Thursday, September 22, 2011

Image Bank Assignment

          Larry Burrows was born in London in 1926. He left school at the age of 16 and took a job in Life Magazine where he printed photographs. Burrows became a photographer for the vietnam war from 1962 till he died in 1971. Some highlights were that Borrows wrote a book called Vietnam which  received the Prix Nadar Award. Also his photo appeared on the cover of Life Magazine. The reason why I have chosen Larry Burrows for this assignment is because his photos are very interesting.Throughout his pictures he captures all different aspects of the war and how the soldiers prepared. His photos tell a thousand words. He really showed fans like myself what actually went on in vietnam for example his photo range from soldiers in action, and the pain and suffering caused from the war. He showed american citizen like myself the terrors of the War of Vietnam and how hard the soldiers fought for this country.

Source: Burrows Larry Biography   

Reaction to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly



                                           The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


            The film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) tells about a journalist, Jean- Dominique Bauby and how his life changed after he suffered a sever stroke and is paralyzed from the neck down.  A series of flashbacks gives clues about Bauby’s life before the stroke. During the duration of the film the audience feels like they are the character because of the way it was shot.
The film was shot mostly in a POV (point of view). By doing this it really captures a different type of visual element. I loved the way it was shot because it was different from most movies today.  A scene that stood out to me is the beginning when you see the camera come in and out of focus this shows that he is just waking up and something is wrong, the audience is put right into the situation. Finally in the film it cuts to Jean in a diving suit, which looks like a flash back but I feel that its means are much greater. The diving suit represents him being trap and cannot escape. Bauby wants to speak to the doctors and friends but he cannot because of the effects of the stroke, so he feels locked within his thoughts. 
Overall I thought this film was excellent reason being is that it game audiences a different feel by seeing out of the eyes of Jean- Dominique Bauby. By shooting the film in POV audiences like myself really got a better understanding of what the protagonist went through. Also another thing I enjoyed about this film was the cinematography. The lighting in the film really brought out the feeling in the scene. This film really captured what Jean-Dominique Bauby experienced in real like and as a viewer i really can understand fully the hardships that he went through.