Final Project: Picturing Texts pp. 494-495

Set in the dark, cold, baren wasteland of NorthEast Russia above the Arctic circle, How I Ended This Summer is a two-character drama that revolves around the repetitive, routine life at a weather station, and the phycological toll living in such a desolate place can have on a person.  Pavel Danilov, played by Grigory Dobrygin, is a young college student who appears to be acting as an intern or apprentus to the weathered (no pun intended) Sergei Gulybin, played by Sergei Puskepalis.  There is clearly tension between the two from the start of the movie.  Young Pavel loves the heavy metal music and does not to take as much care into his work as Sergei would want.  The film lacks action, special effects, even heavy dialogue, yet it is the long silence and dramatic tension between the two characters that draws the viewer in.  When Pavel is taking over the radio one day when Sergei is off fishing, he overhears over that radio waves that Segei’s wife and child have died.  Pavel, in fear and intimidated by his superior, fails to relay this information onto Sergei when he returns.  This starts a cat and mouse relationship between the two, when Pavel is called out for messing up some of the reports.  This then starts a chain reaction where Sergei starts to question how truthful young Pavel is.  As the relationship between the two becomes stormy and more tense, so does the weather outside, tying the characters and their landscape together nicely.  From this point on the movie turns into a phycological thriller where Pavel is trying to escape the truth and eventually, the station all together.

I had a hard time becoming engulfed in this movie for it failed to draw me in.  The long pauses between dialogue, the lack of character development, and bleak landscape make for a long, slow film that needs to be seen through the end to fully grasp.  Life at this weather station is very routine, with the daily activities being repeated day in and day out; the director does a good job of emphasizing this.  It was also hard to get wrapped into the story because it was a two-character story, with no development of the two characters.  The viewer can only make conclusion on what the see, there is no background information given at any point in the film.  you do not know how long the two men have been together or how long Pavel has been up there, it is up to the viewer to make their own assumptions.  Also the fact that the movie is in Russian make it hard for an english speaking viewer to know when their are undertones, hidden meanings, or sarcasm throughout the dialogue; things we would immediately pick up on in english.  however I am glad that I watched this movie through because even though the last part of the film is a very anti-climactic chase, the whole movie itself sends a good message of trust and honesty.

Russian Movies

How I Ended This Summer – This film is set on an arctic island in Northern Russia and right away the setting is dark, cold, grey; was what how one would picture Siberia.  The story of two men battling the physical elements and each other creates a chilling suspense without much action.  The film brings in to question the old Russian way of doing what you are told, when the younger character has moral dilemmas deliver a message heard over the radio. The way the movie progresses is very slow sometimes dragging on, yet this pace almost heightens and magnifies the cold, miserable setting of the film.  The long pans and amplified weather conditions bring the arctic to life!  There is not much dialogue in the film, much of the two characters interactions are short need-to-know conversations; this is a characteristic of old Russian culture.

The Return –  In this film, the majority of the setting takes place on an isolated island in Northern Russia; this is again a very grey, dark film that deals with inner human emotions.  It reminded me of Maine in the Fall/Winter time.  Like in the previous film, the movie deals with strong emotional relationships between men when two young boys have to deal with their father suddenly reappearing in their lives after 12 years.  Again the dialogue is brief and awkward at time, but that is just the culture of Russia. The setting and atmosphere compliment the relationship of the boys and their father, but it is simply just reflecting the cultural setting of old, northern Russian culture. It was very similar to How I Ended This Summer, but with family not coworkers, and it was a little farther south!

Babette’s Feast

The film brings the viewer to the coastal countryside of Denmark, an environment unique to the Northern European countries.  The people have learned to live mostly off the land and home grown food, a culture collision for many westerners.  The cultural aesthetic that stood out to me the most was the importance a good meal with good people is to this culture.  The meals are long and lavish so people have time to enjoy each others company and stories.  Taking the time to prepare multiple courses is the standard where our culture is quick meals.  Large meals are saved for holidays; families rarely sit down and enjoy a full meal together anymore.  I thought it was great how their culture values the art of a conversation and the important of strong relationships.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

Mr. and Mrs.  Iyer is a culture clash within a culture clash.  Not only is the viewers attention brought to the cultural differences of the area, but the culture itself is a clash of religious culture.  The viewer is brought to the attention of the constant religious tension and hostility.  The Muslim and Indian cultures clashing brings the viewer into the violence and fear that the people portrayed have to live with daily.  A simple bus ride can turn into a fight for your freedom and life.  The two religious cultures are so against each other that they are disgusted when offered water or comfort from the other.  It is a completely different world over in the middle east region, a world that can only be imagined through news reports, like the montage in the opening credits, and films such as this one, bringing a viewer to a place they hopefully never have to witness first hand.

Howl’s Moving Castle

I am not a fan of Asian animation, and I can honestly say that Howl’s Moving Castle  was the first movie of its kind that I had watched.  The animation was unlike anything I had grown up with, and still watch.  I grew up with such classics like The Lion King, Tarzan, Mulan, and Toy Story; everything about Howl’s Moving Castle just seemed a little darker and over the top.  From the plot humor, illustration, setting, and characters, everything was off and I could never get on board.  The witches and wizards were similar to ones I had grown up watching, yet the way they were portrayed and used in the film was different.  The concept of the “fantasy” film was different; US fantasies are princess and prince tales, the “fantasy” aesthetic in Howl’s was much darker and twisted, involving much more complex characters.  i was able to draw some similarities to characters seen in western films; such as the Witch of the Waste with Ursala, or Calcifer as the lobster from Little Mermaid.  Perhaps it is because Asian animation attracts a wider, maybe older groups, but I was never drawn to this film like I am with more familiar animated films.  Everything seemed off, but it was hard to put my finger on one specific thing.  It may just be that the film itself was a cultural collision for me.

Baraka

Their is now denying that Baraka brings the viewer into a world of which they have never experienced.  the lush forests and landscapes that the film brings you to are out of touch from modern society; free of electricity, cars, cities, everything.  The environment these people live in is such a culture collision, that I cannot even begin to imagine what it is like to live in that culture.  The people themselves are unlike anything close to home; with their handcrafted, incredibly detailed wardrobes, tool, and homes.  They live off the land 100%, something our culture knows nothing of, as our environmental dependence is on the decline.  The lack of plot was kind of nice because I could just focus on the cultural aesthetics without worrying about following a plot as well.  For example the long pauses and span-outs allow the viewer to really observe and analyze the entire shot; giving the viewer an amazing understanding of the culture these people have created in their lush environments.

Lost In Translation

In the opening scene the director immediately brings the viewers attention to the extraordinary culture of urban Japan.  As the main character looks at the building high neon ads on every building, the look on his face is of amazement; he can’t believe how bright and busy the advertisements and buildings are.  The director lets you the viewer know that you are in downtown Tokyo right away.  The second culture collision i noticed was the gift exchange at the hotel reception.  Immediately the viewer picks up on how much more polite and formal the Japanese culture is, with the formal handshake and gifts; this exchange is seldom seen in western cultures.  A clash of cultures throughout the entire film is the language barrier.  English to any Asian language I believe is the hardest translation; simple conversations become slow, agonizing ordeals, and the director makes this known early.  Another cultural aesthetic of Japanese culture is their difference in entertainment.  This was a big clash for the main character because while he may think the arcade games and karaoke are lame, the Japanese live for them and are their main entertainment source.  Although I did think the private karaoke rooms were pretty cool.  The tv ads and shows are much different as well, using comedy in ways not seen here in the US.  The whole movie was a collision of cultures, hence the title Lost In Translation, providing for many laughs.

An Everlasting Piece

I enjoyed this movie for a few reasons: one, I enjoyed the humor that was found in some of the scenes, the fact that it took place in Ireland, and the accents!  The obvious initial observation on the cultural aesthetics was the division of the city and country, into protestants and catholics.  The tension between Colm and his protestant coworkers in the opening scene at the hair dressers immediately lets the viewer know that even behind the witty jokes and accents, there is religious unrest and unease.

The dialogue throughout the whole movie is a cultural aesthetic of the movie, for it is very different from not only America, but a lot of Europe as well.  The fast paced speech with the different language and way to say things provide their own humor, if the audience can keep up with the accents.

Russian Space Ads Print Hunt

When looking around at russian poster advertising, I initally had trouble finding present day advertisements.  many of the ads I found were similar to the first two advertisements I’ve selected.  They cartoon style and bold lettering, in the second one, are vintage Soviet Union style advertising.  Both of these were from modern day however; the first is for a marketing idea conference from 2003, and the second one is an anti-smoking ad.  The anti-smoking ad translates to “Don’t Smoke and Drive”, which is not a slogan we recognize as anti-smoking, but rather drunk driving.  There are no color scheme patterns with this two images, however there was a obvious nationalistic scheme in many of the Soviet Union era ads, which propogated the country as being strong and unified.  Also the use of more text and words is common in this vintage design.

The last three images I grouped together because theyare more modern and follow some patterns that I had found in other aspects of my research.  The Coca-Cola advertisement follows the same patterns as their Russian website did, defining who their target audience is in this market.  This ad is using sex appeal to attract a younger audience; the website used a young couple sharing the beverage to attract the young media. This ad strickly uses the classic Coke red and white colors, from the lipstick to the reflected bottle, to the white background.  The website also stuck to using primarliy the distinguishable Coca-cola red and white.

The Sylvester Stallone vodka ad I chose for a few reasons; the first was because it had an emotional appeal, a trend found throughout my research; the second reason was because it reminded me of a scene from Lost In Translation, where Bill Murray’s character is the spokesman for a Japanese liquor.  I chose this advertisement for the latter reason because I thought it was a pretty humorous to have Stallone in a Russian vodka ad.  You would never see him an American advertisement of the same kind, however due to the success of the Rocky series, and its overwhelming popularity in European cultures, it is a no-brainer to have him selling vodka to Russian consumers.  Also in Rocky IV, Rocky defeats a Russian boxer, so I find it funny that they now use him to promote a product.

In my final advertisement, I chose a Stoli vodka ad that played on a few trends that I discovered during my entire research.  The first is the color scheme; clearly playing on the nationalistic red, white , and blue of Russia.  The red header and footer and red dress nicely compliment the blue sky, and the white of the soldiers uniform really pops off the page.  The way the ad is laid out, along with the color placement, draw the viewers eyes from the top of the page downward.  The second trend this ad followed was the use of emotional appeal and quality of life to draw the viewer, making the actual product of vodka almost secondary.  They are trying to promote that this vodka is the best of Russia, for the best of times, with the best of people.  This vodka is not for any ordinary gathering, and it should be enjoyed.  The American ad campaign for this same vodka is “would you have a drink with you”, using the same emotional appeal minus the nationalistic undertones and color.

Overall I wanted to show the contrast in the modern and vintage advertisement designs, and that both are used today in Russia.  However it was clear to me that the two designs were used for certain audiences.  The vintage designs were used to attract the older audience, who are a generation who rely on more information, or text, rather than imagery and flashy pictures.  The second sets of ads are aimed more towards the younger generations, using sex appeal, and youth images to relate to their intended audience.  Their are still the continuing trends of emotional appeal and nationalistic color schemes, they are just altered for a different, younger generation.

Focus Respond 6

Focus 1.

I believe the point of photography is to not only document events, but spark and recollect memories.  Photographs can take us back to that point in time and the subjects in the photo can recollect that whole memory from when that image was taken.  I personally can look at an image of myself from a vacation or such, and remember that exact moment in time even that whole day or night when the image was taken.  That’s the beauty of pictures; one image can spark memories of a whole day, night, weekend, or whole trip.  They truly are worth a thousand words.

Focus 2.

In Misrach’s image, the argument being presented is one of abandonment.  This image looks like a place of no life; a place out of a horror movie.  The heavy fog along with the trash, murky water, and abandoned trailer, make this place seem undesirable and mysterious, with no signs of life.  In Laughlin’s image, the house superimposed with the tree gives a mysterious way of seeing this house, as if it hides behind the tree.  Only certain parts of the house are visible through the tree leaving many parts of the image unknown to the viewer.

Focus 3.

The story of Grau’s grandfather helps explain how Laughlin’s can spark memories and how they can tell a story.  He makes you realize all of the finer details in life, and his stories and the way he questions the kids about the cat and house.  This story helps understand Laughlin’s photos by making the viewer see all the details within the image and to create your own story about the image.

Respond 1.

Photography can create a whole story, just by the single image.  They can create poetry because a poet can look at an image and be able to go off in many directions, creating more than one poem or story.  For example, the image on page 251, of a family at the dinner table, could spark a story about family, family traditions, meals, dinner, parties, holidays, really anything that could relate to a family eating dinner together.  Photographs I believe are more recordings when they are documenting an event, such as a news story or current event.