United States 
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
Most Popular Blu-ray Deals at Amazon
|
|
Show latest price drops |
 $12.00 |  $12.00 |  $12.99 |  $10.00 |  $10.00 |  $12.99 |  $19.49 |  $12.00 |  $16.99 |  $7.99 |  $19.99 |  $19.49 |  $7.49 |  $16.99 |  $12.00 |
|
|
|
United States
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
Most Popular Blu-ray Deals at Amazon
|
|
Show latest price drops |
$12.00 | $12.00 | $12.99 | $10.00 | $10.00 | $12.99 | $19.49 | $12.00 | $16.99 | $7.99 | $19.99 | $19.49 | $7.49 | $16.99 | $12.00 |
|
|
|
Objectified Blu-ray
Plexifilm | 2009 | 75 mins | Not rated | Oct 20, 2009
Objectified Blu-ray Review"Every object tells a story, if you know how to read it."Reviewed by Casey Broadwater, November 27, 2009 Look around you. Chances are, unless you're sitting in a field of wildflowers, magically accessing this website through telepathy, you're surrounded by objects—objects that, before ever going into mass production, were designed. Think of the chair that ergonomically supports your spine, the keyboard at your fingertips, the light fixtures and cabinets on the wall, and each of the pens, pencils, and pairs of scissors that stand upright in your old coffee mug, which was, itself, the product of some unseen imagination. Nearly everything—every thing—that we come in contact with throughout our lives has been consciously created, its form and function considered, its materials chosen, its manufacturing engineered, by one or more designers. Yet, how often do we stop to consider the human ingenuity that comes before a product hits the store shelves, before ad execs pitch a marketing ploy, before the assembly lines, prototypes, and CAD designs? At some point, every object was born inside a mind. Director Gary Hustwit follows up Helvetica—his documentary on the quietly ubiquitous typeface—with Objectified, a companion piece that examines the similarly unsung trade of industrial design.
A few year ago, when one of my friends told me about Helvetica, which he described as a layman's look into the last 50 years of graphic design, I was admittedly skeptical. How much can one say about a font? As I watched the film, the real question became: how can one font say so much? If you're not familiar with the typeface, picture the logo for American Airlines, The Gap, or Crate & Barrel. Helvetica is omnipresent, a clean font that nearly disappears into whatever message it's carrying, proving to be just as malleable as language itself. For months after watching the documentary I would notice any and all instances of Helvetica—on street signs and tax documents, in art galleries and post offices, everywhere. Objectified has the same effect. Afterward, you may find yourself questioning the presence of a tiny curve in your toothbrush's handle or wondering exactly why your cell phone is so satisfying to open and close. If you've never noticed these kinds of things before, it's probably because the designers have done their jobs well. One strong assertion made in the film is that good design is invisible design, that a product should feel inevitable, as though it could not be any other way. Of course, designers widely differ on what constitutes "good" design. Whereas Helvetica is driven by a polemical schism in the graphic design industry regarding the font—some love its mutability, others see it as corporate and essentially soulless—Objectified is inherently less argumentative, focusing instead on the designers' varying approaches to their craft. Brothers Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec have a simple goal, "to create an environment where people feel good." Others are more considered. Former Braun designer Dieter Rams explains that good design should not only be aesthetic, honest, and unobtrusive, but also long-lived, environmentally friendly, and "as little design as possible." We're given a brief tour of a Braun showroom that exemplifies these traits; the products are predisposed to clean white lines and readily apparent functionality. Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa also employs a minimalist aesthetic, which he likens to haiku poetry. "By writing simply and only about what is there," he says, "the audience is drawn into the poet's world. Their imagination is stimulated and a silent connection is established." He shows off a cell phone he designed, its shape meant to mimic the angular lines of a pealed potato, which gives its owner a tactile experience that's direct and evocative. This syncs up nicely with Davin Stowell, founder of Smart Design, who discusses the research that goes into creating a new handle for the traditional potato peeler—which has never been that comfortable to use. He explains how design should take into consideration the "extremes" of an object's target demographic—the oldest and youngest users, the weakest and strongest, etc. While much of the design featured in Objectified skews toward sleek, utilitarian reinterpretations of 1930s modernism and post-WWII futurism, the aim isn't to promote any one style, but to simply get the audience thinking about the processes that go into creating objects and the impact that industrial design has on our lives. Jonathan Ives, VP of Industrial Design for Apple, breaks apart an iMac for us, explaining the attempt to streamline parts—why have nine when one will do?—and making the point that the most difficult part of designing a product is actually figuring out the manufacturing processes. Chris Bangle, a former design director for BMW, asserts that cars are the world's most abundant sculptures, and that they essentially serve as avatars for our personalities. And "techo-organic" designer Karim Rashid sees a dichotomy in how we carry high tech devices like iPods, cell phones and laptops, but still sit in chairs with wooden spindle legs. One point of contention, for the design industry as a whole, is the problem of sustainability. Columnist Rob Walker is Objectified's sole voice of outright dissent, and he argues that design is not created out of some altruistic attempt at problem solving, but is ultimately urged on by companies who want new SKUs to sell. The items currently rolling off assembly lines will be dated by the time they even reach store shelves, as people want to "buy the new 'now'" products. The documentary's most harrowing sequence shows ancient-looking computers—which can't be more than a few years old—being disassembled, their gray casings shattered, compacted, and stacked. We can only hope these are going to be recycled, but the truth is, much of what we purchase is going to end up in a landfill. And if it's constructed of plastic, it's going to stay there forever. "If I had a billion dollars to fund a marketing campaign," says Walker, "I would launch a campaign on behalf of things you already own. Why not enjoy them today?" It's a point that throws the whole design enterprise into question—and also makes us feel slightly guilty for being such voracious consumers—but Objectified mostly skirts this issue, choosing to focus instead on the positive aspects of design. Like Helvetica, Objectified is shot and edited with a brisk economy that mirrors the minimalism of its subject matter. Director Gary Hustwit mixes the talking head interviews with gracefully static shots of everyday objects, and scores the imagery with equally clean and serene post-rock instrumental music from the likes of El Ten Eleven, Expanding Head Band, Alva Noto and others. While the documentary does seem short considering all the ideas being bandied about, this disc also includes nearly one hour of additional interviews that further elucidate many of the film's themes. If you're into design, or if you've ever simply wondered how the things that surround you come into being, Objectified is essential viewing. Video  Objectified is a thing to behold on Blu-ray, with a generally strong 1080p/MPEG-2 presentation that makes good use of the documentary's high definition video source material. There's no stylization here whatsoever; everything is presented realistically and unaltered, accurately reflecting the world as it is. As such, colors are not quite as vivid and deep as those you'd see in a feature film, but neither are they washed out or indistinct. The same goes with black levels, which are suitably deep but never quite carve out the dimensional contrast and presence you'd find in a movie. Fitting with the content, the documentary has a very clean visual aesthetic, with a predominance of white and gray thanks to the minimalist working spaces occupied by the designers interviewed for the film. Clarity is no concern; though Objectified isn't quite as sharp as other productions that can afford better lenses and cameras, there's plenty of detail to be found here, from tiny pellets of plastic to nicely reproduced skin and textile textures. The downsides of pro- sumer grade video equipment are occasionally apparent, however, especially in overblown highlights that can give faces in bright light a splotchy sheen. On the other side, digital noise and artifacts are kept to a minimum. In Objectified, the medium certainly matches the message, with a picture that's clean, economic, and viewer-friendly. Audio  Objectified may only offer lossy Dolby Digital tracks—a 5.1 and a 2.0 mixdown—but both are serviceable and in no way deficient. If you've seen Helvetica, you'll know what to expect in the audio department—a dialogue-driven documentary with some slight environmental ambience and a lot of great, minimalist, post-rock instrumental music. Since all the designers were recorded on-location, there's the occasionally muffled-sounding line, but in general, all the voices are crisp and easy to understand. If you listen to the 5.1 track—which I'd recommend—you'll hear a lot of subtle engagement from the rear speakers. Saw blades whir, pneumatic assembly line fixtures hiss and sigh, and the music is bled into the surround channels to create a buoyant and modestly involving soundfield. The song selection is perfect, and the music has a full but unobtrusive presence, never overwhelming the interviews. The sound design is spartan, for sure, but this reflects the documentary's intentions well. Supplements  Additional Interviews (1080p, 54:33) Wow. There's a whole second documentary worth of interview material here, as nearly every designer from the film offers additional thoughts about the last hundred years of design, the conflict between innovation and sustainability, their own personal aesthetics, etc. As soon as you finish watching Objectified you'll want to hit "play all" here and continue learning about the history of industrial design, its philosophical underpinnings, and some of the problems that it faces today. Definitely worth watching. Final words Director Gary Hustwit does it again, crafting another entertaining and educational documentary out of a seemingly arcane subject. While less specific than Helvetica, Objectified is a thought-provoking introduction to industrial design, one that will make you stop to consider the creative energy that lies behind the objects that populate your life. Supposedly, Hustwit has a third design-related documentary in the works, and I can't wait to find out what he'll tackle next. Objectified comes highly recommended. Note: The blu-ray version of Objectified is currently only available from Plexifilm's online store. Back to Objectified Blu-ray »
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This web site is not affiliated with the Blu-ray Disc Association. All trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners. © 2002-2010 Blu-ray.com. All rights reserved. Registration problems | Business Inquiries | Legal Notices |
