Class Notes: October 30, 2007

I was absent from class this past Thursday when the class viewed the film, "Downfall." There was an assignment to post a blog with personal commentary on the movie. I haven't done it because I haven't seen the film. I was also absent the day that the class posted questions from the second publication we read that was written by Diana George (a few classes back).

Notes:
FILM
-film is about experiences
-"misc en scene"- film jargon for the world inside the movie. . .from the word miscellaneous?
-the message of the film is "to see, to think, and to act". . .I still haven't seen it, but that is the class consensus
-this medium of film (Thomas Edison) was originally intended for the audience of the working class who perhaps couldn't afford to go to the theatre
-no one ever expected the "motion pictures" to stomp on the theatre
-require a certain amount of investment
-the Big M- plot lines follow the pathway of the M (in rising/falling action, etc.)
TELEVISION
-some people say that television is the dumbed down version of film; there has always been a stigma associated with watching too much television (it is still not socially acceptable because we have values that are more elevated in our society)
-useful for advertisements-central feature of the tv medium in this country
-becoming extremely interactive/multimodal-history chanel, food network, etc. . .things "on demand"-DVR, TIVO
-phasing out analog television by the year 2009-all signals broadcasted will be digital
-it's seen as consumerism-a passive activity
-Literacy. . .media literacy-there are many different types of literacy
-tv is part of modern living
-completely driven by ads-lasting from about sixty to ninety seconds-becoming more frequent toward the end of the program on television
-during an hour long show, there are usually an average of sixty commercials
-the tv medium doesn't impose the same kinds of restrictions that films do. . .tv lends itself to more casual entertainment
-a tv show should climax in about five different places to incorporate the ads
-the sitcom-situation comedy

Project Draft: some of my favorite selected photographs

This project is turning out to be really FUN for a project. I realized that a lot of my pictures already are composed of really interesting photographic elements. . .I really don't want to change anything about a lotof them. I have always ejoyed taking pictures and must have unconsciously considered the different elements of the pictures when I took a lot of these.

I don't know how to make a photo album on this blogging device, so above I am just going to upload some random pictures that I have selected to go into my picture book.

Film and Some of Its Different Elements

I was unable to find the particular article that this writing is in reference to but I did some of m own online research regarding the topic. I am under the impression that a lot of the people in this class are English majors, and have taken various film-related classes. I am a psychology major and have never seen Citizen Kane or The Godfather, which probably gives me a disadvantage in this blog discussion. I also am not very familiar with filmography in general (aside from the general overview in the book), so please excuse me if I misstep.

Previously, my understanding of these movies was very very basic (and honestly hasn't dramatically improved). My knowledge stood that they are regarded as two of the greatest films of all time (The Godfather being ranked right behind Citizen Kane). I was under the impression that a large part of the hype over these films is based on the unique cinematograph and overall film technique. In reading about Citizen Kane, the juxtaposition of scenes seems to play a large role in how the audience interprets the screen play. In reading about The Godfather, it seems like there is a heavy reliance on unique camera shots to unconsciously give the audience certain emotions (as in any film, but I think this movie is often used as an example in film classes).

Now on to the real topic which is how characters in film tend to pursue the American dream to a tragic end. This is the new and unfamiliar territory for me (character analyses). Apparently, these two films are THE classic examples of this pursuit. I suppose that makes them "conventional" in regards to character development. I can't think of any specific examples of other characters that do the same thing. however, I think this is the mission with most classical "conventional" (in character) movies. I keep specifying "in character" because these are obviously both verb unique and unconventional in other aspects. That is why the stand out so much.

I really appreciate film because of it roundness. As one of m classmates pointed out the other day, film is the "intersection where all art forms come together." This is why I have appreciation for more than acting and aesthetic considerations.

Visual "remix" day

Visual remix day was a lot of fun because we felt like our possibilities for topics were endless, which really allowed us to be creative. We were given the assignment of presenting two to three different visual remixes with broad subjects (clearly nothing pertaining to Clemson like the cartoon assignment).

This first image is my least favorite of the three that our group made because I don't feel that the picture conveys our originally intended message. We generated the idea from the chaos among the republican candidates in the presidential race. We don't feel that there are any strong front-runners across the party and no one really stands out. I thought maybe morphing all of the candidates into paper dolls would be funny in showing that they seem almost indistinguishable. Then that idea turned into making a seven headed monster and one thing lead to another as we wound up with Medusa. I think our final product sheds a negative, condescending light on the republican party (which was in no way my intention) while we were actually just trying to show that it seems like a circus between the candidates at this point in the race. I give all of this commentary on the first image because it is the one that I worked on with a few other people. Maybe if we had had more time it would send our message more clearly.

I really love both of the other images because they are both really funny and relevant to current events. The second one is a classical political statement in reference to immigration controversies. The great wall of China is superimposed along the border between the United States and Mexican borders. The third image is the funniest. Here Steven Colbert's head has been placed on the Lincoln monument because he just recently announced his candidacy.

My Progress Report

I must be honest and admit that little progress has been made on my creative project. I was really proud of myself for getting photo shop downloaded onto my computer because that was a big step. However, it got deleted while my computer was in CCIT for repairs. . .major setback. It doesn't take long though, so I'll be up and running before long.

I have researched the Apple photo books a bit more so I now know where I stand in regard to price. A hard back book with ten double-sided sheets (that is ten sheets) would cost me $29.99 with an extra $.99 for each additional page (100 sheets is the max). The single-sided hard back book is the same overall price of $29.99 with an extra $1.49 for each additional page (50 sheets maximum). I feel like both of these options are reasonable and can't wait to see the final product.

Otherwise, I have just been exploring my options for pictures to include. It is a lot harder than it sounds because there are oodles of pictures and I want to achieve a sense of balance between different types of pictures. It is easy to get carried away with pictures that all resemble each other.

I hope to get started actually working in photo shop by next week. . .until then!

Cartoon: Holiday Appropriation

This assignment was really fun because it was creative and highly interactive. It made me feel like I was on the Iron Chef show because of the team work and time constraint involved. The different positions held by each group member were effective. I was one of the two "writers" and really had fun with it. As is clear, our graphics people did an excellent job of using the simplistic tools in paint to create a graphic image.

The topic for the cartoon was hard to choose because as students we could come up with many different things relevant to Clemson for satire. We considered parking services and the inconsistencies of our football team both as topics. It ultimately came down to the ability to use a single frame with the topic of holiday appropriation as well as the ability to create a minimilistic image in the Microsoft Word paint program.

Our topic, Holiday Appropriation, was in reference to the re-assignment of holidays as President Barker addressed to the student body in an "Inside Clemson" listserv email. We received it a few weeks prior to the annual two day Fall Break. Clemson doesn't usually get Labor Day as a holiday, but due to the Florida State game falling on that Monday, one of the Fall Break days was re-assigned to celebrating Clemson Football. A lot of people were disappointed by the short holiday. Those die-hard football fans were the most understanding and supportive of the change in holiday. But let's face it, some people just don't care about football. To them, this "re-assignment" assumes that what they have had planned for Fall Break is inferior to Clemson Football and doesn't matter enough to have that extra day off. To me, that was the primary punch line of the cartoon. There was also an underlying satirical message in the cartoon. It was in reference to all the rage about climbing our way up the ladder to being a top 20 University. It seems like we tend to get less holiday time than other universities. For example, USC in Columbia ALWAYS gets Labor Day off, as well as their two well-deserved days of Fall Break. The word on the street is that our holiday control will contribute to our becoming a top 20 university. IT IS JUST ONE DAY, and we are still only number 27.

Graphic Design

One of my favorite movies at the moment is the new comedy entitled, "Knocked Up." This is a tiny picture but I couldn't get it to be any larger. I think this illustration does a good job in setting the tone for the content of the movie. The first thing the viewer notices is the KNOCKED UP in the center. It is red as if to suggest an emergency, and "knocked" is centered across both of the main characters which ties them evenly into the picture. The "up" isn't centered and is placed under the female which also suggests that the problem might be heavier for the female character than the male. The atmosphere surrounding the title is simple and relaxed, which is consistent with the tone of the movie as it is a comedy.