Poggin'

This morning I went to church as usual for a Sunday, and started cutting out pogs in Photoshop when I got back, as usual for a Sunday.

After dinner me, Mauser, L, and Clare watched an episode of Star Trek TNG and it was actually really good! It had Ray Harryhausen style Claymation and also a skill Alien style alien inside a bloke. The blokes head exploded in a comiclly skill style as well.

After that we watched some 1900's short films. I carried on cutting out Pogs in Photoshop, then I updated my Pog website.

After tea I watched Dezertir with Mauser, a communist propaganda film, and the first one with sound I think. I thought the sound was very well done - parts are often silent (save for the scratchy vinyl style background noise) then something happens, and the sudden loud noise enhances the impact. The close-ups and quick alternating cuts I also thought were well done, and certainly make a change from many other films. There was one part where the cuts were seizure inducing fast though.

One part I thought was done particularly well was where there is a policeman directing the traffic, and music is put to his movements, making it look like he is dancing.

The film was confusing in part though, with everybody speaking Russian, you start off thinking the film is set in Russia, until the workers start talking about how great the Soviet Union (which they are not part of) is. When some of the workers travel to Russia, they then start speaking German (and can no longer speak Russian), making it obvious that they are actually from Germany.

There is also a bit where someone gets run over, and someone else commits suicide by jumping off a bridge, but it is confusing who these characters are, and why they die (the one who gets run over appears to jump in front of the car as if he is commiting suicide either).

One thing I found interesting is that the workers in the Soviet Union have large spacious accommodation, a well decked out dining hall, and plenty of good food. Obviously this is propaganda, especially when compared to the conditions the film shows for the German workers, but since the film is in Russian, surely it was intended for Russians, who would know what their real working and living conditions are like?

The main problem with the film was that it was far too long and not much happens really (workers go on strike, police kill workers, worker who wasn't commited to the communist cause travels to the USSR, worker becomes commited to communsim, comes back to Germany, gets killed, the end). Most of the bit where the soviet workers are trying to produce diesel engines could be cut, and smaller cuts could also have been made elsewhere.

I also find it strange how many of these communist propaganda films end with all the communists being killed. I would have thought it would be better to have the communists killed near the start, then they could re-group and rally the people to the communist cause. Then the united people could beat the authorities and break free of oppression. This would show that by uniting under communisim revolution is possible.

Maybe since the films were made when the revolution had already occurred they didn't want to encourage the people to unite in case they decided to have a new revolution, against their communist leaders.

I also did a bit of work on my photo website blog posts in the evening.

The weather was mainly cloudy, with a bit of sun. It was very windy, with the wind also being quite cold.

Food
Breakfast: Tangerine Marmalade Toast Sandwich; Cup o' Tea.
Dinner: 1½ Tortillas; Chicken with spicy sauce stuff; Sliced Mushroom; Sliced Pepper; Rice; Mediterranean style Salad. Pudding was a cake that Ben made (decorated) at Church and a slice of Chocolate Cereal Cake that Clare made the other day. Coffee.
Tea: Grated Mature Cheddar Cheese with Mediterranean style Salad Sandwich; Slice of Fruit Cake that Helen Mills from Church made; Satsuma; Rocky; Cup o' Tea.