This essay attempts to propose an art practice based on an ethical and aesthetic relation of author, subject, and viewer. This relationship is productive of results that are seen as critical to a precise, useful, and ethical representation of social problems. / text

Most previous studies of Soviet montage cinema have concentrated on its aesthetic and technical aspects; however, montage cinema was essentially a rhetoric rather than an aesthetic of cinema. This thesis presents a comparative study of the leading montage film-makers – Kuleshov, Pudovkin, Eisenstein and Vertov – comparing and contrasting the differing methods by which they used cinema to exert a rhetorical effect on the spectator for the purposes of political propaganda. The definitions of propaganda in general use in the study of Soviet montage cinema are too narrowly restrictive and a more nuanced definition is clearly needed. Furthermore, the role of the spectator in constituting the rhetorical effectivity of a montage film has been neglected; a psychoanalytic model of the way in which the filmic text can trigger a change in the spectator’s psyche is required. Moreover, the ideology of the Soviet montage films is generally assumed to exist only in their content, whereas in classical cinema ideology also operates at the level of the enunciation of the filmic text itself. The extent to which this is also true for Soviet montage cinema should be investigated. I have analysed the interaction between montage films and their spectators from multiple perspectives, using several distinct but complementary theoretical approaches, including recent theories of propaganda, a psychoanalytic model of rhetoric, Lacanian psychoanalysis and the theory of the system of the suture, and Peircean semiotics. These different theoretical approaches, while having distinct conceptual bases, work together to build a new and consistent picture of montage cinema as a propaganda medium and as a form of political rhetoric. I have been able to classify the films of Kuleshov, Eisenstein and Pudovkin as transactive, vertical agitation propaganda and the films of Vertov as transactive, horizontal agitation propaganda. Furthermore, I show that montage cinema embeds ideology in the enunciation of its filmic text, but differs from classical cinema in trying to subvert the suturing process. I conclude that Vertov at least partly created a non-representational cinematography and that he could be regarded as being at least as much a Suprematist film-maker as a Constructivist one.

Dans Les détectives sauvages, Respiration artificielle et Les Soldats de Salamine, Bolaño, Piglia et Cercas mettent en avant trois questions que nous traitons dans cette étude: 1. Le roman est un objet historique, en tant que document et en tant que dispositif du discours. 2. L'écriture de fiction, l'écriture romanesque, la fabrication des romans ne peut se faire sans recourir à la mémoire. 3. La relation conflictuelle entre réel et fiction constitue le terrain de développement du récit contemporain. Le premier chapitre part d'une réflexion sur le rapport entre littérature et Histoire en Amérique Latine et en Espagne ; suit une réflexion sur le concept d'Histoire et le rôle de l'historien dans la littérature, une étude sur les rapports entre le narrateur et l'objet de sa narration, et finalement une analyse sur la littérature en tant que transgression. Dans le deuxième chapitre nous traitons la notion de mémoire en relation avec l'imaginaire ; les notions de durée et d'image chez Platon, Aristote, Freud, Bergson et Ricœur sont à la base de cette analyse. Suit une analyse sur les tensions entre écriture, souvenir et imagination. Nous nous occupons du document et de la fiction en étudiant le rôle des personnages écrivains, de la mémoire en tant qu'imagination, et sur le rapport entre le corps et la mémoire dans l'écriture chez les trois auteurs. Le troisième chapitre pose la question d'une nouvelle poétique de la fiction par une étude sur la notion d'ostranenie de Brecht, ainsi que sur les limites de l'écriture de fiction à travers les notions d'origine, de l'infini, de l'insuffisant, et du dissemblable -- celle-ci par une lecture comparée avec les travaux de Didi-Huberman. Pour finir, une réflexion sur les notions de local, d'universel, du récit manqué, et de l'inutilité de la littérature. Toutes ces notions sont traitées par des analyses ponctuelles des trois romans étudiés.

The thesis attempts at providing a critical evaluation of the city as the mythological site of modernity. For that purpose, highlighting such special nature of the urban context as it finds expression by the cinematic medium, what is aimed at is the analysis of, first, the mythical dimensions of modern urban life as the prime site of enthusiasm and spirit with its fleeting impressions and changing images, secondly, the (re)creation of the city myth through cinema as an elaborate perceptive vehicle for a specific way of picturing and enframing the cityscape and, lastly the representation of the destruction of such myth. In this way, it will also be possible to point out concretely that the city experience of the modern individual simultaneously embodies fascination and horror, hope and despair. In order to explain the situation of the modern individual in the big city, Odysseus&rsquo / s encounter with mythological forces in ancient world are taken as a parable in the footsteps of Adorno and Horkheimer&rsquo / s allegoric interpretation of Homer&rsquo / s Odyssey. Specifically speaking, the cinematic representation of Istanbul-myth and the destruction of this myth in Turkish cinema of the nineties will be examined through three prominent examples in the light of the above theoretical considerations.

This research project explores the creative and critical functions of editing in art, film and writing. The written component analyses the histories and discourses of 'cutting and splicing' to examine their various roles in processes of signification. The artistic practice uses more speculative and open-ended methods to explore the social 'languages' that inform our inter-subjective experiences. This project argues that editing is a creative methodology for making meaning, because it allows existing symbolic systems to be appropriated, revised and rewritten. By emphasising the operations of spacing, questioning and play, it also identifies editing as an essential tool for critically engaging with the potentials of art and theory.

The production of the independent, digital feature film titled Mosaic was performed on a very low budget. The design and implementation of the post-production of the film required consideration of budgetary constraints, and solutions to these constraints that would still allow the creative freedom of the editor and the director. The technical design was based around digital filmmaking technology. The choice of this technology influenced how the editor was able to address aesthetic and technical challenges.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Konstanz, 1998.

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 20-22).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:44:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4852.pdf: 1129647 bytes, checksum: 850dbd52c7c030d8a9a9c16b20580e60 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-15 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / The aim of this study was to understand, from the experience of four young people who at some point in research called themselves transvestites , residing in São Carlos (SP), the main techniques and strategies used by them for the management and manipulation of their own characteristics regarding their body, subjectivity and identity, in order to participate in certain spaces of sociability, focusing on family contexts, formal education institutions and also prostitution. The work has been organized into four sections. Initially, it introduces an historical debate and academic production about the topic related to gender and sexuality, then it addresses entrance to the search field, from ethnographic contributions and, finally, to contextualize the territories where the research took place. The second section considers the multiplicity of ways to consider and to construct signs of what is considered feminine in bodies assigned as male. Additionally, it presents the history of each interlocutor of this research, trying to point out their unique experiences in these body, subjective and identity building processes. In the third section, we discuss the different techniques and strategies used by them to participate in different contexts such as family, school and prostitution, and how these relations are built depending on the persons involved, as well as their interests and desires. And lastly, contextualizes the propositions of social occupational therapy and its possible implications in everyday life of the individuals in their territories belonging, pointing out how the circulation of these young people in their territories have repercussions on the levels of insertion and restriction, allowing or not their existences in different spaces. It is believed that this dissertation contributes, beyond the multiplicity of forms of construction and understanding bodies, subjectivities and transvestites identities, with a dialogue among the possible links between social occupational therapy and circulation of individuals in their territories belonging. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi compreender, a partir da vivência com quatro jovens que em algum momento da pesquisa se autodenominaram travestis, residentes na cidade de São Carlos (SP), as principais técnicas e estratégias utilizadas por elas para o manejo e manipulação de suas próprias características corporais, subjetivas e identitárias, a fim de se inserirem em determinados espaços de sociabilidade, focalizando-se nos contextos familiares, de instituições formais de ensino e também de prostituição. Procurou-se organizar o trabalho em quatro seções. Na primeira, inicia-se uma contextualização histórica do debate e da produção acadêmica sobre a temática referente ao gênero e à sexualidade, em seguida apresenta-se a entrada em campo, a partir de contribuições etnográficas e, por último, contextualizam-se os territórios onde a pesquisa aconteceu. Na segunda seção, pondera-se a multiplicidade de formas de considerar e construir signos do que é considerado feminino em corpos assignados como masculinos. Além disso, apresenta-se a história de cada interlocutora desta pesquisa, tentando assinalar suas vivências singulares nestes processos de construção corporal, subjetiva e identitária. Na terceira seção, discute-se as diferentes técnicas e estratégias utilizadas por elas para se inserirem em diferentes contextos como família, escola e prostituição, e como estas relações são construídas a depender dos sujeitos envolvidos, bem como de seus interesses e desejos. E, por último, contextualiza-se as proposições da terapia ocupacional social e suas possíveis implicações na vida cotidiana dos sujeitos em seus territórios de pertencimento, apontando como a circulação destas jovens em seus territórios têm rebatimentos nos níveis de inserção e restrição, possibilitando ou não suas existências em diferentes espaços. Acredita-se que esta dissertação vem contribuir, para além da multiplicidade de formas de construção e compreensão dos corpos, subjetividades e identidades travestis, com um diálogo em meio às articulações possíveis entre terapia ocupacional social e a circulação dos sujeitos em seus territórios de pertencimento.

Machine learning is increasingly involved in both our production and consumption of video. One symptom of this is the appearance of automated video editing applications. As this technology spreads rapidly to consumers, the need for substantive research about its social impact grows. To this end, this project maintains a focus on video editing as a microcosm of larger shifts in cultural objects co-authored by artificial intelligence. The window in which this research occurred (2010-2015) saw machine learning move increasingly into the public eye, and with it ethical concerns. What follows is, on the most abstract level, a discussion of why these ethical concerns are particularly urgent in the realm of the moving image. Algorithmic editing consists of software instructions to automate the creation of timelines of moving images. The criteria that this software uses to query a database is variable. Algorithmic authorship already exists in other media, but I will argue that the moving image is a separate case insofar as the raw material of text and music software can develop on its own. The performance of a trained actor can still not be generated by software. Thus, my focus is on the relationship between live embodied performance, and the subsequent algorithmic editing of that footage. This is a process that can employ other software like computer vision (to analyze the content of video) and predictive analytics (to guess what kind of automated film to make for a given user). How is performance altered when it has to communicate to human and non-human alike? The ritual of the iterative frame gives literal form to something that throughout human history has been a projection: the omniscient participant observer, more commonly known as the Divine. We experience black boxed software (AI's, specifically neural networks, which are intrinsically opaque) as functionally omniscient and tacitly allow it to edit more and more of life (e.g. filtering articles, playlists and even potential spouses). As long as it remains disembodied, we will continue to project the Divine on to the black box, causing cultural anxiety. In other words, predictive analytics alienate us from the source code of our cultural texts. The iterative frame then is a space in which these forces can be inscribed on the body, and hence narrated. The algorithmic editing of content is already taken for granted. The editing of moving images, in contrast, still requires a human hand. We need to understand the social power of moving image editing before it is delegated to automation. Practice Section: This project is practice-led, meaning that the portfolio of work was produced as it was being theorized. To underscore this, the portfolio comes at the end of the document. Video editors use artificial intelligence (AI) in a number of different applications, from deciding the sequencing of timelines to using facial and language detection to find actors in archives. This changes traditional production workflows on a number of levels. How can the single decision cut a between two frames of video speak to the larger epistemological shifts brought on by predictive analytics and Big Data (upon which they rely)? When predictive analytics begin modeling the world of moving images, how will our own understanding of the world change? In the practice-based section of this thesis, I explore how these shifts will change the way in which actors might approach performance. What does a gesture mean to AI and how will the editor decontextualize it? The set of a video shoot that will employ an element of AI in editing represents a move towards ritualization of production, summarized in the term the 'iterative frame'. The portfolio contains eight works that treat the set was taken as a microcosm of larger shifts in the production of culture. There is, I argue, metaphorical significance in the changing understanding of terms like 'continuity' and 'sync' on the AI-watched set. Theory Section In the theoretical section, the approach is broadly comparative. I contextualize the current dynamic by looking at previous shifts in technology that changed the relationship between production and post-production, notably the lightweight recording technology of the 1960s. This section also draws on debates in ethnographic filmmaking about the matching of film and ritual. In this body of literature, there is a focus on how participant observation can be formalized in film. Triangulating between event, participant observer and edit grammar in ethnographic filmmaking provides a useful analogy in understanding how AI as film editor might function in relation to contemporary production. Rituals occur in a frame that is dependent on a spatially/temporally separate observer. This dynamic also exists on sets bound for post-production involving AI, The convergence of film grammar and ritual grammar occurred in the 1960s under the banner of cinéma vérité in which the relationship between participant observer/ethnographer and the subject became most transparent. In Rouch and Morin's Chronicle of a Summer (1961), reflexivity became ritualized in the form of on-screen feedback sessions. The edit became transparent-the black box of cinema disappeared. Today as artificial intelligence enters the film production process this relationship begins to reverse-feedback, while it exists, becomes less transparent. The weight of the feedback ritual gets gradually shifted from presence and production to montage and post-production. Put differently, in cinéma vérité, the participant observer was most present in the frame. As participant observation gradually becomes shared with code it becomes more difficult to give it an embodied representation and thus its presence is felt more in the edit of the film. The relationship between the ritual actor and the participant observer (the algorithm) is completely mediated by the edit, a reassertion of the black box, where once it had been transparent. The crucible for looking at the relationship between algorithmic editing, participant observation and the black box is the subject in trance. In ritual trance the individual is subsumed by collective codes. Long before the advent of automated editing trance was an epistemological problem posed to film editing. In the iterative frame, for the first time, film grammar can echo ritual grammar and indeed become continuous with it. This occurs through removing the act of cutting from the causal world, and projecting this logic of post-production onto performance. Why does this occur? Ritual and specifically ritual trance is the moment when a culture gives embodied form to what it could not otherwise articulate. The trance of predictive analytics-the AI that increasingly choreographs our relationship to information-is the ineffable that finds form in the iterative frame. In the iterative frame a gesture never exists in a single instance, but in a potential state. The performers in this frame begin to understand themselves in terms of how automated indexing processes reconfigure their performance. To the extent that gestures are complicit with this mode of databasing they can be seen as votive toward the algorithmic. The practice section focuses on the poetics of this position. Chapter One focuses on cinéma vérité as a moment in which the relationship between production and post-production shifted as a function of more agile recording technology, allowing the participant observer to enter the frame. This shift becomes a lens to look at changes that AI might bring. Chapter Two treats the work of Pierre Huyghe as a 'liminal phase' in which a new relationship between production and post-production is explored. Finally, Chapter Three looks at a film in which actors perform with awareness that footage will be processed by an algorithmic edit. / The conclusion looks at the implications this way of relating to AI-especially commercial AI-through embodied performance could foster a more critical relationship to the proliferating black-boxed modes of production.