Hanh Nguyen's

This is used for my English 1101 Class

[wwatson9]

In Jay-Z’s Picasso Baby, Jay-Z performs in an intimate setting of an art gallery to a select group of artist, writers and random people. Hobson is arguing that his concert in the art gallery is an exhibit of “performing art”, even though he is most readily labeled as a celebrity and...

[hyperhanh]

I like the irony part. I also made the same point with the Mona Lisa part that he's glorifying black beauty over white's. 

[ksmith383]

Part 2 : Picasso Baby

“While Jay Z’s performance invites more enjoyment from the audience and clearly exhibits his star power, in contrast to the performative violence of the previously mentioned art works, there is still the recurring theme of “authentic blackness” that artists of color are supposed to embody.  Because Jay Z is not readily recognizable as a “performance artist” and is responded to by virtue of his celebrity status and his “authentically” black body, few in his audience will recognize his cultural appropriation as an inherent critique of whiteness and its aesthetic institutions.  The very nature of exhibiting his freestyle performance for the gallery space raises questions about what constitutes art and art making and who gets to define it”  (Hobson).

In this article, Hobson is arguing that, through Picasso Baby, Jay-Z is making himself seem more culturally relevant than most people assume he is. In the video, Jay-Z brings in many artists from different walks of life: dancing, painting, sculpting, music, etc. By bringing in these different people, he’s trying to connect all of them together and show that art is art, no matter the form it is in. Jay-Z ties in the cultural piece by having the artists be of both white and black ethnicity. He’s trying to show that, while some don’t believe that Jay-Z’s form of art isn’t actually like the ‘authentic blackness’, he is able to bring artists together and show that it is. 

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[hyperhanh]

You brought up a very interesting point with how Jay-Z shows that "art is art" by having the different kinds of artists in the room. I didn't even see that until now.

[wildthornberry34]

All Alone in a World full of People

Although it may not seem like it, the first thirty seconds of any video, event, or movie are very defining moments. The scene is set, the main character or characters are introduced, but your brain has barely given you enough time to recognize that the main character is not who you think he is! Within the first critical seconds of Michael Jackson’s music video “Bad”, so much has already been established. You unknowingly are aboard the plot train as it is hurdling down the tracks but you are in the back thinking, “Oh! This is a black and white film!” The scene is set using a black and white film stock and jumping shots around a pristine campus; perhaps it is a boarding school. This private school notion is then verified with a quick jump to a stone sign reading, “The Duxston School.” Eerie, uncanny, almost ghostly music is playing while the camera slowly goes from shot to shot of empty hallways and stairwells. Then, all of a sudden, a face consumes the frame. This close-up of Michael Jackson’s character, Darryl, displays his unsmiling face rising up to meet the camera. At this moment, the camera is angled slightly, looking down upon him. This angle, combined with the mise en scene actions of this stone-cold face create the effect or idea that Darryl is powerful. After this defining moment, the camera swiftly jumps to a stairwell filled with rambunctious boys yelling and screaming as they run down the stairs. The dead silence and eerie music seconds before creates a strong juxtaposition with the din of the boys in the stairwell, informing the viewer that Darryl is all alone in this seemingly filled building.

[hyperhanh]

The part with the closeup of MJ to make him appears powerful is nice! Unlike the other posts about this video, which focus on costumes, this post takes a unique viewpoint on emotion and the surrounding to describe the mood of this video. 

[ramblinbuzzer]

As I watched the first 30 seconds of “Smooth Criminal” I was automatically captured by the “mise en scene”. The outfits, the props, and the extra actors really captured the storyline for Michael’s video. I would like to focus more on the event where he opened the door into the warehouse. This...

[hyperhanh]

"The white suit... makes him appear to be superior or even invincible" is one nice statement! Overall, this post does a really nice job at describing how the mise en scene and the cinematography direct our attention in the video.

[jschutz3]

The video for Smooth Criminal combines a bar setting, with standard gangster outfits, to create a cool, tough, and sexually charged video. The instant Michael Jackson walks into the bar, the silence takes over, and suddenly everyone directs their attention to the “King of Pop”. Michael is...

[hyperhanh]

I really like how your conclusion ties everything up. The part where you contrast MJ's costume to his surrounding is also very nice! I also like the details on MJ like his tall standing, which makes him stands out. 

[theycallmedanny-blog]

The moment in the first 30 seconds that best sets up the tone, mood, and story of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” comes at the point when Michael and his “crew” all come together. At this point, Michael and his crew are in “bad” attire, each having on “tough” and rugged clothing such as Michael’s full leather outfit and the crew-members’ thuggish bucket hats and du-rags. This clothing is typical of the types of clothing gang members of the time period would wear. Having people that look this way come together in a group against a similar group signals that two egos have clashed and someone will have to prove that he is worse than the other, or something bad will happen to him. This also comes at a point after Michael has had his encounter with the first character that says that Michael isn’t “bad”. This encounter is the reason that Michael’s friends show up to help him prove who actually is bad. At this point, while in some type of garage, Michael and his crew are prepared to “fight” the other group. This parking garage-like setting is important because it is the typical fighting arena for “bad” groups around that time. These two crews ganging up helps to highlight the actually title because not only is the “fight” to see who’s bad, but it is also a bad situation altogether. No other piece of the beginning of the video completely emphasizes the title of the video and explains what is to come in the video.

[wwatson9]

I really like how you relate everything back to the title, "Bad," which is also the theme of the video.