I do not like either videos, but I find Ed Atkin’s “Death Mask 3” more watchable than Michael Robinson’s “The General Returns From One Place to Another”.
The first time I saw either of these videos, I was not sure what was going on at all. It was complete confusion. In “The General Returns From One Place to Another,” I noticed that many of the clips were repeated, even though it was zoomed out or in or blurred in a different way, but did not understand the significance of it. I still do not understand the significance of it. Despite not understanding what was happening, I was still very intrigued.
The text in the first video seems to be implying that beauty, such as nature and flowers, can be interpreted as something sinister. I still do not understand why that segment is called “The General.” I also noticed that each time the text appears, the screen was either blank or showed something that was not very beautiful, at least, to me. The text eventually becomes overlapped and impossible to read, as if what the text is nonsense anyway. The text is trying to explain beauty. Maybe the point is that beauty cannot be explained, and thus the text is unimportant anyway. Michael Robinson does write that he never really appreciated beauty. Also, when he spoke of having to notice the beauty, like noticing flower in a field, the scene had a blank wall, as if a field of flowers that is not noticed might as well be someone sleeping, or be simply staring at a blank wall.
I do not understand the significance of the woman. At first, she appears unconcerned and alone. The second time the woman appears, she is distraught and seems scared and has a companion. By the end of the video, the woman looks distraught and scared. The companion does not react as harshly as she did to the sounds, but reacted nonetheless, which brings me to my next topic: the soundtrack.
The soundtrack is interesting, and switches from something pleasant to something that is uncomfortable. The uncomfortable parts sound like trees are crashing in a forest, just like the one the woman is in. At the end, the video soundtrack brightens up as it blasts a loud and happy upbeat song. The scenes that it shows are also brightened up, with clearer pictures and more sunlight.
The second video, Ed Atkin’s “Death Mask,” has clearer film than the first, but the message it still hazy. The scenery becomes clearer as the video continues, but then is suddenly hazy and yellow. I do not understand most of the scenes. To me, the winding road in the fog represented something dangerous that brings death. When the video flashes a scene the back of a man’s head, I had no idea what to think. I still have no idea. The woman on the beach represents something serene and calm, yet is hiding something negative. It focuses so much on her, that when I child ran past the camera, I jumped. The dogs barking in the background and the woman’s voice listing the time throughout the beach empty beach scenes made me uneasy. I think that the change of the landscape’s colors foreshadowed a negative meaning. The colors were mildly pleasant with sudden episodes of a harsh red that caught me off guard.
All in all, I think that these videos can be interpreted multiple ways, and very effectively plays with the viewer's emotions. I do not necessarily understand what they were trying to convey, but they both made me uneasy.
