Shutter Island - 5B

After still having complications of ripping my video from YouTube, I have decided to, again, post my video i was going to use for this assignment.  Shutter Island is known for having an active feel rather then a didactive approach.  The imagery helps the viewer understand certain motifs throughout the movie.  The first thing i have noticed was the shapes of the characters.  After discussing this in class, I have began to analyze the shape before everything else.  The main character and his "sidekick" have similar shaped faces and body features.  Contrasting to the boxier facial features of the mains characters,  most other relevant characters in the film have a more circle based face.  I thought this was interesting since as Mr. Williams has said in class, "None of it was an accident." The second concept I have noticed in this clip of Shutter Island is the rhythm.  The rhythm  of all of the character differ in interesting ways.   The main character moves in a slow fashion; it always makes you feel that he is thinking about his next move.  His sidekick moves in a faster, more energetic motion, which creates a contrasting feel in relation to the main character.  Lastly,  the Doctor of the facility moves in a slow fashion as well and speaks fluently.  It seems that if he plans everything out in advance and thinks about what he will be saying next.  It also gives a feel of wiseness and calmness.

Castlevania- Lords of Shadow

Due to complications of ripping the video off of YouTube, I have decided to post the video I was going to use and explain it with text rather then a voice over, unfortunately.  Castlevania is one of the world's most renowned video game series across many platforms starting in the early days on the original Nintendo. The creators of Castlevania have done an outstanding job on staying on top of the crowd with their visual effects.  If you are familiar with the Castlevania games, you automatically know that the game will have deep, dark, and eerie imagery and orchestration to aid the story lines.  The newest addition to the series is Castlevania -Lords of Shadow.  With the name of the game, "Shadow" helps the audience understand the imagery of the game even before buying it.  The movement in the game is fantastic.  The character's primary movement is his legs, his binary being the arms and body, and his tertiary movement could be explained through his attacks.  For the most part, the brightness of the imagery is very dark.  The creators have manipulated the scenes accordingly to the meaning and setting of the game.   The use of shadows in this game help the imagery to have a depth to them also. The imagery itself seems to have a high saturation and a manipulated hue to give the game the dark. Needless to say, the colors incorporated throughout this game gives the player a slightly realistic feel.

Ben Goosens 5A

For this assignment I have chosen a work from Ben Goosens.  This was the first photo that had caught my eye while I had looked over his work.  The photo is unique in all ways.   The first thing that I had noticed upon looking at the particular photo was the depth that was created.  Goosens has done a fantastic job of creative depth in this picture.  Although there is not a lot of eye candy in the background, the photo seems to be going forever. His use of darker colors on the top and bottom of the foreground contrast the middle ground in the middle of the picture that gives it deep depth.  The second thing I had notice was Goosens’ use of the rule of thirds.  It is true! The eye tends to move to the upper left hand side of the picture first.  Besides the depth, my eye was concentrated on the birdcage and the egg at first.  That is why I chose to re-frame this picture in this matter.  Another interesting thing about the image is the shape of the items.  The egg is obviously a more circular object, and according to affinity, the birdcage and other eggs assembled in a row give the picture a sense of affinity.  The rooster and house are contrasting elements in the picture towards the circular object for they have more sharp edges.  I also thought that this photo is to be looked at by interpreting a motif because this has no direct impression on “regular” events, so Goosens must have created the image to let the viewer interpret his or her own opinion on what is trying to be established. The last point I would like to mention about this photo was Goosens use of space.  The image is very wide in a sense, and along with the depth, the image looks massive. The use of color and size gave the image a very big spacey feel to it.  The lighter colors in the middle makes the image feel elongated horizontally.

3 Ways to Be Creative - "How to Be Creative"

changethis.com

Brainwashed

Brainwashed is another online article feature on www.changethis.com. The manifesto contains helpful information to reinventing yourself as a creative person.  Seth Godin, the writer of the article, gives seven main points when reinventing creativity. These seven points are, connect, be generous, make art, acknowledge the lizard, ship, fail and learn.  The article seems to be very helpful.  As i first read the article i was pondering over the "acknowledge the lizard" key point.  Godin explains this "lizard" to be a part of your brain; the part that worries and will release anger.  You must control this "lizard." When someone critiques or laughs at your creative work, you must not be discouraged and fight the resistance to stop you from using your creativity.  The second key point from Godin that I pondered on was his "connect" section.  Being in a creative industry, everything is about connections, connections, and more connections!  In school teachers encourage everyone to be social because you never know who can help you in your creative endeavors.  If you are the only one to notice your creative work, that creative work will stay with you and will not get a chance to put an impression on anyone if you dont get out and talk!  My entire blog applies to both of these points very easily.  As i add on to this blog, I will not be discouraged if someone disagrees with any of my statements or inputs.  Thus "acknowledging the lizard" as Godin states.  This  blog will also help my career with connections (hopefully). I want this blog to help me make connections.  I would like other creative individuals to look at my creative works, ideas, and opinions that I list here. I love to express myself through my works, and I hope everyone enjoys them!

James Watson/Ryan Heitkemper Songs

"Holy Diver"

Ronnie James Dio- "Holy Diver" (1983)
Killswitch Engage- "Holy Diver" (2009)

Covering songs, believe it or not, is a very complicated thing to do.  Being an active musician, I can somewhat understand the process.   When covering any song, most bands today try and put their own flavor and taste into a very popular song.  It is hard to do so without “ruining” the original.  Since music is vastly different then it was back in say the 80’s, many techniques and styles have been generated since then, and incorporating a specific style into a song that is already reputable is difficult.  My favorite cover to this day is the cover of  “Holy Diver” re-mastered by Killswitch Engage, a present day notable Hard Rock/Metal band. Ronnie James Dio originally wrote the song in 1983 on his debut full length, and it quickly became one of his most famous and relatable songs. When first listening to the cover of “Holy Diver” by Killswitch Engage, it is noticeably different but the comparable in many ways.  The first thing that I noticed upon hearing it was the pitch.  Killswitch Engage drops the pitch (or tuning) down to the key of Drop C, which is significantly lower then the original composed in 1983.  The second thing I noticed was that Killswitch Engage kept the same melody for the song (just dropped lower to match the tuning).  This is crucial when covering a song.  If you intend to use the song as a tribute you must keep the basics the same.  The intensity of the song reflects Killswitch Engage's style which is "harder" or an "in-your-face." feel. The rhythm is kept to its original tempo in the cover as well.  Any faster or slower might diminish the songs feel, but a more modern sound and with the different style, it helps give the song a contrasting feel.  The timbre in the song is moderately the same as well.  The song was originally recorded with the basic rock elements: electric guitar, bass, and drums, but again with Killswitch Engage’s modernized sound helped give it a more “noisy” effect.  The last thing to notice is the lyrics.  With “Holy Diver” being a song of such magnitude, the lyrics are very catchy and memorable.  I think Killswitch Engage did an outstanding job on keeping the lyrics the same but adding their own grungy vocals to let the fans of Dio and Killswitch Engage understand that this was a tribute song but imitated in their own way.  Musicians and listeners appreciate what Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P) has done for the Hard Rock and Metal of today.  With out Dio, the Rock music we hear today could be significantly different than what we know and love in this decade.  I think that is the reason Killswitch Engage has covered the Dio classic “Holy Diver”.  After watching interviews of Killswitch Engage regarding this song, it seems that if this song was re-mastered more for tribute to Ronnie James Dio, even before his death, rather than just another band covering a song just because they like it, and that is why I this is my favorite cover. Killswitch Engage has done an outstanding job of covering “Holy Diver” without diminishing or ruining the classic, and I think the cover will also start a trend of modern musicians covering their influence’s classics to pay tribute to the Hard Rock we hear today.