Film v. Picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHwdfChOjzA

http://www.artquotes.net/masters/warhol_andy/turquoise-marilyn-62.jpg


In Walter Benjamin's article, he stresses that film portrays life and reality in a “superficial” way. He claimed, “ It presents a process in which it is impossible to assign to a spectator a viewpoint which would exclude from the actual scene such extraneous accessories as camera equipment, lighting machinery, staff assistants, etc.—unless his eye were on a line parallel with the lens.” He viewed film did not show the reality of making the film and the work that was done to it. He felt that the filmmakers could manipulate the film, so the audience could only view what the filmmaker wanted them to. He saw the biased in the film industry. However, he felt that “the painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality.” He viewed the painter was so removed from society that they had a “whole” view of the world. For example, Andy Warhol is known for producing the famous picture of Marilyn Monroe. Many people are very familiar with this great work of art, and when they picture Marilyn Monroe, they picture that image. They saw Marilyn from the point of view of Warhol. They became biased to the image of Marilyn through the bias of Warhol.
Benjamin disliked the fact that film could be readily viewed by the public and produced quickly; it was impersonal. However, he saw that the “painting has always had an excellent chance
to be viewed by one person or by a few.” He felt that the experience of seeing the painting made it more valuable and prized. Not many individuals were able to have that experience while just anyone could just see a film. Seeing a painting does bring awe to an individual for the first time. Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe painting is very enchanting, but the brain questions the personality: Is that the real Marilyn? In film, we are able to be awed Marilyn's performance. We can see her facial expression and movement despite the fact that she is acting. In the painting, we only view a half-smile, but in the film we can see her alarmed and indifferent. We can see her from a different perspective other than a celebrity, but as a real person.
The thing with film is that it is a tribute the the people who are performing and it therefore possesses the cult value. Walter states that “the cult of remembrance of loved ones, absent or dead, offers a last refuse for the cult value of the picture.” Film in a sense does that the same way. A picture offers a stationary effect, but film offer a realistic on with the actions, voices, and movements of the individual. We are better to remember our loved one by viewing who they really were, how they spoke, how they hugged, and how they walked.
Benjamin did acknowledge that film could give insight to many things that the human eye could not register. He stated, “slow motion not only presents familiar qualities of movement but
reveals in them entirely unknown ones.” Watching a film allows one to further evaluate a characteristic or just an action. Through this, we could learn much more from our surroundings. The innovative thing about film is it is letting us discover things that are too quick for the human eye to capture. Benjamin viewed this as a positive aspect of film: “Here the camera intervenes with the resources of its
lowerings and liftings, its interruptions and isolations, it extensions and accelerations, its enlargements
and reductions. The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious
impulses.” Film has introduced us to the undiscoverable and see more deeply into reality. We are able to look deeper into the characteristics of a certain actions, objects, and events. In the clip with Marilyn, we are able to see close-ups, movements, and evaluate the tone of her voice.