Monday, January 31, 2011

Sound Scape Reviews

Chris Faust


Eric Eaton


Jay Deal


These are the three people i did a critique of their sound scape over


You can find my Critique at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOJfquqbbmI

Original vs Cover (3a)


Rolling Stones Shine a Light (original)



Phish Shine a Light (cover) 

 The two versions of the song shine a light are unique in their own ways. There are many contrasts and affinities between the two versions. the first version is the original by the Rolling Stones and the second is a cover by Phish. Some of the contrasts of the songs are the speed and the intensity. The way the speed is different is that the Phish version of the song is slightly faster paced than the Rolling Stones version that is set at a slower pace. The intensity of the songs is another contrast between the songs is that Stones song starts out a lot softer than the Phish song and also the guitar solo in the phish version is more intense than the Stones version as well. 

 There are also a decent amount of affinities between the two songs as well. Some examples of the affinities between the two song would have to be the lyrics and also the pitch. The Lyrics are similar because phish did not change or add any lyrics to the song so that mean all of the words for the song are the same. The pitch is also the same because both Mick Jagger(lead singer for the Rolling Stones) and Trey Anastasio(lead singer/lead guitarist of Phish) have medium pitch to their signing voices. also bother of their vocals help give the song a rougher sound. 

I had a really hard time choosing which of the songs I liked more but ultimately i chose the Phish version of the song because i like  how it is more intense and also I enjoyed that the version was longer the other why i enjoyed it so much because it was a live version of the song and i tend to like live versions more than the studio version. 

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Finding your Howl

In Johnathon Flaum's "Finding your howl"  there are two short stories presented. one is about a wolf named Mumon and about how he has to find out to adapt to life in the wild and learn how to find his howl and the sacrifices he has to make to get it. the second is a story that a classmates of the authors wrote in the 5th grade it is about how a tiger attempts to escape from a zoo but no matter how hard the tiger tries all that happens his he ends up in a new zoo in a bigger cage. the first story started out that you found out the red wolf had been an endangered species and then some off spring of ones held in captivity had been released in to the wild they did find but one thing that they were missing is they did not know how to howl. The main character of the story Mumon was determined to find his howl. He kills a deer in order to see if hunting will help him find it but it doesn't. then a bird tells him that his howl will come to him when he most needs it. Mumon for some time still goes with out howling until he was confronted from hunters and instead of running he sacrifices him self and he figures out as he is sacrificing him self that he can howl.


here is a link to my audio clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgdPBC2LJ1Q

14 ways to get break through ideas

Mitch Ditkoff's "14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas" explains 14 different ways that we as people can have a creative breakthrough. these ideas the Ditkoff has in this article can help anyone become a more creative person. The ideas in this article are also supported by quotes by professionals so the reader of this article knows that there is truth and meaning behind the words of author.
These are three of the ways that really stuck out to me from this article.

1.) Follow Your Fascination

I feel that this point made in the article is very important to me. This point clearly states that expanding on a new idea you have or even expanding on a life long goal is a great way to make a breakthrough. This section speaks to me because it Ditkoff did a great job inspiring me to expand my ideas that i have no matter how small or big the may be. The link from from this section that spoke to me the most was "out of the thousands of ideas with the power to capture our imagination, the fascination felt for one of them is a clue that there’s something worthy of our engagement." this quote really spoke to me because it made me realize that no matter how small an idea may be if you feel like it is good and work chasing you should pursue it.

10.) Hang Out With  Diverse Groups of People.

This Section really spoke to me because i completely agree with what it says. i believe that if you do not have a diverse group of friends it not only boring because you get stuck into a pattern but also if you do if you do not have a diverse group fo friends it is hard to not only draw inspiration from different social groups and cultures, it is also makes sure you have wide variety of friends that you can form connections with and rely on. A quote from this section that made a lot of sense to me was "If you want to increase your chances of getting a breakthrough idea, you will need to break the bonds of the familiar. Hang out with a different crowd." This quote i relate to a lot because i do this because it has me see that if others do enjoy my work other than my close group of friends and family. This also quote also inspires me to go and hangout with social groups and people.

8.) Take a Brake

This advice that Ditkoff gives is very useful for me. I have been using this technique in my creative process for quite some time. i believe that taking a break while feeling over whelmed is very important because it gives you a chance not only to calm down but it also gives you a chance to improve upon your ideas. The other part of this idea is that taking a break doesn't mean you have to stop everything it can also mean that you can work on something else to help inspire you.

For my Prompt I chose #5 Fantasize. The prompt the section has is "Think of a current challenge of yours. What would a fantasy solution to this challenge look like? What clues does this fantasy solution give you?"


 My answer to the first question is that a current challenge of mine is the screenplay i am writing for a movie the reason why it is so challenging is that it is my first time writing a horror movie and i am nervous on how it will turn out.
 The fantasy solution to that challenge would be that I finish my screenplay and also make sure it is good enough that i could actually get other people interested in making it into a movie.
 The clues that i draw from this fantasy are that I want to my screenplay to be able to turn into a movie and also that i want people to accept me as a writer and film maker.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Sources of inspiration

My creativity is something i take very seriously and my sources of inspiration for me are something I take very personally. I have a ton of inspirations but there are three that I am going to list in this post are the main ones I get inspired by.

1.) Phish
I first discovered Phish from my Middle School science teacher. When I first heard them I immediately fell in love and started to listen to them a lot. The thing is they did not really have an effect on my creative process until last year. the main creative inspiration I got from phish is improvisation and also to make each one of my works different.
  Last year I started to listen to Phish intensely when I got their new album Joy. When i heard this album for the first time it amazed because this is one of their best studio albums to date but it also had a deep meaning to it.  the song i feel that i feel has the most meaning to is the title track Joy.
 Here is a video of Phish preforming the song Joy


The song Joy is a great example of how Phish uses the example of text and subtext. The text of this song says about how they want to cheer up some they know. On the level of subtext this song takes a much deeper meaning the meaning in the subtext is this song is about Trey Anastasio's(lead guitarist/vocalists) family and friends helped cheer him up after his sister had passed away due to cancer.


2.) Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi over the past couple of years has given me a good amount of inspiration for my work. The work of his that inspires me the most is the evil dead trilogy. The main source of inspiration from this work is not only the horror aspect of it but also the comedy/horror part of it.  the reason why I like comedy horror so much is because it not only can scare the audience but also have them enjoy and laugh at ridiculous aspects of the film. here is a clip from Evil Dead 2
The aspect from this clip perfectly demonstrates another aspect i like to take from Sam Raimi movies. this aspect is Tension and Release. The tension of this scene comes from not knowing who is going to win the fight the hand or Ash. The battle goes on for quite some time and it through out it it is unsure who will be unsure because they seem to be evenly matched. then all of that tension is released in a bloody ending when Ash wins the fight.

3.) Steven Spielburg

Steven Spielberg has always been a huge source of inspiration for me. If it was not for me seeing Jurassic park at the age of 5 I am not even sure if I would have had any interests in film. I remember after seeing that film I immediately became obsessed with him and started to watch a lot of his movies. I also have a lot to owe to Spielberg because if it was not for the movie Jaws i would have never wanted to learn bass because the reason why I took up bass in the fourth grade is because i wanted to learn the infamous bass line from the movie. The other forms of inspiration i draw from Spielburg is his intrest in the obscure and also his major intrest in history.
Here is a clip from the movie Schindler's List
This scene from the movie is a Perfect example of Contrast and Affinity. The affinity in this scene is the black and white which is what the movie is shot in but in this scene there is also a contrast whenever you actually see color from a little girl wearing a fred coat. This contrast is meant to symbolize 6,000,000 million victims of the holocaust.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

About Me

I am video production major at Ohio University. I enjoy anything and everything about movies i have literally seen thousands of movies and have always wanted to do something in the cinema field since i saw Jurassic Park when i was 4 I love to help make movies or shows in any way I can. The thing i like most about movies is i feel it is the greatest way to show your thoughts, views, and ideas to the world. other than movies my hobbies consist of video games, music, and also hanging out with my friends and meeting new people. The thing i hope to most accomplish from this blog is that i would like to show what i learn about the media process in my classes and also to post my own work.