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Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Kirby Ferguson’s videos about remixed material was amazing. He took some songs and movies that I thought were original and showed where the artist or directions got their inspiration from. Many times younger directors and artist want to create an “original film/song” but they get their inspiration from older films that were thought to be GREAT. If a younger director or artist wants a great movie, they have to look a great movies from before and basically “copy” the framework. It was astonishing to see in Ferguson’s video to see who younger artist and directors looked up too. Some of these people aren’t even in the same genre of work, but they find ways to take on genre and make it work for another.

Now music, is something that I love and there are some songs that I know for a fact came from other songs. For example, I made a video of two songs. The original track is Michael Jackson’s “Wanna be Startin’ Something” and then Rihanna puts it in her song called “Please Don’t Stop the Music” Which goes to show that old music will never die.

I honestly, do not think that I have seen an “original movie.” All movies in my opinion are made up from another movie, but uses more modern/recent dilemmas so that modern people can relate. For example, the Rocky movies are all about a underestimated boxer that wants to win. He trains long and hard until he achieves his goal. But there aren’t too many aspiring boxers for filmmakers use other sports to prove that same point. If you are underestimated, train long and hard until you get what you want, like the Gridiron Gang. I am not as much of a movie person as I am a music person, so I could be completely wrong, but I haven’t seen an original film.

Personally, I think it is enjoyable to see recent films based on past films. Mainly because it shows that we won’t forget great things that came before us. Like Michael Jackson’s music will never die, and a young singer(compared to him) used his music in her song. It always can be seen as a sign of respect or “thank you.” Rihanna could be using that clip in her song to show to Michael Jackson that she appreciated his music and it helped her. As far as movies, I think we enjoy seeing things from the past because it shows us they everyone is almost the same. Everyone from past, present, and future, all want some of the same things. Rocky was underestimated, and wanted to reign, the Gridiron gang (juveniles) wanted people who underestimated them to see that they had some positive aspects.

Basically, history lives on forever. People who came before us have paved the way for entertainment. We pay them respect by using their impressive works and show that everyone is more similar than we think.

Posted in Assignments, bunk3, magicmacguffin, OriginalVideo, umwsum12 | Comments Off on World of Remixes.

The Seventh Seal: Mindful, Minimalist Movie Poster

Monday, July 9th, 2012

Design Assignment 43: Create a tv/movie poster that captures the essence of the story through the use of minimalist design/iconography.

Inspiration
I’m no Bergman connoisseur nor real film buff for that matter, but Bergman’s The Seventh Seal has a scene that is pure poetry, verbal and visual. To set up the scene, a knight, Antonious Block, returning from the Crusades, challenges the devil to a game of chess believing this to be a clever ploy to stall for more time, life. Delaying the inevitable, the knight along the journey back to his castle meets a juggler, Jof, and his wife, Mia, and young child, Mikael. The wife shares the family’s meal, strawberries and milk, and Block remarks:

I shall remember this hour of peace: the strawberries, the bowl of milk, your faces in the dusk. Mikael asleep, Jof with his lute. I shall remember our words, and shall bear this memory between my hands as carefully as a bowl of fresh milk.
[He drinks from the bowl.]

Block’s comments really resonate with me and remind me of my constant quest to live in the moment or hour and make the most of the rich yet simple encounters that make up a life. I think that for all of the pleasures and opportunities that the digital world brings that it also antes up the challenge to live mindfully.

You can watch this scene on YouTube and if you’re as intrigued by Bergman’s work as I am then you’ll enjoy this retrospective on his work by Woody Allen. Allen was seriously influenced by Bergman’s work and work ethic and believes that Bergman’s films will stand the test of time and still be enjoyed and studied when the trendy films are long forgotten. It is both the soul and the technique of Bergman’s work that inspires Allen.

Process and Reflections

A minimalist poster seemed quite appropriate for Bergman’s metaphor-rich film.

I knew immediately that I would integrate a nod to chess and to the bowl of strawberries in my poster. The simple black and white squares I think conjures up a chess board and hints at the good/evil dichotomy of the story. I placed the bowl of strawberries on a diagonal to draw the eye immediately there. The one red strawberry adds a touch of the surreal and lets the viewer know that all is not as it seems. Finally, I used the Google Languages tool to translate the title into Swedish, Bergman’s native language.

Aspirations
I cut the bowl of strawberries from clipart and made some effort in GIMP to smooth the edges. I’d really like to learn to use a program like Illustrator that I’ve heard others mention to draw an abstract bowl of strawberries in black and white. Then I’d colorize the one strawberry for effect.

Or I’ve seen Giulia Forsyth create amazing drawings on her iPad. I’d wonder if that would be a good approach to create drawings. I love to draw.

It just occurred to me that my friend Norm always closes with “That’s my story. Any questions?” and I always seem to end with a question to help me tell my story better. An appropriate sign-off for me.

Posted in bunk3, Camp MacMuffin, crissman, DesignAssignments, DesignAssignments43, ds106, magicmacguffin, openonline | Comments Off on The Seventh Seal: Mindful, Minimalist Movie Poster

Story de Words = )

Monday, July 9th, 2012

I am a very random person. I love saying random things at random times, just because its funny. When I saw this assignment I instantly became excited because I had a chance to be random. For once in my life, I can use my randomness for something productive.

I chose 10 words off of the top of my head. I chose to words, MAN, FUNNY, CHEERLEADER, LOVE, ALSO, PURPLE, SING, MUSIC, HAIRY, UGLY. After I had chosen my words, I tried my hardest to make a sentence that made sense, but it was hard. This assignment was overall easy to do. These are the steps to how I created this project.

1. I googled my 10 words on Google images

2. Saved the images to my computer

3. Opened up Windows Movie Maker

4. Imported the 10 pictures in

5. Dragged each word separately, and placed it into the timeline

6. made the pictures smaller, so they would flow faster, yet smoothly.

7. Imported the instrumental version of “Disturbia ” – Rihanna

8. Dragged the song onto the timeline under the pictures

9. Made the song fade towards the end

10. Matched the music to the pictures

And that was the whole assignment, it took me about 10-15 minutes to do and it was fun as well. I hope you enjoyed it.

For More. Click Here. –>>[A Word. A Picture. A Story]<<–

Posted in Assignments, bunk3, magicmacguffin, umwsum12, VideoAssignments, VideoAssignments539 | Comments Off on Story de Words = )

Letter Home; Week 7

Monday, July 9th, 2012

People around me were sleeping, so I tried to be quiet. Hope you can understand.

Posted in bunk3, Letters Home, magicmacguffin, umwsum12 | Comments Off on Letter Home; Week 7

Preparing…Myself…

Monday, July 9th, 2012

1. Play by Play

I like sports, so I am planning on doing a “play by play” of a video of when Shaq broke the backboard when he dunked in his younger days. I just need the video of the event and use a video editor that allows me to record my voice over top the video. While the video is playing, I will give a “play by play” of the events leading up to the big crash. Even though I told the ending, I still hope that I can make it better with my commentary skills.

2. Make a Scene from a Horror Film

I am personally not a fan of horror films, but I have watched some scary movies. I personally want to use this as an opportunity to make my own “scene” from a horror film. I plan on creating a scene that involves my mother and my sister. I do not want to tell everything that I plan to do, but it will take place in my house, outside of my house, and in my car. HOPEFULLY. If everything goes well with the editing and recording, I am hoping I’ll create a great scene.

FOR BOTH OF THESE I PLAN ON USING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER(WMM), UNLESS I FIND ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT WORKS BETTER THAN WMM. HOPEFULLY EVERYTHING WORKS OUT AND I CAN MAKE SOME AMAZING VIDEOS THAT EVERYONE CAN ENJOY

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How to Read a Movie: The Sound of Music

Sunday, July 8th, 2012

For the Week 7 “Reading Movies” assignment, I chose The Sound of Music from AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies, a list of the 100 best American movies determined by The American Film Institute (Where is Mean Girls on the list? Kidding…). The Sound of Music was one of my favorite movies as a child, and continues to be. The movie contains wonderful music, great actors, and a rich history. There is so much more than what is shown on the screen. When I was younger, my dad and my grandmother insisted that I watch The Sound of Music. I was furious with this, as I thought it was “an old timey movie.” I wanted nothing to do with it. I would have much rather watched a cheesy pre-teen romance with Mary-Kate and Ashley, or so I thought! Needless to say, I did not get my way and was stuck watching The Sound of Music. I fell in love with the timeless storyline and the catchy tunes. When familiarizing myself with the film, after not having seen it for a few years, to this day it still encapsulates me. Time has told, Mary-Kate and Ashley movies were just a fad. The Sound of Music has proven to be a movie that stayed close to my heart. I guess my dad was right, yet again. Often times, I find myself singing to my parakeet, “The hills are alive…” You could call me Cinderella. Or how about Maria?

Though IMBD lists the genres of The Sound of Music as Biography, Drama, Family, Musical, and Romance, I have identified the film genre as Family/Musical. Not only is it a film that can be appreciated by all ages, hence the family, it’s storyline is about a rather large family! I also included Musical as a genre, because the actors often participate in the production of the music (singing, etc.). There is a lot of it, and it is not simply background music.

As far as the TV Tropes genre, I chose a few. I actually researched The Sound of Music on the TV Tropes website and they already had genres listed. I read through them and narrowed them down to the following group of four. I felt as if some were too specific.

World War II: Time period

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Captain Von Trapp

Magical Nanny: Maria (Julie Andrews, who also assumes the same role in Mary Poppins)

Happy Ending for everyone

“One of the reasons I started teaching was to teach myself.”

In Roger Ebert‘s essay, “How to Read a Movie,” there were some points that definitely stood out to me as a future teacher, in addition to my role as a DS106 student. When Ebert talks about the class he taught in 1969, after being inspired by movie critic, John West, I noticed that he had a very democratic attitude toward education, if you will. This is something that most influenced me in the essay. No matter what age, race, gender, etc. someone is, they can be influential to you and challenge you to think. As John West recommended, I treated the clips I found from The Sound of Musicas a football coach may as he examines footage from the game. I paused the scene multiple times in order to analyze the set and positioning of the actors. I think the football analogy is a really good way to explain how people like Ebert and West analyze movies. I never knew that the way actors are positioned in scenes had so much meaning! But after this assignment, I noticed some of the points were proven true. I’ve included a few shots whose “visual compositions have intrinsic weighting,” something Ebert discusses in his essay.

“A person located somewhat to the right of center will seem ideally placed. A person to the right of that position will seem more positive; to the left, more negative…..in general terms, in a two-shot, the person on the right will ‘seem’ dominant over the person on the left.” -Roger Ebert

Captain Von Trapp is positioned to the right of his children, showing dominance.

Maria is to the left of Captain Von Trapp and the Baroness is to the right, making the Baroness seem more favorable. The Baroness on the right “seems” more dominant over the person on the left, Maria.

Ebert writes about his experience doing this exercise with his class. He says, “I wasn’t the teacher and my students weren’t the audience, we were all in this together.” Beyond the analysis of movies, this attitude towards education is very inspiring to me. Bringing people together creates a collaboration of knowledge and ideas, enabling them to learn many more things. Everyone has a different bank of knowledge, it’s important to have a variety of contributors. Like Ebert said, when pausing the movies, his students would notice a multitude of things. Anyone can state an opinion about a movie and give even critics a different perspective, something they may have not before considered. Ebert writes, ”Everything worth noticing on the screen will eventually be seen by somebody.” This applies to digital storytelling and the internet. I appreciated the humility Ebert showed when referencing Giannetti and David Bordwell. Though they may not use the same terms or have the same beliefs, he stills respects their opinions and writings; the three of them possess “the same intense curiosity,” for films, which is what really matters. In the readings we have had for DS106, I have noticed a common theme of encouraging collaboration.

Posted in analyzethis, bunk3, magicmacguffin, umwsum12 | Comments Off on How to Read a Movie: The Sound of Music

A Little Creative Commons Love

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

Check this out! I used an image from flickr as part of my I Can Read Movies design assignment. I credited the photographer who took the original image in my blog post, and somehow he found it. Check out his kind comment at the bottom of the page. Cool, huh?

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Digicamp Radio Piece

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

My initial idea for a DS106radio segment was to do a cooking segment. Yes, I’ve watched too much Food Network and especially too much Good Eats. I have a picture of me and Alton Brown hanging in my kitchen and I wanted to do a great grilled summer dinner, and document it for audio. In the end though it was a rainy week in SoFL (but not as rainy as VA!)and there was little opportunity to grill.

At the same time I was going to work each day at DigiCamp in Boca Raton. It was my second week of the summer – Advanced Video Production. Basically, its 6 hours a day where kids work with each other on projects of their own choosing with whatever camera and computer equipment they need to create video. There are three technology oriented teachers (I’m one of them) there to help them with technical issue and to push their creativity, along with a bunch of college and high school students who all took Mark Stansell’s Video Production classes in middle school and are experts in things like IMovie and Final Cut Pro. Together we try to enable the kids to be creative and give them the tools to take what is in their imaginations and put it into video. I was having so much fun as part of the camp, and it seemed to fit into the Summer Fun theme, so I threw together a piece on Digicamp.

I wanted it to sound like something you would hear on NPR, and I think the biggest thing I was lacking was conversations with the kids and counselors at camp. I captured some of my interactions with students, and some of their interactions with each other. There was too much of myself narrating, where I could have interviewed more participants and have them tell more of the story instead of me.

Technically, I used iMovie on my iPad to record everything, even though I didn’t need video. I figured having the video attached to the audio would make the reviewing and editing process better, and I think I was right. Putting together what I had, and adding my narration by just recording myself with the front iPad camera and mic worked out well. I exported the project to my MacBook, and then just extracted the audio. The video part was pretty much unwatchable!

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AI and Design Theory: Before and After

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

Design Assignment 366: Design a film-based cover using the aesthetic framed by Spacesick.

I have admired Spacesick’s ingenious “I Can Read Movies” book covers and the amazing interpretations by DS106ers like Chad and Scottlo. Well, I like a challenge so I set my sights high with this assignment.

I know to admire good design but have never studied how to create it, so I decided to try a bit of an experiment and design my book cover green with no formal study; then go on the Design Safari to study design elements, and then return to my original design to see if I would change anything.

I certainly had a good time on my Design Safari or “Search and Rescue” as I came to refer to it, and I know what the elements are and can conveniently refer back to them with my design trading cards but I can see that it’s going to take a lot more practice to understand how to apply them successfully. I was curious when reading Roger Ebert’s brilliant “How to Read a Movie” about his hypothesis that directors don’t intentionally consider visual strategies when composing their shots.

I have never heard of a director or cinematographer who ever consciously applied them. I suspect that filmmakers compose shots from images that well up emotionally, instinctively or strategically, just as a good pianist never thinks about the notes. It may be that intrinsic weighting is sort of hard-wired.

I’d like to think that the “hard-wired” intrinsic weighting can be achieved after much thoughtful study and practice until a degree of automaticity is reached. That’s the hopeful, eternal optimist perspective.

Inspiration
Spielberg and Kubrick’s AI is a movie that continues to play in my head, always conjured up when I’m amazed by some new technology and how the “axemaker’s gift” may be changing what it fundamentally means to be human. I liked the idea of trying to design a novel cover that would play on the human/artificial human tension.

Process and Reflections

I measured a Spacesick’s original to get my dimensions right but stopped short of copying her template. She’s opted for “All rights reserved” and it seemed questionable to copy anything but her idea. I could be overly cautious but that’s the side I’d rather err on. I think if she had wanted to encourage copying that she would have chosen a Creative Commons license.

Using GIMP, I chose a digital background, simply typed in a giant A and I, and added a small image of the blue fairy and the android-boy that I colorized to blend in. So you see my simple, original cover on the left.

After my Design Safari, I tried hard to come up with some clever way to improve the design. No go though I do understand now some of the elements I used unintentionally. Those include the alignment of the A and I so it almost seems house-like to represent the home that the android-boy wanted so badly (metaphor, symbol) as well as the digital background to reflect the AI component. No breakthrough aha’s. I’m a bit better at GIMP now so I was able to resize the fairy-boy image to fit in the A and attempted to distress the digital background a little with the smudge tool.

I’m going to continue to try and apply the design elements and I’m especially interested in gestalt theory and how that might affect the design process. If you have resources you’d recommend, I’m all eyes.

Posted in bunk3, Camp MacMuffin, crissman, DesignAssignments, DesignAssignments55, ds106, magicmacguffin, openonline | Comments Off on AI and Design Theory: Before and After

DS106 Radio

Friday, July 6th, 2012

I had a great time putting together my little group’s ds106radio show last weekend. Cris and Kavon, my bunkmates from the Naked Lunch Bunch, each submitted a summer-themed piece to me (and did it on time!) which were completely different from each other as well as from mine. They all fit together nicely, I think! Here’s how I put it all together.

I used GarageBand on my MacBook to put all of our stuff together, as well as to add background music and voiceovers. I’ve used Audacity before, but I teach Garageband to the group of teachers I train on technology throughout the year, and am really comfortable with it. That being said, I don’t really use it that often, and it was nice to have a real purpose for it, not just to use it while training!

I created a new podcast, and set up three tracks. One for the finished segments (mine and one other was .mp3, a third was .wav, GB handled them all fine). The second was for background music, and the third was for my “hosting” voiceover. I had fun finding the background music, starting by searching for “Summer” in my iTunes library which yielded the Elvis Costello and Jonathan Colton songs. I wanted something more campy (as in having to do with summer camp) for my piece, so I found the theme to Meatballs with the nice little bit from Bill Murray in it on YouTube and used Audio Hijack to snatch the audio part from it. I supposed I could have downloaded the YouTube video and saved out the audio from Quicktime, but cueing up to the bit I wanted and just capturing it with Audio Hijack seemed to save a couple of steps.

I had the hardest time setting the levels to match up our tracks with each other and the voiceover and music. I listened, tweaked, listened, tweaked… in the end it is OK, but not perfect. Even with video, the audio part is the most challenging unless you have really goed equipment. Even a little usb microphone, like my Blue Snowflake, makes a big difference in my own recording. Still, whenever I get things from different sources I seem to have trouble.

The final bit I did was to go on DS106radio live to introduce and then discuss the project with Martha. She was a wonderful host, and helped me feel not-so-stupid when my lack of headphones and incorrect audio setup on my computer resulted in feedback issues over Skype. Martha made me feel comfortable and lead a fun conversation (at least for me, not sure how we sounded to everyone else!). Thanks Martha!

So I’ve added DS106radio to my little media center in the kitchen where I generally listen to podcasts or radio while cooking and cleaning. I’m enjoying it thouroghly and have even started thinking of a few ideas for some music shows to produce and upload. Stay tuned!