#yosemite filmmaking

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Human Tornado (1976)

Dolemite is back and he’s… better than before? worse than before? Hard to say. One thing’s for sure, The Human Tornado is not a good movie but it sure is fun to watch. With great quotable lines, cartoon characters for villains, a self-deprecating sense of humour and plenty of technical flubs for you to poke fun at, it’s continuously enjoyable and always in new ways.

After Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is caught in bed with the racist sheriff’s wife, he is framed for her murder. On the run with his friends, they head to California to meet Queen Bee (Lady Reed), a succesful club/brother owner. The local mob boss, Joe Cavaletti (Herb Graham) isn’t too happy about his diminishing profits and has kidnapped two of her girls. Dolemite and his impossible charm & virility is just what she needs to find out where they’re held.

You might consider this a better film than “Dolemite” because the script is better organized than its predecessor's. Moore’s trademark rhyming standup is still here, but instead of the plot coming to a screeching halt in a parking lot so he can impress people who just happen to be there, we get a scene setting up his newfound success as a comedian before the plot kicks off. His patented expressions and speech mannerisms are peppered throughout as ways for him to express his disdain for others (you rat-soup eatin’ mother f#cker!) or his surprise (b*tch, are you for real?!) writing them down does not do them justice. His delivery is hilarious. Something must be said about the film being perfectly aware of what it is. On one occasion, Moore/Dolemite breaks the fourth wall and re-plays one of the film’s “better” stunts to prove to us that he really did do that jump. The racist Sheriff on his tail is so racist and so over-the-top he might as well be an R-rated Yosemite Sam. It’s hard not to laugh at him or at the scene where we learn why Dolemite is called The Human Tornado.

Everything that made Dolemite a bad, but enjoyable picture is here too. The fight choreography is awful. Kicks and punches obviously miss by a mile and scenes are clearly sped up to make them seem more dynamic. Anyone with eyes can tell Moore could never, ever defeat the enemies the way he does in this film - martial arts training or not. As for the writing, "amateurish" is a generous term. When Dolemite and his buddies get to California, the film wastes time by having them wander from one place to another, looking for Queen Bee. It’s almost as if the clubs they visit are only there because they helped pay for this shoddy production. It makes you wonder how much of what you see was made “bad” on purpose, which makes it delightful. There's a psychedelic sex scene during the second half whose setup is ludicrous. I’ve seen more realistic scenarios in XXX-rated films. You think it’s just a gag but the follow-up is trying to be artsy in such a weird way it kind of makes you want to see the whole thing again, just to determine how you should feel about it.

There’s A LOT of nudity throughout, which might make some viewers uncomfortable. I say if you can’t be good, be sleazy. It makes up for the lack of over-the-top and shoddily-created gore I usually like to see at this level of filmmaking. Some of the intentional gags get tiresome pretty quick, however. Dolemite doing fake screams while revving himself up for a brawl is smile-worthy - at best - the first time around. Whenever he does it again afterward, you start reaching for the tomatoes.

I must also speak to you of another scene, one of my favourites because it unintentionally sends the wrong message. Dolemite and his (mostly useless) buddies are hitchhicking to California. They realize no one in America will stop their car to pick up this many Black men at once. It’s a harsh truth. So what do they do? All of them but one hide in the bushes and when a car stops, they pull out a gun, hold the driver hostage and force their way in the car. Guys! THIS is the reason why people don’t stop their cars to pick up Black hitchhickers!

With stereotypes aplenty, too many bare breasts to count, action scenes that’ll have you howling, a ridiculous plot and genuine enthusiasm from people who really wanted to make the best, most entertaining film they could, The Human Tornado is a great movie to sit down and watch at with friends. It’s what Moore would’ve wanted and he probably wouldn't even mind that you're laughing at the film, rather than with it. (April 9, 2021)

[dan6085]

There are many great documentaries to choose from, but here are some of the most acclaimed and popular ones, according to various sources.

- **Man on Wire (2008)**: A thrilling documentary about Philippe Petit's daring high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974¹.

- **Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)**: A powerful and transporting documentary that showcases the legendary Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, featuring performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and more¹.

- **I Am Not Your Negro (2016)**: A profound and incisive documentary that explores the history of racism in America through the writings and interviews of James Baldwin¹.

- **Fire of Love (2022)**: A cinematic and heartbreaking documentary that tells the story of two French lovers, Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died in a volcanic explosion while pursuing their passion for volcanology¹.

- **20 Feet From Stardom (2013)**: A fascinating and uplifting documentary that celebrates the lives and voices of the backup singers who have worked with some of the biggest stars in music history¹.

- **Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)**: A hilarious and provocative documentary that follows the exploits of an eccentric amateur filmmaker who becomes obsessed with the world of street art and its elusive master, Banksy².

- **Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)**: A devastating and emotional documentary that chronicles the life and death of Andrew Bagby, who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend, and the custody battle over their son, Zachary².

- **Grizzly Man (2005)**: A compelling and tragic documentary that examines the life and death of Timothy Treadwell, who lived among grizzly bears in Alaska for 13 years, until he and his girlfriend were killed by one of them².

- **Samsara (2011)**: A mesmerizing and visually stunning documentary that takes the viewer on a journey across 25 countries and five continents, capturing the beauty and diversity of the natural and human world².

- **O.J.: Made in America (2016)**: A comprehensive and gripping documentary that traces the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose sensational murder trial exposed the deep-rooted racial tensions and divisions in America².

- **Free Solo (2018)**: A breathtaking and inspiring documentary that follows Alex Honnold, a rock climber who attempts to scale the 3,000-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without a rope or any safety equipment².

- **The Act of Killing (2012)**: A disturbing and surreal documentary that challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass killings in various cinematic genres, revealing the horrors and absurdities of their crimes².

- **Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones (2021)**: A fascinating and informative documentary that explores the lifestyles and habits of the people who live in the Blue Zones, regions of the world where people live longer and healthier than anywhere else³.

- **ReMastered: Who Shot the Sheriff (2018)**: A captivating and investigative documentary that unravels the mystery behind the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976, and the political turmoil that surrounded it³.

- **30 for 30: Nature Boy (2017)**: A revealing and entertaining documentary that profiles the legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair, who rose to fame and fortune in the 1980s, but also faced personal and professional challenges along the way³.

- **Break Point (2017)**: A thrilling and suspenseful documentary that follows the daring escape of two tennis players from Czechoslovakia in 1985, who defected to the West during a tournament in Switzerland³.

- **Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez (2020)**: A shocking and tragic documentary that delves into the life and crimes of Aaron Hernandez, a former NFL star who was convicted of murder and committed suicide in prison³.

- **Unsolved Mysteries (2020)**: A popular and intriguing documentary series that presents real cases of unexplained disappearances, murders, paranormal phenomena, and more, inviting the viewers to help solve them³.

- **Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (2021)**: A riveting and scandalous documentary that exposes the dark secrets and crimes of the Murdaugh family, a powerful and wealthy dynasty in South Carolina that has been involved in multiple deaths and cover-ups³.

- **Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (2021)**: A chilling and fascinating documentary that investigates the mysterious disappearance and death of Elisa Lam, a young woman who stayed at the notorious Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, where many crimes and tragedies have occurred³.

[kdnavarolihis]

HIS5067 - Lit Review/Discussion Prep #11

What is the responsibility of mass media in the representation of “accurate” history? This week’s readings focused on media, primarily film, in the ongoing discourse surrounding representative history, national identity, and social and environmental justice. Grounded by the approaches introduced by Thomas Cauvin (Public History: A Textbook of Practice), I reflect on the perspectives illustrated in director Ken Burns’s documentary series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea and the critical responses published in a special issue of The Public Historian. Additionally, I examine the impact of film on the representation of slavery in the United States through the scholarship of Natalie Zemon Davis and the critiques of Kate Masur and Eric Foner. 

In chapter 7 (“Radio and Audio-Visual Production”), Cauvin focuses on the production of history in media including radio, television, and film. He argues that public historians, given their work within sectors of public engagement, are “more armed” than other aspects of the discipline to engage with media (Cauvin 2016, 163), but that their role must go beyond serving as consultants for projects and lean into actively producing media programs as well (Cauvin 2016, 164).  This assertion is based on a distinction he makes between a historian’s emphasis on complexity and a filmmaker’s focus on generalization (Cauvin 2016, 165). The latter’s approach is exemplified in the work (and critique) of filmmaker Ken Burns.

In 2009, Burns directed The National Parks: America’s Best Idea -- a twelve-episode documentary on the development and federalization of national parks. Burns’s aggrandizing approach to nature as a concept centers on the activism of figures like John Muir, contextualizing lives and lobbying efforts within the socioeconomic climate of tourism and industrialization.  Burns’s approach is characterized by the use of primary sources including written accounts and photographs. However, as scholars such as Martin Blatt, Edward Linenthal, Karl Jacoby, Brenda Child, and Cindy Ott illustrate in The Public Historian, one must consider the limitations of the series and its attempt at accuracy. As Linenthal argues, “while the film succeeds in portraying conflicts at places such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, it does not succeed in bringing viewers into the gritty on-the-ground realities of interpretation” (Linenthal 2011, 15). This incomplete view is due to Burns’s overwhelming focus on middle and upper class white men -- an approach that largely leaves out the contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Japanese Americans, and women out of the discourse.  “It would have been more preferable to acknowledge” as Jacoby argues, “the extent to which the national parks do not exist outside of time and history but rather reflect our very human struggle over the North American landscape” (Jacoby 2011, 23).

The remaining readings focus on the fictionalized histories of African Americans in the films Lincoln (2012), Amistad (1997), and Beloved (1998). Hollywood films based on true events must often reconcile historical accuracy with entertainment. This negotiation is not always successful, with Lincoln standing out for its inaccurate glorification of Abraham Lincoln (Foner 2012) and the marginalization of Black figures critical in the Union’s cause (Masur 2012). Kate Masur argues that her issue with director Steven Spielberg’s film is not accuracy but an “interpretive choice” that reinforces notions of white agency and power (Masur 2012).  Natalie Zemon Davis argues that films, in contrast to literature, are a relatively new medium for the construction, interpretation, and consumption of history (Davis 2011, 5). As a result, films based on Black trauma and resistance, such as Amistad and Beloved, must be grounded in frameworks of transparency and inclusion (Davis 2011, 10 – 11).

Bibliography

Blatt, Martin, Edward Linenthal, Karl Jacoby, Brenda Child, and Cindy Ott “Roundtable: Ken Burns’s ‘The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,’” The Public Historian 33:2 (May 2011): 9-36.

Burns, Ken. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, 2009. https://video.alexanderstreet.com/channel/the-national-parks-america-s-best-idea.

Cauvin, Thomas. Public History: A Textbook of Practice. New York, NY: Routledge, 2016.

Davis, Natalie Zemon. Slaves on Screen: Film and Historical Vision. Random House of Canada, 2011.

Foner, Eric. “Lincoln’s Use of Politics for Noble Ends: [Letter].” New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast), November 27, 2012, sec. A.

Masur, Kate. “In Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln,’ Passive Black Characters.” The New York Times, November 13, 2012.

[nahasinabox]

Hitfilm pro 3 vs 4 proxy speed

#HITFILM PRO 3 VS 4 PROXY SPEED MAC OSX#

#HITFILM PRO 3 VS 4 PROXY SPEED 1080P#

#HITFILM PRO 3 VS 4 PROXY SPEED MP4#

Minimum system requirements Windows 7, Windows 8, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, OS X 10.9 Mavericks or OS X 10. Plugins compatible with Premiere Pro & After Effects CC, Final Cut Pro X, Vegas Pro 12 & 13 & Motion and DaVinci Resolve 11.

#HITFILM PRO 3 VS 4 PROXY SPEED MAC OSX#

Mac OSX 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite and 10. Those speeds are twice as fast as Hitfilm (read about that in our HitFilm review). HitFilm 3 Pro Install Compatibility Available for Windows and Mac OS X.

#HITFILM PRO 3 VS 4 PROXY SPEED MP4#

Export: Quicktime, MP4 (AVC/H264 & AAC), Image sequence (PNG, JPG, BMP), AVI (uncompressed, PAL DV, NTSC DV), YouTube direct upload.

Project: HFP (HitFilm Project), HFCS (HitFilm Composite Shot).

Image & sequences: BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, TGA, OpenEXR.

Video: Quicktime, AVI, MOV, MP4 (AVC/H264 & AAC), MPEG-1 (TS, PS, MPE, MPG, MPEG, M2V), MXF (DVCPro HD), DV, HDV, WMV.

Supported formats include (format expansion available):

New animation features include tech from HitFilm 4 Pro.

New speed controls for simple slow motion.

Major new effects add to the toolkit, including curves, lightning, and end credits crawl.

Audio tools, including audio reverse, echo, doppler shift, and balance.

Upgraded editing timeline enhancements for playback controls & workflow.

GPU acceleration and 64-bit architecture.

Developed to run on consumer level laptops as well as more pro hardware.

Free tutorials, community forum, and dedicated customer support.

Available effect packs extend features into specific areas (HF Pro features and After Effects filters).

140+ built-in 2D and 3D effects available, including green screen removal and color grading.

Multiple tracking option, proxies, and more.

Includes both editing and 3D compositing.

Free editing and visual effects software with no time limit and no subscription fee.

The main features of HitFilm 4 Express include: Hitfilm Express is a boon to new and occasional users, and will see more action from me than useful utilities like Handbrake, especially since I often bump up against activation limits. However, the editing mode is more akin to traditional NLEs than the quirky Apple iMovie and related software. Unfortunately you can’t edit XDCAM-EX footage without the MPEG-2 and extended format pack add-on.

#HITFILM PRO 3 VS 4 PROXY SPEED 1080P#

Use of 1080p Cineform and ProRes files is smooth. Hitfilm Pro beats After Effects with better native 3D, native particles, and certain other effects not built into After Effects, but it doesn’t have the depth of After Effects’ two decades of development. Here’s a new example from Film Riot, part of the new Iron Man HUD tutorials:īeing a young app, Hitfilm Pro and Express lacks the many subtleties found in mature apps that now mostly require continual subscriptions fees – but it is fast and responsive. For example, on a 300Mbps (Megabits per second) connection, you could expect to see downloads speeds of up to 37. There are several tutorial projects built right into the app. Now, regarding network speed vs download speed. Hitfilm advocates include YouTube superstars and indie filmmaking experts like Freddie Wong, Film Riot, and Corridor Digital. Aimed mainly at YouTube creators, this free software seems capable and feature rich, and a useful resource for anyone. FXHOME released its free all-in-one video editing and visual effects software HitFilm 4 Express, a product based on Hitfilm Pro 4.

[pbsnature]

In Honor of Earth Day 2017: PBS Nature’s Ask Box is now open for the next round of Tumblr’s IssueTime on Conservation and Climate Change!

NATURE  is so excited to work with Tumblr and the wonderful scientists, biologists and filmmakers who’ve agreed to be on our panel so that you can learn more about the environmental issues we’re currently facing.  Dig deeper into the issues with full episodes of NATURE, now streaming!

The Panelists:

Arnaud  Desbiez  is a conservation biologist who has been conducting research in the Brazilian Pantanal since 2002. He has worked on topics ranging from sustainable use of  resources  to  species  ecological  research and community  development  programs. In  the  Brazilian  Pantanal,  his  work  focused  on  the interaction  between  native  and alien  species, the sustainable  use  of  forage  resources  and  the  ecology  of  several mammal species.   In 2010 he started and now coordinates the Pantanal Giant Armadillo Project. Arnaud is featured in our most recent episode, Hotel Armadillo.

Patrick Gonzalez is Principal Climate Change Scientist of the U.S. National Park Service and a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. A forest ecologist, he conducts applied research on climate change and works with national parks to adapt resource management to climate change. Patrick has conducted and published field research on climate change in Africa, Latin America, and the United States and has served as a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the organization awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Watch our recent episode about the challenges facing Yosemite, now streaming!

Chris Morgan is an ecologist, conservationist, educator, TV host/narrator and film producer specializing in international bear research and conservation. For more than 20 years, he has worked as a wildlife researcher, wilderness guide and environmental educator on every continent where bears exist. Chris  has narrated 13 films for Nature and was host and narrator for Siberian Tiger Quest as well as being the featured character in Nature’s three-part series ‘Bears of the Last Frontier.’ In 2015, he was also host and narrator for Nature’s Three-part ‘Animal Homes’ series and was featured in ‘The Last Orangutan Eden.’ Learn more about Chris’ story with this interview we conducted with him.

Learn More about Chris

Joe Pontecorvo is an award-winning producer, writer, and cinematographer. For the past two decades, he has traveled the globe; tracking Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East, living among grizzlies in the wilds of Alaska, and following orangutans through Indonesia’s peat swamp forest. All told, he has produced 14 broadcast documentaries for multiple networks, including National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and PBS. For his most recent project before ‘Yosemite,’ PBS Nature’s ‘Snow Monkeys,’ Joe and his wife, Nim Pontecorvo, spent nearly two years filming a troop of Japanese macaques in Japan’s Shiga Highlands. Go behind-the-scenes into the making of that film here.

Learn More about Joe

Happy Earth Day! Check back Saturday for answers! 

[architectureandfilmblog]

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

John Muir

Happy 183rd Birthday John Muir!

COMING HOME (2016)

This nicely made short film celebrates the hugely influential Scottish-American naturalist, whose environmental activism led to the preservation of numerous wilderness areas, including Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park. Inspired by the Muir quote “I’m losing precious days. I’m degenerating into a machine for making money,”, filmmaker Michael Coleman visited the historic Muir family home to create this short tribute.

[myvideobag]

Follow @joeyreger ��・・ This screams fall. Yosemite was unreal. Shooting my friends wedding was amazing. Here's what I brought to create what will be an epic film! #yosemite #filmmaker #wedding (at Yosemite National Park)

[earthstory]

undefined

skymakaifilms

One of the filmmaking courses I’ve taken includes doing time-lapses.  These can be integrated into commercial and product videos to show locations in a new light… and in this case, both the sunset and the full moon light over Yosemite Valley! ⁣

⁣Guess how long the exposure was for each frame?⁣

[effectsofblank]

Storm approaching Tunnel View, Yosemite yesterday 🌹🖤🌹 //

[monikajanikhnd1c]

Ansel Adams

What Group did he start?

F64 Group

 Why did he set this group up?

He wanted promoted a style of sharply detailed in photography.

What type of photography is he best known for?

Landscape

What did Ansel first train as?

A musician (piano)

When did his love for photography begin?

His love for photography began in Yosemite National Park throughout the 20s

What was his first camera?

Kodak Browning Box Camera

What age was Ansel when his first images were published?

 19

What type of techniques did he start experimenting with?

etching, soft focus.

How much did Adams sell his first portfolio for?

$4000

What artists did Adams meet in New Mexico?

John Marin, Paul Strand

Who was a huge influence on Adams?

Paul Strand ( American photographer and filmmaker)

Why was Group F64 significant?

- more  modern photography,

- new Southern Californian schools of photographers

The groups Manifesto

:”The name of this Group is derived from a diaphragm number of the photographic lens. It signifies to a large extent the qualities of clearness and definition of the photographic image which is an important element in the work of members of this Group. The chief object of the Group is to present in frequent shows what it considers the best contemporary photography of the West; in addition to the showing of the work of its members, it will include prints from other photographers who evidence tendencies in their work similar to that of the Group. Group f/64 is not pretending to cover the entire of photography or to indicate through its selection of members any deprecating opinion of the photographers who are not included in its shows. There are great number of serious workers in photography whose style and technique does not relate to the metier of the Group. “  http://photographyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/04/group-f64-manifesto-1932.html

What is pictorialism?

 is the borrowing of techniques from paintings and other art forms.

What age did Adams open his first gallery?

 31

What happened on a road trip to New Mexico in 1941?

He took “Moonrise over Hernandez”

How long was Adams career?

nearly 60 years

Along with Fred Archer what did Adams pioneer?

The zone system.

What is the zone system and how does it apply today?

The zone system is a photographic technique to determine the optimal exposure for film and development. 

What was Adams biggest selling image?

“Moonrise over Hernandez”

What type of camera did Adams use?

4×5 view camera

Why did he use a red filter?

This made the tones darker. 

What technical camera settings did he use?

Wide angle lenses, deep depth of fields, very wide aperture

Who were Steichan and Stieglitz?

American photographers from the 1900s who founded the Photo-Secession that aimed to have photography be represented as a fine art

[dweemeister]

The Dragon Painter (1919)

Asian-Americans are often sidelined in Hollywood, whether they appear in front of or behind a camera. So when the exceptions come along, there is a tendency to label that actor, director, or writer (or whatever their role is) as – to put it bluntly – as representing all Asian-Americans. I do not know if actor Sessue Hayakawa ever felt that public burden during the peak of his popularity during the silent era, and I hope he never did. During the 1910s and early ‘20s, Hayakawa was a legitimate Hollywood leading man and a sex symbol – the sort of actor that will, on a rainy day and with a sizable puddle of water between the vehicle he is exiting and the sidewalk, have women willingly throw their coats onto that puddle to assure him safe passage. Yes, that story is real.

Many of Hayakawa’s silent films are now lost and the ones that are extant are either difficult to find (sitting in a vault with obscure/nonexistent home media distribution) or in poor public domain quality (though much credit has to be given to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for their restoration work). The subject of this piece is The Dragon Painter, directed by William Worthington and released by Haworth Pictures – Haworth was jointly owned by Hayakawa and Worthington and is pronounced by combining the first syllables in their surnames. Haworth was Hayakawa’s outlet to make films that avoided the damaging Asian stereotypes found throughout American filmmaking in the silent era. But as for cultural fidelity to Asian stories, values, and aesthetics, The Dragon Painter feels as if Hayakawa – who shines in the film with a ferocious performance – and Worthington are compromising that fidelity to appeal to general American audiences.

High in the Japanese mountains lives the painter Tatsu (Hayakawa), who spends his days gazing across picturesque landscapes, his hair unkempt, fixated on his artwork. Tatsu’s sanity is not clearly established, as he believes the gods have taken custody of his fiancée, a dragon princess. In Tokyo, the elderly painter Kano Indara (Edward Peil, Sr. in dreadful yellowface) is seeking a student, having dismissed many candidates over the years. One of Indara’s friends, Uchida (Toyo Fujita), stumbles upon the eccentric Tatsu and his paintings. Despite Tatsu’s untamed behavior, Uchida believes Tatsu has the artistry to be Indara’s heir. Thus, he invites Tatsu to Tokyo by claiming he knows the location of the missing princess. Tatsu, of course, follows. Once the backwoods painter arrives in Tokyo, he causes a ruckus at his own welcoming dinner but is calmed as Indara’s daughter, Ume-ko (Tsuru Aoki), poses as the dragon princess and performs a dance. They marry soon after, but their marital status comes at the expense of his painting abilities.

With many outdoor scenes filmed in Yosemite National Park in California, I – as someone with a casual appreciation for the history of the United States’ National Park Service – found myself utterly distracted by the view of numerous iconic features of the park that appear in the film. In the film’s first half, the constant backdrops of Yosemite Valley by cinematographer Frank D. Williams (a then-former chief cinematographer at Keystone Studios, with a credit in The Little Tramp’s debut in 1914’s Kid Auto Races at Venice) challenged my ability to take The Dragon Painter’s claim of representing an “authentic” Japan seriously. Worthington, seeking a sumptuous location, plays up the film’s geographic and cultural Orientalism. The installation of a torii gate in the middle of the Merced River and a Japanese village surrounded by flora that could only be found in Northern California is laughable today. Somehow, The Dragon Painter escaped such criticisms upon its release. But Yosemite, as a United States national park (and the place where the idea of national parks was born), was less than thirty years old in 1918. Generally, in America in the 1910s, there was far less knowledge about the national parks system, even about one of the crown jewels of the National Park Service. Today, with greater knowledge about at the parks nationwide, the film’s backdrops make less sense given one of the film’s central goals to depict Japanese culture.

The film’s cultural Orientalism is no better. With a white director, white screenwriter (Richard Schayer), and based on a novel written by a white woman (Mary McNeil Fenollosa), The Dragon Painter could deviate from its source material – even a minor change or two – to minimize its inaccurate cultural depictions. Worthington and Schayer decline that option. Indara’s household is filled with an aesthetically busy, incoherent, and period-clashing hodgepodge of Japanese art. Ink paintings, sculptures, and other works. It is a legacy of Japonisme, a French term on the popularity of Japanese art in the late nineteenth century following the nation’s forced reopening of trade.

The Dragon Painter goes even further than its set decorations and costume design as the film posits that in order to restore Tatsu’s artistic abilities after his marriage to Ume-ko, Ume-ko must sacrifice herself for him. That development should raise skeptical eyebrows, as no one should lay down their lives for someone else’s art – and predictably, the person who must perform the sacrifice is a woman in love. This angle of a Japanese woman killing herself makes The Dragon Painter, in its second half, a Madama Butterfly narrative. It is not known if Worthington or Schayer were influenced by Giacomo Puccini’s opera and John Luther Long’s short story (neither Puccini nor Long ever visited Japan), but the movie’s depiction of an obedient (if not subservient) wife that will even consider extreme practices to salvage her husband’s career comes from an inauthentic place. Contrast this depiction of a woman to the one in Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939, Japan), where Kakuko Mori’s life-straining altruism – and numerous female characters in dire straits found across Mizoguchi’s filmography – was based on Mizoguchi’s close relation to his older sister. Unlike Worthington, Mizoguchi frames his film of female sacrifice from the personal, rather than something offhand.

If Hayakawa intended to distance himself from the stereotypical, vehemently racist portrayal of Asians at the major Hollywood studios of the silent era, those intentions are constrained by the financial and production-related realities of The Dragon Painter. Though his and Aoki’s performances are satisfactory, the fact that Edward Peil, Sr. appears in yellowface as Indara contradicts Hayakawa’s goals. How much power Hayakawa had over The Dragon Painter’s production is an open question (as well as how he felt about the final product), but if Hayakawa wished to portray Japanese culture as faithfully as possible, he must have been disappointed at the results. In the 1910s, tension between the Japanese-American community and Hayakawa’s image – exotified romantic roles that nevertheless kept some distance from white women characters – precipitated into the creation of Haworth and Hayakawa’s promises to make films with less problematic Asian depictions. This tension – which also existed with Japanese moviegoers who saw Hayakawa as too Westernized – is almost never mentioned today, as Hayakawa’s reputation has been subject to hagiography for being the lone Asian leading man of silent era American cinema.

For Hayakawa, clashes with his film distributor, economic recession, and the State of California debating the prohibition of property ownership by resident of Japanese descent forced him to leave the United States for Europe, only to return to Hollywood sporadically for the remaining decades of his life. The Dragon Painter, once presumed lost, was rediscovered when a print was unearthed in France. In 1988, a joint restoration effort by the American Film Institute, George Eastman House, and New York City’s Museum of Modern Art brought renewed attention to the film. Six years ago, The Dragon Painter – as one of Hayakawa’s few existing films – was inducted in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, deemed a national treasure, and marked for preservation for posterity.

I have spent most of this review dragging The Dragon Painter through the mud of my reservations and criticism, but I appreciate the film as a rare example of a leading Asian-American actor and actress (Hayakawa and Aoki were married) given top billing in a Hollywood film. For that reason alone, it deserves to remembered and appreciated in all its representational imperfections.

My rating: 6/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found at http://dweemeister.tumblr.com/ratings_system (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not allowing certain links to appear on tag pages, so I apologize for the clunky spelling-out of the URLs).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, they can be found at https://dweemeister.tumblr.com/tagged/My-Movie-Odyssey.

[jmphotograpghy]

Ansel Adams

What Group did he start?

F64 Group

Why did he set this group up?

He wanted to let photography be photography.

What type of photography is he best known for?

Landscape

What did Ansel first train as?

A musician

When did his love for photography begin?

His love for photography began on family trips to Yosemite National Park.

What was his first camera?

Kodak Browning Box Camera

What age was Ansel when his first images were published?

He was 19

What type of techniques did he start experimenting with?

Some techniques include etching, bromoil processing and soft focus.

How much did Adams sell his first portfolio for?

$4000

What artists did Adams meet in New Mexico?

Georgia O'Keeffe, John Marin and Paul Strand

Who was a huge influence on Adams?

Paul Strand - An American photographer and filmmaker who helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century.

Why was Group F64 significant?

It was a modern alternative to already established camera clubs and brought attention to the new Southern Californian schools of photographers

The groups Manifesto...

-https://issuu.com/widewalls6/docs/group_f64_manifesto

What is pictorialism?

Pictorialism is the borrowing of techniques from paintings and other art forms.

What age did Adams open his first gallery?

He was 31

What happened on a road trip to New Mexico in 1941?

He took one of his most famous photos “Moonrise over Hernandez”

How long was Adams career?

His career lasted nearly 60 years

Along with Fred Archer what did Adams pioneer?

The zone system.

What is the zone system and how does it apply today?

The zone system is a photographic technique to determine the optimal exposure for film and development. This is represented today with the 18% grey scale.

What was Adams biggest selling image?

“Moonrise over Hernandez”

What type of camera did Adams mainly use?

He used a Medium Format Hasselblad

Why did he use a red filter?

He used a red filter to make blue tones darker which helps give contrast to the photograph

What typical technical camera settings did he use?

He used wide angle lenses with deep depth of fields and a high aperture to capture landscapes

Who were Steichan and Stieglitz?

They were two American photographers in the early 1900′s who helped found a group called the Photo-Secession that aimed to showcase photography as fine art.

[blogparanormalexpresso2stuff]

David Paulides discusses Filmmaker access to National Parks and two baffling cases from Yosemite

[miss-rosen]

MEL ROBERTS, THE QUEER PHOTOGRAPHER TARGETED BY THE LAPD FOR HIS IMAGES Miss Rosen for AnOther Man

Photographer and filmmaker Mel Roberts (1923–2007) lived and worked as an openly gay man at a time when it was illegal to do so. Hailing from Toledo, Ohio, Roberts started shooting 16mm films of his friend as a teen before being drafted in 1943, where he served as a cameraman documenting World War II in the South Pacific.

Like so many gay men of the era, he migrated to California after the war, drawn to the heady mix of freedom of expression and career opportunities. After getting his degree in filmmaking from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Roberts worked as a film editor and soon discovered Physique Pictorial magazine at a newsstand near the studio.

Inspiration struck and Roberts set forth to create a portrait of fun in the sun, California style. From the 1950s until 1981, he amassed an archive of 50,000 photographs of almost 200 male models. Eschewing the classic bodybuilder archetype popularised by Bruce of Los Angeles and Bob Mizer, Roberts preferred the boy-next-door aesthetic. He began publishing his work in Young Physique magazine in 1963, offering light and fun pictures made on day trips to picturesque towns like Yosemite, Idlewild, and La Jolla.

Read the Full Story at AnOther Man

Top: Ron Brouillette, Mulholland Drive, 1966© Estate of Mel Roberts (1923–2007), Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

Bottom; L/Cliff and Robert, 1979/printed 2001 © Estate of Mel Roberts (1923–2007), Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City. R/Jimmy Stone, 1962 © Estate of Mel Roberts (1923–2007), Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

[outsidertarot]

Kenneth Anger’s experimental films, filled with hazy Kodachrome visions of the gay underground and edgy occult rituals shocked audiences in the 1960’s. Rejected by Hollywood where he dreamed of being a director, Anger instead ripped images, sounds and themes from popular culture created a completely unique vision on film that had never been seen. He was the master of creating hugely influential films that influenced generations with little money or resources. He and all experimental filmmakers are the inspiration for one of the cards from the suit of lights (fire.)⁠ ⁠ “I started making movies because my family had a 16mm camera that was a home movie camera, mostly used only on birthdays or vacations. Like on one occasion we went to Yosemite, there were four rolls, 100-feet each, of 16mm left over and I noticed it had an expiration date on the film boxes, so I said to my parents, “Well, this won’t be good next summer, could I use it up and make something on my own?” ⁠ ⁠ -Kenneth Anger⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ #dailyreading #tarotofinstagram #tarotreadersofig #cardoftheday🔮 #cardoftheweek #tarotchallenge #newtarotdeck #outsidertarot #bobbyabate #queertarot #queerartist #gaywitch #tarotspreads #tarotista #tarotcreator #tarotgram #tarotcollection #tarotcollector #queerwitch #taroteverydamnday #queerart #tarot #tarotcommunity #kennethanger #scorpiorising #queerfilm #experimentalfilm #artfilm #subculture #occult — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2WuvnaF

[haroldopoiret]

When your destiny is waiting for you... just keep going!! Confía, No te rindas!! . . #destiny #road #roadtrip #nature #naturelovers #naturephotography #mountains #yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #trees #hikingadventures #hiking #canonphotography #california #photographer #filmmaker #producer #mylife #zeiss28mm #firstcoffee #coffeetime (at Yosemite National Park)