Because of the stark contrast of mood between the two videos, I couldn't help but compare the two as I was watching. For me, Glass Jaw started out as one of those "oh let's take random video clippings and narrate a random story for the sake of making a piece of art that would compel the world, since, after all, the best art now is the art that doesn't make much sense" type of deal, which made me "...-____-;" for the first five minutes. However, as the narration led on, I sensed (obviously) a much deeper and darker subject matter, which then slowly drew me into the video. It wasn't a meaningless collage - it was the video diary of some unfortunate man telling a story that he does not have the capability to tell fluently if you were to try to hold a regular conversation with him. I was suddenly living the life he described -- the sounds he heard, the ambiguous silhouettes of nurses and doctors, the pungent, decaying stench coming from the mouth that he had no ability of opening... the video immediately sprang into life, because it now served a purpose. This is a very successful utilization of the video to enhance the effect your work has on somebody, because the poor images and the overlapping of sounds...everything attended to this man's disjointed thoughts and disconcerted feelings. In a twisted way, I became him.
The mood the the class, as I observed, suddenly got lighter as silly old Willy's videos started playing. Oh gosh finger/stick is by far my favorite. All the while I was thinking, "WHY ISN'T HE ON FAMILY GUY YET????" Well, maybe he is, I don't know. One thing's for sure though: we need to send Wegman over to Michael O'Rilley to cheer the poor fellow up. :)
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