“Breakfast at Brutus’” and Other Modern Renditions of Classic Films Amanda Etchison | English 2269
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Introduction Certain images have a potency that, for better or for worse, cause them to remain with us long after we tear our eyes away from the canvas, computer monitor, or newspaper page. Whether these images haunt or inspire us, terrify us or give us hope, for some inexplicable reason, they have acquired the power to penetrate the emotional numbness we often feel toward the world around us. What sets these specific images apart from the thousands of others that we see every day? Why do we remember some images better than others? Why are some images still prevalent in our culture today while others have faded into obscurity? Approaching this photo essay assignment, I decided to delve further into the concept of persistence of image. By transplanting a selection of well-known images from a variety of classic movies into the modern-day surroundings of OSU’s campus, I hope to challenge my audience to consider the legacy of powerful images and icons, their persistence throughout changing times, and their continued cultural significance in our society today.
Background image and Crimson Cup photo are my own.
দেবর্ষি রায়. “Audrey Hepburn.” Flickr. 16 June. 2013. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/VYP0sf
Background image is my own. Jim Trottier. “Custom Forrest Gump Soundtrack Cover.” Flickr. 17 Nov. 2012. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/XvD8hm
Background image is my own. Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York. “Marilyn Monroe Lexington Subway Image.” Flickr. 16 April. 2012. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY 2.0. goo.gl/hBxzJ9
Background image is my own. Tnarik Innael/Farolero. “No title.” Flickr. 7 Aug. 2007. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/MFKi6Q
Background image is my own. Insomnia Cured Here. “The Wizard of Oz (1939).” Flickr. 6 Dec. 2008. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BYSA 2.0. goo.gl/t8hEUw
Background image is my own. Rossrs/ Trailer screenshotLicencing. "Audrey Heburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday trailer 2.� Wikipedia. 31 Dec. 1952. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. goo.gl/y1VKOH
Background image is my own. FunkMonk. "Img kingkong1.� Wikipedia. 31 Dec. 2007. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of King Kong (1933 film) via Wikipedia. goo.gl/ziYCFS
Background image is my own. Quentin X/ PosterRevolution. "The Breakfast Club." Wikipedia. 21 Nov. 2010. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of The Breakfast Club via Wikipedia. goo.gl/S56aMm
Background image is my own. Rossrs/ Trailer screenshotLicencing. “Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on Vespa in Roman Holiday trailer.” Wikipedia. 31 Dec. 1952. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. goo.gl/2xMI6m
Background image is my own. Alientraveller."ET Moon.� Wikipedia. 13 May. 2007. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. goo.gl/sLKssO
Artist Statement This photo essay explores the persistence of certain images in modern society and how specific people—or moments—in cinema have been suspended in a sense of timelessness, even in our twenty-first century world. Although I originally planned to incorporate more than just film stills from memorable movies into this project, I ultimately decided that focusing on film gave my project a firmer sense of direction. Choosing film stills to include in this project initially presented a challenge. While I wanted to incorporate films that would be easily recognized by my audience, I also needed to be conscientious of the source of these images. Therefore, it was imperative that I strike a balance between movies that would be recognized by my intended audience—which I assumed would be viewers my age or older—but also available for use through Creative Commons licensing or fair use policies. With this criteria in mind, I ended up choosing older films than I originally anticipated. Films such as “Roman Holiday” and “Singin’ in the Rain” were old enough to be well-represented in Creative Commons searches and some images were even listed in the public domain. While I was slightly hesitant in choosing these older films, I consciously aimed to select films starring memorable actors and actresses. For example, although I am unsure if any viewers of my project have seen “The Seven Year Itch,” I am much more confident that many have at least seen the photo of Marilyn Monroe on the subway grate. I feel that the significance of the images, which requires limited background knowledge in order to fully comprehend the staging and context of each photograph, is not lost on my audience. My project greatly relied on the use of the image manipulation program Gimp to achieve the visual effect I desired to create for my audience. Each photo consists of two parts: the background image I have taken myself and a cut out image taken from some of the most memorable moments in cinematographic history. While creating this project, I strived to maintain the integrity of the film still by transplanting it into a modern setting—the sprawling campus of The Ohio State University in the twenty-first century. I specifically chose the modern settings to compliment the cut out image and mirror the background of the original film still. For example, I searched OSU’s campus for many hours before finding that the metal grating next to Knowlton Hall quite nicely resembled a subway grate. I then took a couple of photos of this grating from different angles with my digital camera. Later, I cut and pasted the famous photo of Marilyn Monroe onto this background image and proportionally scaled it as a separate layer in Gimp.
Several design choices that I made in creating these images serve to emphasize certain rhetorical appeals; however, I feel that the most prevalent appeal in this project is pathos. Crafting the scenes to be believable was one of my main goals in choosing the background to pair with each photo. I wanted the audience to recognize the specific moment in each of the movies even with the change of scenery. In appealing to the audience’s pathos and trying to evoke senses of nostalgia and wonder, I wanted to see if the image still elicited the same emotions or thoughts from viewers, even when isolated from its original setting. In order to emphasize the contrast between the original film still and the modernday surroundings, I consciously made the decision to keep the background photos in color and the cut out images in their original colors and resolutions. Although I considered making the backgrounds grayscale to match the cut outs or to mask the grainy image quality that some of the older film stills have, I feel that these imperfections only strengthen the message that I wish to convey in these pieces. While the cut outs do not seamlessly blend into their new surroundings, I think that the slight rifts formed when past and present collide cause viewers to pause and consider exactly how these images are a part of our lives today.
Works Cited দেবর্ষি রায়. “Audrey Hepburn.” Flickr. 16 June. 2013. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/VYP0sf Alientraveller."ET Moon.” Wikipedia. 13 May. 2007. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. goo.gl/sLKssO FunkMonk. "Img kingkong1.” Wikipedia. 31 Dec. 2007. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of King Kong (1933 film) via Wikipedia. goo.gl/ziYCFS Insomnia Cured Here. “The Wizard of Oz (1939).” Flickr. 6 Dec. 2008. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/t8hEUw Jim Trottier. “Custom Forrest Gump Soundtrack Cover.” Flickr. 17 Nov. 2012. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/XvD8hm Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York. “Marilyn Monroe Lexington Subway Image.” Flickr. 16 April. 2012. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY 2.0. goo.gl/hBxzJ9 Quentin X/ PosterRevolution. "The Breakfast Club." Wikipedia. 21 Nov. 2010. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of The Breakfast Club via Wikipedia. goo.gl/S56aMm Rossrs/ Trailer screenshotLicencing. "Audrey Heburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday trailer 2.” Wikipedia. 31 Dec. 1952. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. goo.gl/y1VKOH Rossrs/ Trailer screenshotLicencing. “Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on Vespa in Roman Holiday trailer.” Wikipedia. 31 Dec. 1952. 19 Sept. 2014. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. goo.gl/2xMI6m Tnarik Innael/Farolero. “No title.” Flickr. 7 Aug. 2007. 12 Sept. 2014. CC BY-SA 2.0. goo.gl/MFKi6Q