Star Wars video joke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sLO1RHisqc
Bicycle accident http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IlQ0frYdOg
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
4A Acknowledging the Lizard
BRAINWASHED
Each One of these manifesto's i read i become more and more into the ideas that are trying to be portayed in the class. I Agree with 90% of what all of these manifestos are saying, especially this one. I completely agree that we were all raised and taught to conform and become drones for the education system. This was evident for me in gradeschool, in high school, and even sometimes in college. I remember being in fourth grade and i had a teacher who was the type of teacher who only followed the rules and very strongly believed in power and dicipline. I remember this so vividly because it has changed the way that i participate in class to this day. I would always ask questions and never just accept what the teacher said. I needed to know for sure, i needed to fully understand things. Until one day, my fourth grade teacher took me out of the classroom and scolded me asking me, "why do you always have to ask so many questions?" I remember feeling terrible for it and feeling like i should no longer ask questions. Only now do i realize how detrimental that was to my educational career.
School has just never been my thing, though. School was always the last thing on my mind. It was always the thing that seemed the least important to me. Still does. I fucking hate school. I believe its an outdated system run by an outdated generation who believe tradition is where the success of the future lies. However, i believe this is horribly wrong. I believe traditions are good to an extent, but i also think that placing too much emphasis on tradition only hinders the advancement of new ideas and breeds conformity. Tradition and conformity are "the resistance's" friend.
As explained by Godin the lizard brain is a prehistoric brainstem that doesnt like to be laughed at. That wants to fit in with all the rest. It makes being an outcast ones worst nightmare and becasue of this it shuts down out creativity and blocks us from making original art because what Godin calls, "the resistance," keeps our head down and drives us to follow instructions. He goes on to explain that in order for us to be successful and to be creative we need to accept, or acknowledge that the lizard is there and by doing that we are able to continue with our creative output because of our conscious knowledge of the sillyness the Lizard brain actually controls us with.
The other layer that i found to the the most interesting is the SHIP layer. This idea is the idea that if you can get something of yours out the door and place a product out there than you are ahead of the curve and it makes your competitors cringe in fear. According to Godin this is a rare skill that not many people are confident enough to do. Being able to do this helps to inspire others to do the same. But in order to be able to do this, one must be able to acknowledge and quiet the Lizard.
I think that the SHIP layer is closely related to what we are doing this quarter. By having all of our projects posted on a public forum it helps to also acknowledge the lizard and quiet the resistance. However i believe in order for one to fully understand and embrace these principles, he/she needs to take the initiative to SHIP his/her own work, outside of class. By making the projects a requirement, it immediately takes out at least 50% of the creativity, beacuse the composer is not freely doing it, he is being told to. Also because the works are graded, the artist may focus only on completing the assignment according to the assignments requirements and rubric. There are too many rules and speculations for the projects that take almost all of the creativity out. However there is still room for creativity, but thats only when the artist feels compelled to be creative, otherwise these projects are just like projects for any other class, time consuming, and half assed. And if the projects arent half-assed, handed in on time, not done at the last minute and seem too perfect to be true, this just shows a sign of a person who has accepted their position as a compliant person, who will do the work they are told to get done, when they are told to get it done, just because they want to get good grades to get a good job out of college. In my opinion this type of student is just another brick in the wall, another product of the education brainwashing system in the United States that is School
I also think that group work is bullshit. It is always an extreme hassle to work with a group, and i understand that for most media professions group work is inevitable. In the same breath by making one constantly work in a group, he/she is always expecting someone else to perform thier required part of the project, instead of promoting individual creativitiy, it promotes conformist collaboration.
My suggestion for projects and what might be better use of the class about the creative process would be to make each student create a work of art within his/her own specialty (whatever major he/she is in, if they dont have a major make them pick one) then at the end of the quarter have them turn in one project which would be a, song, movie, etc, and along with that a strong sort of thesis on what he/she believes the creative process to be. I think it would be really interesting what things people would bring in for their final projects.
Each One of these manifesto's i read i become more and more into the ideas that are trying to be portayed in the class. I Agree with 90% of what all of these manifestos are saying, especially this one. I completely agree that we were all raised and taught to conform and become drones for the education system. This was evident for me in gradeschool, in high school, and even sometimes in college. I remember being in fourth grade and i had a teacher who was the type of teacher who only followed the rules and very strongly believed in power and dicipline. I remember this so vividly because it has changed the way that i participate in class to this day. I would always ask questions and never just accept what the teacher said. I needed to know for sure, i needed to fully understand things. Until one day, my fourth grade teacher took me out of the classroom and scolded me asking me, "why do you always have to ask so many questions?" I remember feeling terrible for it and feeling like i should no longer ask questions. Only now do i realize how detrimental that was to my educational career.
School has just never been my thing, though. School was always the last thing on my mind. It was always the thing that seemed the least important to me. Still does. I fucking hate school. I believe its an outdated system run by an outdated generation who believe tradition is where the success of the future lies. However, i believe this is horribly wrong. I believe traditions are good to an extent, but i also think that placing too much emphasis on tradition only hinders the advancement of new ideas and breeds conformity. Tradition and conformity are "the resistance's" friend.
As explained by Godin the lizard brain is a prehistoric brainstem that doesnt like to be laughed at. That wants to fit in with all the rest. It makes being an outcast ones worst nightmare and becasue of this it shuts down out creativity and blocks us from making original art because what Godin calls, "the resistance," keeps our head down and drives us to follow instructions. He goes on to explain that in order for us to be successful and to be creative we need to accept, or acknowledge that the lizard is there and by doing that we are able to continue with our creative output because of our conscious knowledge of the sillyness the Lizard brain actually controls us with.
The other layer that i found to the the most interesting is the SHIP layer. This idea is the idea that if you can get something of yours out the door and place a product out there than you are ahead of the curve and it makes your competitors cringe in fear. According to Godin this is a rare skill that not many people are confident enough to do. Being able to do this helps to inspire others to do the same. But in order to be able to do this, one must be able to acknowledge and quiet the Lizard.
I think that the SHIP layer is closely related to what we are doing this quarter. By having all of our projects posted on a public forum it helps to also acknowledge the lizard and quiet the resistance. However i believe in order for one to fully understand and embrace these principles, he/she needs to take the initiative to SHIP his/her own work, outside of class. By making the projects a requirement, it immediately takes out at least 50% of the creativity, beacuse the composer is not freely doing it, he is being told to. Also because the works are graded, the artist may focus only on completing the assignment according to the assignments requirements and rubric. There are too many rules and speculations for the projects that take almost all of the creativity out. However there is still room for creativity, but thats only when the artist feels compelled to be creative, otherwise these projects are just like projects for any other class, time consuming, and half assed. And if the projects arent half-assed, handed in on time, not done at the last minute and seem too perfect to be true, this just shows a sign of a person who has accepted their position as a compliant person, who will do the work they are told to get done, when they are told to get it done, just because they want to get good grades to get a good job out of college. In my opinion this type of student is just another brick in the wall, another product of the education brainwashing system in the United States that is School
I also think that group work is bullshit. It is always an extreme hassle to work with a group, and i understand that for most media professions group work is inevitable. In the same breath by making one constantly work in a group, he/she is always expecting someone else to perform thier required part of the project, instead of promoting individual creativitiy, it promotes conformist collaboration.
My suggestion for projects and what might be better use of the class about the creative process would be to make each student create a work of art within his/her own specialty (whatever major he/she is in, if they dont have a major make them pick one) then at the end of the quarter have them turn in one project which would be a, song, movie, etc, and along with that a strong sort of thesis on what he/she believes the creative process to be. I think it would be really interesting what things people would bring in for their final projects.
3A UNDER PRESSURE
Under Pressure- Queen & David Bowie
Under Pressure - The Used & My Chemical Romance
Under Pressure is one of my all time favorite songs and will always remain a special song to me. I chose this song and cover because the first time that i heard the cover was when The Used and My Chemical Romance performed it together on stage at the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005. I remember it being one of the first concerts that i went to, alone at least. It was an amazing concert and at the end of the show My Chemical Romance returned to the stage to Join the Used in a duet performance of Under Pressure. I was not too familliar with either of these bands when i first saw them play at this show, But i will always remember them coming together on stage to perform this song live. It was one of the coolest things ive ever seen at a concert and ive been to endless ammounts of concerts.
The Used and My Chemical Romance do an amazing job with this song. Being that it is a classic song by the one and only Queen and then never forgetful David Bowie, its almost sacreligious to remake this song. The Original is perfect in every sense and is the type of song that transcends time. Freddie Mercury was truly a genius for what he did and his voice was angelic. At the time The Used and My Chemical Romance were relatively small bands and for them to perform such an audacious cover was iffy. Nevertheless, they killed it and the song is a rocker.
The Used and My Chemical Romance, use the same LYRICS, The same MELODY, and the same ORGANIZATION for the song, that was used in the original version. This is very respectable of the bands because Under Pressure is a song that no one should even begin to think about rearranging or rewording, especially after the late, Freddie Mercury. THe melody is another thing that should not be changed in this song. The song is just classic, and no one should attempt changing a classic.
Initially what we first notice when we first hear the songs is the SPEED that The Used/My Chemical Romance used for their cover. The Queen version clocks in at around 112 BPM (beats per minute) and the Used/My Chem version clocks in at about 130 BPM. Although this is not too much faster, It is fast enough to make an audible difference, and the Used/My Chem version sounds a little more upbeat and foreward moving than the original.
Usually if i had to pick between an original and a cover, i am either on one or the other side of the scale. However, for this song and cover i am surprising neutral. Now to be fair if i HAD to choose one to listen to i would choose the Original by Queen and David Bowie. Nevertheless, i would be equally satisfied listening to either of the versions because i think the Used/ My Chem did a fantastic job. Not to say that they measure up to the greats, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie, when it comes to vocals, but Bert McCracken (The Used) and Gerard Way ( My Chemical Romance) both have terrific voices and i dont think two better frontmen could have teemed up to do a cover of this classic song.
Listen and Judge for Yourself
Under Pressure - The Used & My Chemical Romance
Under Pressure is one of my all time favorite songs and will always remain a special song to me. I chose this song and cover because the first time that i heard the cover was when The Used and My Chemical Romance performed it together on stage at the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005. I remember it being one of the first concerts that i went to, alone at least. It was an amazing concert and at the end of the show My Chemical Romance returned to the stage to Join the Used in a duet performance of Under Pressure. I was not too familliar with either of these bands when i first saw them play at this show, But i will always remember them coming together on stage to perform this song live. It was one of the coolest things ive ever seen at a concert and ive been to endless ammounts of concerts.
The Used and My Chemical Romance do an amazing job with this song. Being that it is a classic song by the one and only Queen and then never forgetful David Bowie, its almost sacreligious to remake this song. The Original is perfect in every sense and is the type of song that transcends time. Freddie Mercury was truly a genius for what he did and his voice was angelic. At the time The Used and My Chemical Romance were relatively small bands and for them to perform such an audacious cover was iffy. Nevertheless, they killed it and the song is a rocker.
The Used and My Chemical Romance, use the same LYRICS, The same MELODY, and the same ORGANIZATION for the song, that was used in the original version. This is very respectable of the bands because Under Pressure is a song that no one should even begin to think about rearranging or rewording, especially after the late, Freddie Mercury. THe melody is another thing that should not be changed in this song. The song is just classic, and no one should attempt changing a classic.
Initially what we first notice when we first hear the songs is the SPEED that The Used/My Chemical Romance used for their cover. The Queen version clocks in at around 112 BPM (beats per minute) and the Used/My Chem version clocks in at about 130 BPM. Although this is not too much faster, It is fast enough to make an audible difference, and the Used/My Chem version sounds a little more upbeat and foreward moving than the original.
Usually if i had to pick between an original and a cover, i am either on one or the other side of the scale. However, for this song and cover i am surprising neutral. Now to be fair if i HAD to choose one to listen to i would choose the Original by Queen and David Bowie. Nevertheless, i would be equally satisfied listening to either of the versions because i think the Used/ My Chem did a fantastic job. Not to say that they measure up to the greats, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie, when it comes to vocals, but Bert McCracken (The Used) and Gerard Way ( My Chemical Romance) both have terrific voices and i dont think two better frontmen could have teemed up to do a cover of this classic song.
Listen and Judge for Yourself
6A video response
here is the link to Hugh MacLeod's essay on How To Be Creative.
How To Be Creative
Here is the link to my video that reflects on this essay
video response
How To Be Creative
Here is the link to my video that reflects on this essay
video response
Monday, February 14, 2011
5a reimagining Visual Framing
This picture by Sally Mann makes quite a statement. The girl in this picture is probably under ten years old yet she is smoking a cigarette. This is why i was originally drawn to this picture because you don't usually see children smoking cigarettes. However, the way that she is holding the cigarette also has just as much to say about the girl than does the cigarette. She is holding the cigarette and is standing in such a way that says to the viewer, "this isint new for me," or "Ive done this before." Her face also says that she is bored with what is going on around her. What is very visually attracting to this picture also is the way that it is framed and how the LINE AND SHAPE of the picture mesh together to make this picture. The three people in the picture are standing upright and it creates three columns, or divides the picture into three. The picture is set up in a way that makes the girl in the middle the center of attention besides the fact that she is centered in the picture she is also taller than the girl to the right, and she is shorter than the boy in the back to the left.
There is also a horizon line which separates the girls from the boy in the back giving the picture much DEPTH. The person in the back, who seems to be jumping on a trampoline or possibly just standing on something, is either a child like these girls, or it could be an adult or someone older than these girls. If the person in the back is an older person than the picture gains more depth because he would have to be much farther away. If it is a child then the boy is not as far from the girls giving it less depth, but depth is still very relevant.
The picture also has a very strong VISUAL MOVEMENT AND RHYTHM. From right to left the figures in the picture continue to get taller making the movement of the picture a diagonal line from the bottom right to the top left of the picture. However when one starts to look from the bottom right and move diagonally left toward the top right, he/she gets caught in the gaze of the girl in the middle. who on which the emphasis is.
I chose to crop the picture to just emphasize on the girl smoking because i think that she is the most interesting part of the picture. Like i said before the way she is standing says to me "ive done this before" or possibly, "ive been here before." I also chose to crop the picture this way because it makes it an entirely new picture. It crossed my mind that maybe Sally Mann wanted to show that the girl was bored and having her holding a cigarette and standing how she is standing is just an exaggeration of boredom. Becuase of this i want to argue the case for CONSCIOUS and SUBCONSCIOUS. Maybe consciously the girl is there with her friends and is enjoying her time outside by the trampoline, but subconsciously, and how she is portrayed in the picture, she is very bored and is looking for something new, maybe in life, maybe a new game. Or maybe she is the type of person who needs to be at the center of attention, and when she is not, like in the picture, whatever else is happening around her doesnt really matter.
Lastly this picture is a great example of CONTRAST AND AFFINITY. almost the entire picture is dark except for the girl holding the cigarette and the boy's shirt in the background. This poses two possibilities, that either Sally Mann just wanted to emphasize the girl in the middle by contrasting her with all of the dark colors in the picture, or that because the boy is also wearing white, the two have some sort of connection. Maybe the girl smoking has a crush, and she is annoyed by the fact that the other girl is there with her, when she could be spending time alone with her crush. But i think that Sally is just trying to emphasize the girl smoking.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)