Art of Technique, The: An Aesthetic Approach to Film and Video Production

Book Description

This book provides readers with a teaching tool not currently available. It fills a gap in the literature by going beyond simple discussions of hardware usage, basic technical knowledge, and descriptions of technique to in-depth discussions of how this knowledge can be applied in a coherent approach to production.

Customer Reviews:

A first-rate primer for the aspiring filmmaker.......2002-01-21

"The Art of Technique: An Aesthetic Approach to Film and Video Production," is more of a primer than it is a critique of cinema. Yes, there is a big difference between this volume by John S. Douglass and Gleen P. Harnden and "Film Art: An Introduction" by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. The latter utilizes literally hundreds of frames from both classic and relatively unknown films to demonstrate cinematic techniques. "The Art of Technique" does the same thing with student models. Whether this has to do with the cost of using copyrighted images and/or transforming them into individual frames for use in a book, this is a major difference between the two textbooks. When Douglass and Harnden discuss something, like Ingmar Bergman's use of Extreme Close-ups (ECU) in "Scenes from a Marriage," they can only talk about the extraordinary intimacy it gave the production, without offering visual evidence to support their claim. However, the authors do use their "homemade" examples to good use at time; for example, when exploring the concept of framing they provide examples of "bad" shots (filled with distracting clutter) before showing better choices for the cinematographer.

"The Art of Technique" is divided into two main sections. After an introductory chapter on "Interpretation and Treatment," there are six chapters focusing on the various ways a film can tell a story, essentially pre-production considerations. There is a nice little section detailing the basic types of stories Hollywood tells over and over again ("Jack the Giant Killer," "Fish Out of Water," etc.). Clearly the emphasis here is more on production than criticism, which makes the orientation of this textbook more towards the filmmaker than the movie audience. This first section ends with a look at Mise en Scene and questions of design. In terms of concepts covered, separate from the issue of how those concepts are presented in the textbook, the authors provided a comprehensive, well-organized presentation.

The second half of the book covers "Techniques for Interpretation," which starts with a consideration of the trinity of how the camera, editing and lighting can be used for interpretation. Again, everything is here; I could not find a concept or technique that was an obviously glaring omission. The book concludes with a pair of chapters on Symbols and Significance, which get into the impact film can have on an audience. You might expect to find a glossary at the back of the book, but instead we have a pair of appendixes on Electricity and Measuring Light, which only serves to reaffirm that this book is geared towards the novice filmmaker. If you are looking for a textbook that because you are a budding film critic, then this is not going to be your first choice. I can even make the argument that by not saturating their textbook with frames from dozens of films, Douglass and Harden do their readers a favor, because instead of borrowing shots and techniques from the acknowledged masters of the art form, they are being asked to reinvent the wheel. Do not knock this, because that is basically how we think Orson Welles made "Citizen Kane."

An Excellent Overview.......2002-01-15

This book explores many aspects of filmmaking in a logical, easy-to-follow manner. A great find, albeit a bit pricy. I used it as my text for teaching a video class as it offers some aesthetic considerations for why techniques may or may not be used in a given situation. This approach helps to minimize the technique-euphoria beginners tend to have with techniques which are new to them (ala George Lucas in the new Star Wars...)

good intro for the novice filmmaker.......2000-04-21

this book works very well as an introduction to the creative use of techniques for filmmaking. it is quite clear and concise and is not bogged down by too much technical details or dicussions on film theory. a good starting point.

Stick to "Film Art" by Bordwell/Thomspon.......2000-04-17

I was shocked when I looked over this book. I had always relied on "Film Art" which is the standanrd intro to film but I wanted to branch out. I found this book to be a superficial approach to cinema, no probbing analysis or challenge to interpretaion of technique or narrative. Save your money and stick to the classics. No one seems to use this book in higher education film studies- ask your professor to suggest a book.

Best introduction to filmmaking I've found.......2000-02-16

I teach filmmaking, and needed a book that covers all the basics in a few meaty and meaningful pages. This is it. Most books on filmmaking technique either wax philosophical on the author's pet theories or get lost in gee-wiz-you-can-do-this-neat-trick-with-the-camera mania. There's little of either here; instead, you'll find a focused, highly readable series of lessons on what really matters most--how to communicate a meaningful message on film or video. Unlike some VERY annoying books that give examples of lighting and other techniques via badly drawn line-art, this book shows every technique with actual stills from video shoots so you can see how lighting, framing, lens use, etc. actually change the appearance and impact of a scene.

There are also numerous references to excellent classic and modern films with quite specific suggestions for examining the techniques that make those films work so well. Perhaps most important of all, the authors never lose sight of the fact that filmmaking is about interpreting and creating a reality that evokes a meaningful and powerful experience for the audience.

Book Description

No judgement of taste is innocent. In a word, we are all snobs. Pierre Bourdieu brilliantly illuminates this situation of the middle class in the modern world. France's leading sociologist focusses here on the French bourgeoisie, its tastes and preferences. Distinction is at once a vast ethnography of contemporary France and a dissection of the bourgeois mind.

In the course of everyday life people constantly choose between what they find aesthetically pleasing and what they consider tacky, merely trendy, or ugly. Bourdicu bases his study on surveys that took into account the multitude of social factors that play a part in a Frenchperson's choice of clothing, furniture, leisure activities, dinner menus for guests, and many other matters of taste. What emerges from his analysis is that social snobbery is everywhere in the bourgeois world. The different aesthetic choices people make are all distinctions-that is, choices made in opposition to those made by other classes. Taste is not pure. Bourdieu finds a world of social meaning in the decision to order bouillabaisse, in our contemporary cult of thinness, in the "California sports" such as jogging and cross-country skiing. The social world, he argues, functions simultaneously as a system of power relations and as a symbolic system in which minute distinctions of taste become the basis for social judgement.

The topic of Bourdieu's book is a fascinating one: the strategies of social pretension are always curiously engaging. But the book is more than fascinating. It is a major contribution to current debates on the theory of culture and a challenge to the major theoretical schools in contemporary sociology.

Customer Reviews:

Bourdieu.......2007-02-18

I think that if you are interested in this book, then you probably know what you are in for. It's hard going (of course) but worth the effort.

A Must Read!.......2004-04-03

This is a fantastic explication of how social class prearranges our tastes and interests. I disagree with the reader who thinks that it is not applicable to American society--to the contrary. It is true that American culture is not so obviously stratified in the exact same ways as French culture (of the 1960s, I would add, when Bourdieu collected his data). Also, in American culture there is less of a tendency to exploit the social markers (dress, etc.) that one might find in Europe, and it's hip nowadays for the middle-class to adopt the style and dress of the street (e.g., hip-hop); nevertheless, I'd say that this is a veneer of street-cred, and that if you were to look at how the middle-class actually lives compares to those where hip-hop originated, you'd find some pretty significant differences.

However, his basic differentiation between working class/petit bourgeois (small business owners, clerical workers and the like)/grand bourgeois (professionals, executives, and large industrialists) certainly carries over into American society. And most interesting is his claim that the higher up in the food chain one goes, the more one's taste in the "aesthetic" inclines towards Kant's idea of disinterested formalism, while the lower classes tend to want their art to be informed by ethics and morality.

Bourdieu sees these tendencies as "embodied" and largely unconsciously adopted through our upbringing. One only has to watch a television show like "The O.C." and how they cast Ryan's mother in comparison to the trophy wives of Orange County to see that even in America class and taste and body language are still encoded in our body language, choice of dress, manners, and conversational style. The economic reality of America is that a Wal-Mart worker or transcontinental trucker is NOT middle-class in the same way as a doctor, whether in terms of taste or salary. Anyone who thinks so is either deluding themselves or doesn't want to see the truth.

Bourdieu does not neglect to mention sex (although he doesn't have as much to say about race), and has sections on women's body image (the richer, the thinner) and how the different classes deal with food (high-fat, high-carb for lower classes, fresh veggies and lean meats for higher classes). In America, our current epidemic of obesity is not only the result of marketing campaigns, but also (perhaps largely) the result of poor quality food (e.g. fast food, prepared food) being made much more affordable than high quality food (fresh produce, fish, organic). If you can't afford to eat well in America, you probably won't.

Moreover, Bourdieu makes the observation, which holds true in America as much as anywhere else, that formal education (which reinforces "legitimate" taste) can change one's tastes and values, but that one's early social upbringing will lead to a quicker assimilation of "legitimate" culture. As someone who went to bourgeois schools without a bourgeois background, and who has subsequently taught at state universities in poor areas, this truism is so obvious as to hardly need explication. Much of the poor performance of underclass or non-bourgeois students is as much due to lack of early acculturation (by this I mean exposure to "culture" like non-Hollywood films, art museums, etc., but also the habits and customs associated with school learning and higher education) as it is to any basic intelligence.

Finally, it's true that Bourdieu's style is rather ponderous, repetitive, and academic, and the book is very long indeed. Nevertheless, I can't agree that it compares with the difficulty of Derrida, Jameson, Bhabha, or other high theorists. Bourdieu's sentences are sometimes long and have many subordinate clauses, but their basic subjects and verbs are easily identifiable! The Conclusion and Postscript do raise the level of difficulty, but the Introduction and body of the main text are accessible and basically say everything he has to say (many times). Anyone with a basic undergraduate education (one that has done its job properly) should be able to handle Bourdieu's style in this particular book.

read it for the diagrams.......2000-10-29

Distinction is the most cited book from Bourdieu, one of France's most prolific scholars. The book tends to assume that its readers are familiar with his key terms, developed mostly in _Outline of a Theory of Practice_ and _Logic of Practice_. Although it is the most cited, beginning readers of Bourdieu should probably start with _Partical Reason_ to get a handle on these concepts before getting involved in this larger tome.

Word for word, Bourdieu's writing style is not economical, and he is almost as cumbersome as Derrida. He does not approach the overly-complex mode of Deleuze and Guattari. His concepts bear the most resemblance to those of an early Baudrillard or a late Gramsci in terms of their interpretation of the social world, although he will depart into some more Marxist modes of interpretation.

Bourdieu's _Distinction_ is most valuable for his diagrams, as they provide a clear graphic representation of what he is trying to say. If one wants the read Bourdieu for content and/or argument, she would be better directed to one of his other books named above, as his arguments are more on-point and rpecide.

In addition, _Distinction_ is careful to limit itself to a data set collected in the late 60s and early 70s. Although the theory seems to be a sound one, Bourdieu makes claims of greater applicability in his books about the Bayle: _Outline_ and _Logic_. For discussions of modern Europe, his newer _Weight of the World_ provides a better, and more recent, analysis of the same social trends as in _Distinction_.

A brilliant look at the social implications of taste.......2000-09-12

I come back to this book time and again in my own work and see it as one of the most indispensible books today on issues of aesthetics, class distinctions, group identity, and covert social inequality. Bourdieu takes on the Kantian aesthetics of the "subjective universal," showing that the value judgments about things reflect material and social conditions and in fact index social and class differences. The way we classify things (operas, desserts, leisure activities) is inextricably tied up with the way we classify ourselves as social beings and others as members of other social groups.

Distinction is a long and difficult book, but from start to finish it is full of fascinating and original insights. Bourdieu's language is loaded with big words and long sentences, but I find that after I get used to the kinds of words and structures he uses, his language actually becomes pretty clear and straight-forward. It's definitely worth the time and brain-power needed to read it.

Good French ethnography from brilliant intellect.......2000-09-12

Pierre Bourdieu is a tremendous intellect, and has produced far superior work to this book. _Distinction_ is a fascinating book, particularly for those interested in French society. Yet its relevance cannot really extend to America, which has a markedly different system of class. The French have deeply entrenched class consciousness, in both a pragmatic sense and a Marxist sense, whereas 90% of Americans consider themselves "middle class." Bourdieu shows that the French are at pains to symbolically express their class differences, and he does so with aplomb. He compiles statistics and data which show ways in which the French produce their own class position through consumption, education, and taste. But his observations are less applicable to the vast American "middle class." Class mobility, education, and stylistic expression are much more democratically distributed in America. So while many French are content with their class position, vocation, and traditions, most Americans see themselves as "middle class," striving for better, and free from tradition. _Distinction_ is an interesting and accesible book, but those looking for Bourdieu's contributions to social theory will be better served by some of his other works.

Sight, Sound, Motion with infotrac: Applied Media Aesthetics

Average customer rating:

5 stars
Best in field
motion graphics professor
Fundamental book on the theory of the moving image
The Filmmaker's Bible of Aesthetics or What Works and Why

Sight, Sound, Motion with infotrac: Applied Media Aesthetics
Herbert Zettl
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 053452723X

Book Description

The most comprehensive book on the market, SIGHT SOUND MOTION/APPLIED MEDIA AESTHETICS describes the major aesthetic image elements--light and color, space, time-motion, and sound--and how they are used in television and film. Zettl's comprehensive coverage of aesthetic theory and how that theory can be successfully applied place this text in a class by itself. This edition is richly illustrated with visuals that often draw on traditional art forms, such as painting, sculpture, and dance.

Customer Reviews:

5 stars.......2005-10-10

The book is totally new and under very good condition, and the dilievery time is much earlier than i expected.

Best in field.......2004-12-28

This text thoroughly explains the intricacies of applied media asthetics in a concise and completely accessible way. It is a well organizied text that ehances its presentation through the use of many illustrations. I believe that this is the best text on the subject and that it has been since its first edtion.

motion graphics professor.......2002-06-04

"Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics explains the WHY of film and video production. If you're looking for HOW then turn to another book."

I would disagree with the above review. Only by learning WHY first, can we learn HOW later. This book is more than a cookie cutter approach to film and video. If you want to "click and drag" your way through an editing program, then true, this book is not for you. Add this to your collection if you want a book that teaches how to see and create film. Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics has staying power.

Fundamental book on the theory of the moving image.......2001-05-20

This was the assigned textbook for my digital video 2 class, and it is simply wonderful. Zettl is a very knowledgable man on the subject of creating images for film, video, and even new media. (Zettl's text Video Basics 3 was used in my digital video 1 class as well) This book lays a solid foundation for the theory behind how and why the viewer perceives the moving image, and how the filmmaker and video producer can create more pleasing and coherent productions.

While the biggest complaint I've heard about this book is it's over-reliance on theory, it still does a good job of contextualizing theory into practical application. Thus the title of the book: APPLIED Media Aesthetics. Although I haven't read any of Eisentien's theories behind filmmaking, I suspect that Zettl's treatment would compete rather well, and is probably more accessible for a modern reader.

This book covers all the bases from color and light, time and space and structuring audio to image. Zettl succintcly deconstructs the intelligent mind behind the images and sound of our cultures film and television productions.

Sight, Sound, Motion: Applied Media Aesthetics explains the WHY of film and video production. If you're looking for HOW then turn to another book.

The Filmmaker's Bible of Aesthetics or What Works and Why.......2000-11-04

This is probably the most important textbook a film production student can have on his/her shelf. NOT for how to work with actors or how to light a scene, but for understanding the underlying reasons of why things work due to our learned aesthetics and Western sensibilities.

Professor Herbert Zettl has written the most concise manual on why we has film viewers percieve things the way we do. He explains in detail (and layman's terms) how our aesthetics have been formed to interpret the dynamic medium of film and television.

How editing of action from shot to shot creates the illusion of continuous motion. How stagelines work so not to give the effect that your actor is jumping around from one side of the scene to the other. How to crop your shot BETWEEN the bodies natural cut-off points (i.e. neck, elbow, waist) to prevent the actor from looking like a disembodied head or torso.

This book is cover-to-cover insights into what we as viewers take for granted when we watch a good filmmaker's work, but may not consider when faced with the daunting task of mounting a film production and the on-set "reality" problems that dominate the filmmaker's mind when shooting a film.

I first read this book when I was in film school twenty years ago. Since then I have directed many professional film productions and I still review it before starting a new one to refresh myself.

Just as Syd Field's book "Screenplay" is the bible for screenwriting, "Sight Sound Motion" is the bible on understanding what works in film/video and why.

Average customer rating:

Terrific book!

Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Cynthia A. Freeland
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Art History: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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Modern Art: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

ASIN: 0192804634

Book Description

In today's art world many strange, even shocking, things qualify as art. In this Very Short Introduction Cynthia Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are valued in the arts, weaving together philosophy and art theory with many fascinating examples. She discusses blood, beauty, culture, money, museums, sex, and politics, clarifying contemporary and historical accounts of the nature, function, and interpretation of the arts. Freeland also propels us into the future by surveying cutting-edge web sites, alongside the latest research on the brain's role in perceiving art. This clear, provocative book engages with the big debates surrounding our responses to art and is an invaluable introduction to anyone interested in thinking about art.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific book!.......2005-08-07

I found this book to do just what I had hoped. It's like a syllabus from a very smart, highly organized professor, who fleshes out the subjects just enough, and lets you know where exactly to look for more. It's concise, intelligent, and informative, and it saved me a lot of time in working out an outline on the subject (I'm an art professor myself). Cynthia Freeland -- thank you! What clarity!

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women

Average customer rating:

New revised version supposedly has all the lies removed
Must Read For Feminists
This might help
an oldie, but a goodie
Very insightful despite some flaws

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
Naomi Wolf
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060512180
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Amazon.com

In a country where the average woman is 5-foot-4 and weighs 140 pounds, movies, advertisements, and MTV saturate our lives with unrealistic images of beauty. The tall, nearly emaciated mannequins that push the latest miracle cosmetic make even the most confident woman question her appearance. Feminist Naomi Wolf argues that women's insecurities are heightened by these images, then exploited by the diet, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industries. Every day new products are introduced to "correct" inherently female "flaws," drawing women into an obsessive and hopeless cycle built around the attempt to reach an impossible standard of beauty. Wolf rejects the standard and embraces the naturally distinct beauty of all women.

Book Description

The bestselling classic that redefined our view od the relationship between beauty and female identity.

In today's world, women have more power, legal recognition, and professional success than ever before. Alongside the evident progress of the women's movement, however, writer and journalist Naomi Wolf is troubled by a different kind of social control, which, she argues, may prove just as restrictive as the traditional image of homemaker and wife. It's the beauty myth, an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society's impossible definition of "the flawless beauty."

Customer Reviews:

New revised version supposedly has all the lies removed.......2007-09-05

In a Stalinesque move that would have impressed him, Wolf has quietly edited out all the false statistics and bogus claims of the original book and released the leftovers. No mention of this deception is given anywhere in the book, like when Stalin would remove people from photos and pretend they had never existed in history. Ha Ha! Nice try Wolf. It IS embarrassing being publicly exposed as a liar, isn't it? Maybe stick to facts the next time. Whoever is impressed by this bilge deserves to be misled, and will continue to be misled until they educate themselves with facts, or raise their intellects so as to be able to separate fact from fantasy. It would have won her a doctorate in Creative Statistics if it was an area of academic study. The problem with many of the 5 star voters of this book is that hatred too often leads to outrageous statements that can be accepted as fact only by fellow haters. Hatred distorts one's mental evaluative machinery, which is only too evident when one looks at works by fellow heterophobics Mary Daly, Andrea Dworkin, Susan Faludi, etc. The Germans made use of this principle well in the 1930s and 40s too, and it also worked here for a while.

Does Naomi Wolf realize yet that she has done more damage to the women's movement than help it in any way? The ammunition she has provided to men's groups has been like manna from heaven, as it is so easily disproved (see Christina Hoff-Sommers) and her thinking is sadly representative of a generation of women who have grown up with the distorted, 50% view of reality seen through a pair of feminist-colored spectacles. They earnestly believe they can make up statistics and get away with it like they get away with everything else in the society they grew up in. Well, a wake-up call for you, Wolf. Objective truth is no respecter of the hypocrisies of feminism and political correctness. Time will see your drivel condemned to the world's literary garbage bin where it belongs, where it will nestle comfortably with similar drivel from Daly, Dworkin, Steinem, MacKinnon, Faludi and other mysandronists.

Must Read For Feminists.......2007-07-30

From the affluent, white female perspective, but still very relevant. Wolf explains how women adopt a third shift to take care of their beauty. It keeps our minds occupied and our pocketbooks empty so we don't start a revolution. I consider it a must read for feminists and pro-feminists.

This might help.......2007-05-22

I actually wrote this comment as a reaction to one of the posts (under the comments section) but then realized that I meant it as a general comment on the book and people's reactions to it. I was fortunate in that I read this book in an academic setting. It was assigned along with many other supportive books, which together shore up any weakness in each respective argument.

But since that is not possible for everyone, I think that if you read this book along with Susan Faludi's "Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women," you might find yourself surprised about the subject of a conscious conspiracy to keep women down. Susan Faludi, as opposed to some of the complaints against Naomi Wolf, actually uses real interviews and facts to back up her arguments about the state of the public sector.

I completely agree with many reviewers that say it is important to read the book and make up your own mind, but you might get a better understanding of the situation, and what Naomi Wolf is trying to say, if you also read Susan Faludi's book. I was shocked and amazed by what I read, and without substantial facts to back up her arguments I'm not sure I would have put as much stock in them.

an oldie, but a goodie.......2007-04-16

Some of the stats and facts contained in this book are a wee bit dated, but that's a small minus in light of the many plusses of this powerful book! I started reading it, hoping I wouldn't like it and could put it aside but from the first opening pages, I was hooked!

On page three, Ms. Wolf writes, "The stronger women were becoming politically, the heavier the ideals of beauty would bear down upon them, mostly in order to distract their energy and undermine their progress."

Wow. So, fiddling around with beauty is something that keeps us distracted and distressed, and inhibits the realization of our full potential! Further, she writes, "The beauty myth is not about women at all. It is about men's institutions and institutional power" (p. 13).

If you're ready to have you eyes opened to the facts of women's beauty, take a few hours and read this book. You'll never look at a glossy woman's magazine the same way again.

Very insightful despite some flaws.......2007-04-16

The Beauty Myth explores the contemporary culture of feminine beauty. Its thesis made up of several parts:
1. That the concept of feminine beauty is more a social construct as opposed to a completely biological idea.
2. That it is very successful at debilitating women's progress within work, home, society, relationships, etc.
3. That this has been developed as a political tool, aimed at countering the advances of the feminist revolution.

I think she deals with 1 and 2 very well, however in 3 she falters a bit in that she is too conspiratorial without much proof. She makes it seem that she's talking about some conscious conspiracy to keep women down (this is how many reviewers have interpreted her) - I think this isn't what she was saying but she's not too clear on that point.

Even if you disagree with a huge chunk of what she says in this book, it will still bring in a host of insights that clear-thinking people will hopefully not fight to accept. For instance, she looks at how the "ideal-looking woman" has been and is being continuously redefined to be just out of reach.

Many will find it hard to swallow a lot of what she's saying, all I can say is read it and make up your own mind. However reading a lot of Amazon reviews of the book was very revealing as many of the negative reactions were very knee-jerk and quite brazenly dismissive even though a lot of these people have probably not read the book.

I personally agree with a lot of what Wolf says about society today and the way the female body is used as a political weapon - but no matter what you think this will be a very revealing and insightful read.

The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses

Average customer rating:

Where the f#*k is it!!!
what has been lost in architecture and why it should be back
A Must-Read
Updated Reprint of an Old Classic
Lessons for students in architecture

The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses
Juhani Pallasmaa
Manufacturer: Academy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0470015780

Book Description

Since the book's first publication, interest in the role of the body and the senses has been emerging in both architectural philosophy and teaching. This new, revised and extended edition of this seminal work will not only inspire architects and students to design more holistic architecture, but will enrich the general reader's perception of the world around them.

The Eyes of the Skin has become a classic of architectural theory and consists of two extended essays. The first surveys the historical development of the ocular-centric paradigm in western culture since the Greeks, and its impact on the experience of the world and the nature of architecture. The second examines the role of the other senses in authentic architectural experiences, and points the way towards a multi-sensory architecture which facilitates a sense of belonging and integration.

Customer Reviews:

Where the f#*k is it!!!.......2007-09-05

I shouldn't really be so harsh because I was starting to forget about it has been so long. To be honest your service has been pretty good up till now but this time its a joke I been searching around the neighbourhood and no one has heard of it, I have email and ask if you know where it is and you said it was sent. I have paid for it so I should have it.

Please I do understand this can happen occassionally, but please rectify this ASAP

Thanks, otherwise this is a possitive review...

what has been lost in architecture and why it should be back.......2006-06-04

During my 15 years of architectural education and some years of practice (both as architect and as 'explainer' of architecture) I have not yet encountered a book on architecture which has changed my view on architecture so dramatically.

Juhani Pallasmaa's book makes an excelent argument for retrieving in architecture that which seems to have been lost for a long time: the lived intelligence of the bodilly senses. In his book Pallasmaa gives an overview of the development of the occularcentrism which is dominating architecture (and pretty much every cultural aspect) in the Western world for centuries and goes on to show how this leads to an impoverment of the architectural experience (and with that the impoverment of our daily lifes).

The mix of theory, practice and convincing examples (ranging from architecture, art, cinema to literature and poetry together with the size (80 pages) makes the book easily readable, even for the less theoretical inclined reader. My advice: read it!

For those of you who are as impressed with this book as I am: there's another book by Pallasmaa with the title 'Encounters'(published by Rakennustieto Oy Rati, June 2005). This book features a collection of essay's which were written by the author over the last 20 years. This book is also about the phenomenology of architecture but, due to its size (app. 350 pages), gives a broader overview of the thinking and writing of Juhani Pallasmaa. It seems it is not available at Amazon but I hope they will put is on there list soon!

A Must-Read.......2006-03-20

In five years of Architectural Design, I am hard-pressed to find a book that has made such an impact on my thinking and overall awareness of architecture. This is truly a must-read for any architecture student, and is extremely interesting for those non-architects out there. I highly encourage the investment.

Updated Reprint of an Old Classic.......2005-09-24

Now back in print and updated into a second edition, this little book is a masterpiece on the differences between what we see in a set of architectural plans compared with what we sense when we walk into a building.

When we actually walk into a building, we are sensing the building with all of our senses. The smell of the still drying paint, the echo's from unexpected sources and more now have an impact that wasn't there in the plans.

This book consists of two essays:

The first surveys the historical development of the eye-centric orientation of our Western culture that began with the Greeks.

The second begins to lay out a way towards a multi-sensory approach to architecture that forms a sense of belonging and integration.

Lessons for students in architecture.......2000-06-20

As a student in architecture I would recommend this book to any person involved in any way of design. Not only buildings, because architecture also includes every aspect of the designing of space. This can therefore include industrial design, automotive design, etc. The book dicusses the interaction between people and spaces(buildings) using the human senses as medium - the way we see, feel, hear and experience a space. It is a fresh and captivating book and it is a real pitty that it is out of print.

On Leon Battista Alberti: His Literary and Aesthetic Theories

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Swimming in Tar
Swimming in Tar

On Leon Battista Alberti: His Literary and Aesthetic Theories
Mark Jarzombek
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0262100428

Book Description

Listen to Alberti's voice. This is what Mark Jarzombek has done in studying virtually all of Alberti's writings on philosophy, ethics, aesthetics architecture, and literature. Jarzombek's thorough grasp of Alberti's thought and painstaking analysis of his elusive identity transform our image of this remarkable man carving out a new place for Alberti in literary theory, art history, and Renaissance scholarship.

Instead of warming over the stereotypes of Alberti as a "universal man" or as a proponent of "civic Humanism," Jarzombek explores Alberti's views on the relationship between the writer and society. He asserts that, while Alberti was indeed an architect, an art theorist and a man of letters, he was above all a theoretician of writing: "Everywhere one turns, the problems of writing, authorship and textuality seem to appear, from his first writings... to his last."

Jarzombek, opening the possibilities for a different type of discussion of Alberti and of such major works as De pictura and De re aedificatora, places Alberti more accurately within the context of his times and clarifies the intertextual relationship among his works. Jarzombek's investigation brings to light themes that have remained hidden in the complex world of Alberti's speculations

The Alberti of Jarzombeks book is an outsider struggling to resolve conflicting impulses of pessimism and hope. He is also a profound and willful thinker who, while amalgamating contemporary trends, did not endorse them but countered with a cosmological philosophy of his own.

Mark Jarzombek is Assistant Professor of Architectural History at Cornell University.

Customer Reviews:

Swimming in Tar.......2001-08-22

I am disappointed to see this book catalogued, once again, under architecture theory. I don't know where to file it, but not here. It is a dense conglomerate of interpretations of and anachronistic projections onto the theories of Alberti. As such it deals with architecture only tangentially. Even specialists in Architecture theory and history will find the writing opaque, pointlessly recondite, and unfocused. Paragraphs are divided at apparent random, sentences bury the principal clause deep in strata of grad-school gobbledygook, and even the most lucid statements require excavation. If there were some brilliant insight to redeam the writing, I might suspend disbelief, but nowhere does M.J. treat us to an IDEA. The whole piece reads like a Master's thesis. The value of the book lies in it's openminded rethinking of traditional assumptions in Alberti scholarship. Most of these, including the idea that Alberti was a sort of proto-modern in his theory (as I read it anyway) seem somewhere between provocative and wild. Some are exciting. But I am left feeling that M.J. has mostly just used Alberti as a lense for modern theory. This is not required reading. Don't bother.

Swimming in Tar.......2001-08-22

The Major Film Theories: An Introduction (Galaxy Book ; Gb450)

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Nice Intro but incomplete
Good introduction
A bit inaccessible for an introduction
Close to perfection! An absolute must read.
simple is as simple reads

The Major Film Theories: An Introduction (Galaxy Book ; Gb450)
J. D. Andrew
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195019911

Book Description

Both a history of film theory and an introduction to the work of the most important writers in the field, Andrew's volume reveals the bases of thought of such major theorists as Munsterberg, Arnheim, Eisenstein, Balazs, Kracauer, Bazin, Mitry, and Metz.

Customer Reviews:

Nice Intro but incomplete.......2006-03-05

First, the strengths: Andrew gives intelligent summaries and discussion of some major historical film theorists, with chapters on Munsterberg, Arnheim, Eisenstein, Balazs, Kracauer, Bazin, Mitry, Metz, and Ayfre, and Agel. He focuses on the debate between the formalists (who believe film art is defined by its formal properties including editing, framing, mise-en-scene, lighting, and etc.) and the realist tradition (who believe that film art is defined by its basis in photography, a physical impression of its subject). The highlight is undoubtedly Andrew's excellent discussion of the great French critic Andre Bazin, which is not surprising since Andrew's Ph.D thesis was on Bazin. The weaknesses: This was published in 1976, and so it completely ignores the vast body of criticism published since then, especially feminism, and the influence of Lacan and psychoanalytic theory. Still, this is not a bad starting point for students of film theory.

Good introduction.......2006-03-01

Just as the book states, this is an introduction to film theories; and as such it fulfills its promise. The explanations and discussions are almost always clear, at times somewhat rarefied, but overall an authentic book.

A bit inaccessible for an introduction.......2004-01-13

My main issue with this book is that the title ("An Introduction") implies that the book is for anyone with an interest in film theory. However, the author sometimes goes into nearly-impenetrable technical jargon. I would disagree with the assertion that this book is easy to understand.

For instance, from page 57 comes the sentence: "In Piaget's terms, he [Eisenstein] wanted cinema to become or to produce a 'global syncretism of individual transductive inferences.'" And this is supposed to be an introduction? (You may be able to view page 57 through Amazon.com's "Search inside the book" feature.) I found myself re-reading paragraphs a few times to try to comprehend what was being said. I would recommend this book as a good survey of film theory for readers who have already had exposure to film theory and have some background in philosophy, psychology, and linguistics.

Another problem is that the book was published in 1976, so roughly 25% of film theory history is missing. An updated or revised edition is needed. It would be interesting to see if/how the recent Dogme 95 movement fits into film theory history.

This book might be valuable to film students or film geeks who've read other books about film theory, but for the average reader, this isn't the best "introduction" on the subject.

Close to perfection! An absolute must read........2003-07-25

For people interested in the theory and psychology of cinema, this is a great starting point and is a must have in any collection. J. Dudley Andrew breaks down the theories of Mitry, Metz, Arheim, and Bazin, among others, into easy to understand chapters without losing the essense of the theories. This book and the material are both so interesting that this will have you hooked on film theory. Instead of purchasing the individual books by each theorist, Andrew's book is the way to go in more ways than one. It is very easy to understand, which some books on film theory aren't, and he uses great quotes from each of the theorists. Andrew followed this up with "Concepts in Film Theory" which is the opposite of this book. It is much more difficult to understand and follow so beware.

simple is as simple reads.......2002-08-21

A great book, does exactly what it says on the cover, admittedly thirty years or so old, it still grapples sipmly with the theorie's you'd want to be introduced to if you've no idea what you're doing by looking at different theorists' views and counterviews. This book won't tell you what to think, it'll give you a set of arguments and let you decide where you go with it . . . in my humble opinion . . .

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The Field of Cultural Production
Pierre Bourdieu
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0231082878

Book Description

-- Lisa Jardine, author of Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance

During the last two decades, sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has become a dominant force in cultural activity ranging from taste in music and art to choices in food and lifestyles.

The Field of Cultural Production brings together Bourdieu's major essays on art and literature and provides the first introduction to Bourdieu's writings and theory of a cultural field that situates artistic works within the social conditions of their production, circulation, and consumption.

Bourdieu addresses many of the burning issues that have consumed literary, art, and cultural criticism over the past decade: aesthetic value and canonicity, intertextuality, the institutional frameworks of cultural practice, the social role of intellectuals and artists, and structures of literary and artistic authority.

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Sure he was a snob...
Perennial mirrors

The Adorno Reader (Blackwell Readers)
Theodor W. Adorno
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0631210776

Book Description

This volume is the essential collection of readings from the multidisciplinary work of Theodor Adorno, one of the most influential and admired German thinkers of the twentieth century.In order to allow a ready appreciation of a specific area of Adorno's thought, The Adorno Reader organizes the most important of his writings into five sections: the task of philosophy, the concepts of philosophy, sociological writings, culture, and aesthetic criticism.In addition to a general introduction, the editor has provided individual introductions to all of the material in the book. By explicating some of the more obscure terminology and arguments these introductions clearly situate each piece within the larger context of Adorno's writings and his philosophical tradition.

Customer Reviews:

Sure he was a snob..........2006-07-05

It's OK to concede this.

And he was an armchair academic who eschewed every opportunity for real-life praxis.

He was human, fallible, prone to snap judgments on subjects he didn't understand.

And YET...despite his snobbery (why wasn't he frequenting the great jazz clubs of South L.A. if he was so interested in essaying the subject?), and despite his vulnerability to any number of Sloterdijkian critiques...there are enough moments of tough, bristling intelligence to make it all so very worthwhile.

BUT DON'T START HERE. Go straight to the fount; with Adorno context is EVERYTHING. Pick up Aesthetic Theory (Hullot-Kentor translation) and Minima Moralia. Appetite whetted? Try Negative Dialectics next. And then come back here and write your own review. :)

Perennial mirrors.......2003-12-17

Do not be put off by Adorno's so-called "critique" of jazz music.
Adorno's critique, all critiques are embodied in jazz. His use of the essay-form itself shows his desire to put constraints on his art to free himself, from those boundaries he denounces, or boundaries which he feels will co-opt him. Besides, many who call him a "snob" for this are forgetting that jazz improvisation is a transgression of the idiom, which is what Adorno speaks of when he labels it a fashion. He speaks of the idiom, and the lack of possibilities on divers ONTOLOGICAL levels. No matter what he thought, he's still a super-cronopio.

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