Notes on Jem Cohen Films

"Talk About The Passion"
- A good example of camera movement vs. person movement with the camera. It was as though the camera was taking you on a journey.

"Blood Orange Sky"
-It was like going on a trip with Jem and seeing through his cameras eyes. His camera found the things for us to peer at.
-The modern and the ancient living next to each other, he shows this skillfully. The modern ends up looking ancient.
-Audio: Use of filed recordings and traditional music to set the ambiance, sometimes-sound b-roll going over long shots.
- The only thing missing is the narrative, the conversations he had with these people. What is his relationship with the people he documents?
-He waits till the end to bring you indoors to maybe show you a little of the interior and a little of the space he took up while filming. It is not just the pure surface of Sicily when we are brought inside and shown his bed. I like that this does not come about till the end.
-The sound b-roll of waves leads you out, I like this, it is as if the movie is washed over you.

"Buried In Light"
-Much more abstract then "Blood Orange Sky"
-Transportation shots to signify travel and place I like this method
-He separates images with words "Signifiers" of place like "Berlin, South wall" this makes his ideas come across to easily, I prefer just seeing the images and coming up with my own story.
-How do you show a place? Really show the soul of a place.
-I really like his people sped up shots and night shots; he inspires me to work with low light.
-It would be a fun project to try and emulate one of his films in Brasil or San Francisco
-I liked the smudged surface of Krakow as if you are walking into a dream; He often uses reflection or pre-muddled surfaces to add drama to a shot, good technique.
-I like the travelers notes as filed recordings, how he follows strangers and watches how they interact with the camera.
- His personal journey into Jewish and Holocaust history was heart breaking and well done.
-The use of vintage footage to really show the "then and now."
-I like the lowering his sense of gravity shots, below the belt
-I like his documentation of plants in each place as signifiers
-"Seven possibilities for color beyond advertising" this was really well done a fun and unique form of activism.
-His postscript was a nice ending
- Approachable Travel Documentary, I like this, I want to write him.