan cautiously, trying not to disturb his focus, hoping that after his moment we could have ourselves a caucus. I told Jordan the story. I said, “Here is the “sitch”. He said, he could solve my problem and here was his pitch.
“A rhyme should be like a supple meal, delicious, wet, and coursing with warm juices that are melted within. It should be so generous and easy to take, that upon entering ones consciousness, all that is felt is pleasure. The way, in which we come to this climactic conclusion, is tangled intensity. It should be complex in its form. It should not only be a value of the mouth and tongue, but also involve the entire body. With this art there are a minimum of two participants, the giver and the receiver. I know that the goal is the end result, but the experience of the journey, the discovery, the indulgence of the moments leading up to the product are where the masters find their muses. So Diana if you slow it down, back it up and take it all in for just a moment I’m sure that you too will come to the conclusion you so desire.”
I couldn’t be confident that this was it, did I now have my answer or was he looking at my tits? I really wasn’t sure concerning what to rhyme about next, I just knew to look within myself and keep it complex?
As I wondered the streets searching for my reefer dealer, I made up my new rhyme that would be a deal sealer. It was gonna be complicated and have nothing to do with my tits, I just planned to keep it real, and just spit it like this. I spit to make the mike like a flammable torch. It’s understandable my mind is a mechanical force, and I’m tyrannical a vandal of intrigable sorts, cause I’m a, warlord with a sword from the Montague hoard speaking the tongue of the lord to bless my vocal cords. But that’s all right it all fine and dandy, cause my blood type consists of wine and brandy; yet, y’all ain’t with me my flows is too loose. I spit more bizarre rhymes than the Dr. Seuss. My flow is heavy; you don’t even know, cause I rhyme from my toes to the top of my afroooooooo.
No that will never do, he wouldn’t want to hear it, when I ask him for some weed he won’t let me near it. Then I had an epiphany about who to ask instead. I’d track down and question my philosopher friend Fred.
I went to Fred, and explained to him my problem, he was whom I went to will issues cause I knew that he could solve them. I asked him confident he would put this problem to bed, he opened his mouth and this is what he said.
“Language is an interesting thing because there is no real definition, that can be pinpointed, by a single human, without coming to the crossroads that is notable as dependency, and matters of many opinions, while it can often be, and often has been described as a translatable text that leaves, room still for many interpretations of the term known as language in regards to it’s purpose and/or purposes, should one include the means of communication, when defining what language is, and if so that intuitively includes many other possibilities, such as terms like “body language”, “sign language”, and this too leaves room for thusly the very possible trait of human communication known as misinterpretation/ conflicting views an example of this is the proverb what is one mans trash is another mans treasure, or the fact that people tend to think that the floor in ones home is the surface that is utilized as a way to transport ones self from room to room, when in fact it is actually the largest self in the entire house, it’s a vicious cycle that turns, and turns, perpetually and yet supposedly, when referring to “language”, it would seem that there are specific criteria that a means of communication need to acquire, an example of such a defining quality is the notion of the means of communication being translatable, thusly the word “no” means “no” in every language, where with modes of communication such as “body language” physical actions don’t necessarily mean specific things at all times, so it would seem that at the very least “body language” cannot technically be classified as a language because it is not a translatable medium of communication like with words, still the question is how can we honestly say that any mode of communication isn’t a language considering communication is the primary function of language intuitively this claim just seems false.”
After that try I decided to stop, cause no matter what I did I couldn’t get any pot. My reliable friends couldn’t help me either, during this desperate mission to score me some reefer. Then it hit me, like after a smack there’s pain, that instead of smoking weed I’d start to snort cocaine. There were a few cocaine dealers in town, but only one that I know, so I went in search of him to score me some blow.
Then there was the man whose name was Jim; who was very tall and mighty slim. Instead I asked him for a couple lines, and in return he replied, “twenty bucks.”
There once was a man who wore a hat, he was very small a mighty fat. I asked him for a couple dimes, and in exchange he wanted rhymes. I said, “that’s fine I rhyme all the time, I’ll just kick you a line and we’ll both be sublime.” I told him that was my rhyme and to give me my dime. He said, “don’t waste my time with those lame ass lyrics, if that was your rhyme then I didn’t want to hear it.”
The man wearing that hat left me defeated, leaving me without my drugs when indeed I really needed it. I wondered, what was wrong with my rhyme? Why didn’t I get my dime? I gave him a rhyme, and I need to be sublime. I told myself then that before the day was threw, that I’d have my answer and I’d know what to do. I sat there and pondered as I grasped onto my belt, and it hit me there like lighting, I’d ask my friends for some help.
I still consider rhyming to be an art. So I figured my poet friend Jordan was a good place to start. I found my friend Jordan, alone pondering life, in one hand a skull, and another hand a knife. I approached Jordan cautiously, trying not to disturb his focus, hoping that after his moment we could have ourselves a caucus. I told Jordan the story. I said, “Here is the “sitch”. He said, he could solve my problem and here was his pitch.
“A rhyme should be like a supple meal, delicious, wet, and coursing with warm juices that are melted within. It should be so generous and easy to take, that upon entering ones consciousness, all that is felt is pleasure. The way, in which we come to this climactic conclusion, is tangled intensity. It should be complex in its form. It should not only be a value of the mouth and tongue, but also involve the entire body. With this art there are a minimum of two participants, the giver and the receiver. I know that the goal is the end result, but the experience of the journey, the discovery, the indulgence of the moments leading up to the product are where the masters find their muses. So Diana if you slow it down, back it up and take it all in for just a moment I’m sure that you too will come to the conclusion you so desire.”
I couldn’t be confident that this was it, did I now have my answer or was he looking at my tits? I really wasn’t sure concerning what to rhyme about next, I just knew to look within myself and keep it complex?
As I wondered the streets searching for my reefer dealer, I made up my new rhyme that would be a deal sealer. It was gonna be complicated and have nothing to do with my tits, I just planned to keep it real, and just spit it like this. I spit to make the mike like a flammable torch. It’s understandable my mind is a mechanical force, and I’m tyrannical a vandal of intrigable sorts, cause I’m a, warlord with a sword from the Montague hoard speaking the tongue of the lord to bless my vocal cords. But that’s all right it all fine and dandy, cause my blood type consists of wine and brandy; yet, y’all ain’t with me my flows is too loose. I spit more bizarre rhymes than the Dr. Seuss. My flow is heavy; you don’t even know, cause I rhyme from my toes to the top of my afroooooooo.
No that will never do, he wouldn’t want to hear it, when I ask him for some weed he won’t let me near it. Then I had an epiphany about who to ask instead. I’d track down and question my philosopher friend Fred.
I went to Fred, and explained to him my problem, he was whom I went to will issues cause I knew that he could solve them. I asked him confident he would put this problem to bed, he opened his mouth and this is what he said.
“Language is an interesting thing because there is no real definition, that can be pinpointed, by a single human, without coming to the crossroads that is notable as dependency, and matters of many opinions, while it can often be, and often has been described as a translatable text that leaves, room still for many interpretations of the term known as language in regards to it’s purpose and/or purposes, should one include the means of communication, when defining what language is, and if so that intuitively includes many other possibilities, such as terms like “body language”, “sign language”, and this too leaves room for thusly the very possible trait of human communication known as misinterpretation/ conflicting views an example of this is the proverb what is one mans trash is another mans treasure, or the fact that people tend to think that the floor in ones home is the surface that is utilized as a way to transport ones self from room to room, when in fact it is actually the largest self in the entire house, it’s a vicious cycle that turns, and turns, perpetually and yet supposedly, when referring to “language”, it would seem that there are specific criteria that a means of communication need to acquire, an example of such a defining quality is the notion of the means of communication being translatable, thusly the word “no” means “no” in every language, where with modes of communication such as “body language” physical actions don’t necessarily mean specific things at all times, so it would seem that at the very least “body language” cannot technically be classified as a language because it is not a translatable medium of communication like with words, still the question is how can we honestly say that any mode of communication isn’t a language considering communication is the primary function of language intuitively this claim just seems false.”
After that try I decided to stop, cause no matter what I did I couldn’t get any pot. My reliable friends couldn’t help me either, during this desperate mission to score me some reefer. Then it hit me, like after a smack there’s pain, that instead of smoking weed I’d start to snort cocaine. There were a few cocaine dealers in town, but only one that I know, so I went in search of him to score me some blow.
Then there was the man whose name was Jim; who was very tall and mighty slim. Instead I asked him for a couple lines, and in return he replied, “twenty bucks.”
“Other People.”
Written and Directed by, (Robert) Masseo Davis
“Other People.”
When I started putting together the concepts for my film “Other People”, my main concern was to have a strong thesis regarding the human experience. I soon found myself with two major themes that would consume my film. I wanted to explore the human mind, memory, and the stories that we tell ourselves based on our actual human experiences. I also wanted to integrate the notion that hell is other people, and that we experience that notion through emotions, such as guilt, jealousy, and love.
In my film “Other People” memory is a primary narrative force, for the film is a series of flashbacks that recall events in a man’s life. I found myself highly interested in how we remember things, and the clarity of our memory’s vision.
I used color to depict that which is the present; the reality of the story, and that which my main character will remember forever. There have been many films and instances where people hear about and/ or feel themselves that they vividly, remember an event in their own history and will never forget. The rest of their thoughts are vague, fleeting, scratchy or lacking a sense of authenticity The real world is in color, and I used the lack of that realistic factor to illustrate memories that do not scar or represent an event that is meaningful. I wanted my main characters memories to stand as visual narration to the films audience, and I wanted his feelings to be the most influential aspects that enticed his memory. I wanted the film to visually illustrate thoughts such as; “I’ll never forget the way she looked at me”, “I can’t forget the way it felt”, and so on.
My movie had slowly transformed itself into a love triangle narrative told by way of visual narration of a man’s memories. When I recognized this I went back and looked at my previous work, I wanted this film to be different, yet I needed to remain loyal to the films morals. My previous work had spent time expressing the discovery of love and people becoming emotionally attached, however they always end after the discovery. My new sub-mission for this film was to address the question, what’s next; in regards to the emotional connection?
My films prior to “Other People”, were films with happy endings, a sense of closure, and/ or relief, regardless of the fact that’s just not how the world works sometimes. “Other People”, is my first stab at a less enjoyable piece, focused more on the authenticity of relationships. “Other People”, proposes the notion, “We may love each other but that doesn’t mean we are meant to be together”. I wanted to illustrate that love is the most bipolar of emotional connections between people. It can entice extreme attraction, and make us subject to unforgettable pain. Those moments in a man’s life are that which pop out in his memory and I hoped to parallel that action the way I filmed “Other People”.
The idea that hell is other people, in a sense comes with the territory of love when it subjects us to pain. Love while viewed as a picturesque landscape pf emotional splendor; it in fact is a double-edged sword.
“Other People”, was made to demonstrate both blades of that sword. The splendor, the guilt, jealousy, and envy all attached to the emotional connection.
I filmed the movie without any dialogue because of two major reasons. The film is an exploration of the mental images, and I did not want the viewers to get caught up in plausibly cheesy, clique, or unappealing lines. I wanted it to be strictly visual storytelling, where the narrative did not depend on the dialogue to move the story forward.
I also believe that you do not need words to express/ illustrate emotions.
Thus making the presence of spoken words, both irrelevant and unnecessary.
Ultimately, “Other People” is a film about a man remembering a time in his life, on the morning of his wedding, and questioning his choices. The events in his memory nearly drive him off the edge but instead of like a classical Hollywood picture he doesn’t follow his heart he continues down his current path. This is not a picture about the unfaithful nature of men, nor is it a film that disapproves of love and it’s ways.
“Other People”, is a movie that talks about the power of our own thoughts when we are left alone with ourselves. The stories that we bare about ourselves, and those we learn to cope with and continue on. It is a tragedy of sorts, based on the theory of love while remaining true to the real emotional human experience.
“Other People.”
When I started putting together the concepts for my film “Other People”, my main concern was to have a strong thesis regarding the human experience. I soon found myself with two major themes that would consume my film. I wanted to explore the human mind, memory, and the stories that we tell ourselves based on our actual human experiences. I also wanted to integrate the notion that hell is other people, and that we experience that notion through emotions, such as guilt, jealousy, and love.
In my film “Other People” memory is a primary narrative force, for the film is a series of flashbacks that recall events in a man’s life. I found myself highly interested in how we remember things, and the clarity of our memory’s vision.
I used color to depict that which is the present; the reality of the story, and that which my main character will remember forever. There have been many films and instances where people hear about and/ or feel themselves that they vividly, remember an event in their own history and will never forget. The rest of their thoughts are vague, fleeting, scratchy or lacking a sense of authenticity The real world is in color, and I used the lack of that realistic factor to illustrate memories that do not scar or represent an event that is meaningful. I wanted my main characters memories to stand as visual narration to the films audience, and I wanted his feelings to be the most influential aspects that enticed his memory. I wanted the film to visually illustrate thoughts such as; “I’ll never forget the way she looked at me”, “I can’t forget the way it felt”, and so on.
My movie had slowly transformed itself into a love triangle narrative told by way of visual narration of a man’s memories. When I recognized this I went back and looked at my previous work, I wanted this film to be different, yet I needed to remain loyal to the films morals. My previous work had spent time expressing the discovery of love and people becoming emotionally attached, however they always end after the discovery. My new sub-mission for this film was to address the question, what’s next; in regards to the emotional connection?
My films prior to “Other People”, were films with happy endings, a sense of closure, and/ or relief, regardless of the fact that’s just not how the world works sometimes. “Other People”, is my first stab at a less enjoyable piece, focused more on the authenticity of relationships. “Other People”, proposes the notion, “We may love each other but that doesn’t mean we are meant to be together”. I wanted to illustrate that love is the most bipolar of emotional connections between people. It can entice extreme attraction, and make us subject to unforgettable pain. Those moments in a man’s life are that which pop out in his memory and I hoped to parallel that action the way I filmed “Other People”.
The idea that hell is other people, in a sense comes with the territory of love when it subjects us to pain. Love while viewed as a picturesque landscape pf emotional splendor; it in fact is a double-edged sword.
“Other People”, was made to demonstrate both blades of that sword. The splendor, the guilt, jealousy, and envy all attached to the emotional connection.
I filmed the movie without any dialogue because of two major reasons. The film is an exploration of the mental images, and I did not want the viewers to get caught up in plausibly cheesy, clique, or unappealing lines. I wanted it to be strictly visual storytelling, where the narrative did not depend on the dialogue to move the story forward.
I also believe that you do not need words to express/ illustrate emotions.
Thus making the presence of spoken words, both irrelevant and unnecessary.
Ultimately, “Other People” is a film about a man remembering a time in his life, on the morning of his wedding, and questioning his choices. The events in his memory nearly drive him off the edge but instead of like a classical Hollywood picture he doesn’t follow his heart he continues down his current path. This is not a picture about the unfaithful nature of men, nor is it a film that disapproves of love and it’s ways.
“Other People”, is a movie that talks about the power of our own thoughts when we are left alone with ourselves. The stories that we bare about ourselves, and those we learn to cope with and continue on. It is a tragedy of sorts, based on the theory of love while remaining true to the real emotional human experience.
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, Directed by Fritz Lang
(Robert) Masseo Davis
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, Directed by Fritz Lang
Rating: 4/5
In the early 1950’s, director Fritz Lang heads off the production for the film
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, which is noted as one of the last German Expressionist films. The film fulfills the criteria for being classified, as a German Expressionist film for it is a discussion regarding the German people and the powers that be during the Nazi Regime.
The Expressionist movement uses visual devises to demonstrate emotional responses to a reality of the world the film was built within. There are many shots in the film that both visually and contextually demonstrate that the film can be categorized as a German Expressionist film.
Shot #1, is a close up (CU) with only the face of Dr. Mabuse in the center of the frame. The film visually and contextually explains that the image is actually the ghost or a mental projection of Dr. Mabuse’s face. The background is black and nothing else. The left of his face is almost over exposed making the image appear ghostly white, and very much not of this world. The right of Mabuse’s face is in shadow. Strong Key lighting from the left seems to be utilized allowing for the lighting to have high contrasting areas of light and shadow. This effect is known as chiaroscuro an early expressionistic term, which came into being as an early painting technique.
Mabuse’s eyes are monstrously large making his face seem alien, also emphasizing his power, similar to visually representing an all seeing eye.
In the shot Mabuse is in the middle of a monologue and he recites the line “…that is the moment when he turns to the superman…” This monologue of Mabuse’s continues on throughout the scene holding the scene together.
There is a simple/ hard cut coupled with a sound bridge of both Dr. Mabuses monologue and eerie music that has been playing throughout the duration of the scene. This cut allows for the audience to say in the moment and not become confused by possible time lapses that other types of cuts would imply.
Shot #2, is a wide shot (WS) of Dr. Baums office the shot contains both on the left of frame Dr. Baum, and a transparent image of Dr. Mabuse on the right of frame. The two figures are sitting across from one another separated by Dr. Baums desk. Mabuse continues his monologue with “ …so the moment has come and now is the time for action…”
The Key lighting seems to be coming from an over exposed desk lamp in the middle of the room on Baum’s desk, for light radiates out from that point.
The art direction of this scene includes a shelving structure in the background with skulls on it and dark curtains. There is the desk separating both Dr’s; this desks contents are the Key light desk lamp, scattered stacks of white papers, and small non- distinguishable figurines.
The staging of the scene is interesting because it suggests multiple shots that are ultimately edited together. In the beginning Dr. Mabuse is sitting in the chair opposite Dr. Baums as if he were a client/ patient of his. However his voice is the one, which is resonating through the room as if it were a part of the films soundtrack. The truth is neither of the Dr.s mouths move but we here Mabuses voice. Mabuse stands up out of himself allowing for two images of Dr. Mabuse to be seen on screen like a clone. That image fades away and reappears standing behind Dr. Baum who is still looking the original Mabuse sitting in the chair. The mabuse who is standing behind Dr. Baum
Reaches over and picks up a section of the papers on Baums desk and places them in front of Dr. Baum who then looks at them. Dr. Mabuse takes a step forward and sits down in the exact same way Dr. Baum is and when he does both Mabuses disappear giving the illusion that they have fused with Dr. Baum and ultimately forced him to become Dr. Mabuse, like he was possessed. Mabuse then delivers his final line for the scene, “…. I can permit no delay…” This shot is interesting because it’s technically there shots which are nothing but a huge graphic match, organized in the editing room. The audience however perceives all three shots as a single shot because the camera never moves.
These “two” shots are not the only shots that can be classified as examples of German Expressionistic filmmaking because they are just repeated visual concepts that are executed throughout the film.
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, Directed by Fritz Lang
Rating: 4/5
In the early 1950’s, director Fritz Lang heads off the production for the film
The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, which is noted as one of the last German Expressionist films. The film fulfills the criteria for being classified, as a German Expressionist film for it is a discussion regarding the German people and the powers that be during the Nazi Regime.
The Expressionist movement uses visual devises to demonstrate emotional responses to a reality of the world the film was built within. There are many shots in the film that both visually and contextually demonstrate that the film can be categorized as a German Expressionist film.
Shot #1, is a close up (CU) with only the face of Dr. Mabuse in the center of the frame. The film visually and contextually explains that the image is actually the ghost or a mental projection of Dr. Mabuse’s face. The background is black and nothing else. The left of his face is almost over exposed making the image appear ghostly white, and very much not of this world. The right of Mabuse’s face is in shadow. Strong Key lighting from the left seems to be utilized allowing for the lighting to have high contrasting areas of light and shadow. This effect is known as chiaroscuro an early expressionistic term, which came into being as an early painting technique.
Mabuse’s eyes are monstrously large making his face seem alien, also emphasizing his power, similar to visually representing an all seeing eye.
In the shot Mabuse is in the middle of a monologue and he recites the line “…that is the moment when he turns to the superman…” This monologue of Mabuse’s continues on throughout the scene holding the scene together.
There is a simple/ hard cut coupled with a sound bridge of both Dr. Mabuses monologue and eerie music that has been playing throughout the duration of the scene. This cut allows for the audience to say in the moment and not become confused by possible time lapses that other types of cuts would imply.
Shot #2, is a wide shot (WS) of Dr. Baums office the shot contains both on the left of frame Dr. Baum, and a transparent image of Dr. Mabuse on the right of frame. The two figures are sitting across from one another separated by Dr. Baums desk. Mabuse continues his monologue with “ …so the moment has come and now is the time for action…”
The Key lighting seems to be coming from an over exposed desk lamp in the middle of the room on Baum’s desk, for light radiates out from that point.
The art direction of this scene includes a shelving structure in the background with skulls on it and dark curtains. There is the desk separating both Dr’s; this desks contents are the Key light desk lamp, scattered stacks of white papers, and small non- distinguishable figurines.
The staging of the scene is interesting because it suggests multiple shots that are ultimately edited together. In the beginning Dr. Mabuse is sitting in the chair opposite Dr. Baums as if he were a client/ patient of his. However his voice is the one, which is resonating through the room as if it were a part of the films soundtrack. The truth is neither of the Dr.s mouths move but we here Mabuses voice. Mabuse stands up out of himself allowing for two images of Dr. Mabuse to be seen on screen like a clone. That image fades away and reappears standing behind Dr. Baum who is still looking the original Mabuse sitting in the chair. The mabuse who is standing behind Dr. Baum
Reaches over and picks up a section of the papers on Baums desk and places them in front of Dr. Baum who then looks at them. Dr. Mabuse takes a step forward and sits down in the exact same way Dr. Baum is and when he does both Mabuses disappear giving the illusion that they have fused with Dr. Baum and ultimately forced him to become Dr. Mabuse, like he was possessed. Mabuse then delivers his final line for the scene, “…. I can permit no delay…” This shot is interesting because it’s technically there shots which are nothing but a huge graphic match, organized in the editing room. The audience however perceives all three shots as a single shot because the camera never moves.
These “two” shots are not the only shots that can be classified as examples of German Expressionistic filmmaking because they are just repeated visual concepts that are executed throughout the film.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Ronald K. Brown Concert
(Robert) Masseo Davis
Ronald K. Brown Concert
On April 12th 2008 the Ronald K. Brown dance company Evidence Dance, came to the Fine Arts Center on the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus. It was a highly anticipated evening that was meant to inspire. In the beginning there is always a sense of anticipation, when entering a concert hall such as the fine arts center. The body of viewers at the evenings concert was composed primarily of the well dressed seemingly distinguished, myself included.
The evening ultimately was an art event, truly a demonstration of dance as art. It was not a showcase of technique/ training, nor a circus with nothing but tricks. To be frank dance is an art medium that should be considered high art because it has the potential to tell stories, and at times it is just beautiful to see bodies in motion. In regards to the performance given by EVIIDENCE A DANCE COMPANY, the evening illustrated the latter.
As a performer of the Ronald K. Brown reparatory myself, to see the company of dancers who he himself has chosen to represent his work, perform was delightful. Over the course of the evening one of the bodies of work that the company performed was ORDER MY STEPS. Within the dance there is a section performed to Bob Marley’s, Exodus. It was eye opening to be sitting and watching the company perform the reparatory that I myself had once performed. I found myself at times following along, with the choreography in my seat. Their interpretation was different than ours, calmer. I feel that may have to do with the fact they are older, not that they don’t have the potential to turn up the volume on the choreography, but that they didn’t fall into the trap of turning up the volume because the audience wanted to see that. (as they would have if they where a circus)
The overall feel of the performance was exactly as I expected, powerful without being overbearing or preachy. The one problem with the evening was that given even before the show had started. The anticipation of the show gave the impression that the performance was going to be of nothing but high energy movement, that probably has something to do with the audience previous knowledge that the choreography was composed primarily of traditional/ ethic movement.
Ronald K. Brown Concert
On April 12th 2008 the Ronald K. Brown dance company Evidence Dance, came to the Fine Arts Center on the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus. It was a highly anticipated evening that was meant to inspire. In the beginning there is always a sense of anticipation, when entering a concert hall such as the fine arts center. The body of viewers at the evenings concert was composed primarily of the well dressed seemingly distinguished, myself included.
The evening ultimately was an art event, truly a demonstration of dance as art. It was not a showcase of technique/ training, nor a circus with nothing but tricks. To be frank dance is an art medium that should be considered high art because it has the potential to tell stories, and at times it is just beautiful to see bodies in motion. In regards to the performance given by EVIIDENCE A DANCE COMPANY, the evening illustrated the latter.
As a performer of the Ronald K. Brown reparatory myself, to see the company of dancers who he himself has chosen to represent his work, perform was delightful. Over the course of the evening one of the bodies of work that the company performed was ORDER MY STEPS. Within the dance there is a section performed to Bob Marley’s, Exodus. It was eye opening to be sitting and watching the company perform the reparatory that I myself had once performed. I found myself at times following along, with the choreography in my seat. Their interpretation was different than ours, calmer. I feel that may have to do with the fact they are older, not that they don’t have the potential to turn up the volume on the choreography, but that they didn’t fall into the trap of turning up the volume because the audience wanted to see that. (as they would have if they where a circus)
The overall feel of the performance was exactly as I expected, powerful without being overbearing or preachy. The one problem with the evening was that given even before the show had started. The anticipation of the show gave the impression that the performance was going to be of nothing but high energy movement, that probably has something to do with the audience previous knowledge that the choreography was composed primarily of traditional/ ethic movement.
Assume: The “Ass” of “U” & “Me”.
(Robert) Masseo Davis
April/ 13/ 2008
Seth Parker
English 112 assignment #3
Assume: The “Ass” of “U” & “Me”.
There is something to be said about the social consciences of a thing. In regards to the masses, it would seem that individuals are intelligent but groups of people are stupid. Be it political, religious, art related or mere unspoken social behavioral attitudes, it’s the executive decision produced by the masses that seem to indicate the way we respond, act, and even think. It’s these assumptions about the many facets of our lives that tend to trap entire demographics of people into what would presumably be cultural differences. In a sense the assumptions we make toward one another as groups are the product of shards of scattered information that then are vaguely shared, thusly producing a general consensus that is often incorrect, far too general to even acknowledge or it keeps individuals from occupying there own opinion.
Bell Hooks essay Sexism and Misogyny: Who take the Rap? on the surface is a discussion about the sexism and hatred towards women portrayed in “gangsta rap.” Hooks, however does not point the finger solely at the artists themselves, but at the cooperate system that helps maintain such a successful tradition amongst performers. More specifically The “White-supremacist capitalist patriarchy” and the “white dominated mass media” are at the center of her discussion regarding misogyny and sexism as portrayed in gangsta rap. However under her rough feminist exterior Hooks, also manages to expose the social views of the masses.
It is generally the case that when asked about sexism in reference to this generations pop culture, that Hip hop and gangsta rap are demonized for illustrating women as objects for black men to use; this, hooks says, generally is the end of the discussion and that the artists of such music are to blame for the misogyny in theses pieces, generally black men. In turn, assuming that is all there is to be said about gansta rap, it is inherently reasonable to point the finger at artists of this specific genre of music- again, primarily black men.
“To see gangsta rap as a reflection of dominate values in our culture rather than as an aberrant “pathological” standpoint does not mean that a rigorous feminist critique of sexism and misogyny expressed in this music is not needed. Without a doubt black males, young and old, must be held politically accountable for their sexism. Yet this critique must always be contextualized or we risk making it appear that the behaviors this thing supports and condones –rape, male violence against women, etc.-is a black male thing.”
(bell hooks, Sexism and Misogny: Who takes the Rap?, pg 416)
There are more factors to the situation, more influences, and many other ways to view gangsta rap, that don’t rationalize the way rap artists illustrate sexist situations, but rather expose other forms of social assumptions and institutions that are also to blame for sexism in the music industry.
The interesting thing is the argument illustrated by Hooks is not completely ground breaking. On an individual level, it has been argued that black artists are not the only people to blame for the sexism in rap music. It’s not necessarily innovative to sight the consumers, and the corporate music producers that are both primarily composed of white men. What is intriguing about the situation then is that though this is almost common knowledge that it still stands as the general view on who is to blame for the artistic choices/ aspects of the work.
Byron Hurt, director of the film Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, set out on a mission similar to bell hooks, in his film. Hurt, discusses the cultural influences on Hip- Hop artists, in regards to both the misogynistic, and representational aspects regarding manhood and masculinity. The film talks about the culture of hip-hop through an anthropological lens, focusing on things such as manhood and mans desire for power. He paints a picture where hip-hops misogynistic qualities are merely part of a vicious cycle where black male artists are convinced/ programmed like robots to illustrate these violent and sexists situations, while “70% of mainstream Hip-Hip is consumed by young white-men. “ It’s an art form/ genre of music that like all other art forms is influenced by, and influence the world around it.
“Hip- Hop Culture is not separate from the rest of American culture, objectified female bodies, those images are everywhere… The real negative thing about music videos and advertisements, is that is the only way women are presented.”
-Sut Jhallly, founder of the Media Education Foundation.
In Hurt’s film he indirectly acknowledges the assumptions of the general publics views on hip-hop in regards to the misogynistic, and violent qualities by calling people out. Through interviews with hip-hop and rap artists, black listeners, white listeners male and female, aspiring artists, and record executives, Hurt exposes his viewers to the how these scapegoats work as a hegemony, that in turn power what he calls a “vicious cycle” of assumptions. When asked, how do you feel about rap artists calling women bitches and hoe’s, a young black women answered “It’s not directed to you personally, It’s just what they say, if you don’t take offense to it, and sex sells.” But it does. Hurt follows by using the counter example; what if George Bush said a speech claiming that all black people were niggers, what justice would we people of color (in that order) be to claim that he wasn’t talking about us. It’s the mentality of “it could never or it won’t ever happen to me” (which is an assumption) that allows the hegemony to stand, because we dismiss it, like some sick and twisted inside joke. (Bryon Hurt. “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes”)
The film proceeds to discuss and illustrate how rap artists have to maintain a kind of duel personality, where they play a part acting out what they feel the public wants to see, and hear, as well as stay true to who they are and their own private morals which they assume the general public doesn’t care to know about.
“We have trusted the media and the corporations to define what hip-hop is…back in the day when it first came out if “ABC” did a story on hip-hop you’d be like I know they bull shitin’, but now you see it on the news, you see it on “BET”…It’s because they call themselves hip-hop now. It’s like now “HOT 97” is where hip-hop lives, you know, and we hear that, and we don’t understand that it’s owned by some corporation that doesn’t have anything to do with hip-hop, We just tryin’ to cash in.”
-Talib Kweli.
The interesting thing about the film is it still holds it self at the surface of the issue, plausibly because Hurt feels that opening the discussion is a baby step to a bigger problem, or because he to failed to openly acknowledge the magnitude of the current social situation. It’s one thing to talk about a collaboration of issues such as sexism and misogyny or manhood and sexism, but it’s the assumptions that we the people make that are the driving forces behind this vicious cycle. Both Hooks, and Hurt reference social assumptions, but then continue to talk about specifics that ultimately are products of assumptions.
Hooks, expresses incidences within her essay where people made assumptions about her, and that when they later realized that their assumptions were false they then were disappointed. Ultimately it could be said that theses radio Dj’s who were hoping to get a heated banter with hooks, made an assumption about the kind of person she was because she calls herself a feminist, and because they desired the argument. If we were to generalize this scenario it could be argued that, we under the umbrella of mass social context make assumptions because we desire something, our assumptions are a means to an end. Gangsta rap artists assume that making music that illustrates violence and sexist attitude is the only way to be successful. We the general public, assume based on the lyrics of gangsta rap composed by primarily black male artists that misogyny is in a “black male thing.” They then can rule themselves out with a “clear” example of what demographic of people can, and will take the fall for this little thing known as misogyny. Radio D.J’s assumed they are going to get into a heated banter with Hooks, because she identifies herself as a feminist, in hopes of perhaps raising their ratings. Hooks assumes that gangster rap is ultimately the product and even a window into the moral/ intensions of the white power hierarchy, known as “capitalist patriarchy.”
We as a people need to examine the many assumptions that we impose on others, which in turn govern our now natural, and social behaviors/ beliefs. It’s a shame because based on the idea that assumptions are a means to an end, many if not all of our assumptions can in a way be morally validated. Gangster rap artists under the impression that portraying a sexist lifestyle, is the only way to success in the music industry, is understandable if you consider the act a means in which to accomplish their desire to be successful. We have no right to hold their actions as demonizing, when put into those contexts; the same goes for the radio D.j’s who desire higher ratings/ more listeners. In regards to the general public, consumers, and those that hooks calls the “white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy”, I believe that it is safe to say that we believe that sexism and misogyny are of a negative nature, and if you could be persuaded that their reasoning for attempting to pointing the finger at a group of people was to keep from being themselves a people of negative nature, then it almost seems validated, sick and cowardly, but understandable. The product of our assumptions is a vicious cycle where we can hide our faults, and imperfections behind a social glass of half truths, and vague information. Assumptions are the parents of the elephant in the living room that nobody wants to talk about. The solution however is first and foremost like with any addiction to sincerely admit that there is a problem and try as hard as we have to keep this hegemony, in our attempts to cleanse ourselves from it.
Bell Hooks essay, is not only a discussion about how we as a people must reevaluate the way we identify/ recognize sexism and misogyny in what is known as gangsta rap. The paper also stands as a window into common social behavioral trait/ act of the masses, our group assumptions. It has at least led one reader to consider the mass awareness of things and the assumptions made on and directed toward different groups of people, could be said as a means to rationalize our imperfections, an a way to not have to deal with them, when we really need to. It not only demonizes the group of people who thusly take the fall for a human trait of negative nature, but it demonizes us as well for pointing the finger when we know that we are as much to blame as they are. It’s one of those civil social wars that has been fought for so long that we don’t even know why we are fighting, and we don’t even recognize it as a battle-it’s normal.
[Mos Def]
Yo, I'm sure that everbody out listenin agree
That everything you see ain't really how it be
A lot of jokers out runnin in place, chasin the style
Be a lot goin on beneath the empty smile
Most cats in my area be lovin the hysteria
Synthesized surface conceals the interior
America, land of opportunity, mirages and camoflauges
More than usually -- speakin loudly, sayin nothin
You confusin me, you losin me
Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary
Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly
Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin glass
Walkin the street, wonderin who they be lookin past
Lookin gassed with them imported designer shades on
Stars shine bright, but the light -- rarely stays on
Same song, just remixed, different arrangement
Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slaveship
Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this
Screamin brand new, when they just sanitized the old shit
Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick
That they been runnin across stars through all the time with
I find it's distressin, there's never no in-between
We either niggaz or Kings
We either bitches or Queens
The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse
Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts
Long barrel automatics released in short bursts
The length of black life is treated with short worth
Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary
That type of illin that be fillin up the cemetary
This life is temporary but the soul is eternal
Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you
Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed
That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive
Not free, we only licensed
Not live, we just excitin
Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin
Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained
Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game
Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey
most of the things that we think, do, or say
We chasin after death just to call ourselves brave
But everyday, next man meet with the grave
I give a damn if any fam' recall my legacy
I'm tryin to live life in the sight of God's memory
Like that y'all
[Mos Def]
A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things
Can't just accept the appearance
Have to get the true essence
[Talib Kweli]
They ain't lookin around
[M.D.] Not strong
[T.K.] Only aggressive
[M.D.] Not free
[T.K.] We only licensed
[M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite
[T.K.] Now who the nicest?
[M.D.] Not good but well behaved
[T.K.] Chasin after death
so we can call ourselves brave?
[M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
(Mos Def & Talib Kweli “Theives in the Night)
April/ 13/ 2008
Seth Parker
English 112 assignment #3
Assume: The “Ass” of “U” & “Me”.
There is something to be said about the social consciences of a thing. In regards to the masses, it would seem that individuals are intelligent but groups of people are stupid. Be it political, religious, art related or mere unspoken social behavioral attitudes, it’s the executive decision produced by the masses that seem to indicate the way we respond, act, and even think. It’s these assumptions about the many facets of our lives that tend to trap entire demographics of people into what would presumably be cultural differences. In a sense the assumptions we make toward one another as groups are the product of shards of scattered information that then are vaguely shared, thusly producing a general consensus that is often incorrect, far too general to even acknowledge or it keeps individuals from occupying there own opinion.
Bell Hooks essay Sexism and Misogyny: Who take the Rap? on the surface is a discussion about the sexism and hatred towards women portrayed in “gangsta rap.” Hooks, however does not point the finger solely at the artists themselves, but at the cooperate system that helps maintain such a successful tradition amongst performers. More specifically The “White-supremacist capitalist patriarchy” and the “white dominated mass media” are at the center of her discussion regarding misogyny and sexism as portrayed in gangsta rap. However under her rough feminist exterior Hooks, also manages to expose the social views of the masses.
It is generally the case that when asked about sexism in reference to this generations pop culture, that Hip hop and gangsta rap are demonized for illustrating women as objects for black men to use; this, hooks says, generally is the end of the discussion and that the artists of such music are to blame for the misogyny in theses pieces, generally black men. In turn, assuming that is all there is to be said about gansta rap, it is inherently reasonable to point the finger at artists of this specific genre of music- again, primarily black men.
“To see gangsta rap as a reflection of dominate values in our culture rather than as an aberrant “pathological” standpoint does not mean that a rigorous feminist critique of sexism and misogyny expressed in this music is not needed. Without a doubt black males, young and old, must be held politically accountable for their sexism. Yet this critique must always be contextualized or we risk making it appear that the behaviors this thing supports and condones –rape, male violence against women, etc.-is a black male thing.”
(bell hooks, Sexism and Misogny: Who takes the Rap?, pg 416)
There are more factors to the situation, more influences, and many other ways to view gangsta rap, that don’t rationalize the way rap artists illustrate sexist situations, but rather expose other forms of social assumptions and institutions that are also to blame for sexism in the music industry.
The interesting thing is the argument illustrated by Hooks is not completely ground breaking. On an individual level, it has been argued that black artists are not the only people to blame for the sexism in rap music. It’s not necessarily innovative to sight the consumers, and the corporate music producers that are both primarily composed of white men. What is intriguing about the situation then is that though this is almost common knowledge that it still stands as the general view on who is to blame for the artistic choices/ aspects of the work.
Byron Hurt, director of the film Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, set out on a mission similar to bell hooks, in his film. Hurt, discusses the cultural influences on Hip- Hop artists, in regards to both the misogynistic, and representational aspects regarding manhood and masculinity. The film talks about the culture of hip-hop through an anthropological lens, focusing on things such as manhood and mans desire for power. He paints a picture where hip-hops misogynistic qualities are merely part of a vicious cycle where black male artists are convinced/ programmed like robots to illustrate these violent and sexists situations, while “70% of mainstream Hip-Hip is consumed by young white-men. “ It’s an art form/ genre of music that like all other art forms is influenced by, and influence the world around it.
“Hip- Hop Culture is not separate from the rest of American culture, objectified female bodies, those images are everywhere… The real negative thing about music videos and advertisements, is that is the only way women are presented.”
-Sut Jhallly, founder of the Media Education Foundation.
In Hurt’s film he indirectly acknowledges the assumptions of the general publics views on hip-hop in regards to the misogynistic, and violent qualities by calling people out. Through interviews with hip-hop and rap artists, black listeners, white listeners male and female, aspiring artists, and record executives, Hurt exposes his viewers to the how these scapegoats work as a hegemony, that in turn power what he calls a “vicious cycle” of assumptions. When asked, how do you feel about rap artists calling women bitches and hoe’s, a young black women answered “It’s not directed to you personally, It’s just what they say, if you don’t take offense to it, and sex sells.” But it does. Hurt follows by using the counter example; what if George Bush said a speech claiming that all black people were niggers, what justice would we people of color (in that order) be to claim that he wasn’t talking about us. It’s the mentality of “it could never or it won’t ever happen to me” (which is an assumption) that allows the hegemony to stand, because we dismiss it, like some sick and twisted inside joke. (Bryon Hurt. “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes”)
The film proceeds to discuss and illustrate how rap artists have to maintain a kind of duel personality, where they play a part acting out what they feel the public wants to see, and hear, as well as stay true to who they are and their own private morals which they assume the general public doesn’t care to know about.
“We have trusted the media and the corporations to define what hip-hop is…back in the day when it first came out if “ABC” did a story on hip-hop you’d be like I know they bull shitin’, but now you see it on the news, you see it on “BET”…It’s because they call themselves hip-hop now. It’s like now “HOT 97” is where hip-hop lives, you know, and we hear that, and we don’t understand that it’s owned by some corporation that doesn’t have anything to do with hip-hop, We just tryin’ to cash in.”
-Talib Kweli.
The interesting thing about the film is it still holds it self at the surface of the issue, plausibly because Hurt feels that opening the discussion is a baby step to a bigger problem, or because he to failed to openly acknowledge the magnitude of the current social situation. It’s one thing to talk about a collaboration of issues such as sexism and misogyny or manhood and sexism, but it’s the assumptions that we the people make that are the driving forces behind this vicious cycle. Both Hooks, and Hurt reference social assumptions, but then continue to talk about specifics that ultimately are products of assumptions.
Hooks, expresses incidences within her essay where people made assumptions about her, and that when they later realized that their assumptions were false they then were disappointed. Ultimately it could be said that theses radio Dj’s who were hoping to get a heated banter with hooks, made an assumption about the kind of person she was because she calls herself a feminist, and because they desired the argument. If we were to generalize this scenario it could be argued that, we under the umbrella of mass social context make assumptions because we desire something, our assumptions are a means to an end. Gangsta rap artists assume that making music that illustrates violence and sexist attitude is the only way to be successful. We the general public, assume based on the lyrics of gangsta rap composed by primarily black male artists that misogyny is in a “black male thing.” They then can rule themselves out with a “clear” example of what demographic of people can, and will take the fall for this little thing known as misogyny. Radio D.J’s assumed they are going to get into a heated banter with Hooks, because she identifies herself as a feminist, in hopes of perhaps raising their ratings. Hooks assumes that gangster rap is ultimately the product and even a window into the moral/ intensions of the white power hierarchy, known as “capitalist patriarchy.”
We as a people need to examine the many assumptions that we impose on others, which in turn govern our now natural, and social behaviors/ beliefs. It’s a shame because based on the idea that assumptions are a means to an end, many if not all of our assumptions can in a way be morally validated. Gangster rap artists under the impression that portraying a sexist lifestyle, is the only way to success in the music industry, is understandable if you consider the act a means in which to accomplish their desire to be successful. We have no right to hold their actions as demonizing, when put into those contexts; the same goes for the radio D.j’s who desire higher ratings/ more listeners. In regards to the general public, consumers, and those that hooks calls the “white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy”, I believe that it is safe to say that we believe that sexism and misogyny are of a negative nature, and if you could be persuaded that their reasoning for attempting to pointing the finger at a group of people was to keep from being themselves a people of negative nature, then it almost seems validated, sick and cowardly, but understandable. The product of our assumptions is a vicious cycle where we can hide our faults, and imperfections behind a social glass of half truths, and vague information. Assumptions are the parents of the elephant in the living room that nobody wants to talk about. The solution however is first and foremost like with any addiction to sincerely admit that there is a problem and try as hard as we have to keep this hegemony, in our attempts to cleanse ourselves from it.
Bell Hooks essay, is not only a discussion about how we as a people must reevaluate the way we identify/ recognize sexism and misogyny in what is known as gangsta rap. The paper also stands as a window into common social behavioral trait/ act of the masses, our group assumptions. It has at least led one reader to consider the mass awareness of things and the assumptions made on and directed toward different groups of people, could be said as a means to rationalize our imperfections, an a way to not have to deal with them, when we really need to. It not only demonizes the group of people who thusly take the fall for a human trait of negative nature, but it demonizes us as well for pointing the finger when we know that we are as much to blame as they are. It’s one of those civil social wars that has been fought for so long that we don’t even know why we are fighting, and we don’t even recognize it as a battle-it’s normal.
[Mos Def]
Yo, I'm sure that everbody out listenin agree
That everything you see ain't really how it be
A lot of jokers out runnin in place, chasin the style
Be a lot goin on beneath the empty smile
Most cats in my area be lovin the hysteria
Synthesized surface conceals the interior
America, land of opportunity, mirages and camoflauges
More than usually -- speakin loudly, sayin nothin
You confusin me, you losin me
Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary
Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly
Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin glass
Walkin the street, wonderin who they be lookin past
Lookin gassed with them imported designer shades on
Stars shine bright, but the light -- rarely stays on
Same song, just remixed, different arrangement
Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slaveship
Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this
Screamin brand new, when they just sanitized the old shit
Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick
That they been runnin across stars through all the time with
I find it's distressin, there's never no in-between
We either niggaz or Kings
We either bitches or Queens
The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse
Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts
Long barrel automatics released in short bursts
The length of black life is treated with short worth
Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary
That type of illin that be fillin up the cemetary
This life is temporary but the soul is eternal
Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you
Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed
That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive
Not free, we only licensed
Not live, we just excitin
Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin
Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained
Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game
Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey
most of the things that we think, do, or say
We chasin after death just to call ourselves brave
But everyday, next man meet with the grave
I give a damn if any fam' recall my legacy
I'm tryin to live life in the sight of God's memory
Like that y'all
[Mos Def]
A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things
Can't just accept the appearance
Have to get the true essence
[Talib Kweli]
They ain't lookin around
[M.D.] Not strong
[T.K.] Only aggressive
[M.D.] Not free
[T.K.] We only licensed
[M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite
[T.K.] Now who the nicest?
[M.D.] Not good but well behaved
[T.K.] Chasin after death
so we can call ourselves brave?
[M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
(Mos Def & Talib Kweli “Theives in the Night)
Monday, April 21, 2008
You ‘re Beautiful by R. Masseo Davis
You ‘re Beautiful
By (Robert) Masseo Davis
Characters:
Lauren
Celeste
David James
PART A.
Introduction:
-Outside it’s late, and it’s raining.
Lauren is alone in her home dressed in a dinner gowned, she is dressing a dinner table for two, and she lights two candles. While dressing the dinner table she is dancing around the room completely comfortable in her environment.
Music:
Bach Prelude Cello Suite, Performed by Classical Guitar.
(There’s a knock at the door.)
(Enter Celeste)
Celeste:
(Shivering) Hello. Do you know David James.
Lauren:
Yeah, come in!!!
Celeste:
(Looks at Lauren and starts crying)
… You’re really beautiful.
Lauren:
Let me get you a towel. Please have
a seat.
Celeste:
(Sits at table still shivering)
Lauren:
Here you are. (Gives Celeste towel)
What were you doing out there?
(Sits on other end of the table)
Celeste:
…ahh-
Lauren:
- Are you okay?
Celeste:
(Shakes her head, starts tearing up)
Lauren:
What’s the matter is there anything
I can do?
Celeste:
… Do you know a David?
David James?
Lauren:
Yeah, my husband’s name is
David James.
Celeste:
… um… ah… yeah that’s him.
Lauren:
… Who are you?
Celeste:
Celeste… My name is Celeste…
You’re beautiful… like really, really beautiful.
Lauren:
… Thank you… How do you know
my husband?
(Celeste and Lauren exchange looks
and all is known)
Lauren:
How long have you and David been..?
Celeste:
(Shrugs, still crying)
Lauren:
That long?
Celeste:
(nods)
Lauren:
(Sighs) (Gets up and makes two
drinks takes gun out of dresser, and gives a
drink to Celeste) Here
Celeste:
I’m really sorry... I... I
didn’t know he was married… if I did-
Lauren:
It’s okay…
Celeste:
... Do you have any kids?
Lauren:
- no…
Celeste:
… How long have the two of you
been married?
Lauren:
… (sigh) five years. How did the two
of you meet?
Celeste:
… Work.
Lauren:
You work together?!
Celeste:
No… I was working and- At the time I was-
I do work at um… Friday’s and he came in and said
“hi”… (Small laugh)
Lauren:
… That’s it you fell for some strange man who
walked into your Mc Donald’s, and said “Hi”?
Celeste:
Well no we went out that night and we hit it off…
The thing is he picked me up straight out of work,
in my gross, greasy, French fry smelling uniform,
and we just went for this really long sweat walk.
I kept telling him how uncomfortable I was in the
uniform… He just kept kissing me and telling me
I looked beautiful… He really made me feel good,
even with all my imperfections…
… (Celeste notices twin lobsters on the table for dinner)
… Uumm, heh, twins.
Lauren:
(Quietly) What!? (She clenches her stomach),
Celeste:
Lobsters, twin lobsters, I love lobster.
Lauren:
(Starts crying) Oh my god, oh my god!
Why me, this can’t, no no no!
Celeste:
I’m sorry, I had to come here tonight,
I had to tell you, I didn’t want it to be true,
I love him! And I-
Lauren:
-Celeste… did David tell you I’m pregnant?
Celeste:
(Shakes her head)
Lauren:
Of course not cause I haven’ t told him yet, that’s
what this dinner was all about… I’m glad
you recognized the symbolism with the twin lobsters
… I’m having twins…
Celeste:
I’m so sorr-
Lauren:
-Get out, he’s yours, I won’t have him back…
Celeste:
No please-
Lauren:
-Celeste, (Gets up and opens door for Celeste)
please don’t pretend like this isn’t what you wanted…
Celeste:
(Exit Celeste)
Lauren:
(Closes door and falls to her knees with
her back leaning up against the door, and starts crying)
… No.
----------TAKE BLACK---------
PART B.
Introduction (Repeated only in fast motion):
-Outside it’s late, and it’s raining.
Lauren is alone in her home dressed in a dinner gowned, she is dressing a dinner table for two, and she lights two candles. While dressing the dinner table she is dancing around the room completely comfortable in her environment.
Music:
Smokey Robinson’s – Quiet Storm
(There’s a knock at the door.)
(Enter Celeste)
Celeste:
(Shivering) Hello
Lauren:
Oh my God, come in!!!
Celeste:
(Looks at Lauren and starts crying)…
You’re really beautiful.
Lauren:
Let me get you a towel.
Please have a seat.
Celeste:
(Sits at table still shivering)
Lauren:
Here you are. (Gives Celeste towel)
What were you doing out there?
(Sits on other end of the table)
Celeste:
…ahh-
Lauren:
- Are you okay?
Celeste:
(Shakes her head, starts tearing up)
Lauren:
What’s the matter is there anything I can do?
Celeste:
… Do you know a David? David James?
Lauren:
Yeah, my husband’s name is David James.
Celeste:
… um… ah… yeah that’s him.
Lauren:
… Who are you?
Celeste:
Celeste… My name is Celeste… You’re beautiful
… like really, really beautiful.
Lauren:
… Thank you… How do you know
my husband?
Celeste:
…I’m… I’m his mistress.
Lauren:
Excuse me? What do you mean?
Celeste:
(Silent)
Lauren:
What do you mean mistress?!!! Do you clean up
after him when he make a mess?!
Celeste:
No!
Lauren:
Oh! Okay, you see, that’s why I asked?
Please be clear about what you say.
What do you mean when you say you’re his mistress?
Celeste:
…I…We-
Lauren:
Do you fuck him!?
Celeste:
What!?
Lauren:
You heard me, do you fucking,
fuck my husband!!!?
Celeste:
Yes! I mean-
Lauren:
Fuck You!
(Lauren starts throwing things at Celeste and eventually attacks her.)
Lauren: Celeste:
-I can’t believe you did this! -I’m sorry!
-You ruined my life! -Please stop
-Get out of my house you bitch!
-Of all nights why tonight. -I had to tell you!
-I’m carrying his children -Pease!
I’m carrying his children!!
Celeste:
(Celeste takes knife from table as Lauren is attacking her and accidentally kills Lauren).
(Celeste, kneels over Lauren crying as Lauren is gasping for her last breaths.)
--------------TAKE BLACK------------
PART C.
(Lauren is sleeping on couch and is woken by knocks at the door. She opens it to see her husband standing there.)
David James:
Hey honey. (Kisses her on the forehead)
Wow you’re beautiful, what’s all this about?
… oh and baby I have to talk to you about something…
(Reveals dinner table and lobster settings waiting to be eaten)
Lauren:
(Shocked)!!!
By (Robert) Masseo Davis
Characters:
Lauren
Celeste
David James
PART A.
Introduction:
-Outside it’s late, and it’s raining.
Lauren is alone in her home dressed in a dinner gowned, she is dressing a dinner table for two, and she lights two candles. While dressing the dinner table she is dancing around the room completely comfortable in her environment.
Music:
Bach Prelude Cello Suite, Performed by Classical Guitar.
(There’s a knock at the door.)
(Enter Celeste)
Celeste:
(Shivering) Hello. Do you know David James.
Lauren:
Yeah, come in!!!
Celeste:
(Looks at Lauren and starts crying)
… You’re really beautiful.
Lauren:
Let me get you a towel. Please have
a seat.
Celeste:
(Sits at table still shivering)
Lauren:
Here you are. (Gives Celeste towel)
What were you doing out there?
(Sits on other end of the table)
Celeste:
…ahh-
Lauren:
- Are you okay?
Celeste:
(Shakes her head, starts tearing up)
Lauren:
What’s the matter is there anything
I can do?
Celeste:
… Do you know a David?
David James?
Lauren:
Yeah, my husband’s name is
David James.
Celeste:
… um… ah… yeah that’s him.
Lauren:
… Who are you?
Celeste:
Celeste… My name is Celeste…
You’re beautiful… like really, really beautiful.
Lauren:
… Thank you… How do you know
my husband?
(Celeste and Lauren exchange looks
and all is known)
Lauren:
How long have you and David been..?
Celeste:
(Shrugs, still crying)
Lauren:
That long?
Celeste:
(nods)
Lauren:
(Sighs) (Gets up and makes two
drinks takes gun out of dresser, and gives a
drink to Celeste) Here
Celeste:
I’m really sorry... I... I
didn’t know he was married… if I did-
Lauren:
It’s okay…
Celeste:
... Do you have any kids?
Lauren:
- no…
Celeste:
… How long have the two of you
been married?
Lauren:
… (sigh) five years. How did the two
of you meet?
Celeste:
… Work.
Lauren:
You work together?!
Celeste:
No… I was working and- At the time I was-
I do work at um… Friday’s and he came in and said
“hi”… (Small laugh)
Lauren:
… That’s it you fell for some strange man who
walked into your Mc Donald’s, and said “Hi”?
Celeste:
Well no we went out that night and we hit it off…
The thing is he picked me up straight out of work,
in my gross, greasy, French fry smelling uniform,
and we just went for this really long sweat walk.
I kept telling him how uncomfortable I was in the
uniform… He just kept kissing me and telling me
I looked beautiful… He really made me feel good,
even with all my imperfections…
… (Celeste notices twin lobsters on the table for dinner)
… Uumm, heh, twins.
Lauren:
(Quietly) What!? (She clenches her stomach),
Celeste:
Lobsters, twin lobsters, I love lobster.
Lauren:
(Starts crying) Oh my god, oh my god!
Why me, this can’t, no no no!
Celeste:
I’m sorry, I had to come here tonight,
I had to tell you, I didn’t want it to be true,
I love him! And I-
Lauren:
-Celeste… did David tell you I’m pregnant?
Celeste:
(Shakes her head)
Lauren:
Of course not cause I haven’ t told him yet, that’s
what this dinner was all about… I’m glad
you recognized the symbolism with the twin lobsters
… I’m having twins…
Celeste:
I’m so sorr-
Lauren:
-Get out, he’s yours, I won’t have him back…
Celeste:
No please-
Lauren:
-Celeste, (Gets up and opens door for Celeste)
please don’t pretend like this isn’t what you wanted…
Celeste:
(Exit Celeste)
Lauren:
(Closes door and falls to her knees with
her back leaning up against the door, and starts crying)
… No.
----------TAKE BLACK---------
PART B.
Introduction (Repeated only in fast motion):
-Outside it’s late, and it’s raining.
Lauren is alone in her home dressed in a dinner gowned, she is dressing a dinner table for two, and she lights two candles. While dressing the dinner table she is dancing around the room completely comfortable in her environment.
Music:
Smokey Robinson’s – Quiet Storm
(There’s a knock at the door.)
(Enter Celeste)
Celeste:
(Shivering) Hello
Lauren:
Oh my God, come in!!!
Celeste:
(Looks at Lauren and starts crying)…
You’re really beautiful.
Lauren:
Let me get you a towel.
Please have a seat.
Celeste:
(Sits at table still shivering)
Lauren:
Here you are. (Gives Celeste towel)
What were you doing out there?
(Sits on other end of the table)
Celeste:
…ahh-
Lauren:
- Are you okay?
Celeste:
(Shakes her head, starts tearing up)
Lauren:
What’s the matter is there anything I can do?
Celeste:
… Do you know a David? David James?
Lauren:
Yeah, my husband’s name is David James.
Celeste:
… um… ah… yeah that’s him.
Lauren:
… Who are you?
Celeste:
Celeste… My name is Celeste… You’re beautiful
… like really, really beautiful.
Lauren:
… Thank you… How do you know
my husband?
Celeste:
…I’m… I’m his mistress.
Lauren:
Excuse me? What do you mean?
Celeste:
(Silent)
Lauren:
What do you mean mistress?!!! Do you clean up
after him when he make a mess?!
Celeste:
No!
Lauren:
Oh! Okay, you see, that’s why I asked?
Please be clear about what you say.
What do you mean when you say you’re his mistress?
Celeste:
…I…We-
Lauren:
Do you fuck him!?
Celeste:
What!?
Lauren:
You heard me, do you fucking,
fuck my husband!!!?
Celeste:
Yes! I mean-
Lauren:
Fuck You!
(Lauren starts throwing things at Celeste and eventually attacks her.)
Lauren: Celeste:
-I can’t believe you did this! -I’m sorry!
-You ruined my life! -Please stop
-Get out of my house you bitch!
-Of all nights why tonight. -I had to tell you!
-I’m carrying his children -Pease!
I’m carrying his children!!
Celeste:
(Celeste takes knife from table as Lauren is attacking her and accidentally kills Lauren).
(Celeste, kneels over Lauren crying as Lauren is gasping for her last breaths.)
--------------TAKE BLACK------------
PART C.
(Lauren is sleeping on couch and is woken by knocks at the door. She opens it to see her husband standing there.)
David James:
Hey honey. (Kisses her on the forehead)
Wow you’re beautiful, what’s all this about?
… oh and baby I have to talk to you about something…
(Reveals dinner table and lobster settings waiting to be eaten)
Lauren:
(Shocked)!!!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Smith College Spring College
(Robert) Masseo Davis April/ 1/ 2008
Smith Dance Concert
Smith College Spring Concert.
Opening night at any concert for a fellow performer is always exiting, for you can feel the nerves flowing from behind the wings. Seated in your seat you quietly listen to your fellow audience members chattering before the shows starts, you reminisce as the murmuring of the audience is as familiar as the orchestra warming up prior to your entrance. It’s nice moment of anticipation awaiting the show to come.
As a solo audience member at Smith Colleges Spring Dance Concert 2008, the experience prior to curtain was as illustrated. The performances program consisted of both student works as well as guest choreographers. Performers in the show ranged from a variety of dancers from almost all of the five-college dance community.
My initially reactions to the show on the whole was that it was surprisingly enjoyable. I usually expect to go to dance concerts on the BFA level to see pretentious choreography that has been over thought or is completely incomprehensible as an attempt to be innovative. Many times artists, and even more often aspiring artists tend to over work their own material and confuse what they perceive to be thought provoking, and even revolutionary with what simply is awkward. This didn’t seem to be the case with Smith College’s performance this evening in early April. The show consisted of some very comedic moments that didn’t even regard the choreography in the program. When the audience was being asked to turn off their cell phones, the request was announced to us over a loud intercom; however the vice requesting that we don’t use flash photography, and to simply be a respectable audience the voice was that of a very young child or a girl who had consumed an entire tank of helium. Thusly the following vibes in the room were pleasant.
Upon looking back on the evening’s proceedings I came to the sad conclusion that on the whole the show was merely a mediocre demonstration of artistry. While returning to my own thoughts of the show I could only genuinely remember 4 of the 7 dances. Well that’s more than half one might say, and this is true however I only enjoyed 2 of those 4 presentations. How could an audience member ever leave a concert of any kind, and feel that the show was even remotely enjoyable when they ultimately only like 2 dances in a performance of 7? I suppose that those two dances where merely memorable to the highest level, it would seem that I as an audience member never left the place that the piece had brought me, regardless of the fact that the program had moved on. I had to in a sense be awakened by another dance of equal or higher impact, which ended up being the evening’s final dance.
“GROW…UP”, choreography by Meleta Buckstaff, was a solo performed by herself. (I actually didn’t realize that until just now as I am writing this response) The moment was an illustration of my favorite kind of dancing, where the attack of the movement was what made the piece enjoyable. Her dance was listed as a solo in the program, but it really was a quartet or perhaps a series of 3 duets with here and 3 balloons. The dance consisted with some tender moment that where at times so sweat that they could only be described with noise (mmmm…).
I watched the rest of the show and have some memories of other dances however it wasn’t until the evenings finally did I truly make the transition form “GROW…UP” to any other piece of choreography. “THILLANA”, choreographed by Rita Lakshimi Iyer was the solo following “GROW...UP” and it was a decent performance however it merely seemed out of place, for two reasons. First of all it was weird to a solo followed by another solo, they may have figured it was an appropriate choice because they were vastly different. “THILLANA”, was a traditional Indian solo and the theme was simply drastically out of place. The dance didn’t fit in the show, as a whole for it was the only traditional and socially acceptable ethic dance in show.
“YELLOW EGG”, choreography by Ariel Gonzalez Cohen was another solo later in the evening and this dance was in this humble critics opinion the kind that he had anticipated in seeing for the duration of the evening. It seemed to enjoy the smell of it’s own farts. The choreography however oddly enough accumulated one of the loudest applause upon its completion. This was more so a statement on the public awareness of the performance and the choreographers prior to seeing the show.
“Ariel Gonzalez Chon ( MFA Smith, Dance, Smith College, 2007) dances in her own works and in the dances she makes with her c0-director Kellie Lynch in their dance company, Slipperyfish Dance. She also freelances in works of others locally, nationally, and internationally. Currently she is a company member of Wire Monkey Dance and is busy creating the next slipperyfish dance show for April 24, 25 and 26 at East St. Theater Hadley, Mass. In addition to performing she teaches dance within the five Colleges and local area schools. She would like to thank her husband Tomas for his love.”
-Program Bio.
The audience’s reaction to Ariel’s choreography was comparable to the publics views on films by famous directors, before even seeing the film they know they will enjoy it. This is in no way a reflection on the choreographer as a person those aspects of the complete situation are irrelevant.
In conclusion, the performance concluded with a ballet titled “IN SPIRIT”, choreographed by Megan Bonneau McCool, This was the first time that I can honestly say that I was not in some sense still involved with “GROW …UP”. The dance was an ensemble dance that was beautiful, very Balanchine inspired, which made sense considering that Megan Bonneau McCool was a dancer with the acclaimed New York City Ballet. The choreography was very mature in amongst student work including “GROW...UP”. Considering that the ballet technique is so set in stone many make the claim/ assumption that when choreographing a ballet it’s really more like arranging as apposed to creating, and even if that were true “IN SPIRIT”, was a dance that was musically aware, visually stimulating/ pleasing, and stood as any good finale should. It was like blowing bubbles and watching them float gently in all their splendor to the to the ground. The piece finished with a rush of girls running off stage and a single girl remaining waving her arm as if to turn of the lights and end the show. The final glimmering bubble concluding the show…Pop…
Smith Dance Concert
Smith College Spring Concert.
Opening night at any concert for a fellow performer is always exiting, for you can feel the nerves flowing from behind the wings. Seated in your seat you quietly listen to your fellow audience members chattering before the shows starts, you reminisce as the murmuring of the audience is as familiar as the orchestra warming up prior to your entrance. It’s nice moment of anticipation awaiting the show to come.
As a solo audience member at Smith Colleges Spring Dance Concert 2008, the experience prior to curtain was as illustrated. The performances program consisted of both student works as well as guest choreographers. Performers in the show ranged from a variety of dancers from almost all of the five-college dance community.
My initially reactions to the show on the whole was that it was surprisingly enjoyable. I usually expect to go to dance concerts on the BFA level to see pretentious choreography that has been over thought or is completely incomprehensible as an attempt to be innovative. Many times artists, and even more often aspiring artists tend to over work their own material and confuse what they perceive to be thought provoking, and even revolutionary with what simply is awkward. This didn’t seem to be the case with Smith College’s performance this evening in early April. The show consisted of some very comedic moments that didn’t even regard the choreography in the program. When the audience was being asked to turn off their cell phones, the request was announced to us over a loud intercom; however the vice requesting that we don’t use flash photography, and to simply be a respectable audience the voice was that of a very young child or a girl who had consumed an entire tank of helium. Thusly the following vibes in the room were pleasant.
Upon looking back on the evening’s proceedings I came to the sad conclusion that on the whole the show was merely a mediocre demonstration of artistry. While returning to my own thoughts of the show I could only genuinely remember 4 of the 7 dances. Well that’s more than half one might say, and this is true however I only enjoyed 2 of those 4 presentations. How could an audience member ever leave a concert of any kind, and feel that the show was even remotely enjoyable when they ultimately only like 2 dances in a performance of 7? I suppose that those two dances where merely memorable to the highest level, it would seem that I as an audience member never left the place that the piece had brought me, regardless of the fact that the program had moved on. I had to in a sense be awakened by another dance of equal or higher impact, which ended up being the evening’s final dance.
“GROW…UP”, choreography by Meleta Buckstaff, was a solo performed by herself. (I actually didn’t realize that until just now as I am writing this response) The moment was an illustration of my favorite kind of dancing, where the attack of the movement was what made the piece enjoyable. Her dance was listed as a solo in the program, but it really was a quartet or perhaps a series of 3 duets with here and 3 balloons. The dance consisted with some tender moment that where at times so sweat that they could only be described with noise (mmmm…).
I watched the rest of the show and have some memories of other dances however it wasn’t until the evenings finally did I truly make the transition form “GROW…UP” to any other piece of choreography. “THILLANA”, choreographed by Rita Lakshimi Iyer was the solo following “GROW...UP” and it was a decent performance however it merely seemed out of place, for two reasons. First of all it was weird to a solo followed by another solo, they may have figured it was an appropriate choice because they were vastly different. “THILLANA”, was a traditional Indian solo and the theme was simply drastically out of place. The dance didn’t fit in the show, as a whole for it was the only traditional and socially acceptable ethic dance in show.
“YELLOW EGG”, choreography by Ariel Gonzalez Cohen was another solo later in the evening and this dance was in this humble critics opinion the kind that he had anticipated in seeing for the duration of the evening. It seemed to enjoy the smell of it’s own farts. The choreography however oddly enough accumulated one of the loudest applause upon its completion. This was more so a statement on the public awareness of the performance and the choreographers prior to seeing the show.
“Ariel Gonzalez Chon ( MFA Smith, Dance, Smith College, 2007) dances in her own works and in the dances she makes with her c0-director Kellie Lynch in their dance company, Slipperyfish Dance. She also freelances in works of others locally, nationally, and internationally. Currently she is a company member of Wire Monkey Dance and is busy creating the next slipperyfish dance show for April 24, 25 and 26 at East St. Theater Hadley, Mass. In addition to performing she teaches dance within the five Colleges and local area schools. She would like to thank her husband Tomas for his love.”
-Program Bio.
The audience’s reaction to Ariel’s choreography was comparable to the publics views on films by famous directors, before even seeing the film they know they will enjoy it. This is in no way a reflection on the choreographer as a person those aspects of the complete situation are irrelevant.
In conclusion, the performance concluded with a ballet titled “IN SPIRIT”, choreographed by Megan Bonneau McCool, This was the first time that I can honestly say that I was not in some sense still involved with “GROW …UP”. The dance was an ensemble dance that was beautiful, very Balanchine inspired, which made sense considering that Megan Bonneau McCool was a dancer with the acclaimed New York City Ballet. The choreography was very mature in amongst student work including “GROW...UP”. Considering that the ballet technique is so set in stone many make the claim/ assumption that when choreographing a ballet it’s really more like arranging as apposed to creating, and even if that were true “IN SPIRIT”, was a dance that was musically aware, visually stimulating/ pleasing, and stood as any good finale should. It was like blowing bubbles and watching them float gently in all their splendor to the to the ground. The piece finished with a rush of girls running off stage and a single girl remaining waving her arm as if to turn of the lights and end the show. The final glimmering bubble concluding the show…Pop…
Monday, March 10, 2008
Breathless/ A Bout De Souffle Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
(Robert) Masseo Davis
Breathless/ A Bout De Souffle Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Rating: 4.4/5
The eye is a muscle and as a muscle it can develop a sense of muscle memory and instinctively learn, and/ or be trained to familiarize itself with certain sights. Hollywood produced films and even television can be put at the forefront of what we understand as narrative cinema.
As the primary distributor of films and visual information the normative state of moviemaking is largely in part to the rules and regulations distinguished by the Hollywood movie making industry.
Over the years of visual media and the institutionalization of the moviemaking dynasty Hollywood has illustrated to their viewers a way in which movies have been made. This influence has essentially been the driving force that has trained the masses eyes and minds to understand their style of visual storytelling.
Jean-Luc Godard a French cinema critic and acclaimed director did not always abide by theses standards established by the normative Hollywood code. In 1960, Godard composed the film “A Bout De Souffle, Breathless”. Though Breathless is considered a visual masterpiece, and a classic French cinematic work of art the film found alternative routes in it’s storytelling and made use of many aspects even outside of the films diagetic space.
A Bout De Souffle, did not rely on the cinematic groundwork instilled by the Hollywood industry, which at the time was already thriving for Breathless was released some thirty years following the Hollywood Golden Age in the 1930s.
Ultimately, Godards classic film Breathless, was at the very least a pioneer for it was one of the first films to utilize narrative aspects in a meaningful and impact full manner, without relying on the general tendencies established, executed and enforced by the Hollywood industry.
Normative Hollywood moviemaking is based on the notion that the audience must maintain a high level of spatial, temporal, and even emotional awareness of the films narrative. Theses films are generally produced for the masses and are used, and pride themselves in pulling their viewers into the film.
“They are “illusionistic” that is, they are designed to create as
perfect an illusion of “reality” as possible.”
- Don Levine
Hollywood filmmakers over time have created and developed sets of rules that have been used and repeated to illustrate to the viewers of their movies the “natural” progression of the plot and the films narrative. Such Hollywood developed norms include but are not limited to, continuity editing, films that paint pictures and imitations of what is reality, or they create atmospheres of a heightened sense of reality, (such as Horror, Action, Spy movies etc). These films create worlds and allow for their viewers to observe the happenings of those worlds while putting the audience into a state where though they are outsiders they become unaware of the fact that they are watching a movie.
These effects of the normative Hollywood filmmaking style is do to techniques such as continuity editing. Continuity editing is as specific kind of editing that effects the way the cinematography of the film is composed and arranged, it is used to keep the viewers both spatially and, temporally aware of the happenings in the depicted filmic world.
When Jean-Luc Godard made his film A Bout De Souffle, being the film critic he was made him very aware of these social norms established by continuity editing and the Hollywood empire, however it took his knowledge and elaborated on the technique. Godard did not disregard the path that was already so firmly placed before him by Hollywood, however he did allow himself to be curious and wonder of the road.
The Film Breathless, strictly in terms of filmic technique introduces the “the jump cut”. Godards film can also be noted as a movie that imitates other movies versus the Hollywood norm to imitate reality, and A Bout De Souffle, does not allow it’s viewers to become unaware of the fact that they are watching a movie.
These are all things that would not be commonplace in a normative Hollywood picture to be released to the general public.
To begin with the “jump cut”, at the time was a new style of filmic editing, it essentially was an exaggerated version of time lapses that occur other the course of a movie, usually during traveling sequences, for it would be both boring and impossible to film a story in “real time”.
However even in Godards Breathless, the jump cuts seem to be slightly jarring, they merely just decide to remove the middle section certain sequences of action.
Example, when Michel Poiccard played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, shots the cop in the earlier stages of the film, the actual sequences is cut in such a way that it removes almost in whole the actual act of Michel’s crime. We the viewers se the cop approach, hear a Michel grab the gun; hear a shot coupled with a shot of Michel dumping the officers body into a patch of shrubbery.
While this seems and truthfully is the bare minimum of sensorial information the body really needs to understand the sequence of action, at the time this was new. During that time the “jump cut”, was a new technique. To the modern film viewer the jump cut is not as difficult to visually understand for it has been mastered, developed, and adopted over the years by the normative filmmaking style.
Godards, masterpiece titled A Bout De Souffle, is also notable for the fact that it unlike Hollywood pictures does not allow for the viewers to become sucked into the films narrative. This is due to the fact that it doesn’t utilize dialogue based on the storyline, and doesn’t give the viewers as much character development, and history, The truth is the film really is about noting but acts on a certain goal that gives it a timeline. The film uses realistic aspects of everyday life that are not usually depicted in Hollywood pictures.
At the time viewers needed those filmic aspects to be able to follow major parts of the plot, and still Godard decided to leave them out. This ultimately forces the audience to analyze the filmic reality and narrative meaning/ purpose, keeping them a step away from the film, allowing for the viewer to always be clear of the fact that they are watching a movie, and not apart of the filmic reality.
As a result of this artistic choice it implies that each character is on their own path of realty and is separate even from the viewers, who in turn reciprocate their actions by comparing the morals/ actions to our own lives, and us in what is truly reality.
Godard still utilizes character driven plots and morals however in not allowing for his viewers to “escape” from their world they take on the films morals and aesthetics upon themselves. (Class discussion)
Breathless, was made as an imitation of movies. Godard was a film critic and had seen lots of films, prior to orchestrating A Bout De Souffle. As a result this film has been transformed into a film that takes from many of the great film genres that Godard is already so familiar with, notably film Noir. Breathless, even directly references Humphrey Bogart, by having Michel’s character walk past and stare at a photo of him.
Ultimately, making Breathless, an imitation of movies, that imitate reality, yet in doing so the film has managed to appear more realistic and true to reality than the movies that they are imitating.
This fact is also a major part in keeping the audience separate from the movies filmic world, because they can recognize the references to the other movies and situations depicted in Breathless.
The result of the viewers being clear that they are watching a movie makes the plot and morals of the film relatable, which I think was Godards goal, to make A Bout De Souffle, personal.
Breathless/ A Bout De Souffle Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Rating: 4.4/5
The eye is a muscle and as a muscle it can develop a sense of muscle memory and instinctively learn, and/ or be trained to familiarize itself with certain sights. Hollywood produced films and even television can be put at the forefront of what we understand as narrative cinema.
As the primary distributor of films and visual information the normative state of moviemaking is largely in part to the rules and regulations distinguished by the Hollywood movie making industry.
Over the years of visual media and the institutionalization of the moviemaking dynasty Hollywood has illustrated to their viewers a way in which movies have been made. This influence has essentially been the driving force that has trained the masses eyes and minds to understand their style of visual storytelling.
Jean-Luc Godard a French cinema critic and acclaimed director did not always abide by theses standards established by the normative Hollywood code. In 1960, Godard composed the film “A Bout De Souffle, Breathless”. Though Breathless is considered a visual masterpiece, and a classic French cinematic work of art the film found alternative routes in it’s storytelling and made use of many aspects even outside of the films diagetic space.
A Bout De Souffle, did not rely on the cinematic groundwork instilled by the Hollywood industry, which at the time was already thriving for Breathless was released some thirty years following the Hollywood Golden Age in the 1930s.
Ultimately, Godards classic film Breathless, was at the very least a pioneer for it was one of the first films to utilize narrative aspects in a meaningful and impact full manner, without relying on the general tendencies established, executed and enforced by the Hollywood industry.
Normative Hollywood moviemaking is based on the notion that the audience must maintain a high level of spatial, temporal, and even emotional awareness of the films narrative. Theses films are generally produced for the masses and are used, and pride themselves in pulling their viewers into the film.
“They are “illusionistic” that is, they are designed to create as
perfect an illusion of “reality” as possible.”
- Don Levine
Hollywood filmmakers over time have created and developed sets of rules that have been used and repeated to illustrate to the viewers of their movies the “natural” progression of the plot and the films narrative. Such Hollywood developed norms include but are not limited to, continuity editing, films that paint pictures and imitations of what is reality, or they create atmospheres of a heightened sense of reality, (such as Horror, Action, Spy movies etc). These films create worlds and allow for their viewers to observe the happenings of those worlds while putting the audience into a state where though they are outsiders they become unaware of the fact that they are watching a movie.
These effects of the normative Hollywood filmmaking style is do to techniques such as continuity editing. Continuity editing is as specific kind of editing that effects the way the cinematography of the film is composed and arranged, it is used to keep the viewers both spatially and, temporally aware of the happenings in the depicted filmic world.
When Jean-Luc Godard made his film A Bout De Souffle, being the film critic he was made him very aware of these social norms established by continuity editing and the Hollywood empire, however it took his knowledge and elaborated on the technique. Godard did not disregard the path that was already so firmly placed before him by Hollywood, however he did allow himself to be curious and wonder of the road.
The Film Breathless, strictly in terms of filmic technique introduces the “the jump cut”. Godards film can also be noted as a movie that imitates other movies versus the Hollywood norm to imitate reality, and A Bout De Souffle, does not allow it’s viewers to become unaware of the fact that they are watching a movie.
These are all things that would not be commonplace in a normative Hollywood picture to be released to the general public.
To begin with the “jump cut”, at the time was a new style of filmic editing, it essentially was an exaggerated version of time lapses that occur other the course of a movie, usually during traveling sequences, for it would be both boring and impossible to film a story in “real time”.
However even in Godards Breathless, the jump cuts seem to be slightly jarring, they merely just decide to remove the middle section certain sequences of action.
Example, when Michel Poiccard played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, shots the cop in the earlier stages of the film, the actual sequences is cut in such a way that it removes almost in whole the actual act of Michel’s crime. We the viewers se the cop approach, hear a Michel grab the gun; hear a shot coupled with a shot of Michel dumping the officers body into a patch of shrubbery.
While this seems and truthfully is the bare minimum of sensorial information the body really needs to understand the sequence of action, at the time this was new. During that time the “jump cut”, was a new technique. To the modern film viewer the jump cut is not as difficult to visually understand for it has been mastered, developed, and adopted over the years by the normative filmmaking style.
Godards, masterpiece titled A Bout De Souffle, is also notable for the fact that it unlike Hollywood pictures does not allow for the viewers to become sucked into the films narrative. This is due to the fact that it doesn’t utilize dialogue based on the storyline, and doesn’t give the viewers as much character development, and history, The truth is the film really is about noting but acts on a certain goal that gives it a timeline. The film uses realistic aspects of everyday life that are not usually depicted in Hollywood pictures.
At the time viewers needed those filmic aspects to be able to follow major parts of the plot, and still Godard decided to leave them out. This ultimately forces the audience to analyze the filmic reality and narrative meaning/ purpose, keeping them a step away from the film, allowing for the viewer to always be clear of the fact that they are watching a movie, and not apart of the filmic reality.
As a result of this artistic choice it implies that each character is on their own path of realty and is separate even from the viewers, who in turn reciprocate their actions by comparing the morals/ actions to our own lives, and us in what is truly reality.
Godard still utilizes character driven plots and morals however in not allowing for his viewers to “escape” from their world they take on the films morals and aesthetics upon themselves. (Class discussion)
Breathless, was made as an imitation of movies. Godard was a film critic and had seen lots of films, prior to orchestrating A Bout De Souffle. As a result this film has been transformed into a film that takes from many of the great film genres that Godard is already so familiar with, notably film Noir. Breathless, even directly references Humphrey Bogart, by having Michel’s character walk past and stare at a photo of him.
Ultimately, making Breathless, an imitation of movies, that imitate reality, yet in doing so the film has managed to appear more realistic and true to reality than the movies that they are imitating.
This fact is also a major part in keeping the audience separate from the movies filmic world, because they can recognize the references to the other movies and situations depicted in Breathless.
The result of the viewers being clear that they are watching a movie makes the plot and morals of the film relatable, which I think was Godards goal, to make A Bout De Souffle, personal.
The Cameraman: directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton
(Robert) Masseo Davis
The Cameraman
The Cameraman: directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton
Rating: 4/5
“The main point about comedy… is that it provides the site for an allowable disruption of the fictional ‘rules’, allowable because the particularity of the disruption forms a crucial part of the audience’s expectations of the comedy- film and because the ‘comic effect’ itself relies not upon disruption alone but upon the interrelationship between disruption and (re) ordering.”
The Cameraman, directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton is a classic example of slapstick comedy. The film illustrates the ironic nature of comedy through sets of disrupted normality. The film The Cameraman takes the natural and utilizes it in uncanny fashions exposing an ironic function. The film is a successful comedy because it not only illustrates ironic scenarios, but also after each punch line the film brings the viewer back to its filmic reality. This film interprets literally the notion that people love nothing more than to see their hero fall.
The film The Cameraman, Sedgwick utilizes objects, people, and even space to depict obscure realities. The reason the comedy is successful is because the narrative seesaws between the disrupted functions of the natural and, reality as depicted in the film. The disruption would not be as funny if the natural order of the film was not restored. The film then would become a whimsical fantasy where anything could happen.
The Cameraman is a film about a man (Keaton) who becomes infatuated with a woman named Sally, played by Marceline Day, who works at MGM newsreels. The narrative of the film follows Keaton, who through a series of uncanny events attempts to win her heart. He trades his “tin types” camera for a “motion picture” camera, and continually tries to get a job at MGM so to be closer to Sally. In his attempts to get a job at MGM Keaton breaks the newsroom door window with his tripod on multiple occasions. The action of Keaton breaking the glass window is the filmic punch line to the larger joke involving the disruption of order. The use of the tripod as a device to break windows with, or at least this particular window, demonstrates a secondary function of the tripod that was not initially considered by the viewers. The film takes objects that the audience perceives as having a particular function, and illustrates a secular function, which disrupts the filmic order.
The film also uses Keaton and its other actors as devices that disrupt the natural order of things, and illustrates actions as comedic punch lines. Keaton and Sedgwick know that their audience has a certain understanding of the worlds ‘rules’ and in breaking them they expresses a punch line, because it goes against the natural/ normal.
In slapstick comedy where the narrative is expressed primarily through body language the directors would be forced to use their actors to depict alternative scenarios, which disrupt the filmic reality of things while maintaining narrative progression. The film depicts sequences where the actors are the primary source of comedic disarray, with Keaton alone playing imaginary baseball to crowds of people, thus interrupting the narrative progression.
Crowds are a very prominent in the film. There are occasions where crowds of people break up situations and disturb Keaton’s narrative flow. There are also scenarios where Keaton disrupts the order maintained by a closed social group.
The film starts with Keaton standing alone still working with his “tin type” camera, when suddenly crowds of people rush into the scene to participate in welcoming an important figure who is never distinguished. Though the scenario is not of unusual nature: the crowds interrupt Keaton while he was trying to photograph a person with his camera. The crowds of people push him around mercilessly giving the audience reason to believe that the film shall depict many more scenarios where Keaton’s self shall be discarded like a rag doll.
The disruption of order in “The Cameraman” is not only to illustrate the comedic qualities of the film but is a narrative tool used to progress the story forward. The specific situations in the films narrative “..forms a crucial part of the audience’s expectations of the comedy- film…”. The opening crowd scene, while it does disrupts the flow of Keaton characters work, that scene introduces both the audience and Keaton;s character to the girl who works at MGM, and implies to the audience the plot of the film, which is Keaton’s pursuit of the girl’s affection.
Near the end of the film there is a scene that depicts a gang war in Chinatown.
Keaton’s character films the whole thing. The sequence includes many people in an elaborate fight scene with machine guns, bullets flying everywhere and Keaton in the middle filming the action. The war is resolved at the last minute with the police storming into the sequence to stop the carnage. This sequence demonstrates a scene that is full of ironic, unrealistic ideas. It would have been impossible for Keaton to have survived the massive gunfight just standing around filming the action. Yet it would not have been funny if the gunfight had killed him for it would have eliminated the possibility for the return to the narrative normality it never would have left actual reality, which is established when the police come and break up the fighting. Considering the idea that Keaton died in the gang fight means understand a new story ending. The fact that Keaton did not die in the fight presupposes the notion that Keatons character’s story still isn’t finished. The reality of the situation depicted in the film would require for Keaton’s character to have died in the scene, however keeping him alive illustrates to the audience a secular plot outside of the realistic.
Salvador Dali, an influential surrealist believed that the unpredictable reality of the world could potentially be organized.
“I believe the moment is at hand when, by a paranoiac and active process of the mind (simultaneously with automatism and other passive states), it will be possible to systemize confusion and to help discredit completely the world of reality.”
-Salvador Dali, The Rotting Ass
“The Cameraman”, being a slapstick comedy, illustrates a form of a reality where the actions appear to be of systematic degrees. Slapstick comedy as a medium is a precision art form. Timing and staging is everything. This dance like staging illustrates a filmic world with limitless possibilities. This notion is comprised from the understanding that comedy rests between both the realistic and the disrupted reality. The two filmic realities collide to create a third alternative reality where the disrupted reality isn’t necessarily a disruption but more of an expectation. The fact that Keaton’s character breaks the newsroom office window with his tripod on multiple occasions makes that action an expectation not a disruption. The narratives filmic world then becomes, not a realm of confusion, but a systematically organized series of coincidence and chances.
This would go well in explaining why Surrealists such as Salvador Dali, would admire films like The Cameraman, because through slapstick comedy they illustrate the world with “systematic confusion”.
Ultimately, Keaton and Sedgwick’s film “The Cameraman” illustrates the notion that comedy is successful when it coexists between the disruption of a narratives reality and its reorganization. The film then creates an alternate reality where through slapstick comedy a realm of staged confusion is systematically organized to create expectations that move the narrative forward.
…..Plus it’s Hysterical
The Cameraman
The Cameraman: directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton
Rating: 4/5
“The main point about comedy… is that it provides the site for an allowable disruption of the fictional ‘rules’, allowable because the particularity of the disruption forms a crucial part of the audience’s expectations of the comedy- film and because the ‘comic effect’ itself relies not upon disruption alone but upon the interrelationship between disruption and (re) ordering.”
The Cameraman, directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton is a classic example of slapstick comedy. The film illustrates the ironic nature of comedy through sets of disrupted normality. The film The Cameraman takes the natural and utilizes it in uncanny fashions exposing an ironic function. The film is a successful comedy because it not only illustrates ironic scenarios, but also after each punch line the film brings the viewer back to its filmic reality. This film interprets literally the notion that people love nothing more than to see their hero fall.
The film The Cameraman, Sedgwick utilizes objects, people, and even space to depict obscure realities. The reason the comedy is successful is because the narrative seesaws between the disrupted functions of the natural and, reality as depicted in the film. The disruption would not be as funny if the natural order of the film was not restored. The film then would become a whimsical fantasy where anything could happen.
The Cameraman is a film about a man (Keaton) who becomes infatuated with a woman named Sally, played by Marceline Day, who works at MGM newsreels. The narrative of the film follows Keaton, who through a series of uncanny events attempts to win her heart. He trades his “tin types” camera for a “motion picture” camera, and continually tries to get a job at MGM so to be closer to Sally. In his attempts to get a job at MGM Keaton breaks the newsroom door window with his tripod on multiple occasions. The action of Keaton breaking the glass window is the filmic punch line to the larger joke involving the disruption of order. The use of the tripod as a device to break windows with, or at least this particular window, demonstrates a secondary function of the tripod that was not initially considered by the viewers. The film takes objects that the audience perceives as having a particular function, and illustrates a secular function, which disrupts the filmic order.
The film also uses Keaton and its other actors as devices that disrupt the natural order of things, and illustrates actions as comedic punch lines. Keaton and Sedgwick know that their audience has a certain understanding of the worlds ‘rules’ and in breaking them they expresses a punch line, because it goes against the natural/ normal.
In slapstick comedy where the narrative is expressed primarily through body language the directors would be forced to use their actors to depict alternative scenarios, which disrupt the filmic reality of things while maintaining narrative progression. The film depicts sequences where the actors are the primary source of comedic disarray, with Keaton alone playing imaginary baseball to crowds of people, thus interrupting the narrative progression.
Crowds are a very prominent in the film. There are occasions where crowds of people break up situations and disturb Keaton’s narrative flow. There are also scenarios where Keaton disrupts the order maintained by a closed social group.
The film starts with Keaton standing alone still working with his “tin type” camera, when suddenly crowds of people rush into the scene to participate in welcoming an important figure who is never distinguished. Though the scenario is not of unusual nature: the crowds interrupt Keaton while he was trying to photograph a person with his camera. The crowds of people push him around mercilessly giving the audience reason to believe that the film shall depict many more scenarios where Keaton’s self shall be discarded like a rag doll.
The disruption of order in “The Cameraman” is not only to illustrate the comedic qualities of the film but is a narrative tool used to progress the story forward. The specific situations in the films narrative “..forms a crucial part of the audience’s expectations of the comedy- film…”. The opening crowd scene, while it does disrupts the flow of Keaton characters work, that scene introduces both the audience and Keaton;s character to the girl who works at MGM, and implies to the audience the plot of the film, which is Keaton’s pursuit of the girl’s affection.
Near the end of the film there is a scene that depicts a gang war in Chinatown.
Keaton’s character films the whole thing. The sequence includes many people in an elaborate fight scene with machine guns, bullets flying everywhere and Keaton in the middle filming the action. The war is resolved at the last minute with the police storming into the sequence to stop the carnage. This sequence demonstrates a scene that is full of ironic, unrealistic ideas. It would have been impossible for Keaton to have survived the massive gunfight just standing around filming the action. Yet it would not have been funny if the gunfight had killed him for it would have eliminated the possibility for the return to the narrative normality it never would have left actual reality, which is established when the police come and break up the fighting. Considering the idea that Keaton died in the gang fight means understand a new story ending. The fact that Keaton did not die in the fight presupposes the notion that Keatons character’s story still isn’t finished. The reality of the situation depicted in the film would require for Keaton’s character to have died in the scene, however keeping him alive illustrates to the audience a secular plot outside of the realistic.
Salvador Dali, an influential surrealist believed that the unpredictable reality of the world could potentially be organized.
“I believe the moment is at hand when, by a paranoiac and active process of the mind (simultaneously with automatism and other passive states), it will be possible to systemize confusion and to help discredit completely the world of reality.”
-Salvador Dali, The Rotting Ass
“The Cameraman”, being a slapstick comedy, illustrates a form of a reality where the actions appear to be of systematic degrees. Slapstick comedy as a medium is a precision art form. Timing and staging is everything. This dance like staging illustrates a filmic world with limitless possibilities. This notion is comprised from the understanding that comedy rests between both the realistic and the disrupted reality. The two filmic realities collide to create a third alternative reality where the disrupted reality isn’t necessarily a disruption but more of an expectation. The fact that Keaton’s character breaks the newsroom office window with his tripod on multiple occasions makes that action an expectation not a disruption. The narratives filmic world then becomes, not a realm of confusion, but a systematically organized series of coincidence and chances.
This would go well in explaining why Surrealists such as Salvador Dali, would admire films like The Cameraman, because through slapstick comedy they illustrate the world with “systematic confusion”.
Ultimately, Keaton and Sedgwick’s film “The Cameraman” illustrates the notion that comedy is successful when it coexists between the disruption of a narratives reality and its reorganization. The film then creates an alternate reality where through slapstick comedy a realm of staged confusion is systematically organized to create expectations that move the narrative forward.
…..Plus it’s Hysterical
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