Eric Faden: "Tracking Theory"

I thought that the stylistic methods employed in Eric Faden's video essay, Tracking Theory, helped to present his argument in a way which was engaging and visually entertaining to its viewers. In the behind the scenes section of the film, the statement is made that, "The film explores how the railroad and cinema changed human perception in the late 19th century." At the end of this short visual essay, I felt that Faden's argument and original ideas had been successfully expressed.

The presentation of the actual events that were taking place in the movie were so convincing that I was unsure of how it was created until reading about the process in the behind the scenes section. The notion of showing the audience what an early film essay might have looked like, instead of just describing it, was brilliant. I truly felt like I had been transported to the earliest days of cinema. At first I was not sure if this black and white footage was original. It was only at the end of the video essay, when the black and white footage transformed into color, that I realized the truth. The sound of the film projector and the crackling pops on the film added another layer of realism to his argument. The attention to detail in this area I found to be absolutely incredible. I believed it was actually vintage film. The soundtrack also seemed to serve as a vessel that transported its captivated audience to another time in the history of cinema. I thought it was very important that every point Faden addressed in his film was supported with relevant images, which I found to be rather engaging. The text that flashed on the screen, enclosed in decorative boxes, also reminded me of a throw-back to early cinema. All of Faden's artistic decisions were clearly deliberate, with the intention of supporting his argument constantly in mind.

In the end, I found the argument of Faden's visual essay to be completely compelling. His facts were presented in an engaging manner, one that allowed the audience to see exactly what he was talking about. The narration of the film was very informative, but it did not overpower the messages that were being presented through the images. Every aspect of the stylistic methods employed by Faden worked together to create a powerful visual argument.