"Mission to Earth"

1. Using "Mission to Earth" as an example, not what is new or different about digital cinema compared to traditional filmmaking. Consider the story and appearance of the film.

"Mission to Earth" was quite an interesting film. While I was talking with another student about the film, I mentioned that I was glad to have a bit of the background info/plot before watching the movie because then I was able to focus more on the images rather than the narration. Without this information, I am sure I would have been more focused on the plot and would have missed out on a lot of the art and aspects of digital cinema presented.   

The appearance of the film was the first thing I noticed that was different from traditional filmmaking. I was surprised to see 2-4 boxes with different images/happenings going on at the same time. Throughout the film, I noticed different things with these boxes. First, there was always one box that was larger than the other boxes, and it was in this box that the main character actions, the immigrant woman, were portrayed. This box was also very plain and bland color-wise, and rather still as it barely portrayed the woman's actions. In the smaller side boxes, there were frequent animations with symbols, signs and a variety of color. 

Another aspect of the film that I noticed was the narration and woman's actions. Unlike tradition filmmaking, every verbal aspect of this film was given by a 'voice of God' narrator. As viewers, we never saw this narrator, but he told us everything we really need to know. On the other hand, we never heard from this immigrant woman, but she showed us everything the narrator told us. It was interesting to see these two pieces work together. In addition, we never saw the immigrant woman interact with any other human beings. The narrator told us of two instances when she interacted with humans, yet we never saw these, probably to further show her distance from the rest of society/Earth.

One final thing that struck me as being different from traditional filmmaking was the piecing together of the film clips and the 'pauses' to do so. When the film started playing and then froze to 'find a new clip' I thought it was a scratch on the DVD, but I was rather surprised to learn that this was normal for this film. I found this to be an interesting way to grab the audiences' attention. It also gave the audience a moment to collect their thoughts on the film and what they had just seen. 

2. What other art forms does this film remind you of? Explain the similarity.

I am still trying to decide what other kinds of art this film reminds me of- I think that because it is was so obscure and different that it can relate to many different art forms. One thing that "Mission to Earth" reminded me of was a type of adventure book that I used to read when I was younger. If I remember correctly they were called, "Choose Your Own Adventure" and as the reader you were able to choose what the main character would do in certain situations. For example at the end of a road if you wanted the character to turn left you would turn to page 54, if you wanted them to turn right you would turn to page 96, but if you wanted them to turn around you would go to page 154. These books provided the reader with some control of the situations, which reminds me of the DVD controlling what we, as viewers of "Mission to Earth" see. Since each viewing is different and the DVD choose what we see, the images and boxes portrayed throughout the movie provide a different meaning each time.


3. Did you like the film?
 
Yes. Although it was rather obscure and different, I thought it was a very interesting film. It discusses some interesting topics, including life on different planets, immigrants, and society from a different point of view. Relying on digital media rather than traditional filmmaking allowed the filmmaker to put a different spin on the typical 'outsider' story. In addition, I found the ending to be a cliffhanger, as it wasn't too clear on what the immigrant woman decided to do, exciting as it gave some freedom to the viewer to make up his/her mind about the woman's choice.


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