alternative B&W universe

[marcofrancardi]

well, if I may contribute to the discussion, and i can surely tell you I'm not an expert, I've been observing, since a few years, that sequences are getting shorter and shorter. "Artistic" videos, be it a clip or an ad, are made more and more of a cospiquous number of sequences very seldom longer than two or three seconds, with very little motion, some carefully chosen panning and thouthfully studied perspectives. Lately, even colour has become scarce. This seems to be the case in Winehouse's clip.

in the end, it looks to me that video is "approching" photography, not the contrary. just my 2c...

[Allen Herbert]

"What do you think about B&W video as a step up from B&W still photography?"

 

A big step down. A still image has instant visual impact and remains a constant to the viewer. Once you have seen a video, you have seen the video.....

 

Soon forgotten.

 

To put it in a more familiar place...happy to look at family still snaps...please don't bore me with the family vids.

[jacob_brown]

So you refrain from a discussion someone's having with you ... unless they attempt to have the last word while taking you at yours.

 

Funny!

[ronmatt]

'The scenario' An old man, sitting in a dark, smoke filled bar, a fresh whisky in hand, a collecton of spent shot glasses in front of him. He grieves, his wife is gone, his son and daughters,estranged. He is old and not far from death himself and he is alone, friendless, purposeless. The video/motion picture camera scans his face as the actor projects the emotion, grief, fear and forlorn struggle within the psyche of the wretched man. It scans and pans and changes focus to achieve the a moving image of the distraught the man feels. And does so very well at 24 fps.

The still photographer must accomplish the same in one frame.

[al_gorman]

The still photographer must accomplish the same in one frame.

 

One poignant still would sum up the total mood of the situation without the soapy cuteness.

 

 

 

 

The easy option is not necessarily the best option.

[jtk]

The negative critiques of the nature of (some) video and film are all valid in their individual ways. I don't dispute them.

 

And yes, the Winehouse video (or film) does seem to benefit from 50s-60s photography, as did noir film generally. And film influenced photography. That there's cross-pollination doesn't weaken one form or the other.

 

As to painting's similarity to video, it has to do with time. A painting is done over a long stretch and the only instant it captures is in the painter's mind. In fact, it doesn't typically capture an instant, rather it renders a vision that grows as the painting unfolds. More like video than still photography.