16 december 2001

Monty Pieton



Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.

A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"—but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.

Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, television shows, and media such as lyrics.




07 december 2001

Story with a beard



JOOP GEESINK would successfully star himself in one of his colorful puppet animations. He is a round man; with a round character and also round in terms of figure. He is amicable, he laughs a lot and his face shows the same pleasant expression Oliver Hardy showed when in his best moods in his movies. One can easily make a playful looking puppet from Geesink’s image. All other puppets would show admiration and honor for this “star-puppet”, because the successes in his life followed each other in a fast pace as the images on a filmstrip. “Dollywood”is what Joop Geesink and his brother Wim call the film studio full of activity and where they are the proud chiefs of board. Joop only rarely sits behind the massive desk in the boardroom of Dollywood. He travels across the world with laughter, busy gestures, bravura, seriousness, sucking on big cigars and negotiating with captains of industry about the construction of his famous commercials



30 november 2001

Rotterdam Bridge


De brug (The bridge) is a 1928 Dutch documentary short film directed by Joris Ivens. This silent film explores the then-newly constructed Rotterdam vertical-lift railroad bridge: its structure, mechanisms, complex actions, and the steam-powered trains and ships making use of it.

De brug can be found at the Internet Movie Database
De brug is available for free download at the Internet Archive

Today the mainpart of the bridge is carried away for maintenance.



 

18 november 2001

Theater in Greece




As their name implies, movie palaces, like other products of the age, were advertised to "make the average citizen feel like royalty."

Eberson specialized in the subgenre of "atmospheric" theatres. His first, of the five hundred in his career, was the 1923 Majestic in Houston, Texas. The atmospherics usually conveyed the impression of sitting in an outdoor courtyard, surrounded by highly ornamented asymmetrical facades and exotic flora and fauna, underneath a dark blue canopy; when the lights went out, a specially designed projector, the Brenograph, was used to project clouds, and special celestial effects on the ceiling.

Lamb's style was initially based on the more traditional, "hardtop" form patterned on opera houses, but was no less ornate. His theaters evolved from relatively restrained neo-classic designs in the 1910s to those with elaborate baroque and Asian motifs in the late 1920s.

The movie palace's signature look was one of extravagant ornamentation. The theaters were often designed with an eclectic exoticism where a variety of referenced visual styles collided wildly with one another. French Baroque, High Gothic, Moroccan, Mediterranean, Spanish Gothic, Hindu, Babylonian, Aztec, Mayan, Orientalist, Italian Renaissance, and (after the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922) Egyptian Revival, were all variously mixed and matched. This wealth of ornament was not merely for aesthetic effect. It was meant to create a fantasy environment to attract moviegoers and involved a type of social engineering, distraction, and traffic management, meant to work on human bodies and minds in a specific way. Today, most of the surviving movie palaces operate as regular theaters, showcasing concerts, plays and operas.


 

30 augustus 2001

Nucleair threat and treat



A newsreel is a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the twentieth century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs, and entertainment for millions of moviegoers until television supplanted its role in the 1950s. Newsreels are now considered significant historical documents, since they are often the only audiovisual record of historical and cultural events of those times.

Newsreels were typically featured as short subjects preceding the main feature film into the 1960s. There were dedicated newsreel theaters in many major cities in the 1930s and 1940s, and some large city cinemas also included a smaller theaterette where newsreels were screened continuously throughout the day.



30 juni 2001

Street theater



Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves and street corners. They are especially seen in outdoor spaces where there are large numbers of people. The actors who perform street theatre range from buskers to organised theatre companies or groups that want to experiment with performance spaces, or to promote their mainstream work.The logistics of doing street theatre necessitates simple costumes and props, and generally there is little or no amplification of sound, with actors depending on their natural vocal and physical ability. This issue with sound has meant that physical theatre, including dance, mime and slapstick, is a very popular genre in an outdoor setting. The performances need to be highy visible, loud and simple to follow in order to attract a crowd.


Street theatre is arguably the oldest form of
theatre in existence, most mainstream entertainment mediums can be traced back to origins in street performing.One of the most interesting points about modern street theatre is its unique sociopolitical place. People who might not have ever been to, or been able to afford to go to the "legitimate" theatre can watch a street show, by virtue of where the shows take place, their audience is made up of anyone and everyone who wants to watch.


 

27 april 2001

German countrylife


The Westphalian Open-Air Museum...

Here, you find a recreation.... of common life of the past 500 years in Westphalia arranged on more than 100 hectares in Germany’s largest open-air museum. While touring the green scenic landscape - by feet or horse-drawn carriage – you have an opportunity to travel through time from the “Gräftenhof” up to the “Sauerländer Dorf” (Sauerland Village), stretching from around 1800 until 1925. Many of our visitors return several times to discover and enjoy the museum building by building, epoch by epoch...

More than 100 historic houses, pulled down at their original places and reerected in the museum, are awaiting you with their characteristical construction as well as workshops such as blacksmith or a bakery and surprises like the “Haus der Gefühle” (House of Feelings). Take your time to enjoy the fresh air and the charming landscape: As varied as the Westphalian regions are, you will also find typical elements from the “Flechthecke” (a hedge made from wickerwork), to the fruit orchard, the copse the place of a charcoal burner or the rustic garden in front of the half-timbered house.

04 februari 2001

Our Citroen

Cinema of France refers to the film industry based in France. The French cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.

France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its significant contributions to the art form and the film-making process itself.  Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. It is noted for having a particularly strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the French government.