November 28, 2007

Some random thoughts on Benjamin

On p. 228 the article discusses the camera and the man behind it. "Guided by the cameraman, the camera continually changes the position with respect to the performance. The sequence of positional views which the editor composes from the material supplies him constitues the completed film"...so depending on where the camera and its operator stands, casts a different view or perception of that which is being filmed, is this up to the director? In Media Production, we filmed various angles of certain scripts that were handed to us, and it was up to us to choose the lighting, stage, props etc. in an alloted time and then convene and view before the end of class...by doing so we created "the audiences identification with the camera" so to speak...and obviously where we filmed created a different perception say if we filmed the actors on the steps in the shadows vs. standing in the light...this made me wonder if at the academy award shows..do the cameramen win for such decisons? or are they all guided by directors? are there any directors that are also cameramen?? random, i know...

The other thought I had was on page 232, middle of the paragraph when it states "Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic character. The difference becomes merely functional; it may vary from case to case. At any moment the reader is ready to turn into a writer!" How odd, that this was written so long ago and yet this describes what goes on today..especially when you thing about the very nature of blogs! everyone is an "author!" ha.

4 comments:

brett said...

I believe that the director is ultimately responsible for the cameraman, that the cameraman is essentially an extension of the director, thus has no creative license, thus would not be able to win a media award. The director would have to be a cameraman; that is, a director must understand the cameraman's functions completely. Some directors are the cameraman for their own productions; especially for indie films, etc. In the case of the media production class, it seems that you were both the camerawoman AND the director, right?

yes, blogs have allowed the reader to become author AND publisher; gotta love the year 2007

Meg said...

Thanks for a reply Brett, however, I was only the director in media production, not the camera person. I had two other classmates helping me. But you answered my question, that some cameramen are directors and vice versa! and about the blogs...readers, authors and publishers...or so people think! where is the literary licesnse?!

lhutton said...

I agree with Brett, I don't believe it is the responsiblility of the cameraman to direct the audience and the vision artistically. It seems the director has the control of the artisitic direction the cameraman should take. Also lets not forget that the director also has final cut, if there is a scene shot improperally or not by the standards of the director they simple re-shoot it or edit it out. In Benjamin's case I percieve the modern day cameraman that we think of as an extention of the camera. And the cameraman in terms of what Benjamin's writes about that would be the modern day equivalent to the director.

JK said...
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