Blog 10 A

      In FREAK FACTOR: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness, David Rendall recommends nine ways to deal with your weaknesses. Rather than suggesting improvement on weak areas, David suggests to readers that they should focus on their strengths instead. Many weaknesses are, according to David, actually hidden strengths. One story he uses as an example to support his argument that weaknesses can actually be used as strengths involves a man who struggles with addiction. Todd Crandell used to be addicted to drugs. His problems with drugs left him homeless and poor. Todd was able to change his addiction from drugs to Ironman Triathlons, races that involve a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. He still has an addiction, but he has found a way to harness his addiction to improve his health rather than damage it. Like David says, it is more efficient and realistic to make the weakness into a strength than try to change the weakness altogether.

   The first of David's suggestions I found especially useful was number two: “What's My Problem?” David describes how he has harnessed his weaknesses and turned them into skills that help him in his life as a professor, speaker and consultant. For example, David mentions that he is hyperactive. He writes, “Now, the hyperactive guy, who can't sit down or stay quiet, gets paid to stand up and talk.” He chose careers that are not negatively impacted by his weaknesses. One of my weaknesses is that I am very easily distracted. It is literally impossible for me to focus through an entire class. Sometimes, I am so easily distracted that I can not focus enough to have a one-on-one conversation. It can be an extreme nuisance at times, but when I lose focus on the task at hand, I am usually daydreaming about abstract thoughts, concepts or creative ideas. Often, I imagine unique camera angles or interesting ways to edit a certain video sequence I have been working on. I conquer my weakness by using it to supplement my strength as a creative person.

    The next tip that I strongly agree with is number four: “Forget It: Don't Try to Fix Your Weaknesses.” David says that it is a waste of time to try to fix your weaknesses. He believes that it takes too long to correct a weakness, it is not enjoyable, it is distracting and it simply isn't worth it. By correcting a weakness, it is still not transformed into a useful strength. It is pointless to attempt to be less bad at something when you could instead use the time and effort to turn a good skill into a great skill. Another weakness of mine is that I am bad at planning ahead. Rather than trying to get better at planning ahead, it is more worth my time to develop my already strong skill to easily adapt to situations as they occur and solve problems on the spot.

    The last tip that I would like to discuss is tip number five: “Build on Your Strengths.” David says we should work to improve our strengths more than correct our weaknesses because it feels rewarding, our natural areas of strength are the areas that have the most potential and strengths make up for weaknesses. Essentially, David is encouraging specialization. People who are a jack of all trades are not those who are the most well known. For example, if Einstein had decided that relative to his physics skills, his biology skills were weak, he may have wasted his time being an average biologist instead of developing the theory of relativity. Specializing in physics is what made Einstein one of the greatest scientists of all time.

My Weaknesses: Procrastination, easily distracted, poor pre-planning skills, impulsive, overextension

My Strengths: Creativity, flexible/good at adapting, open-minded, calmness in stressful situations

Blog 9A

    I believe that my group and I were able to clearly explain all of the concepts in our game to the class because we had a very simple game. Rather than a complex, multiplayer, open-world game, like some of those proposed by other groups, my group decided on a relatively simple game that could be played online. Our strongest point was identifying the objectives. In my group's game, OU Drunken Dash, the objectives are simple: make it from the spring fests to your dorm without being arrested, buy some food from a restaurant on Court Street, and escort your friend back to his/her dorm. Our weakest point was giving the class a sample of some of the sounds they would hear in game. Unfortunately, the sounds included on the powerpoint would not work when they were on the computer in the lab. I had to manually select each sound and play it using preview since the sound would not work on the powerpoint.

    The concept that is most difficult to discuss with others is the game's goals. It is the most difficult to explain a game's goals because it is easy to confuse goals with objectives. In my group's game, the objectives are to evade capture by police, but the goals are to accomplish the objective quickly to earn a high score. The close relationship between goals and objectives can make it difficult to decide whether to classify something as a goal or objective.

My Hero/Villain Animation

Here is my animation posted on my partner's blog.

Blog 8A

Audio for Blog 8A

Blog 7

A Fools Game

My group chose to use joke number 6:

JOKE #6

A very shy guy goes into a bar and sees a beautiful woman sitting at the bar. After an hour of gathering up his courage, he finally goes over to her and asks, tentatively, "Um, would you mind if I chatted with you for a while?"

 She responds by yelling, at the top of her lungs, "NO! I won't sleep with you tonight!" 

 Everyone in the bar is now staring at them. 

 Naturally, the guy is hopelessly and completely embarrassed and he slinks back to his table.

 After a few minutes, the woman walks over to him and apologizes. She smiles at him and says, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. You see, I'm a graduate student in psychology, and I'm studying how people respond to embarrassing situations."

 To which he responds, at the top of his lungs, "What do you mean $200?!"

Our two approaches to presenting the joke were very different; however, due to the fact that they were both filmed in the same location, the use of line, shape, rhythm, space and movement are very similar in both videos. In the first video, Whats the Worst that Could Happen?, we used color and audio. The second video, A Fools Game, had the appearance of a 1920's silent film. The contrast in the use of color in the videos emphasized that the fact that they took place in different time periods. The video in color is intended to look modern while the black and white video is meant to take place in the late 1800's.

Both videos display affinity through the use of visual rhythm. The bottles on the shelves behind the bar establish a constant visual rhythm consistent in both videos. In both videos, there is an over the shoulder shot of two characters with the bottles in the background.

The videos also share affinity through the use of line. In Whats the Worst that Could Happen?, the lines created by the bar lead you right to Tony and Mike. In A Fools Game, the lines lead you right to Janette.

 

Video

Blog 6A

Blog 5A

I was drawn to this particular image because I really enjoy the work of Salvador Dali. I reframed my version of the image so that the eye was perfectly in the center of the 9-squared box created by dividing the image into horizontal and vertical thirds. I believe the artist framed the image the way he did to emphasize the large amount of space. In my image, the eye doesn't look as isolated; however, the eye looks alone in a desolate, barren wasteland in the original image. In both images, the lines leading to the horizon establish the visual rhythm and lead our eyes to the eye, then the horizon. The original image would be considered a long shot, whereas mine is more of a medium shot.

Blog 5B

New playlist2

Brainwashed

http://changethis.com/manifesto/66.01.Brainwashed/pdf/66.01.Brainwashed.pdf

      In Seth Godin's article “Brainwashed,” he gives readers seven tips to reinvent themselves. The first of the seven suggestions that stood out to me was number two: be generous. Godin emphasizes the importance of being generous in, “the new economy.” The composition of creative content, especially for independent musicians, rarely yields monetary revenue. Instead, Godin stresses the importance of separate individuals supporting each other. I can personally confirm the value of being generous when working with creative content through my own experiences. Last summer, I started recording rock bands in my hometown. I actually recorded an entire album with a band called The Abstract for free because I wanted to prove that I am talented enough to earn business from other bands. Now, The Abstract is gaining popularity around Akron and Cleveland and they usually mention me when they are interviewed. We have helped each other become more well known in our hometown, just like Derek Sivers of CDBaby.com.

     The second tip that stood out to me was acknowledge the lizard. The “lizard brain” refers to the part of our brain that causes the emotions anxiety and anger. This part of our brain makes us afraid of being laughed at, a feeling Steven Pressfield calls, “the resistance.” Godin encourages us to acknowledge the resistance and overcome it to present our art without fear.

     While I don't think generosity is related to creating this blog in any way, I can definitely see how these blog assignments can help me “acknowledge the lizard.” By posting my creative work for this class to my blog, I am allowing anyone in the world to see it. If posting a song or soundscape on a site that can be viewed by anyone with an internet connection isn't acknowledging the lizard and ignoring it, I don't know what is. These blog assignments give valuable lessons about the prevalence and importance of user-generated content and familiarizes students with new ways to share their media.

Blog 3B

The following links are to the soundscapes I commented on.

Adam Martinelli

Brie Donovan

Josh Powell

New playlist1

Blog Assignment 3---Cover Songs

Hot N Cold by Katy Perry

Hot N Cold by Woe, Is Me

     The two songs I chose to compare are Hot N Cold, originally by Katy Perry, and its cover by Woe, Is Me. The first difference between these two songs is the melody. In Katy Perry's version of the song, the vocals are the melody in the first verse. In Woe, Is Me's cover of the song, there is not melody for the first 22 seconds. The sung melody of the original song is replaced with distorted, guttural screaming. During the chorus, the singer in Woe, Is Me begins to sing the same melodic vocal line in the same key signature as Katy Perry does. In Woe, Is Me's cover, the vocals are screamed again for a couple measures 43 seconds into the song before returning to the original melody of the chorus. The pattern of switching between screamed vocals with no real melody to melodic sung vocals is a transition that is made repeatedly in Woe, Is Me's cover of the song. When the singer in Woe, Is Me is singing, he sings almost the exact same melody with some slight embellishments.

     While the songs share almost the same lyrics and a similar melody, their musical qualities are very different. It is immediately apparent that Woe, Is Me's cover is much faster than Katy Perry's original version. Woe, Is Me's cover is played at a tempo of about 143 beats per minute while Katy Perry's version is only about 132 beats per minute. Also, Katy's version uses the same constant tempo throughout the entire song. The instrumentation is also very different between the two songs. In Katy Perry's version, the instrumentation is all electronic. In Woe, Is Me's cover, the band has a rhythm and lead guitar, bass guitar, a drummer, a singer, a screamer, and a keyboard/synthesizer. The rhythm in Katy Perry's original is in a constant 4/4 time signature with the bass playing on beats one and three. In Woe, Is Me's cover, the rhythms of the guitars and drums are very syncopated and change almost every measure. Both songs are heterophonic. Woe, Is Me's cover is also much more intense. The instruments and vocals are loud and deep. Katy Perry's version does not have nearly as much bass as the cover. Woe, Is Me uses a much more complex timbre in their synthesized sounds than Katy Perry. Around one minute into Woe, Is Me's cover, the complex timbre of the synth can be easily identified. The timbre in Katy Perry's version is fairly simple. Both songs are organized the same way. They order of the two songs goes verse, chorus, verse, chorus, interlude/breakdown, chorus.

     I like Woe, Is Me's cover much better than Katy Perry's original. I prefer the cover because I really enjoy syncopated rhythms and screamed vocals. I also like the sung vocals in the cover more than Katy Perry's vocals. In the second verse, Katy Perry sounds the same exact way she did in the first verse. There isn't much energy in her singing and I personally find it boring. Woe, Is Me's singer does a much better job giving the song energy and embellishing the melody so the song doesn't become monotonous and overly-repetitive. I also think the way Woe, Is Me plays the song fits the lyrics better. The whole song is about someone who constantly changes their mind; when Woe, Is Me plays the song, they constantly switch between screamed vocals in minor keys and melodic sung vocals in major keys. In the music video for Hot N Cold by Katy Perry, she looks angry and she chases her fiance all over; however, when she sings the song, she sounds very calm for an enraged bride chasing a groom all across town. I think Woe, Is Me did a much better job representing the bipolar nature of the song.

New playlist

Finding Your Howl

     In Finding Your Howl, author Jonathan Flaum talks about a story one of his friends wrote in fifth grade. The story was about a tiger who was trapped in a cage in a zoo. One day, the tiger came up with a plan to escape and jumped out of his cage. The next morning, the tiger woke up in another cage in another zoo. Once again, he escaped only to find the same fate. Flaum interprets the story as a representation of the cage we find ourselves in throughout all stages of our lives.

The following video contains my audio response portion of this assignment.

Blog 1B

http://changethis.com/manifesto/49.06.14Ways/pdf/49.06.14Ways.pdf

        In 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas, Mitch Ditkoff presents readers with suggestions to assist in the creation of innovative ideas. While I agree that all of his suggestions are good, there were three that stood out to me the most.

        The first of Ditkoff's ideas that really stood out to me is number five: fantasize. Ditkoff simply reminds us to think of a fantasy solution to whatever obstacle you are attempting to overcome and see what you can learn from your “fantasy solution.” He uses Gary Kasparov, the Soviet Union's chess master who successfully beat a supercomputer, as an example. Ditkoff writes that Kasparov gave two reasons he was able to beat the computer, “intuition and the ability to fantasize.” In Media 101 we learned that creative jobs offer more job security than others because they are not in danger of being replaced by computers. Our ability to use our imagination is what sets us apart from computers. I will continue to incorporate this into my creative process by imagining my ideal outcome and finding a way to make it possible.

       The next of Ditkoff's ideas that I find to be particularly valuable is tip number six: define the right challenge. This tip reminds us to begin with the end in mind. It is essential to understand the problem you are attempting to solve when searching for a solution. I once heard someone say that if you don't have a destination, nowhere is just where you will go. I have already begun to implement this suggestion into my creative process and it has definitely helped. I have found that it makes my entire creative process much quicker and more efficient. When I was working on my soundscape assignment during last Friday's lab session, I thought about what I wanted the final product to sound like as soon as I read the assignment. By beginning with the end in mind, I was able to select the right kind of sounds to create the mood I was going for. Rather than spending a long time playing around with sounds without a goal, I began with a fairly solid idea of what the final product would sound like. I will definitely continue to follow this suggestion in the future.

       The last of Ditkoff's ideas I am going to write about is number eight: take a break. Ditkoff writes that it is ok to take a break when you get frustrated or stuck. He cites the story of Seymour Cray, a computer designer, as an example. Cray would often take a break from his computer research to work on a tunnel he built under his house. During his time working on the tunnel, he would take his mind off things for a while and come back for a fresh start later. I have always taken breaks when working on long projects and I have found that it can be very helpful. In my personal experience, I have found that after an extended period of time working on one thing, I tend to lose focus. I find it helpful to take a nap or go for a walk to allow myself to think about other things for a while. In the end, I make up for the time I spent doing something else because I am so much more efficient when I return to the task at hand. I find it takes me longer if I decide to plow straight through and try to do everything all at once.

The suggested activity I decided to try out for myself was a part of number four: make new connections. As suggested by the activity, I made three lists: ten nouns, ten verbs, and ten adjectives. Here is my list:

Nouns	Verbs	Adjectives
Car	Run	Hot
House	Jump	Cold
Bottle	Skate	Big
Door	Wash	Small
Printer	Find	White
Computer	Eat	Black
Box	Laugh	Strong
Dog	Write	Weak
Lawn	Read	Bright
Shoe	Clean	Dark

When I thought about combining the words find, car, and small, I thought of some sort of device to help you find your car keys when they get lost. Another idea I had came from combining computer, read, and small. An example of this is a device like the Amazon Kindle. I also thought of combining computer, read, and bright to come up with something to put over a computer screen that is too bright to prevent people from getting headaches while looking at bright screens for long periods of time.

My Obsession with Tarantino (blog assignment 1)

 One artist who inspires me is Quentin Tarantino. I am sucker a for rags to riches stories and Tarantino's success encourages me to diligently pursue my goals. Aside from inspiring me to be a hard worker, Tarantino is also my favorite filmmaker. I especially admire his ability to create realistic dialogue and his outstanding use of subjective symbolism.

My favorite example of Quentin Tarantino's use of subjective symbolism is from my favorite movie, Pulp Fiction. At the beginning of the film, two gangsters named Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) are sent by their boss to retrieve a briefcase from the apartment of someone who failed to uphold their end of a business deal. The case belongs to the leader of their gang, Marcellus Wallace. It is also important to note that the combination to open the case is 666, the sign of the devil. During the film, the briefcase is opened twice; however, its contents are never revealed. Both times the case is opened, a yellow light comes from the case and the person looking at it is in awe. In the final scene, one character looks inside and says, “Is that what I think it is? It's beautiful.” Tarantino leaves it up to the viewer to decide what is inside the case. This subjective symbolism allows the viewer to use their imagination and guess what is inside the case. It also forces the viewer to really think about the symbolism throughout the movie and how it relates to the case.

Another one of Tarantino's qualities I admire is his use of active themes. In Pulp Fiction, there is never a point of the movie that explains exactly what the theme is. He leaves it up to the viewer to find their own theme from the film. I really enjoy when authors and filmmakers use active themes because it forces the reader to think. To me, as well as the majority of critics, the film is about redemption. The movie is composed of three smaller stories that all have the same characters. Each of these smaller stories focuses on one character who, in the end, finds redemption. For example, the final story focuses on the character Jules. After he and Vincent are unharmed when a man unloads six bullets on them at point blank and misses, his character begins a transformation. Jules believes that the fact that they were not hit by a single bullet is an act of divine intervention. In the final scene, he discusses the miracle with Vincent and reveals that he is going to retire from his life of crime.

 I also admire Tarantino's use of subtext. The opening scene of Pulp Fiction contains subtext that helps us understand the moral beliefs of Jules and Vincent. While walking to the apartment of one of their victims, the two gangsters discuss a recent attack on a man they know named Anton. Jules tells Vincent that he heard a rumor that their boss, Marsellus Wallace, threw Anton out of a window for giving his wife a foot massage. Both men agree that Marsellus overreacted and that it was wrong for him to throw Anton out of a window for touching his wife's feet. Later in the film, Vincent tells his drug dealer that someone keyed his Malibu. He says, “Boy, I wish I could have caught him doin' it. I'd have given anything to catch that asshole doin' it. It would've been worth him doin' it just so I could've caught him.” These lines indicate that Vincent would have most likely brutally beaten and possibly killed the person who keyed his car. The subtext of these two conversations indicates that Vincent has his own twisted set of morals.

Why so early?

The reason I chose to be in a lab section at 8:00 AM on a Friday morning is because I work best in the morning. I almost feel like I'm not really awake enough to get distracted. Also, it is nice to start my weekend early. After this lab section, I have German 213 for an hour and then my weekend starts. I could have chosen the 3:00 lab time but I prefer to work in the morning.