Blog Assignment #8: Scene Deconstruction

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

The Second Proposal

For better video quality, please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynltXxOY1eA

THEME



Pride and Prejudice is a movie about how love can conquer all things. In this scene, Mr. Darcy is expressing his love for Elizabeth and asking for her hand. With all the rough situations they’ve been through, we get to see them finally together, expressing how much they love each other. I believe the theme in this movie is portrayed in a didactive manner throughout the movie. They even speak about how their families have tried to separate them, but in the end their love for each other is too strong to break.

REINFORCING THE THEME

In Pride and Prejudice, lines and shape reinforce the theme of how love can conquer all. When Elizabeth is walking through the meadow in the morning, there are three distinctive horizontal lines. There are the horizontal lines from the clouds, the line from the tree tops, and the line where the trees touch the ground. These lines all have affinity with being horizontal. What is contrasting them is the vertical line of Elizabeth. This gives her the spotlight in the scene, along with Mr. Darcy. This contrast of vertical and horizontal lines show how though the world is against the two being together, their love is too strong and it defies everything else. This is why they are the only vertical lines in the scene. Not only are these actual lines important, but the virtual lines in the scene are important as well. Elizabeth’s eyes are making a line to Mr. Darcy, showing that she is watching him. The same goes for Mr. Darcy. His eye gaze is towards Elizabeth, making a virtual line. These lines are on both characters and nothing else. This shows how nothing in their lives are more important than each other.

 Shape is also important when reinforcing this movie’s theme. When looking at Elizabeth, he face is round. This sub-textually shows the softness and the feminine aspect in her character. In contrast, Mr. Darcy’s body is triangular shaped.  From his cloak when he is walking towards her to hi V-neck shirt, to even his forehead, everything about him shows sharp point. This can sub-textually state that Mr. Darcy is a strict, serious, and to-the-point man. But just like the theme, these differences in shape can’t even keep them apart.

In conclusion, the lines and shapes in this scene strongly demonstrate the theme in this movie.

Blog Assignment #7: Animation Deconstruction

Toy Story 2

Ratatouille

The Disney movies Toy Story 2 and Ratatouille are two great examples when comparing and contrasting lighting and color.

When looking at the scene of Toy Story 2, Woody (the cowboy), Jessie (the cowgirl), and Bullseye (the stallion are showing facing a television. The light from the TV screen is casting dark shadows behind the three characters. This tells the viewer that it must be nighttime when they are watching the TV, or the lights in the rooms must be turned down low. Though the light is casting shadows, it isn’t that harsh (or bright) on the character’s faces. From their facial expression, whatever show they are watching amuses them. This soft white light on the characters symbolizes that what they are watching is not bad or evil. Instead, it may be something that pleases them or brings back good memories. This gives the scene a bittersweet, reminiscent mood.

The lighting in Ratatouille is similar to that in Toy Story 2. In this scene, Ratatouille is shown lying down, enjoying a nice meal. The light is coming from behind him, casting shadows everywhere but him and food. This soft, warm light on Ratatouille is meant to make the scene have a feeling of romance. The evening light casting down on him and his food can represent that food his very important to him. The viewer can spot out the cheese, bread, and grapes because that is the only thing the light hits except for Ratatouille himself.

The color in this Toy Story 2 scene has a blue hue to it. This can be because it is nighttime wherever they are. The only bright colors that stick out are those of Woody’s and Jessie’s outfits. Their red-brown hat and yellow-gold shirts make them stand out. The saturation is not intense at all in this scene, showing that what we are seeing is not nearly as important as what they are seeing.

Ratatouille contrasts from Toy Story 2 by its color scheme. This scene uses warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow to make the scene seem pleasant. Its brightness is only shown on the food and Ratatouille himself, showing the link between him and his love of food. Also, the saturation is only intense in the cheese, bread, grapes, and Ratatouille. This shows that they (him and his food) are important and full of life.

Blog Assignment #6: Storyboard Imitation

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith scene

This scene in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith gives a great example of the 180 degree rule, the rule of thirds, and the 30 rule (either 30% or 30 degrees).

When shooting this scene, the director (George Lucas) refers to the 180 rule in order to get a good shot. For example, when Anikan Skywalker and Obi Wan are talking, he never crosses the 180 degree line. He skillfully does over the shoulder shots in order to show the viewer who is in the scene and who the character is talking to.  The two characters (Obi wan and Anikan) make up their own 180 degree line. This two person line is broken when Lucas shows R2D2 coming to save them in shot 4. From there, the 180 degree line is established between R2D2 and the three characters trapped in the ray shields (Anikan, Obi Wan, and Palpatine).

George Lucas also focuses his camera shots around the rule of thirds. In shots 1 and 3, Anikan’s face is centered in the intersections of the horizontal and vertical thirds. This also happens in shot 2 with Obi Wan. In shot 4, R2D2 appears from the top right intersection of the horizontal and vertical thirds, focusing your attention on the android while he entrances. In shot 5, Anikan and Obi Wan’s faces are placed in both intersections. With this, we can see who the important characters to look at are when watching the scene.

Lastly, the director uses the 30 rule in these first 5 shots of the scene. In shots 1 through 3, Lucas moves the camera more than 30 degrees to show the face of the character who is talking. In fact, he creatively uses over the shoulder shots in each of these scenes to show both characters. When R2D2 comes in, Lucas changes the size of the image of the camera so that it would not be a jump cut.

Lucas is a great director. In just these first five shots, he was able to use all three rules. There never was a bad jump cut, and the shots were interesting enough so that it kept my interest.

Blog Assignment #5: Song Deconstruction

"Kiss Me" by: The Cranberries

"Kiss Me" Cover by: Jason Walker

I first heard the song “Kiss Me” when I was very young. It was in the 90’s that it came out by The Cranberries and I fell in love with the upbeat song. Recently though, I found Jason Walker’s cover of the song and I fell in love with his version. Though these artists play the same song, they couldn’t be any more different in style.

First off, The Cranberries version of the song has an upbeat and fun rhythm. When listening to the lyrics, it feels as though the meaning is more cute and relaxing. It has many instruments including a bass guitar, multiple other guitars, an accordion, drums, and vocals. This makes for a complex song with many layers to it. Therefore, the depth is quite large. Also, the song’s tempo is moderate. Not too fast to make it intense or too slow to make it depressing. The Cranberries’ version of “Kiss Me” has multiple instrumentations driving the song, such as the guitar, bass, and drums. With these attributes, The Cranberries made a song that is quite relaxing. A perfect song for a summer day.

And then there is Jason Walker’s version of the song. He decided to go the complete opposite direction and make his cover have a sad, sorrowful and depressing groove. His tempo is slow, using instruments such as the piano and violin to make the song emotional. The lyrics are also more meaningful in his version. Unlike The Cranberries, Jason Walker does not have much depth. He only uses three instruments (Piano, violin, and vocals), yet this simple instrumentation leads for a more sorrowful tone. Also, he starts off with not much height to the song. As the song progresses though, he adds the violin and a woman’s voice to add height to the song. With this, the emotion becomes greater when listening to the song.

Though I love both versions of the song, I would have to say that Jason Walker has stolen my heart with this version of “Kiss Me.” I loved how he turned an upbeat song into a sorrowful yet beautiful piece of work. Also, I love songs with piano and violins, so it’s obvious that I love his version better.

Blog Assignment #4: Reflections on Sound Design

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is a great movie to watch and notice the many sounds that go behind in making this movie. In this clip, the sound editors are using Gestalt Principals and Illusions to create this scene. We hear the whirring of the ray shields, yet instead of getting lost by its sound, we hear Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi’s voice above the whir, showing figure and ground. Also, as R2D2 comes rolling towards them, we hear his scream become more intense and high pitch as he gets closer to the hostages. This change from a scream to a more intense, loud scream is an example of proximity and similarity. This movie’s sound editors also focused on listening modes.  Of course, we hear the literal sounds such as R2D2 crashing into the wall, him falling over, and the droids marching. These are all  ‘casual’ sounds. Yet we also hear some ‘semantic’ sounds, such as the whizzing of the ray shields, or the zap sound when R2D2 electrocutes the droid. Though we hear these sounds, does it really mean they are making them? Or are they representations of what they should sound like? The zap or the whizz may not make those sounds in real life, but that’s what amazing about creating a science-fiction movie. You can make anything possible; all it takes is a little magic from the sound department. 

Blog Assignment #3: Brainwashed!

 Brainwashed!

Summary

One of the layers Godin speaks about is to “acknowledge the lizard.” What he is saying is that we are all afraid to be ridiculed by trying to be different. There’s a voice inside our heads telling us that if we attempt to be artistic, we might fail and be laughed out. With this, we must acknowledge that this could happen to us but continue to take risks. If we take these risks, we will eventually be rewarded. Godin also talks about connecting. Connecting with the world allows us to present and touch others with our creative ideas. Finally, Godin tells us to fail. He wants us to accept failure as a way of learning. Failing doesn’t mean you’ve lost.  It means you’re taking risks and if you keep on these taking risks, you will succeed sooner or later.

Personal Essay

In my life, there have been times when I wanted to write down my ideas for the whole world to see. It didn’t matter if it was a little idea or if I thought it would blow the world away with my genius. All I knew is that it was important for others to see what I was thinking because who knows, maybe they may have the same thought and that idea might grow. A few years ago, I decided to connect to the world and create a blog. And let me tell you when I say it was one of the best decisions of my life. I could write whatever the hell I wanted, and share photos that interested me. And in a way, this blog that is for school is just as special as my personal blog. I am able to connect with people that share the same desires and have the same goals as me. By connecting with people, everyone’s ideas and art are brought to life when someone read/sees it.  I believe Godin is correct in telling us to use social-media in a way that we can change people’s minds and hearts through our art.

I believe that failing is also a big part in the learning process. Failure shows everyone that you are human. You know you will fall, but you have the ability to get back up and try again. They say that with experience comes wisdom. Who says all experiences have to be positive? In life, I have learned more things through failure than I have through success. This blog isn’t just to get a good grade, it’s a way to find ourselves through art, whether it’s through failure or success. These blogs and group assignments encourage us to take risks. And through taking risks, we will eventually be rewarded.

Not only do I think that Godin is correct in telling us to take risks, but I think that with taking risks, we must acknowledge that not everything we make will be successful. When Godin tells us to “acknowledge the lizard,” he wants us to accept that people may laugh at our art. Blogging is a way to show our creative side of ourselves. What we say might not be as interesting as we think it is. What we write down may actually be ridiculous to some and they may laugh. But we can’t please everyone. A blog isn’t a place where you aim to please others. It’s a place to please yourself, and hope that by writing down your ideas, you also end up pleasing the reader/viewer.

Godin’s seven layers of reinventing yourself is powerful advice if we take into account everything he says. He wants us to change the world and make it more unique. Taking risks and accepting that we might make mistakes, failing but never giving up, and connecting with others are layers that I believe are most important to creating an artistic and successful person. 

Blog Assignment #2: Finding Your Howl

Finding Your Howl

Summary

The story of Mumon is a simple, yet profound story. Mumon, one of the few red wolves in the wild, is released from captivity as an experiment to see if the red wolves could live in the wild.  Though perfectly capable of hunting and living in the wilderness, Mumon noticed that something was missing; his howl. He had to push forward and become the wolf he was supposed to be. With finding himself, he found his howl. Flaum wants us to realize that in order to find ourselves, we must leave our comfortable lives and become the person we were supposed to be; courageous and wild.

Personal Essay

"2 things: If it makes you happy, do it. If it doesn’t, then don’t." - Author Unknown

Throughout life, we are all tormented by society to fit in. From an early age, we are told to dress, talk, act, and unfortunately think in the same way as every else.  There are only a few people out there who stride against the rushing river of society and step out of the norm. These outlanders are what I strive to be each day. They don’t listen to what everyone says. They refuse to be the norm because they know it will only bring on unhappiness to them. People like this don’t care about others judging them. The reason for this is because they are happy. They understand that if the things they were doing before didn’t make them happy, they just simply didn’t do it.

This quote may be small and simple, but it speaks a million words to me. I ask myself what the purpose of life is. Is it supposed to be a time to fit in with society, even if it brings you pain, grief, and unhappiness? I don’t believe so.  Instead, I believe that life is supposed to be a time in which we discover ourselves by doing the things we love.

I am so lucky to be able to have an education and reach for my dreams. There are people in this world that don’t have the opportunities to make their dreams come true. Yet this quote doesn’t have to be about life long goals. It could be about the way you see yourself. If you don’t like how you are treating yourself and others, change. It will make you a better person and in return, make you happy. The same goes for the people you surround yourself with. If you don’t like the way you are treated, then encompass yourself with better people. There are people out there who are kind and live a happy life. You just have to open your eyes and see.

Open your eyes and see that life can be such a beautiful place if you live it the right way.  The world can be a happier place if others search for happiness instead of power. Too many of us get these two words confused; “happiness” and “power.” This quote doesn’t say, “2 things: if it makes you powerful, do it. If it doesn’t, then don’t.” Yet in our world, people get confused and follow this quote when living their lives.

I, on the other hand, know not to live a life searching for power, but to live a life full of love and happiness. Luckily, the thing I love to do makes me happy. I love making movies. Putting clips of videos together to make a masterpiece is what brings me joy. Creativity is my delight. Throughout my school years, I’ve had to learn things and study subjects that I had no joy in learning. It just didn’t interest me, and therefore did not make me happy. Yet when it came to the arts (such as music class, art, and video making), I felt as though I could breathe. I was happy being creative, so I continued working on my creativity. And with work, I became better at my talents and was made into a better person.

So if doing math, flying airplanes, singing, performing experiments, or making movies makes you happy, then do it! If it doesn’t, then simply don’t! You will thank yourself later for listening to your heart.