FORMAL ANALYSIS – Intro Obstruction nº1 (the Voice)

1. "What do you see?"

Window by Peter Greenaway It had been appalled and fascinated by the statistics coming out of South Africa

Lost Book Found by Jem Cohen (video review) (1996) The result of over five years of Super-8 and 16mm filming on New York City streets, Lost Book Found melds documentary and narrative into a complex meditation on city life.

“La jetée” by Chris Marker (France | 1963 Chris Marker, filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor, and now videographer and digital multimedia [[heretic], has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet.

Ilha Das Flores (1989) | Documentary | English with subtitles. The ironic, heartbreaking and acid “saga” of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a “Nisei” (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer’s kitchen to become sauce of a pork meat; to the garbage can since it is spoiled for the consumption; to a garbage truck to be dumped in a garbage dump in

2. "How did the artist do it?"

All the Artist use the straight on POV to record their subjects. That said, the voice over was the main message of each film. The voice over could be humorous (Window by Peter Greenaway) and Ilha Das Flores (1989). Serious like in the video “La jetée” by Chris Marker, or general narrative like Lost Book Found by Jem Cohen. All these voice overs were used to enhance the narrative of these short films.

3. "Why did the artist create it and what does it mean”

All these artists want to use the voice over to enhance the narrative of their films and to give each film a point of view. Each of these four films were made up of many visual images. The voice over was the thread that cave context to their films.

4. Is it a good artwork? Yes, this is good artwork because it gets it message across to whoever views it. The viewer walks away with more knowledge than they had before. Either the view was entertained, or they gained insight into the human condition.