Blogging Assignment #4

Conch

http://youtu.be/xs_PwFWuwJs

The scene that I chose had very dull, yet unique, sound design. Aside from the ridiculous dialogue, there were certain aspects that the creators of the video definitely considered. To start out, almost all of the sounds were very causal (dialogue, gun clicks, etc). But there were also instances of representational or semantic sound when the conch was used. An echo that has been conditioned to viewers to represent some sort of paranormal activity. All noise on the screen was diagetic and onscreen, except for ambient air conditioning unit noise. Speed and loudness throughout the scene was regular.  Speed was in realtime, loudness was grew as the video continued, peaking in the last few seconds. The space of the sound was very flat and was not dynamic throughout the video, except for the conch scene was gave a very ambiguous feel to the source of the sound. Proximity of the dialogue seemed very close, I seemed that the audio was dubbed over or a boom pole of some sort was used. Similarity of the sound was equally close and did not alter too wildly. And finally emotional/subjective moments of the audio were reinforced with pit music. For instance, sad parts of the dialogue, humor was added through the use of an overdramatic, melancholic piano solo. While more exciting parts of the video were paired with adventurous music and a faster tempo in speaking. 

Blogging Assignment #3

Check out the link I am writing about here: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed

Seth Godin spoke about seven layers to reinvent yourself. Here are short summaries of some of the methods he spoke about.

#1.  Acknowledge The Lizard
Godin describes The Lizard Brain as a part of the brain that handles anger and humiliation. An evolutionary part of the human psyche that controls the mind's fear of being made fun of and will try to subconsciously stop any source of humiliation. Also referred to as 'The Resistance', Godin believes that The Lizard Brain shuts down strange and non-uniform creativity, for fear of being laughed at. It instead, encourages the idea of following instructions.

#2. Ship
Shipping is simply the idea of sending the material you create out abroad. 'The Lizard Brain' will try to prevent the act of shipping, for fear of failure. But the act of shipping itself will put you ahead of competitors and their own struggle with their Lizard Brains.

#3. Be Generous
One of the steps of reinventing yourself is 'Being Generous'. Godin describes this almost as giving out material for cheap and free, but it is slightly more than that. Putting in plenty of work and absolutely trying hard with possibly low benefit at first in order to really sell yourself and what you are creating.

Essay:

In many ways, the wise teachings of the all powerful Godin apply to me and writing this blog right now. Alright, that may be a little too cheesey and transparent, but it is true. The article, "Brainwashed", most definitely applies to how I have been taught as a student so far and how in this part of my life, it is time to break away and realize the barriers society has created. I appreciate the ideas of trying to think differently and appearing to be an individual when I am one of dozens writing one of these, most likely uniform, blogs. So then the question should and will most definitely be asked. How can I apply Godin's rules in order to make this blog that I am writing more creative? I cannot and will most definitely not be a sheep among the masses.

The first step that I had summarized from Godin's rules on reinventing myself was about my Lizard Brain. This 'Resistance' is controlling me as I speak right this moment. It is telling me "Do not go off and write in jibberish, do not go write backwards, do not change my fonts and make the colors all hippie." So I guess it is here that I must first apply the lesson that is being taught to me through these blogs. Shut. My. Lizard. Brain. Down.UP. DWON.   

Alright, so maybe I won't go that far in order to individualize myself and give myself a failing grade. But I will try to silence that part of me that is fearful and speak more from the mind. The next layer of reinventing myself is shipping. Just by writing this blog right now and posting it I am partaking in the layer. Or am I? If I posted this right now and it was graded and I never looked at it again, I doubt it could be considered the act of Shipping at all. In order to truly reinvent myself, I should shut down that Lizard Brain of mine that fears humiliation and share these blogs by putting them on my future resumes and sharing them with potential clients. This last step could also be aided in the last layer that I summarized on this blog. The layer of Being Generous. I know that the material I wrote this day is absolute genuine kid prodigy material, but I will perform a very 'Godin' act in order to get my material out more easily and maybe I will be able to dance in "The circle of gifts." It is true, I will be putting out these blogs as completely FREE material! No subscription or monthly payment is due.
 All in all, I like these blogs. Even if I am doing them in an incorrect manner, I feel as though I am learning and am being encouraged to think in ways that might give me a competitive edge in the future. Thank Godin.

Blog Assignment #2

Check out the story Finding Your Howl at http://changethis.com/ !


For those who are too lazy to check out the story, here is a short summary of one of the stories:


In a zoo, somewhere, there is a tiger in a cage with no top. This Tiger had a very strong desire to escape the cage and was well aware of its own strong jumping ability. Therefore the Tiger then planned its escape. One night, the Tiger took the chance and leaped up outside of the cage. When the Tiger finally came to and realized where it was, it realized that it once again inside another cage, inside another zoo. The Tiger then decides that during the night, it will once again jump the fence. When it does, it lands inside another cage in another zoo. The Tiger continues to do this for all eternity, never being able to escape the cages. The main message provided by Flaum is that one may not simply change its surrounding in order to truly change, we cannot merely just destroy the environment that we caged ourselves in but also destroy ourselves, metaphorically, in which that environment was created for.


Here is one of my favorite quotes from a song called "The Machine" by the band Lemon Demon. Written by Neil Cicierega,  "The Machine" is a song about a man building a large machine for unknown reasons and the reaction of the frightened public.




"Lost in solipsism
he then slowly pulls a lever
which sets off a mechanism
which does nothing whatsoever
but the nothing that it does
negates the everything we know
because it's screaming "Just because!"
because it's neither friend or foe
and so we label it a menace
or a grandiose work of art.
From its finale to its genesis
we slowly pull it all apart.




That's the beauty of it--
It doesn't do anything, do anything."


The quote above speaks to me as a creative person because I feel like it addresses a timeless issue that seems to pertain through most of Western society. Within the quote a man works in solipsism, in a way meaning that he has forgot the rest of the world, to create a machine that has absolutely no purpose. In the song and the quote, the public is quite frightened by the idea of this huge machine, speculating what its purpose could possibly be. It is not the idea that this machine is positively dangerous or that it is assuredly a grand machine. What frightens the grand masses is the idea that they do not know the purpose of this machine. The theory that something could exist without a purpose just does not simply make sense to the civilized world. An automated world where every single aspect of every building, every gadget has a function. A doorhinge exists to swivel, a rounded edge on a table exists to prevent injury, a window exists to let in light, a painting on a wall exists to add to the visual appeal of a room, carpets exist to add cushion to our feet, everything has its purpose. This idea of nothing "Negates the everything we know." Humans have conditioned ourselves to forget that things may simply be and not have a purpose. 


You do not need to look far to see numerous examples of this. In almost pretentious ways, humans try to find a purpose in everything. For example, it can be argued that religion only exists in order to give ourselves a purpose to exist. We cannot live with the idea in today's society that humankind simply is, "because it's screaming 'Just because!'." Humans have even convoluted and twisted the idea that Nature serves its own purpose, its purpose to feed our society. In a way, it is taught in schools that trees exist in order to replenish nitrogen to the soil and exchange the carbon dioxide in the air for oxygen. Trees cannot simply just subsist. 

This idea begins to frighten me, as a creator of creative material, when it comes to Art. It seems that anymore that the most holy ground of "Just because" is even beginning to become susceptible to "purposing". Take any Art class in a high school or college and you will be taught that paintings have meanings. Just as in the lyrics, "... a grandiose work of art. From its finale to its genesis we slowly pull it all apart", there remains an idea that there must be a deconstruction of every last brushstroke. A painting may not simply exist, a piece of Art must exist to send a message. Simply searching Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, brings you a result of pages worth of analysis on every millimeter of each brushstroke. There is an idea carried throughout society that Da Vinci did not paint her just because he felt like it and that is the end of it, there must be an idea behind it. There must be a message. There must be some sort of purpose. I am not trying to say that Art can send its message to the public, but I am rather trying to communicate the idea that the philosophy so hardwired into us may defeat the very purpose of art in the first place. 

As a creator now and in the future, I wonder how the world would be different if it allowed more "it just is" statements and did not concern itself with finding a reassuring meaning behind each frame. Much of our world is spontaneous and as disturbing as that is, we, as a human race, do not always need to find a reason. What if? What if movies were written and created not to make a person rich or famous? What if every slice of film wasn't scrutinized? Objects do not always have to be "a menace" or "a grandiose work of art" to distribute to viewers or readers. I realize how informal I have been, but I encourage you to go out and create something, not to show it to friends, not to make money, but rather just create something great as a therapeutic act. Let go of the philosophy in today's world that everything must have a purpose. Pure creativity.

Blog Assignment #1

The Mauve Spy

1. Color

The colors Purple and Black relate to the character in their association to the unknown. Black is an absence of light, it is nothing. My hero is a mysterious figure that has an unknown background and motives. His dark exterior helps keep his character stay hidden in the shadows of the city, spying on his enemies. Purple is a color that is usually not associated with much. A lonely color, much like the loner of a hero. Purple is naturally shaded and does not stick out in the dark but is still unique. My character wearing these colors symbolizes his sneaky, shadow-like attitude and performance.

2. Lighting

The character is always represented on the edge of a hard light. Shadows silhouetting the character's outline. This helps keep the character mysterious and unknown, his motives are wildly unpredictable to the audience because of their inability to see his facial expressions or mannerisms. The light itself represents that the character is a glimmer of hope among serious blackness. The fact that my character is on the edge of the light symbolizes how the character is almost an anti-hero. Working in more sinister ways, it can be deceiving and/or confusing if our "hero" is actually performing his good acts for the right reason or for selfish reasons.

3. Shape

The shape of my character resembles an inward spiral. His body and actions seem to wrap around each other in such a way that it can be confusing where one part begins and the other ends. Spirals are often used to confuse or hypnotize and are often parts of optical illusions. This matches the characters motif of mystery. It is illusive where the character will begin or end. Acting like an optical illusion in the way that he is more than meets the eye at first. The character's representation in this way allows the character to remain conspicuous throughout the stories.

Antagonist 

Crimson

1. Color

The colors of Red, Orange, and Yellow represent the antagonist character. Red, Orange, and Yellow are most often representing two objects in society: fire and anger. Fire is often a destructive force that only consumes, powerful enough to destroy hundreds of miles of forest. Concurrently, fire can be attractive and deceitful in the way it is warming and friendly. The character is much like this, powerful and charming. Hiding his destructive powers behind a warming smile and colour scheme. The colors above also represent anger. This symbolizes the character's frustration and rage hidden beneath. His anger fans the flames of his angry, destructive nature.

2. Lighting

The character, Crimson, is all about being deceitful and two-faced. Therefore, it is ironically symbolic that he is combined with a warm, soft light. The light is very diffuse and seems to almost emit itself from the character himself. Posing as a source of light, a source of goodness, the character is able to attract other characters into thinking that he is a source of friendliness and all that is good.  Meanwhile, the character's motives are purely evil. It seems that the character is almost like deity because whenever he is in frame, he is the source of light or the source of light smiles upon him in a warm yellow-orange.

3. Shape

The antagonist character has a basic shape of crooked lines within a rectangle. The rectangular aspect of the character relate to his stoic good looks and strength. Fulfilling a more heroic jawline, the character always enters the scene looking like the answer to fixing the chaos, not the cause. Among the character's shape is a very irregular stripe pattern that is the only break from the uniform sureness of the character. While the rest of the villain is inviting and reassuring, the almost haphazard diagonal lines allow for a single outlet of discomfort, danger.

Welcome

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