VISUAL TECHNOLOGIES, IMAGE REPRODUCTION, AND THE COPYCulture, identity, and mass media15th March

To do:

Presentation Chapter Emails about presentations

Jorgen Leth's The Perfect Human, 1967

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIjNv2b5C8Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOQH_OG1tJA

Obstruction 1

The Five Obstructions

Is a 2003 Danish film by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth. The film is a documentary, but incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films produced by the filmmakers.

The premise is that Lars von Trier has created a challenge for his friend and mentor, Jørgen Leth, another filmmaker. Von Trier's favourite film is Leth's The Perfect Human (1967). Von Trier gives Leth the task of remaking The Perfect Human five times, each time with a different 'obstruction' (or obstacle) given by von Trier.

The 5 obstructions Leth must remake the film inCuba

(but with no set) with no shot longer than 12 frames, and he must answer the questions posed in the original film; Leth successfully completes this task.

Leth must remake the film in the worst place in the world but not show that place onscreen; additionally, Leth must play the role of "the man". The meal must be included but the woman is not to be included. Leth remakes the film in the red light district of Bombay, only partially hiding it behind a translucent screen.

Because Leth failed to complete task 2 perfectly, von Trier punishes him, telling him to either remake the film in any way he chooses, or redo obstruction 2 in Bombay again. Leth chooses the first option and remakes it in Brussels using split-screen effects.

Leth must remake the film as a cartoon. He does so with the aid of Bob Sabiston, a specialist in rotoscoping, who creates animated versions of shots from the previous films. As such the final product is technically an animation but not a cartoon. So he fails.

The fifth obstruction is that von Trier has already made the fifth version, but it must be credited as Leth's, and Leth must read a voice-over narration ostensibly from his own perspective but in fact written by von Trier.

Do you know what to do for next week? The readings for the following weeks

have been swapped as per our discussion

Next week you will watch manufacturing consent

You will have guest lecturers You will have a short homework

assignment bring it in completed the following week