La Jetee Review

Now I just watched La Jetee by Chris Marker and I have to say with the epic music and somewhat creepy-calm narration, it was probably one of the most intense series of organized photographs that I’ve ever seen. Aside from the fact that the whole thing captures you with a series of still, black and white photographs, and no dialogue except narration, the story itself is very deep involving love, what was, and ultimately, what never will be (and what never will be again).

When the “World War” happens and devastates everything, this tells of what will forever cease to be not just for the world but for the main character as well. Not just no more food, resources, or energy, but for him, no more love, happiness, or contentment. Throughout the story he is constantly teased and tormented by being pulled away from the past while all he wants to do is stay there with her.

When he is sent back in time, I feel it represents the experimenters’ vain attempts to go back to what once was, in a sort of romantic sense. Romantics always look at the best things of what once was and usually never face why those things eventually changed. This is even reflected in the story where we receive no knowledge as to why the war happened, only that it did.

Later, when he is sent back in time and visits the animal museum with his love, I feel that we see a mirror image to his own situation in that he is looking at the past, what once was, while he himself is viewed from the future by his experimenters, what inevitably will be. He is looking at the past while being viewed from the future.

Finally, when he is saved by the people of the distant future and requests to instead be sent back to his love, I feel that this is his last attempt to achieve happiness and love once again. I find it odd how the place where he goes to meet with his love again is an airport. The whole situation involves a couple trying to re-unite at a place where people are constantly parting ways. Unfortunately, in the end, it is impossible for the two of them to re-unite where all others part ways.

Pnasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4

Now I got this camera as a gift this past year and have only had a few reasons to use it extensively until now. Until now, I did not have a really good grasp on different camera properties, such as aperature/f-stop, ISO, or shutter speeds. Now having a better idea of what those things are, I feel that even with a limited point-and-shoot like this one, I can now take better quality photos than before by just keeping everything on my camera at “AUTO” function.

Now unfortunately as a smaller point-and-shoot my camera does not have some of the adjustable features of an SLR such as aperature/f-stop or shutter speeds, although there is an “exposure” feature, as well as several “high-speed” shot options. This camera does have an ISO feature with ranges of 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600, which allows for the camera to be sensitive to a range of light settings. There is also an adjustable white-balance feature on this camera that allows for truer colors in your shots in various settings. There is also a maximum 10x zoom that allows for a good distance range.

Fortunately, even though this camera may lack some features you may find on a bigger SLR, the constraints on its LCD menu system allow for only a few places for whatever function you are looking for to be. There are only two menus on this camera and one is the quick “on-the-go” choice box, so it is pretty easy to find whatever function or setting you’re looking to adjust.

Physically, this camera is pretty small but fairly thick so it fits in your hand pretty good. The LCD viewer is about 2/3 the width of the camera and so allows for a decent sized viewing area. Another really cool thing about this camera is that it comes with its own rechargeable battery unit and battery charger so you don’t have to constantly fumble around looking for 2 AAs.

For now it is a fine camera to use and learn on, but as I become more involved in photography I might look more into advanced and professional SLRs. Unfortunately, it might not be anytime soon this year seeing as how this term abroad, while invaluable, is also le expensive.

-Mike