If you are a Netflix streaming customer this documentary on Paul Strand is available for streaming; it's worth a watch:
Strand:Under the Dark Cloth
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/St...?trkid=2361637
If you are a Netflix streaming customer this documentary on Paul Strand is available for streaming; it's worth a watch:
Strand:Under the Dark Cloth
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/St...?trkid=2361637
I have the DVD; it is worth watching. The score though, to me, is more than annoying. I guess I'm just not modern enough!
Mike
Politically, aerodynamically, and fashionably incorrect.
The music is terrible!
I enjoyed seeing all the photos, and getting a sense of Strand the person.
As a historical documentary, I think this film is very dated, coming out the year before Ken Burns' The Civil War which popularized a lot of techniques that would have improved it.
That dammm music on the film just sucks. Otherwise it's a treasure like two done on the Westons.
How cool! Thanks for posting. I've never seen any video of him. Based on recommendations I'll leave the volume low.
I'm halfway through it and want to say 1) it's an extremely well done film. Amazing to see footage of the man, and of O'Keefe. Everyone is speaks candidly ... there's no sugar-coating or hagiography. So the perspectives on the people and the time are especially interesting.
2) It' making me crazy that they don't clearly identify many of the people who are speaking. Either I'm being dense or this is an annoying flaw.
3) I like the music! It's perfect. Bold modernism, from the period we're looking at.
4) I want to kiss the director for not doing the "Ken Burns style" Of zooming and panning around the images. Ken burns is an enemy of still photography and should be run out of town with his clothes on fire.
This is actually specifically what I had in mind from Ken Burns' style.Originally Posted by paulr
In his documentaries, he gets a unique voice actor for each quoted person and attributes each quote. In this film I absolutely could not tell who the quotes were from.
I had forgotten this aspect of Burns' work. I think it can work well when you are talking about a baseball player from the 1920s and all you have are 3 still photos of him. Would have been horribly misused when the photo itself is the documentary subject.4) I want to kiss the director for not doing the "Ken Burns style" Of zooming and panning around the images.
I used to have this on video tape. I thought it was worth watching once but I never wanted to see it a second time.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
What the hell is hagiography Paul?
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
Kirk, I am not Paul, but it means the description (biography) of Saints, comes from old Greek: "Hagios" is a Saint and "graphein"" means to write, as we write with light in "photography" . So "no hagiography" means he is not given sainthood status.
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