SMU Experimental Camera 2019

From the attraction of a movie to scenography of a film, Tom Gunning discusses how movies appear to people, and how every element of a movie is important. Gunning focuses on the attraction of the film mostly, stating how it "address the audience directly." It engages the viewer, peaking their curiosity, making them want to watch even more. Though the language was slightly confusing, I interpreted Gunning stating that even in the early films about a train car coming toward the camera, and people being terrified to watch more, people would still watch the films, despite being scared, because of the curiosity, the want to know what occurs in the film. This is still used today in modern horror movies, as often times people want to look away from the screen, but they simply cannot due to the fact that they most know what happens next.

During this reading, I liked seeing how art was described as a game. I like to think about this being represented as art in a form of the viewer not knowing what is going to happen until it does. It shows that art is represented in a story form where it is layed out piece by piece and where the reader learns throughout the game. 

Gunning aims to analyze the myth of late nineteenth century spectators' confusion of reality during the first projections of films, such as at the Grand Cafe's Salon Indien, by tracing the early history of "the cinema of attractions". This early cinema was utilized as a part of magic theatre shows, for example at London's Egyptian Hall, and its audiences were typically "sophisticated urban pleasure-seekers." The author claims that the "illusionistic arts of the nineteenth century cannily exploited their unbelievable nature, keeping a conscious focus on the fact that they were only illusions". He then goes to further prove this statement by emphasizing how these early films were projected: a still photograph was shown until it was suddenly "brought to life" through the animation of the scene through film. Thus, the audience's sense of shock came more from the visual transformation occurring before their eyes than the belief that

I like how Wittgenstein described art as a game. He says that the game's rules become so as the game is played. Not before the game is actually played. This for me plays into the whole context of the world of the video or art as being made as it goes on. The viewer learns about the rules of the world as the artwork goes on and is thus slowly kept inside, mesmerized unable to make sense of the world until the end when everything has been explained.

In this reading, it discussed how film was compared to a sense of metamorphosis. I did not really understand what the author meant by syncretism, but the author discussed how film is close to metamorphosis in the sense that it goes through a transformation. The author also spoke about how people can focus on the significant subject of the film or the insignificant background of the film. I had never really thought about focusing on the insignificant parts of a film, but i have had moment where I focus on things that most other people do not pick up on in films.

In most cases, people tend to view and analyze things and objects in pieces rather than viewing them as a whole. The article Syncretism and Metamorphosis’ by Youngblood helps in understanding the importance of viewing objects and ideas as a whole. It is because when viewing them on a partial basis., then it is easier to make the wrong conclusions. One does not have a better and clear understanding of facts and information unless they have the full and reliable information.  This helps in making proper judgments and decisions. Bazin explains this notion of reality in the cinema montage by quoting that it ‘does not chop the world into little fragments.’ This is mainly through the use and application of synaesthetic, where there is the use of one image superimposing of the other leading to their transformation of other images for clear understanding. There is also the use of the film Dog Star Man by Stan Brakhage, where there is the superimposition of various images as a way of helpin

While reading Youngblood's "Syncretism and Metamorphosis," I automatically thought of the phrase "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" because that is essentially what Youngblood argues with the rise of Synaesthetic cinema; he states that it forces the viewer to consider the scene shown in its entirety and doesn't "chop the world into little fragments," as Bazin states of montage. Youngblood also argues that this particular type of cinema transcends the notion of reality, as it shows one image continually transforming into other images. In addition, the use of double exposure is mentioned, which in synaesthetic cinema signifies one total image in metamorphosis. Then, the author analyzes Stan Brakhage's film Dog Star Man  as a piece of Synaesthetic cinema in its own right. He explains how the association of various images, whether by flickering or superposition, achieves a synaesthetic quality as it forces the viewer to derive meani