Comparing La Jetee, the short, and 12 Monkeys, the full-length movie

 Overall the video was fascinating. La Jette offers an interesting type of film, similar to a modern music video that we did last year. It pieces clips of film together to tell a story. But there is no actual film; it's all photographs. On the other hand, 12 monkeys follow the traditional conventions of a movie with a heavy focus on voice-over narration. The two films share the same storyline and concept but are executed with very different visual aspects. 

We appreciated the video's take that 12 monkeys were taken as a remodel, not a remake which can tend to come with a negative connotation. From the video, we were also intrigued by their focus on La Jette's editing style. For example, they used different techniques to convey the story, but how the 12 monkeys conveyed the same story differently. 

Our biggest takeaway was how in the film La Jette the audio in a scene would be simple and undertoned yet helped to convey the emotions the director was attempting to showcase. Our other takeaway is how the movie also used crossfades and dissolves to create a dream-like aspect. We plan to use these techniques in our film to add depth to our short film, specifically the audio methods. We want to add simple sounds that convey emotion without being direct. 

Overall this article was intriguing because it describes how the two different time periods and directing styles can convey the same storyline in opposite ways. For example, Chris Marker, director of La Jetee, was limited to the technology of his time, yet he chose to use black and white images, bringing them to life through the narrator and music. Yet, Terry Gilliam, director of 12 Monkeys, has access to many modern-day techniques and chooses to use upbeat music and many wide pans in his movie, conveying a large amount of motion on the complete other ends of Marker's film.

It'll help us in the filmmaking process. After researching the two styles, we can pull the director's techniques to help create the vision we wish to execute. We can use Marker's music technique and Gilliam's use of wide camera angles.