Media 160 was everything I could've asked for. All of the assignments were engaging and enjoyable. My favorite assignment was the Video project, and I felt that it was great way to introduce people to filming and editing with Final Cut.
Angela was amazing as a TA. Being very involved in the projects, and offering help whenever needed, and even volunteering her talents to my Video project, she made Saturday labs enjoyable.
The only thing I disliked about this course were the blog assignments, Even though they were few and far, with all the hands on assignments that we had, the blog assignments came off as a drag. And the only thing I believe I struggled in, which is the same as last semester, was all of the technical terms. There is a lot to soak in, and learning all the terms was especially difficult for me.
Overall, this course has furthered my interest in the field of Media, and I'm looking forward to taking future classes in the Media department.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Editing Analysis
In Walter Hill's 1979 cult classic, The Warriors, editing played a huge roll in its success. A movie with such a small budget, needs great writing, soundtracking, and editing to compensate for its lack of resources, and The Warriors has all of the above.
The scene I decided to analyze was "The Bathroom Brawl," which is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie (other than The Baseball Furies). What makes this scene work so well is the anticipation that builds. A rival gang enters the bathroom where The Warriors are hiding, and you all of the cuts show the hatred in their eyes, and the violence they intend on giving out. The background music is the same eerie soundtrack that followed them around throughout the entire movie.
Eventually, one of the warriors feet are seen under the bathroom stall, and we know they are caught, and the anticipation explodes, as The Warriors attack. The music increases in tempo, and the entire brawl is shot with quick transitions. Every cut, shows a hard hit, or body slam, and it all gets capped off when Swan flips a rival gang member through a stall.
This worked so well, because all the camera angles and music building up the fight, had the viewer at the edge of their seat, and once the action began, the long dramatically dragged out clips, turned into fast paced, hard hitting action.
The scene I decided to analyze was "The Bathroom Brawl," which is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie (other than The Baseball Furies). What makes this scene work so well is the anticipation that builds. A rival gang enters the bathroom where The Warriors are hiding, and you all of the cuts show the hatred in their eyes, and the violence they intend on giving out. The background music is the same eerie soundtrack that followed them around throughout the entire movie.
Eventually, one of the warriors feet are seen under the bathroom stall, and we know they are caught, and the anticipation explodes, as The Warriors attack. The music increases in tempo, and the entire brawl is shot with quick transitions. Every cut, shows a hard hit, or body slam, and it all gets capped off when Swan flips a rival gang member through a stall.
This worked so well, because all the camera angles and music building up the fight, had the viewer at the edge of their seat, and once the action began, the long dramatically dragged out clips, turned into fast paced, hard hitting action.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Sounds I Hear
New York City is the most diverse place on earth. But as a lifelong resident, I never get to truly enjoy it. The large array of languages on the subway are normally drowned out by my headphones. The synchronization of sounds from a construction site are blocked by my windows. And the symphony of car horns cannot be heard over the thump of the sub-woofer sitting in my trunk. So when I tried to do this assignment, and actually listen to my surroundings, I realized what I was missing out on.
Sitting in a subway cart, taking a ride from Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. all the way to 59th St.-Lexington Avenue, is somewhat reminiscent of, "Its A Small World," in Disney World. In Coney Island, you hear people speaking Russian, by the time you reach Sunset Park, its a mixture of Russian, English, and Spanish. When you get to Canal Street, your halfway around the world, and in China. The MTA is an example of a melting pot in motion.
The clanking of construction tools and honking of horns is often considered noise. And granted, in the city that never sleeps, it can be really annoying when your trying to sleep. However, if you listen just to listen, you will come to realize that their is a unique melody to these sounds, that can't be heard anywhere else in the world. As residents of New York, the sounds of the city usually land on deaf ears, but once you open those ears, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Sitting in a subway cart, taking a ride from Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. all the way to 59th St.-Lexington Avenue, is somewhat reminiscent of, "Its A Small World," in Disney World. In Coney Island, you hear people speaking Russian, by the time you reach Sunset Park, its a mixture of Russian, English, and Spanish. When you get to Canal Street, your halfway around the world, and in China. The MTA is an example of a melting pot in motion.
The clanking of construction tools and honking of horns is often considered noise. And granted, in the city that never sleeps, it can be really annoying when your trying to sleep. However, if you listen just to listen, you will come to realize that their is a unique melody to these sounds, that can't be heard anywhere else in the world. As residents of New York, the sounds of the city usually land on deaf ears, but once you open those ears, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Reflections on the Class
Media is my intended major, so I was sure to enjoy taking this class. As an artist I find learning all of the technical terms behind creating media a little tedious, but am also aware that it is essential in furthering my ability and reaching my potential within this field.
Early in the semester we focused on a part of media I really admire and hope to excel in, Film and Photography. Learning everything about angles and lighting will definitely come in hand very soon for me. However I do wish we had more hands on experience using cameras. Also, I really wanted to dabble with Final Cut.
The part of the semester I believe I excelled in was using Photoshop. I've always liked using Photoshop, but never used it extensively. This semester, with the help of the T.A. Chloe, I learned a lot of the ins and outs of Photoshop, and gained an increased interest in it. This interest has motivated to buy books and how-to's for Photoshop. I hope to eventually master Photoshop and perhaps find a career using my talents in it.
Overall, this semester was a great experience. I felt like I struggled with learning all of the terms but I feel like my hands on work took huge progressive steps. I hope to take 160 next semester and continue learning.
Early in the semester we focused on a part of media I really admire and hope to excel in, Film and Photography. Learning everything about angles and lighting will definitely come in hand very soon for me. However I do wish we had more hands on experience using cameras. Also, I really wanted to dabble with Final Cut.
The part of the semester I believe I excelled in was using Photoshop. I've always liked using Photoshop, but never used it extensively. This semester, with the help of the T.A. Chloe, I learned a lot of the ins and outs of Photoshop, and gained an increased interest in it. This interest has motivated to buy books and how-to's for Photoshop. I hope to eventually master Photoshop and perhaps find a career using my talents in it.
Overall, this semester was a great experience. I felt like I struggled with learning all of the terms but I feel like my hands on work took huge progressive steps. I hope to take 160 next semester and continue learning.
Design I Like
Kanye West's 808's and Heartbreak wasn't only one of the most innovative albums of our time, but the album art is something that hip-hop has never seen before. The design of this cover, doesn't take the usual path. The main focal point of the cover is the graphic of a deflated heart shaped balloon. This is obviously linked to the title 808's and Heartbreak The text is aligned perfectly centered with the graphic, and doesn't use any bold colors or large fonts to emphasize on his name or the album title. The main focus is heartbreak. The multi-colored streak along the the left side of it, completely throws of the balance, but in a good way. Not too sure what that symbolizes, but it helps bring more life to the entire image, and the splash of color is more than welcome in an otherwise morose combination of colors.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Analysis of Cloverfield (2008)
In the 2008 J.J. Abrams film, Cloverfield, we see a technique that is not of the norm, when you look at normal big budget motion pictures. The entire film was shot verite, which is a specific documentary style of film making, and is commonly seen today in reality tv. Recently, movies like The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity have also used this technique, but neither had managed to deliver the authentic feel J.J. Abrams gives us in Cloverfield.
The one thing that separates Cloverfield from other pseudo documentary films was that Abhrams gave this film a more raw feel, by seemingly delivering a movie that wasn't edited, but in fact was shot continuously. And in order to develop a character storyline, and easy break points he inserted what was perceived to be footage that was on the cassette prior to the night in the movie.
This movie lacked any common techniques used by film makers today, thus making it a success. What normal viewers expect from movies, such as depth of field, panning, and focus were stripped from this movie to maintain the home video feel.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Convergence
Today, the word media is synonymous with change. With the development of technology, things in media change daily, by the time you master a medium, its becoming obsolete, and you need to adapt. Most of the time these new mediums are different variations of older mediums. Photography and painting is becoming digital art. Film is replaced by ram. This process is called convergence, having different devices I technology come together.
Convergence is so common in todays world, we don't even notice it anymore. The cellphone is a camera. And with the Iphone 4 and Droid, video chat is replacing actually face to face conversation. Musical instruments and computers come together with software like Pro Tools, and Reason. And even motion pictures like, Avatar, get edited down using Final Cut Pro, a software available to anyone with a Mac.
Change is inevitable, in any field, change will happen. But in media, this change happens faster than any other. Notebooks become tablets, textbooks become ebooks, theses changes happen so fast, and we adapt so smoothly that sometimes we need to stop and look back to actually notice.
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