MBS2 in GenSan – Count Me In!

This is exciting! On October 25-26, 2008, the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit will be held in General Santos City. The MBS2 will be held at the Family Country Hotel and Convention Center.

What’s more exciting? GENSAN is my beloved HOMETOWN! I WILL (FINALLY) GO HOME to GENSAN after months of staying here in Davao City to complete my (hopefully) last year in college. Its semestral break after all, which is a perfect time to unload the burdens of university life. At the same time, a cool and fun way to know and understand MINDANAO better.

Since I have been blogging for so many years now, this will be a perfect opportunity to write things about my own land . COUNT ME IN!

Who can register?

• Any past or present Mindanao resident who has a blog (WordPress, Blogger, Live Journal, I.com, Multiply, Friendster, Imeem, etc. or a self-hosted blog)

As a registrant, you are entitled to the following:

• Free MBS2 Kit
• 3 Meal Coupons
• Sashimi Night Pass
• Raffle Ticket
• October 26 Tour Pass
• More Freebies!!!

REGISTER NOW! Visit www.mindanaobloggers.com for more information

HERE ARE THE SPONSORS FOR THIS EVENT

CO-PRESENTERS:
NOKIA (Philippines), Inc.
Mayor Pedro B. Acharon, Jr.
Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio
ABS-CBN Regional Network Group
Mindanao Bloggers
Bariles RepublicGOLD SPONSORS:
ACLC-Skeptron Ventures, Inc. SILVER SPONSORS:
Asia United Bank
NoKiAHOST.COM
Family Country Hotel & Convention Center
East Asia Royale Hotel

BRONZE SPONSORS:
Blogging from Home Book
Pacific Seas Seafood Market
Shalom-Crest Wizard Academy
Generals Logimark Exponent
Prints and You
Sta. Cruz Seafood, Inc.
Dellosa Design Builders, Inc.

AESTHETICS: The Last Stand

My aesthetics course began with a sort-of essay quiz that asked to define BEAUTY. The moment the question was asked, tons & tons of definitions of beauty popped out my mind. That was when I realized that it is way too hard to give an exact definition of beauty. Well, I think you do not need to complicate its meaning. For me, beauty is not skin-deep. It is not seen on the surface alone but on what is beneath that surface. Nevertheless, aesthetics teaches me more than that.

I am always amazed by how things in the world are formed. I always appreciate the things that I readily found beautiful and amazing. The objects that amaze me so much are those that I found to be very real in their own sense, even though they are not real, or they are so real that they already look unreal before my eyes. Most of the time, I do not know why I think something is beautiful, all I know is that I feel it. I also do not care whether other people finds my idea of beauty different from theirs. After all, it is expected.

One of the things that deals with beauty is aesthetics. I had encountered the word aesthetics several times but I really did not know what it is all about. Now, I have come to know that it deals with the study of how we put value on things or objects. It has a great deal to do with the philosophical examination of our perception by means of senses. True enough, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” We, human beings are the ones who put meaning on what we see. We define objects based on how we view them. Particularly, aesthetics is concerned with our experiences of art & natural beauty. When we put pleasure in an object or become interested in that certain object, we are said to have an aesthetic attitude & our experience is called an aesthetic experience.

I have learned from my further readings that one of the central questions aesthetics asks & seeks to answer, either directly or indirectly is “why art itself is valuable?” It was stated that art is valuable because art is beautiful. Why, then, is beauty valuable? I think the answer comes out if we will place our appreciation of beauty in a larger sense, and that is through putting an aesthetic meaning to it. So what now is aesthetically beautiful or pleasing? Just as I believe that I hold the meaning of beauty in my own eyes, I also believe that I am capable of determining what is aesthetically pleasing for me.

However, what is aesthetically pleasing for me may not be aesthetically pleasing for others, which shows that beauty is subjective. I believe that beauty is indeed subjective. It is evident in our day to day lives. We tend to dislike those who widely departs with our own taste. Even in small groups where people are educated under the same environment, differences of tastes can still be seen. It is apparent because in my own circle of friends, even though I and my friends share some same experiences, we still find differences in our tastes of things.

The fact that people have different tastes in objects even though they come from the same environment implies that beauty is really subjective. It is true that no matter how close we are with our friends, we still view things differently. This is to say that TASTE is also relative just like BEAUTY & SUBLIMITY. What’s pleasing for me may not be pleasing to others or vice versa just as what’s beautiful & sublime to me may not be beautiful & sublime to others too, or vice versa.

The idea of a “standard taste” is just all in the mind. That is what we see now in our society that is why we tend to follow it. Well in truth, in the end, we actually stick to whatever we like or whatever that makes us comfortable. However, those things that make us comfortable may not be our unique individual taste. To quote what my professor commented before about my idea on this, “yes Rea I think ultimately we are left to ourselves to individually answer the question of what beautiful and/or sublime is,” and “but usually, Rea, we also follow the standard other people and ourselves set. So what we think is beautiful may not really be just our individual taste,”

Even though I do not always follow trends even though the whole world is already engaged into that trend, I am still fascinated with the new things the world offers. I always have a fascination with new things that technology offers and so I find them aesthetically pleasing. I am fascinated by how innovative objects work, not just their physical forms but also by the impact they bring to the people. When I see a new gadget being marketed, I easily develop fascination to it to the point that I think of it all the time, which implies that it really is aesthetically pleasing for me. But it is not always the apparently wonderful things that please me.

I was used to thinking that something great & splendid or grand & transcendental is something totally positive. Burke’s Sublime & Beautiful taught me another idea. I have looked deeply on the different forms of sublimity through his article. When an object astonishes us, we are brought to a point where our minds are focused to that particular object alone and no other things can make our attention depart from that object. Astonishment, then, is the result of sublimity in its highest degree.

The idea that sublimity equaled some degree of horror seems strange to me at first. Now, I have found myself nodding in agreement with this idea. Sublimity is not just on things that we consider as positively breathtaking. The sublime can also be seen on objects of terror regardless of its size. Similarly, obscurity also equals sublimity. Humans are usually terrified of the unknown. Objects, then, are considered sublime when they appear dreadful to people in a sense that they do not exactly know or understand what those objects are.

It is truly fascinating to know that even the vastness of the ocean, the privation, strength & power of several objects and the fact that there are certain things that are infinite, define sublimity. Just as stated earlier, sublime is just a mere word that I encounter in some days of my life. Interestingly, there is something really deeper than that.

I found it aesthetically pleasing if I see objects that take my breath away and consume my time and attention. During my first trip to Baguio way back in 2001, I had seen several splendid views from the window of the bus I was riding. I saw several Pine Trees from the distance, I saw the heavy fogs resting on the mountaintops, I saw houses on top of the cliffs; I had experienced nature within me. Right there and then, I was breathtakingly amazed by the beauty of what I saw around me. When I got off the bus, I was even more amazed. I was able to visit several landmarks and scenic sites and I can still remember now how I became ecstatic upon experiencing the presence of Baguio City. The fact that I had a taken the Kennon Road in going to Baguio made me even more astonished because I only see that road before in photographs. My experience in Baguio alone are those that I considered aesthetically pleasing. I just did not see Baguio as a place or as the Summer Capital of the country, I also had an inner experience when I was there, seeing the scenic sites I only see in photographs before. It is of no doubt that my experience there is aesthetically pleasing, because until now, six years had already passed yet the memories of my inner experience in Baguio is still fresh in my mind. I am still in awe whenever I think of everything I had seen there.

Because I had already realized that astonishment does not necessarily mean admiration of wonderful things we see, I had considered unknown objects as aesthetically pleasing. People always have this fear of the unknown. As for me, it gives a feeling of aesthetic pleasure. Unknown objects are apparently obscure and true enough, they excite my passion for things. It seems to me that the more unclear the object is, the more it brings certain grandness.

The fact that I myself usually cannot explain why I find something beautiful makes that something aesthetically pleasing for me. My pure intuition tells me that I have found something beautiful before I even realized the importance of the object. True enough, when we are astounded by something and we see it for the first time, our feeling is UNEXPLAINABLE. My judgment falls on my inner experience with the object and it is prior to my desire of that object. When I see an object that gives or brings me happiness even without actually knowing what that object is, I can say that the object is aesthetically pleasing.

In my aesthetics class, we were made to see some paintings specifically that of Araceli Dans in her coffee table book and we were asked to stop on the page of the painting that caught our attention. We were told not to look at other pages anymore if we would already see the painting that caught our attention. When I browse through the pages of the book, after several flipping of the pages, a light-blue colored page caught my attention. The title of the painting is Blue Symphony. The moment my eyes caught a sight of it, I knew it was the one I really liked. My eyes rested for some more minutes on the painting. I did not understand what that painting meant but I had liked it because its color had attracted me. It brought a certain degree tranquility within me. After the first view of the painting we liked, we were made to look at it for the second time after a few hours. When I looked at it for the second time, I still felt the tranquility I had felt when I first saw it, only less. I had carefully examined the forms, shapes, lines, texture, and every element of the painting. I had broken down its parts and realize its value. The experience of this activity is another thing that I consider as aesthetically pleasing. The first time I saw the painting, I was already astonished by its grandness, leaving me in total awe. I had no desire of the painting before I saw it, which means that it was my pure intuition that brought me the pleasure from the looking at painting.

The painting of Araceli Dans has let me experience a spark in me. It is aesthetically pleasing for me because it has elicited something from me; I was able to experience things while looking at it such as the experience of feeling tranquility. I have read that when a painting brings a spark in you when you look at it, you are having an aesthetic emotion.

I also had another experience where really brought me aesthetic pleasure. In my Filipino 21 class (Philippine Folklore), we had a trip to a mini-museum where several Maranao artifacts are kept. The artifacts are collections of Architect Racho. The moment we entered the gate, I had already seen tabo or those large vase-shaped drums used by Maranaos. I was immediately fascinated with the large drums because if its antique nature. When we continued walking, we saw different Maranao artifacts which have different designs of wood carvings. The carvings of the woodwork were totally amazing. I have never seen anything like those before. Upon entering inside the house, we saw more Maranao artifacts, which ranged from large to small drums, betelnut boxes, Maranao instruments and even Sarimanok. Every single artifact inside that house is carved with intricate designs and motifs. I was in awe when I saw them, wondering how Maranaos are able to carve those tiny wonderful designs on their gadgets.

I have considered the Maranao artifacts as aesthetically pleasing because of the intricate designs of their woodworks and brass dish wares. The Maranao artifacts alone created an aesthetic emotion in me because of my admiration of their culture as seen on the things that they are using. The artifacts are suggestive of the Maranao culture so through looking at each artifact and examining the intricate designs carved on it, I also feel the a dose of their culture which is an extraordinary experience.

It is apparent now that anything that gives me an aesthetic emotion is aesthetically pleasing. Jumping off from the Maranao artifacts, I also see movies o films to be aesthetically pleasing – not all of them though. The very best examples of movies where I experience aesthetic pleasure are the STARWARS Episodes and the movie Titanic.

I have seen all six episodes of Starwars and I can really say that it had brought me the beauty of a real artwork, a masterpiece. Starwars never failed to bring me into an ecstatic sensation, feeling both the thrill, suspense, action and romance in its six episodes. The movie series is truly a work of art. The actors and actresses (Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen) of the movies had created STARS in them. Christensen’s character as Anakin Skywalker has been known almost to all, McGreogor’s character as Obi Wan Kenobi has been played very well, not to mention the very exceptional character of Portman as Padme. Starwars is truly a transcendental fiction that brought me inside the big screen. Every question that I had raised from the beginning of the movies was answered by its succeeding scenes and episodes.

Titanic, on the other hand, is in itself truly titanic. There is no doubt to it for that movie has gained several awards including its screen performers. The impact of Titanic to me was really gigantic and just like what I felt with Starwars, it had brought an aesthetic emotion.

Along with the movies are the pictorial representation of the scenes. These scenes are like moving photographs. A photograph aesthetically pleases me if it looks so real to the extent that one might think it is unreal, and if it brings me the truth that I was once in. Sometimes, art deceives us in a sense that it takes the truth away from us. I have learned that from Plato. I can say that photographs are imitations of reality because they let us experience again the reality we once have been. A photograph is a record of the past and that in itself makes it beautiful. It brings to us once the again the beauty that we had experienced before. The beauty alone of the memory that the photograph brings provides a kind of truth that we know because we had already experienced it.

After everything that I have learned while studying aesthetics, I have come up with my own definitions of what is aesthetically pleasing for me. To conclude, what are aesthetically pleasing for me are those objects that let me experience a touch of reality, those which gives me aesthetic emotions that whenever I look at them, I feel a certain spark and intensity, those things that continue to still have a great impact to me even after a long time had already passed, and those that bridges my communication and inner experience with other human beings.

However, I still respect whatever opinion others may have about what is really aesthetically pleasing. This is what I think of, this is what I believed in, and this is I who speak here.

Jeffrey Jeturian’s Kubrador – A Film Analysis

    I do not appreciate independent films that much before, until I reached college when I have been fed by several independent films in many of my classes. A friend of mine told me that it is in independent films that I will truly see what art means. I did not give it a second thought, so now I will see what I can say about Jeffrey Jeturian’s Kubrador.

    I believe it is just enough to say what Kubrador is all about before starting my analysis. KubradorGina Parreno as Amelita or Amy who plays the jueteng kubrador (bet collector). Amy makes her living off of an illegal numbers game named jueteng. Even though the police do their best to end the jueteng, the public still continues to play, and Amy makes her regualar rounds on a daily basis. Her children grown and her husband, Eli, the owner of a small variety store, Amy decides to take a break from her regular routine and visit the grave of her soldier son on All Saints’ Day. When she is arrested and jailed during a kubrador sweep by the local police, she must sit in jail until her handler arrives to bail her out. Subsequently returning to the streets to earn her keep the only way she knows how, Amy is approached by a parish priest whose young neighbor has recently been killed in a tragic accident. Upon being asked to collect donations from the victim’s neighbors and friends, Amy suddenly finds her life transformed into a deadly game of chance. (The Bet Collector) stars

    The different factors that need to be considered in this film analysis will be based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Noel Carroll’s The Power of Movies, Laura Mulvey’s Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look, Alexander Sesonsky’s Space, Time and Motion and Stanley Cavell’s Audience, Actor and Star.

    Plato’s Allegory of the Cave has many interpretations. I agree best with the interpretation that it is an analogy to the way we experience film and that it conveys the impression of being in the grip of a movie’s power. When we are watching a film, we tend to be so engrossed in the film to the extent of feeling that we are also a part of that film, that our reality has been diverted to the film we are watching and that we are also experiencing what the stars of the film are experiencing. Well, I think that is something of an indication that the film is really well-made. Looking at this as a basis of analyzing Kubrador, I think it satisfied me as a viewer because I did get engrossed with the film. The plot of the film reveals how hard life in the Philippines is. I do not have much idea about how jueteng works in the Philippines that’s why I also do not have any idea about the film at first. I was revealed to the truth when I was able to watch it.

    Movies, I think, really do have powers. As what Carroll’s essay suggests, films possess a general accessibility that is quite different from the way the information is accessed. The reason for this is the pictorial representation that he argues in his essay. In his essay, he compared the accessibility and intensity of movies with other media and genres such as drama, ballet, opera and other stage plays or theatrical productions. Both movies and theatrical productions have several same devices for directing the audience’s attention. But movies appear to have more effective devices for directing attention than the theater does. Variable framing is one thing that proves to be a reliable means of directing the audience’s attention. It is important to be used in movies since it directs the audience to look at the things that they need to look at. Variable framing includes the cutting and camera movements of the film.

    Variable framing is achieved by moving the camera closer or farther away from the objects being filmed. When we watch a movie, our eyes constantly track the action and this work is done by shifting camera positions. In the movie Kubrador, I had noticed several shifting of camera positions. Not considering the plot yet, the variable framing had directed me towards the things that I should be seeing during the scenes. To be more specific with this mechanical means of framing, three important devices are considered for directing the audience’s attention. These are the indexing, bracketing and scaling. The scene in Kubrador that best shows the motion of indexing is the one where Amy walks along the narrow alleys while she counts the money she gets from collecting jueteng bets. That scene is a long-timed scene which shows the motion of the camera following the object which is Amy. As I was following that scene, I felt a dizzy feeling because of the rapid movement of Amy walking along the narrow alleys. At first, she walks slowly while she counts the money, sometimes her back facing me, other times a half-body shot of hers facing me; the camera movement there starts to be rapid but is not so apparent. During the later part of that scene, Amy gets lost in the narrow alleys. It is during that moment that the motion of the camera apparently becomes more rapid. There is a slight mode of cutting in that scene when Amy already realizes that she is already lost. I noticed the cutting of frames when the movement shifted from medium-range views of the alleys to close views to far-off views with the crossing of the space being cut out. Another part of the indexing in that scene is when Amy’s son appeared from a space somewhere in the alley. The movement of the camera is cut to cut in order to show the appearance of Amy’s son. During that moment, the movement seems to be following the path taken by the son. Amy is subsequently shown to be following the path of her son too and later on, she successfully finds the way out of the narrow alleys. The rapid movement of the camera on that scene shows the confusion that Amy experiences when she realizes that she is already lost. The scene startled me for some minutes because I felt myself being in that frame I was watching. I also felt confused, like what Amy seems to experience that time, because of the cutting movements as well as of the rapid movements. I had followed the movements as quickly as they have appeared before my eyes. I was even almost holding my breath until Amy has found her way out. The mechanical technique done during that scene is made in order for the viewers to be really looking in the direction the camera is moving. It is effective in a way that the movements during that scene created a sensation that brings the audience towards the reality of the film.

    I have mentioned so much about cutting in the alley scene I am trying to describe. Carroll has stated that the second device, which is bracketing involves moving the camera toward an object by cutting or camera movement. I have mentioned the cutting movements above because I am trying to describe how rapid the movement happens together with the motion pointing to the object. The scene I have mentioned above also falls under bracketing. This device has been defined by Carroll as an indication that says that what is important at a certain moment is only what is seen in the screen. Everything that is not inside the frame should not be attended to. The scene where Amy walks along the narrow alleys has focused on her as the object. One can hear the noisy background but Amy is the only one who is focused during that moment. It signifies that only Amy should be given the attention. Another scene that I think made use of bracketing is the scene where Amy lies down on her bed because she is sick. At that moment, only Amy on her bed is seen in the frame. It signifies that what is important that moment is Amy and not anything outside the screen. The movement of the camera then goes toward the image of her son just beside the bed. Later on, the scene has turned into Amy lying on her bed while her son massaging her aching head. The once Amy-focused frame is then turned into a frame where Amy and her son were focused. During that moment, only the two of them is seen in the frame. The bracketing in the film is used in order to control the audience’s attention.

    The third device in variable framing is the scaling. Changing the scale of the objects through camera positioning also heightens the direction of attention of the viewers to the important part of the scenes in a film. In the film Kubrador, some of the scenes that used scaling are those that also used indexing and bracketing. As Carroll said, as the camera is being moved forward, it does not only index and place brackets around the objects in front of it, it also changes its scale. But I think that scaling works more effectively for the minute or tiny details of the scenes. For instance, enlarging the screen size of an object will signify its importance. At that instant, the object is also indexed and bracketed. In the film, the scene that displays the jueteng people at work shows a lot of scaling. The place looks busy from the viewer’s point of view, my point of view. Some are listing the numbers bet, some are counting money while others are writing something I could not actually comprehend. It is the general frame of the scene. Moments later, the camera moves towards the direction of the tables, the faces of the people working are not that visible anymore. The objects that I could not quite comprehend at first became clear to me. The screen sizes of the objects are scaled. I could then already make out the pieces of papers in the tables, they were sort of receipts or form of agreements for the money to be released. Some other papers shows tallies and listing of several numbers, probably that of the bets from the people. Scaling in that scene directed my attention to things that appeared unclear before my eyes when I first saw it. There is also a scene that shows the place where the money from jueteng is kept; it is where people will get hold of the money they had won. The table where the person who releases the money sits has several objects on it. There are lots of papers and other paraphernalia. But it is only when the camera neared the bundles of money that I have noticed them in the far end side of the table. Scaling has worked its way towards stressing the importance of money in that scene, or in the film for that matter.

With regard to what Carroll is saying about mechanical means of variable framing in his essay, I assert that the film has effectively used the three formal devices. Every movie, I think, sure uses these three devices and in the film Kubrador, it has never failed to direct the attention of the viewers towards the series of pictures because of the use of the three devices.

Pictorial representation and variable framing are powerful tools in making good movies. However, Carroll said that these things are just restricted to what he called cinematic features. These features help account for movies’ power. Aside from this mechanical means, there is another defining feature that makes movies powerful, and that is because of the fact that movies are fictional narratives. Fictional narratives suggest that movies are depictions of human actions and these narratives are the most usual way of explaining human actions. Stories of films show a sequence of scenes or events, others appear earlier while others appear later. Like all the other films, scenes and events should be connected, and it takes, I think, a brilliant mind to establish a good way of connecting the string of scenes and events in a film story. Earlier scenes form questions to the mind of the viewers and as the story of the film unfolds, answers to these questions are revealed. This question and answer model of movie narration is called by Carroll as the erotetic model of narrative. Judging the plot of the film, I was not really that amazed, in a sense that the film has no apparent and cohesive plot. It just shows the chronicles of the daily life of Amy, the bet collector. It shows how she collects bets from people from time to time not minding if she will be caught by the police or not. However, I appreciate the film’s simple but deep message for the people, and this message has been developed well as the story goes on. The very first scene in the film is a raid where the usher is caught. At that point, in my mind, the question already arises about what the effect of the raid will be to the bet collectors. When Amy is caught by the police, the question of what the punishment for Amy also arises in my mind. At that moment, when I already found out that Amy has not been punished because the police turned out to be betting for jueteng too, the question of whether Amy will still continue being a bet collector or she will stop it occurred in my mind. The succeeding events revealed to me that Amy still continued to be a bet collector despite the fact that she already has a record in jail. The following events in the story of the film have answered my questions during the earlier part. As the story unfolds, I found answer to each of my questions. And every answer I received generated another question. It is only in the last part of the story or the ending where I did not quite understand the relationship of those scenes to earlier scenes. The ending is not an answer to any of my questions. I think it is a question in itself, which remains to be answered by the viewers. If that is the case, is the purpose of the erotetic narrative in this film completely portrayed? I do not think so, because Carroll said that a successful erotetic narrative literally tells the viewers everything that they want to know about the action being depicted.

Jumping off from the mechanical means of controlling audience’s attention, I now move into a deeper and more meaningful message conveyed in films. Laura Mulvey’s Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look suggests world of sexual imbalance where the pleasure of looking has been divided into active (male) and passive (female). Mulvey is saying that women’s appearance is of strong visual and erotic impact; a woman plays to and signifies male desire. Hence, the presence of a woman is an essential element of spectacle in normal narrative film. With this, woman displayed has been said to function in two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium.

In Kubrador, apparently, the only dominating female figure in the film is that of Gina Parreno or Amy. It is also apparent that Amy is definitely not the female figure that most audience will consider to gaze at. The image of Amy in the film is in contrast to what Mulvey says as the woman who is the object of pleasure of most audience especially the males. Amy does not have the image of a glamorous woman or any ideal or perfect image of a woman that produces a sexual impact to the males. Her image also does not put females into illusions of being like her. Thus, her character and image are neither those of erotic objects of male gaze nor the subjects of illusions of female gaze.

As what is written in Mulvey’s essay, a film will be more successful and effective to the spectators if it portrays a woman who exudes the needed glamour for her to pass as an object of desire; females are said to be more desirable so they are the ones used to be subject of the spectator’s gaze. I agree with the fact that the films conveying a scopophilic instinct or pleasure in looking at another person as an erotic object is an illusionistic narrative of film. These films are those that have a mode of representation of woman which is concerned with the look. In Kubrador, I do not see any spark of eroticism. Amy proves not to be of erotic nature either and definitely not someone displayed for males’ enjoyment or fantasy, that even when she had removed her shirt to change it, there had been no any amount of eroticism that had arose. I affirm that the movie Kubrador has still served its purpose even without showing a heterosexual mode of representation. I think it has also been influenced by the fact that the plot of the film just revolves around the life of Amy as a bet collector and nothing more. But this is where I have come to think that a film does not necessarily need to have a female figure that is the object of the spectators’ pleasure and gaze. As an independent film, Kubrador has shown the image of a woman as someone who is not an object of erotic pleasure but a woman whose life mirrors the real events that happen behind the jueteng payola. The strength of the movie is seen not based on an illusionistic narrative. Its strength lies on the image shown by Amy, as someone who shows how hard life in the Philippines is. Her image projected the things seen in reality which include the fight to stop jueteng.

Kubrador does not show any dominant male figure in its story. Although the film has been showing the appearance of Amy’s son, I believe it cannot possibly imply eroticism. The appearance of the son in the film though is I think what Mulvey is saying as man being the representative of power. This is because the son has been looking over his mother’s situation. The fact alone that the son is already dead, but still continues to be on guard of his mother shows the idea of male power. The spectators, by means of identifying with the male figure which is the son, can indirectly have or feel power over the female figure too, setting aside eroticism. The main similarity of Mulvey’s idea with Kubrador is the experience of the female and male figure. The female figure described by Mulvey, after having been the object of pleasure, tends to become a possession of the male which shows that the woman is weak and unable to resist the power of male over her. In Kubrador, Amy is shown to be a fighter and a strong woman who continues her illegal ways just to live, yet she is still seen as a weak figure because with her illegal ways, she too becomes a possession of the dangers of her own ways.

Alexander Sesonsky’s concept of time, space and motion is another consideration in judging how good a movie is. I have already mentioned a lot about space and motion in the earlier parts of this analysis so I would now like to talk about the concept of time in Kubrador. Time, according to Sesonsky, involves the past, present and future of a movie in its dramatic time. For the viewing time, if course, viewers can experience all these things together. In the movie, Amy’s dead son has from time to time being shown. His appearances did not work well to me because I felt that the appearance is more of a comedy rather than a drama. I suppose it is a manifestation of a past (Amy’s son being dead already), which is placed in the present time (Amy’s time). The idea of putting the past and the present together in that way does not fascinate me except if the movie is really a comedy, or a horror.

Lastly, like what Cavell said, I like more the idea that the screen performers be called stars rather than actors or actresses. The STAR in the movie is apparently Gina Parreno, and because she had played her role as a bet collector very well, it had created a star in her. Cavell said that successful screen performances are those that create stars. Parreno, being an accomplished actress, has again put herself to fame because of her exceptional and adept acting.

 

 

 

Early Morning at Moraine Lake

There are three contexts to be considered when taking a photograph and these are the internal context, external context, and the original context.

INTERNAL CONTEXT

The title of the photograph is Early Morning at Moraine Lake. It was taken by Oscar Gutierrez. There was no date posted there but it was last updated in the gallery yesterday, Sept. 22. The title of the photo suggests the whole idea of the image. From the title, you will know that it was taken early morning at Moraine Lake. True enough, the text that surrounds the photo influences what you think about it. If there was no title written on top of the photo, I couldn’t have guessed that it was taken early morning and that it was actually Moraine Lake.

EXTERNAL CONTEXT

This suggests the representational environment of the photo. I found this photograph at yahoo online photo galleries. There were many photos in that photo gallery but this photo was the one I liked best. The photographer has his explanation below the photograph but I had carefully distanced myself so as not to be influenced by his own comments.

ORIGINAL CONTEXT

The photographer had related how he had taken the photograph. He purchased a leveling head for his tripod so that he could take more panoramics; but, unfortunately the airlines lost his luggage with his tripod. He knew that the photo would make a great pano so he just hand-held the camera and panned across as he took a series of shots. I think he made a good alternative by just holding and panning the camera because it let him took the many views of fhe lake.

COLOR

There are some comments written by the author about the color of this photo. He said that the picture reflects the true color of the glacial lakes. Unfortunately, I was not there with him when he took the photo, so apparently, I did not know what the true color of the glacial lakes were. Judging by the capacity of my eyes, I can say that the water in the lake has successfully taken the color of the sky and it is evident in the photo. The color of the water is a clear blue one. I found it a very good photograph since it is so real in a sense that you wouldn’t believe it is actually real. The mountains that surround it also have amazing colors. Some parts of the mountains were light yellow that suggests how the sun rested on it. Other parts were dark yellow because of the shadows that rested on it. That is how I look to it now but we never know how it actually looks like if we have the real photo on our hands. In my part, I believe the photo is effective in showing the real view of the lake.

TEXTURE

The texture of the photo is pretty much like that of the wonderful paintings of nature I see. The way the photo was taken might have helped much on creating its texture. He hand-held the camera and panned it across as he took series of shots. The trees were perfectly taken around the lake as well as the mountains that surround it.

SHAPE

The object that takes the whole photo is the water of the lake. It shaped like a triangle in the photo because it followed the position of the mountains that surround it. The shape of the photo made it look real from my point of view. It is also effective in showing the real image of the lake.

kubLai Millan vis a vis Ernst Gombrich :)

the SEED…

One of Kublai’s sculptures in Kanluran is the SEED. I don’t know exactly why they call it that way. Anyway, what matter’s is how this sculpture illustrated the ideas of Ernst Gombrich.

When I surfed the internet for other sculptures made by Kublai, I found out that he has established something that is “tatak Kublai.” His sculptures have this trace of Mindanao culture in them. It is evident from how he made the large durian sculpture at the Davao airport and the giant, partly open clam shell with a family of eagles looking out at the viewer through the opening which is situated at Ponce Suites still in Davao.

Like his other sculptures, he made the SEED as something larger than life or life-size. I think this is what Gombrich meant when he was speaking about the artist’s style. It might be that Kublai wanted his sculptures to be life-sized so that they would look more energetic or appealing to the viewers. Kublai had already established his own style in making his sculptures.

The SEED apparently is not a faithful record of a person or of a place. This is what Gombrich meant when he said that “an artwork is not a faithful record of the truth but is a faithful record of the construction of the subject matter.” Kublai’s construction of the SEED reflects his purpose to give a more energetic, appealing and elegant view for the viewers. Style still rules even if the artist wants to reproduce nature truthfully.

After finishing Fine Arts, Kublai decided to devote his time in Mindanao where he grew up. He wanted to bring back to life the culture that has molded his soul. As what Gombrich said, “there is no seeing which is purely innocent & unaffected by the artist’s personal history, interests & visual vocabulary. ” Kublai’s selective preferences may be one of the reasons why he makes his sculptures “larger than life” with a touch of Mindanao culture.

One of the limits stated by Gombrich is that the “artist will be attracted by motifs which can be rendered in his idiom.” Kublai’s SEED is somehow taken from the certain aspects in the scene around him – a scene portraying Mindanao as a place rich with natural resources.

Lastly, “where there’s a way is there also a will.” Kublai’s purpose of making a certain “spark” for the people of Mindanao and to inspire young artists to love their craft is a clear manifestation that he enriches the ways and means his culture offers him. He sees a lot in his culture that’s why he continues to nurture what he can do to preserve it for the younger generations.

spiraLs…

The image won’t come out so I just pasted the URL here.

http://cat-sidh.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-344

This painting is entitled SPIRALS by Cat Sidh and the medium used was oil in canvas. The painting caught my attention because of the variety of lines it has. There are curves and spirals. I can barely see straight lines; everything in it seems to be so dynamic. The lines are leading to different directions. When I first took a look at it, I couldn’t quite know what to think about it. I couldn’t understand it but I like the way it was rendered. The dominant color is light red.

Plato’s idea that art takes us away from reality is true in some cases. I think it is in the sense that what we see in a painting is not actually the reality but the imitation of reality. However, a painting can also drive us towards reality when we relate our personal experiences through it.

In this abstract painting, it makes me think of a journey – my journey in particular. The lines and curves depict roads for me and make me feel like I have been travelling through them. The different colors in the painting suggest the different experiences that I have been through and I will still be going through in my life’s journey. The different directions of the lines make me feel that I can be in different places too.

Somehow, through art, reality is distorted.  I think it is impossible to have an exact copy of something because the way a painter paints also depends on his perception of the things he paint.

Like what I said, art can either take us away from reality or drive us towards reality through our experience.

subLime & beautiful…

I was used to thinking that something great & splendid or grand & transcendental is something totally positive. Burke’s Sublime & Beautiful taught me another idea. I have looked deeply on the different forms of sublimity through his article. When an object astonishes us, we are brought to a point where our minds are focused to that particular object alone and no other things can make our attention depart from that object. Astonishment, then, is the result of sublimity in its highest degree.

The idea that sublimity equaled some degree of horror seems strange to me at first. Now, I have found myself nodding in agreement with this idea. Sublimity is not just on things that we consider as positively breathtaking. The sublime can also be seen on objects of terror regardless of its size. Similarly, obscurity also equals sublimity. Humans are usually terrified of the unknown. Objects, then, are considered sublime when they appear dreadful to people in a sense that they do not exactly know or understand what those objects are.

It is truly fascinating to know that even the vastness of the ocean, the privation, strength & power of several objects and the fact that there are certain things that are infinite define sublimity. Just as stated earlier, sublime is just a mere word that I encounter in some days of my life. Interestingly, there is something really deeper than that.

a gLimpse of aesthetics…

COMA110- The course began with a sort-of essay quiz that asked to define BEAUTY. The moment the question was asked, tons & tons of definitions of beauty popped out my mind. That was when I realized that it is way too hard to give an exact definition of beauty. Well, I think you do not need to complicate its meaning. For me, beauty is not skin-deep. It is not seen on the surface alone but on what is beneath that surface. Nevertheless, aesthetics teaches me more than that.

I had encountered the word aesthetics several times but I really did not know what it is all about. Just lately, I have come to know that it deals with the study of how we put value on things or objects. It has a great deal to do with the philosophical examination of our perception by means of senses. True enough, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” We, human beings are the ones who put meaning on what we see. We define objects based on how we view them. Particularly, aesthetics is concerned with our experiences of art & natural beauty. When we put pleasure in an object or become interested in that certain object, we are said to have an aesthetic attitude & our experience is called an aesthetic experience.

One of the best things that I have learned so far about aesthetics is in the form of a question- is beauty inherent in the object or just in the eyes of a person? If beauty then is just in the eyes of a person, we can actually learn it. But how? I guess that is something I still need to find out as we go on with this course.

Since I am usually fascinated with interesting questions, I’d like to leave this thought too. I have learned in my further readings that one of the central questions aesthetics asks & seeks to answer, either directly or indirectly is “why art itself is valuable?” It was stated that art is valuable because art is beautiful. Why, then, is beauty valuable? I do not quite know why it is. Maybe that is also something I need to learn about.