Blog#4: Sound Design

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYUjNQrokeg  

1)      Listening Modes- In the teaser from Ratatouille the sounds of the restaurant were very casual and natural sounding. You can hear the accordion being place is sort of a mellow style to match the sophisticated ambiance of the restaurant.  The screaming in the restaurant when Ratatouille is discovered is very authentic. We also hear the real sounds of dishes and utensils being thrown at Ratatouille as he desperately tries to escape the deadly chefs. The sounds become more representational as Ratatouille speaks like a human and exhibits an anthropomorphic sound. These remains consistent throughout the script as we realize that Ratatouille's father and brother bother speak like humans.   

2)      Space- The representation of Space is used as Ratatouille scurries around on the floor and through the restaurant. The make good use of distance because as Ratatouille gets closer to the screen you here more of his footsteps versus far away. The clamor of the kitchen supplies also adds to the space because the objects that hit closer to ratatouille and are seen make a more distinct and individual sound while many of the sound sort of mess together in the background because they are not seen and aren’t close to our protagonist. There is also a good depiction of space in the sewer when Ratatouille talks to his father and his off scene down a tunnel. The use of echo to sound like he’s in a tunnel is very evident and creates a much larger space than Ratatouille occupies.  This show’s directionality because it pinpoint where he’s at off screen.

Blog #3: Brainwashed

http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/brainwash.pdf  

1)      Acknowledging the lizard is a concept based off the lizard part of the brain that doesn’t like to be laughed at. In fact, the brain tends to combat this humility with anger and shutdown because of the voice of conformity known as “the resistance.” The resistance is fearful and therefore is willing to rollover at the slightest hint of adversity. This voice of skepticism can only be overcome by acknowledging the lizard brain and “the resistance” and choosing to stand up and do the work, creating, that we want to do. 

2)      Being generous in its simplicity is pure collaboration. This concept goes beyond the selfish economic mentality of exchange and changes it into a communal concept of mutual support or a circle of gifts just to take care of one another.  Learning combines the other six principles and states that through our experiences we are always growing and improving and never limited to a set skill. Learning tell us to seek knowledge, experiment, and rise above our failures to reinvent ourselves and truly become creative.  

3)      Read an article and summarize it and post it on your blog. This seems to be the basis of our exercises in media 203. We combine these mediocre assignments with noteworthy experimental industry work to form a curriculum for media and the creative process. These exercises are neither stimulating nor creative which is sort of the point of a blog which is to showcase your own ideas in a personal and creative way. This is not what the class is doing with theses blog assignments. Instead it has become another form of conformity and a convenient waste of student’s time. Based on this article and the previous blog exercise in the media class the blog assignments are worthless because they are uncreative and impersonal and ask students to conform rather than expand their individual horizons.   

The blog assignments are very uncreative and lackluster. The most creative assignment to date has had to be the deconstruction assignment which still asked for criteria that limited student’s creativity by making them describe their characters by color, light, and shape which is important but warrants no real acknowledgment.  Blog assignment two and this assignment both incorporate a summary and an essay. This infringes on students’ abilities yet again because there is no creation involved just simple explanation for a reading that contains subject matter significant to the class. It’s no doubt necessary by should not be posted in a blog because who would want to read it besides professors why not just turn in the assignment in a word document that I’m typing in right now and call it a blog because I don’t plan on showing this to anyone else by my professor. Not to mention the works being sited are original and have little or no relevance to that’s student’s personality or individualism. Media and the creative process should be about exploration of creativity and personality and allow the individual to build a set of skills crucial to being successful in the media industry not writing essays in blogs. This is pure conformity in itself and adding insult to injury with word limits pushing student’s unnecessarily. These blog assignments are in essence taking the name of every student and making it seem like we like to write about literature we otherwise wouldn’t have known about and not only summarize it for our viewers but fake an opinion about it to seem intelligent- it pathetic.  Some suggestions would be to suggest creative activities to students from the subject matter mentioned in that week’s class and allow them to explore it in whatever fashion they want.  Posting anything at all creative and unique should warrant full points and sharing with other students should be encouraged to provide a supportive community environment.

Blog #2: Find Your Howl

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

In the Mumon story by Robert Frost he tells the story of one red wolf named Mumon. Mumon and his peers were raised and captivity then released, but he and the others somehow forgot how to howl. Mumon then embarked on a solo journey to find his howl and take his place as the leader of the wolf pack. Only after he had reached his lowest point when he was shot and wounded by a hunter was he able to find his howl and howl. Allowing his peers to hear his howl and howl in response. Robert Frost is metaphorically saying that to find your howl or the aspect of yourself that sets you apart from other people you must endure hardships and hit rock bottom. He explains that this is very difficult to do and that it is the only way to get what you want which is true freedom. He exclaims that it’s not enough to be brave and take risks and reach your goals but that you have to actually go through the tough situations in life to truly be individual have a unique voice.  

One of my favorite stories is the life of Naruto Uzumaki, by creator Masashi Kishimoto, which is presented as a Japanese manga and anime television show. The story of Naruto Uzumaki is about a ninja who grew up ostracized for being different and throughout his journey to become a ninja met with an abundance of difficulties way to horrible for an adolescent to endure. Naruto not only approached life differently but had his own unconventional way of becoming a ninja. This story speaks to me not only literally but figuratively as well. I didn’t have the best childhood and I was met with a lot of adversity at home, school, and anywhere I went. It never seemed enough that I deserved to be happy because I was alive but that I always had to prove myself to the people who seemed to hate me unreasonably. I was different and whether it was my twin sister or the bully on the playground they had to let me know that they neither accepted nor would ignore that difference. This cruelty allowed me to express myself creatively because it became my coping mechanism and imaginary world that no one could criticize except for me. At least until my creativity became known by others the judged by recent standards and I was once again challenged to recollect myself from the scores of quote-on-quote creative beings who’s daily task was to bring me down to their level. Naruto has a good saying rather a way of life or ninja way as he calls it and it is, “Never give up, no matter what,”(Kishimoto), meaning that you never give on a loved one, a friend, or yourself. If you make a promise you keep it, if you want something fight for it, and if you’re met with opposition never let it win. This has rained true in my life as a creative person and has helped me to establish my creative process. My creative process is just that to , “Never give up,”(Kishimoto), even when times are tough and I’m on the verge on breaking down and crying keep resisting because that is the only way to get past it and make your situation better.

 

Hero:  

1)      Color- The colors of my hero is a blue with grey and black undertones for saturation. The blue represents neutrality and goodness because it is diverse in its representation by taking opposing forms such as in gender clothing, politics, and sports teams and it’s not as conceited like the brighter colors of reds and yellows and aren’t as ambiguous and deceiving as greens and purples. Blue also represents life such as in different depictions of water and the freedom of the blue skies. The grey represents wisdom and maturity, while the black represents tragedy. The difference in saturation of the blue versus the grey and black brings out the blue as being the core of the hero.

2)      Light- The lighting around my character is very luminescent like that of a bright and overpowering laser. The bright blue light illuminates everything around it shrouding every in light leaving nothing behind. The light represents revelation and future because it takes the aspect of light and contorts everything around it to the shape that is in essence better than the original and the laser like aspect show that my character is innovative and new. The overpowering aspect of the light means strength and persistence never faltering under any adversity. But this unfamiliar brand of light can also mean alienation and misunderstanding.

3)      Shape- My characters shape is very rectangular represents a strong point of view and a stance again whatever oppresses it. The rectangle could mean mature because the length shows growth to where people will look up and honor him. His shape is also robotic in a sense that he is manmade and completely logical. Feeling never overwhelming his since of purpose, but he can fail to see the underlying sub textual evidence in a given situation. His robotic shape can also cause isolation because it’s unique and unfamiliar to the people around it, but can also mean strength because of its stature and engineering.  

4)      Name- Gravitus   

Villain:

1)      Color- The colors of my villain are orange like that of fire and destruction and black like darkness and evil. The orange compliments the blue of my protagonist while the black undertones are similar amongst both of them. The orange also means power and conceit because of some of the objects that it represents like the sun, stars, and lava that not only have power but are very dominant in their representation compared to other colors. The black also represents death and despair in that it is shown heavily on my character because he has experienced these occurrences on a large scale mostly due to himself.  

2)      Light- The light around my character is very distorted and consumed. The light in the picture is portrayed as being suck up by a black whole creating a mix of darkness and light where the light is eventually swallowed whole by the black core. This paints a rather accurate picture of my villain whose despair has cast him into a never ending vortex consuming all the goodness within him and leaving are dark and eerie core of hate. Since the light within him becomes consumed by darkness and evil he attempts to try and do the same with the mass of people around the universe. 

3)      Shape- The shape of my character is very twisted and contorted like his personality and power. His twisted shape represents his morality which is unpredictable, for instance, if threatened or disappointed he would easily dispose of his own men because he will not tolerate any disorder within his ranks. The twisted shape is also irregular and disliked to the majority of beings yet strangely appealing to the other foul creatures of the universe. Like his shape he attempts to try to bend and contort the universe to his will and make it a utopia for himself and his men at the expense of everyone else.   

4)      Name- Super Nova