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The Daughters of Dust, Julie Dash (1991)

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  The Daugthers of Dust, a film by Julie Dash, focuses on a Black family in America by portraying it through the black perspective. In Hollywood, the portrayal of Black people is through the White perspective. The film takes place some time after slavery in the time of the common migration to the North by Black families from the South. The film shows of the families Gullah traditions and dialect. The narrative follows the struggle of tradition and assimilation the whether to stay where the roots are or move on into the world. This secluded community of Gullah people live their lives like normal and we see the portrayal of Black families through what Julie Dash calls "The Oppositional Gaze". The Oppositional Gaze is essential in resisting the narrative structures in Hollywood Cinema. The common portrayal if any person is always viewed specifically through the White Male perspective. This means that the portrayal of women and any other ethnic or racial identities is through the
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Reassemblage Trinh Minh Ha , 1982

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       We consider Documentaries to be the most authentic and realistic form of film there is. A traditional documentary provides scientific information, continious footage, minimal editing, and an anti-aesthetic objective view. We expect a documentary to be truthful and raw with what is being presented.        Trinh Minh ha really challenges this idea of seeing documentaries as truthful or authentic. She argues that while a camera eye might be objective, however the film maker behind the camera is not objective. Through documentaries there is this sense of creating meaning through what is being portrayed and get the voice of the "other" which is then translated, without this they would be unheard. Through her film Reassemblage, we see the documentary form being more expressional and abstract and challenging the traditional documentary form. The ideas and concepts that Trinh Minh Ha touches on her criticism of documentary brings up so much to talk about when it comes to film.
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Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho 1960

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 This was my first time watching this film and I absolutely loved it. Overall, this for sure is a well done movie there is nothing I was dissatisfied with despite it being made in the 60's. I am a huge horror fan and I am used to the gory and graphic scenes depicted in these movies, so when I saw the scene when Marion is murdered and later the private detective being murdered, my reaction was to laugh at the scene because of how cheesy it is. As we discussed more about the film, I found it very helpful to know more about the context and boundaries this film pushed. I was very impressed to see the film kill off its main character Marion, since it is not the norm for this to happen. I was surprised by the quality of the film for its time, since I assumed because it was a film made long ago it would lack the quality, which was not the case.  I loved the editing and was very hooked to the movie the whole way through. To understand more about the choices of editing made in Psycho, we re
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Introduction

Welcome to my blog! My name is Marelis Alvarez, I am from Chicago! Here are some things about me: I have 2 dogs named Brandy and Brandon I have 3 sisters I have traveled to Chile, France, and Italy I plan to Double major in Environmental and Film and minor in French What I hope to gain from this class is knowing more about the production of film and know context and analysis of films.   Enjoy!
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