Blogging Assignment 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xjr2hnOHiM

This is the famous scene from Dirty Harry where Dirty Harry, a San Francisco cop with little regards for rules uses his famous line "Do ya feel lucky, punk?" I think the theme of this movie is that sometimes you have to break the rules to obtain justice and that is just what he does in the scene and throughout the movie.
I think that the rhythm and the movement of this scene really capture the theme of the movie. While everything is pretty chaotic and people are running and fleeing the scene Harry remains calm like the bad ass that he is and handles the whole situation with just his revolver pistol. He stops all of the criminals including the get away car driver and at the end doesn't even have any bullets left. This scene also demonstrates tension and release when the criminal with the shotgun is subdued and Harry says his famous line, the criminal says he has to know if there was any bullets left so he points his gun at him and it makes the audience believe that he is going to shoot him but the trigger gets pulled and nothing happens.

Blogging Assignment 6

The two shows I chose for this assignment are South Park and Adventure Time. Both are animated shows but are extremely different. For one South Park is definitely not a kids show and is probably one of the most vulgar but hilarious things I have ever watched, whereas Adventure is a kids show that can be pretty ridiculous and sometimes contains some hidden adult humor. South Park has a somewhat duller hue to it compared to the vibrant pastels used in Adventure Time. The saturation and brightness are about the same though. The lighting is also the same for both although the shadows underneath the Adventure Time characters is slightly more apparent. There is not much notable symbolism although you can tell how certain characters in Adventure Time feel about each other through their body language and facial expressions. Both shows seem to have the same kind of happy mood. South Park is definitely more 2-D in comparison to Adventure Time so there isn't a lot of overlapping movement but Adventure Time displays a lot of movement and weight in its still frame.

Blogging Assignment 5

George Lucas the director of the Star Wars films is highly revered as one of the greatest film directors so it doesn't surprise me that he obeys all of the three rules of camera work. If two characters are interacting in a scene such as with C3PO and R2D2 the camera never crosses the  imaginary 180 degree line between them. And the the rule of thirds is followed most of the time with certain important aspects in the scene occurring at intersecting imaginary lines that divide the screen into thirds both vertically and horizontally.
And lastly the rule of 30 percent or 30 degrees. Lucas makes use of this so that he avoids a jump cut when characters such as Darth Vader interact with his subordinates. Overall this scene is very well directed.

Blogging Assignment 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NhkK-1epUA : Gotye- Somebody That I Used to Know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtl8K0kO4P4&feature=related :Gotye- Somebody That I Used to Know (Walk Off the Earth cover)

Listening Framework: Gotye- Somebody That I Used to Know


-Listening Phase 1-


Tempo: medium

Source of rhythm: bass, guitar, and quiet drums

Groove: straight forward, bouncy, kind of dance-y

-Listening Phase 2-


Instrumentation: guitars, bass, bongos and other percussion, vocals

Organization:  intro, verse, chorus, bridge, second verse, chorus, extended chorus

Emotional Architecture: starts out slowly builds the whole song and then the last chorus is really dramatic

-Listening Phase 3-

Balance:

Height: mostly mid range and some high frequencies

Width: nothing is really panned too much

Depth: multiple layers of percussion and guitars but very simple

Listening Framework: Gotye- Somebody That I Used to Know (Walk off the Earth cover)

-Listening Phase 1-

Tempo: medium

Source of rhythm: guitar tapping 

Groove: straight forward, bouncy, kind of dance-y

-Listening Phase 2-

Instrumentation: one guitar, vocals

Organization:  intro, verse, chorus, bridge, second verse, chorus, extended chorus

Emotional Architecture: starts out slowly builds the whole song and then the last chorus is really dramatic

-Listening Phase 3-

Balance:

Height: mostly mid range and some high frequencies

Width: nothing is really panned too much

Depth: vocal harmonies

Both of these songs are the same in organization obviously since it's the same song but one is a cover. So the lyrics and general melodies and harmonies are the same but the fundamental difference is that the cover is played entirely on one guitar. I found this interesting and not just because it's a gimmick but I prefer this version since it's so well done. The original is very catchy though and arranged well which is likely why it is so popular on the radio. The original also has more depth since it was most likely mastered in a studio with multitudes of tracks and layering and the cover was recorded live on one guitar. Overall though I really enjoy this song.

Critique of Star Wars opening scene

        I think that this scene is extremely well done. It utilizes various listening modes such as a casual mode when it is a person or robot of course talking in the scene because that is in actuality their voice; but it also uses the referential mode of listening for noises that are more abstract or based on fiction such as the laser noises or the small robot's (R2D2's) robot dialect. The scene also shows the directors mastery for use of space. When the protagonist soldiers are being attacked by the enemy storm troopers in white the camera angle is low to show that they are outnumbered and also obvious is the comparative size of their ship to the enemy ship. There is also distance between them at first but the larger ship catches up to the smaller and takes it into to its control.

Star Wars Script

Blogging Assignment #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ovtoLLLrQ
This is the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope.

Blogging Assignment #2

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl    Referenced by Jonathan Flaum is the story called How the Paper Fish Learned to Swim. It is about a master of origami named Daishinji and her beautiful paper creations, and one which is so glorious that it comes to life. The gorgeous origami fish she created said that it was lonely and so Daishinji creates an entire world out of origami for it. But this is not enough for the paper fish. It begs so much to be set free into the real world but Daishinji is convinced that it would be destroyed if she did let it go saying that "imaginary things must stay in imaginary places." In the end she lets it go and to her surprise it becomes real and does not get destroyed. This story illustrates the point that what's created on paper, if authentic enough, can never just stay on paper -- it has to go out and be tested in the real world.

      Here's something that I found that inspires me as much as that story did: "All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."  --T.E. Lawrence
     
      To me this means that if you only think about your goals and hopes and dreams and never act on them then you will never achieve them. They will simply be dreams. That is why this quote inspires me as a creative person.
 

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