Friday, May 13, 2011
Bonus Thing
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Week 5B
Unable to do the entire assignment to the full standards, just trying to pick up some points here.
In this scene of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, implied lines are masterfully used, as each character stares each other down. Yes, the actual lines give everything shape and make every visual aspect of the scene distinctive from everything else, but the implied lines really tell the story in this scene. Through the stare downs, intensity is built, and it's almost like we know exactly what is going through each character's head, just from the movement of their eye's and which direction they are looking.
Space is also emphasized, showing us the great scope of the scenery around them. By showing wide shots we get a sense of the space, a sense of the massive cemetery that the three characters are at, which not only shows the scope of the world around them, but the scope of the matters at hand.
In this scene of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, implied lines are masterfully used, as each character stares each other down. Yes, the actual lines give everything shape and make every visual aspect of the scene distinctive from everything else, but the implied lines really tell the story in this scene. Through the stare downs, intensity is built, and it's almost like we know exactly what is going through each character's head, just from the movement of their eye's and which direction they are looking.
Space is also emphasized, showing us the great scope of the scenery around them. By showing wide shots we get a sense of the space, a sense of the massive cemetery that the three characters are at, which not only shows the scope of the world around them, but the scope of the matters at hand.
Week 6B
I do not own a Mac computer, and do not have the resources at the moment to create an audio commentary, and I'm going to get a poor grade on this assignment anyway, so I'll write out a short essay hitting all of the requirements. Being against copyright infringement is a good excuse, too.
I do not really play video games anymore, but Zelda: Ocarina of Time, one of my favorites from years ago, stands out as doing pretty much everything right. In the video posted, the first part of the Shadow Temple, the color plays a crucial part in creating the mood. The Shadow Temple was a very dark, gloomy part of the game, meant to instill fear and loneliness into the player. By using a very dark hue of colors, browns, blacks, greys, very little brightness in comparison to the rest of the game's world, and very saturated colors, the game designers create a very bleak and dead environment, which is the exact mood they aimed to portray in the dungeon. In contrast, the character runs around with a very bright hue of colors, and really stands out against the dark and gloomy dungeon.
Week 5A
The original image by Ben Goosens portrays a bizarre image of a house floating, with a person standing nearby and a skyline far in the distance. I was not drawn to this particular image individually, but rather the entire collection of works by Goosens. They are unique and interesting and dark and twisted, and this particular image seemed like it would have been a good fit for this one assignment. I chose to frame it the way I did to eliminate certain visual topics for this assignemnt.
First of all, the original image is a great example of space in artwork. There are the objects like the house and bird in the foreground, and then very far away is the skyline, and the picture possibly continues even deeper than that. In the re-framed image, I have eliminated this space, by putting all of the focus on just the floating house. The re-framed image is much more flat, less deep than the original image, it is just a solid shot of the floating house, no skyline or clouds in the distance to give us any idea of the world around the house.
Secondly, the shot type changed in the re-framed image. Originally, the image was an extremely wide shot, showing a huge vast scope of the entire world portrayed. In the re-framed image, which in comparison is a close up of the house, it could still possibly be considered a wide shot, or a medium shot, we don't know though, since we have no idea of the house's surroundings.
Finally, re-framing the shot takes away from the original's visual intensity. The original image the house was very ominous, and carried a lot of weight in the entire picture. The re-framed image, however, the house seems a lot less intimidating, because it is compared to nothing. Sure, it is still an intense looking house, but we don't see the spooky skyline, or the dark character, or the city in the background, or the great shadow that it casts.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Week 4A
http://changethis.com/manifesto/66.01.Brainwashed/pdf/66.01.Brainwashed.pdf
Godwin's "Brainwashed" talks about how even from a very young age we have been conditioned to think and act a certain way in order to "fit in" this society like a "normal" person. He offers multiple suggestions on what people can do to break these trends and become more personal, successful individuals, making the world a more unique place.
One of his steps was "Acknowledging the Lizard". In this article, he refers to "The Lizard" as the part of our brain that worries about safety and worries about being different. It's the part of the brain that keeps the social order, that makes sure everybody plays their part in the big machine of society. Being aware of this part of the brain, and then resisting the biological messages that it gives us, helps us broaden our horizons and go against the grain, allowing us to create art and things that the world has never seen before. We have to be aware of "The Lizard" and ignore it in order to be successful creative individuals.
Another step Godwin talks about is "Connect". We're living in a time where we have to all adapt to the way the entire world communicates with each other. Ideas are shared in completely different ways now, and whoever is able to connect the best with whatever creative idea they have automatically becomes more successful than those resisting the change. Nearly all of the greatest ideas within recent years have been from people connecting on social networking sites, and the average, every day user finding them and jumping on board. Years ago it would be extremely difficult to get any of these ideas off of the ground, let alone make large sums of money from them, and connecting in new ways is a positive step forward in this area.
However, I do not think that these steps and ideas are useful to the Blogs we make for class. If you think long and hard about it, these Blogs go against what Godwin is trying to promote. They are assignments with strict guidelines that don't offer too much wiggle room for extreme creativity. If all aspects are not touched upon we lose points. Adding more information just becomes tedious for the grader. If the assignments were completely free form, making art with no guidelines, it would be a different story. You could even make an argument that the entire education system goes against whatever Godwin is saying. Everybody learning the exact same thing and doing the exact same assignments. How is that any different than everybody learning the exact same math formula, or everybody training for the same dead-end 9 to 5 job?
Godwin's "Brainwashed" talks about how even from a very young age we have been conditioned to think and act a certain way in order to "fit in" this society like a "normal" person. He offers multiple suggestions on what people can do to break these trends and become more personal, successful individuals, making the world a more unique place.
One of his steps was "Acknowledging the Lizard". In this article, he refers to "The Lizard" as the part of our brain that worries about safety and worries about being different. It's the part of the brain that keeps the social order, that makes sure everybody plays their part in the big machine of society. Being aware of this part of the brain, and then resisting the biological messages that it gives us, helps us broaden our horizons and go against the grain, allowing us to create art and things that the world has never seen before. We have to be aware of "The Lizard" and ignore it in order to be successful creative individuals.
Another step Godwin talks about is "Connect". We're living in a time where we have to all adapt to the way the entire world communicates with each other. Ideas are shared in completely different ways now, and whoever is able to connect the best with whatever creative idea they have automatically becomes more successful than those resisting the change. Nearly all of the greatest ideas within recent years have been from people connecting on social networking sites, and the average, every day user finding them and jumping on board. Years ago it would be extremely difficult to get any of these ideas off of the ground, let alone make large sums of money from them, and connecting in new ways is a positive step forward in this area.
However, I do not think that these steps and ideas are useful to the Blogs we make for class. If you think long and hard about it, these Blogs go against what Godwin is trying to promote. They are assignments with strict guidelines that don't offer too much wiggle room for extreme creativity. If all aspects are not touched upon we lose points. Adding more information just becomes tedious for the grader. If the assignments were completely free form, making art with no guidelines, it would be a different story. You could even make an argument that the entire education system goes against whatever Godwin is saying. Everybody learning the exact same thing and doing the exact same assignments. How is that any different than everybody learning the exact same math formula, or everybody training for the same dead-end 9 to 5 job?
Week 3A
John Lee Hooker - Crawlin King Snake
The Doors - Crawling King Snake
I would go as far as saying that The Doors is my favorite band of all time. At the same time, blues music is my favorite genre of music, and having The Doors cover John Lee Hooker, my favorite blues artist of all blues artists, is just a wonderful experience. I actually listened to The Doors version first, many many years ago when I got into Jim Morrison and the gang, and then shortly after discovered the blues, where John Lee Hooker became my favorite artist of the genre, and much to my surprise wrote a song that I had originally thought was written by The Doors.
The two songs differ greatly, however. Obvious differences first, the two songs are completely different genres. John Lee Hooker creates a traditional Delta blues track, while Jim Morrison and The Doors turned the song into a psychedelic rock song, making it sound very much like one of their own tracks. John Lee Hooker's song keeps a very steady rhythm throughout the entire song, is very laid back, simplistic track with the minimal beat keeping time, the guitar licks, and John Lee Hooker softly singing the blues. The Doors complicate the track; drums, guitar, keyboards, and the sense that Jim Morrison is almost shouting the lyrics to the song give their version a much more intense sounding song. The lyrics are the same, and Jim Morrison sings the song at nearly the same speed, but The Doors add multiple instrument breaks that weren't present in John Lee Hooker's original version, making the song almost twice as long. The Doors are much more intense in their presentation, a common theme for the band, especially in their live performances, which totally works for this song, and an attitude that John Lee Hooker could not get away with portraying.
Personally, I enjoy John Lee Hooker's original version better. The Doors played a fantastic song, and it very much sounds like it could be one of their own, but I enjoy the really chilled out, really relaxed blues music that John Lee Hooker makes himself. There's a different kind of passion and emotion and feeling that John Lee Hooker gives in his performance that The Doors are lacking. Years ago when I was younger I would have one hundred percent chosen The Doors, because my young mind was in that "Yeah! Rock music and guitars! Jim Morrison is the greatest performer ever!" mindset. But now that I have grown up and matured, I can appreciate different genres and song writing abilities, and John Lee Hooker just impresses me more. Although, I do feel as if I am still somewhat biased, as now I prefer blues music to all other kinds of music, and would choose to listen to it before any other kind of generic rock act nowadays.
The Doors - Crawling King Snake
I would go as far as saying that The Doors is my favorite band of all time. At the same time, blues music is my favorite genre of music, and having The Doors cover John Lee Hooker, my favorite blues artist of all blues artists, is just a wonderful experience. I actually listened to The Doors version first, many many years ago when I got into Jim Morrison and the gang, and then shortly after discovered the blues, where John Lee Hooker became my favorite artist of the genre, and much to my surprise wrote a song that I had originally thought was written by The Doors.
The two songs differ greatly, however. Obvious differences first, the two songs are completely different genres. John Lee Hooker creates a traditional Delta blues track, while Jim Morrison and The Doors turned the song into a psychedelic rock song, making it sound very much like one of their own tracks. John Lee Hooker's song keeps a very steady rhythm throughout the entire song, is very laid back, simplistic track with the minimal beat keeping time, the guitar licks, and John Lee Hooker softly singing the blues. The Doors complicate the track; drums, guitar, keyboards, and the sense that Jim Morrison is almost shouting the lyrics to the song give their version a much more intense sounding song. The lyrics are the same, and Jim Morrison sings the song at nearly the same speed, but The Doors add multiple instrument breaks that weren't present in John Lee Hooker's original version, making the song almost twice as long. The Doors are much more intense in their presentation, a common theme for the band, especially in their live performances, which totally works for this song, and an attitude that John Lee Hooker could not get away with portraying.
Personally, I enjoy John Lee Hooker's original version better. The Doors played a fantastic song, and it very much sounds like it could be one of their own, but I enjoy the really chilled out, really relaxed blues music that John Lee Hooker makes himself. There's a different kind of passion and emotion and feeling that John Lee Hooker gives in his performance that The Doors are lacking. Years ago when I was younger I would have one hundred percent chosen The Doors, because my young mind was in that "Yeah! Rock music and guitars! Jim Morrison is the greatest performer ever!" mindset. But now that I have grown up and matured, I can appreciate different genres and song writing abilities, and John Lee Hooker just impresses me more. Although, I do feel as if I am still somewhat biased, as now I prefer blues music to all other kinds of music, and would choose to listen to it before any other kind of generic rock act nowadays.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
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