Blog #8: Scene Deconstruction

-For this 'scene deconstruction', I chose the final scene from the film 'American Beauty'.  The main character, played by Kevin Spacey, has just been shot and killed.  Even though the character has just died, he continues to narrate, even commenting on his death.  This already begins to show the theme of the film.  I believe the theme of the film is beauty in life.  As he narrates, he talks about how it's hard to stay mad at what has happened to him because there is so much beauty in the world.  The narration clearly states the theme of American Beauty, and is very active throughout this scene.  It is the climax of the film, so the audience is engaged while hearing the narration and actively perceiving the theme of the film.
-The theme of beauty in life is show in this scene in a variety of ways.  First of all, the narration makes it clear that beauty in life is what is driving the film.  The opening shot of Kevin Spacey shows him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but he seems to have a smile.  This is definitely a use of line manipulation.  They took what would normally be a frown or static shape of mouth, and curved it to make it a smile.  This shows that even in gruesome situations, there is still beauty and happiness to be found.  That shot is followed by a smooth pan of a cloudy sky, further reinforcing the theme of beauty in life.  Deep space is used in this shot to create depth.  What follows is a series of overhead sweeping shots.  The movement of these shots helps them to flow together and gain a sense of rhythm.  Once again, the theme of the film portrayed actively throughout this scene, not didactically.  The scene uses flashbacks of happy memories to portray the beauty in life.  This also shown in the end of the narration when Kevin Spacey says he's thankful for every bit of his stupid little life.  This means that no matter how insignificant we sometimes feel, we need to stop and see the beauty in life to truly appreciate it.

Blog #7: Animation Deconstruction

-For 'Animation Deconstruction', I chose to compare two screenshots from the cartoon show 'Adventure Time'.  It is a really creative animated show on Cartoon Network that is full of beautiful visuals and some really impressive animation.  The screenshots above were taken from two different episodes.  When comparing color, you can see there are similarities and differences.  The hues and color scheme of the main character's outfit is the same in both screenshots.  He wears a blue shirt, blue shorts, a white hat and green backpack.  The brightness, however, is much different.  In the first screenshot, Finn and Jake are in a dark spooky forest running for their lives.  The brightness of the colors present is very low.  In the second screenshot, Finn's guardian angel is animated very brightly and even helps to brighten the colors on Finn's outfit.  The saturation of the colors in each screenshot are somewhat similar.  The lighting in the screenshots are different.  In the first one, the lighting is very dark, as it is set in a spooky forest at night.  The darkness helps to symbolize the evil that lurks in the forest.  It also sets the mood of the scene, being very scary.  In the bottom screenshot, the lighting is somewhat bright, as Finn's guardian angel is radiating an extremely bright white light.  This symbolizes the good that is within the guardian angel.  Seeing the white light, you know that the character has good intentions and will only do good things that benefit the main character.  It sets a much happier mood than a dark, scary forest.

Blog #5: Song Deconstruction

LISTENING FRAMEWORK
Blur - 'Good Song'
LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm) Tempo -The tempo is definitely at a medium pace.
Source - The rhythm is being held by the drums, and bongos in the background.
Groove -The groove of the song is very easy-going, relaxed, and smooth.
LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement) Instrumentation -The instrumentation is made up of drums, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals, and bass guitar.
Structure/Organization -Starts with bongos, then the drums and guitar kick in, with vocals following after.
Emotional Architecture -The song has a rather simple architecture, but still manages to build at moments and then drop again.
LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality) Balance

• -  Height -Starts out medium and goes pretty high at a few points during the song.
  
• -  Width -None
  
• -  Depth -It is pretty complex, with a layered instrumentation.
  

LISTENING FRAMEWORK
Blur - 'Mellow Song'
LISTENING PHASE 1 (Rhythm) Tempo -The tempo is medium.
Source -Mostly from the lead guitar. 
Groove -Mellow, psychedelic, smooth.
LISTENING PHASE 2 (Arrangement) Instrumentation -Keyboard, vocals, guitar, melodica, drums.
Structure/Organization Starts out with keyboard, then adds guitar and vocals. Near the end, drums and electric guitar is thrown in, as well as the melodica.
Emotional Architecture -The song definitely builds from the beginning, adding more and more.
LISTENING PHASE 3 (Sound Quality) Balance

• -  Height -The song has a good balance of high and low frequencies.
  
• -  Width -Some panning used during the guitar solo.
  
• -  Depth -Instrumentation is layered very well.
  
  
  -I chose to compare and contrast two different songs from the band, Blur.  The songs are 'Good Song', from the album Think Tank, and 'Mellow Song', from the album 13.  Being from the same artist, the songs have a similar vibe to each other, but are very different in areas like structure and organization.  'Mellow Song' starts out with a small piano piece, then goes to guitar and vocals.  Later in the song, drums and electric guitar are thrown in.  With 'Good Song', drums and guitar are played immediately and stay until the end.  This shows how 'Good Song' does not build in emotional architecture as much as 'Mellow Song' does.  The songs' lyrics are also different in structure, but similar in meaning.  The lyrics in ‘Good Song’ are rather straight-forward and flow together coherently, while in ‘Mellow Song’, the lyrics are more metaphorical and take much longer to understand.  Both songs are about dealing with the loss of someone, whether it’s a breakup or death of a loved one.  The melodies of the two songs are very different.  In ‘Mellow Song’, the melody has a pretty big range of sounds and even changes halfway through the song.  The melody in ‘Good Song’ is really laid-back and stays pretty much constant throughout the entire length of the song.  Both are somewhat medium-paced, but in terms of intensity, ‘Mellow Song’ is much more heavy near the end than ‘Good Song’ is.  The songs also have similar range of pitch and overall a similar use of instrumentation.  They both have multiple guitar parts, vocals, bass guitar, and drums.  I would say that I enjoyed 'Mellow Song' more than 'Good Song' because it starts out with less instrumentation and slowly builds, adding more and more layers.  This really helps to create emotional architecture within the song and makes for a more meaningful listen.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Reflections on Sound Design

This scene from Evil Dead 2 utilizes many sound techniques to create an immersive, funny, and somewhat terrifying experience.  Aspects of space, like movement, perception, and directionality are used to help the sound design become fuller.  With movement, the camera angles help to direct your perception towards certain sounds that are occurring.  A semantic listening mode is sometimes used in this scene.  The objects in the room are not actually laughing, but are accompanied by representations of what it would sound like.  Time is also used to create a fuller sound design.  Speed and loudness being the most common aspects of time used in this scene.  As the scene goes on, the laughter gets louder and louder, and the shots become quicker.

Brainwashed

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed

1.) Acknowledging the Lizard: There is a part of the brain that is mostly concerned with safety, anger, and its greatest fear is being laughed at.  This fear causes our art to shut down.  It's called 'the resistance', and it keeps you from expressing yourself but makes you follow instructions instead.  We have to acknowledge this 'lizard brain' in order to ignore it.

2.) Connect: It is up to you whether or not social media is actually worth using.  It's not for keeping score of how many followers, comments, or 'likes' you have.  You can use it to make real connections and interact with people you would have never been able to without it.

3.) Learn: School used to be very different than it is today.  You would go to learn a trade, and then grow up doing that trade for the rest of your life.  Now, it's is about experiences and the constant failure of shipping and learning.

Essay:
There are many connections that can be made from the layers I summarized above, to the blog I am currently writing this essay for.  I think that many of the assignments for this class are 'lizard-brained' in a way.  With all of the word count requirements and strict grading criteria, we are more concerned with meeting guidelines and following instructions than we are with actually expressing ourselves.  We have to write a certain amount of words, no more, no less.  So we don't really care about writing what we truly feel or want to say.  We're only worried about whether or not we're going to lose points because we didn't write enough words.  If an essay accurately responds to a prompt, it shouldn't matter how long it is.  The 'Acknowledging the Lizard' exercise seems like an incredibly useful tool in becoming a more creative, artistic person as it teaches you to create original works, but these assignments are doing the exact opposite.
There is clearly a connection between the 'Connect' exercise and the blog we are working on for the course.  Blogging is an example of social media, and is one of the things that connects us with the rest of the world.  The assignments we've completed are now on the internet, and can be accessed by anyone with a computer.  We are now able to receive criticism or praise from people we have never met and probably never would have without the internet.  I think this an excellent exercise in gaining experience, as it creates the opportunity of doing something influential and gaining power in the process.
The main connection between the 'Learn' exercise and this blog, is that blogging is one of the many tools that make the learning process of today's society so much different.  School is now more about experience and experiments, like blogging.   This a very useful tool in becoming a better student, as it shows what learning is all about.  It's about improving after failure, and gaining insight into what you want to do with your career.  This can help you with becoming a better artist as well.  You're no longer doing the same thing over and over again, instead you're trying new things for the experience.

Finding Your Howl

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

In 'Finding Your Howl', Jonathon Flaum tells the story of a pack of red wolves who had been raised in captivity, and then released into the wild as an experiment, so none of them knew how to howl.  One of the wolves, Mumon, realized that without a leader, the pack would not survive.  He ventures into the forest in order to find his howl.  He kills a deer, and after feeding feels ashamed.  A raven tells him he needs to shed that shame, and realize who he really is in order to find his howl.  Mumon runs, stripping away his old self, becoming who he's supposed to be, and finds his howl under the moon.

-The main point that Flaum makes with this story is that all we need to do to be free is realize who we truly are.  That is how you find your howl.  In the story, Mumon comes to terms with the fact that he is a wild animal, and all of the fear and shame that held him back vanished.

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"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.  Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world."  -Albert Einstein

-This quote really puts creativity into perspective, and I truly believe it is one to live by.  When Einstein says, "Knowledge is limited," he means that we do not know everything there is to know about the universe, and probably never will as we are a part of it.  Knowledge is simply an accumulation of what is believed to be true.  Unlike knowledge, imagination and creativity have no boundaries.  It is something that exists within everyone, deep within the soul.  It can be accessed by anyone, regardless of how smart they are or how much they have learned about the external world.  I believe that the universe is structured in the same way as creativity.  They are both limitless, and full of possibility.  The universe basically is possibility, just like creativity.  Possibility for life, and for life to experience.  That is our goal in the universe.  To experience and to create is our mission.
-This quote is one of the things that helped me to realize what my role is in this life, and why I am pursuing a career in film.  I want to be able to express my creativity and share it with others because that is what I believe our purpose to be.  Filmmaking is a perfect example of being able to create out of your own imagination.  This is when thought becomes reality.  As a creative person, you come up with stories, dialogue, camera angles, and music.  Then you can make it a reality by creating a film.  That is why I fell in love with the art of filmmaking.  When watching a movie, it is like you have the chance to temporarily glimpse into the mind and soul of the filmmaker.  This is also the case with other forms of art.  Like film, painting and music are also a way of seeing the imagination of a human being come to life.  I look at filmmaking as an art form, not a business.  I'm not worried about how much money I'm going to make, I simply want to entertain and stimulate the minds of the people who see my films.  Hopefully, I can one day do this.

Deconstructing Characters

For the hero, I chose a complimentary color scheme.  The colors are blue and orange.  The mix of a bright color with a darker color helps to show the path that the character is on.  He has a dark past, but is striving to do good things on a path of enlightenment.  After a spiritual awakening, the character is freed from a long lasting drug addiction.  He realizes he is destined to do something very important, and the path of light begins.  The saturation is bright for orange, but slightly darker for blue.

Again, the lighting used here is representative of the character's past and future motivations.  The shadow in the background creates depth, and shows that his past self is separate from who he is now.  His past was dark, resorting to crime to help him pay for his addiction.  After his awakening, he become a brand new being on a path of righteousness.  The depth that is created by this lighting shows he has a very dynamic character structure.

  

The hero is best represented by the shape of a circle.  After a spiritual awakening, the character has become one with the earth, and the universe.  Oneness in best showcased as a perfect circle.  This symbolizes unity, and inner peace.  The character's shape before would probably be something like a zig-zagged line, as it was a very troubling time for the hero.  Now that he is on a path of light, his shape is more like that of the Earth.

                                                                          Hero: 'Syd'

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For the villain, I also chose a complimentary color scheme.  The colors I chose are purple and green, and the picture above represents the sort of cosmic vibrance of these two complimentary colors.  Zaar is the leader of an alien race, and you can tell from the colors that he is a being from outer space.  His costume is a futuristic space suit.  Zaar is an evil being, bent on enslaving the human population of planet earth.  The colors are vibrant, but dark and evil at the same time.

The lighting in the picture represents the villain's motivations.  Zaar wants to dominate and control every species he finds, so he's not the kind of bad guy to stay hidden in the shadows.  In the picture, the guy is surrounded by darkness.  This is the same case with Zaar.  He wants to be seen and feared, but is surrounded by all of the evil things he does and intends to do.  Unlike Syd, who had a dark past but is now on a path of light, Zaar has been evil his whole life and intends to keep it that way.

This picture represents the path that Zaar is taking.  He is doing evil deeds which are evident by the many crooked turns present in the above picture.  Zaar has been doing these things his entire life, following a journey of death, destruction, despair.  He's a typical villain, who has been brought up by evil, and surrounded by that evil throughout.

                                                              Villain: 'Zaar