Week 4, Lectorial

1. I found the idea presented by Liam that editing is ‘breaking things in order to create meaning’ a really interesting one, especially after reading ‘Blood in the Gutter’. A particular example that Liam brought up was the famous cut in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ where Stanley Kubrick cuts from the bone flying through the air to a huge space ship of a similar shape. This, in my mind, is one of the greatest, boldest and most meaningful cuts of all time. Kubrick, by simply using shape and a huge gap of time and space between images, Kubrick infers that the same drive that made man kill each other is the same drive that allows us to create great things and build our world into a huge, expansive place. As if our thirst for blood and our want to improve is tied together.

I quite literally, derived this meaning from a gap between images, using nothing but my own thought to interpret a meaning Kubrick may or may not have intentionally placed. I think this example is one that truly defines the magic of editing and supports the idea that it is the breaking things into ‘bits’ that creates meaning.

1. What you perceive as the emotion occurs because of what is shown before this is ‘Kool…..’ effect. The meaning of the shot is what comes before it and after it. I found the example of pairing the photo of a game thrones character next to a politician interesting because I am forced to derive meaning from the pairing, at first I thought that Liam was stating parallels between the two characters, which he wasn’t necessarily doing, but because they were paired to each other, I instantly, almost subconsciously made a connection. This supports the idea in ‘Blood in the Gutter’ that images can’t be paired next to each other, when in the same form, and has no meaning. For example if a sausage was placed next to a pen, though they aren’t related at all in everyday life, I would derive a new, potentially unique meaning from this.
2. Liams idea, the bigger the space in the cultural medium you are working in, the higher the art is, I think is kind of interesting, because it is true. The best art creates gaps and voids for the audience to fill in and deduce meaning from. A good example of this would be Mad Men, through the pauses and silences you are forced to think and deduce things about the characters. In contrast to Mad Men, is Neighbours were there is virtually no gaps and the meaning is handed directly to the audience. This idea is again supported by ‘A Space Odyssey’ where masses of meaning is found in the huge cuts that skip and transcend space and time.