JMC, I'm interested that you mentioned David Lynch as he is maybe one, if
not the only, "auteur" to actually distort and really use the aesthetic in a
creative way. I would suggest rather than _Blue Velvet_ which for my
purposes is actually a contemporary drama, something like the _Elephant Man_
which obviously isn't trying to convince us it was filmed in the
contemporary period but does try to throw us away from the 1980's. But
there will always be something.
There is no denying that film is inexorably connected to it's period,
whether quite simply from the connection we make to the actors in it or from
perceiving the crudeness of the techniques used. But going a bit deeper
than surface impressions, the development of film semiotics, censorship &
the breaking down of taboos (which perhaps also places Blue Velvet as
something that could not have been acceptably watched in an earlier era) -
as well as reflecting current political states.
I am admittedly referring to Hollywood & intermittently British filmmaking,
but I do think the same model could be applied to other film cultural
structures.
Eventually, we have to transcend the actual film itself and realise what it
is about memory, perception, recognition and association that affords us to
identify certain essences in the film and then to be able to reuse these
when called upon to distinguish one era from another.
AS a designer I find this fascinating. I would also be interested if anyone
has any idea of film being successfully faked. Other artistic medium have
been, and the finished pieces accepted as genuine.
Given ALL the considerations of defining an era, is it possible to create a
film that everyone believes was made in a different period?
Jennifer>
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|