La jetée photography and cinema (and paint just for the hell of it)

La jetee quite obviously drew our attention to the subtlety of the differences between cinema and photography. Since it is a "film" made up of still photographs it can be analyzed as both film and photography. Another interesting follow up question is: at what points of the short does it become film and at what points does it become photography? This line actually seems quite simple to draw. In certain shots the focus is on motion and the still frames in sequence actually become a primitive type of animation. It is at these moments in the short that it becomes more film than photography. For example, I would classify the scene in which the main character is running down the dock as film. Scenes which focus more on individual still frames tip the balance toward photography (such as scenes at the site of the experiment which would switch between different shots of characters faces without focus on any particular sense of motion). This poses an interesting challenge to the audience. Throughout the duration of the film the viewer must switch from interpreting the short as film and interpreting the short as photography within mere seconds. Due to the celerity at which the film progresses the viewer must then focus almost entirely on the punctum of each individual photograph. There simply is not much time to focus on anything else. Each viewer will notice what first jumps out at him or her and almost immediately after a new frame will arrive on screen. This interestingly puts the film somewhat out of the directors hands and also opens it up to a more broad variety of interpretations. Since each viewer will likely have different punctum for each frame the director somewhat loses control of the visual direction of the film. Each viewer will notice and focus on different details that produce a quick and strong reaction. With all of these puncta going through one's mind at once combined with the switches between more filmic aspects and more photographic aspects the film almost becomes and exhausting experience for the viewer, but more importantly a somewhat obvious and extremely effective meditation on the differences between film and photography (and to think this covers only what the film accomplishes within it's form, disregarding any sense of plot or other issues not directly related to form).

Also I thought I would include something as a bonus. Approximately three weeks ago I completed a black and white gouache painting based upon a frame taken from La jetee (this realization didn't hit me until I began watching the film). I thought it would be interesting to include it. The frame it is based upon occurs at the point in the film when the narrator says "Until, ahead of him, he senses a wall" or something to that effect. The body parts that I have superimposed on the painting were taken from a separate source.