Use of Cinema in Museums

For readings this week we were assigned to read an article posted on Blackboard. This article discussed the importance of video art in museums and how informative it can be. I am not sure if I have ever seen video art in a museum, I have watched informative videos at history museums, or documentary type videos in museums but I'm not sure if that is what this article was talking about. I do enjoy cinema technology in museums however, I feel like they are easy and informative ways to learn about many different sorts of things.

In Hawaii I went to a marine and wildlife museum and I got to watch interesting documentaries about whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals. Video art is a very affective way of getting information across to a wide array of audiences. I feel like emotion is easily expressed and shared through the cinema and can touch people the easiest. I think that I might be affected easiest by the cinema. I get emotional sometimes when i'm in the right mood and when I hear an amazing song, or even when i see an amazing dance or musical. However I can cry easily in movies no matter what mood i'm in because movies put their audiences into the right mood. I can get into movies really easily so i get emotional in movies very easily. I am very greatfull that movies evolved into what they are today. They are such a fun pass time and I feel like my life is enriched from many of the movies I've seen throughout my life.

BYU Dancesport

I have never attended BYU's Dance Sport competition before, but I really enjoyed watching it. I took my fiance to watch it and we both had a lot of fun watching all the couples spin around on the floor. I really enjoy watching ballroom dancing! It is so interesting that each dance has a specific style and set of moves that are important. I felt like I did not know enough about the different types of dances to be able to be a very informed judge, however we were able to pick out favorites in each group. It was really neat to see how popular the sport of ballroom dancing is. There were so many competitors there! I would never imagine that so many guys were involved in ballroom dancing, but there were tons of guys there and they would all get so into the dance! I tend to watch the guys because I feel like I can tell how they are doing a lot easier than I can tell how the girl is doing. The man in a ballroom dance is supposed to be masculine, he is expected to the support the woman and always lead her in the right direction. I feel like their job is to make the girls look good and support them whenever it is necessary. There were definitely some guys who were better than others. I could tell that some of them were really trying hard to play that masculine role, however, some of them could just not pull it off. And others were so believable and strong out on the dance floor. The best part was watching the guys faces, like I said before, some of the guys were so believable and others just looked kind of funny. But the girls are always so beautiful! They are all in pretty outfits and have their hair done up with pretty make up on. It is impressive to watch a really good couple interact with each other. They know their steps so well and know how to move with each other to make their dance look beautiful.

The music in ballroom dance is also really fun! I watch So You Think You Can Dance and there is always really exciting and strong music playing for dances like the Tango. But there are also a lot of possibilities for the music, there are many contemporary songs out that can be danced to as well. I think it is really impressive when choreographers use newer songs to dance too because I think people can relate to the dance a lot more.

Week 7 in Class

This week in class we talked about Cinema. I was very surprised at how much goes into making a movie. I honestly didn't think there would be so much that went into it! The parts I loved talking about most were the different types of camera angles. Its really fascinating to me that every shot in a movie is chosen for a specific reason. I especially like that we got to watch different examples of the camera shots, and analyze them. My favorite was movie clip we watched was the one from the Life of Brian. I liked analyzing the camera angles but I also liked it because it was really funny! I feel like learning these different things about cinema are the most useful things we have learned in this class. Probably because I probably watch at least 2 or 3 movies a week, so I can use the information I use often. I have always loved to analyze movies and their deeper meanings. One of my favorite movies ever is Hook. I love that movie because when I was younger I watched it because I thought it was cool and a good movie, but now that I'm older I continue to find things in it that I never noticed before, or that mean something different to me now then it did when I was little.

The other thing that I liked about this week was when we got to watch the first movies that were made. The Great Train Robbery was really interesting. I loved to watch the special effects, like when they would punch each other, but if you watched closely they wouldn't even get near each other. And the best part was when one of the robbers beat up one of the train conductors and through him off of the train, but it was just a limp doll! haha I really liked that part. The other movie that was neat was A Trip to the Moon. That one had really good special affects as well! But honestly, the first movies were really impressive, especially because no one had ever done or seen anything like them. It was weird to hear that when the movies first came out people were scared of them, and that people got so scared when the bandit shoots into the audience at the end of The Great Train Robbery. But then I guess if I had never seen a movie before I would be a little freaked out by it as well!