Tag: Reading response

Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film and the Modern City

Reading Response: Roland Barthes

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Barthes documents the sensational experience of movie viewing in a cinematic theatre as he contemplates his personal experiences. He compares the experience to drifting into a hypnotic state as if our minds have been transported to elsewhere, fleeing from reality. I have never considered the grave importance of movie theatres in contributing to the success of a movie until I read this chapter. It made me rethink my past cinematic experiences. The surge of adrenaline in my body as I walked down the corridor to get to the cinema house. The dark, cooled room that is designed to soothe my

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Cat Links 2023 Blog, Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

[READING RESPONSE] Walter Benjamin

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In his essay, Benjamin highlighted that aura – the “here and now” of an original artwork, is diminishing with the rise of technological reproduction. Despite lamenting the loss in artworks’ cultural value this caused, Benjamin, as a socialist, was supportive of this as it allowed the masses, instead of only the bourgeoisie, to appreciate artworks, reminiscent of how films were created for the masses. Benjamin saw political potential in films – a democratized medium which lacked an ‘original copy’ and aura. Yet, this was merely a potential, as even today, capitalists strived to insert aura into films. Studios release ‘Extended

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Cat Links Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

Reading Response: Roland Barthes

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Nowadays, watching a movie become more and more convienient as we could watch it anytime, anywhere through online platforms, for instance Netflix, Youtube, etc. However, I believe that there is an element created by a movie theather that could not be replaced: Experience. Undoubtly, we, as audience, are influenced by the surroundings while watching a movie. From the reading, Barnes mentioned about the sharp contrast of the darkness of the theater and the only light from a movie creates an immersive experience for the audience。 Moreover, Barthes also mentioned about the “lure” that a theater can create, and the “lure”

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Cat Links Lecture 1 Architecture, Film & the Modern City

Reading Response: Barthes, R. and Benjamin, W.

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To begin with the response after reading the chapter written by Ronald Barthes, I did not think about the functions and effects that theaters brought to me before. Specifically speaking, the vibe, darkness, size of the screen, audio and visual technologies all play essential role in making people more concentrated and enjoyed on the film. According to Ronald, darkness represents a “twilight reverie” that results in cinematic trance and the loss of worldliness. When I stepped into the cinema and theaters, the darkness will attract all my attentions on the screen. Additionally, turning to the passage written by Walter Benjamin,

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Cat Links Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

[Reading Response] Walter Benjamin

Posted on u3606367@connect.hku.hk

The technological reproduction seem have many advantages to this world which having a rapid pace. Most of us chase a high speed and perfect life. This type of reproduction could  provide a high quality of product in a short time. But it is not suitable for artwork. In my opinions, the “aura” of the artwork means uniqueness. Because every art piece is different so they are special. The topics, colours, characters and anything in the artwork include the creativity of us. Now there are some AI program which can draw artwork. After you put down the topic, the program just

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Cat Links Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

Reading Response: Roland Barthes

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In Leaving the Movie Theater, Roland Barthes briefly discussed how elements such as darkness and sound functioned as “prerequisites for hypnosis.” Cinema is a matter of what is in the frame and what is out (Martin Scorsese). The fantasy created by a movie, a “reel world,” can be a perfect choice for the audience to escape from the real world or an elaborately crafted mirror to reflect reality.   Because of my strong empathy ability, I could always integrate into any character in any movie, regardless of gender, identity, or even species. After watching A Dog’s Purpose, I still remember the

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Cat Links Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

Reading Response: Roland Barthes

Posted on wooouuul@connect.hku.hk

Watching films in the cinema brings the audience into a “hypnotic” environment that creates an immersive experience. The darkness of the cinema serves to accentuate the film which is the only light in the cinema. As the audience constitutes the most essential part of the show, their reactions, emotions, and imagination are triggered and led by the atmosphere. The contrast of darkness and the light, therefore, makes people able to immerse themselves into the scene, witnessing, speculating, and following the development of plots. While the use of supplementary instruments of representation as described as “Lure”, ranging from the fascinating sound

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Cat Links 2023 Blog, Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

[Reading Response: Roland Barthes]

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In Leaving the Movie Theater, Barthes said that darkness, a large screen, speakers, seating, and quiet audiences are all components needed to make up the space of a cinema. Barthes repeatedly emphasized the role of darkness and the fact that film is a single but varied source of light. These are things that I didn’t pay attention to when I went to the theater. Through reading this article, I realized that this is the charm of space design. “I must be in the story, but I must also be elsewhere.” can also be read in reverse: Must be elsewhere to

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Cat Links Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

[Reading Response: Roland Barthes]

Posted on b25zly@connect.hku.hk

Roland Barthes’ article Leaving the Movie Theatre, his theory of simultaneously ‘two bodies’ related to the image and surroundings in cinema fascinates me. His use of language to depict the process of cinematographic hypnosis and contemplative immersion is intriguing—the narcissistic body to gaze and get lost into the self-reflecting mirror and the perverse body to fetishise sound and light. This assertion is true as my experience of watching Babylon in cinema, the film exaggeratedly present rise, fall and ‘craziness’ of dreamers in the old days in Hollywood, for which every spectator is enabled to memorise and see the shadows of

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Cat Links Lecture 1: Architecture, Film & The Modern City

[Reading Response: Roland Barthes and Walter Benjamin]

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Barthes shares his experience of the cinema as a journey. A journey which he is “lured” into and has to “take off” from. The darkness of the hall, the path that leads the audience to their comfortable seats, the bright beam of the screen that captures one fully… It is as if the act of going to the cinema is a fully drafted scene itself.  Barthes compares it to the process of being hypnotized, where one indulges in the ambience and the “urban dark”. This leads me to ponder whether the journey of the cinema produces the same experience for

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