What was challenging about films at this time was that it was the task of the actor to convey a message and mood from facial expression, exaggerated gestures and dancing. Hazanavicius 's film is set in the late 1920s where the viewer is taken through the life of George Valentin who plays a famous movie star who is completely set on his ways and views of silent cinema. His movies are some of the biggest in Hollywood and he believes that his films will stand the test of time. George meets a young background actor named Peppy Miller with whom he connects with immediately. He helps her take her acting career to new heights but just as actor do, they come and go with the change of an era and George’s silent movies are no longer making the cut when it comes to the audience. He is then pushed out to make room for the new, the talkies. Devastated he believes that the death of films has arrived, not knowing that Peppy has become the new face of talking films and the viewers response to them has been tremendous. The film concludes Peppy convincing George that the movies aren’t in fact dead and that with change comes new ideas those who are willing to follow it to explore the different experiences and possibilities it has to offer. Just like in today’s culture when we hear about a new trend …show more content…
As I’ve learned in many different styles so far, there are a few that stand out to me within my practice. Watching The Artist I realized that even though there are techniques and methods used most often than others, that I need to branch out of my comfort level and try new venues of thinking and creating. There is so much that can be done with films today that the choices are never ending. George Valentine was too afraid of what would come next that he never gave a moment to stop and think of what he could be missing with new technology and innovations. My practice points to the future of film by the direction the movie industry is heading, by the time I reach the place where I am able to make my own films and show them the experience will be completely different than what I am used to in the industry today. There is no real way to predict what going to the movies will be like in 50 years but the manner in which I as an artist grow is by having an open mind and practice so that when the change comes I will be ready. I found that using The Artist as the last screening felt appropriate because it was chosen to get us as the students thinking about our own practice and the challenges that can come along with it. For Jenkins, as artists trying to make our own way in a world where popular culture can provide a model for a mature and fully realized knowledge of culture. He