October, Adventure, Retrace, Blue, Gershwin


The Hunt For Red October

Patrick H. Willems | YouTube | 20th May 2020

Explanation of how movie subtitles can be an artistic choice. In John McTiernan's submarine thriller The Hunt For Red October, the language and subtitles switch from Russian to English and back to Russian again at a dizzying rate. These changes correspond deeply to the story's shifting dynamics.  "People ask what a director brings to a movie that they didn't write themself – this" (24m 08s, recommended start at 3m 02s)


The Researcher's Article: A Three-Part Adventure

Vulgarisation | Youtube | 30th October 2014

The long and winding journey of a physics article from conception to publication. Authors must squeeze years of research into a few pages, and then face the bureaucratic nightmare of editors and referees. And yet they continue, because despite the exhausting process, "it's hard to communicate the sheer excitement of scientific discovery." Quaint and informative (7m 12s)


Retracing Ahmaud Arbery's Final Minutes

The New York Times | YouTube | 21st May 2020

Clear report on Ahmaud Arbery's death, which was brought back into the public eye when new video footage surfaced of the shooting. Includes frame by frame breakdown of the footage in question, as well as reconstructions of the preceding events based on nearby security footage and police calls (7m 22s)


Picasso's Blue Period

The Canvas | YouTube | 19th May 2020

During his Blue Period, Picasso produced such melancholy gems as "The Old Guitarist" and "La Vie," which use overwhelming amounts of blue to express an ennui-infected worldview. The period stemmed from the actions of Picasso's friend and fellow artist Carles Casagemas (pictured below on the left), who attempted to murder his romantic interest Germaine when she rejected him at a party, then shot himself (9m 08s)


Artistic Video Of The Week

A Gershwin tune comes to life in vivid brushstrokes


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