Thursday, May 12, 2011

Reframing



I chose the Dali picture I did because it’s just so interesting and I find looking at it to be almost uncomfortable. I love that I got such a strong emotional reaction to a simple image on a screen. I chose to reframe the picture the way I did because that area of the picture appeared to me to be the lightest section of the whole piece and yet it’s still so dark. The way he’s clutching the side of the egg, to me, gives this sense of anguish to the picture. I believe Dali framed the picture the way he did, was to bring all the other elements into the picture that make it darker, creepier, and more intense than it would be with just the man coming out of the egg. What I love about the original frame is how lines are perceived in the picture. There are tons of virtual and actual lines leading the eye straight to the egg, from the man in the bottom right’s hand, to the boy’s gaze, and the things hanging down above the egg, they all make the egg appear more prevalent without it being all that obvious and most of these lines are linear, with maybe a slight curve for the things hanging over the egg. I also find it very interesting that there are so many shot types within the frame; you could consider it to be an extreme wide shot, due to the fact that you’re seeing the characters inside the location. It also appears to be a three shot at first glance, between the man in the egg, the man on the right, and the little boy, but if you look closer you can see three more people in the background, two on the left and one on the right. I find it to be interesting that there is so much contrast between the line and shape of the picture and feelings that are actually portrayed. There are so many round shapes in the picture which would normally point to a feeling of warmth and happiness yet the frame invokes a rather eerie dark feeling.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Song critiques

Here are the three critiques I did on Nick (http://nickshega.blogspot.com/), Steve (http://steevka.blogspot.com/), and Maddie's (http://mcschneidy.blogspot.com/) songs.

http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/9314b3ad91526d93acb17f813a545938

Brainwashed


After reading Seth Godin’s “Brainwashed” (http://changethis.com/), I was struck by one of his seven levers for reinvention. Make art. Godin explains that art is the creation of something that’s never been created he believes even the simple act of human interaction is art, and I love that, there is so much beauty to be found by just spending time with other people, there are so many new things to learn new ideas to be discovered through the meeting of the minds. His lever acknowledge the lizard goes hand in hand with make art, it’s to hear that voice that tells us not to do things to not stick our necks out for fear of rejection or ridicule, we have to hear that little voice inside of us to be able to push past it and come out the other side with whatever we created proud that we made it. Both of these levers are things that we are working on with our blogs. We are making art, creating the uncreated, and also risking ridicule and rejection by putting them out where everyone can see them, we are acknowledging the lizard but posting everything anyway. I think these levers make for a better well rounded person, an artistic person. It gives us the tools to fight our fear and get in touch with the purest form of ourselves, our creative selves. There’s not a whole lot that could be cooler than that.

Soundscape critiques

I critiqued:

Katie Mack's soundscape (http://mdia203mack.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape.html?showComment=1303825322317#c1181724202707536351)

Gretchen Kesseler's soundscape (http://gretchenk-media203.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape-worry.html?showComment=1303825899473#c4837726107099179928)

Maddie Schneider's soundsscape (http://mcschneidy.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape.html?showComment=1303826437254#c7648499969090222881

Cover songs.


“With a little help from my friends” is a song from my childhood, but until a couple of years ago, I didn’t realize I had grown up listening to two different versions. The Beatles played the original version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBDF04fQKtQ) and Joe Cocker made a remake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV1ULAAg5LU&feature=related). I honestly and truly thought they were two completely different songs until I realized they not only had the same name, but also the same lyrics. The reason it was so hard for me to realize they were the same song was because of the differences between the melody and the musical quality. I would say that the differences in the melodies were the biggest contributing factor to my belief that they were two different songs, I could find myself humming both songs in the same day and each time I would be humming different notes because each artist sings it so differently. The Beatles sing it with a very clear beat hitting each note they’re supposed to while Joe Cocker has a little more fun with the notes, going up and down and all over the place. Joe Cocker’s version also has female vocalists signing the chorus, which definitely changes the way it’s sung. The musical qualities of each song are also very different. The rhythms are different as is the speed; Joe’s is a little faster than the Beatles’. The Beatles’ version is much less intense than Joe’s and I would say that the difference in timbre helps this; Joe’s is definitely more complex, which only adds to the intensity. I would say the Beatles’ version is more organized, note wise at any rate. They have a clear definition between the chorus and the verses and they do pretty much the same melody for the verses, but Joe Cocker’s version is all over the place with the verses. As much as I hate to admit this, I prefer the Joe cocker version better. It kills me to admit that I like a Beatles remake better than the original, but I just love the added quality of soul in Joe Cocker’s version, this song makes me feel this intense sense of happiness and, as strange as this sounds, safety. Sorry Beatles, I am going with Joe on this one.