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.