Media Reflection #1

       Now that I have been in this course for a little over a month, I am able to reflect on my learning thus far, and how it has affected my relationship with media. Before taking this course, movies and TV shows were primarily just entertainment to me. I would occasionally analyze certain scenes to truly understand their depth and artistic themes, but this analysis was nowhere near as detailed as the study of films required in this class.          

This course has introduced me to many new ideas and features of films that I had never taken into account before. The first concept of the year that stood out to me was cinematic language. I learned that this term refers to the techniques and concepts that connect us to the story while hiding how they do so. The process of unpacking a movie to see how filmmakers were hiding certain unrealistic aspects of filmmaking, known as cinematic invisibility, was very new to me. This also goes hand in hand with cultural invisibility, which refers to how viewers/filmmakers may be blind to implied political, cultural, and ideological messages embedded in a movie. Movies can say a lot about social norms or prejudices present at the time of the film’s creation. I had never thought to dig below the surface of a film and see past the invisibility that the filmmakers are portraying. However, this process is super interesting! It has been so cool to learn more about finding a film’s true meaning, and the steps it takes to do this. 

Our most recent lesson in which we learned about Mise-En-Scène was also very new to me. I had never heard of this term, defined as the overall look and feel of a movie, but I had definitely experienced and analyzed this term unknowingly. I am often drawn to movies or shows with an aesthetic that I really connect with, which is the mise-en-scène! This aesthetic is created through the design and composition of a film, how they complement each other, and how they complement the story. We did a project in this unit which I really enjoyed. We were given prompts and were instructed to take pictures that aligned with these prompts. This allowed us to practice scene setting, which is a huge part of mise-en-scène. For example, one of our prompts was along the lines of “you just won the lottery and are ecstatic about it.” This is the photo me and my group worked together to take: 

When taking this photo, we had to consider the setting, props, lighting, framing, etc. of the shot, to allow the viewer to understand the context of the photo, without knowing what our prompt was. Though it is not perfect, as this was our first time working with these concepts, it was a fun and interesting exercise that helped me to more deeply understand everything that goes into creating good mise-en-scene. 

To summarize, a have a lot more of an analytical relationship with media than I did prior to taking this course. Before, I consumed media for fun! I did not look into it too deeply, other than the occasional investigation of metaphors or artistic choices in scenes that really stood out to me. But now, in this class, I must analyze every scene I watch and break down its true meaning. I must understand why filmmakers made specific choices, so that I can create my own scene successfully, later on in the course. I am very excited to learn more about media, as I have really enjoyed what I’ve learned so far!