Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Blog 10: Written response to reading: FREAK FACTOR


Hey check this out http://changethis.com/


This article is writing by David Rendall and is all about discovering our uniqueness by flaunting our weakness. In his writings he tells you nine suggestions, which are:

1. What’s your problem?
2. What’s my problem?
3. Flawless: there’s nothing wrong with you
4. Forget It: don’t try to fix your weaknesses
5. Foundation: build on your strengths
6. Focus: You can’t do both
7. Fit: find the right spot
8. Freak: the Power of uniqueness
9. Freak factory: putting your quirks to work

The paper is just his nine suggestions that tell you why to do his suggestions so you can help get ahead in your job. I feel that his suggestions are valid because Rendall does a good job at explaining why he picked those nine suggestions.


Foundation: build on your strengths
            I feel that this suggestion by Rendall is very valid because he talks about how the things that we are strong at are things that we love and enjoy going. I would use this
In my creative process in lots of ways because I would find out what I enjoy doing and build all my strengths on it to be really good at it.


Forget It: don’t try to fix your weaknesses
            I feel that this suggestion is a little valid but at the same time not valid. I do agree with Rendall’s reasons for not trying to fix your weaknesses but at the same time I feel you need to try to address them in some way. I would use this in my creative process by not worrying about the things I am really bad at if it doesn’t really have a big deal with my job. If it did deal with my job though for a big part I would try to fix it.


Freak: the Power of uniqueness
            I really like this suggestion because I feel it might be the most valid out of all of them. I feel that just because some people view unique things as bad I feel that being unique might be the best because you stand out and can have a bigger impact. I would use this in my creative process by seeing being unique as a good thing.


  I find that my strengths are my dedication and determination in getting stuff done. I feel my weakness is my lack in skills in a lot of areas that we have been working on like character development.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Blog 9A: Reflections on the Gaming presentation


I thought that although the ideas of are game design was a little ludicrous and funny the presentation itself went over all pretty good. To give you a background on the video game we created a game with a Scottish Man named Finnigan who tries to complete tasks but his evil Ex-Girlfriend Sinastra tries what ever she can to stop him. After thinking about how our presentation I came up with one weak point in our presentation and one strong point.

THE WEAK POINT
            The one weak point in our presentation that I thought we didn’t talk about very well was the mechanics. All we really talked about with mechanics was what buttons did what and that was it. I felt that we could of talked of more about the characters actual movement in our game. I also thought we could of down a lot better at explaining that each button did instead of just saying the controls.

THE STRONG POINT
            I felt that we covered goals in the game very well. I felt that we did a good job at laying out what the goals were for each level. I also thought that the goals were very clear cut and straightforward. If I just bought the game and was looking at what I needed to beat the game I would feel like I knew everything I would need to know to when the game.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST TO EXPLAIN?
            I felt that the rules were the hardest thing to explain. The reasons why I felt like that was because without really seeing a finished game in front of you explaining rules can be hard be just being told instead of seeing as well as being told. When reading the rules of the game type I feel if you have visuals showing you the rules of the game as well as being told them it helps you understand how the game will run and be played.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Blog 8B: Written Reflection on the Hero/Villain assignment


 Hero and Villain drawings and animation below in another post or at:


Angela Salerno

            Angela’s animations used COLOR very well between the two different animations of the Hero and the Villain. The hero has a HUE of bright colors in Pink and Light Blue. The villain on the other hand uses a Hue of Dark colors like Black and Red. The SATURATION in colors also play a key role in making the hero and villain portray as the do. The saturation for the hero’s colors ads lots of white to the base colors, which gives the hero’s colors a lighter look. The saturation for the villain’s colors has very little saturation in the actual colors making them very dark. Both animations also had ore than just the hero and villain moving around in it. The hero’s animation had him fighting what seems so be some type of evil monster. The Villain’s animation had him destroying the world with a power ball that comes out of his hands. Angela’s animations had a CONTRAST AND AFFINITY between them. The biggest affinity between the two animations is the fact that both animations had the hero and villain as stick figures. A big contrast between the two animations were what the characters where wearing. The hero had a tutu to represent him when the villain had a cape to represent who he was. The hero’s animation also used TENSION AND RELEASE in it. The animation started of with the character moving around then it went to the hero fighting building up the tension then went back to the familiar after the hero defeated a monster.


Brandon Reid

            Brandon’s character’s drawling of his hero and villain use the concept of LIGHTING very will in it. The hero and villain look completely opposite from one another making it hard to relate the hero and villain to on another. The SHADOWS on the villain’s body from light to dark adds lots to the characters depth especially on the villain’s shirt. The hero doesn’t really use shadows on his body really but the background of the hero’s animation has lots of shadows creating depth in the background. The lighting plays a huge role on affecting the MOOD of the animation and drawings.  The lighting in the hero’s drawing makes you feel like the hero is actually is the villain because of the way it is drawn and lit. The villain’s drawing makes you feel the opposite because he is drawn on a background that is lit white making him feel like the hero. Brandon’s characters give off an ACTIVE AND DIDACTIC theme. The way that the characters are drawn can give the audience the option to pick which one they think would be the hero or villain. The way the drawings are didactic is that the Bandon tells you which character is the hero and villain. Brandon’s drawing also gives off a real strong TEXT AND SUBTEXT. The way his drawings give off text is that you can tell what and who the hero and villain are at face value. The subtext in the in the drawings is that you can tell what some of the back-story is on the characters just by looking at the drawing.
 




Mary Swick

            Mary’s Characters do an amazing job at using COLOR to really express her characters expressions and actions. Her hero has a HUE that is very light in nature with the Light Green, Orange, white, and Light Brown. Her color selection for her hero named Finnagin portrays the perfect Scotts Man. Her villain named Sinastra has a hue that is perfect for a villain that is an evil Scotts Lady with colors like Dark Blue, Dark Green, Purple, and Black. The SATURATION in the colors that Mary picked for the hero Finnagin and the villain Sinastra vary as well. Finnagin the hero has colors with a high saturation because his colors are lighter. The villain, Sinastra, has low saturation because the colors used in her drawings are very dark and evil like. Her animation of Finnagin and Sinastra are two stick figures one green and the other purple doing a Scottish dance. Mary’s character drawings on Finnagin and Sinastra have a lot of CONTRAST AND AFFINITY. The two characters were drawn in such a way that you can tell that they go hand in hand with one another. The affinity between the two drawings is the characters structure and color, which go hand in hand with one another. The only big contrast between the two drawings is that Finnagin is a guy and Sinastra is a girl. Mary’s drawings use TENSION AND RELEASE as well. The Tension Is Sinastra her self when looking at her just because of the way she is drawn it gives off a tensed feeling.

Blog 8A: Audio response to This American Life.

Hey check this out www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Blog 7: Written Reflection on the Video Joke Assignment

            
The "Silent Movie" can be found at http://angsalerno.blogspot.com/2011/05/silent-movie.html 

              The two videos that I am comparing and contrasting would be our video that is based on joke number FIVE and the “Silent Movie” which is based on joke number FOUR. One of the big differences in our two videos is that our video is based for the most part inside while the “Silent Movie” had both inside and outside shots. The first thing that is prevalent in the two videos are LINES. Both had ACTUAL and VIRTUAL lines. One example of actual lines in our video would have to be in the office scene. The desk had lots of lines such as the printer, papers, pens, and staplers all pointing at Kam behind the desk. The “Silent Movie” had actual lines as well such as the road. When the car is driving on the road the way it is shot makes it so you are looking down the road at the car having the road as an actual line. Our video also had virtual lines in it as well. The biggest example of this would have to be at the end of the movie when the wife looks off screen to people you didn’t know were there. The “Silent Movie” didn’t really have any import parts that had virtual lines as an important part of the shot even though they did use virtual line in the movie such as when the guy and girl are looking down the hill at a car you can’t see.



            SPACE is used very different between the two movies. Our movie used lots of FLAT SPACE in the whole movie like in the office while the “Silent Movie” used lots of DEEP SPACE with outside shots. Both movies used TENSION AND RELEASE throughout the whole movie by building the audience up until the punch line, which is when they were released. Both Videos also had a TEXT and SUBTEXT. The interesting part about this is that the “Silent Movie” didn’t have and dialogue just captions to let you know what was going on. The silent movie had a text of telling you about falling for women’s tricks while the subtext would have to be life is never as good as it seems. The text in our movie would have to be don’t talk bad about people because you never know what they could hear. The subtext for our video would have to be expecting the unexpected.

Extra Credit

I really enjoyed this exhibit on how to make a video game. They gave nice and good details on the creation process. I liked that we were able to demo a game that they made.

Monday, May 9, 2011

5A. Reimagining Visual Framing (a written explanation)

The Original

The Edited Version




            The image I picked was one by Sally Mann called Scarred Tree. The original Image shows lots of SPACE. The space in the original photo is DEEP while in the edited photo the space is very FLAT and up close space. The SHOT TYPES between the two versions are very different. The original photo is a WS (wide shot). The wide shot helps show the DEEP SPACE and gives the feeling of being alone and scarred which is what Sally Mann is going for. The edited photo shows a CU (close up), which takes away the feeling of deep space that the original photo brought. The close up on the edited photo brings across the feeling of hurt or damaged which is not the emotion Sally Mann wants.
The editing of the shot types completely changes the emotion the photo gives off.
           
The RULE OF THIRDS are very similar in the two versions of the photo. In the original version of the photo Sally Mann creates the image so the tree hits center of the photo. Since Sally Mann did this, your eye goes straight to the main item in the photo. In the edited photo of just the tree trunk the rule of thirds makes your eye go straight to the dark horizontal gash in the tree bark, which becomes the main focal point.

The THEME is very ACTIVE and DIDACTIC between the two versions of the Sally Mann photo. The original photo does a very good job at showing a didactic theme of scarred and lonely. The edited photo of the close up gives off more of an active theme by not giving real clear-cut emotion and leaving it up for the person to decide.

The two versions of Sally Mann’s photo have lots of CONTRAST and AFFINTY. Both versions have an affinity by having vertical lines on the tree trunk with just one horizontal line on it. The contrast between the two versions is that the edited photo has all vertical lines with one horizontal line while the original has multiple vertical and horizontal lines.

5B. Audio commentary critiquing your favorite scene

Hey Blogger is not liking my video so here is a link to it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzuf6DIonjM

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Blog 4A: The Written response to Brainwashed


Hey first off read this:http://changethis.com/

            Seth’s Godin’s article Brainwashed is an article about reinvention of your-self from the social norm. Godin talks about how when we are growing up we are brainwashed to follow rules and to do what society expects from us. He then goes on to talk about how we are taught these habits from grade school. Godin then talks about how we are now living in a new industrial revolution age and this is the best chance to break away from the average social norm and to reinvent our self.  He talks about how we have leverages to makes a difference and then lists the seven he had came up with to help the search for reinvention of ones self. Godin’s seven leverages are as followed:
  1. Connect
  2. Be Generous
  3. Make Art
  4. Acknowledge the Lizard
  5. Ship
  6. Fail
  7. Learn

Acknowledge the Lizard
            One of Godin’s leverages is called Acknowledge the Lizard. The Lizard refers to the feeling of being afraid of breaking the average social norm because you are scared of what people will think about you. Steven Pressfield calls this feeling the resistance and it shuts down our ability to make art. The resistance is one of the reasons why people are being brainwashed. This is because people don’t want to have the feeling of the resistance and it why people do the things that they are told because they are scared of getting in trouble. When people acknowledge this feeling of ‘The Lizard” they can stand up to it and start to make art again

Learn
            This is Godin’s last but most important leverage. He talks about how the work world has changed and that most people will not do the same job for the rest of their life. The best way to be successful is to learn from your experiences and failures and never stop learning because it is the key to reinvention.



The two layers of Godin’s article that I picked out connect to the Blog I am making in a lot of ways. It connects to my blog is the fact that it pushes me out of my comfort zone by making me share my art with other people. It also connects to my blog because I am always learning and trying out new things on my blog. Practicing these “Leverages” with make you a better person, student, and artist because it will help you by showing you your true art that is not scared of the resistance feeling. It will also give me the knowledge of learning how to make things better.

Monday, April 25, 2011

4B. Audio Reflection on the Music / Song Assignment







My Critiques are on the video. The third person never posted their song to Blogger so I did not get to Critique it.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Blog 3A: Demo and Written exploration of Cover Songs


Feeling Good


THE ORIGINAL: By Nina Simone

THE COVER: By Muse       
            





                Nina Simone was the first to make the song Feeling Good a big hit. Many covers have been created but the most famous cover of the song Feeling Good would have to be by Muse. Some people rank Muse’s cover of Feeling Good in the top 10 of the best covers of all time. New Musical Express has Muse’s cover as the number 1 cover of all time beating out covers by The Beatles, Johnny Cash, and Jimi Hendrix.

 What makes or breaks a cover depends on how the artist decides to portray the song that is being covered. Some artist completely change the song by giving it a different feel when others just redo the original to pay tribute to the song it self. The song Feeling Good was written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse but made famous by Nina Simone. Muse’s cover of Nina Simone version of Feeling Good has lots of similarities and differences between the two.

Having the same lyrics from the original song to the cover song is vital for its success of the cover in my opinion. In Muse’s cover of Feeling Good they take about 99% of the exact same lyrics from the Nina Simone version and put them into their own version the song. Muse even has the nonsense sounds at the end of their version that Nina Simone has in her version. The only differences in the song lyrics between the two versions are very small changes in some verses of a few words.

            The main melodies between the two versions are pretty much similar but the big difference is the musical quality between the two versions. In Nina Simone version she starts out the song with just vocals. In Muse’s version they start the song out with an altered keyboard sound then go into vocals with the same keyboard sound backing it up. Both versions have the full band kick in and start playing when the words feeling good are first heard. For the most part the rhythm, pitch, speed, timbre, and intensity are pretty much the same in Nina Simone and Muse’s version. One thing that Muse does in its version that Nina Simone does not is that in one of the verses in Muse’s version the singer sings into a megaphone changing the intensity, pitch, and timbre of the sound for a little bit.  The two big things that are different between the two versions would be the organization and instrumentation. In Nina Simone’s version the instrumentation was made up of mainly Big Band instruments while the instrumentation in Muse’s version was made up of keyboard, guitar, bass, and drums. The organization or song structure has similarities but also differences. The key difference would be that in Muse’s version they added a solo jam section, which is not heard in the Nina Simone version.

            When faced with the decision of having to pick which version I like better 90% of the time I would go with the original but in this case I would have to go with the cover. The reason I would pick the cover version would be because I feel that Muse’s version brings a whole new vision to the original song making it grow as a song. Another version of the song Feeling Good that I am a big fan of would have to be the version by Michael Bublé.       


Just for fun Here is the Michael Bublé version.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Blog 3B / PROJECT ONE -- “SOUNDSCAPES”



 First Comment - Samantha Williams
http://mdia203williams.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-playlist1.html?showComment=1303787264481#c4245291153685538946

Second Comment - Andrew Cooke
http://mdia203cooke.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-is-soundscape-that-angela-salerno.html?showComment=1303791318581#c4013520486245129658

Third Comment - Adam Martinelli
http://mdia203martinelli.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape.html?showComment=1303793049360#c6146918523006617776 







Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Blog 2

 
Hey first off read this on  http://changethis.com search for "Finding Your Howl." I did this whole blog in the form of an audio blog.   P.S. (I don't know why I sound so funny I think it is the mic I was using.) P.P.S. (Ignore the stupid advertisement)

 * Here is the video to "The Awakening" which is the song I talk about in my audio blog.



Thursday, April 7, 2011

Blog 1B: Written Response to the reading- 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas

 Hey Read this FIRST!!! http://changethis.com/

It is sometimes said that to get the next big idea it is best to come up with it yourself. In Mitch Ditkoff’s 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas he talks about how people want innovation because they feel it gives them a competitive edge. He then goes on to talk about how innovation is inspired by people and that people get their inspiration from ideas that meet a certain need. Ditkoff then talks about how ideas come from two schools of thought. The first would be that ideas come from a hard process of figuring and calculating that will create the best idea. The second would be that ideas already exist in people and they are not created and to get them you need to be tuned in with yourself. He then goes on to say that most innovators think in both schools of thought. Ditkoff then gives you 14 ways to get the next big idea.

Ditkoff’s 14 ways to get a Breakthrough idea
1. Follow Your Fascination
2. Immerse
3. Tolerate Ambiguity
4. Make New Connections
5. Fantasize
6. Define the Right Challenge
7. Listen to Your Subconscious
8. Take a Break
9. Notice and Challenge Existing Patterns and Trends
10. Hang Out With Diverse Groups of People
11. Brainstorm
12. Look For Happy Accidents
13. Use Creative Thinking Techniques
14. Suspend Logic

            After reading Ditkoff’s 14 tips on how get a breakthrough idea a few of his tips stood out to me. The first tip that stood out to me would be tip number Three. Tip number three says to Tolerate Ambiguity. At first glance some people might not know what this means. It means that you should be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I feel that this is a very very very good tip because it almost impossible to have an idea or vision that succeeds on the first take at it. This tip tells you to keep trying and to not give up. I would implement this tip by Ditkoff into my life and own creative process by using as a way to not feel discouraged if I ever fail.

           
 The second tip that Ditkoff gives and that stood out to me would be tip SIX. Tip six said to Define the Right Challenge. This tip is pretty much saying that to have a breakthrough idea you need to have a breakthrough question that tells you what it is your idea will be trying to answer. The reason why I liked this tip so much is because I always feel that the ideas and inventions people come up with don’t really have a purpose. The matter of the fact is that people are trying to come up with great ideas but the people who are trying to create theses ideas don’t really have a purpose for the idea other then they want to get it out into the world as fast as they can.  I feel the same way Ditkoff feels with this tip. The best way to have a good and solid idea is to try to come up with an idea that solves a problem in the world that this idea will help benefit. The way I would use this tip is pretty self-explanatory, if I have a creative idea I would make sure that the idea I am trying to come up with will have a purpose and could help solve things.

The third and final tip from Ditkoff’s original fourteen that stood out to me would have to be suggestion number Twelve. Tip twelve said to Look for Happy Accidents. When I first read this I was confused because it said happy accidents witch are two things that kind of contradict themselves. A “Happy Accident” is something you discover that is a breakthrough that happened on accident. Ditkoff gives an example of  “Happy Accidents” such as when Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin on accident. I am very much in support of this tip because most people don’t think twice about accidents. I feel that almost 25% of the best and greatest discoveries, inventions, and ideas happen on accident. This tip by Ditkoff is a very very very good suggestion in my eyes. The main way I would use this tip suggestion would be to just use it in life on an everyday basis. The way I would use it by being creative would be to look at the small mistakes and see if I have any “Happy Accidents” that could come about.

            At the end of every tip Ditkoff gives you suggestions on how to use this tip to help with your breakthrough idea making. For instance, tip Four said to make new connections. First he said to make three parallel lists of ten words. One column will be for nouns; the second for verbs, and the last one will be for adjectives. After you do this look at the list to see what interesting connections you can come up with.

Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Trombone
Run
Hard
TV
Swim
Soft
Computer
Eat
Red
Sword
Drink
Shinny
Movie
Dream
Loud
Basketball
Play
Annoying
Door
Jump
Gold
Cup
Read
Purple
Jacket
Swing
Hairy
Band
Tap
Bare

Some Connections I came up with.
  1. The basketball was tapping the floor and it was very annoying.
  2. When I play the trombone the shinny gold instrument is very loud.
  3. The band ran so much it made the ground bare.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Blog 1A: Explain what kind of creative person you are and who inspires you.


Three people stand on top of a mountain looking down into a valley. The first man said, “I bet this valley was created from a glacier.” The second man said, “I wonder if this valley could grow good crops for me.” The third and final man stood there and just said, “How beautiful.” In reality there is just one man standing on top of the mountain thinking and the “Three Men” represent the man’s thoughts. The “First Man” represented scientific thinking, the “Second Man” represented purposeful thinking, and the “Third Man” represented thinking of the arts. The point of this story is to show you how the brain thinks and to show you how all types of thinking is equal to one another and has an impact on everyone’s lives.

I am sure that most people who just read that story are thinking and want to know why in the world did I just waste there time by making them read that story. The reason why is because most people over look the arts and feel that it is not that important. I am the type of creative person who expresses their creativity in all types of arts but the main way I show my creativity is in music.

            Ludwig Von Beethoven is one of the best-known classical musicians ever and is one person who influenced me the in music. The second would be the rock band Muse.

Beethoven’s Piano piece Für Elise is one of his most popular piano pieces. This song though many people might not see it has elements of Tension and Release. The Familiar in this song is the constant melody played throughout the song but changed just a little. The difference in this peace is when Beethoven drops the main melody completely and changes the mood and feel of the piece. Beethoven is very good at throwing in these random sections in his music that makes the listeners wonder why that section is in the piece. When I write music I always try to make a section that appears and sounds like it should not be there just like Beethoven because I feel it adds a whole new element to the experience of enjoying and listening to music. Almost every artist to an extent now uses this technique of having music that changes the mood at one point during the song.


         
          In Muse’s hit song Time is Running Out they use the elements of Text and Subtext. This element is very popular in a lot of songs by Muse but especially in Time is Running Out. This song is about how our time is running out and there is not a lot we can do to stop it. The whole subtext of this song is that they are talking about the government. The most important impart of music to me is lyrics with meaning and messages the lyrics hold. Muse has meaning behind every song lyric which is why they play a huge role in my creativity in music. Rock Music first became popular because of subtext such as songs like Big Ten Inch…Record by Bull Moose Jackson and Rocket 88 by Ike Turner. Without text and subtext Rock Music could have never been and is a key reason why text and subtext plays such a huge impact on me.
           


Almost all of Muse and Beethoven’s music is Active and Didactic. You can look any piece by the two and realize that these two composers have a theme for the most part but they still leave there music up for people think and feel whatever there heart and mind desires. For instance, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is one of his best works ever and you can make the music and theme what ever you want it to be. On the other hand you can have music like the song Apocalypse Please by Muse whose theme is to tell you to prepare for the end of the world. Theme is sometimes a very important part in music and other times the artist leaves the theme up for you to decided. When I write and play music some type of theme is always going through my head, which is why between Muse and Beethoven I get my influences.

Without music in my life I don't know where I would be. The one thing I do know is that I am a better person and will live a much better life with music and the arts in my life.
           

Friday, April 1, 2011

MDIA 203 IPhoto edit Day 1

It is a long walk to get to this point but it is well worth the trip to see this view.