Module 8 Video Reviews

This week for class we were given several movies to choose from to watch and discuss.  The three movies I watched were entitled, "More Human than Human," "Cataclysm:  The Black Death Visits Tuscany," and, "Cairo Museum."  I selected the video on the Black Death because I love to explore and study that period of time.  The Middle Ages intrigue me, and the idea of the Black Death and its consequences especially enthrall me.  I've even written several papers on the Plague before.  I selected the Cairo Museum video because everything about Egypt and ancient Egyptian culture fascinates me.  I think the intrigue stemmed from my grandmother's own fascination with all things Egypt.  Therefore, I had to watch the video to learn more about the Cairo Museum.  
I learned a great deal of information from each of these movies that I had not known before and found very interesting.  In "More Human than Human," I learned that Egyptians used grids to make all of their paintings of people the same size, all over the country.  Also, it is believed that all images of the human form are dictated by certain aspects of culture and that humans have a  hardwired instinct to exaggerate that form.  For example in ancient Greece, it was believed that gods took human form, so the more fit or beautiful your body was, the more godlike you were.  At one point in history, the Greeks mastered the creation of uncannily realistic statues, but stopped quickly because it was too realistic and therefore boring.  So, they began to create more exaggerated and defined statues to suit that basic human instinct.  In the "Cataclysm" video I learned that a proper burial was extremely important during the time leading up to the Black Death, but unfortunately so many people were dying and contagious, that a proper burial was not possible.  Another interesting fact I learned was that Antisemitism was at large and Jews were blamed for supposedly poisoning wells in order to kill Christians.  As for art, images started to be darker, and to depict God as the terrifying, Old-Testament version of himself.  Art was completely different when it began to re-emerge after the Black Death.  Bodies were flatter, artists were more interested in the celestial realm, Doubting Thomas emerged, there was a focus on human flesh and pain, etc.  Some works were lighter, an escape, as they moved away from naturalism and realism.  During the time, mathematical perspective was developed, painting techniques still used today were created, gold leaf was popular, the rise of universities and the modern city impacted the culture, etc.  In the "Cairo Museum" video, I learned that a man who had lost his goat stumbled upon a hidden cachet, which had stored various royal treasures.  He wanted to get rich so he sold all of these items on the black market.  In the cachet, there were a total of 40 mummies as well as many royal objects that were stored there over 3,000 years before by priests protecting them from tomb raiders.  Objects like these  were brought to the Cairo Museum from all over to be put into an exhibition of long-lost, never-before-seen forgotten objects.  The video showed how careful and meticulous museum curators need to be when cleaning, restoring, and showing these ancient artifacts.       
I thought that the "More Human than Human" video related to the text very well, especially chapter 14, as it took us through time, through many different civilizations to figure out why we make the human form look the ways we do.  It was very historical as the book had been, and even studied some of the same works of art such as the Venus of Willendorf.  The "Cataclysm" video also related to the text, especially chapter 15, as it discussed what art was like in the Middle Ages, as the text had.  However, I do not think that the two were extremely close in information, as the book focused on the art of the time period, and the video focused on the Black Death, and much less on the art of the period.  The "Cairo Museum" video related wonderfully to the book, chapter 14, as both focused on the beauty, technique, and mystery behind ancient Egypt's artworks.  
I beleive that the films we watch for this class add much depth and understanding to what we are learning.  As I usually state in my blogs, most of the video as just expansion of what is said in the text.  The videos are more exploratory and specific than the text, and so affects our level of comprehension.  My belief is no different for these three videos.  I believe that the "More Human than Human" video gave us a great look into the mind of human beings and what is behind our urge to exaggerate and accentuate.  The "Cataclysm" video gave us some great historical background and let us better understand what the feelings behind the art of the time were.  Finally, the "Cairo Museum" allowed us to see what goes into uncovering lost artifacts and creating/caring for an enormous and important museum exhibit.