Lecture six; cities and film.

- Georg Simmel; German sociologist who wrote about the effect the city had on people.
- Urban sociology; the city engulfing the character.
- Louis Sullivan creator of the modern skyscraper.
- Details on Guaranty building is influenced by the arts and crafts movement.
- Skyscrapers represent the upwardly mobile city of business opportunity.
- Fordism; mechanised labour relations.
- The body was consumed by the factory environment.
- Stock market crash 1929; factories close and unemployment rises.
- Flaneur; what is the role of the body in the city?
- A Flaneur is a man of leasuire, there to simply observe.
- Walter Benjamin explores the ideas of a Flaneur.
- Susan Sontag; the photographer as a Flaneur.
- Proposal of the Flaneuse (female version), "invisible" due to things such as segregation of the sexes.
- The idea of the woman on the street is seen as bad due to things such as prostitution.
- Sophie Calle; Flaneuse photographer who created the people about the city photography series (documentary).
- Venice is a labyrinth city so the perfect location for a Flaneuse observer if they have a target.
- 'The detective' 1980. Sophie Calle hires someone so that she can be observed herself in Paris.
- Cindy Sherman also looks at the woman in the city but more so in the sense that she is trapped.
- Arthur Felig; looks at the idea of the city as a threat and photographs incidents.
- L.A. Noire is based on the idea of the naked city and the city as a threat (video game).
- Walker Evans 'many are called'. Observation within the city through the use of a hidden camera. Portrays the idea that people are alone in the city.
- The postmodern city is a confusing place and has to be negotiated.
- Terrible things are not recognised due to the flow of city life, people continue about their business like they normally would.
- The disruption of the twin towers is the disruption of the american dream.
- There is the idea of the surveillance city due to the dangers the city has.