Continuity Project

Continuity Project: Finals Week from Emilia Pesantes on Vimeo.

Museum of Moving Image

One of the mediums that stunned me the most when I visited the Museum of Moving Image was the exhibit on portrait photography. Something I found particularly interesting was how portrait photography was described as “the best way to maintain the mythology of stardom.” The very use of the word “myth” suggests that the atmosphere of any given portrait taken was not at all accidental but rather carefully selected. The portraits exhibited on the wall in the museum only really vary in subject. With that being said, the use of hard light v. soft light was generally the same and the lack of color was homogenous. Although seemingly simple, plain, portraits every single one must have been taken with the perfect lighting in order to deliberately enhance a subject’s facial features. Weather it be Chaplin’s clean face or James Dean’s jawline every portrait was similar in its mission to direct the viewers attention to specific aspects of the photograph. I did not know that these portraits went so far as to acquire their own Fan magazines in the early 1900’s. This further proves the great effect photos have on their respective viewers — especially when they are ones of familiar faces. 

It is interesting to note the evolution of such a form of photography. Portraits continue to be popular amongst celebrities, especially when shooting for magazine covers. However there are much more vibrant colors included, meant to enhance our senses in order for viewers to have a better experience with the photos. Lighting remains important but with the latest technology certain features can appear however you want them to using a tool like photoshop. Tech like photoshop is tremendously helpful but also endlessly deceiving. An immense change in the experience audiences have with portraits is the fact that they have to spend half the time deciding how real those curves and clean skin actually are.

Blog #3 - Relationships Between Shots

In the final scene of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane the shots that are presented are immensely significant to the film as a whole. The sequence begins with the reporter who investigated Kane’s last words back in Kane’s mansion, Xanadu, explaining his opinion on what the word “rosebud” may have meant for Charles Kane. The shot begins with him but the audience cannot help but notice the mise-en-scene which is cluttered with all of Kane’s possessions. This shot is increasingly revealing as the camera moves outward, therefore showing more of what Kane owned and all together implying how empty Kane’s life was regardless of his countless acquisitions. The next two shots are more of an aerial view of the same room, with the people moving out of the frame and the focus becoming the things in it. Aside from the change of perspective, slow, ominous music begins to play suggesting that there is something more to come. The fourth shot is the aerial view of the camera as it moves across the room, hovering over all the material things and leading us to one in particular — the sled of Kane’s childhood. The focus of the sled is quickly interrupted by a worker who comes to collect it and the immediate upbeat of the music’s intensity creates a sense of danger in the following shot where the sled is thrown into the furnace to burn. The angle the sled is shown in is straightforward, offering no room for the viewer to miss the word “rosebud” which is now in flames. The shot that follows the disintegrating rosebud brings us back to Xanadu. The mansion eventually fades into the fence with the “No Trespassing” sign which creates a circularity for the film which opened with the same images. These final shots, along with the music and movement that are integral parts of them, work to show that — although the audience now knows the meaning of rosebud — the efforts of the reporter were worthless because he ended up learning no more than what he began with on the famous Charles Foster Kane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP0O1BKu3zk 

Audio Portrait

https://soundcloud.com/emiliap26/sequence-01-2

Sound walk in NoHo

Cement trucks gradually release their load as workers loudly crack open the ground, with the promise of a new sidewalk to trample. The whirring of the truck is continuous except when the sound fades out into the instant shut-down of the engine. New York is in a constant state of construction but even this city needs a lunch break. Hard-hats make their presence known with a rough "boop" upon coming in contact with the part of the ground that is obviously well worn in. Workers laugh and spit, embracing the afternoon sun. The high-pitched ding of a bell is an indicator of an order being ready and even though it is just one sandwich, everyone shuffles their bodies towards the window in hopes that it is theirs. On the inside of the tiny store front is the sizzle of something being fried and the whipping of a fluffy new batch of eggs. On the outside, the whips and sizzles are lost in the babbles of the people reluctant to get back to their jobs.

In the background there is more. There is the clicking of heels and thumping of boots. There is the crooning of a bird getting further and further away from the crowd. There's the crunch of an unexpected candy wrapper under a shoe and the oops of the kid who got it there in the first place. Cars honk and cars groan the longer it takes for that one person to parallel park. Bikes feel lucky they can just swoosh on by, navigating the nooks and crannies of Manhattan traffic. Pedestrians hear the robotic "wait" of the machine inside the traffic pole but they skip across the street regardless. This is only part of the New York City symphony.

Artist Statement

The beautiful thing about art is that it takes countless forms and is ultimately whatever we want it to be. The beautiful thing about being an artist is being able to decide exactly what forms appeal to us and using that as an entry to a realm of few limitations. 

I’ve never referred to myself as an artist, it never quite felt right. The word is heavy with implications and riddled with expectations. I think about Jackson Pollock’s ability to translate all of his feelings into a beautiful mess of scribbles on canvas and Teju Cole’s ability to encapsulate the energy of an entire city in the perfect string of words. It’s tough to categorize myself with such giants. Regardless, I do favor an art form and put it into practice more often than not. Photography means everything to me. It’s not just about putting a filter on your latest Instagram post, it’s about composition, orientation, and stories. Every picture is part of a moment and every moment is significant to life — the sooner we realize that, the more pictures we’ll start taking. Not everyone appreciates the quick snap of the view from the 100th floor but I am confident that when I’m old and gray my photos will tell a story that was almost forgotten. My pictures will attempt to do what Pollock and Cole do so effortlessly — express life, preferably one that is well worn and used up for all it has to offer.

Maybe I am an artist after all.