Extra Credit Comments

Capri Ciulla's Music Cover Blog

Joey Buccini's Manifesto

Becca's Superpower

10B: Extra Credit: MPM's Manifesto

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of blogging.  I thought it was the hardest part of 203.  I didn't like the fact that other people were going to be seeing my thoughts. But, after a while I didn't really mind them as much and got over the fact that people could read what I wrote.  I do however, like the fact that for our final blog we get to write out own manifesto.  So here it is! My thoughts on life and creativity!


Morgan’s Manifesto

1.)  Do what you feel, not what others expect you to do.

2.)  Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain. Do things in the moment.

3.)  Be passionate, even if it means acting a little crazy.

4.)  Don’t be afraid of criticism.  Take it, think about it, and do what you want with it. 

5.)   There is beauty in everything, sometimes it is just a little harder to find.

6.)  Sing. Dance. Be Happy.

7.)  Collaboration is not always a bad thing.  Two heads (or 35 heads) are better than one.

8.)  Try everything once.  Don’t be afraid of the unknown.

9.)  Caffeine is the solution to every problem.

10.)                 Never smash a perfectly good guitar.

My manifesto includes my favorite of the life lessons I have acquired over my 19 years of existence.  These are guidelines I try to live by and include in my creativity.  Some might not seem like they are relevant to being creative but they pertinent (in my opinion) to inspire creativity.

10A: Freak Factor

Freak Factor Manifesto

The Freak Factor is an article about how no one is truly a freak.  We all have strengths, weaknesses and passions.  The author, David Rendall, discusses how people in our society have grown up with this fallacy that you should be the most well rounded person possible.  Everyone should fix his or her weaknesses.  Rendall argues this saying that it is impossible for everyone to “fix” all of his or her weaknesses, you simply must just play to your strengths.

The three suggestions that I found most interesting included 1,2 and 3.

1.)  What’s your problem?

In this Rendall means, what are your weaknesses?  Weaknesses are viewed as problems.  If someone is given the option to either a.) Fix weaknesses b.) Build on strengths or c.) Do both, most people would pick to do both.  Choosing option C helps a person become the “well rounded” individual that our society pushes everyone to be.   We are al not meant to be perfect at everything.  We are meant to have flaws, because they make us unique and they make us who we are.  I found this suggestion extremely insightful, because I was one of those people who believed that having a flaw or a weakness was bad and that I should do my best to fix it.  Now I know that my flaws and weaknesses make me the “freak” that I am.  They make me Morgan.

2.)  What’s my problem?

This discussion talks about that fact that if you have a weakness there is nothing wrong with you.  Having flaws is inevitable, because no one is meant to be good at absolutely everything.  Rendall discusses his weaknesses and how he used to believe that he had to fix every single one of them.  He realized that he didn’t need to do this and then just simply build on his strengths.  His words of advice were 1.) There is nothing wrong with you, 2.) You find success when you find the right fit, and 3.) Your weaknesses make you different.  All my life my I have thought that in order to become a better person, I need to fix my weakness of being unorganized.  Now I know that it is ok to have flaws.  I can use my anti-organizational skills to my benefit in the jobs that I take on in the future.

3.)  Flawless: There’s Nothing Wrong With You

This discussion of Rendall’s talks about how our strengths and our weaknesses go hand in hand but shouldn’t be viewed as a bad thing.  If you are creative you aren’t organized.  If you are passionate then you are impatient.  All of these strengths and weaknesses go together and they help make you the unique person that you are.  I am enthusiastic therefore I am obnoxious.  I am creative therefore I am unorganized.  And my personal favorite, I am reflective therefore I am shy.  Personally, I tend to over think EVERYTHING.  I reflect on events that have happened to me and think them to death.  “If I had done this instead, would this have happened?  If I had said this instead of that, would he/she reacted a different way?”  People tend to think that I am shy because I am not the most outgoing person, but in actuality I am over thinking what to say to a person so as a result I am not saying anything at all.

9A: Reflection on Game Design Project

Dance or Die, in my opinion, was a very unique and creative game.  I am not a big gamer but if this game were to exist I would definitely buy it.  Although, Our presentation could have been improved in the flowing ways.

1.)  we could have explained how with each level in the game, the music speeds up and the fighting-dancing skills become more advanced.  We could have provided more examples of the style and kinds of music that would be included in the game.

2.)  The other aspect we could of touched more on was the different type of moves that you would be learning in playing our game.  We mentioned kicking and punching a few times but we didn’t really do a good job of going into depth on the exact moves required to beat the levels of the game.

Rules I think are the easiest aspect of a game to explain to others.  People seem to grasp the concept of what you CAN do and what you CAN’T do better than the mechanic, and other areas of a game.  Rules also make it easier for a people to understand how a game works.  If a game doesn’t have rules, then the game is pretty much pointless.  Rules guide the game and create an outcome for 

8B: Hero/Villain

Hero

Villain

                             

Animation 

Our Hero is a poor farmer named Duncan Ferguson.  His father was murdered by our Villain, Lord Deadwood.  Duncan seeks to avenge his father's death by defeating the evil Lord.  His super power is to freeze time with the use of his "Time Freezing Bagpipes." 

8A: Superhero Power

Superpowers article

Rogue from Xmen

Podsnack wasn't working so I just posted the link to my playlist:
http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/a41af03f83fc912dd9cb720d7a658408

7: Video Project

Video #1
Whats the worst that could happen?

Video # 2

Joke 6

For the first joke we set our characters in a modern bar.  A man tries to hit on a woman at the bar but is abruptly rejected.  The girl then apologizes and explains she is doing a study on how people act in embarrassing situations.  The man responds by yelling “No I will not pay you for sex,” at the girl. 

For the second joke we took a script that was rather similar to the first but added a Charlie Chaplin, black and white, silent movie feel to it.  Two friends are at a bar discussing how hard it is to get a date and one of the characters is rejected by a woman at the bar.

During joke one, we managed to manipulate the rhythm in the shot by the repeating sight of bottles in the bar.   Also, we used lines (the siding of the building) to draw the eye to Steve’s character leaning against the wall.  Since we used the same set for both videos, the lines and rhythm of the second video were the same.   We used tension and release in the first video, in the scene where Steve’s character walks up to Maggie’s character and asks to buy her a drink. The tension builds as he awkwardly hits on her and then releases when he walks away.   We also used it in the second video where Nick’s character goes up to Maggie’s character. Text and subtext was also used in this video.  When Steve’s character yells “No I will not pay you for sex,” ht really means that he is just pissed off at Maggie’s character for using him as part of her experiment.  Same as in the second video.

6B: Video Game Critique

6A: How to Be Creative

How to Be Creative

5B: Audio Commentary on Favorite Scene

The Sword Fighting scene from the movie The Princess Bride

*The music in the video is not the music from the movie, its from the Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was the best youtube video of the scene that I could find*

5A: Reframed Image

I choose to reframe the image of the little girl smoking the cigarette, created by Sally Mann.  I chose this image because I found it to be really bizarre.  I don’t understand why a girl who looks about 10 years old is smoking.   I think the artist framed the picture the way she did, rather than zooming in because it added depth to the picture.  Also, the picture is sort of a mystery in that you aren’t exactly sure what is going on. I chose to reframe the image the way I did, because it gave the picture a little bit more VISUAL INTENSITY, in my opinion.  Instead of the girl having that vast black background and people behind her, all you see it the girl and her cigarette and a little bit of black behind her.  Also, it focuses on the part of the image that my eye was drawn to first, so I feel that she is this focus of the original object.  The SPACE is much more limited in the reframing due to the fact that the frame is so tight around the girl versus the ambiguous and black space that surrounded the girl in the original image.  The SHOT TYPE in the original was a wide shot, with the girl in the middle, another little girl to her right and a very vague background.  There is something hanging in the background as well, but it is unclear what exactly it is.  With my reframing of the image, it is more of a mid shot of the girl.  With the majority of the background gone it is more of a self-portrait of the girl rather than an indefinite shot of two random young girls and a confusing figure in the background.  CONTRAST AND AFFINITY is included in both the original image and the reframing.  The background is dark and black and the people in the image are bright and white.  The dark background causes the light images to pop out of the picture, especially with the girl’s white dress.  Also there are CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSIOUS elements to this image.  The conscious part is that there is girl smoking and a younger girl standing next to her, with another object hanging in the background.  The unconscious part is the true happenings of the image. We are not quite sure what exactly is going on with the smoking girl, the younger girl next to her or the figure in the background.  

Song Critiques

Here are the songs I critiqued and the links to their blogs.

Corey Nabors
Maggie Mitchell
Meghan Ratusz

P.S. Meghan, Sorry for spelling your last name wrong in the song title... haha

Brainwashed!

Here is the Brainwashed article.

Godin discusses how we are becoming these mindless drones that simply follow directions day after day without any deviation.  People need to wake up and do what they want, what they feel step out of their comfort zones. 

Make Art

Godin’s “Make Art” layer explains how people just need to create.  This creation takes place between either two people or a group of people.  The thing created is a type of connection or simple something new.  We need to take the risk to create art.  With this we can grow and something new is formed.

I feel that this is something that I certainly need to follow.  When I am in a room of unfamiliar people or surroundings I tend to step back and remain by myself rather than interacting with other people.  If I were to follow Godin’s “Make Art” layer in my daily life and in my blogs, I can create something new and feel good about myself because I took a risk.  These blog have me going out of my comfort zone and interacting with other people to create something.  It could make me a better filmmaker and person.  “Making art” helps me become a better filmmaker in that making good movies is about living and having life experiences, so as a result interacting can help me meet new people and learn about their lives, ideas and thoughts.  This can spark the creativity inside me and could possibly result in an idea for a new film.  It can help me as a person in that I can learn about people who are different from me and may cause me to look at the world a different way.

Learn

Godin’s “Learn” layer explains how people cannot have the mind set that school and learning ends once you are handed a diploma.  Learning is a life long process and the old saying, “you learn something new everyday,” is true in Godin’s point of view.  Learning never ends.

This layer can help me in all aspects of life.  It can help in making me a better filmmaker, person and most importantly student.  I agree with Godin in that we are always a student, just because school is over doesn’t mean we stop learning new things.  This applies to my blog in that if I am constantly continuing to learn, the new information can help contribute the ideas and topics I write in my blog entries.  Learning can help me grow as a person.  It keeps me, as well as my idea, constantly evolving and expanding.  These ideas can spread into my work as a filmmaker, too.  Like the interactions of “making art,” learning can help spark ideas and topics to discuss in my films.

Song Comparison: Thin Lizzy vs. Iron Maiden

The two songs I chose to compare and contrast are Thin Lizzy’s original and Iron Maiden’s cover of the song “Massacre.” 

Thin Lizzy is an Irish hard rock band out of Dublin best known for their songs “The Boys are Back in Town” and “Jailbreak.”  The band was popular from the early 70’s to the early 80s.  Thin Lizzy is one of my top 3 favorite bands next to Queen and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.  Phil Lynott’s smoky voice and the harmonic rhythm of the band’s double lead guitars is what made this band great.  Thin Lizzy was one of the first bands to pick up this double guitar style.  Iron Maiden is an English heavy metal band that established the New wave of British heavy metal.  The band has often mentioned Thin Lizzy as one of the inspirations for their music. 

The two versions of “Massacre” are very similar but each band adds their own unique touch to the song.

MUSICAL QUALITY

Thin Lizzy’s version has a much lower PITCH and starts off with both the drums and the guitar.   The guitar riffs then pick up SPEED and stay true to the soulful, rhythmic sound that has become the band’s style. Iron Maiden’s version starts off with just the drums and then the guitars kick in with a tad bit higher PITCH and have a bit faster SPEED. The drumbeats in the Thin Lizzy version are much more prominent. The Iron Maiden version is also more INTENSE (especially in the guitar playing) and in your face than the Thin Lizzy version, which has more of a RHYTHMIC GROOVE to it.  This is due to the difference in the band’s styles.  Iron Maiden is a heavy metal band and Thin Lizzy is a hard rock band. 

LYRICS

The lyrics to both versions of “Massacre” are pretty much identical, except for a few instances here and there.  For example, at the beginning of the second verse, Thin Lizzy sings “The spirits FORCED” and Iron Maiden sings, “The spirits LOST.”  In the second line of the third verse Thin Lizzy sings “Through the hole in the WALL,” where as Iron Maiden sings, “Through the hole in the WIRE.” In the line following that Thin Lizzy sings, “He doesn’t care AT ALL” and Iron Maiden sings, “doesn’t care IF HE LIVES OR IF HE DIES.”  Finally, in the second to last verse Lizzy sings " If GOD is in heaven…In HIS name” and Maiden sings “In HIS heaven…in GOD’S name.” 

All in all, I think both versions are good, but my favorite is, hands down, the Thin Lizzy version.  Lynott’s voice and the rhythm of their version just makes me feel the pain of the “Massacre” and was much more convincing.  I believe the flow of the song and the intensity of the music to be just right, where as Iron Maiden’s version is a little bit over the top.  Although, I might be biased due to the fact that I love Thin Lizzy so much.  

Song Project

Soundscape Project

Morgan and Meghan's Soundscape Project

I also commented on Becca Amato's soundscape project

Find Your Howl

Jonathon Flaum writes about becoming who you really are and finding your inner voice, or how he phrases it “Find your Howl.”  Out of the two stories that Flaum tells I personally connected with the second one the most.  In this, Flaum talks about how in the 5^th grade, a classmate of his wrote a story about how a tiger at the zoo is locked in his cage forever.  The 5^th grade version of Flaum is saddened by this but has a revelation that the only way the tiger can break free is for the cage to die.  He parallels this with how part of you has to die as well in your journey to find your voice.  He says, “It is by completely releasing the hold on our inauthentic voice that it releases us and our authentic voice shows up.”  The “inauthentic voice” is the part of you that has to die.  The “inauthentic voice” is our cage. 

The Ideas of Ditkoff

http://changethis.com/ 

Ditkoff’s article discusses 14 ways for someone to think of new ideas.  A lot of them involve taking a step back and looking at the situation from a different angle.  Sometimes when we become so focused on or so obsessed with something it is hard to see what is staring you right in the face, and the thing right in front of your eyes could be an earth shattering, culture changing, miraculously, incredible, brand spanking new idea.  Ditkoff also discusses that there are 2 different ways of thinking.  The business, “left brain” oriented people believe that “I think, therefore I am.”  Creative, “right brain” oriented people tend to believe more along the lines of “I am, therefore I think.”  He calls these two different approaches of thinking, Western and Eastern.

I concur with the majority of Ditkoff’s suggestions on way to get new ideas.  The three that I thought suck out the most to me, personally, are ideas number 1, 5 and 11.

Idea # 1 – “Follow your fascination”

            I believe that following what you find fascinating is a really good suggestion on how to come up with new ideas.  “Out of the thousands of ideas with the power to capture our imagination, the fascination felt for one of them is a clue that there’s something worthy of our engagement.” I especially liked this comment that Ditkoff made about how if some thing fascinates you there is probably a reason behind it all, so why not explore it and figure out why this fascination occurred?  I can incorporate this into my creative life by further investigating ideas, things, objects, people, art, opinions, and whatever else fascinates me.  While digging deeper into this fascination, new thoughts and ideas could result, which is, after all, the entire point.  Also with following my fascinations, I could learn a lot along the way.  This could help with developing new ideas in the future.

Idea # 5 – “Fantasize”

            Daydreaming isn’t only for children; it is a way for an individual of any age to come up with a revolutionizing new idea.  In Ditkoff’s words, “fantasizing is exactly how many breakthrough ideas get their start—by some maverick, flake, or dreamer entertaining the seemingly impossible.”  Fantasizing or daydreaming is something I do CONSTANTLY.  I dream about the future, what I will be doing, where I will be living, what will be going on the in the world around me.  I also fantasize about different movies that I would like to create one day.  I think of story lines, the dialogue and perhaps who will play the characters. It is almost as if I am seeing and playing the movie in my head.  When I think up something new I quickly open my eyes and jot it down and then quickly close my eyes to continue the thought.  Sometimes I use music to facilitate daydreaming.  As I listen to certain songs on my Ipod I close my eyes and picture a story line that could be occurring as this song plays in a future movie.  This is how I often think up the soundtracks for my “impending” films.  Fantasizing is an excellent way to conjure up new ideas.

Idea # 11 – “Brainstorm”

           

            “Two heads are always better than one,” is a philosophy everyone should apply to their thought process.  Brainstorming is a great strategy to come up with new ideas. Ditkoff believes that “ all you need to do is frame a meaningful question, invite the right people, and facilitate the process for helping your think tank riff creatively. If you are not the right person to facilitate, you probably know someone who is. Ask them.”  If someone gets stuck on something, and you are brainstorming, more times than not one of the other people there will be able to pull you out of the place where you’re trapped.  Brainstorming is something that I have recently learned to incorporate into my own life.  It is strategy used, probably most often in the field of work I wish to pursue.  When scripts and screenplays are being created there are often a handful of people in a room throwing ideas around, trying to figure out what will work and what will not.  During the 48 Hour Shoot-Out winter quarter, the team I was working with gathered around and brainstormed different scenarios and ideas to include in our script.  If one person had tried to accomplish this task alone, it probably would have taken hours, but due to the fact that we brainstormed we whipped that script out in record timing. 

I will be executing the prompts of Idea # 11 – “Look for Happy Accidents”

-          Prompt: What “failed experiment” or unexpected outcome might be interesting for you to reconsider? Who else might you invite to participate in this effort?

A “failed experiment” that might be interesting to reconsider is a script that I started my junior year of high school entitled “Heavy Metal Drummer.”  It was a movie based on and named after a song by the band Wilco.  I would invite my friends who are also Video Production/Media majors to help me with it since they have a background in film/movies and writing screenplays.  Together we could, perhaps, fix the film where is needs fixing and come up with a great story. 

           

            

Creative Muse

Not trying to brag or anything, but in 2^nd grade I was the kid who came up with the obstacle courses on the playground, so I was would like to think I am a creative person. Creatively, many things inspire me; Lots of movies and actors and television shows all compile in my brain to form my artistic thoughts and creative notions.  Some of these “muses” include Cameron Crowe, The movies The Princess Bride and Reality Bites.

If you have ever seen someone holding a boom box over their head, or heard someone coin the phrases “Show me the money,” “You complete me,” or (my personal favorite) “You had me at hello,” you can thank Cameron Crowe.  The Rolling Stones reporter turned director is one of my all time favorite filmmakers.  This is mainly because of the movie Almost Famous.  Set in 1973, this semi autobiographic tale of Crowe’s adolescence, is a tale about a young man following a on the rise rock band on tour and the free spirited characters he encounters on his journey.  The coming of age story tied in with rocking 70s tunes makes it an instant classic in my book.  The way Crowe uses music to emphasize a mood or moment is what makes his movie great.  His use of Tension and Release also makes his movies exciting.  In Almost Famous, the band is flying on private plane to one of their shows.  They get into an electrical storm and it seems the band is about to spiral to their death.  Everyone begins to freak out and secret start flying left and right.  The tension builds and builds until finally the drummer of the band utters his one line in the entire movie “I’m Gay!” as the turbulence subsides and the plane evacuates the electrical storm safely, releasing the tension.   The majority of Crowe’s movies have a musical basis, which in my opinion makes them even more spectacular.  For example, the 1992 film Singles, written and directed by Crowe, is focused around the 90’s Seattle Grunge scene and even includes a cameo by the band Pearl Jam.  Cameron Crowe is like god to me.

My all time, favorite movie would have to be the ageless Rob Reiner film, The Princess Bride.  As stated by the Grandfather character in the movie “Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles,” this movie has it all.  My love for this movie sparked in the Summer of 1999 when my family and I were up at the house on Lake Chautauqua in NY.  It rained most of the summer and we had only one VHS, The Princess Bride.  My cousins and I must have watched it at least twice a day.  Since then I have seen it another half billion times.  As much as I hate to admit it I can probably recite the movie from start to finish from memory, I love it THAT much.  The Princess Bride is a story about a Grandfather reading a book to his ill grandson.  The book is a tale of Wesley trying to rescue his true love Buttercup from the evil Prince Humperdink.  The plot twists and turns and the couple encounter an eclectic ensemble of characters. The sets and scenery and quotable quality of this movie is what attracts me to it.  It is almost like anything can happen and think that is the best way to be creative.  I like to keep an open mind and to let anything be possible.  Text and Subtext are displayed in the movie in the very beginning when Buttercup bosses Wesley around and every time she asks him to do something he responses with “As you wish,” but what he really means to say is “I love you.”  This story is one for a person of any age; it’s a classic. 

Ironically, a movie about a recent college graduate that is making a documentary is one of my creative inspirations.  Reality Bites, directed by Ben Stiller, is a quick witted, articulately written film discussing the issues of Generation X-er’s and their battles with living in the real world.  I admire this movie for its dialogue and the banter between the main characters.  If you haven’t already realized I love quoting movies, and this is a very quotable movie.  Often I catch myself quoting certain lines from the movie, such as “He’s the reason cliff notes were invented” when I am talking about someone who is really dense.  Also another one of my favorites is when the character played by Ethan Hawke defines “irony” as “when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.” I am not the most articulate person so I enjoy movies like this that have such an expressive way of speaking.  Also, the Contrast/Affinity between the characters Troy and Michael is an entertaining aspect of the film.  Michael is this well-established and put together businessman who knows what he wants and is ambitious.  Troy on the other hand is the textbook example of a freeloader.  He has been fired from 12 jobs and has no clue what he wants to do with his life.  Troy thinks Michael is a Yuppie and Michael thinks Troy is a slacker.  They each represent an extreme personality of Generation X.

In conclusion, I pull from a variety of films and directors to get ideas to mold and shape my creativity. 

First BLog Entry!!

This will officially be my first 8 am class in my collegiate career...and of course it is on a Friday.  I am a morning person.  I generally can wake up and be my chipper, hyper self, but that doesn't mean my brain is fully functioning this early.  I selected this lab time because it was better than the only other time slot that was available, which was 3-5pm.