EARTHQUAKE!

The movie "Earthquake" was released in 1974. At this time this movie was at the peek of film technology and special effects. They were finally able to create movies that had a realistic feel. The assignment was to ask our grandparents or parents what there reactions were to the movie. I already knew i had a disadvantaged to this assignment being that my Grandparents don't speak English. I had little hope in my asking my parents as well because my father barely speaks English and my mother has the memory of a goldfish. I thought to give it a try anyway. As i assumed my mother could not remember if she saw the movie. i read her the synopsis and she still couldn't recall. But i could only imagine that this movie would have made viewers afraid of what disasters could happen since they had never been portrayed before on film. 

George Méliès & Abel Gance

George Méliès was born in Paris, France in 1861. He was a successful magician who joined the film industry after viewing one of the Lumiere Brothers films.  Méliès was a pioneer to the film industry because before his works most films were silent with the exception to music that would have been added afterward. His most famous film "A Trip to the Moon" was a narrative story and was also considered one of first science fictions films produced. Méliès was able to created interesting films due to his great sense of special effects but soon go became outdated and never advanced with the film industry.

Abel Gance was born in Paris, France in 1889. By the age of 19 Gance had already acted in a stage production. By the age of  20 he had become a film star and scriptwriter. He enjoyed that so much that by age 21 he created his own production company and directed his first film.  His most famous creation was a silent film entitled "Napoleon". This film had outdone any film of this decade with its cinematic advances used to create the battle scenes. These scenes were shot with 3 cameras whose images were later projected on three side by side screens to create an effect that engulfed the viewer.  which created a 3D effect. Which has become a very popular form of film in the past year or two.

History of Jazz, BlackFace Perfomers, and The Stock Market Crash

The origins of Jazz:

When i think of the word Jazz, the first thing that comes to mind is Saxophones and then New Orleans. so when doing research i was not surprised to find that it originated there in the early 1900's. Jazz music is a beautiful blend of Western European music of the time mixed with African American music and culture, including slavery songs and church hymns.

Blackface Performers:

With just hearing the words black face performers you can already assume that it is a racist act. Blackface performances became very popular during the 19th century. Since segregation was still a very large part of this era, white performers would modify their appearance to resemble African American. They would do so by applying dark makeup and exaggerate stereotypical feature, such as creating large lips (shown in the picture above). The performers would also try to portray African Americans with southern accents and 

Stock Market Crash:

Thinking about the stock market gives me a headache and makes me feel like that man in the image above. Its a foreign world to me that i will probably never understand. All i know about the crash of the stock market  weakened the economy and caused unemployment to go through the roof causing the beginning of the Great Depression of 1929. After research many different sites i still don't fully understand what caused the crash. What i do understand is that the 1920's was a time of excess and wealth. No one could have ever guessed that such an economic tragedy could have occurred during a time with such great prosperity. Many people had invested their life savings into stocks. Once the prices began to fall people panicked and began to sell their shares. Millions of shares where sold which made the market drop even lower. This began a downward spiral of losses which finally caused the market to crash on October 29, 1929.

First Timer

Hi, My name is Jessica and im new to this blogging world so please bare with me. I'm a senior at the University of Tampa, majoring in Graphic Design and minoring in Advertising. Im looking foward to what Art & Technology has to offer and hope to learn some interesting things. :D