The Project That Almost Killed Me

Music video.  Check.

WHAT. A. PROCESS.  Lemme back up for a sec.  This fall quarter I entered my first real Video Production class.  All pre-reqs are finally done and out of the way.  Now I can start the good stuff.  MDIA 240 - Intro to Video Production.  This is by no means an easy basic class.  The projects in class take work; the projects out of class take work.  Our first project was a 1-3 minute short narrative, complete with character conflict and resolution.  We thought it was pretty good, but sadly, our professor and some peers did not.  You can watch it here.  Our second project - a music video.  Getting the rights to the song we used was not required, but highly recommended.  Again, it had to have a story/conflict, and had to be between 2-4 minutes.  The rest was all up to us.  And I must say, that certainly sparked some creativity.

We met as a group 2 days after getting the assignment to figure out logistics and come up with a story.  We didn't have much time to execute (it was due in 12 days) so we needed some good ideas and fast.  I was running a little late to this first meeting...when I finally arrived, I was hit with one big idea....and about 30 million components.  They were certainly being ambitious when I was MIA.  The few things that I kept hearing were "lots of locations," "lots of people," and "all in reverse."  Can I be honest with you?  I really wish I could've been on time to this group meeting to STOP all these ideas when they were still forming.  Because all those phrases were really coming into my mind as "lots of location releases," "lots of image releases," and "editing's a bitch."  I hated it.  All of it.  I decided to keep my mouth shut though, and see where it went.

Kelly, our producer, and I sat and thought about which bands we could email a request to use their songs.  We're both huge fans of Passion Pit, so we shot out an email asking specifically to use one of our three favorite songs..."it won't be used for profit, we'd really appreciate it, blah blah blah."  4 hours later, Passion Pit's GM had approved us and "Little Secrets" was in our hands.

We sent out emails upon emails, to dining halls, club sports, sports centers, equestrian ranches, and PEOPLE.  Lots and lots of people.  We told people we'd be shooting that following Sunday.  And so the setbacks begun.

Setback #1 - No people.
Yeah.  2:30pm, Sunday, October 9th.  Then 3. Then 3:30.  Thank you to the 9 (?) or so people who showed up that day.  You guys rock.  We actually shot for about 4 hours that day, went home to eat, then shot for another 2, thanks to Andrew, our sound guy, and his Athens Middle School WyldLife kids and their parents.  And more image release forms.

Setback #2 - Lost footage.

After about 3 straight days of shooting, I came into my scriptwriting class Wednesday morning, only to have bad news broken right over my head.  Yeah all that footage?  "It's gone," said Alex, our DP/camera guy.  "My card reader really sucks."  I wanted to scream.  My professor, who overheard what was going on, actually encouraged me to.  AAALLLLLL that shooting.  Gone in a split second.  Needless to say I was a little bitter that day.  Prayed a lot.  I guess it worked, because at about 8pm that night, Kelly texted me saying Alex had somehow gotten it all back.  Thanks, Father in Heaven.  Much appreciated.

Setback #3 - Where did all our group members go?
A little later in the week, we were really having a hard time getting us all together in one place.  When 3 could meet, one was in class, one was sleeping, you get what I'm saying.  One guy who was always around whenever we needed him (for the most part) was Sam, our lead actor.  He was boss.  We need to buy him a steak.  Moving on.

Setback #4 - Why the eff do we need to have a story for a music video?
We would've dismissed this aspect of the project if it wasn't worth 35 points on our rubric.  We NEEDED to come up with a story within the video.  The best thing we came up with didn't match our 4 minute song.  We scrapped the song and inserted in it's place "Sleepyhead."  Same band, and we still had the rights.  And so we began to shoot revolving around this song.

Setback #5 - (A personal one).
Long story short, I was supposed to be editing this, with Alex as my first assistant.  It was a busy weekend with OU homecoming and whatnot, so trying to get the footage from him was next to impossible.  Saturday night (the 15th) at around 1am, I received an email from him telling me "my backpack was stolen with my phone inside it, and sorry, and blah blah blah, and you can edit it now if you wanna."  Well, truth be told, I had already dismissed editing at this point, knowing Alex just wanted to do it...and he can pull all-nighters; I can't.  I trusted him.  I've seen his work.  It was all good.  I could finally relax for a second after 12 days of shooting.  I saw a rough cut of it the following day and really liked it.  This idea I thought was so stupid was actually looking pretty good on the screen.

I will quickly add that on the day our video was due, we were still shooting to fill up some empty time Alex still had in the song.  Video due at 5:10, and we wrapped at 4:00.  Are we crazy or what.  Alex made some quick cuts and exported it.....

Setback #6 - IN THE WRONG DIMENSIONS.
It's now 4:50.  Thankfully, Kelly's sister offered to drive us all to class.  We squeezed in the backseat with Alex's laptop open and re-exporting into the right dimensions.  We arrived to class on time, the project still exporting.  Class started and students began to present their projects.  We all kept looking at the little blue bar on Alex's computer.  After the video finished for the second time, Alex opened it up only to realize he had exported in Standard Definition, not HD.  File > Export.  Again.  This time he got it right.

Our turn.  We all got up, named ourselves and our positions, and showcased our video to the class and our professor.  She's the one we were really worried about.  My heart was actually pounding.  Hard.  It finished, we returned to our seats, and about 5 hands shot up in the air.  I braced myself.  Students began to talk....wait, I think that was a compliment?  They liked it?  Yes to the art design?  To the editing?  The direction?  All good things.  Our eyes moved to our professor.  "Two things," she said.  "And they're really minor."  She gave her tiny critiques (really tiny), and finished with, "I loved it.  Great job."

PHEW.  Suddenly, all the stress of the work, the hours of shooting, the image release forms, the tension in the group, melted away.  It was all worth it.  Am I really saying this right now?  Yes.  All. Worth it.  Because we created something we are pretty freaking proud of.  You can check out our masterpiece here, and feel free to let us know what you think.  Passion Pit did!  Which leads me to

Setback #7 - Passion Pit's response....

"Good video.  Great job."

You can't have everything.

YoungLife Leaders are Heroes

I've been inspired to blog again, thanks to all my awesome friends who keep blogs about their lives.  I never really realized what interesting friends I have.  I am genuinely intrigued by what they have to say.  Go figure.

This past week at school has been nuts.  I picked up 20 credit hours, expecting to drop one within the first week, but you know what, I think I'm gonna stick with all of them.  I'm only working a few hours at the dining hall so that I stay sane in the midst of homework, fellowship, and leading.

Leading!  I'll be honest, I was nervous to get back into the swing of things at Nelsonville High School.  And honestly, there's only been really one actual "swing," with that being All Area Club this past Monday night (which was AWESOME).  I'm still waiting to get hit in the face when the swing becomes continuous.  Anyway, I was nervous because I felt I had suddenly lost my passion over the summer.  Which seemed un-freaking-real because I LOVE YoungLife and I LOVE high schoolers and I LOVE my team so it didn't really make all that much sense to be feeling the way that I was.  I was worried about my attitude because the thoughts going on inside my head were, I'm gonna have to go to the school, instead of, I freaking WANT to go to the school.  See the obnoxiously important difference in those two thoughts?  I had.  And freaked.  I was fearful that leading was not where God wanted me and I had made a mistake getting placed and signing a contract and AH.  Deep breathe.  

I came to college, saw my team, and BOOM.  I was instantly back in love with Athens, my co leaders, 11 Stew, the whole shabang.  I've seen my high school girls (and guys), I've been to the school, I've hung out with my team, etc.  The passion came back, like I knew it would, deep down in my heart.  This is what I was built to do.  Love kids.  Lead them to the Lord.  Why?  Because that's what my YoungLife leaders did for me.  They invested their time and love and energy in me.  They prayed for me.  They weren't getting paid.  Sometimes they weren't even getting loved back.  And, despite my perceptions, they were actually human too.  They got tired.  They got frustrated.  They got weak.  Did we, the highschoolers, ever see that?  Nope.  They slapped on their smiles and amped up their energy for us, so that we might see the light of Christ shining out through them, even when they felt their darkest.  They walked the hallways of our high school and took us out to eat.  They came to our sports games and musicals and talent shows and graduation parties.  They sought us out and just listened to us talk about our problems that sometimes weren't even all that big, but they comforted us as if they were.  They held bible studies and cabin times so that we would not fall away.  They kept persevering even when they were shut down time and time and time again.  They planned their lives around us.  All because they knew about this incredible love that God has for His people, and just wanted to share it with us.  Just wanted us to know about it.  Because they care.  Because they love me.  And because they want to see me in Heaven.  Did I mention they're not getting paid?

I understand all this now because, well, I'm going through it.  Although I led WyldLife (YoungLife for middle school kids) in high school, I'll be honest, it was never this intense. Never in a million years would I have guessed the amount of time and energy spent on planning club, praying for kids, fundraising for camp, holding each other accountable, etc.  It's exhausting.  But I get why we do it.  I get it because I had it done for me.  And so of course I'm gonna want to keep passing the love.  These are kids lives we're talking about.  Don't you think it's slightly important?  I certainly do. 

I feel like this is such a jumbled mess of words but I had to just get it all out in the open onto a page around the world whatever.  My YoungLife leaders were my heroes in high school.  They're actually still my heroes.  I definitely would not be who I am now if they hadn't stepped into my world.  I would not be doing the things I'm doing if they hadn't showered me with their love and the love of God.  Whoo.  I just hope that one day, some kid would be thinking the same thing about me.  Calling me their hero.  Because I believe that's what YoungLife leaders are.  Just trying to make sure they're gonna see everyone in Heaven.

The original 7 leaders who brought me to Christ and changed my life.

Collapsus [Blog 9B]

I Wish I Would Have.... [Blog 9A]

Well, I was excited to present our game design project.  For the first time all quarter, I got to work with some GIRLS for a change, who wanted a good grade as much as I did.  We met in the library one evening and discussed our game concepts; what we wanted it to look like, the music behind it, the characters, etc.  Leaving the library (after someone else had offered to do the powerpoint so I wouldn't have to for a 5th time, another plus!), I was feeling good.  It was Monday and this project was already done.  What a great end to the quarter this was turning out to be!

We presented in class on Friday, along with everybody else, but as I watched other groups present, I noticed some things in their powerpoints that we didn't have.  Pictures, music, sound effects.  None of these were required, but nonetheless, it made their presentation, you know, prettier.  We did the best presentation we could; I was feeling good and confident.  After all, I've maintained about a 100 all quarter in this class (my TA is pretty frickin' awesome with grading).  Well, grades on Blackboard had a different story.  My first B+.  Ouch, even though I shouldn't really be saying ouch.  An 88 is not bad!  But you know, compared to the rest of the quarter...let's just say I was kind of wishing I had done the powerpoint myself like every other week.

Thankfully, I can make up for it in this blog by reflecting on a couple of my mistakes with the presentation.  Nothing I like doing more than blatantly pointing out my own flaws as a creative person.  Just kidding, I'm over it.

The first thing we could've done was add some pictures to spice up the visual attraction of our presentation.  We left our audience kind of in the dark when explaining what our game would look like.  We wanted it to be a side scrolling game and very colorful and cartoony, kind of like this picture:

Side-scrolling view, colorful, cute

We also wanted to convey to the audience of how our character was going to look (you could pick boy or girl, kind of like Wii style) and how he would advance to the next level: by collecting balloons!  Sorry he looks like Harry Potter, but there's nothing really wrong with that, right?

We could've also added in some music as an example of what we wanted to be coming out of the speakers when our little kid demographic would play this game.  The second part of my soundscape I did early in the quarter would have definitely sufficed for this.  It was upbeat and jazzy and even had kids laughing in the background.

In my elementary years, I was actually required to create a board game for an accelerated program I was in (yea, I was one of those kids).  I came up with a great idea, but when it came time to formulate and explain the rules to other people, I got stuck.  I think the same kind of thing might have happened here.  Although we explained the rules and delimiters pretty well to our audience, I definitely feel like it was the most difficult concept to present; we had an excellent idea of how the rules would work in the game because, well, we created it and spent an hour sorting it out.  If you explain a game to someone, usually it takes a little application on their part to fully grasp it, right?  You wouldn't just try to explain to someone how to play Euchre.  You first explain it, then play two or three open hands, then re-explain what trump means before actually diving into a game.  Same thing goes for this I think.  We knew that rules are things that the player has to do in order to advance, so we tried to tell our audience about the criteria needed to be met during a level for the player to advance (i.e. they have to give an answer).  We tried to make it clear through our delimiters what things would be holding a player back (i.e. the answer the player gives needs to be correct; the player cannot advance until the required amount of balloons collected per level matches the quota set by the game).

Overall, game design is pretty fun.  You're the boss: you make the rules; you make the delimiters; you add in your own sound effects.  It's neat, just not something I see myself spending my life on.  Editing still sits in #1.

Critique Critique Critique [Blog 8B]

http://mdia203kardos.blogspot.com/

I first looked at Chelsea's animation.  She and Josh did theirs as a whole minute long production.  The first thing I noticed about their animation was all the intense color!  Whereas most students did the average stick figure on a white background (including me), Chelsea and Josh decided to spice it up with a full out city scape scene.  Their first 30 seconds introduces the villain with greys and greens contrasted against a purplish background.  Everything is very saturated to give the audience a very heavy feel.  The villain is also dressed in very dark colors, and the hue of his red fire adds to the intensity.  The hero, on the other hand, is very contrasted right from the beginning, as her scene is very bright, unlike the villain scene.  Her landscape is of bright grey buildings and a blue sky and SUN!  The hue of her blue water and bright pink uniform contrasts well with the villain too.  Each time the hero gets shot at, the audience should feel the tension build as they try to guess if the hero will meet her fate or not.  The release comes when she puts out all the fire bullets coming toward her with her water.

http://mdia203marchetti.blogspot.com/

For Gabe and Brandon's animations, I want to look at the movement within the characters.  There is a lot of weight to the hero as he kneels on the ground and prepares for takeoff.  I also loved the parallel lines that follows his movement as he flies into the air, as well as his head coming at the audience before he makes a quick turn and continues flying to the right.  In a very simple animation like this, it is a hard thing to make characters or objects overlap.  However, the hero takes the lightning bolt and pulls it in front of his face before throwing it down, creating the concept of overlapping completely.  I LOVE the way the villain moves in his animation.  His head is larger than his whole body and he is constantly walking with his head past his feet, which I find hilariously devilish.  The movement of the villain's eye back and forth as well as the blowing of his hair also appeals to the sneaky side of the animation.  There is obvious contrast in characters and the way that they move (flying vs. walking) but the affinity comes in how they were drawn, each with a little added touch of color (cape vs. eyes).

http://mgmulig.blogspot.com/

Mike's hero and villain animations both made me laugh.  They were really good!  The lighting is shown in both animations easily.  The mood conveyed in the hero animation is very uplifting because of the bright colors chosen for the hero's body as well as the action of saving the ice cream cone.  The mood is also humorous as the hero chucks the rock into the air (although it looks more like it floats into the air).  While the hero animation was very simplistic, the villain animation added a lot more detail and conveyed more to the mood of the piece.  Because nothing happens within the first 4 seconds of the animation, there comes a heavy tension as the audience has no idea what's about to happen.  The release comes as she finally swoops into the frame from the top.  The villain's main "power" seems to be spewing this black venom-like substance to kill her victims and get what she wants.  The blackness is symbolized to look like a large looming shadow, which adds to the darkness and evil of the character.

Superpowers [Blog 8A]

To listen to the first 20 minutes of "This American Life" radio show, click on the link below!
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers

Dash

Hero/Villain Animations

Procrastinate Now, Don't Wait 'til Later

(P.S. This isn't a blog post for school, yay!)

Procrastination WILL be the death of me.  Today is Thursday.  Tomorrow, I have a 5 page critical essay due for English 151 that I haven't even STARTED yet.  Also due tomorrow is a full blown 30 second animation and character drawing for my Media 203 class (the one I write the blogs for) that I also have not even begun to think about.  From talking to other people in these classes, it sounds as though these two things averaged together will take a total of about 7 or 8 hours.  And what am I doing right now?  It's 10:30am and I'm blogging.  I'm procrastinating while writing about my procrastination.  If my mother is reading this, she might be having a heart attack.

I've never been a procrastinator.  When I was younger (like elementary and middle school), I would come home from school and sit at the counter in the kitchen and do all of my homework.  Seriously, I was that kid.  All of my homework was done by 4pm (when it only took an hour to do homework), and I had the rest of the night to myself.  Now, homework takes me about 4-6 hours a day.  Sometimes I have my boyfriend change my facebook password so I can't log on, and when that happens, the amount of time it takes me to complete homework will get cut maybe in half.  Sometimes he'll just take the initiative and I won't even have to ask him to change it.  Is my procrastination problem that obvious?  Maybe so.

Even with facebook gone, though, I'll turn to other things.  IMDB, YouTube, StumbleUpon (that's my big weakness); sometimes I'll even check my email 5 times in 15 minutes just so I won't have to do what I need to.  When did this become such an issue?  I don't like staying up into the early hours in the morning to accomplish what I could've accomplished 3 days ago.  I'm not really sure where I was going with this post, but I think I figured it out.  I'm making a pledge to myself (and my mom) that procrastination will no longer be the death of me.  I cannot and I will not be tempted with stupid websites or redecorating or cleaning or anything that will keep me from my work anymore.  Take that, Satan.  This past week I think I've been the most stressed than I have been all quarter.  You know why?  Because I've been thinking about these two things I have to do, I have to do, I have to do.  I spent all this time worrying and thinking and stressing instead of just, eh hem, DOING them.  It seems so simple, doesn't it?  Maybe it is that simple.  This is definitely one of those times where I wish Dory was actually here.  I'll give my 6th grade self a try again.  However, positive thoughts and prayers my way are still very much appreciated.

Also, if you've actually been taking the time to read my blogs for school, thank you.  They might not be the most fun to read, but I think I actually learn something, whether it be about the class or about myself, every time I do them.  Pretty cool.

Analyze Analyze [Blog 7]

To watch the video that I compared ours to, click here.

Both of these videos used very different approaches.  Ours (I'll call our video Joke 4) was a silent film, with just music and text, while the other group (I'll call their video Joke 5) used dialogue and no music.

The first thing to look at is the line in both videos.  They're pretty similar in interior spaces.  Joke 4 begins with an interior scene in a living room.  The afghan, picture, and pillow all points directly to our characters head.  Likewise, in the office space of Joke 5, everything is angled toward the character.  And I mean everything.  The laptop, papers, and even scissors are all pointing to him to accentuate his character.  Joke 5 also uses line very well throughout the entirety of the video.  I assume this is because they shot it all inside.  It's a little harder to create line for eye-direction purposes when shooting outdoors, like we did for Joke 4.  However, in the jail cell, our main characters head is framed by the lines of the cell blocks.

The second thing that adds to the subconsciousness of an audiences' depiction of a story is shape.  In Joke 4, our main character's head is very round, giving him an innocence and a jolly quality.  Our antagonist, on the other hand, has a very triangle face, making her devious character match up perfectly with the devious action she ends up doing.  In Joke 5, the main character has a very square shape to his head, fitting perfectly with the aggravation he displays throughout the entire video.  His wife and all 3 coworkers, on the other hand, have the round faces, which gives them innocent qualities.  Poor Todd.  Also round are the balloons displayed on the mantel and the cake set in front of the protagonist.  All this adds to the contrast of his aggravation and the nice gesture his wife tried to make.

There was contrast between how the producers wanted the audience to take in the characters of the videos.  Joke 4 was very active; because there was no dialogue, the audience is put in the position to assume how each character feels and the way they speak the text on the screen.  However, Joke 5 was didactic; the producer wanted the audience to know exactly what kinds of qualities the characters possessed and did this through providing the dialogue.

Contrast and affinity played an important role in both videos.  Joke 4 had the contrast of interior and exterior scenes, while Joke 5 was strictly interior (with the exception of establishing shots).  Both videos had a male and female character, and I guess you could even go so far to say that in both videos the females were the antagonists (always causing problems, those women).  And, of course, the contrast between not only dialogue/no dialogue but color/black and white adds a specific feel to each video.  Joke 5 is warm so the audience can feel a little more connected than Joke 4.  Kinda cold and gray.

The Silent Movie

This was based off of joke #4.  Enjoy!

Finding Nemo is So Pretty [Blog 6B]

How To Be Creative [Blog 6A]

 Before you watch anything, check out this website.  Click 'download' to read what I read.  http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/6.HowToBeCreative 

The Italian Job [Blog 5B]

No, I don't like this movie just because I'm italian, and yes, that is Charlize Theron.  When I finish watching this movie I always have a craving for some Mighty Joe Young.  Enjoy. :)

Music Critiques [Blog 4B]

To listen to my audio critique of songs by Brandon Reid, Chelsea Kardos, and Mary Swick: click on the red box!

I am Not Brainwashed [Blog 4A]

Before you read anything, check out this website.  Click 'download' to read what I read.

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

One of the seven pillars, Acknowledging the Lizard, talks about the uncomfortableness people have when they're being laughed at.  I mean, rightfully so.  Who wants to be laughed at?  I always hated those people who would laugh at someone after he or she had fallen down or done something embarrassing and then say, "Hahaha, no, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you!"  in between giggles.  Really?  That's odd, because I'm not laughing.  Anyway, the pillar says that being laughed at is the lizard's worst nightmare (if you haven't figured this out, the lizard is our brain).  When we're laughed at, we shut down.  We stop what we're doing; we stop creating.  This is called resistance.  Resistance is that voice inside your head that says, "Crap, we're being laughed at.  Quick, stop being creative and start doing everything by the books.  Be the same as everyone else.  Then they can't laugh at you."  Kinda sad, isn't it?  Godin, the author of this piece, tells us to acknowledge the lizard so that we can ignore it.

A second pillar that really spoke to me as a creative person is Make Art.  Appropriate, I suppose.  I especially like that Godin said that art isn't necessarily a poem or a painting.  It can be anything anyone has ever done.  Art doesn't follow instructions, so in turn, can be very risky.  It sort of goes back to the lizard.  People have to realize that once they make art, they could be laughed at.  Look at all the random people on YouTube.  They upload videos with content anywhere from a Jesus centered flash mob to a stop motion t-shirt war.  All of it is art.  And no one seems to care how many dislikes they get or how many people laugh at them. Insanely different and unique, these videos show the creative sides to people all around the world. 

These two pillars are definitely connected to this blog I'm writing, in some ways at least.  My blog, first of all, is a pretty good representation of me.  My favorite color is green.  I like the beach.  I've developed a writing style that is very different from, say, my speaking voice.  My dad, who reads my blog on a regular basis, always comments how sometimes when he's reading, he almost has a hard time picturing that the person who is "talking" on his computer screen is his own babygirl.  "It's so funny but so different than the Angela I know," he says.  That's all art, is it not?  I've created something that is like me, but also isn't.  Do you follow?  It's okay if you don't.  That's art too!  Someone may read my blog and think A) I'm not very witty, B) I'm too sarcastic, C) I'm not organized, etc.  These are all attacks on my lizard.  The trick is to say, "to hell with them," make my art, and keep on keepin on.

Jazzy Songs

Andrew and I each created our own version of a jazzy song.  Check em out!

Cover Songs [Blog 3A]

Blackbird is one of my favorite songs ever created.  It's been covered many times, but probably my favorite version is off the Across the Universe soundtrack, sung by Evan Rachel Wood.  It is so incredibly different than the original version by The Beatles, which gives it a whole new feel and grooooove.

The cover lyrics are identical to the original, so I'll skip over that and talk about the differences in the melody.  Although they are still extremely similar, The Beatles play out most of their song in a major key, but Evan Rachel Wood sings in mostly a minor key.  I still think it's a little hard to decipher between the two if you haven't listened to these version a ton, though.  The instruments used behind Wood also helps in giving the song a "minor" feel, which brings me to the real contrast in the two pieces: musical quality.

The one thing these songs have in common is the lyrics.  The pitch, intensity, timbre, speed, and harmony, however, are SO much different between the two.  I'll start with analyzing the original done by The Beatles.  Even though they're singing about a "blackbird singing in the dead of night," it sounds like a happy song!  The audience doesn't realize it is kind of a happy thing they're singing about (learning to fly) until a little bit later.  It's upbeat and very light.  It starts out with a soft intensity, adding to the airiness of the song.  However, starting at about :57, the volume picks up, and although it's louder, it doesn't take away from the happiness they started out with.  The timbre is very simple; one twangy guitar for the melody, playing two strings at a time; one guitar for the bass, playing one note on the beat for four beats every measure; and a simple metronome to keep their beat!  No drums, no symbol, no bongos.  Just a metronome. One Beatle starts out the song by himself, and is later joined at the chorus by another fellow Beatle.  The second voice sounds like there should be a harmony under-lapping the melody, but instead he just adds to the volume of the voices.  My favorite thing in the whole song is the part where the tempo slows down and you think it's over at 1:41, but GOTCHA, they pick it back up again for another repeat of a verse, accompanied by some bird chirps.

Evan Rachel Wood does it an entirely different way.  The song starts out MUCH more somber than the original.  Now, it actually does sound like the blackbird is a sad thing, but instead of coming to a realization that it's actually a song about hope, the gloominess of the song stays throughout the entire thing.  The tempo is much slower, and the intensity is much louder.  It's still pretty even though it's kind of "in your face."  The timbre is more complex than the original.  An accordion is played to start off the song (the intro is longer than the original), and is later accompanied by a guitar, right before she starts to sing.  Later, something that sounds very much like a piccolo is added in.  Although it's only two more instruments than the original had, it still makes the song seem much more complex, and the audience may feel like there's a lot going on.  Notice how I didn't say what was keeping the beat?  That's because there is nothing keeping the beat.  Wood takes it at her own pace, the tempo swinging in and out from slower to faster.  Each musical interlude in between her singing doesn't stick to a beat either.  Overall, the pitch is lower than the Beatles version, in everything except her voice, which is obviously taken up one octave.  No one sings with Wood; she does the whole song by herself.  I think it adds to the gloominess of the entirety of the song.

I've listened to The Beatles version of this song for years, but the first time I heard Evan Rachel Wood do it, it brought me to tears.  I used to think of this song as happy-go-lucky, but now it makes me feel something different every time I listen to it.  Between the new instruments, the slower tempo, and the irregular rhythm, it's altered in a way that, sorry, Beatles, but you guys probably couldn't have pulled it off.  It's such a beautiful rendition and I think Wood did an absolutely fantastic job with it.  If only I had vocal chords like hers.

Soundscape

A soundscape is a series of sound effects and musical loops that try to convey a certain emotion to the audience.  Listen to the music clip and try to guess the emotion we were given to convey.  The emotion is revealed at the end!

I would recommend listening to the awesome soundscapes of Joey Buccini, Becca Amato, and Morgan Messenheimer as well.  Click on their names to get routed to their blogs!

Find Your Howl [Blog 2]

Before you read anything, check out this website.  Click 'download' to read what I read.

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

I liked both of these stories, but could probably relate better to the second one (Part II).  For a brief summary, Flaum's sets up his story by telling the audience about a 5th grade paper assignment he had back in the day that had to be 5 pages in length, which I think we can all agree is a little lengthy for a 10-year-old.  Nick, Flaum's 5th grade "rival," actually takes the assignment to the next level by not only achieving the required length of the paper, but actually doubling it.  However, Nick "cheated by nature of the repetitive trick."  His story was about a tiger who lived in a cage at a zoo, and one day decided to plan his escape.  He finally picks the perfect night to execute his flawless plan, but when he wakes up, he finds himself in a different cage at a different zoo.  The tiger comes up with multiple plans, only to find himself back inside a different cage at a different zoo every time.  Flaum is angry with Nick for writing this story because it is "too true," and devastating at that.  Nick's lesson was "there's nowhere to run!", again, a little intense for a 10-year-old.  Flaum's argument, then, is "for the cage to drop away it has to die, this means that we have to die with it because, for reasons beyond our control, we have become identified with the cage and are one with it."  He uses examples like marriage and a strangling job that are soul-killing to us.  To rid the feelings, we must rid them.

To listen to my audio post: Click the green box! (Ignore the advertisement at the beginning)

Ways to Get New Ideas [Blog 1B]

 Before you read anything, check out this website.  Click 'download' to read what I read.

 http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/49.06.14Ways

In this article, the author, Mitch Ditkoff, gives, what I think, 14 great ways to spark one's creativity.  Each suggestion has some sort of a theme to it, and at the end of each suggestion is a prompt for the reader, including questions to get one's brain thinking a little harder or an actual applied task to help out with organization. 

Out of Ditkoff's 14 suggestions, a few of them really stuck out to me.  The first was suggestion number 5, "Fantasize."  Yea, I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing too.  Ditkoff even knows what you're thinking, as he mentions that this term is usually associated with "children or perverts."  Not the case here, however.  Ditkoff merely wants the creative thinker to do just that-think creatively about stuff he or she wouldn't normally think about.  Nighttime dreams can be really, really strange sometimes, right?  Daydreams are the same thing, you're just conscious enough to scribble down all your thoughts, especially if a great one pops into your head.  I need to start doing this more.  Fantasizing, daydreaming, whatever you want to call it.  Just as long as I'm not doing so in class.  Sometimes, I am quick to be pessimistic, and think that something is impossible and I'll never get it down.  However, Ditkoff argues that part of fantasizing is simply entertaining the idea that the impossible can actually be made possible.  All you have to do is let your mind wander.

A second suggestion I took to nicely was number 8, "Take a Break."  YES.  Don't you love hearing those words together?  I think, or I hope, at least, that everyone reading this has experienced the wondrous joys of walking away from a project that's stumping you and coming back to it, finding it is much easier coming back into it now than it was a half hour ago.  I've experienced this with film projects as well as a Sudoku.  Sometimes I am so stumped that I just think the puzzle is faulty and the editors made a mistake, but when I set it down and come back to it 15 minutes later, suddenly, an 8 magically appears!  Ditkoff explains that it is often obsession and too much effort that leads us to a road block.  Stepping away for a little while gives your brain a chance to relax or focus on something else not so tedious, so that when you come back to it, your brain has had a mini vacation and is ready for a real solution.  When I work on a film project, I could go for 14 hours straight and not even realize it (seriously, I've done that).  I bet I could cut that time down by a few hours or so, if, when any serious issue comes up that is stumping me, I set the program to the side for a bit and play a game of Solitaire before trying again.

Finally, Ditkoff's number 10 suggestion, entitled "Hang Out with Diverse Groups of People," really made me think about how I could benefit by doing that.  A lot, I figured.  When we hang around the same people day in and day out, they can become even too familiar.  Everything kind of starts to become the same...creativity goes by the wayside.  Entering college, I found an amazing group of friends who I can laugh with, cry with, and I know each of them truly care about my well-being.  At the beginning of the year, I was hanging out with them every single night, and I loved it.  It wasn't until my roommate invited me to come hang out with her friends one night (and I said yes, that's the kicker) that I realized there were actually other interesting people living on this campus who I didn't even know existed.  Just spending that one night with my roomy and her friends made me feel like I had accomplished something; what that was I have no idea.  As I continue on through college life, I'll make more of a point to say "yes" when asked to swim with a different crowd.  Getting to know more people on this campus shouldn't be a problem, and knowing that I can use it to my creative advantage as well as socially is a bonus too.

Prompt 4: Make New Connections

aquarium               jump                funny

sock                      swim                smooth

elephant                fly                    strong

football                  wish                 turquoise

God                       sleep                flat

pillow                     create              smelly

family                    dance               spikey

teddy bear              snuggle            fresh

calendar                 stretch             microscopic

boyfriend                laugh               boxy 

Some "intriguing new connections" I have discovered:

I know God is strong, but he could also be microscopic.  I mean, I can't really see him, but I know he's there.  He's just an itty bitty guy floatin' around in my heart.

Why is the saying "when pigs fly"?  Why can't it be "when elephants fly"?  Elephants are larger than pigs.  It would be more of a miraculous thing to see an elephant fly over a pig, I think.

If you had to choose between sleeping flat or sleeping spikey, which would you choose?  I think I would prefer to sleep flat because spikey just sounds painful, but actually, flat doesn't sound that comforting either.

I've never seen a turquoise football, but now I want one.

Who Influences You? [Blog 1A]

I think of myself as a pretty creative person.  When I'm in editing mode, my creativity can really flow.  I find myself thinking strictly about which shots of film will grab an audience's attention the fastest and keep it...how can the text overlay the video in a way that's not distracting...etc.  It sounds very technical, but there is a lot of creativity that goes into piecing something together.  The thing I think about most when designing or creating something is my audience.  Any form of entertainment is for the audience, in my opinion; not necessarily the producer of the work.  I have such a desire to make an audience laugh hysterically or sob uncontrollably (or both) when I think about making movies someday.  Someone who has produced movies and has really gotten me to laugh and cry in the same movie is Andrew Stanton.

Most people might not know him by name, but I'm sure many people know him by the movie's he's produced and written.  One of my favorites, as you may have been able to guess, is his 2003 box office boom Finding Nemo.  Although I don't want to go into animation, Stanton's work is something I admire very much, simply for the direction and cinematography.  In the next two clips, hopefully you'll be able to see what I mean about how there are two extremes to emotional appeal in this movie he's worked on.

1.  Andrew Stanton is an inspiration for me as a writer as well as a producer and director.  Writing is something I struggle with when it comes to film-making.  Where do I begin my story?  Will the audience think this is as funny as I do?  How do you end a great movie?  I love Stanton's writing because it is very didactic.  He tells the audience what to think through what the characters say or through the image sequence on the screen, and there's really never much room for guessing.  A reason for this might be because he works mainly for a children's audience, although all Pixar movies are, in my opinion, appealing to adults as well as kids.  A didactic writer does not really let the audience make their own assessments of what each character is like or what they're thinking.  Nothing is really implied throughout the writing or scene transitions; it's all very straightforward.

2.  In almost every movie or piece of music there is the tension and release factor.  Something (music or an action scene) builds and builds until the audience almost can't take it anymore, and then there is a resolution that's comforting to the audience, known as the release.  Andrew Stanton does a great job of this in all of the Pixar movies he's worked on.  Even the first two clips at the top are great examples of tension and release.  Tension in the first clip with the barracuda is very high even after Marlin blacks out and the screen turns black.  As the audience, you still don't know what has happened. It's tense!  As Marlin wakes up and realizes Coral and his unborn sons and daughters have been eaten by the barracuda, the audience may start to relax only because they think there's no hope for anything else.  But then, as Marlin sees the sole fish egg on the reef, there is that release, and the audience can really breathe again.  It's not all horrible.  In the second clip, even Dory's singing can be a tension builder, especially because Marlin is talking over her the whole time trying to get her to stop.  When Marlin finally shuts her up, there is a release, as that high pitched noise that was making the audience's ears bleed a few seconds ago has finally stopped.

3.  A basic concept that Stanton has used very well in his movies is contrast and affinity throughout characters and locations.  There are similarities and differences in every piece of media artwork, especially through Pixar movies in which Stanton has worked.  Each movie has lots of characters who are of the same "kind;" for example, in Toy Story, most characters are toys.  In A Bug's Life, every character is a bug of some sort.  In Monsters, Inc., with the exception of a few human children, all characters are "monsters."  I'll use this last example to further explain contrast and affinity and how Stanton uses it to influence his audience.  Sully, as some would argue is the main protagonist in the movie, is a big, fluffy, blue monster, while Mike, his counterpart, is a short, round, green monster.  There is much contrast in appearance between these two main characters.  Even their personalities are contrasting; Sully is a big, huggable teddy bear, who wants to cause no harm to anyone, and Mike is straightforward about his work and wants nothing but success.  And he's hilarious without even knowing it!  The fact that these two characters are monsters, but are in no way scary the the audience, makes this contrast extremely funny.  On the other side of the spectrum, whenever Sully and Mike are shown, it's usually in very good light; they're surrounded by other happy monsters, or are working in the daylight.  However, their enemy, Randall, is usually shown in darker places, like the dimmed locker room, and he is shown working excessively at night in the dark.  The fact that these characters are almost always shown in the same light reinforces for the audience what kinds of characters they are.

What Defines Your Creativity?

One of my Media classes for spring quarter is called Media and the Creative Process.  We are required to blog for this class!  Our first lab assignment this beautiful Friday morning is to edit and upload a photo that defines or inspires our creativity.  This was a picture I took of my left hand last summer at a soccer game while I was playing around with the macro setting on my brand new camera.  I chose this photo because it describes what my life is centered around, hence why the cross is the only thing in focus.  Just taking some time away with the Lord is enough inspiration for my creativity.

First edited photo!

The Fun Day and then Some Other Stuff

Friday was our fun day.  We left the hotel at 10 for the world famous UNIVERSAL STUDIOS.  Not to be confused with Disney Land, Disney World, or the Florida Universal Studios.  There was no Harry Potter ride. 

There are two levels to Universal, upper and lower.  To get to the lower level, you have to go down 4 massive escalators built into the side of a hill.  It was incredible and an amazing view.  We could see all of Los Angeles from those things.

We went on a few crazy "rides."  The Mummy Tombs was fun; you thought you were just gonna bop along the ride until BAM there's a million foot drop and my stomach came out of my head.  The Jurassic Park ride was also fun; it was mostly through water and since little Angela got picked to sit on the end of the cart, she was the one who got soaking wet.  It only took about 4 hours for my butt and thighs to dry completely.

We took the Universal Studio tour, which lasted about an hour.  They take you around on trams so you don't have to walk it, and lots of the sets that they have set up are extremely recognizable.  My favorite was probably Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives.  I had no idea that the houses and street were all practical sets, meaning that there's an exterior for show but also an interior where you can film. 

Gabby's House :D

Lynette's House

The Desperate Housewives set was cool, but what was even cooler was the crash scene set from War of the Worlds.  They showed the scene up on the tram screens so we could watch it and pick out where each shot was on the actual set.  It was SWEET.

We went on a couple more "rides" and things after our tour was over.  I went into the House of Horrors and nearly crapped my pants; remind me to never do anything like that ever again.  There's just something about mummies and monsters chasing you around with a chainsaw that's so unsettling.  We went down City Walk, which is a bunch of different shops and stores and eateries all clumped together.  It was pretty cool.  I had my first ever Yogurtland experience.  Red Velvet Cake Batter Yogurt?  Yummmmmy.

And that was literally our Friday!  A really nice and relaxing way to end our week.  I am so happy I partook in this trip.  It opened my eyes up to so many things and reinforced the things I already knew.  

1: I will be crapped on.  I have accepted that and plan to move on with my life.  Like I said in an earlier post, I don't expect to come into the industry as a 22-year-old and tell everybody else to move out of the way.  I know there are still some people my age who think they're going to do that.  That's gonna bite them in the butt, I think.  

2: I know I still want to be below-the-line!  There are above-the-line and below-the-line jobs.  Above and below don't mean better and suckier; more money and less money.  Above simply means you're working in production, whether it be producing, directing, supervising, etc.  Below means you are part of pre or post production.  Script writing, camera work, sound mixing, EDITING.  

3:  I am more than 1,000,000% sure that I want to be an editor.  Thank you Life and Careers project that introduced me to this job field in 8th grade.  Seriously.  That was the day I knew I wanted to do this and it hasn't changed since.  

4:  I have never been a conformist and don't plan to start now.  L.A. just doesn't seem like the place for me to start off after I graduate, especially because I want to be close(r) to home and have a husband before making such a drastic decision like driving 3,000 miles in my car that I don't have.  New York, here I come.

Observation side note:  I know I'm somewhat of a hopeless romantic, and I hope you don't think I'm creepy by observing this, but out of the 60 or so people that I met this week, I think I counted 9 with wedding rings on their fingers.  That was freakish for me to witness especially because I was that 8-year-old planning her wedding.  It was a bit of a wake up call that it's a tricky thing in this industry to maintain a healthy work life and relationship at the same time.  But again, I've never been one to conform.

5:  I must get an internship.  For some reason, the internship concept has never appealed to me as a student, but now I see the importance of it and how significant it can be while trying to find a job.  Employers just trust so much more when they see a resume with an internship or two on it.  They know you've had experience, and besides other traits like being proactive, a spunky personality, confidence (but not too confident) and knowledge (but don't know too much), experience is what's gonna get you the job.

6:  Yes, this is a competitive industry.  But working together with people on projects is actually the best way to get jobs.  I'll refer you here if you drop my name there.  It is still every man for himself, but not as much as I actually thought.  My competitors can be my friends too.

I think I'm just slightly worried because I've told about 100 people now that I'd dedicate my first movie to them.  I don't remember who all those people are....

The Day I Figured Out My Life

Today was a good day.  It was relaxing, in a sense.  More relaxed and chill than the past 4 days have been.

We had breakfast this morning in the hotel with Rocco Hindman, an OU alum (I don't think I need to clarify this anymore) and a behind-the-camera talent agent.  I had no clue that there were agencies out there helping FILMMAKERS to get discovered...I thought they were exclusive to people who can belt a high C...and that has never and will never be me.  But yeah!  This guy works at an agency that find talented directors, producers, writers, script supervisors, etc, that haven't been discovered yet.  It was pretty cool.  Never a job I would personally get into, but these agencies always need people in the mail room, so I won't disregard it for one of my first jobs quite yet.

After Rocco left, Matt Rhodes (alsoanOUalum) came to speak to us.  He is a producer and has worked on such films as Passengers, Southland Tales, A Different Loyalty, and Freshman Orientation (it's okay, I had never heard of any of them either).  All in all he's produced 21 films in his producing career.  He started his own business called Persistent Entertainment, playfully going off of how "persistent" he was when he was starting his career.  Wow, could this guy really talk about himself.  He told us at the beginning of his shpeel (which lasted approximately 90 minutes) that he was going to give us brutally honest advice and not sugar coat anything.  "Okay," I thought, "I'm completely fine with that."  And I would've been fine with it, if he had actually given us some brutal and non-sugar coated helpful information.  Can you tell I wasn't crazy about this dude?  I'm not even sure why yet.  There was just something about him that did not sit right with me.  An observation I've made being out here is that a lot of people who we know were in our shoes maybe only 5, 10, or 20 years before us are now the cockiest people on the face of this earth.  I don't know why that is.  All we ever hear is "you have to start from the bottom; pay your dues; blah blah blah."  I get that; I truly truly get that.  I'm not expecting to move out to LA the second after I graduate and be like "Yo Spielberg get off your high horse 'cause a new producer's in town" (please picture me saying this very ghetto-like for a better intimidating effect).  I know bottom feed is what I'll be first but JEEZ do you have to be so cold-hearted?  I'm sorry for venting through a blog.  In a way, meeting people like that was good this week.  I will not let this cut-throat industry turn me into a Grinch.  No way no how.

Well, after our extremely insightful session with Mr. Rhodes, we headed back to downtown Hollywood for a nice, relaxing lunch and a tour of the Kodak Theatre.  No pictures allowed in there, but boy was it cool.  This is where they hold the Oscars, American Idol Finale, and lots of other high costing shows.  It was a really cool, cheap experience I think everyone should partake in if they're in Los Angeles.  We also unexpectedly ran into an OU alum, who is some head honcho in and around the theatre!  This guy was so impressed that 20 of us had come out here for spring break that he gave us each a free hat!  Just goes to show that bobcats have one of the strongest bonds in the business. :)

After we had walked around Hollywood Blvd for a little while, we got back on the bus and headed over to the Atlas Digital Production Center for a tour.  I was especially excited about this tour because they strictly specialize in post-production.  Finally!  Some insight from editing freaks!  These guys edit lots of reality shows and game shows, such as Survivor, American Idol, Deal or No Deal, Minute to Win It, Real Housewives of (Insert County) County, Jersey Shore, and a million others.  They showed us around a pod on the first floor, which is basically a big living room with about 8 editing suite rooms off of the big room.  Lots of colleges I visited in high school had their studios set up like this.  It was cool to see some familiarity.

The tour went upstairs to people who were editing for the Disney Channel only.  We were allowed to wander around, and so a few classmates and I ended up in a suite where a woman was editing a promo video for the Disney Channel show Good Luck Charlie.  This woman freaking changed my life in a matter of 10 minutes.  She was so upbeat and outgoing.  Since I am such an editing geek, I was asking her tons of questions on how she likes editing promos and where she got her start, etc.  She actually started working at Showtime and Nickelodeon in NYC and then moved out here after she got a job offer from the Disney Channel.  I asked her how she likes LA.  "It's just different," she said.  "I like LA, but I loved getting my start in New York.  Everyone in LA thinks they can crap on you because everyone has that 'I-suffered-so-you-have-to-suffer' attitude.  People in New York actually want to help you start your career and they don't wanna be a prick to you either.  Once you got some experience and a real resume, then you should come out to LA."  Maybe I liked this woman so much because she told me what I wanted to hear.  I wanted to freaking kiss her.  All I've heard all week is "I shoved everything I owned in my car, drove it 3,000 miles out here with nothing but $400 and some granola bars."  Seriously.  From everyone.  I think it was starting to freak me out a little bit because after being here, I don't know if LA is really the right place for me as a 22-year-old.  Starting out at a job that's maybe only 7 hours from home and where I might be a little more respected sounds more than perfect to me.  I know I'm still going to start at the very bottom of the food chain, but I'm completely okay with that.  I was also so giddy watching her cut pieces and mix sound and hit the spacebar in the editing software she was using.  Another thing that hit me today is that I've been hearing from directors, producers, scriptwriters, cameramen, and assistants all week.  No editors until today.  I was in my glory.  I am so convinced that it is the job for me. 

Her 3 monitors for editing

The view from her suite!

Tonight we attended an OU alumni dinner, where we got to watch some videos from the 48-Hour-Shootout we had about 2 months ago and also network with different people in different fields.  It's slightly intimidating, going up to someone and introducing yourself when everyone knows you just want to get their email address.  Nah, just kidding, it is so good to network for socialization purposes too.  Being a bobcat and trying to find a production job really do go hand in hand.  We've got a great little troop going for us.

Tomorrow we're off to Universal Studios for some true fun and no professionalism for the day.  Don't be jealous; it's supposed to rain.