Visual Arts & Film Studies Essays

"Pianist" is the story of Golabek's mother, Holocaust and London Blitz survivor Lisa Jura - like her daughter, an accomplished concert pianist - which Golabek first told in her book "The Children of Willesden Lane". It begins in 1938 as mentioned earlier in Vienna, with the talented 14-year-old piano student's family in the tightening noose of Hitler's anti-Jewish laws in Austria.

Bearing in mind the important role that art plays in the global social-cultural theory, the study of contemporary art theory and criticism is invaluable for one to carry out art research. It provides insight into the role or artist during their own time and as well as comparisons between them contemporary artists.

As such, blacks have not at all been valued as wholly equal to the Americans for they are considered lesser beings. Stereotypes of African American as unintelligent, indolent, silly, obedient, gutless, reckless, childish, aggressive, sub-human, and beast-like, are widespread in the current’s community.

The plot follows the love story of the two lead characters Rick and IIsa and how their love could not survive because of the war. Destiny reunites them again but only so that Rick could help IIsa’s husband in making an escape from Casablanca and continue his war against the Nazi’s.

Various films have been marked worldwide hence grossing over fifty million dollars and winning academy awards. There is dire need for films and movies driven by story not budget within global market. Such expectations from the audience created unusual drive to bring suspenseful and beautiful thriller “American Beauty” film.

The author reviews the film Rambo (Part II) that revolves around the movie’s leading role - Rambo - who reprises his responsibility as Vietnam veteran. On screen, the depictions of war in these 1980s movies were indebted to previous depictions of the warfare that similarly raised the individual, witness understanding as the main aspect to understanding it.

It was the Normans who introduced the feudal system to Britain (Norton, 1829). And even before and after that, London has been a town of merchandise mainly (Norton, 1829). It was a city of banks as well (Michie and Williamson, 2004, p.12).

The nature of quality and the categories of ‘quality’ television. The idea of ‘quality’ television is almost an elusive concept that is defined and redefined through cultural shifts and changes. The initial discovery that must be made in discussing ‘quality’ television is in identifying why programs are made and how they are determined to be of value.

As the name suggests, this supposed genre has intellectual pretensions, and deals with issues which have more depth and meaning than the usual mainstream narrative films which are aimed at a wide audience and a large box office profit. “Smart Film” is also a genre which challenges traditional narrative structures and encourages a more layered reading of the plot lines, drawing the audience into the task of making meanings out of difficult, or contradictory events and propositions.

In 1999, the American Film Institute declared that Marlene Dietrich is the 9th greatest actress in American cinema of all time. This accolade is not without merit. From her stints in stage and silent films in her native Berlin during the 1920s, she was catapulted to stardom when she starred in the German film The Blue Angel.

In my research essay, what I have tried to explore is the validity of the distinction between art film and non-art film and my analysis points to a success formula which is a perfect blend of art traditions and classic Hollywood traditions in film making. I have scrutinized this aspect by text-reading the film, The goddess of 1967 to find out how much of art tradition goes into its make and how much classical Hollywood tradition.

This paper is being carried out to discuss various other key aspects such as the depiction of Afro-Caribbean people in the media, the issue of stereotypes, a brief overview of history of Britain and its association with the European Union and its impact on the cultural representation in the media etc.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was a highly influential architect in Rome. He was the most creative and brilliant Baroque sculptor whose art was rated as high as Michelangelo’s art. However, unlike Michelangelo who hardly revealed the essence of his art to people, Bernini was an enthusiastic teacher who communicated the essence of his art to his students and assistant.

The aim of the study is to explore the figure of Barbara Kruger. Her work is bold and harsh at the same time because she makes use of images from the past and juxtaposes them with text in exploring the power of imagery. Kruger proved to be a powerful force in having challenged the long established conventions and typecasts.

Artistic montage and the Soviet film montage movement enable the attainment of a transformed world, throwing in relief both disparity and unity in the science of filming. The Soviet montage movement (1924-1930) is a cinema period in which the practice of cutting and editing films to fit neatly in the film is popular.

Experiencing oppression and exploitation involves a confrontation by power imbalance and helplessness. This results in trauma, whether or not it is articulated. Significant or prolonged trauma causes increasing distortion in the experience and presentation of self.

It is essential to state that, the movies of the 60s and 70s have been appreciated more because of their film techniques and cinematography more than the actual plot. For the movie, The Girl Chewing Gum released in 1976 the director John Smith has brought into picture the narrative mode in filmmaking (Smith).

The buyer concedes, and goes on his way. This continues until a day when the buyer shows up, somehow enlightened: "I'm on to your scam! These aren't smartenin' pills - they're rabbit poop!" To this the seller delivers the punch line, "Ah! Now you're finally getting smarter! (Tudor, Jim)

Directed by Roland Emmerich, the director of The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, 2012 by Columbia Pictures is the best catastrophe movie presenting before. An eventual action-adventure and an ecstatic journey of human survival festooned with groundbreaking cinematography and heart-throbbing special effects.

Performances as a unique art of theatre require extensive actor training in order to acquire proficiency that can guarantee good role playing. The development of acting and theatre performances has been the basis of today’s mainstream media productions and theater performances.

This paper is aimed at providing a comparative study of two theaters of New York City - Public Theater and the Cherry Lane Theatre. This paper provides comparisons in terms of history of these two theaters, organizational structures and managerial positions of these two theaters, mission, vision, and strategies of these two theaters.

The aim of the study is to analyze modern art, postmodern art and discovers various of styles of art. Contemporary art was the term coined for art having been produced since the 1950s. Not all the art labeled as contemporary art is postmodern art as the term encompasses artists who worked within modernist and postmodern traditions.

Up until very recently, female action films have successfully featured actresses that pretty much acted like men. The first two Alien films saw Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, muscular, strong, no soft side character who carry and use big guns and swords as if they were wielding substitute penises.

Center of discussion in this paper is the movie ''Armagedon'' by Michael Bay that attracted considerable public attention for its spectacular visuals and all-star cast. Jerry Bruckheimer, famous for large-scale Hollywood blockbusters, was the film’s producer. The film itself is firmly entrenched in a growing genre of disaster films, including such genre defining productions as Independence Day and Deep Impact.

The plight of women can perhaps only be understood by other women. All women feel the same and want the same, to love and to be loved, to be protected and cared for. Through her paintings, Kahraman reaches out to women and represents them.

It is evident from the study that the concept of art and architecture has traditionally been associated with two different mediums based on the aesthetics and functionality of the pieces. Architecture implies a building or other area which is used for lifestyle needs or which is based on creating what is known as a spatial practice.

As for the film industry, more than 53 countries are producing and endorsing films all over the world. Where some are contending in the field of box office, others compete in the arena of foreign imports for their country. Films can be defined as stories that aim to define cultures of all kind (Sobol & Firmin, 2009).

Science and medicine today have progressed exponentially today. Practically we observe that there is no ailment which cannot get cured with the help of medicine, be it psychological or physical. Although today’s generation has a serious bend towards science and technology, the attraction towards unknown still holds true.

This research study demonstrates the different ways that Iranian cinema has contributed to the stabilization of the political structure in Iran. It will be argued that a common theme is the humanization of Iranians has had a significant destabilizing influence on the political structures in Iran and abroad and has helped to stabilize politic tensions at home and between Iran and the West.

Since films provide information both on a conscious and an unconscious level, Soviet cinema both before, during and after the revolution is a valuable source of raw evidence of the socio-political experiences of the Soviet Union in the period preceding the revolution, during the revolution and more especially after the revolution.

As tens and hundreds of thousands of Americans were losing their jobs during the early twentieth century, filmmaker Michael Moore shows President George W. Bush goofing and dancing around like a buffoon. This is the powerful image of capitalism’s negative features: the collusion between corporate America and the state, and the economic disparity between the rich and the poor, where the rich do not care what happens to the poor.

The term new-wave refers to a French movement in the 1950s and 1960s, a term coined by critics of the movement. The movement was also linked to a number of social and political changes of the era, these often being incorporated in the cinematography and direction of French new-wave. As a result, a number of the films that can be classified as part of the movement often change many of the elements that had previously been considered necessary for film-making (Neupert, 2007).

The Russian Avant-Garde Artists and the Mondrian Artists shared both similarities and differences in the world of art. Both forms of art were influenced by other forms that had emerged earlier including symbolism and impressionism. The Russian avant-garde artists pioneered the breaking off of traditional methods of painting.

The store discussed can be in the form of a temporary structure or a space that is not usually associated with retail. The venue and the event are not advertised, aiming the concept at the cool, those in the know. This format is aimed at creating a ‘limited edition’ type of retail atmosphere, as these stores open for a specific time, which can be interpreted as a scarcity strategy by retailers.

The concept of "Indigenismo" was one of the primary themes expressed in the Chicano Art of the 1960's and 1970's. What is this concept in relationship to the Chicano experience? Why was it so important to the early Chicano movement? Identify and describe a work of art that clearly illustrates the concept.

There were related subjects and important discoveries that I found, when I started my searches over various literature sources, from the virtual and print media, the internet, books, magazines, etc. In other words, there are many underlying topics on the subject of dance and what it can do to the development of the human psyche or spirit and the physical body as a whole.

The behavior and response of those who wear and observe people in the veil also depend upon the rituals and norms of the society in which the wearer is observed. Additionally, in the case of the veil, the media effect is even more intense than any other attire mainly because of its association with the religion Islam.

Rossetti’s later works (paintings) attracted criticism because most of those works rejected the normal physical characteristics of women models. Lucien L. Agosta opines, ‘On the canvas itself he began to depict women whose fleshly qualities, though immediately apparent, are balanced by the spiritual.’ This exaggeration can be considered as the artist’s conscious attempt to restructure the Victorian restrictions on women.

Advertising is the mode of persuasion, and its goal is to compel people to consume. Advertising’s arsenal is multi-faceted. It might be comprised entirely of semiotics, which means symbols and connotations for the symbols are the message. In semiotic advertising, there is an image or a text, and the importance is the association that people have with this image or text.

Today, it has become a profession and a skill, and we have dedicated film schools to teach the techniques of making quality films and connecting to the audience. However, what is commonly accepted as a fact that films or cinema belong to the art world is not such a simple concept in the art world itself, and there is an ongoing debate about its exact categorization (Prinz).

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in London, England on May 12, 1828, with the given name of Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti.  His mother was Frances Polidori and his father was Gabriel Rossetti who as a poet had a partiality towards the works of the poet Dante Alighieri that he gave his first son the same namesake. 

Female directors from the Chinese diaspora and Japan have historically laid down the anchor for voicing the issues women face in largely male-dominated societies. Countries such as Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India followed suit, with numerous women filmmakers casting light on the issues women fight to cement their foothold in a grossly patriarchal setup.

Introduction The horror genre has been an indisputably popular one for a very long time. Audiences get thrills from being scared. That said, horror films are much more than a means for delivering cheap thrills. They are also a reflection of society, in many ways.

The future threats and the defense against them would be, in the most likelihood, more technological and virtual than physical, and of a nature that few would have thought of or considered a serious threat. Many of these dangers still seem a work of science fiction films and novels, and the masses still refuse to accept them as viable and potent threats.

Perkins' films do not always portray whites as the oppressors and the Aborigines as the oppressed.  This certainly is an underlying theme in some of her films, including One Night the Moon (Aboriginal tracker is ignored by a white farmer, which leads to the death of the white farmer’s missing daughter) and Blood Brothers – Freedom Ride.

Consumption of goods and services has greatly increased throughout the decades, mainly attributed to the strategies applied by governments and large companies all over the world. In the 1950s, government, companies, including the mass media, have developed mechanisms for the social and economic order.

Salvador Dali made a name for himself in the 20th century in art. Salvador was born into a century when art was attaining a different meaning. In Europe, there was a vigorous definition of art by different artists. These artists formed cultural movements based on the most crucial beliefs about art.

Rossetti’s mistress Fanny Comforth sat as the model of the painting. Holman Hunt, Bocca Baciata is the pivotal shift of Rossetti’s departure from the austere theme of Pre-Raphaelite style to a “worldly and even voluptuous subjects that now employ highly decorative methods”.

Objectives The objectives of this paper are detailed below: 1. To discover the elements of landscape and wilderness in cinematic films such as Walkabout by Nicholas Roeg, Safe by Todd Haynes and The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert by Stephen Elliot among others.

Coloration, in works of art, not only gives photos attractive and visible looks, but it also enhances or facilitates the author’s thematic messages to the people. In this case, the bright golden color serves the purpose of enhancing the theme of love or romance in the author’s society. The submerged red color does the same.