Wednesday, September 17, 2014
The Great Train Robbery
The Great Train Robbery was one of the first films ever made. These films did not have sounds to them usually, sometimes people would play music in the background. Most of the time though the music that you hear, is music that someone added to the film afterwards. I think that this is one of the best made films of its time. The explosions that you see like with the dynamite and the guns firing does a really good job in portraying what it actually looked like. the audience probably thought that they were going to be shot just watching it or that the people that were shot were really dead, because this was something completely new and different, unlike anything that they had ever seen. There actions and movements had to be so severe and over the top, because since there is no talking the audience had to be able to tell what they are doing. This made it easier for the audience to tell what was happening in the film. This also made the film more of a comedy as well, seeing the actors jump around. This was a great film for their time.
Stop Motion Integration
Stop Motion is an amazing way to create videos and movies, that have a different touch to them. Stop Motion has become more popular recently. Some movies are now trying out Stop Motion. For example, The Corpse Bride, Coraline, and even a new movie coming out called The Box Trolls. How Stop Motion works is you take an object and move it one piece at a time, and every time you move it you take a picture of it. At the end of all the movements you put the pictures together to essentially make a movie, or video. My favorite Stop Motion video's come from vine and usually involve Legos.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
What is Vernacular and Pictorial Photography?
Vernacular Photography- is experimenting and making new things.
For example, Leisure Diving:
For example, Leisure Diving:
Pictorial Photography- things that were already done and are being remade.
For example,
Abe Morell
Abe Morell was a very talented artist that took the normal 2-D picture and flipped it; literally. He used the device camera obscura to project real life scenes from outside to a wall in the room. Not only was the picture just as detailed and beautiful as the scene outside, it also moved just as everything outside did. The camera obscura was the beginning of film. Not only did he make beautiful pictures out of the camera obscura, he made multiple positioned pictures, of something falling or moving for example.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Behind the Scenes of Wicked
Wicked was one of the biggest and most difficult broad way plays to put on as a director. Not only would it be difficult to put on because of its size, but also because of the tone that it has. It could go from very moving and serious and then switch to a very pop and light and funny. Its not like there are long transitions in between the two either, it really can go from serious to silly very quickly and that's hard to direct. The directors and the actors really need to be on the same level, both as learners. Learning something new every rehearsal about the performance. "It's like wedeling a stick of wood" Joe Mantello. It starts off as nothing and after working with it more and more you get a final product. That is exactly how a performance starts out. You have to allow people that work differently, achieve the same goal in their amount of time" Joe Mantello. Not only is Wicked a performance, it is something that everyone can really relate to and become inspired by, especially through the character Elphaba. She is someone you can really appreciate with her self-confidence, strength, and ability to believe in themselves. Wicked truly does have a "profound effect on peoples lives" Joe Mantello.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Great Recession of 2008 vs Stock Market Crash of 1929
The first stock market crashed in 1929, also known as Black Tuesday was the most devastating stock market crash of the United States. Not only did it lead to a Great Depression that lasted around 10 years, it left many without a job and out of the streets trying to scavenge up food. This all started when people started taking out loans to invest in their stock when it rose. The market got caught up in a speculative bubble because shares kept rising and people believed that they would continue to do so. Prices rose almost 400%, but this wasn't the only bubble that the stock market came across. " In March 1929, the stock market saw its first major reverse, but this mini-panic was overcome leading to a strong rebound in the summer of 1929. By October 1929, shares were grossly overvalued. When some companies posted disappointing results on October 24 (Black Thursday), some investors started to feel this would be a good time to cash in on their profits; share prices began to fall and panic selling caused prices to fall sharply. Financiers, such as JP Morgan tried to restore confidence by buying shares to prop up prices. But, this failed to alter the rapid change in market sentiment. On October 29(Black Tuesday) share prices fell by $40 billion in a single day. By 1930 the value of shares had fallen by 90%. The bull market had been replaced by a bear market." http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/76/economics/wall-street-crash-1929/ The stock market had completely collapsed. Not only did the Stock Market fold, but so did so many community banks. All the money that people had borrowed to invest in their stocks was lost when they crashed. The people couldn't afford to pay back the banks. This started the Great Depression of 1929. Recently we experienced a The Great Recession of 2008. Fortunately our technology is so advanced that it didn't cause the entire market to fail and send us spiraling into another great depression. Economist Paul Krugman who wrote the book "The Return of Depression Economics" says "I'm tempted to say that the crisis is like nothing we've ever seen before. But it might be more accurate to say it's like everything we've seen before, all at once: a bursting real estate bubble comparable to what happened in Japan at the end of the 1980s; a wave of bank runs comparable to those of the 1930s (albeit mainly involving the shadow banking system rather than the conventional banks); a liquidity trap in the United States, again reminiscent of Japan; and, most recently, a disruption of international capital flows and a wave of currency crises all too reminiscent of what happened to Asia in the late 1990s." http://www.stockexchangesecrets.com/us-stock-market-crash.html. Many people to this day don't even know that we experienced another economic set back. Unfortunately many others did as unemployment rates jumped from around 4.6% to 5.8%. And it had continued to increase since then.
In 2009 in jumped from 5.8% to 9.3%. Fortunately it started dropping in 2010 and has continued to do so. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html
1929
In 2009 in jumped from 5.8% to 9.3%. Fortunately it started dropping in 2010 and has continued to do so. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html
1929
2008
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Bread and Circus
Bread and Circus is a metaphor that was made in Ancient Greece. The term "Bread and Circus" means choosing food and fun over freedom. In Ancient Greece instead of Broadway and Opera they had Gladiators, fights between men and wild animals, and also warships fighting each other in an arena. When these fights would go on they would hand the people sitting in the crowd bread, to ultimately distract them from the real issues that were going on. This was a way for who ever was ruling at the time to keep the people happy without causing an uprising.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
"Madame Butterfly" Cartoon
The cartoon "Madame Butterfly" created by Pjotr Sapegin is the perfect example in how opera music can capture your emotions. Even though there is no talking in the entire ten minute cartoon you can tell exactly what is going on, and you know exactly what the mood throughout the cartoon is. Whether it went from hopeful, when the Asian woman was waiting for the sailor to return back to her. Passionate, when the sailor and the Asian woman were making love; or even pure sadness, when the sailor returned with his family of all the different colored children he had taken from the women he had gotten pregnant, and then took her child as well. Opera is so fascinating and diverse that it can take you from being extremely happy to extremely sad. This cartoon is a great example on why you don't need speaking in opera's, because the music tells the story for you.
The Birth and Life of Opera
The Birth and Life of Opera was a very eye opening documentary. Normally when people my age tend to think of opera they think of a man or women singing very loudly. There is so much more to what opera is. There was and still is so much politics, passion, and excitement that goes into an opera. There almost wasn't even an opera. The first attempt called "Daphne" by Rinuccini and Peri was unsuccessful. The pairs second attempt also just couldn't catch on. Could you imagine if opera never even existed? There are so many feelings that are expressed through an opera; love, hate, passion, despair. Opera was also involved in a lot of politics. Aida was actually one of the plays that inspired Hitler's troops to think that Ethiopian were racially inferior and had them ready to march over and conquer them. There are so many hidden messages inside of opera's that tell stories that the people can't. so example, in the opera "Le Mariage de Figaro" it shows how rich people usually would treat their servants like slaves. It also showed how they believed that they could do whatever they wanted with them. Another example of how involved in politics opera's were the opera "La Muette de Portici" actually stirred up a revolution in Belgium. Opera has evolved in many ways throughout the years. Not only are opera's in Italy they are all over the world now; China, The United States and much more. Composers have modernized the way opera is sung in many ways as well. The can-can came from the opera and so did many other types of performances. I believe that opera will and always will be a huge part of the theatre.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Microbiologist Raul Cuero
I love the way that Raul Cuero talks about how it doesn't matter what background you come from; rich or poor, you can make something of yourself. Not only does he say that everyone has potential in yourself, he believes that you can use your creativity to explore your intellect. He believed that through your creativity you can change your outcome of what you're expected in life. I agree when he says that you can use your creativity to open new doors in your intelligence. So many kids now are staying in doors, playing videogames and watching TV, cutting off that creative spectrum in their minds. Instead kids need to get outside and observe nature and take every little thing in. Raul believes that you should do everything with intensity, without fear of failing in the process. To many people are afraid now of failing and they lose that intensity in their work. Anything that you do good in life takes time, nothing good comes quickly. Anything that you do well you learn by doing. Hands on knowledge is the best knowledge that you can acquire. There is only so much that you can get from reading a book or looking at pictures. The only way that you are truly going to learn something is getting out there and applying what you have learned through hands on. That is how you really burn it in your mind. I agree with everything that Dr. Raul says. Everyone has potential, and through expressing and feeding your creativity you can do anything you put your mind to. Also hands on is the best way to learn. Anyone can read a book, but applying what you have learned in a book is different when you add it to your real life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZugtaO85T_Y&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZugtaO85T_Y&feature=youtu.be
Monday, September 1, 2014
Viewing Juan Carlos Delgado's work, I saw a new way of multimedia. A way that the art is physically manipulated by outside factors. Juan Carlos uses the cold to manipulate the way that his artwork is perceived. He sculpts a piece of artwork and then uses a freezer to freeze the humidity in the room to cause ice to grow around his artwork, encasing it inside a frozen layer of ice. The way the artwork is made is so delicate, because it is relying on so many factors in order for it to stay pristine. You would have to rely on the refrigerator to keep working, and the electricity to stay on. If any of these factors fail to work the artwork is distorted and will never be the same again. This is an example of multimedia because there are so many factors contributing to the way that his artwork is made. Its also a live piece of artwork, that is not 2-D, it is 4-D in the way that it is shaped and made.
Are we still in the Baroque Era?
The Baroque Era started around the 1600's and carried all the way until around the 1750's. Some people though still believe that we practice some of the Baroque Era characteristics today. The Baroque Era consisted of the most glamorous of everything. Once money had been introduced to the people, the rich had to have the best of everything; big hair, beautiful dresses and accessories. I believe though that we still have ways in modern day in which the Baroque is still in cooperated. For example; My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. The women dress up so drastically that sometimes they cant even fit through the frame of a door. Really any wedding women dress up in extreme ways to feel the most beautiful that they can. The wedding dresses, hair and accessories are very Baroque, but with a modern spin on it. I believe that it will always be in cooperated in to modern day, as long as there is money flowing. Most wealthy people will always want to show off how wealthy they really are in certain ways. Having bigger, better and flashier things than people who don't have as much money is one way. That is how the wealthy people in the Baroque Era showed that they were wealthy.
No Viable Solution in Movies
Having no viable solution means that something impossible comes along and saves the day. A great example of that is in The Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West captures Dorothy and her friends and threatens to kill them all. She starts to by lighting the Scarecrow on fire, Dorothy grabs a buckets and dumps water on the Scarecrow. When Dorothy does that water also splashes on the Witch, which causes her to melt. The Witch even says herself, "You cursed brat! Look what you've done! I'm melting! melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness? Oooooh, look out! I'm going! Oooooh! Ooooooh!" (Wicked Witch of the West. Wizard of Oz.).
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