Optical Devices

 

Shane Rollins

    One thing that I found incredibly interesting about Film Theory class this week was optical devices. Those really enhance any film and provide more to become emotionally attached too. Optical devices became a lot more popular in the film world in 1924 when Germaine Dulac and Jean Epstein started to implement that in their magazines. Dulac, who introduced the term impressionism to describe cinematic styles that would prevail as French critics began pursuing creative ways for their theoretical interests. When I read about that in the textbook, I started to think about all my favorite optical devices that I have really enjoyed. After thinking of my favorite optical devices, the first thing that came to mind was the scar from Harry Potter. 

 

    I think that the scar from Harry potter is a huge indicator of the series in general. People who have not even seen any movies or read books can identify the character by the lightning bolt shaped scar on the right side of his forehead. That is a fitting example of an optical device because it means so much to the main character. It is a symbol of his history, where he has been, why he is famous, and why he is the boy who lived! The more that I think about optical devices, the more I think about Jiminy Cricket. As much of a character he remains in the new film, he is also a symbol of Pinocchio's conscience. He represents the choice between right and wrong and why you should choose the right one. He is very biased towards the long-term objective of the main character which influences Pinocchio to make some unique choices, yet it also creates conflict. 

 

    When I think about optical devices in real life, I think about the weather. The weather is the only excellent optical device that changes people's moods throughout the day. For example, if you look up at the sky and it is gloomy, cloudy, and you hear thunder, you are going to experience many different emotions compared to a sunny day. Other symbolism exists which can be important for specific people. For example, I still have my state football championship ring that reminds me of my time on the team. It is a symbol of my time in high school and all the friends that I made in and out of the hallways. There are so many examples of symbolism in our everyday lives, but each person has a different relationship with each object. For example, while I look at that ring as a symbol of my friends and high school, my teammate who got hurt on the team might look at the same ring from an unfamiliar perspective and experience different feelings. Every person feels differently because each item has given them a unique experience that only applies to them.