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While never having considered myself a ‘pretentious’ person (for all those confused by this word because of its overuse, here’s a reminder: Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed), it is believed by some that all five of Terrence Malick’s (might help to know that he graduated with a major in philosophy) films are for the pretentious of mind. Having seen one of his previous films (all of which are period pieces and filmed with back dialogue), The Thin Red Line, I can say that with The Tree of Life I believe he has delivered another in depth look at an issue most people seem to avoid. While it might seem ambitious of Malick to take on the issues of human existence, religion, and evolution in a 138 minute film, he is able to sum up one person’s perspective flawlessly (as there are billions of people in this world, having an opinion differing from someone else’s is bound to happen, right?).

I love and found myself admiring the structure of The Tree of Life. Malick, while having made a film full of captivating and breath-taking imagery, has simultaneously made a film exploring the beauty of everyday life. And he couldn’t have spelled out the simple plot of the creation of life better than with images, the Truth Claim (no, this is not made up, it is the idea that film accurately depicts reality). While some points seemed to touch upon the surreal, the film grounded in reality. The 45 minute montage of the creation of the earth and humans up to the 1950’s (a time use for its remaining purity and still rich with energy and excitement for being alive), was not fabricated. Life was created, and if you take a minute to step back and look at it, like it seems Malick has, it is just as beautiful and unbelievable as those images lead on.

The plot and in depth themes of the movie has been making some viewers almost skeptical to the reason’s for the film. Is it true that Malick simply made this film to be able to visualize his own opinion. Wether that was his intention or it was to be able to communicate opinions with his audiences, it makes this film a unique one. It allows the thoughts and visions of the creation and development of the world to be closely examined from a single mind’s perspective.

While the plot may have been confusing to some, and seemed almost implied for others, this  difference was most likely intentional. This allows for more people who might have differing attitudes towards the dimensionality of the characters. If it had been spelled out one way versus another, it would be pointed for a select few. While there was almost no dialogue, and  barely more faint whispers (which one could assume to be prayers), the characters were allowed to be just a regular family but still have a very strong emotional connection. This was shown in the rather extraordinary acting by not very well known actors (sans Brad Pitt of course, we already know he can act). While their development was not plastered on a billboard like probably preferred by most of the viewers, there was a significant emotion to it all, an almost ‘having been there’ feeling; nostalgia.

Repetition was another major aspect found in this film that helped to create this ‘too real’ effect. Repetition is found in almost everything in life, and within this film, the repetition of shapes, colours (blue for instance), and childhood props was enough to draw even the smallest of elements back into the story as a whole. All of these elements created Malick’s ‘dream-like’ effect and his idea that “nostalgia is a powerful feeling, it can drown out anything”. If the audience was paying close enough attention to the small things and picked up on them, then the plot of the movie was there, for all to see. Does this seem like a simple plot complicated by use of imagery in place of dialogue? Yes, it might appear that way to some but to me it seemed to be a lot like real life; if you look closely there is poetry in the mundane and everyday circumstances that we all find ourselves.

After much discussion of The Tree of Life at The Brand Gallery, it is clear that no two people have the same feelings about Terrence Malick’s new film. Although I could rant forever about this 139 minute film, I choose to focus on one instrumental element of the story. I found composer Alexander Desplat’s soundtrack carried viewers seamlessly throughout the entire film. Although Desplat has been quite busy recently scoring The King’s Speech and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he managed to create thirteen lovely songs that complimented Malick’s visuals. Though “Circles,” “Clouds,” and “Motherhood” are amongst the songs that had a lasting impact on viewers, each track was created with a sense of purpose.

A large amount of the film did not include dialogue however, therefore highlighting Desplat’s compilations.  This statement is a reflection of Malick’s views towards film making and the art of dialogue. Though I believe that Desplat’s score made the film, listen for yourself!

 I am a sucker when it comes to cinematography. I love when a movie feels like an old picture you’ve found hidden in an old family album, or when details are so crisp you have the urge to reach out in front of you to grab at the movie screen. For me, movies that possess these features walk the fine line between realism and surrealism; the picture looks so real, as real as if you are living in the world on the screen, that when you remember you are watching a film and not real life, you feel like you just woke up from a dream and found yourself sitting in a theatre seat.

I would love to say that watching Terrance Malick’s Tree of Life felt this exact way. For moments it did and it truly took my breath away. Nostalgic scenes of mother’s reading bedtime stories and children perplexed by the world around them lulled me into a sense of comfort and understanding of the world I was about to invest two hours with. Similarly, unimaginable camera angles of the Grand Canyon, the surface of the sun, and cells rapidly multiplying were truly awe-inspiring to watch. However, there comes a point where this aestheticism fades away; and Malick sure found that threshold. My harshest critique of this film is the intrusive, slow-as-molasses, interlude of world creation imagery; a point that did not need a third of the film to get across to the audience. This portion of the film felt like an artist who couldn’t edit down his portfolio and pick the most important pieces to convey his vision; overly self indulgent.

What I did admire most about this film was the actor’s performances. The children’s facial expressions and body language spoke volumes. And while the lack of pertinent dialogue left me wanting desperately for someone to speak, I was fine without it. The dynamic among the family still has me wondering how complete strangers worked so organically together. More than that, this family’s dynamic was very true to life. Malick has brought to life conflicts among couples, parents, and children that aren’t exclusive to the 1950s, the era this film is set in: A wife’s struggle to instill morally conscious children while committed in an abusive relationship; a father’s desire to give his kids the determination to fight for what they want when he himself did not have the courage to do so; a child’s otherwise innocent world being exposed by the cruelties of humanity. These struggles are handled exceptionally well, not only by the actors but by Malick’s unique directorial style.

For me, what makes a story are people. This is why I pick up a book to read or allot an hour every night to watch a TV show. The same is true for watching film. I want to sit with the characters on the screen; I want to live in the world that they are living in. These are things that every movie-goer expects when they buy a movie ticket. That said, this is not what you should expect from Malick’s Tree of Life. Expect to feel like someone just switched the channel from HBO to National Geographic on you just as you figured out what was going on in your movie. Expect to shift in your seat after the first fifteen minutes of cosmic scenery set to an, albeit amazing, orchestral score. Expect your brain to throb slightly from all the thinking you will do trying to gather meaning from dizzying editing and lots of whispering dialogue. That said, maybe with a little preparation you’re experience can be a bit more enjoyable. 

I really enjoyed the narrative parts of this film because that is what I came in expecting to get. I’m not opposed to non-narrative structure or ambiguous plots. In fact they are sometimes more enjoyable and make me watch them over and over. While I’m not sure I could sit through another artful interpretation of the creation of the world, I am not ready to count Malick’s film out. There are a lot of redeeming qualities about this film and it’s disappointing that the director’s execution is easily clouded by his vision.

Last evening, Phil took the Summer Associates out to see The Tree of Life, a new film by Terrence Malick. Today, we discussed it. The results? One who loves it, two who are conflicted, and one who hates it. Guess which one I am? You’ll know soon enough.

The Tree of Life certainly raises a lot of interesting questions about the nature of humanity and the presence of God, and I thank Malick for inspiring our conference room to consider the meaning of life before 10 AM. However, the questions I found the most disconcerting were the ones like “Wait, which son died?” “Who was doing that part of the narration?” “Were they all dead at the end?” When five people who all watched the same film disagree on basic plot points, I have to conclude that the movie is ineffectual. Don’t get me wrong–I love ambiguity in films. Who doesn’t enjoy puzzling over the spinning top at the end of Inception or the unreadable expressions at the end of The Graduate? The difference between those films and The Tree of Life comes down to what brings us to that last moment. While The Graduate and Inception follow multi-dimensional characters in a clearly conveyed plot, The Tree of Life sacrifices the development of the characters (beyond the aspects of human nature they represent) for an incoherent story. I enjoy films with open endings; I would just like to know how we got there.

Phil mentioned that at the nature montage, the man behind him complained, “I didn’t know I was watching a nature film!” Alright, we should give the film more credit than that (my comment to Stephanie was slightly more sophisticated; as two cells morph into one, I whispered, “Well, that’s the big sex scene of the movie!”). On an intellectual level, I could see what Malick was attempting by connecting one family in the 1950s to the larger context of nature’s evolution and even God. However, he lost me emotionally. While I admired the mind-blowing beauty of the images, they were just images. It felt like a different film intruding on what should have been a simple story. By going after the biggest possible (cosmic, in fact) themes, Malick has forgotten that what makes audiences invest emotionally is not the broadness of a story but the details. The parts that work the best in the film are the little moments, like when Brad Pitt makes his son shut the screen door 50 times quietly to punish him from slamming it or when one boy shoots his brother’s hand with a BB gun. From Brad Pitt to Hunter McCrackin (the oldest son), the way that the actors can convey so much with a single expression proves the caliber of the actors. Overall, though, these details are obscured by the broad themes that Malick attempted to encompass.

This film reminds me of a paper I once wrote in high school about The Scarlet Letter. Instead of picking a single theme or character as my topic, I tried to convey everything I thought about the book at once, and in the end, I could only skim on the surface of all the themes. After seeing this movie, all I can say is at least I wasn’t stupid enough to try to do that with the meaning of life. Terrence Malick, I give you a C, just as Sister Karen did to me.

The Brand Gallery Summer Associates answer “This or That” questions posed at the 2011 New Hampshire GOP Debates, and added a few of our own!

Heavy-weight boxing’s unified champion Wladimir Klitschko and titleholder David Haye will finally meet to fight on July 2nd of this year. The fight, which will be held in the Hamburg Imtech Arena in Germany, is said to be shown on more the 150 television stations worldwide bringing in revenue from the PPV channels while also being shown on HBO in the states. It is also thought that the 55,000-seat stadium will hold a sold out crowd that night.

It is always thrilling to see two champion boxers dueling it out, but why is this fight so different?

After feuding for years, claiming a fight would happen between them, Haye took it to another level when he wore a t-shirt depicting him in a boxing ring with the severed heads of the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and his older brother and fellow titleholder Vitatli. While, on one hand, this is a clear cry for attention and a threatening knockout from Wladimir, he has been saying that he is happy the fight will happen, but just as Haye has backed out of two scheduled fights with him in the past, he is afraid he will back out for a third time. Klitschko rarely makes knockout predictions but it is clear, as he is saying he hopes his opponent doesn’t go down too early, Haye hit a nerve, which could in turn be beneficial for Wladimir.

The news conferences leading up to and the actual night of the fight are sure to be filled with enormous tension. Being a heavy-weight boxing fan myself, I am sure the other fans are thinking the same thing; Will Haye’s promises to knock Klitschko into retirement hold out, or will Klitschko really teach Haye a lesson in good behaviour?  

“Talk to Me” is an exhibition on the communication between people and objects, and how designers write the initial script that enables the two parties to communicate effectively and elegantly. This will focus on objects that involve a direct interaction that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users.

Although still in the development stage before the opening on the 24th, the creators are keeping up a blog to inform people of what it is like to put together a show of this magnitude.

Amongst the artists, are:

Frank Warren, creator of the website PostSecret, a blog in which personal, but anonymous secrets are mailed in. Then a select few are decided to be put on the website every Sunday, only being there for a week.

Revital Cohen, a designer who “develops critical objects and provocative scenarios exploring the juxtaposition of the natural with the artificial”. She words with scientists, bioethicists, and animal breeders to create each of her pieces. Her work can be seen here.

Chritien Meindertsma, an artist who explores the life of products and raw materials. Her project being shown is called Pig 05049, which is already with the MoMA. This project follows a single pig and the products made from its different parts (all of which were photographed and put into an exstensive book). Among the materials made was ammunition, medicine, photo paper, heart valves, chewing gum, and even bio diesel.

This exhibition will be up into early November and will host a variety of different artists and projects.

As an incoming junior at Denison, I, along with most of my classmates am going to spend a semester abroad. Although I am looking forward to a new adventure I am also nervous about the cultural difference between Europeans and Americans. In an effort to prepare myself, I have been perusing the web to get ahead of the curve. I recently came across an article about time by Edward and Mildred Reed Hall.

The Hall’s believe believe that there are two systems that are of upmost importance in terms of international business which are Monochronic and Polychronic time. Monochronic time means that one pays to and does only on thing at a time. On the other hand Polychronic time means being involved with many things at once. Although I would agree with the Hall’s that it is difficult to mix the two, I find that these systems are not just important to international business, but to all forms of international relations as well. 

In a Monochronic culture people divide their time into segments, which is scheduled and compartmentalized. Typically ones schedule takes priority over everything else. As seen in the United States, most people operate on Moncchronic time  making it hard to mesh well with other cultures. Conversely, Polychronic time in characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of many different things. As a result people who operate on Polychronic time can do separate their relationships in their life, but rather they mesh them together.

With this in mind it is clear that if people who operate on opposite systems were forced to work together there would be much resentment between the two groups. For this reason, Americans often are poorly received when traveling to different parts of the world. With this knowledge I hope to be more prepared when traveling this fall!

Graham Smith, a logo-designer, takes well-known brands and gives them “a creative change based on the visual style of another brand logo,” finding the “split personality” of the brand identities. In other words, he’s found a way to mess with consumers’ heads. Since the purpose of branding is to make a company’s look inseparable from its identity, it’s very strange seeing the brands of, say, Coca-Cola and Pepsi switched.

Feel like you fell down the rabbit hole, don’t you? The vast difference between Coca-Cola’s and Pepsi’s marketing is immediately apparent when they are switched. Even so, you may be tempted to think, “So what? Even if Coke looked different, I’d still drink it for its taste!” I wouldn’t be so sure. Consider the next story.

Do you remember the “Pepsi Challenge?” These Pepsi commercials showed random people taking a blind taste test with the results proving that people preferred Pepsi. At the same time, Coke claimed to be the most-preferred drink, but instead of using a blind test, their taste testers knew what they were drinking. The Pepsi Challenge was terrible news for Coca-Cola, leading to the blasphemous recipe change that produced the hated New Coke. New Coke, being sweeter than the original recipe, beat Pepsi in blind taste tests, but it was a major marketing failure. In fact, people were so upset about the recipe change that Coke received over 400,000 angry calls and letters. The company switched the recipe back to the original, and sales climbed back up. In Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely sums up, “The bright red can, swirling script, and the myriad messages that have come down to consumers over the years…are as much as responsible for our love of Coke as the brown bubbly stuff itself.”

And that is the sweet, sweet taste of a brand.

On Tuesday, the Summer Associates spent the evening volunteering at the 20^th Annual AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial held at the Museum of Modern Art. This show honors all the great television commercials over the past year in categories like Production, Visual Style, Visual Effects, Original Music, Public Service Announcement, and Student Commercial. For a full list visit the AICP website.

Volunteers for this event were mostly college students interning at various companies in the advertising industry, much like The Brand Gallery’s own. It was great to talk to one another and pick each other’s brains about what sorts of experiences we’ve had and how some of us are applying our skills to the work force. Amélie and I met a recent undergrad graduate who actually got to cut the reel for the AICP Show screening. Caitlin met up with a former Brand Gallery intern from last year who is now an illustrator at a large creative firm for the summer.

Our duties for the night included counting how many people entered the theaters with click counters, directing traffic through the red carpet, checking hand stamps for admittance, and escorting entertainment acts to and from locations. It was a hectic night with lots of little hiccups along the way but the guests had a great time. There were 1,800 people in attendance. While I worked the red carpet it was interesting the types of people who made an appearance. Some were seasoned professionals, others clearly there for the party. The mix of the young and rowdy and the mature and sophisticated was an interesting mix. And while I’ve been to the MoMA for it’s art collection, always an impressive place to visit, the entrance hall and sculpture garden looked magical at night. As a native New Yorker it’s not often that I look up and admire the tall buildings but in the garden I couldn’t help but stare at the skyscrapers that seem to have sprouted around me. It was refreshing to know that I can still be in awe of the big apple.

Dressing up and being able to meld into a crowd of buzzing television and advertising representatives felt like a grown up game of make-believe. While I can’t say I’m envisioning a fabulous life in the advertising world this experience definitely reminded me that I love New York City. I love the hustle and bustle, the zig-zagging through large crowds of people, the loud laughter and talking, and the gleam of the city lights at night.

Though I am a new commuter, I have already become bored by riding the same trains to and from Greenwich every day. Its not that I don’t enjoy the occasional people watching, but I have decided that it would be wise to fill my time with more productive activities. So when my grandmother sent me a package a few weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of Katie Couric’s “The Best Advice I Ever Got, Lessons From Extraordinary Lives”.  Not only is this compilation of stories utterly inspiring, but each entry is the perfect length for a 25 minute commute. Since contributers only wrote 1-2 page submissions, you are never forced to put the book down without finishing a chapter.  I recognize that there are a copious amounts of self-help books on the shelves of your local Barnes & Noble. However this book provides the perspective of 114 people, an element that other advice books lack. Therefore I urge any one who is looking for a bit of inspiration so pit up a copy of Couric’s latest novel and soak up the advice of some of the most successful people in the world!

Having traveled to a relative amount of places in the United States, and elsewhere, traveling is always a very interesting pastime. And has become the staple thing to do for the vacationing in the United States. New York City was always high up on my list of places to visit, but was never quite important enough to actually take the time to plan a trip there. I was traveling to Disney World, Ireland, Northern Michigan, Canada, Chicago, and venturing around most of the midwest. New York City was the city of dreams for artists, actors on broadway, business men and just the general public eye. Every one knew it was big, beautiful, and the most sought after city to be in. Upon looking for an internship, The Brand Gallery was top of the list, not being affected by the location, but strictly by the feel of what the business had accomplished. The location has been lucky. I got my trip to New York City and have been curious enough to also travel around Connecticut, and hopefully up to Boston one of these weekends to see my ex-roommate from Denison. And while I very much enjoyed my trip into the city and getting to see The Empire State building, The Rockefeller Center, Union Square, Madison Square, The MoMA, Central Park, and being able to convince my parents to also travel to New York for their first time the weekend of July Fourth. My all time favorite place so far has been Grand Central Station. The sheer size of the memories in the station is enough to wrack your brain for a significant amount of time. How many people have traveled through Grand Central since its been around? How many photographs have been taken there? How many children threw fits there, how many tourists have gotten lost there, how many first meetings, first kisses, and goodbyes have had the audience of Grand Centrals walls? The entire feel of the history, movement, commotion, and weathered feel ads up to one of the most beautiful buildings not only architecturally, but also atmospherically.  And just like I have taken my own towns quaint beauty for granted, it seems most New Yorkers have taken Grand Central for granted being desensitized to its grace.

My mom used to say this to me back in the elementary school days. What she meant by it was not to be mad that someone wanted to do the same things as I did because it meant that they liked what I was doing so much they wanted to do it too. But that statement applied to other scenarios in life just doesn’t work – “Mom, I only plagiarized my essay because I liked the other’s guy’s so much!” Ownership of ideas is a highly prize value among Americans; whether that be for creative integrity or economic gain, we don’t want anyone else to have what we’ve got. Now what ever happened to that lesson “sharing is caring”?

            There is a way to get around some of this “creative ownership” nonsense however. Copyright laws aren’t as carved in stone as you might think. Once copyrights are expired, works go into ‘public domain’ which means they can be used by anyone in anyway. The length of time works are protected under copyright has been a debate for many years and has many different rules based on the work itself. Here is a chart that I found that lists these rules if you are interested.

            As a general rule, author’s works enter the public domain every year on January 1^st seventy years after the author’s death. This got me thinking- what works are in public domain? And could I use them for my own personal gain? Instead of me being “an original” or “a creative” I might just go and borrow some of these famous works:

F. Scott Fitzgerald (public domain in 2011)

Now’s my chance to remake an American classic- The Great Gatsby! Oh wait…that’s been done before. Three times as a matter of fact, most recently for the 2012, bound to be a box-office hit, feature film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. I wonder if the creators, now that they can, have taken any liberties to this well know plot? Like maybe bringing Jack Dawson back from the icy Pacific Ocean, and then he breaks up with Rose for not sharing the gigantic door she floated on (there was room for him…that bitch)….oh. Sorry. Any time I see Leo in a film I assume it’s a Titanic sequel. Wait, you mean there IS a Titanic sequel? 

Jane Austen (public domain in 2006)

            I am a huge Austen fan as many others are. With multiple film adaptations of her works like Emma and Pride and Prejudice her knack for romance and wit is popular for any generation. But what if I turned my sights to novel writing? Author Seth Grahame-Smith in his novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies published in 2009 is an exact, word for word, copy of the classic Austen novel. The only difference– the characters are all zombies. He can do that, you ask? Yes. Why would he? I’m stumped on that one too.

Brothers Grimm (public domain since 1923)

            Maybe not a complete shocker, but the classic tales of Snow White, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and many others have been retold again and again, hence the empire Disney has built over the years. More recently, there is a new Red Riding Hood movie starring Amanda Seyfried coming out this year as well as a new fall show on ABC called Once Upon A Time which is a mixed up parallel universe of fairy tale stories.

Despite the taunts of Steph and Amelie that we would get lost or killed, Eliza and I were excited for our first excursion (and Eliza’s first time ever) into New York City.

One thing that Eliza really wanted to do was go to Rockefeller Center, and it ended up being really interesting. John D. Rockefeller was the brilliant business tycoon behind it (sort of like Phil McIntyre from the early 20th century), who bought the property before the stock market crashed in 1939. Knowing that he would be the sole financier, as no one else could afford to back it, he went ahead with the project to build Rockefeller Center, giving tons of desperate people jobs.

Who hasn’t seen this famous image taken by Charles C. Ebberts during the construction? If you take the 30 Rock tour, you can get your picture snapped in front of the backdrop on a fake beam and supposedly be a part of history. For us, it was enough to see the amazing view from the Top of the Rock.

Overall, we didn’t heed Steph and Amelie’s warnings to not act touristy. Honestly, if our travel guide “New York for Dummies” didn’t give us away as tourists (it has good restaurant recommendations!), then our constant gaping at the sights made it quite clear. But we made it back to blog another day at the Brand Gallery and tell our tale! Stay tuned for future adventures.

This summer, The Brand Gallery welcomes four new summer associates from Denison University. Already in the midst of their ten weeks stay here at TBG, they all have settled into a groove and are beginning to feel like a little family. From getting chess playing tips from Julia, the Production Coordinator, to swapping Denison stories with the boss, summer at The Brand Gallery is shaping up to be a good one. 

Amélie Colwell is a junior Communications major from Westport, Connecticut. Normally the first one in right off the train, Amélie has acquired lots of skills so far – including making coffee with water. Voted Neatest Handwriting in the TBG office, she has exclusive access to the studio white board. With her energetic work ethic Amélie is always the first one to ask, “Can we turn the music up in the office?”

Eliza Dobbins is a junior Studio Art major in the BFA program at Denison. She drove all the way from Marshall, MI to be with TBG this summer. Having never seen the city or experience the deliciousness of a Dunkin’ Donuts, Eliza has certainly has her work cut out for her on the tourist front here on the East Coast. Her vocabulary has also expanded since arriving in Greenwich with new words like “bodaga” and “rush hour traffic.”

Stephanie Fois is a senior Cinema major from Mamaroneck, NY, just four stops away on the New Haven line train. With her local know-how, Phil has put her in charge of making sure his associates know how to find their way by train, by car, or on foot. She was also put in charge of ‘Operation Turdus Migratorius,’ a successful rescue effort for a baby robin found trapped in our garage.  Clearly, her outdoor savvy is serving this company well thus far.

Caitlin Hodson is also a senior Cinema and English double major hailing from Buffalo, NY. The “baby bird” of the group, Caitlin may have started a week late due to her study abroad program in Prague but has certainly fit right in at TBG. After all, on her first day she and the rest of the associates were invited to happy hour with the boss. When Phil informed her that this was a special treat she replied with, “You mean we don’t go for drinks on the boss’s tab every night?”