Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Blog #4 Reflections on Class


I enjoyed the classes very much, and the lectures opened my eyes to some of the histories of the technologies I use everyday. I learned much about the beginnings of the camera and lens, the science behind them, and how they work together. Beginning the course with photography was a great foundation for the rest of the course; it allowed me to think about style and composition heavily for all of my assignments.

The unit on film and the video camera was great, but I expected more hands on projects. I would like to see more coverage on the subject in terms of production and editing, even if its on beginner programs like iMovie. It would have been great if the units on filming and lighting were better tied together in a more hands on manner. For example, using lighting equipment to film a mock interview in lab.

Also, I would have liked to see some coverage in the medium of sound, ranging from sound design, sound effects in movies, soundtracking, and the histories of recording sound for music and film.

Overall, the class was extremely educational, especially in terms of technicality. I don’t consider myself very well-versed in the technical aspects of photography and film, but the class laid a very good foundation on those subjects for me. Lastly, as this semester comes to an end, the class has really led me to appreciate new mediums in our current age and taught me to adapt to our ever changing world of media.

Blog #3 "What I Like"

I am a huge fan of London artist Von, aka “Hellovon,” who remade the movie poster for classic 80’s movie Teen Wolf. The composition is simple and beautiful, very pleasing to the eyes. The way he descends from large to small objects from top to bottom make the message easy to grasp.

The main focus of the poster is the illustration of the werewolf, in standard Hellovon style. It is large and takes up the most of the positive space.

The colors scheme is simple, mostly brown and black, but the streaks of yellow in the hair offset the otherwise muted colors. It really ties the colors of the poster together making it aesthetically balanced.

The use of handwritten type for the title “Teen Wolf” works perfectly to convey fun and youth. Juxtaposed below it is the tagline for the movie, but in a helvetica-looking serif font. This combination of type works very well together, and distinguishes the messages of the text from each other. Aside from the look of the type, the way Von employs font size to emphasize the message is also well played.

There is something about the text that makes it look alive. I believe he hand wrote all of the text so that the the lines are not completely straight, giving the poster a warm and welcoming aesthetic.

Each element of the poster is so well designed that each can stand on its own with confidence. I continue to be amazed at the work of Hellovon.

Blog # 2 "What I See"



I recently watched Buffalo ’66, a film directed and starred in by Vincent Gallo. A film essentially about a lost soul trying to find meaning, the film begins with plenty of wide and aerial shots, to emphasize the main character’s (Billy Brown) alone-ness and smallness. As the film progressed, Gallo incorporated closer and closer shots as we began to find out more and more about the mysterious Billy Brown. In one early scene, Billy uses the pay phone to call his parents. The scene begins with a medium shot, with the camera man following his every fidget and twitch in a very “hand-held” fashion. I feel this shot really highlighted how uncomfortable Billy was talking to his parents (whom he hasn’t talked to in years). As his conversation became heated and more intense, the extreme close up shots were applied. In one shot, the camera only focused on Billy’s eyes darting back and forth as he lies to his mother on the phone.



In one of my favorite scenes in the movie, Billy starts to open up his heart to Layla (Christina Ricci). They are in a motel room, and the camera looks down from the ceiling at them. It is composed very symmetrical, the bed completely centered with two of the same side tables on opposite sides. Billy and Layla lay on the bed about a foot and a half apart, then cuts to them getting closer and kissing, then cuts to them cuddling. What I really liked about this scene is that it didn’t need dialogue to move the story forward, it was all pushed by body language.

The style was consistent throughout the whole movie, with well-framed, Norman Rockwell-esque compositions. I love Vincent Gallo’s work.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Design A Stamp Project


I designed a stamp based on a tshirt made by Le Cool Cats called "Let the kids techno." This is Busy P swaggin.

I heart Ed Rec...

-Sweaters

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Blog #1 New Media!


My life is surrounded by so much new media, it’s kind of crazy to think about. I can’t really escape it, but I’m okay with that. My iPhone is my most used device EVER, and contains unimaginable amounts of converged media. I use it for pretty much everything to taking notes, taking pictures, keeping up with friends, watching movies, playing video games, doodling, and oh yeah, make phone calls.

The thing about this generation is that theres so much more technology and opportunity now for young independent artists to directly reach their market without some sort of corporate middle man. It used to be that if you wanted to, let’s say make a movie or record an album, you needed to go to some sort of studio. Then hire some people to market it, and so on. But these days an artist can either rent a camera or more likely already owns a camera or some home studio equipment, and flim, record, and edit all by themselves. With the advent of the internet they can do a very good job marketing and distributing themselves as well.


I think the surge of technology today brings about a lot more media from different places, and a lot more ideas and visions floating around. For me, these new technologies have made it simpler for me to both make my art and share it with the world. I produce songs, make my own album art, designed my own web page, and create simple flash videos for my songs.


In the future I think technology will bring about some sort of “Swiss-Army” device, that a consumer can access every medium there is. People are going to go completely paperless.