Jessi Jones

My name is Jessica Jones, I answer to Jessi, I am freshly 17 years of age and I attend the University of Texas at Arlington. I am two years younger than the majority of my classmates because I skipped third and fourth grade when I was eight years old.

 I was in theatre all four years of high school. I graduated as Colt Theatre Vice President. However, I am not passionate enough about theatre to study it, but theatre was the next best thing to photography and graphic design.I have experience with dance, choir, piano, and film as well as photography and graphic design. In theory, I am passionate about all things fine arts, however photography got the best of my interest.

I love to manipulate photos. Whether it is editing them, transforming them, or using them for graphic design. I have never been sufficient in using my hands on canvas, however I can create any message I want to convey digitally. This interest started through music. I love analyzing art, music more particularly. I’m just not motivated to write music, or write about art. From my theatre experience, I am better at showing, rather than telling. Photography is my outlet to showing people. This is where I got the aspiration to become an album cover photographer. I can easily get very involved and emotional about a set of lyrics. I can take these emotions and create a concept in one photo/design to represent an entire theme of lyrics. It is almost like I am directing my own music video. In addition to being the singer, dancer, producer, etc. in all of my projects. This is nice because I am also a “control freak” in a sense. I work well with others, however, it is just easier and more settling to do everything myself. With the exception of working with famous music artists, granted.

               My name is Jessi Jones and my artwork is charcoal on sketch pad of a cropped skeleton. The skeleton is posing with its hands propped on a large stick as if it were a cane. For what is hidden, the skeleton is wearing a top hat with a blanket thrown over its shoulder. Therefore, I decided to name this piece “Classy Grip”, due to the way the hands grip the stick. This was made in late October in the drawing room as a class assignment for body proportions. I chose to crop the skeleton at its hands because of its interesting display. It is visually centered by several diagonals, so I knew that it would present a 3 dimensional view without leading the viewer’s eye off the page.  I specifically decided to crop the hands and make that my focal point because it presented a challenge that I wanted to attack. I am very pleased with the outcome of the work.

Life is Beautiful

The 1997 film Life is Beautiful, written and starred by Roberto Benigni, is a Holocaust story about a Jewish waiter named Guido Orefice. The beginning introduces Dora, Guido’s wife, and how Guido’s charming and innocent personality wins her over. The middle reveals how Guido’s peaceful life as a father and a husband is terminated when he is sent to a Jewish concentration camp with his wife and son, named Giosue. Finally, the ending results in Guido’s death in sacrifice of Giosue’s freedom and reunion with Dora. While this film was very well written, the ending seemed dramatically rushed.

To elaborate, throughout the movie, I developed so many feelings for Guido, only for his death to be off screen, fast and never to be thought of afterwards. I realize that the film was portraying the traumatic circumstances that happened during The Holocaust. However, Guido’s death seemed all for not due to the feelings that had been invested in his character. His death had so much potential in furthering the plot. Yet Guido’s death took place the night before the Nazi troops fled the camp, leaving the remaining Jews alive and free. It is understood that Guido’s death was supposed to be very meaningful; however the story was unsuccessful in making it so. It was the death of a C plot character that the audience has not attachment to, only for the Jews to have a happy ending several hours later.

Incidentally, while the directing style was phenomenal, there was one specific transition that really stood out. The scene transition between Guido’s first night as a couple to Giosue’s first appearance was very heartwarming. This is a perfect example of how the direction of photography plays an important role in telling a story. In this instance, the audience is lead to understand that Guido and Dora will embrace their love for each other. Then, in a peaceful, yet uplifting transition, the screen fades from that night in the green house to Giosue’s childhood existence. All in one entrance, I gathered the collective theme of innocence at first sight. This was an excellent way to introduce a character.

In addition to the cinematography, the themes that were presented in the film ironically complimented the overall story. The theme of blissful ignorance is represented all throughout the film. For example, there is a series of coincidences that Guido takes advantage of to “underscore the idea that a person's perception is intrinsic to his reality”[1]. To unfold, Guido manipulates the way Dora perceives his abilities in order to entertain his fictional idea that he is a prince and Dora is his princess. When they are sent to the concentration camp, he continues this factionalism as a form of escape from his stress, as well as ignorant bliss to maintain Giosue’s innocence. The theme of blissful ignorance is ironic in this film because the story takes place during The Holocaust, a time of hatred and destruction. It was very refreshing to watch the two ideas being juxtaposed in a way that ties the plot together.  

In continuation, Guido’s innocence is represented through his naïve acceptance of the Schopenhauer Method. Guido misunderstands that “Schopenhauer's view is that life is aimless and painful; the will creates unhappiness and should be nullified if possible”[2]. Schopenhauer developed this method as inspiration for the fascists. Instead, he uses this method throughout the film as an optimism of hope. This is ironic Guido’s cheerfulness automatically directs him to mistake the discouraging method as a game. Moreover, he implements this method to stop the fascists, or Nazi troops, from discovering Giosue.

Furthermore, while the theme of innocence exists throughout the film, Guido may only be putting on that role to remain in his sense of escapism, and for the sake of Giosue’s innocence. There are several moments when Guido is confronted by negative events, yet he does not let them resolve his playful outlook. Guido’s uncle is sent to the gas chambers, Guido stumbles upon the massive pile of dead bodies when cradling Giosue to sleep, and he is led by false hope when Doctor Lessing troubles him with a riddle rather than help his family escape. Rather than dwell on these turn of events, Guido stays optimistic and sacrifices himself for Giosue. In addition, Guido seems very innocent in the first act of the film upon his greetings with Dora. However, “the fact that midway through its story, it effectively turns on a dime”[3]. This clarifies how Guido’s role of innocence in the first act of the movie foreshadows his eventual fatherhood during The Holocaust in the second act of the movie. It is also reflected through Giosue when he is led to believe that the concentration camp is all fun and games. It is interesting how act of innocence is used to portray the happiness that was apparent during The Holocaust.  

To be awarded three Academy Awards for directing a movie that required his screen attention for the majority of it is absolutely astounding. Taking the role as the story teller for a topic with such controversy and sadness and illustrating it with such beauty and warmth is a tremendous accomplishment for Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful.

Bibliography

Life Is Beautiful. Dir. Roberto Benigni. Perf. Roberto Benigni. 1998. Film.

“Life is Beautiful Themes.” Life is Beautiful Themes. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Maslin, Janet. "Life Is Beautiful (1997) Film Review; Giving a Human (and Humorous) Face to

Rearing a Boy Under Fascism." Nytimes. N.p., 23 Oct. 1998. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

[1] “Life is Beautiful Themes”.

[2] “Life is Beautiful Themes”.

“Creativity cannot be confined”

 Hello, my name is Jessi Jones, I am a photography freshman, and I am interested in FOCUS! I aspire to be an album cover photographer. I love capturing subjects and manipulating them to create a concept. Also, music is a heavy influence on me, and there is so much room for creativity in summarizing a whole album through one photo. I am enrolled in Cheryl Mitchell's Art Essentials class, and she encouraged me to expand my passion for photography outside of the classroom.

  Unfortunately I do not have time this semester to join any organization in addition to class and work. However, in the event that my schedule allows me to join this organization, I would like to know when your meetings are held as well as what I should know to be prepared for these meetings. Should I bring my own equipment? Will there be a lot of hands on activities to build my technique as a photographer? In joining FOCUS, will I have internship opportunities? Should I put money aside for any fees?

   I am looking forward to your reply, and I hope I get to participate in FOCUS!

Clumsy, but kind regards,

Jessi Jones

Formal Analysis: Does it Make a Sound?

 Oct. 2nd, 2015

    Michael P. Berman, Gila Radical Visions/ The Enduring Silence, 2012 from the Gila State Park, New Mexico Series, Silver Gelatin Print, 2.5 by 2 feet, UTA Gallery.

       If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Michael P. Berman raises this question with the Gila Radical Visions/ The Enduring Silence, one of many photographs in a collection of black and white photos shot in New Mexico’s largest wilderness, the Gila State Park. Berman spent thirty years hiking through the Gila wilderness to capture the silent, natural beauty of the forest. In turn, he discovered a phenomenal piece of art with numerous aspects that analyze its significance.

     Berman’s piece composes an upside down triangle, which leads to an upside down “L”. The focal point of Berman’s piece is the tree. My first interest is the corroded region of the tree, on the point of the triangle. This particular part of the tree is purposely visually centered to catch the eye of the viewer. It structures and leads the concept that beauty is found in forms that no one can understand. In one glance of this photograph, Berman focuses his idea that the Gila “teaches us a lesson we haven’t learned yet, which is that these ecological systems on which we depend…are amazingly complex” (Hile 2013). From there, my eyes lead upwards to the right side of the triangle where a tree branch disappears into knot of leaves. This constructs a claim in which the beauty of nature is easily hidden and only dawns in the presence of one whom is willing to receive it. This also portrays that the beauty of nature is timely. After reaching the top right side of the upside down triangle, my eyes roam to the left side, then down the more visible tree branch. I then follow the spine of the upside down “L” to the gravel. Berman’s black and white representation of the Gila wilderness results is a subtle contrast in types of nature. The gray scale evidently made the frail leaves all white and light gray and the dense tree shades of dark gray and black. The replacement of color reminds the viewer that while the Gila wilderness has a countless array of plant life, each with its own individual beauty, it is also framed together as one source of bloom. This demonstrates how there is a lot of beauty in nature alone, with no color necessary. In this photograph, the focal point in placed in the middle ground. The tree’s dark nature shows that it carries a lot of three dimensional mass. Since the tree is in 3D representation with a decaying hole at the visual center, it has a sense of volume.  This suggests that the tree is old and is strong enough to withstand any aggressive environment and support other elements of nature. On the other hand, the leaves and gravel are placed in the foreground and background which makes them look strong in number. However, both elements take up little space in mass. This creates a more spirited feel as opposed to the tree. This is interesting because Berman uses the mass and volume to “[juxtapose] fertile forest and decaying detritus to contextualize the life and death cycle that governs the natural world” (Haunschild 2013). It is extraordinary how Berman used black and white as well as mass and volume to create a multi-tone of rotten, yet refreshing. While this Berman’s photograph has been manipulated into black and white, there is a subtle hint of natural lighting. This creates an organic tone to emphasize how nature is beautiful without the manipulation of levels and brightness. However, there is a bold artificial lighting form the fluorescents of the gallery. This intense light built and effect that made the photograph look livelier, despite its dark and decaying nature. In addition, this may not have been intentional, but this causes a distinct reflection of anything in front of the work to cast onto the glass plate. When in front of the photograph, my reflection was cast and it transformed me into the Gila wilderness atmosphere. Naturally, there is a glossy visual texture from the silver gelatin print that is caged inside a glass plate. The print creates a shiny texture from a flat view and the glass makes the glossy texture look existent from a farther stand. Berman gave texture a smooth representation to compliment and further approach the exhibition of natural beauty of the rough and craggy tree bark.

Establishing whether the tree was at full roar or if the tree was rather hushed has never been an easy analysis. However, in the Gila Radical Visions/The Enduring Silence, Michael P. Berman illustrates the concept that the beauty is in the nature of how the tree fell.

 Hile, Leigh. "Berman's Quixotic View of the Gila Wilderness on Display at 516 Arts." Alibi. January 7, 2013. Accessed October 2, 2015. http://alibi.com/art/43997/Bermans-Quixotic-View-of-the-Gila-Wilderness-on-D.html.

               The internship I am interested in is a wedding photographer internship in Dallas, Texas. This appeals to me because I would have the opportunity to shoot weddings and profiles in a professional setting.  Getting to shoot anything as a photographer will help me gain experience for when I am ready to build my career.

               Exerting myself in an internship as a wedding photographer will improve my skills involving camera technique, artistic vision and using the natural lighting to my advantage. I would get to work close hand with my mentor, Ashley Fondon, in all of these skill aspects. She uses both digital and film, so I would not only be able to develop a more solid technique with Nikon, Canon and DSLR equipment, but I will gain knowledge on using film to my and the wedding couple’s advantage. I will broaden my knowledge about all the lenses I have available to me.  For example, I will differentiate when it is appropriate to use an 18mm-55mm, verses a telephoto of 75mm. Aside from learning the ins and outs of my camera, I will upgrade my artistic ability in thinking more creatively quick on my feet. The week prior to any wedding shoot, Ashley and I will storyboard every possible still. It will be my responsibility to ask the wedding planner every detail that is necessary for appropriate photos. In the storyboarding process, we will map out poses that correlate with any theme or layout that the wedding is set on. I will learn to take advantage of pre-production, so I already have an idea of the photos I want to capture when I am in the midst of a photoshoot. Ashley will also teach me to use the natural lighting to me advantage. While my skills fall behind artistically manipulating photos, there is no need for something as organic as a wedding setting. That being said, there is a limit on what I can edit in a wedding photo, unless the wedding party tells me otherwise.