Blog 10 - Freak Factor

6. Focus: You Can’t Do Both

This suggestion really speaks to me because I like being able to do it all.  In high school, I acted in theater, played instruments in band, did a lot of graphic design work, and worked on video production stuff as well.  This course was really nice because I got to do all of those things again, but I realize that now I have to make a decision and stick with it.  first of all, there are always going to be people better than me at each thing.  But if I don’t focus on getting good at just one thing then I will be making it easier for people to beat me out for jobs and positions.  It’s really hard to give up something that you really care about and that you really enjoy doing, but at some point I have to realize that I am only hurting myself by doing that.

8. Freak: The Power of Uniqueness.

I really like to think that I am an unusual person.  There are certain things that I can do that I like to think that no one can do better.  Thats not true obviously, but I like to think it nonetheless.  One thing I have noticed about uniqueness though is that it isn’t enough to be unique and exceptional.  It helps so much to surround yourself with unique and exceptional people as well.  If there is one thing that you are good at that’s great, but then there are so many areas that other people are exceptionally good at, and their input will help you out.  Impressive creative works are not the product of one exceptional person doing exceptional things.  Its a collection of multiple unique people who are doing exceptional parts of a greater exceptional whole.

4.  Forget It: Don’t Try to Fix Your Weakness

This is very counter-intuitive.  I always think of how to solve problems and face addicitons, and I remember that the first step is admitting you have a problem.  So to say that that is also the last step confuses me.  But it makes sense.  At some point, if we are too obsessed with fixing our weaknesses, we could be consumed by always trying to fix ourselves.  Because we will always be able to find something wrong with ourselves, and we will not be able to fix it all.  Now I do disagree with some of Rendall’s reasons for why we shouldn’t try to fix our weaknesses, especially the second reason: it’s painful.  I think to some extent, if you know that something is wrong with you and then you choose to ignore it, you’re just being lazy and weak.  Even if something is painful, its better to suck it up, and do whats best for yourself.  If its fixing the weakness then do it.  If its not, then don’t.  But I don’t see this step as something that always applies.

My own strengths and weaknesses?  Well I think that my strengths often are my weaknesses in terms of creativity.  On one hand, I think that it’s a good thing that I like to be involved, and get things done.  On the other hand, I don’t do that great of a job of recognizing my own limitations or leting other people help me with things.  Even in group projects, I sometimes have a tendency to try to do things on my own.  I think another strength I have is my dedication to things.  However this can also be a weakness.  I have stuck to things and agreed to do things for people and then realized later that its either a waste of my time, its taking time away from more important things, or it’s just going nowhere.  But I have a hard time stepping away from things like that.  If I’m going to dig my self into a hole, I am going to dig as deep of a hole that I can make.

Blog 9B - Collapsus Review

www.Collapsus.com 

Blog 9A - Gaming reflection

Blog 8B - Superhero Critique

The first combination that i’m critiquing is Madolyn Nianouris’s villain Dr. Dirt Nasty with the hero Bubble Bath Man.  First of all there is a very good contrast between both the hues and brightness.  Dr. Dirt Nasty is dark and brown, while Bubble Bath Man is lighter and is in brighter colors.   I think that idea is really cool, because there is an obvious motive behind the characters.  The animation was especially good.  It did a very good job of showing the characters’ movements and I really like the colors that were shown.    The movement shown was pretty impressive as well in terms of how it was animated.  The character both move at the same time so it created a very realistic fighting scene.

The second hero villian pair that I am comparing is Ian Reynolds Merman and Petroleum Man.  I first off thought that this was a very topical choice, since it sort of makes a parody of the BP oil crisis.  It sort of gives each character their own sense of symbolism, where Merman represents enviromental safety and care, while Petroleum Man represents the greediness of capitalistic entrepenuers.  The colors that were chosen for both of them were blue.  I thought that this affinity was a good choice since both of these characters spend their time under the sea, so the colors reflected their environment.  They complemented each other well.  I also really liked the fight scene between them.  It did a good job of showing not only how each character moved, but also how they fought.  

The last hero villian pair is Erin Riordan.  Erin chose the hero Justicia, and her partner made the villian Firebomb.  Now I wasn’t entriely sure how the two characters were linked together, because they seemed to be chosen rather arbitrarily from each other, but I really like the drawing and design for Justicia as well as the choice to make a female superhero.  The animation for Justicia was also impressive because it used props and several characters.  There was a lot of movement between Justicia and the monsters that she is fighting, and it has a humorous sense to it.   I would have liked to see Justicia fight Firebomb because I think that it would have ben interesting to see how she deals with an alien when she doesn’t really have any “superpower” other than fighting ability.  I think that the shadows used in Justicia’s drawing is really cool.  Her black and white outfit is really cool, but the shading done on the side oh her exposed leg is pretty impressive.

Blog 8A - Superhero Reflection Response

  www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers 

Blog Assignment 7 - Joke Essay

            First of all, both videos used very similar framing of shots.  There was an affinity between their senses of space.  In the first joke, there were a wide variety of how close the camera was to the United Way representative.  It showed the size of the office and also showed the representative’s emotions and reactions.   In the second joke,  there were a lot of close-ups of the detective and his actions while the wider angles showed the entire room and table the detective was at.  Also, the detective leans back and forward in his chair to transition from his reverie where he is farther away from the United Way representative into his close confrontation with the representative.

            The videos contrasted in their use of rhythm between shots.  In the first joke, the film had fairly similar rhythm of shots throughout the video.  It had fast and short segments broken up with text boxes, and the middle part of the joke had the same formula of a shot of the lawyer, text box, and then reactions from the United Way Representative.  The second joke however stayed on the detective and only showed him and various close ups of his face and body.

            Finally, the videos contrasted in whether they used active or didactic storytelling.  In the first joke, the story was very straightforward, and did not stray away from the joke at all.  It showed visuals, then supplied text boxes to tell the audience exactly what was going on.  In the second video however, it seems like the joke is telling the actual story, but has a twist ending.   There were also subtle jokes that required more scrutiny to find. First of all, you had to understand how internal monologues are a huge part of film noir to get the punchline.  Finally, there was a subtle joke with the detective’s name.  The United Way representative asks if the detective is Mr. McCrevis, and the detective responds with “please, call me Phillip”.  This means the detective’s full name is Phillip McCrevis, which is a joke name, like Biggus Dickus (Monty Python’s Life of Brian reference).

Game Powerpoint and Trailer

Game Presentation (no sound)

Mock Trailer for Game

Sorry that the Image of the Villain is on its side, I couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

Video Jokes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn54Of7zSig
Link to one of our videos that did not upload properly

This is our other Video.

Blog 6B - Video Game Commentary

Blog 6A - How to Be Creative

HowToBeCreative by Hugh Macleod

Blog 5B - Video Commentary

Blog 5A - Reframing an Image

I was drawn to the original image because it first off reminded me of people who paint pictures on their hands to look like animals or other objects.  I also was intrigued as to why Goossens chose to represent the senses sight, taste, touch, and hearing, but neglected to put a nose in his picture to represent the sense of smell. My guess is that there is some secret meaning or subtext that Goossens put in his piece that I’m unaware of.  My reframing on the other hand has no hidden meaning or symbolism. I really like the color scheme as well.  There’s not a lot of contrast of colors within the original piece. The shades are all of blue and brown, which fit nicely together.   It creates a warm affinity between the earthy tones used in the hand and the ground, and the blues in the sky. The original picture also has a lot of depth to it.  The objects in the original recede back into the horizon line, and create limited space by framing the lips between the eye and the fist.  In contrast, my reframing is a very flat image. I chose to reframe the image in this way because it focuses on what I think is the most interesting thing in the picture.  Also, by not showing the hand being attached to the ground,  the hand could be attached to an arm.   The framing is also a lot tighter all around the fist, so the rhythm is the picture is really just one solid beat.  There’s not much to look at other than the hand.  The original image has a much more even rhythm.  While the objects vary in closeness to the viewer, they are equal distances apart on a horizontal plane, leading to a very even beat as you move from left to right.  In addition, the eye on the hand in the original falls on the intersection of the top and left thirds and the lower and left thirds, which gives the image a nice balance.   I also think that the original image is more spread out.  Since its rhythm is more even, it’s a little more calming.  However, the reframed picture has much more visual intensity because the picture the fist is thrown right at the viewer.

3A Cover Assignment

Britney Spears's Song "Oops I Did it Again" Official Music Video
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Children of Bodom's Cover of "Oops I Did it Again" Official Music Video
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K84j7CJIUKU" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

The most obvious difference between the two songs is the timbre difference.  Britney Spears has built her career on her looks and her voice.  The music that she produces always has very clean melody and harmony lines, and the sound that is produced is sweet and soothing.  Children of Bodom take a complete twist on this, and the sound they produce is noisy, grating, and often unpleasant.  As a metal enthusiast, even I found the sound displeasing.  People who are used to hearing Britney’s version of the song will certainly be surprised. Children of Bodom did not intend for the song to be pleasant however.  They chose to have a high contrast between their song and Britney’s song.  The song represents what they hear when they listen to Britney’s original piece.  Intense is certainly a very good word to describe Children of Bodom’s cover.  The song is loud and very “in your face”.  The singer is screaming at the top of his lungs while the guitars thrash through distortion pedals.  It has a very high intensity, which is in contrast with the smooth, lilting tones found in Britney’s original song. Also, Britney’s song has varying levels of intensity throughout the song, while Children of Bodom stay consistently a very loud intensity.  With a lot of metal artists, it’s hard to identify whether or not a melody is present in the song to begin with.  Through the rough, gravely shouting of Children of Bodom, a glimmer of the original melody can be found.  But the important thing about the melody of this song in comparison with the melody in Britney’s song is that Children of Bodom don’t really care about the melody.  For them as artists and as businessmen, they are not trying to “sell” anyone a beautiful melody.  Their cover is almost parodic in nature because of the absurdity in premise.  Britney on the other hand sells her songs based on how good the songs sound, and she achieves this by having beautiful melodies and harmonies. Both songs have the same lyrics to an extent, but it’s important to note the differences and why those differences are there in the first place.  Children of Bodom choose not to mess with the main lyrics to create an affinity between their song and the original version and to ensure that people would get that they are creating a parodic song.  The song has spoken dialogue written into it.  Children of Bodom chose to instead speak the dialogue in Finnish.  While I have yet to identify a significance in choice of language, they actually don’t say the same words that Britney does.  Instead, they parody the dialogue that Britney says in her song.  Also, while it’s not necessarily a lyric, in the very beginning of the song, you can hear a loud spit.  I believe that Children of Bodom chose to do this to represent that they are essentially spitting on the song.  It sounds bad and they know it, but that’s part of the parodic nature of the song.  Finally, both songs use tension and release.  After the dialogue, the songs return to the lyrics in the refrain, but choose to sing a slightly different melody.  It creates a tension with the rest of the song that is resolved by harmonizing with the rest of the music that is being played.

3B and 4B - Soundscape Comments and Song Comments

4A - Acknowledging the Lizard

Brainwashed - Godin

Connect - It’s crucial for us connect with others.  In the media industry, the adage “no man is an island” is truer than ever.  Everything is based on collaboration and connection.  People advance in the industry by having connections with others, people make reputations for themselves by their ability to develop positive relationships with people they work with, and eventually, people will look to be connected to you once you’ve made connections yourself.

Acknowledging the Lizard - The “lizard” refers to the ancient part of our brains that resists our efforts to stand out.  Godin says that in today’s society the people who are truly successful stand out from the crowd.  However, when we stand out, we run into the risk of failure.  This failure is the lizard’s worst nightmare, and so it tries its best to stop us from taking that risk

I think that the blog assignments we do are useful to a limited extent.  Starting to create our digital footprint is a very good first step, but I think that some additional ones could be taken.  Many assignments like this one, where we review manifestos that some person wrote, is interesting I suppose, but is it the best use of our time?  A more useful blog assignment would be to comment more on work that other people do.  But instead of asking us to record audio tracks commenting on other people’s work onto our own blog, instead we should be reading and viewing content that is put on people’s blogs then commenting directly below it.  I think that will give the blogger a chance to see what people think about their creative products, and hopefully foster people to begin a creative and professional discussion about media.  After all, its good to build relationships between media students since we will be emerging into the media industry together in three years or so.

I think that people certainly acknowledge the lizard and the embarrassment of failure in this class.  However, I think that many people aren’t quite able to ignore the resistance that the lizard tries to force upon us.  I have talked to people who refuse to let me see their projects because they are afraid of being laughed at.  I think that perhaps more hands-on work in lab would make people more confident in there work.  I know that if my first garageband attempt ever had to be posted online for all to see I might be a little embarrassed as well.  It might even be helpful to hold an optional informational session once a week to help people who have never worked with the programs before.  

4B - Song project

Blog 3B - Soundscape

My Personal Soundscape

Our emotion was quiet rage

Post 2 - Finding Your Howl Audio Review

             This is my audio review of Jonathon Flaum's "Finding Your Howl", available through the provided link. 

                                  

The Transcript is available below:

Within his article, Jonathon Flaum recalls how in fifth grade, a classmate of his wrote a story about a tiger who wanted to escape from his cage in the zoo.  The tiger planned an escape, but after jumping out of his cage at night, woke up to being inside a large cage in a larger zoo.  This happened time and time again, each time the cage was larger and the zoo was larger and the tiger was more and more discouraged.  There was no ending to this story either, but rather this could go on infinitely.   The torment was infinite and inescapable.  This cyclical pattern of suffering sets a very dark tone for the story, but Flaum gives the reader a glimmer of hope.  The tiger can not escape the cage and the zoo because the cage and the zoo are a part of himself.   If the tiger is to escape the cage, then who the tiger is must die alongside with it, because the cage is a part of the tiger’s identity.  

             Well that truly is a happy moral to the story.  In order to escape torment you have you to die.  Flaum really comes across as a “glass half empty”kind of guy, but theres something to what he says, something below the surface.  Everyone has created an image for him or herself.  We hold onto things that we feel reflect who we are, or represent what we’re all about, and a lot of times, we resent that to which we cling so dearly.  We are trapped, and the only way out is to forget what we were, release who we are, and try to find what we will be.  And this process can feel like death.  It is a dive into the unknown, a risk that leaving it all behind will yield new and greater possibilities.

            The poem I would like to share is “if” by Rudyard Kipling:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

             “If” strikes me as a creative person because the qualities that Kipling say are necessary to truly be a man are qualities that I think are necessary for people who want to work in the creative industry.  Kipling often presents two opposing sides of a quality and urges the reader to find a balance.  He says that if you want to create, you need to dream without being consumed with dreaming, and to think without being lost in thought.  And those examples really resonate in me; I have to dream to create the ideas, and think to make it a possibility, but I will only be successful if I find the appropriate balance.

Post 1B - 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas Review

http://changethis.com/manifesto/49.06.14Ways/pdf/49.06.14Ways.pdf

Mitch Ditkoff presents this article as a list of ways to get inspired and innovative ideas quicker.  To most people who work in creative fields, this seems ridiculous that this would even be proposed.  Inspiration can not be forced, it can not be harnessed. The most influential ideas are from truly influential individuals who seem to reside on a higher plane than the rest of the lowly mortals on earth.  With this skepticism already in place, Ditkoff does make very good points.  They are not, however, incredibly useful on their own, but within conjunction with one another they can generate the right attitude and environment for the production of powerful ideas.

2. Immerse

One of Ditkoff’s early suggestions is to immerse yourself in your work, or to be “completely involved or absorbed in something - engrossed, enthralled, or preoccupied.”   Many people do have a tendency to focus on many things at once, to the point where you can barely say that they are focused at all.  Spending all of your time and energy on the project at hand is almost always a surefire way to make serious progress.  However this step does create an interesting contrast with Ditkoff’s 8th step, which is “take a break”.  While both could certainly aid the idea producing process, immersion definitely appears to be the more important one to me.  It is so easy to get distracted and get off track when you are always taking breaks from projects.  Ideas are much more likely to be spawned in situations when you give yourself the opportunity to get on a roll.

3. Tolerate Ambiguity

This could be translated most simply as “accept failure”.  Essentially, Ditkoff is letting us know that we’re not alway going to get our breakthroughs right away, but we should not get discouraged.  Rather than abandoning our failed experiments, we should instead continue to try to work on our projects until we achieve our goals.  However, I do not necessarily think that this is an idea that can be applied universally.   In many creative situations, it is important to stick with it and finish what you have started, but there are also some situations where its better to cut your losses and recognize when something is not going anywhere.  Sometimes failure can be a sign telling you that you should try something else.  Tolerating ambiguity is not an awful suggestion, but I think Ditkoff should have taken into consideration that sometimes you need to consider taking an entirely different route.

10. Hang Out with Diverse Group of People

This seems to be the most obvious of Ditkoff’s suggestions, and yet it is the best tip for people who really want to be innovative.  Who comes up with the great products that appeal to the mass public? The mass public.  Seems like a no-brainer, since these people should know what they want better than any corporate head secluded on the 27th floor of his industrial skyscraper.  And yet, many businesses arrange “think-tanks” of innovators that are trying to innovate for a group they do not even know.  If you want to appeal to the business sector, then you need to know businessmen.  If you want to appeal to the agricultural sector, then you need to know farmers.  So if you want to make products that appeal to everyone, the logical response is to know everyone.  Being around different people will make you see things different, will place you in an entirely different world, and will give you ideas different than what you’d normally come up with.

Execute a Final Prompt

I chose to exercise the final prompt for number 9, which is “notice and challenge existing patterns and trends”.  One of the most common American pastime is TV watching, but recently how Americans watch TV is changing.  The current trend seems to be that standard TV watching is decreasing as more and more people have been watching TV streaming to their mobile devices or to their computers through the internet.  Experts have predicted that eventually the Television set will become like the radio or newspaper, and its usage will be mostly limited to older demographics.   As wifi becomes available all throughout the country, and as phones begin to become a standard in TV viewing, I sense that another trend will arise.  TV programs will become shorter and shorter, as many people are not going to be willing to sit around for 22 minutes of a television show to load.  More and more “mini-series” or “web-isodes” will be unveiled, since shorter video files are easier to download for phones.

Post 1A - Artists Who Inspire Me

          I have always been a fan of Japanese animation, and I remember watching movies with my older sister as a kid.  One director that stuck out to me was Hayao Miyazaki, who has worked on countless animated movies.  I wasn’t aware of the more technical and artistic aspects of his films until I watched them again recently.  Two of his films, particularly Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, use a lot of contrast and affinity to emphasize the messages he puts in them.  
         In Spirited Away, Miyazaki looks at the people’s greed and consumption.  One way he does this is through character design.  The main character Chihiro is the only human working in the bath house, and looks quite different from  the other workers.  She is only one who doesn’t succumb to greed when the character No-Face distributes gold to the other workers.  No-Face is also the only character in the scene designed in all shades of dark, subdued tones.  This is in stark contrast with the bright colors of the rest of the environment.  
        In Howl’s Moving Castle, the message is the comparison of outer and inner beauty.  The main character, Sophia, had a curse put on her where her outer beauty becomes a reflection of her inner self. She then meets the magician Howl and lives in his house.  In this clip, Howl’s hair is dyed when Sophia mixes up his potions.  He stews in depression, and the scenery changes to reflect his change in emotion, as well as his own physical appearance.  Miyazaki’s attention to the character design and to scenery allows him to create an atmosphere that reflects the inner message of the movie.

Active Vs. Didactic

             Christopher Nolan is another artist that inspires me, especially his work as a writer. Two works that interest me in particular are The Prestige and Inception, and Nolan’s use of active and didactic storytelling in each.  Both works incorporate active and didactic storytelling, and each do it in a different way. 
             One of few criticisms made against the summer blockbuster Inception was the role of Emma Page. Page’s purpose seemed at times only to explain the convoluted terms and processes that existed in the fantastical world of dream technology.  She also showed the audience the mental anguish Leonardo DiCaprio’s character was going through.  However, at the end of the movie, when it appeared that DiCaprio finally got the ending he deserved, the audience was left without any ending of their own.  Nolan left the audience with questions regarding what really happened, spawning theories about the true nature of the characters, inciting furious blog and forum discussion, and in my opinion ultimately leading to the success of the movie. 
             Let’s now look at The Prestige.  This movie relies almost entirely on active storytelling.  The movie starts in the middle, then goes back to the beginning, and finishes in a fantastic twist.  No one knows exactly what is happening until the end when Nolan delivers a final twist that no one sees coming.  Then all is revealed and Nolan shows the audience what is really happening.  Nolan’s use of active storytelling at one point then didactic revealing at another is what makes his films truly amazing.

              Beyond film, I am a music fanatic, and performing has been a large part of my life.  One band that has impressed me more than any other is The Reign of Kindo.  They are incredible musicians, and are incredible lyricists.  While I listen to many of their songs simply because I’m impressed by their harmonies and compositions, there is one song in particular that strikes me as an example of tension and release.  
              When I first heard their song, “Bullets in the Air” off their third album This is What Happens, I didn’t like it at all.  I was put off by how at several points throughout the song the guitars and piano lost the jazzy harmonies they usually create and instead slip into nonsensical noisemaking, all conflicting with the bands standard M.O.  The third time the band breaks into the conflicting tones, it gets louder and and louder until it subsides into gentle guitar plucking and soft vocal melodies.  This sudden shift in mood makes the sudden acoustic nature of the song stick out and really draws you in.

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