Assignment #4

Scene link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX1Yj-fhiTA

Script

In terms of listening modes, this scene contains both causal and semantic examples. The constant humming of the car and the background noises of chirping birds are featured throughout the entire scene. Causal effects also include Cameron continually kicking the car and shattering glass at certain points during the scene, as well as the car revving up and eventually crashing through the glass of the garage. When the car crashes into the trees at the end of the scene, the sound of mechanical parts breaking down is semantic, as one would more likely hear the impact of the car against the bushes rather than the parts inside, and serves to demonstrate that the vehicle has been totaled.

With regards to time, relative speed and loudness are also taken into account. The scene is very quiet for the most part, focused on Cameron and his slow movements, but becomes loud when he begins to quickly kick the car. When he finally sends the car accelerating backward, the car moves very fast and the shrill screeching sound of the car can be heard as it hurtles through the glass. A tonal center is also created through the continual hum of the car throughout the scene, creating a drone that is emphasized through the long periods of silence. The birds chirping in the background serve to contrast with this hum and cause one to acknowledge its presence.

Assignment #3

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed

Acknowledging the Lizard

Godin simplifies the concept of the brain's natural fear of rejection as the image of a "Lizard." This "Lizard" gets in the way of the creative process by rejecting socially unwelcome ideas.  Godin believes that artists should learn to understand its presence but ignore its influence on the emotions.

Connect

In this section, Godin stresses the importance of social media to make connections with which to learn and spread information. If one can create something that will influence others or change the way they think and share it, a route to success will be created through the Internet.

Make art

Godin believes that anyone who has an interaction with others has the possibility to make something that changes other people. Those who create art have a way of communicate with other people. This can have risks, but overcoming these risks may lead to rewards.

Essay

With all due respect, I do not believe that these blogging exercises are very beneficial to learning about the creative process. I do not agree with Seth Godin's article "Brainwashed" as I feel that his "layers" of reinventing oneself are rested on a misguided belief that the internet and the free spread of knowledge is reason to disregard and scoff at the old way of doing things. I feel that the article oversimplifies the creative drive and its interaction with society by labeling traditional education as "the resistance" and implying that it does no good except to stifle creative impulses. I believe that the education system exists in part to help us to flesh out our creative ideas in a more developed way. The concepts that Godin berates, namely trigonometry and algebra, may seem like they have no practical application in one's life, but it is exactly in the solving of these problems that the mind expands and learns to comprehend its creative impulses in a more mature way. As such, I don't think that reading this article, or understanding its layers, helped my understanding of the creative process. As for the other two blogging assignments, I feel that the first simply rehashed what we learned during the first creative assignment in regards to color, light, and shape, and that the story in the second blogging assignment had little to do with the creative process in general. The story of the wolf seemed more like a psychological self-help story rather than a tale to help overcome creative insecurities.

What I believe would be more helpful to learning the creative process would be to learn more about how the creative people in the industry do their work, such as through "making-of" documentaries and interviews, learning how they get their inspiration. I particularly enjoyed the interview in one of the lecture classes with one of the sound effects creators of Star Wars, which detailed how he found the sources for the iconic sound effects from the films. Listening to the interview gave me insight in how things actually work (or have worked in the past) in the media industry, and this sort of knowledge gives me inspiration to follow my own creative drives, having some kind of understanding as to how others went about the process. I believe that if the blogging assignments dealt more with viewing the creative process itself and writing reflections on it, its secrets and methods of how to go about it would become clearer.

Assignment #2

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

Summary of Story #2

The author describes in this story a fifth grade assignment in which everyone had to write a five-page paper. The author was unable to complete the requirement, but his friend was, describing a recursive story where a tiger tried to escape from a cage but continually jumped into other cages forever. His friend both met the length requirement and discovered a fact of life. Everyone will jump into cages and never escape as long as they keep their fears, but as soon as one learns to face all of them, they will be free and find the true self.

Essay

"Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice. 

Robert Frost analyzes the relative effects of passion and the absence of emotion in this poem through the metaphors of the ways that fire and ice can destroy. At first, Frost acknowledges that fire is a powerful force and makes a concession to those who believe that its heat and intensity can do powerful damage. Then, starting with the fifth line, he makes his own point that an equal amount of hate and destruction can result through a very different way, through the coldness and distance of ice, which is a strong enough force in itself to do an equal amount of damage as fire. In the context of hate, this means that direct methods like violence and threats can sting and cause a great deal of hurt, but the more subtle and natural fashion of doing so through lack of caring and indifference is a far more widespread way of doing so and has brought as much, if not more suffering than passionate hate.

One of the best examples that comes to mind for how this works in real life is from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." In this essay, he reaffirmed the values of the Civil Rights movement and spoke of his belief why the American public had not yet accepted African Americans as true citizens, saying "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." He asserted that there were a significant minority who contributed to the consensus of discrimination through direct hateful attacks of violence, who were largely located in the South, but that the real problem was the majority of whites all throughout the U.S. who knew and understood the discrimination but never spoke out against it. These people, through choosing to turn their heads to injustice, had become the real roadblock to African American equality. Relating back to the poem, these people would represent the "ice" that hurt just as much as the "fire" of those who were more visibly racist.

"Fire and Ice" has a lesson to teach to a creative soul. An emotionally intense environment can be created through obvious, measurable means like bombast and technicality, but an arguably more effective way to do so is through indirect and subtle methods. For me, a movie like Cloverfield may impress with its special effects in creating an apocalyptic world, but what I found more striking was the way the camera shook with each scene to create a realistic and engaging feel for the viewer. Momentarily, the complex computer work used to perfect the monster at the very end may have caught my eye, but I can still remember the way the constantly shifting camera formed another layer for the viewer. Rather than using the common method of static camera angles, it focused on certain aspects of the environment in real time, just as someone living out the story would.

From the perspective of a recording engineer, which will hopefully be my career someday, this means that creating intense, dense layers in music may not always be the best method to capture the emotions of the listener. I have often listened to pretentious rock songs that try to make their mark through overbearing elements through adding in an orchestra, or using harsh guitar tones, but my favorites are often the ones that use the common instrumentation of drums, guitar, and keyboards to a more textured and implicit effect. I hope to find my howl by keeping in mind the values of "Fire and Ice" in my later career in this way. It may be tempting to launch a fiery attack on the emotions, but leaving them alone entirely will burn in a far more chilling way.

Assignment #1

Abigail Rufusette - Protagonist

 

 Abigail (color)

 

This picture of a mountain with green trees and a white cloud-covered sky is fitting for my picture of Abigail Rufusette because it corresponds with the Ohio University school colors, green and white. Abigail is supposed to represent a typical partying Ohio University student, so she is in a green atmosphere, just like this picture. The differing shades of green in Abigail's picture corresponds to the multiple shades of green in this picture. There are lighter shades of green on the mountain in the background, as well as a nearly black dark green color that corresponds to the clothes that Abigail is wearing.

Abigail (light)

 I chose this picture of a bar-like atmosphere because of the dark, hazy picture of Abigail Rufusette. Since she is always partying, she finds herself in dimly lit, basement like places like the ones shown in her photo below. There are only a couple of primary light sources in the above photo, just like there is only one overhead light in Abigail's picture below. The time of the bar scene above is during the night time, the same time that Abigail's party is likely to be going on. Certain parts of the bar room are left in shadow, just like certain parts of Abigail's room are shadowed.

Abigail (shape)

The picture of these two girls slouching fits Abigail's character as she is seen in a relaxed party atmosphere, leaning slightly forward as she leans to throw a ball. She is not standing straight up, but is focused on having a good time and not paying any attention to her image or posture. The girls above clearly care little for how others see them, and neither does Abigail even as she has friends watching in the background while she slouches in a careless way. The two girls above are also dressed in a loose, casual way, just as Abigail is wearing jeans and a loose jacket below.

 David X. Cohen - Antagonist

 David X. Cohen (color)

Just like the simple black and white design of dice, David X. Cohen is dressed in black and has white hair, along with a white shirt under his coat. There are slightly different shades of gray in the picture above due to the shadows of the dice, there is a slightly different shade of white on the side of David X. Cohen's head, as well as a darker shade of black on his coat where the collar makes a shadow. Looking at the colors in a more metaphorical way, there are no other colors on the dice to distract from the numbers on each side, just as David X. Cohen looks at everything in black and white, whether someone is within the law or not.

  David X. Cohen (light)

 The shadowy figure in this picture relates to David X. Cohen due to the fact that he is a shadow in a very blurry and hazy atmosphere, just as David X. Cohen is always shady, searching in poorly lit places for those who might be breaking the law, like the party atmosphere where Abigail is in. Even when people who are breaking the law might think that no one can see them because they are in such dark places, David X. Cohen is there, a figure in the shadows,  just as the figure above is there, standing tall and looking for rule breakers. The lighting of the red and black colors above are also similar to David X. Cohen's background above.

David X. Cohen (shape)

This picture depicts military figures standing at attention, whose shape is similar to how straight up David X. Cohen is sitting below. His shoulders are very square and his head is looking straight ahead, just as if he was standing to attention himself. His erect and proper posture reflects the nature of his work, which is to correct those who are not quite as rule following as him, like Abigail above. His sitting up straight demonstrates that he is well within the confines of the law and will punish those who do not align themselves as well with the law.