Week 4 - Feb. 18th (Viewing)

Althea Thauberger as a guest displaying parts of her work was really interesting. While the debate over whether she intentionally made certain parts of her films with satire or a hint of comedy goes on, and is interpreted differently by different people, I’d like to point out how I interpreted her work. The first film “Not Afraid to Die,” was what I thought an interpretation on the notion of people being photographed. I continually had this idea in my head as the film went on in its “photographic” still-life style, that the camera was killing her (or at least that’s what she thought). It made me think of the early days of taking photographs and how some people (such as Indian tribes) thought that taking a photograph of someone was like stealing their soul. As the girl sat in front of the camera just staring or acting casually I felt that this girl was presenting herself to the camera because she isn’t afraid of her soul being taken away. I especially thought this when the Althea’s solo came into the mix furthering this notion that the girl “isn’t afraid to die” by sitting in front of the camera, thus stealing her soul (killing her). So this statement is the girl’s way of being courageous and bravely attempting to do something that is thought of as risky or threatening.

In “Songstress” I couldn’t help but get this music video feel. Even after Althea said, “this is not a comment on music videos” I felt like it was. However, there were a few key differences that influenced me away from thinking of it in a more music video sense. 1) There was little to no editing. The whole song played through in one camera take, (except one time) which is remarkably different from most music videos. 2) The performances seemed very improvised and not planned out. While some music videos are like this many aren’t. 3) The camera never moves. It was straight shooting no effects or technique. So while it may stray away from a music video feel, the music being played along with dancing and lip-syncing still brought that feel to the plate. In my mind, I view it as a “reality tv version of a music video.” The camera being fixed and in one take reminded me of the typical “confessionals” in most reality tv series. I think the fixed camera was used in this fashion to give the performer that confessional type of meaning to their work as they lip-synched. I think this was a great way to have the artist give their voice into the film. It also showed that these were up-and-coming artists that haven’t quite made it yet. It was a low-key video, for a low-key artist that was very personalized.