BLOG ASSIGNMENT # 8 Scene Deconstruction

A scene from the movie Mr. Nobody.

    The scene linked above is meant to evoke the emotions felt by the characters toward each other in the audience themselves. The surreal way Jared Leto begins to float in the air breaks traditional story-telling in that it occurs for no reason in the movie itself. His floating is meant to represent his rising hopes and dreams as his lover is nearby.
 
     The scene is set conveniently in a park with fences, gates, trees, a planked boardwalk, and vertical architecture. All of these shapes do an excellent job of creating vertical affinity which directs Jared Leto's body as he floats up. While not much goes on throughout the course of the video, a little says a lot as the director allows the actors emotions to speak for themselves. When Jared Leto's love interest walks on screen, she is out of focus, not really there. This depth gives the audience a feel for the space between the characters. This is given strength when the scene is cut to Jared Leto waking out of the dream and circling the location where the girl was and we also see the girl waking up on a train. The girl waking up on the train is meant to close the emotional gap between the characters even as they are so far apart.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #7 Animation Deconstruction

     The images above are taken from the TV shows The Boondocks and South Park, both of which are incredibly controversial. However, they both take extremely different approaches when it comes to the animation style. The characters in The Boondocks take a more serious stance on how its characters view the world's problems and tries to have more realistic animation. South Park often has extremely crude and silly humor and the animation reflects that content by being minimalist and goofy.

     The color scheme in The Boondocks is very subdued and natural. The saturation levels are low and don't 'pop' as much. The colors aren't meant to be vibrant (this distracts from the characters reactions; which are vital to the show) and the brightness is relatively low. The background hues are even more subdued and causes the characters to stand out more. 

     South Park takes a different approach as each color has a lot of intensity and gives it a more classic 'cartoonish' look. Each character uses matching hues when is comes to their outfits. The background in the show has similar levels of brightness to the characters making it seem like a more interactive environment. The colors have a dark value and gives the characters a definitive outline.

     The Boondocks has very complex movements and a lot of work is put into animating the characters. Generally speaking, the characters are meant to move as realistic as possible; the exception being cut-away or surrealist scenes which happen occasionally. Overlapping movements create a sense of realism as if something is always going on in the scenes. Characters given an appropriate amount of weight when it comes to how they move. A large character is given more animated weight than a smaller character.

     South Park on the other hand, is very simple. When characters walk, their feet don't move. Characters will  hobble side to side like they vibrate to get around. Although this accomplishes a sense of silliness when it comes to the topics and people being parodied. There aren't many overlapping movements when it comes to typical situations but sometimes characters are introduced with a lot of complex action such as demons or other massive characters. Nearly all of the characters in the show are given a similarly animated weight have an apparent affinity to how their environment will effect them.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #6 Storyboard Imitation

First five scenes from the Requiem for a Dream clip

     This clip is tricky to define as to whether not be described as 'successfully' following the 180 degree rule, rule of thirds, or the 30 rule. The surrealist and unconventional style in the movie effects and bends the rules and make jump cuts actually work. The first shot has Jared Leto aligned along the right vertical third with his head lying on the top third. The next shot is simply an establishing shot of where Jared Leto is going to look, however, it seemingly breaks the 180 rule by making a complete turn around. The shot again turns around to face Jared Leto who is now standing up, his eyes rest on the top third. From there the camera is now facing Jennifer Connelly who is dead center but in an establishing shot and switches back to Jared Leto and his reaction.
    The scene generally does a good job of not breaking any rules. Some of the shots are questionable, like the ones of the bedroom and Jennifer Connelly standing at the edge of the pier in terms of breaking the rule of thirds. Although, they can be defined as establishing shots and can get away with bending rules. The 180 degree rule, however, is broken. The transition from Jared Leto's face to Jennifer Connelly is exactly 180 degrees. The scene does follow the 30 rules, its shots change at an angle of more than 30 degrees and when size is changed, it is by more than 30%.
     The scene is much greater than the sum of its parts. The individual shots are beautiful and the director purposefully transitions from each one to the other in a manner which accentuates the emotions meant to be felt, and obviously took care when it came to the rules. Shot transitions sometimes bend and break the rules, but only in ways which accomplished something more than basic cinematography.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #5 Song Deconstruction

Peter, Bjorn, and John - Nothing To Worry About

vs.

Peter, Bjorn, and John - Amsterdam

Nothing to Worry About
Listening Framework

Listening Phase 1-
Tempo-Medium
Source-The Percussion
Groove-Matches the pace of the lyrics, Heavy, Hard,

Listening Phase 2
Instrumentation-Tin drums, various percussion, Asian Strings instruments
Structure/Organization-Catchy marching beat, relaxed beats farther apart but on pace, repeat
Emotional Architecture-Driving tone, mellow tone, driving tone, mellow tone, beats fade out

Listening Phase 3
Height-Low driving beats, high background taps for contrast
Width-different instruments on either side
Depth-Very layerd


Amsterdam
Listening Framework

Listening Phase 1
Tempo- slow
Source- Loud drums, slow,
Groove- Very mellow but concise

Listening Phase 2
Instrumentation- Drums, tambourines, whistling
Structure/Organization- Progression and plateaus
Emotional Architecture-starts slow, layers more, carries evenly throughout song

Listening Phase 3
Height-Low
Width-Alternate instruments on either side
Depth- A Few Distinct layers

     The songs written performed by Peter, Bjorn, and John are almost always incredibly mellow. These are no exception. While Amsterdam and Nothing to Worry About are laid back, their power hides behind the minimalist music. The songs each have about four distinct layers which causes the catchy lyrics to pop and get themselves stuck really deep in your head. The lyrics both have apathetic stances on depressing situations.
      Amsterdam and Nothing to Worry About have very similar melodies. Amsterdam is slower and very rigid in beats, Nothing to Worry About has harsh beats which decline in speed and repeat
     Both songs have a catchy rhythm and similar intensity. Amsterdam has a low pitch opposite of Nothing to Worry About. Nothing to Worry about it faster paced but maintains a calm feeling with its consistent lyrical pattern. Amsterdam is mellower lyrically and in singing tone which has greater affinity with the instrumental pacing.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #3 Brainwashed

Brainwashed pdf by Seth Godin

Making art is great.

You must learn from your experiences in order to generate better ones in the future.

This assignment is bologna.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #2 Finding your howl

Jonathan Flaum's Finding Your Howl

     Jonathan Flaum presents us with the story of the red wolf. The Red Wolf is born into a vacuum where he did not have to react with his natural instincts. After being held in captivity for so many years, he had more than forgotten   who he was, he didn't even know who he could be.

Once Mumon (our red wolf protagonist) had been reentered into the wilderness, he needed to literally find his howl in order to take charge of his life as well as the lives of others. If that's not literal enough for you then go color pictures.

     I take personal pride in anything I can come up with complete originality. My definition of complete originality stems from taking inspiration to create something new. Having an uninspired idea isn't necessarily reflective of someones creativity or interests, it's just lucky (although I do enjoy random bouts of ideas). I like the idea of building upon the world around me using every possible inspiration as a source of something new.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #1 Deconstructing Characters.

PROTAGONIST: Baako

Color:

Blue, Green, and Brown

The color scheme used for Baako, the evolved gorilla, is strictly earthly colors. The soft blues, greens, and browns accentuate his origins and orientation, which is to be the hero for where he came from. He has an inclination to protect his habitat and enjoy the wilderness.

Light:

Soft Daylight

Baako is a good-willed protagonist and very natural. While he is a significantly different creature from his unevolved gorilla counterparts, soft lighting shows that he blends in with his surroundings. The source of the light is natural daylight which reflects his preference to being outdoors in his own environment. There are no secrets in complete daylight and you can see that Baako is open and trustworthy.

Shape:

Round, Rigid

Baako's shape is best represented by an arch. Baako takes on the literal appearance of being an arch as he rests on his hind quarters and knuckles simultaneously. As a character, arches describe Baako as sturdy, a natural curve to the surface where he stands. The shape of an arch is a strong foundation for any structure.

ANTAGONIST: The Cardinal

Color:

Brown, White, and Red

The colors incorporated by The Cardinal are self selected. The white is purposely used to make himself stand out as hero in his own mind, almost holy. The brown almost seems hawklike, an attempt to blend into his surroundings and to be originated from common monk garb. The red stands off on its own and is representative of the fire at his core. Together these colors do a poor job of blending together and that reflects The Cardinal's personal inconsistencies. 

Light:

Harsh, All Encompassing, Washed Out

The Cardinal is encompassed in a washed out light, from his fire, and his mentality. You can hardly get a clear cut image of who he is because of the emotional and physical intensity brought on the presence of his fire and mission. The Cardinal is often surrounded in the fire of his destruction.

Shape:

Rigid, Rectangular, Too Tall

The Cardinal is a tough man and he stands out, but the height he is and has reached is too high for him to come down. He forced his beliefs on the people around him, so everyone is aware of his presence. He does his best to burn down the world around him and in doing so has become very powerful. Despite that power, however, he is still on his end without any particular support structure making it very easy for him to "fall over". The Cardinal's shape represents his own inevitable destruction as he looms in the horizon of fire. 

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #4 Reflection On Sound Design

In Requiem For a Dream, the audio production defined a lot more of the film interpretation than usual.

     In the movie music is used whenever the characters deal with temptation or being high. Often sound effects seem loud and echoing which reflect the feeling of isolation and negative emotion of the characters in focus. In one scene, Tyrone is being chased by gunfire while music plays loudly. This amplifies the fact that he's having to deal with being high in a difficult real world situation which is explained with semantic and causal listening modes.

    The specific scene posted shows Jared Leto's character Harry smoking marijuana and hallucinating about his girlfriend. Semantic sound incorporates alternative noises in place of things we normally would hear. When he rolls his joint, semantic sound is used to show each of his actions. The paper being whipped out sounds a like paper being whipped out, but the action of grinding up and placing the cannabis on the papers is replaced with a sound like rushing water. Next, Harry proceeds to lick the glue on the papers and the sound used for that is a much more animated sound that what would actually hear. Finally, when the bag is closed back up, a zipper sound is used.

      While semantic sounds give us a perspective of the characters being high and dealing with their emotions,  causal sound is used for equivocally "real world" situations in the movie. Jared Leto is caught up in his hallucination with Jennifer Connelly when all of a sudden, the music stops playing and the door opens up as Marlon Wayans walks in. The sound used for the door was completely typical.

     Requiem for a Dream is an excellent example of sound manipulation. The Gestalt Principle is incorporated in the entire movie. Drug use is literally amplified as each character's perception of reality changes. Harry's mother Sara deals with temptation and eventually prescription pill abuse. Every scene she deals with having to diet has her taunted by surreal sound design of her stomach grumbling, the fridge being incredibly loud, the music is echoing and eerie. The audience is bombarded with audio, but the illusion is that often only one sound is playing at a time to add inflection to each movement.