Friday, June 3, 2011

Blog 10

The article FREAK FACTOR explains how people can overcome their weaknesses in a business setting, and even in life. The author explains how you should focus less on trying to change yourself, and focus more on how you can work around your weaknesses to overcome them. He also talks about building on your strengths so that your weaknesses are less apparent. I find all of these suggestions to be very valid, and very helpful and they have opened my eyes on how to improve on myself.

3. Flawless- There's Nothing Wrong With You
This part of the article suggests that there is nothing actually wrong with anybody, but everyone does have their own strengths and weaknesses. Instead of looking at a weakness as something that is wrong with you, the author suggests that you treat a weakness as just a part of who you are as a unique person. I can implement this into my career in media by exposing my weaknesses, working on them, and building my strengths to be the best person that i can be.

5. Foundation- Build On Your Strengths
I liked the idea that this part of the article brings forth because it suggests that strengths will come naturally and are easy to build upon. The author says that strengths are built around things that you do well and will come naturally as you do the things that you love. I believe this to be true, and I will definitely use this advice to make sure that I find my strengths early in my career and exploit them to get things done while liking my job.

7. Fit- Find The Right Spot
This was a very interesting paragraph because it suggested that we all fit in a certain place, but we just have to find it. To clarify his point, the author used the example of rudolph the red nosed reindeer where he didn't fit in with the other reindeer, but he eventually found his place and lived happily. This is definitely an interesting point and I believe it to be true because everyone has interests of some sort; you just have to find people that have the same interests as you. I believe that this is exactly what the author is suggesting that people should do, which is a really valid point. By finding people that i fit in with, I can work well with them and move forward through my media career faster and be more successful.

When reflecting back on my own strengths and weaknesses, I know that I am outgoing, funny, good listener, and good with group work, but on the other hand I am not very open minded and I can get too focused on one thing really easily. I believe that my weaknesses can be easy to work around and my strengths can be easily exposed to propel me through my media career.

Blog 8B

Samuel Simpson
For this project, I believe that this group did a very good job at showing the contrast and affinity between the hero and the villain. The hero is quite obviously a lot brighter than the villain, and in contrast, the villain is a lot darker than the hero. Along with the brightness of the two characters, the colors that were chosen also reflected the character's incentives. The colors of the hero are blue and yellow which are very soft and can be linked to things with good intentions. In contrast, the colors of the villain are dark colors like black and red which are linked to evil intentions. Another thing that was done very well is the use of saturation. The villain's colors seem to be more saturated than the heros making them seem a lot deeper and darker as opposed to the lightness of the hero.


Brian Recker
Animation Not Posted


Laura Radwan
Animation Not Posted

Monday, May 30, 2011

Blog 9A

I feel like my presentation went very well overall, but i definitely did notice some things during the presentation that could have gone a lot better. First of all, the thing that stuck out the most for me was our overall presentation and how much we were able to make it seem like we were pitching an idea. I was trying to be as enthusiastic as possible and explain things more in depth to give the feel of a sales pitch but I'm not sure if it went as well as i thought.

The biggest weakness that i can think of during our presentation was basically a lack of organization. There were a couple times where the group would stop talking and expect another group member to read the next slide, but some were less willing to read than others. I feel like a little bit of organization before the presentation would have made the pitch flow a lot better than it did.

The thing that i felt was the easiest to explain were the mechanics of the game. I feel this way because many games that were presented seemed to have very similar mechanics which makes it easier for the people to relate and understand. Another reason that mechanics are easy to explain and understand is because many people who are majoring in some type of media have played video games at some point. By playing the video games, they are able to relate our mechanics to mechanics of games that they have played before and understand them a lot easier.

Overall, I would say that my presentation went very well except for the few things that i listed that weren't as clear as i would have wanted them to be. I believe that my group was able to successfully make the presentation seem like a real sales pitch, and get people excited about our idea for a game.

Blog 8A

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers (Audio clip about super powers)

Animation

Friday, May 27, 2011

Blog 7

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDfLSiEBcow&feature=channel_video_title
Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC0mwOwq2O8&feature=channel_video_title

The two videos that were filmed by my group were based off of the same joke but had some very noticeable differences. These differences include the way we used and manipulated space and movement in the videos. As well as the ways these videos contrasted, i will also discuss the affinities between the two.

First of all, the big difference that you can notice while viewing these two videos is the way we used space when filming. The first video that we filmed made use of deep space because the characters were in no way limited in the scene. This was achieved by shooting the video outdoors where there wasn't anything limiting movement except for trees. The second video that we made was filmed entirely indoors in one of our dorm's study lounges which gave the viewer a sense of very limited space.

The second thing that we took into consideration to make the same joke different was the way we used movement in the videos. This first video used a lot more spastic and quick movement while the second had very limited movement. In the first video, we made a lot of spastic movement while the characters were talking such as hand gestures to get our points across not only using audio, but also using visuals. We also used some quick camera movement such as zooming into one of the character's faces to show his emotion and give the audience an idea of how that character acted. In the second video, we did not use a lot of movement in general, and the characters were sitting down for the majority of the scene. The movement that we did use in the second video was very lethargic and limited compared to the first video.

There are many ways that the viewer can draw contrasts between the two videos, but there aren't that many noticeable affinities. One of the huge contrasts between these two videos that i did not mention yet is the way they make the audience feel. The first video focuses more on the emotion of the characters which makes it a lot more didactic than the other video. The characters in the second video did not show much emotion which makes it active and allows the audience to draw their own conclusions. As far as the affinities between the two videos go, they obviously share the same joke, but also the same visual rhythm. The two videos flow in the same way, and neither one is faster than the other.

In conclusion, each video shares things that makes them similar, but for the most part they are very different because they are totally different approaches to the same joke.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Blog 5A





















There are many reasons why I chose this image, but from when I very first saw it this image caught my eye. The reason that is image caught my eye has nothing to due with the nudity in it, but the way the artist makes the painting flow from one object to the other. He uses many techniques that we discussed in class to guide the viewers eye through the painting and succeed in allowing the viewer to appreciate everything.

First of all, through the rule of thirds, my eye started out on the left side of the painting and was able to easily travel through the painting because of the way Dali links the objects that he uses. He also makes good use of visual rhythm by repeating the image of the tiger once. The way this painting flows is very unique because he connects the images by having them come out of each other's mouths.

The way this painting makes use of lines is very interesting because the image starts of at a spherical object which morphs into a fish that has a tiger jumping out of its mouth which also has a tiger jumping out of its mouth. The last tiger has a gun right in front of it which leads you to look at the nude woman at the bottom of the image. Lines are also used well to show the elephant in the back of the image by making its legs extremely long.

Dali also uses affinity of the tigers to create repetition and to extend the image out to point to the middle of the picture and guide you to other images. Like I mentioned before, this guides your eye through the image to make sure none of the parts in the painting are left not to be looked at. Although this painting makes use of affinity, this painting is very subjective because nothing else but the two tigers seem to relate.

Overall, I like this painting very much because it is very abstract and odd. Dali is a genius at guiding your eye through the image which helps me appreciate every part of the painting.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Blog 4A

Article

1. CONNECT
This section of the article explained how people in our current state have a wide open door to express themselves and to let their work get recognized. Before the internet, it was a lot harder for some random person to get their name out and be recognized by the public, but now we have so many more opportunities. The article basically explains how we take things like the internet for granted and that we should use it to our advantage a lot more than we currently do.

After thinking about what this article really means, it makes me realize how much people actually do take the internet for granted, instead of making good use of it. We care too much about social networking sites that connect people that we already know instead of spending our time expressing ourselves and getting recognition from people that we don't know. I feel like if I create things that can reach out to a certain crowd of people, I should make good use of the internet and try to spread my work and get recognition. This will greatly help in my process of becoming a professional in the field of media.

2. MAKE ART
This article titled "MAKE ART" encourages the reader to do exactly that. The only thing that really stuck out to me is the definition that the author gives to the word art. The author basically says that art is not really limited to paintings or sculptures or things that people generally view as art, but is also things that we create on a daily basis. This article encourages everyone to be artists by creating things and being innovative.

These ideas can greatly influence me on the road to becoming successful in the field of media because it encourages me to do great things on a daily basis. The field of media is a very creativity based field, but some things are not necessarily considered art by the public. If I take these ideas and incorporate them into my life, I believe that I will become a more creative person, and possibly even an innovator in the industry.

New playlist1

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Blog 3B

I strongly believe that Anthony captured the feeling of rage very well within this soundscape. This is captured by the use of different sounds like the heartbeat at the beginning and the heavy guitar towards the end. Anthony did a good job of manipulating the perception of depth in the soundscape by giving the audience the feeling that the heartbeat was getting closer. This was achieved by gradually increasing the volume of the heartbeat. Anthony also manipulated time in this soundscape by creating the image of someone walking into a bar or a club with the footsteps leading up to the door, the door opening, him walking in, and the door closing. This scene of events is in the right order to make the listener believe that there are actual things happening within the soundscape.


Anthony Aerni's Blog

This soundscape was very effective in capturing the emotion of gratitude through the multiple scenes that i pictured while listening to this soundscape. Stephen captured a sense of time by making the listener feel like they were at a baseball game about half way through the soundscape. This portrays time by adding a sample of a pitcher throwing a ball, and then the batter hitting the ball which is a simple chain of events that accomplishes the goal of establishing time. Stephen also uses things to give the listener a sense of space such as the kids jumping into the water at the beginning of the soundscape. He accomplishes this by panning the splashing noises from left to right. These techniques added together helped to create one of the better soundscapes that i heard.


Stephen Hicken's Blog

This is a very interesting soundscape with the use of the arabic sounding vocals in the beginning. This easily conveyed the idea of worrying as it reminded me of scenes in movies that conveyed this same idea. This soundscape creates a sense of space by using the really deep windy sound in the intro to the soundscape. This immediately gave me the visual of worrying because it is sort of conveying someone's heart dropping and realizing that something is wrong. This soundscape also did a good job of conveying a sense of time by using different instruments at certain times to further give the feeling of worrying. By making some things fade out and come back in, like the singing in the beginning slowly fading out and coming back at the end, this soundscape illustrates a sense of time very well.


Gretchen's Blog

Blog 3A

The song that i chose to review a cover of is titled "Shine On" by Big D and the Kids Table. The covered song is by an anonymous band who changed the song in many ways that are pretty noticeable. All of the elements that we learned in class were displayed in the covered song of Shine On because they altered many things including the instrumentation to make it more of their own song. In this blog i will discuss how they changed different elements including the lyrics, the melody, and the musical quality.
The first element that i will be reviewing is the lyrical quality of the covered song. First of all, in the beginning of the real song, the vocalist says "ticking me right off" but the vocalist that covered it says "pissing me right off". This is not really a significant difference, but like i said before the little changes that the band makes takes it from being plagiarism to being more of a cover. There were also a few other subtle changes in lyrics that were made by the band to make it more original instead of seeming like it had to fit to a strict form.
The second element that was changed in the cover of the song was the overall melody. The melody was played by a trumpet and a trombone in the original song but in the cover song the melody was being played by a clarinet. This totally changes the sound of the melody because trumpets and trombones have a lot lower musical tones, while a clarinet can only play high pitched notes. Trumpets also have a lot larger of a range of pitch to work with, and when layered with a trombone sounds a lot better then just a clarinet. Although the melody sounds different, the same notes are being played but since it is on a different instrument it sounds very different and makes the song more unique to the band that is covering it.
The third and final element that i will be examining is the musical quality of the song. The musical quality is a huge part of the song because it includes a lot of different elements that include Rhythm, Intensity, Pitch, Timbre, Speed, and Organization. Basically all of these elements were changed in the cover song when comparing it to the original song except for the organization because all of the same notes were played at the same time. One of the more noticeable elements that changed, as highlighted previously, is the pitch of the song. This was not exactly done intentionally, because they used a clarinet which is not capable of hitting the same notes that a trumpet or trombone are able to hit. One other noticeable element that was changed is the intensity of the song. This can be because the audio was recorded on camera but the song sounded a lot weaker than the original.
The version of the song that i like better is definitely the original version because the part of the song that i like the most is the melody, which sounds completely different in the cover song. By using a clarinet, the band that covered it was not able to achieve the tones that the original band did which took away from the overall sound of the melody.



Monday, April 18, 2011

New playlist

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Blog 2

http://changethis.com/manifesto/51.01.YourHowl/pdf/51.01.YourHowl.pdf

The first story in this passage was very interesting, and even though wolves obviously don't have any immediate connection to media, this story absolutely does. This first story explains how a wolf that did not know how to howl was released back into the wild. Through his encounters, he was asked by animals why and how he did the things that he did, and he found it hard to respond to those questions. Eventually after being in the wild, his survivability depended on his ability to do things such as hunt and howl, so he basically gained these qualities because he needed them. This pertains to the media industry because people try to discover new things instead of just letting those things come to them. People spend so much time looking so hard when the solution to their problems is right in front of them, or could come naturally if they stopped trying to be someone that they are not. The moral of this story is to basically show that if people need to survive, they will adapt to their environment to gain the ability to survive naturally.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Blog 1B

5. Fantasize
I really liked this section of the article, because it makes the most sense. The part that explains how employers want their employees to come up with fantastic ideas, but don't want them to fantasize is very interesting because honestly when people hear the word "fantasize" they associate it with sex. Instead of doing this, people should actually look at the root word and realize that fantasizing is actually a very positive thing. I will definitely implement fantasizing into my life because by doing so, i will be able to come up with possible breakthrough ideas. My father is actually the inventor of the "camera sports seat" which is commonly used in basketball arenas to get the best shots without people's heads getting in the way. When I was younger, I asked him how he came up with the idea and he simply responded "There was a problem, and I came up with a solution." This is basically what fantasizing is, and in order to strive in the creative world it is absolutely necessary. In my creative life, where technology is increasing every day and innovators are needed more and more, I will try to brainstorm as much as possible and thing hard on problems to come up with the best solutions possible.

My current challenge is trying to find the motivation to go to the gym every day. My fantasy solution would of course to actually go to the gym and put in work, but there is a lot of other things on my schedule to do on a daily basis. Instead of giving myself excuses to feel better, I should just go and make a habit of it.

10. Hang Out With Diverse Groups of People
I do not think that this is exactly a way to get a breakthrough idea, because the author insists that you should hang out with people outside of your field of study. I do not think that this will help someone come up with an idea pertaining to their field because people outside of their field know little to nothing about it. The only thing that someone will really do is point out the obvious, which makes their help basically useless. Being in the creative industry, we are all consumers because everyone likes to be entertained. Many people go to the movies, or play a video game and criticize every aspect of it and say how it could have been better. In reality, this is actually an easy way to create a breakthrough idea because if someone isn't doing it right and you're adamant to fix it, you can make a lot of money off of a simple idea. Instead of encouraging people to hang out with a diverse group of people, the Author should encourage people to be a more critical consumer and try to come up with a problem that they see in every aspect of entertainment that they purchase.

I would say that i hang out with a very diverse group of people, which include people that are not in my field of study, and people that like to do different things than me. I also believe that i myself am a very diverse person in the things i like to do.

12. Look For Happy Accidents
I believe that this is a very good method of coming up with new ideas because, as explained in the paragraph, most inventions are the result of someone noticing a total accident as being a completely new breakthrough idea. In order to implement this into my own life, i will have to do things very differently. Usually when doing something, i let my mind wander on to think about things that do not pertain whatsoever to what i am currently doing. In order to fix this, i will have to be completely aware of my surroundings at all times and look at things in a new way. While doing experiments, or seeing other people's failure, i can either see what someone did wrong and fix it, or notice something that i did wrong or accidentally and come up with something totally new. I feel that this is one of the better ways listed in this reading to come up with breakthrough ideas because there are statistics that prove it and it also ties into a lot of other ways listed in this reading. For example, you can tie this into the idea of taking a break, because instead of constantly trying to come up with something innovative, you can let the innovation come to you by paying close attention to things and never taking anything for granted.

One failed attempt that i had years ago was trying to rebuild a microphone that i took apart. I could have possibly reconsidered this failure to come up with something new from the parts that i had available. If i were to have tried again, i would probably invite someone that has a background in electrical engineering to help me with the wires.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Blog 1A

1. Battlefield Bad Company 1+2 (Video Game)
This is a game that influences me greatly, because the creators are innovators in their field of FPS (First Person Shooter) games and have been ever since the first battlefield game was made for PC in 2002. The gameplay in Battlefield games has always been unique, as it offers a larger amount of players to be in a game at the same time. This contrasts games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, which offer virtually the same gameplay. Another thing that battlefield has been known for more recently is its totally destructible environment. This is an affinity to an earlier game called "Red Faction", but Battlefield implements this innovative thinking on a much larger level. This very innovative thinking makes it stand out in a seemingly endless pool of games that are almost exactly the same, and is the reason that this game influences me a lot.

2. Trolley Snatcha (Dubstep DJ)
Trolley Snatcha is a musical artist that influences me greatly because he is part of a genre of music that has grown monumentally in the past year. This genre is called "Dubstep", and Trolley Snatcha can be considered one of the kings of underground dubstep. Obviously, as a genre gains popularity, it flows into the mainstream and becomes altered to reach out to the majority of the population. As this has been happening to many dubstep artists, Trolley Snatcha has strayed away from becoming just another bad mainstream artist. You can even say that he is active by creating music that isn't influenced by the mainstream, and artists such as Mt. Eden are didactic by selling out to appeal to a larger population of people. While it is obvious that artists would strategically sell out to make money, people that liked genres the way they were previously appreciate artists that make music the way they like it, instead of the way the population likes it. Artists like Trolley Snatcha help me enjoy music more, which is why they influence me the most.

3. Defiance (Movie)
The movie "Defiance" is an inspiration to me because it focuses more on factual events that happened during World War II that movies in the past didn't really focus on. This film also uses the techniques of tension and release very well by building up tension during action scenes, and then cutting to scenes that are intended more to build on the story line and release some of the tension. This movie also inspires me because of the fact that it follows an interesting storyline that isn't told very often, instead of going off of something that happened in pop culture. This type of movie explains who i am as well as the other things that i listed because they are all unique. Instead of following ways to make money based off of other people, these forms of media created something totally different that people like even more. This shows that although copying ideas of others can make you money, it is far more rewarding (mentally and materialistically) to be an innovator of something totally different.