Assignment 8a: Supa-powers!

 Click here to listen to the "Superpowers" episode of This American Life.

Click here to listen to me as I discuss the show Heroes.








Left: Peter Petrelli!

Superhero vs. Villain

This is the villain I created- Eros, the two-year-old super genius!

This is the hero created by my partner, John Mikesell. Captain Stickman- with a soul patch of justice!

Assignment 7: (Video) Jokin' Around

Jokes are fun. But as always, delivery is key (as explicitly mentioned in Scott Meyer's cartoon). So, our small group tried the best we could to present jokes in an original, yet still humorous light. Our videos used this joke as the central plot:

A few days after Christmas, a mother was working in the kitchen listening to her young son playing with his new electric train in the living room. She heard the train stop and her son said, "All of you sons of bitches who want off, get the hell off now, cause this is the last stop! And all of you sons of bitches who are getting on, get your asses in the train, cause we're going down the tracks."

The mother went nuts and told her son, "We don't use that kind of language in this house. Now I want you to go to your room and you are to stay there for TWO HOURS. When you come out, you may play with your train, but I want you to use nice language."

Two hours later, the son comes out of the bedroom and resumes playing with his train. Soon the train stopped and the mother heard her son say, "All passengers who are disembarking from the train, please remember to take all of your belongings with you. We thank you for riding with us today and hope your trip was a pleasant one. We hope you will ride with us again soon." She hears the little boy continue, "For those of you just boarding, we ask you to stow all of your hand luggage under your seat. Remember, there is no smoking on the train. We hope you will have a pleasant and relaxing journey with us today."

As the mother began to smile, the child added, "For those of you who are pissed off about the TWO HOUR delay, please see the bitch in the kitchen."

Mommy Knows Best 

Our first video approach used my script, “Mommy Knows Best.” The fact that I’ve been craving a decent horror movie definitely affected my writing. The script took the conventional joke and put it in the horror genre. I wrote the piece keeping movement and space in the forefront of my mind. The intention was to always show the child playing with his toy with the mother connected in deep space. We purposely hid the mother’s face to dehumanize her and prevent the audience from relating to her. During the opening shots and again at the close of the short, the mother is shown in the background. And so while the audience focuses on the child playing in the foreground, tension is enforced by the mother’s slow, deliberate movements in the background. The humor displayed was very subtle, and it forced the audience to actively interpret the (rather morbid) approach on the joke.

Bitch in the Kitchen

Our second video approach took the conventional humor approach, but added a slapstick twist. The script, "Bitch in the Kitchen" written by Ryan Newell, followed a middle-aged man living at home with his elderly mother. We attempted to focus on rhythm and line. Throughout the short, the man is playing with a train set that continues in a lemniscates (infinity symbol)- like a circle, it never ends. Similarly, the mother is stirring the bowl in a circular motion. This rhythmic nod toward the circle underlines the fact that their lifestyle is a constant cycle that isn’t likely to change soon. The man has no intention of moving out and the mother has no intention on treating him like an actual man. We utilized line in the scene where the man is in “time-out” and sent to the basement. With the brick lines of the wall combining with that of the handrail on the staircase, it blends with the man’s striped shirt. And so while the man, the only moving object in the shot, creates affinity with the lines of the shot, he is still the focal point.

Assignment 6a: How to be Creative

Watch my video clip below as I ramble on about Hugh Macleod's piece "How to be Creative":

Assignment 6b: Video Game Critique

For this video game critique, I decided to visit the land of my childhood, aka- the days of Nintendo 64. I thought the N64 was the most amazing invention ever (the '90s- what a great time). One of my favorite games to play was called "Kirby and the Crystal Shards." Click here to listen to my analysis of this (awesome) video game.

Kirby: In the Beginning

Kirby: Closer to the End.

Assignment 5b: Favorite Movie Scene Critique

I critiqued the following scene from the movie "The Graduate" aka, my favorite movie of all time (Benjamin Braddock is my ideal man- Mrs. Robinson affair and all).

Click here to listen to me analyze this scene.

Assignment 5a: Re-imagining Visual Framing

Roy Lichtenstein’s “Drowning Girl” is a beautiful piece. Slightly sarcastic, the picture shows a drowning girl while the thought bubble reads: I don’t care! I’d rather sink -- than call Brad for help! 

I enjoy this pop art piece because of its serious, sad subject matter mixed with the ironic caption. The lines of the water create a lot of movement within the piece. It demands attention from the eyes to follow the lines and land on the face of the drowning woman. The imposing lines create tension in the viewer, who cannot find release until his or her eyes focus on the clear areas of the girl’s face.

The visual intensity of the piece also creates drama. Blues and blacks are the dominating colors, and create affinity within the frame. The extreme contract of the light blue and the black streaks in the water make those specific parts of the composition most pleasing to look at because they are pleasing on the eye. However, all the lines point lead to the girl’s head. The viewer focuses in on the face of the girl because the dark blue and black in her hair are too close in hue and difficult to concentrate on. The girl’s hair also creates a circular shape, and further brings our eye in to focus on the tears leaking from the girl’s eyes.  

I reframed the picture to focus more on the girl’s pain and exclude the ironic thought bubble. However, with the lack of motion in the surrounding water, much of Lichtenstein’s effect is lost. No surprise here that in this artistic race of Lichtenstein vs. me, Lichtenstein wins hands down.

Assignment 4b: Song Critiques

Below are the transcribed audio reflections for each person I was to critique. Let's listen to some music!

Michael Stevens' Song:

This assignment was very difficult for me. In case anyone was wondering, I’ve officially crossed off musician/audio producer/ANYTHING remotely related to creating music off my back-up career list. That being declared, I have to give MAJOR kudos to Michael’s song. I remember listening to it in lab and being very impressed. Now, listening to it again to write about it, I’m still impressed. The speed of the song was relaxing. And the melody that was created seemed full— it had a clear beginning, middle, and end. Great job, Michael Music-Makin’ Stevens.

Tanner Simmons' Song:

From what I understood, Tanner used all original sound effects and synth recordings. Again- I am impressed. Wow. Tanner’s song was very smooth and had interesting rhythm patterns. The overall pitch of his song never strayed too low or high, and so created a soothing melody. Great job at creating by DJ Tanner- his song could run circles around mine any day.

Kramer Lewis' Song:

I really liked Kramer's song. The mandolin-types of instrument that is constant throughout the song carried it very well. The rhythm and melody all layered together very well to create a beat that I can't help but bob my head along to (still doing it now- the song is infectious). Again, I am amazed at what can be created with the simplicity of GarageBand. Awesome song.

Click here to listen to the actual audio critique of all these awesome songs.

Assignment 4a: Seth Godin's "Brainwashed"

Click here to read Seth Godin's "Brainwashed."

"Acknowledge the Lizard"

Godin explains that the primal, “lizard” part of the brain is what is responsible for worrying about safety, deals with anger, and regulates our creativity. He goes on to say that the only barrier we face when trying to find our creativity is offending the lizard. “Being laughed at is the lizard’s worst nightmare,” and results in cutting off all creative juices. Godin writes that it is important to not only acknowledge, but also respect the lizard--  “we acknowledge the lizard so we can ignore it.”

"Be Generous"

Godin writes about the importance of generosity. In a world where free media, whether legal or not, can be at the hands of any viewer, it is critical to make sure your media is out there competing with the rest in the right way. He mentions the creator of CDBaby.com, Derek Sivers. Sivers built an extremely successful website based on his initial generosity and care he showed the artists his website supports.

Reaction:
Seth Godin makes excellent points. I agree with much of what he writes. However, my biggest problem with his seven pillars of learning is the co-dependence of them all. It is important that a philosophy work in harmony with all of its principles. Yet, Godin’s specific theory seems to be an “all-or-nothing” attempt. It seems that you can only gain success with this method by managing all parts equally. Fail at one and you cannot help but fail at the rest; and I am not a fan of such uncompromising ideology.

Assignment 3b: Soundscape Critique

Below are the transcribed audio reflections of those I was meant to critique. 

Connor Gartland’s Soundscape:

I really liked this soundscape. I couldn’t quite figure out what emotion Connor was trying to convey, but I think the image he used correlating to the beach and seagull sounds worked well together in creating a very soothing vibe initially. When the soundscape continues, in my mind a thunderstorm rolled in and caused the party to pack up in their cars and go home. Using the Gestalt principle, Connor layered sounds of kids laughing and talking to seem like a huge party in the beginning, but I could pick out individual voices when I tried hard enough. 

Jenny Armstrong's Soundscape:

I remember listening to Jenny’s soundscape in class, and not being quite sure what it was supposed to represent- flying, I think? In the end, I think she conveyed that very well. The ambient, white noise that was constantly on in the background created that hazy effect you get when you’ve been flying for hours on end. She used a picture of balloons floating for a sense of referential achievement with the sound. Touché.


Click here to listen to the actual audio reflection.