You Are The Screen
"You Are the Screen. The images wrap around you. You are the vanishing point"
The Medium Is The Massage - Marshall McLuhan
While reading these last few chapters I was really drawn to McLuhan's view on television. This quote stuck out to me the most, and it might be my favorite from the whole book. I knew that I wanted to make a video for my final project. With this quote in mind, I thought I could make it very literal.
I had the idea of a screen literally shining on someone. I decided I wanted the same shot of an eye and then the only thing I would change would be the lighting around it. This was to try and create the effect of someone watching TV. I also made different expressions to mimic how I might react to watching a TV show.
At first, I was just filming by myself in my dorm. After editing the footage I got, I realized I needed another subject. I thought that the perfect person would be my younger sister. On the weekends throughout the term, we would binge-watch TV shows. Throughout our lives, we have bonded over shows and movies. They really brought us closer, so she was the perfect fit for this video.
I'm not exactly sure what McLuhan was trying to say with this quote, but I do know what I got out of it. And I think that is more important than trying to figure exactly out what he was trying to say. Art should be more about what others get out of it, and less about what you put into it. What I got out of this quote is that what you watch on TV becomes a part of you. I think this is true for all types of media/art. The songs you listen to, the movies you watch, the books you read can grow and become a part of your personality.
This is what I really wanted to show in my film. The light/images change on the screen and you smile or cry or laugh. The media becomes a part of you. That is why I ended the video by showing me and my sister mimicking that shot from Breaking Bad.
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