Blog 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVrR3BJIUo&feature=related

In The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the theme of the movie is very dependent on who is watching the movie and what they interpret from it. When I watch it, I reason that the theme is that the pressure put on manhood and idolizing those we call heroes to the point where we are obsessed can result in disastrous consequences. This scene exemlephines the theme because it is the scene in which Robert Ford assassinates Jesse James. The act itself may be considered a heroic action. Jesse James, who was a murderer and a thief, was finally assassinated. Most would say the killer should be awarded for such a heroic action. This was not the case however. Robert Ford was the guest of Jesse James in his own house and he was shot in the back of the head, one of the most cowardly ways to kill. The theme may seem active at first, but as you watch the movie, you realize theres more to it than a hero killing a villain because the villain didn't turn out to be as amazing as the hero thought he was.

I personally think this is a tremendous scene. In this scene, you can see just how terrified Robert Ford is. Furthermore, one could argue that Jesse James knows he is about accept is fate and that he is actually hoping that Robert Ford will end it all for him. Regardless, the director uses lines, shapes, space, rhythm and movement to set up this beautiful scene. When Jesse's daughter is sitting in the front lawn, the shot puts her between two fences. Your eyes automatically follow the fence to her. Again when the camera sees Jesse standing in the window, the lines of the panel contrast against him. When Robert's brother stands in the door frame, the lines on the door do tend to point at him. The shapes of the characters are also very noticeable. Jesse James is very rectangular and muscular. Robert Ford is very lengthy and short. The theme of squares is also very common in the shot. There are square window panels and square door cut outs. The director plays with space quite a bit in the shot. He has each figure move around so much that he staggers every person. The space is mostly ambiguous with some fixed space sometimes. The rhythm of the shot is very slow, almost like an actual execution scene. It seems like as Jesse walks from room of the house to the other, his face looks like he walked the gallows to the noose. Their rhythm is probably one of the most telling aspects though. How calmly Jesse moves in comparison to how shaky Robert Ford moves shows the audience that one is in control while the other is not. Because of the contrast in their movement you can see which one is the stronger man by who deals with things stronger. Affinity is shown when you look at their clothes and how they dress. The reaction to when Jesse looks into the picture and sees Robert Ford about to shoot him can yield either objective or subjective results. Objectively Jesse James sees Robert's face pointed a gun at his back. Subjectively it is up to us what we think went through his head. Did he want to die? Did he not want to react immediately when he thought they were going to shoot him.

Blog 7

I decided to use two of my favorite animated movies, Spirited Away and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Both of these are oriented for children and adults. Spirited Away is an anime movie about a girl whose parents were turned into hogs and she must work with monsters to win them back from an evil witch. It has many deep messages about finding oneself and the power of imagination. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quazimodo falls in love with a gypsy and learns to follow his heart and for him to think for himself. The screenshots I used from both movies show the antagonists and how the animators portrayed them. Both pictures represent the antagonists in darker colors with wrinkly faces against a warm background. Both antagonists are older and are ornately decorated. One thing I found very interesting was the hair of the Witch and the hat on top of Frollo's head. They all seem to share a very triangular shape. Contrasting the two images, one can see the shape of their heads. Frollo's head is very long and triangularly. He has a pointed chin and a long neck. The witch's face is very round. Her eyes are gigantic in comparison to his. She has a double chin and her neck is not even visible. The color of the two characters are somewhat similar. The witch is wearing a blue dress with brightly colored jewelry and a warmly pale face with purple eyeliner. Her hair is a warm white in the frame as well. In comparison, Frollo's clothes are purple, brown, black and red. His face is also warmly pale but his hair is grey. The Spirited Away's frame seems to be a bit darker because of the lack of light. Furthermore this provides interesting shadows on the Witch's face. Half of Frollo's face is in shadow and his sneer helps makes him seem more disgusted. The shadows and the colors of the witch symbolize that she may seem to have this loving grandma like figure to her but she is actually evil as represented by the shadows and the contrasting colors of her rings. Similarly the dark and malevolent colors of Frollo symbolize how evil he truly is with his intentions.

Blog 6

Link to original video

A Fistful of Dollars was one of Sergio Leon's first movies. It was part of the "The man with no name trilogy" starring Clint Eastwood. Unlike most westerns before, this movie was different because Leone changed the space from the tradition flat space to a more ambitious space. Some of the elements he used were 180 degree rule, the rule of thirds and the 30 Rule. The first shot placed the figure on the right side of the rule of thirds with the head in the upper right intersect. Furthermore, the figure walking was located in the lower left side. The 180 rule was obeyed because there was no change in camera between the two subjects. The 30 rule did not change either because the camera did not move. The cut to the next scene obeyed the 30 rule because it jumped to the subject which was much greater than 30% zoom. The camera switched sides than the previous shot but because a new character was introduced the previous one was cut out a new line was drawn and therefore the 180 rule was not broken. The rule of the thirds was obeyed because Clint Eastwood was placed in the left side of the frame while the camera dollied with him as he walked in front of the undertaker. The next shot cut to four men behind a fence watching Eastwood walking off screen. The four men were not placed in the rule of thirds intersect. Since the cut was to a different object the 30 rule does not apply. The 180 degree rule does remain faithful to the side it was formerly on. We then cut back to Eastwood walking in front of the bar. Again he is placed in the rule of thirds and the 180 rule is faithful. The 30 rule does not apply because its a different shot than the previous. The next shot looks at a different view of the first shot from the point at where Eastwood originally walked. The subject is placed in the rule of thirds with the lines of the building highlighting him. This does not break the 180 rule because other shots have occurred between the original establishing shot and this shot. Furthermore the 30 Rule does not apply because its a shot of a new object.

Blog 5

Song 1

Song 2

For more than half a century, Ennio Morricone has composed hollywood soundtracks. Some of his greatest and most famous songs are theme songs to such famous Westerns as The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, One Upon a Time in the West and My Name is Nobody. His Western music has a specific type of style that usually highlights one specific instrument. This instrument is usually very high and drives the song's melody. Supporting the main instrument is usually a guitar. This running guitar usually highlights the groove and is mostly upbeat and supported by drums that resemble a "running horse". The two songs I picked were "The Man With Harmonica" and "The Theme from A Fistful of Dollars". These songs were both similar in aspects and very different. Like most of Ennio Morricone's songs, both feature a single instrument in the beginning with a high frequency. In "The Man With the Harmonica", a Harmonica leads the beginning. In "A Fistful Dollars", a whistle caries the melody. The rhythm in the first song was very mourning and slow while the second tended to be adventurous and wild. The first song was more intense while the second was more relaxed and laid back. The speed of "Harmonica" was slow and sluggish while the second was faster and more upbeat.

Animation Cutscene

The NUMBER 1 Fight Scene.

Blog 4

(Embedding was disabled on this video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeFpM2OEWPs

Part II

This scene from a fistful of dollars is a classic. The man with no name (Joe) goes to a rival gang and asks for an apology. When they ridicule him and attack them, he shoots all four of them dead. As the scene progresses, the listening modes are more easily heard. The sound of the guns and the wind are casual. They are indeed the same sounds that guns and wind do make in real life. The sounds of Joe's boots in the beginning are semantic. They most like are not that distinctive in real life. Sergio Leone most likely wanted those boots to represent the anticipation of this stranger approaching what is essentially four bad guys. Later, this sound of boots against the ground would become the hallmark of western movies. Another principle used in this clip is how space influences sound. As you hear the the boots walk closer and closer to the house, you hear directionality and movement. The sound shows that someone is getting closer and closer. This builds the mood that something important is about to happen. Furthermore, when strings begin to play after Joe is threatened, the audience is very much aware that the showdown is about to occur. This, in a way, is subjective and emotional. There is nothing in nature that says that "if you hear rising strings, action will follow". It is a tool used to by the director to build suspense and rising action. Eventually those strings are cut off with four loud gunshots and the fall of four bodies.

Blog 3

Part I

Godin's theory of being "brainwashed" is interesting as it exhibits why society has scrutinized the individual as a creative entity and has exhibited seven levers to "reinvent" ourselves. He begins by talking about "acknowledging the lizard". This "lizard" that lives within us is the part of the brain which we share in common with the lizard which fears rejection, failure and ridicule from our piers. Society has taught us to listen to the lizard and that we should do what we only feel comfortable doing. Godin says otherwise with the seven different layers.

Two layers he touches on is the ability to connect and for your skills to be shipped. There are those who might call this "networking" or "who you know". It is almost as important to know someone as it is do something. If you can do something but no one knows, you will not able to truly succeed. With social networking, communities and online forums, your work can be seen by many, partnerships can be made, and soon enough you can begin working on your dream. Furthermore you skills must be "shippable". This means that your work has to be able to be dispersed widely and not just locally. In a global economy this is the best and fastest way to succeed.

Part II

These excursuses make you think about the creative process. At times, creativity can be complex and frustrating, just as a math problem can be frustrating so too can creativity. Godin highlights on what he calls the "Lizard" inside us. This lizard is the anchor to our creativity. I am afraid that my work will not be good and that my thought process is not out-of-the-box as most others are. The lizard inside of me is afraid that I will fail: not just on the artistic level, but in society as well. These exercises train that part of my brain that has that creativity. It works it, tears it down, and builds it back together stronger, like studying math. The difference between math and the creative process is that both are judged by two separate criteria. Where as math is judged based on a right or wrong basis, a piece of art is based on a subjective point of view. One person's point of view can be completely separate from the creator's intent. I think the purpose for using blogs as a means to turn in our work as appose to private paper is that we expose ourself to the internet. Everything we write, make and create is public. This goes against the lizard part of our brain that fears society's criticisms.

This blog helps us better structure our work so that others may see what we have written. This helps gives us some idea of how we should present ourselves so that we may be "connect worthy". By "connect worthy" I mean presentable for someone to be attracted to your work. By doing these blogs we organize our ideas in that presentable form. This separates us from those who "shotgun" ideas when networking. Furthermore, we package our ideas and thoughts into a well written, easy to understand blog. For those who want to subscribe to it, it is very easily accessible. This means it has a very high shipping ability. Anyone from around the world can read your profile and those people can send it to anyone else. Connecting and shipping are intertwined. Without connecting, you would have no one to ship your creativity to. On the other side, you cannot connect if you do not properly ship your items in a way that is appealing to potential customers. This blog takes both of those concepts and helps us formulate those ideas into one professional source to express our creative processes.