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Introducing A New Film Inquiry YouTube Video Series: DECIPHER

Introducing A New Film Inquiry YouTube Video Series: DECIPHER

Laura Birnbaum

Hello fellow cinephiles!

We have a brand new Youtube video under our Film Inquiry channel called Decipher! This is my first video ever, and I’m thrilled to share it with you. Manon described feeling a mixture of scared and excited, or “scarecited,” when she posted hers, and I can totally relate. It’s definitely a little scary to put a video like this out there, but I’m very excited for you guys to explore the cinematic world with me.

At Decipher, we will be using history, literature, art, and film to translate the hidden meanings within the films we love. But you might be asking: why?

It’s definitely a great exercise in learning to “read” a film and appreciate the art form, as we can approach a film the same way that we approach a painting in a museum or interpret a poem at a slam. But first and foremost, it’s just really fun. Exploring the symbolism within the films we love (and even the ones we don’t) can be an eye-opening and entertaining experience in itself.

Introducing A New Film Inquiry YouTube Video Series: DECIPHER
The Witch (2016) – source: A24

For Decipher’s first video, we are exploring the role of nature in Robert Eggers’ rural gothic film, my #1 film of 2016, but I wanted to dive into a specific part of the story that less discussed. Hence, we will be talking about the role of nature in the film, and the many subtexts within it: Nature as threat, nature and sin/human nature, animals, and mother nature.

Please feel free to let me know what you think and what you would like to Decipher next! Also, if you would like to get notified whenever we post a new video, please subscribe to our channel. It’s bound to get interesting.

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