Art and Technology

I googled "Art and Technology" and this was the first image that came up. I believe that it is a great way to incorporate new technologies with artistic features in the building.  You never know if you will see this in 5 years or 25 years.  Either way, the way that technology is progressing at a rapid rate is able to change the way people live.  

Frame b y F r a m e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOX2ZN4s_P8


I really liked this one from the Kansas City Art Institution Program.  I enjoyed watching the opening scenes of people walking in frame by frame.  The entire time you follow the little black figurine.  It then becomes incorporated with different people and dance moves.  I just found this video and music to be catchy and interesting.  

Frame by Frame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kisQYkid_Nc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm5_Y6OvcS0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FJBn_-T4-E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQDjynOzgCk

Abel Gance and Napoleon

Although pressured to have a prosperous career in law by his parents, Abel Gance decided to be independent.  At age 19 he began his career in theater.  His first part in a movie was Moliere in 1909. Gance had a difficult childhood, growing up in poverty and suffering from tuberculosis.  Determined to gain success, he was able to form a production company and be a director of La Digue in 1911.  Many of his films were unsuccessful and he returned to theater.  However, with the outbreak of World War I, his performance never premiered. Since he was ill, he didn't partake in the war.  During these years, Gance was able to excel in the Film d'Art company.  Surprisingly, at this high status, he chose to join the fighting in the war and was later released. He wanted to be redrafted to be able to film scenes for future movies.  The movie he produced out of the battlefield was a great success all over Europe. This was an amazing opportunity for Gance to sustain his prominence in the industry.

Gance's most well-known film is Napoleon, released in 1927.  He used all of the techniques from silent era films and added new techniques never seen before.  The film was shot using a three-camera panorama process, using three projectors and a curved windscreen to create a panoramic appearance.  This was the first time it was introduced, a total phenomenon and advancement in technology.  He even shot scenes in color at least a decade before the Wizard of Oz came out; however, he did not use them for fear of audience rejection.  Gance was an incredible experimentalist in the film industry.  He changed the future of film.  Well, he tried to.  Napoleon was very successful in Euorpe, but failed to entertain people in the United States. How can there be such a drastic difference in reactions? It is because when MGM bought rights to the film, they changed it from the original formating.  Gance believes that his film didn't get enough recognition as it should have. He recreated the film several times using different techniques until British Director Kevin Brownlow spent 20 years remaking Napoleon to the original format. It was then screened in London in 1979.  Francis Ford Coppola screened the film at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, 1981.  Now, Gance was finally successful in the United States.

After learning all of this about Abel Gance, I believe that his film could have created revolutionary changes in the film industry in the United States if the original format was not changed.  I think that since the original gained a standing ovation, then it deserved something more than Americans simply laughing at it.  It is clear that Gance gained recognition, but that is how many years later? It should have been recognized much earlier.  Napoleon was an advancement in technology that helped other filmmakers produce better films.

History

Since I have taken history and music classes, I was aware of many of the inventions in the past centuries that have forever changed our world today.  However, I was never to see examples of the steps of developing photographs at the beginning.  In 1877, Eadweard Muybridge was able to develop a camera to change the shutter speed to catch images in motion.  This has forever changed the future of photography.  These brilliant photographers created some of the techniques we still use today.  Yet, times have changed as has the technology developed.

It is much more common to use a digital camera nowadays, rather than manually using a camera that the pictures need to be developed. This is only recent. It is amazing how technology has changed drastically over the past century, and even decade.  Now, people are able to carry a Flip video camera's in their pocket's and record on the spot.  Youtube has grown exponentially with videos from ordinary people because they are able to capture instances that never could have been captured before.  From pictures to videos to movies, the history and future of America will never be the same

                             

How was the Great Depression different than today's recession?

There are many people concerned today whether we are experiencing times much like those in the Great Depression.  This time period brought new content to plays on Broadway.  There were more references to bad times in the plays, and the form and content was open to experiment.  People were begging on the streets for food and a quick return to their old lives.  These were only some of the effects that the stock market crash of 1929 had on America.  It is evident that people are comparing the tough times we are going through now, to the Great Depression.

According to Forbes.com, the Great Depression was the day that "the worst economic crisis in American history began."  I think that this is a very strong statement, although it may be true.  We are now experiencing times much like those struggles experiences in the late 20's and 30's.  After reviewing statistics from the two economic crises,  today is not even comparable to the Great Depression.  During the Great Depression, over 9,000 banks failed, the unemployment rate reached 25% and the economy was declining.  These are only to name a few of the differences.  Todays recession has brought only about 57 bank failures, an unemployment rate of 8.5%, and an economy declining not nearly as bad as the Great Depression.  Yes, these times are comparable but they are also completely different in American history and culture.  Today, technology has been a great help to the United States.
  

What is the origin of Jazz music?

It is clear that after yesterday's class, Jazz music was a great era in American history.  Jazz is a type of music that is able to unite all races with its likings.  With this in mind, this time period was able to draw together all types of people for entertainment, including jazz music and performances.  The unique rhythm in jazz is what stood out from the rest of music.  Music became the center of peoples lives, attending dinners and concert halls to see the greatest musicians.  Furthermore, I believe that Jazz came about from many different aspects at the time.

As Broadway began to be an American classic, the culture was also being transformed through music.  There was a period of rapid modernization in society, and people were beginning to express themselves more openly through the way they dressed to the music they listened to.  Women exposed themselves more, and were more provocative and slowly accepted in society.  One of the reasons I feel that this occurred is because of the alcohol prohibition.  People still wanted to sneak around the law and have fun, and one way to do this was to enjoy new American music.