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Hughes introduces the relationship between music and film by comparing his film score to that of Eisler’s. Eisler puts more emphasis on the foreground of music. He states Sergei Eisenstein’s theory as a good starting point to the overall interaction of the two forms. Eisenstein believed that different media established a connection based on shared emotional qualities through collision rather than equivalence. He did not believe in equating the two media form because the fundamental properties of visual art and audio art are “unalike.” Eisenstein introduced a higher form of montage with the idea that visual shots corresponded with “musical movement.” For example, a shot drawing the eyes downward would be complemented by a descending chord combination. Hughes continues with an explanation of film and music relationship in Eisler’s Rain. He concludes that the sense that there is a connection between music and picture comes from an extension of the sense of motion, generated by interactions between the media. The problem that arises here is the possibility of assigning a musical structure with an unrelated visual sequence. This problem arises from the difference between filmic modernism (clarity) and musical modernism (self-reflective symbolism).

“Fantasia,” fundamentally about the relationship between music and sound, utilizes Eisenstein’s idea of “musical movement.” A perfect example is the “Nutcracker Suite” sequence. Mystical fairies, such as the ice fairies skating on the frozen lake, create a kind of dance through their interactions with nature that perfectly interprets the music’s “movement.” Nevertheless, Disney did not take into account the likely collision of the two forms. Beethoven’s Pastoral and its corresponding mythical, Greek animation exemplify the inappropriate sound-image connection that Hughes would like to avoid. Overall, “Fantasia” seems to have moments of brilliance and moments of musical butchery. In its grace, the film captures the synchronization of music and sound on screen creating flowing unity. However, the abuse of musical art in “Fantasia” demonstrates its producers’ artistic disqualification. A good example of Eisenstein musical movement theory, the film is a technological artifact, but cannot be esteemed for its artistic innovation.

Clague, Mark. “Playing in ‘Toon: Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ (1940) and the Imagineering of Classical Music.” American Music 22.1 (2004): 91-109. University of Illinois. JSTOR. Van Pelt Library Philadelphia, PA. 26 Nov 2008.

Clague opens with “Fantasia’s” style. A “new kind of art,” “Fantasia” creates meaning out of music and images through audiovisual alignment. Such meaning should expose the public, presumably having no musical knowledge, to a wider understanding of classical music. Disney achieved this goal with “Fantasia” by creating a series of shorts, each of which was associated with a particular piece of classical music (such as Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor of the opening vignette). With the help of Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Disney attempts to teach viewers how to listen to such music. The animation acts as a visual aid to suggest information about listening to the music. More specifically, “Fantasia” is an early example of Disney’s “Imagineering,” exemplifying the combination of science and creativity, engineering and imagination. Certain critics suggest that such a composition may have damaged the music; inevitably, image always dominates sound. However, the Disney Studio used that implication to its advantage in “Fantasia” by introducing a number of associations, ideas, and references to the music. Appealing to middlebrow culture and an uneducated middle-class, “Fantasia” provided easy access to the high-end classical music. Abstractions of sound were connected with imagery of commonplace experiences to allow the public to better relate to the pieces. Themes expressed by the film are faith in scientific research and progress; Darwin’s theory on evolution in The Rite of Spring segment; racism (though more obvious passages were self-censored in the 60’s and do not appear on the modern editions of the film), mainly in depictions of black picaninnies; sexism; homophobia and gluttony (Bacchus, who is over weight, and the donkey kissing); as well as family, parenting, love, youth, etc. Though many of these ideologies are rejected by today’s society, Americans in the 1940’s more readily embraced them. In effect, “Fantasia” reflects the ideological viewpoints of its time, serving today as an important reminder of where America has been and what is aspired to be.

Clague exemplifies, in this article, Disney’s goal to make “Fantasia” an educative production. The film therefore has a clear message in mind and does not leave much room for personalized interpretation. More harmful still are the commonplace associations with the music. Such banalities associate the corresponding music to lack of musical innovation and of individuality. This visual imposition therefore truly taints the musical pieces of great composers whose work has been subject to Disney’s distortions. The Disney Studio effectively changes the nature of the music by limiting the listener’s creativity. As such, “Fantasia” is the opposite of art because it introduces only one correct idea and expresses as true, perhaps resembling propaganda. Though there is the unresolved debate of propaganda’s artistic nature, “Fantasia” is not even propagandistic art because it was not created as such. “Fantasia,” an entertaining animated film and not a political advertisement, confines the viewer to one clear interpretation, rather than implying a message through abstraction. This film is therefore fundamentally not a work of art. It is simply the middleclass entertainment that it depicts.

English, Horace B. “’Fantasia’ and the Psychology of Music.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 2.7 (Winter, 1942-1943): 27-31. Blackwell. JSTOR. Van Pelt Library Philadelphia, PA. 30 Nov 2008.

English reminds the reader that the combining music and dramatic production is an old technique. Therefore, there has always been music that was written to accompany drama. Such music is composed around the story in order to enhance it. Some of the pieces in “Fantasia” were written as such, and therefore Disney’s visual accompaniment does not destroy the music. On the other hand, most of the sequences in “Fantasia” use the music as the base and write the story around the music, ignoring the inherent differences between visual forms and musical forms. He explains this by describing man’s relationship to sound. Sounds have become abstractions and carry an infinite variety of plastic meanings. There is no fixed meaning of a musical sound. On the other hand, the eye is an organ of reality meaning that what is seen—painted, written, pictured, etc.—holds far more acceptability than what is heard. “Seeing, not hearing, is believing,” he asserts. He says that when we are really responding to music, we are creating something unique and individual; and at the moment of such creation, anyone else’s response, be it ever so beautiful, is only a distraction and an annoyance.

This article exemplifies one of the biggest critiques of “Fantasia:” mixing two forms of art inappropriately. According to English’s view on music, Disney ends up annoying the viewer with this combination rather than impressing him. In the context of “Fantasia’s” purpose, English seems to take the repercussions of the sound-image relationship too far. Disney wanted to expose lower-class audiences to the mysteries of classical music while demonstrating his talent in animation. However, with an intellectual mindset, the viewer sees the images as “a distraction and an annoyance.” Disney thus succeeded in entertaining his uneducated viewer, but he could not gain approval of intellectuals. English describes music, which is not written around a story, is an art form of its own. As such, artistic music provokes individual emotions that should not be normalized as they are in “Fantasia.” Unfortunately, Disney’s attempt failed to consider the musical characteristics that were the cause of much critique. As an entertainer, Disney seems to be doing the job with this film. On the other hand, as an artist, Disney overlooks fundamental aspects of art. Disney’s lack of basic artistic comprehension contributes to “Fantasia’s” failure as a work of art.

This segment addresses the aesthetics in the last number of “Fantasia” which combines Modest Moussorgsky’s bone chilling tone poem “Night on Bald Mountain” with Franz Schubert’s pacifying Ave Maria. Disney’s goal here was to visually shock the audience with the audio bridging of these two drastically different pieces. This would ultimately address the conflict between good and evil. Vladimir Tytla successfully conveyed the demonic aspect of Moussorgsky’s music with impressive animation amplified by special effects and camerawork. Furthermore, Moussorsky’s music was used to its full potential because the Disney Studio was able to increase the tone of a descending passage—low notes however loud they may be played decrease tone in a classical live stage setting. The transition to “Ave Maria” occurs with the sounding of a bell forcing the demons to retreat as dawn approaches and a series of pilgrims are depicted. “Ave Maria” serves an emotional relief to the audience, undoubtedly tense from the shock of Moussorsgky’s malignant music and its grim visualization. Though Disney was unsatisfied with his animator’s production of this scene, he finally realized his vision only days before the premiere; in Disney’s eyes it was finally perfect. The use of Fantasound in the scene was one of the most important technical components that aided the scenes effects. Fantasound made it seem as though “the spirits of the pilgrim choristers were in procession up the side aisles of the theater.” Disney, Stokowski, and their coworkers had created an entire animated concert while taking full advantage of the animation medium.

Moussorgsky’s piece was written to accompany a story so its style is unusual. Disney's images of demons from the underworld are uncommon as well, since Walt did not want to portray traditional horror motifs. Combining the two creates a harsh sensation while it increases the tension and discomfort of the viewer. However, the following “Ave Maria” sequence erases any fear created by "A Night on Bald Mountain" primarily through its music but also through its animation. Disney and his staff used the sound-image relationship here but they extended that concept by creating a relationship between two sound and image combinations. It is interesting to note that the music alone, the animation without sound or the separation of the two parts would have created something ordinarily unimpressive. The genius behind this last scene is the perfect synchronization of sound and image and the astute bridging of the two pieces. Musical senses are amplified by animation, and furthermore the coupling of two extremes heightens reactionary emotions. This well-constructed scene is perhaps the best example of “Fantasia” working as a form of art. Though the interpretation of the music is depicted directly, and not implicitly, the meaning of the combination of pieces is only suggested. Disney finally required interaction from the viewer perhaps hinting at "Fantasia's" artistic value or, at least, its artistic potential.

This article from Art Law department at Harvard explains that artists have certain rights within the creation of their works.  One-way is through appropriation art: the quoting of work from other artists.  Artists borrows elements from the original that may stay completely unchanged, however, the new work uses the original to create something new.  Appropriation art took place as far back as Raphael’s Judgment of Paris c.1515, which was since lost but one of the artist’s employees, Raimondi, made an etching of it, which proceeded to be copied over and over.  Three centuries later, Manet took part of this image and inserted it into his painting, Le Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe.  A century later, Picasso translated Manet’s work in a series of paintings.   Thus, artists’ have always relied on being inspired and influenced by earlier works.

The Roger v. Koons (1992) case, wherein Jeff Koons commissioned a sculpture of Art Roger's photograph postcard, and in so doing, violated Rogers’ copyright of his original work, is regarded as the primary modern day case of appropriation art.  Koons’ work copies the original exactly, although the puppies are painted a vivid blue, have bulbous noses, and the two figures are decorated with three flowers, which does not occur in the original.

Koons has been in a number of cases in which he has tried to argue for parody or satire, for example, in order to deem his work transformative enough from the original, and thus fair use.  Appropriation art is a major get-out-of-jail free card, that gives artists the ‘artistic license’ that is arguably essential in creating great works, as exemplified by the fact that the most well recognized artists have been doing this for centuries.

           Eugene Goryunov gives her opinion on Perfect 10 v. Google and gives an extensive description of the case, the decisions, and the progression of Copyright Law.  In general, he strongly agreed with my thesis and agreed that Google should not be found liable.  His analysis centers on his assessment of the Court's decisions.  His first assessment is that the judge used a proper application of the "Server" test to in-line linking because "Google's use of in-line linking and framing does not constitute a "display" of images and cannot serve as a basis for finding direct liability.(516)" This supports my thesis because this holds that Google is not directly liable for copyright infringement.

            Goryunov follows this by offering his opinion on the Court's assessment of Fair Use.  He disagreed with the district court's application of the first and fourth factors of Fair Use.  According to Goryunov, "the court abused its discretion by apportioning excessive weight to the commercial nature of Google's secondary use and ignoring the highly transformative secondary use of the technology, which weighs in favor of fair use as a matter of law."  Thus, he agrees with me that the transformative use is more important than the commercial.  This supports my thesis in that the first factor leans towards Fair Use and therefore supports Google.  With regards to the fourth factor, Goryunov stated that, "the court abused its discretion in finding that Google's secondary use of thumbnail copies of P10's full-size images had an adverse effect on P10's market." He continues by arguing that Google's image search actually would not and does not have an adverse effect on Perfect 10's sales.  This also supports my thesis since it claims the fourth factor is Fair Use and is thus supporting Google.

            He continued by speculating what he believes could be a useful addition to Fair Use.  He states that some people have suggested adding a fifth factor that would use public policy as a guiding force.  This would help Google and my thesis, for Google's image search helps the public obtain images greatly, even those which are not infringing on copyright.  He goes on to agree with the District Court's decision to find Google not secondarily liable.  This pretty clearly also supports my thesis and Google's argument.

           The A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. case is cited several times throughout the Perfect 10 v. Google case and many of the decisions made in this case are vital to the outcome of the Google case.  First of all, the District Court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction for an abuse of discretion originated with the Napster case.  Also, the Napster case is similar because they both stress copyright infringement and had trial de novo, or new trials with a different decision maker.  For my paper, I can look at the examples from the Napster case which were cited in the Google case.  Regardless of whether or not they support my thesis, I can analyze whether or not these aspects should be part of decision making in copyright.

            Preliminary injunctive relief is available to a party that demonstrates either that they have "a combination of probable success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable harm" or "that serious questions are raised and the balance of hardships tips in its favor." These conditions were outlined in the Napster case and used as criteria in the Google case.  In the Napster case, this meant that A&M Records had to show that Napster's program for file sharing could cause irreparable harm to their copyrighted works or that it at least tips the burden towards A&M Records to stop the infringement of the illegal downloading.  In the Napster case, these conditions are very clear and seem to be a very necessary assessment to make in cases of copyright infringement.

            These conditions were used in the Google case and according to the Court's decision, support Google's argument. This was because Perfect 10, in the Court's opinion, was unable to show either of these criteria.  It does not seem to be that important of a criterion in the Google case, but the seemingly black and white use in the Napster case shows how important this type of analysis is in copyright infringement.  Because it supports my thesis, it is important to show that the criterion is essential for keeping things fair under copyright.  The Napster case shows that this analysis, which supports Google, is very well thought out and essential for Fair Use.

Choson Dynasty: Dog

This is an annotation about dogs and in particular big dogs. 

Almagest then became the next big item of
discussion. The audience was interested in both its media
presentation capabilities as well as its ability to manage and
display extensive contextual information useful in teaching.
The session ran two hours as several people stayed on to see
a demonstration of Almagest. Features noted in response to
audience

• Multimedia and document support
• Blackboard Building Block plugin
• Immediate presentation Annotation
• Presentation cropping/zooming
• Drag and Drop "lecture" building
• On the fly lecture changes
  -image zooming
  -image ordering
  -database drill-down

Almagest and Almagest Lecture Builder are tools for teaching and learning that can

• manage and store media
  
• create and display digital lectures and presentations
  
• annotate and contextualize data for teaching

The database is the result of more than a decade of development and has been used as a tool for teaching and scholarship at Princeton University for the past nine years.

Almagest is a relational data base that can be used to store and organize a wide range of media, and create a network of bi-directional links among objects, people, texts and ideals.

Almagest creates a web-based, permanent archive of data of many types. Because the underlying database is relational, the link structure provides an almost limitless set of complex relationships that catalog, annotate and cross-reference data. The database can be used for research projects and courses.

Bruegel, Pieter: Hunters in the Snow

dogs, yes dogs! 

Pollock, Jackson: Autumn Rhythm

Just because it's fall... 

You can now tag images from the Library's image server... 

This article looks at the Nike company and its influence over the sports industry.  It discusses how Nike has become an image model that people want to attain.