Mackenzie's song
This was the only song that was posted so far in our class so i did a critique of hers and below are two other people's blogs that I looked at for their songs.
Cummins
Bullington
Sunday, April 24, 2011
"Brainwashed"
"Brainwashed" by Seth Godin
Acknowledging the Lizard- Godin says in this section that the "lizard brain" is in all of us and is what makes us worry about our safety and what allows us to get angry. This part of our brain is what blocks our ability to create art by encouraging us to follow instructions and resist our artistic ideas. He then says that we must recognize the resistance and the "lizard brain" and then ignore it to do artistic work.
Ship- In this section, Godin says that people who get things done and make a difference are indispensable, and that is who we must become. To do this, we must ignore the "lizard brain" and risk failure and embarrassment to progress.
The blogs that we are creating this quarter has forced us to ignore the "lizard brain" and become someone who ships. We are forced to ignore our lizard brain because the projects that we do are creative and we have to post them to our blogs, forcing us to ignore the chance of being laughed at. Also, since we are graded on our blog posts, we have to become someone who ships. This is due to the fact that in order to succeed in this class, we must do the work ourselves and not worry about being criticized.
I feel that the assignments we are doing are not completely useless but I also feel that we could do different projects and exercises that we could benefit more from. The blogs and projects do a good job of introducing us to media that we will and should be exposed to for our major, but they don't allow or create the incentive to put forth great effort in our work. I think that doing fewer projects, ones that have more weight and that we are given more time to complete, would increase my interest in actually putting forward my best effort towards this class.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Blog #1
http://mdia203yellon.blogspot.com/
Although I do not know exactly what kind of creative person I am, I have the ability to come up with ideas that strike most people as unusual. But just because they are unusual ideas does not mean that they are worthless. I feel that it is almost impossible to be creative without having unusual thoughts and ideas.
Gears of War 2 Rendezvous trailer
The original Gears of War is what inspired me to become a Digital Media Major. Cliff Bleszinski is the lead designer of Epic Games (which created the Gears of War franchise) and is an extremely influential artist to me. This was one of the very first trailers for Gears of War 2, a video game created for the Xbox 360. Cliff Bleszinski has not only influenced me but has also influenced the entire gaming industry. Gears of War was the first game of its kind and many other franchises have used the ideas and innovations created by Cliff in their own games. By creating such a unique and strong set of ideas, Cliff has shown me the power of innovation.
In this particular trailer the main character, Marcus Fenix, is shown walking alone through a corridor with only the voice of a narrator filling the speakers. He is then shown charging into a massive battle between his comrades and their enemy, the locust horde. Through out the trailer, the sound of drums slowly grows louder and faster while a narrator with a very calm and solemn voice is speaking. This is great use of tension and release. The beginning of the trailer shows a quiet and gloomy scene with a quiet and gloomy narrator's voice speaking. As the drums become louder, it creates tension as Marcus is charging into battle. Finally, the narrator stops speaking and there is a climax in the drums. The screen fades to black and the drums go silent returning releasing the audience of the tension and returning them to a familiar setting.
Bioshock Infinite Gameplay Trailer
Ken Levine lead designer of the Bioshock franchise and is an influential figure in my creativity. Ken Levine, like Cliff Bleszinski, created a game the first of its kind. Many of the ideas in the game, as well as the game play itself, are outside of the box. He helps me realize that not all ideas have to be accepted at first or seem rational. By thinking out of the box, ken shows that unorthodox ideas can many times be the best ones.
This is the first footage of the upcoming installment to the Bioshock franchise. In the previous installments, you play as a character who has the ability to make choices through out the game. In fact, the choices you make in the game directly affect the ending of the story. With many video games now, Bioshock gives you the ability to be active instead of didactic. In this short demo of the game, you can see varying choices made by the player and how they affect his next interactions. While one player might view the theme of the game as seeking revenge against an enemy, the other might see the theme as being the hardships of survival and making the right choices. With varying views, the players can have very different interactions with the game. By using an active theme instead of a didactic one, the game is able to immerse the player much deeper than if there was one specific theme.
Lost in the World by Kanye West
One of my favorite artists is Kanye West. Recently, he came out with a new album which is the reason I began to like him so much. He is so influential to me because he produced the beats and rapped for this album. Seeing someone produce something almost entirely on their own inspires me to tap my creative power for all that I can.
This song is a prime example of the use of text and subtext. If the lyrics of this song were to be read literally, it would have no meaning what so ever. But through the use of subtext, Kanye is able to use creative language to make meaning out of technically nonsense. One the lines in the songs speaking about a woman he loves is "You're my stress, you're my masseuse." He does not mean that she is actually his stress and his masseuse. The subtext of the lyric is that she can frustrate him sometimes and cause stress, but other times she is what calms him down and relieves his stress such a masseuse would.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Who Influences me as a Creative Person
Gears of War 2 Rendezvous trailer
The original Gears of War is what inspired me to become a Digital Media Major. Cliff Bleszinski is the lead designer of Epic Games (which created the Gears of War franchise) and is an extremely influential artist to me. This was one of the very first trailers for Gears of War 2, a video game created for the Xbox 360. Cliff Bleszinski has not only influenced me but has also influenced the entire gaming industry. Gears of War was the first game of its kind and many other franchises have used the ideas and innovations created by Cliff in their own games. By creating such a unique and strong set of ideas, Cliff has shown me the power of innovation.
In this particular trailer the main character, Marcus Fenix, is shown walking alone through a corridor with only the voice of a narrator filling the speakers. He is then shown charging into a massive battle between his comrades and their enemy, the locust horde. Through out the trailer, the sound of drums slowly grows louder and faster while a narrator with a very calm and solemn voice is speaking. This is great use of tension and release. The beginning of the trailer shows a quiet and gloomy scene with a quiet and gloomy narrator's voice speaking. As the drums become louder, it creates tension as Marcus is charging into battle. Finally, the narrator stops speaking and there is a climax in the drums. The screen fades to black and the drums go silent returning releasing the audience of the tension and returning them to a familiar setting.
Bioshock Infinite Gameplay Trailer
Ken Levine lead designer of the Bioshock franchise and is an influential figure in my creativity. Ken Levine, like Cliff Bleszinski, created a game the first of its kind. Many of the ideas in the game, as well as the game play itself, are outside of the box. He helps me realize that not all ideas have to be accepted at first or seem rational. By thinking out of the box, ken shows that unorthodox ideas can many times be the best ones.
This is the first footage of the upcoming installment to the Bioshock franchise. In the previous installments, you play as a character who has the ability to make choices through out the game. In fact, the choices you make in the game directly affect the ending of the story. With many video games now, Bioshock gives you the ability to be active instead of didactic. In this short demo of the game, you can see varying choices made by the player and how they affect his next interactions. While one player might view the theme of the game as seeking revenge against an enemy, the other might see the theme as being the hardships of survival and making the right choices. With varying views, the players can have very different interactions with the game. By using an active theme instead of a didactic one, the game is able to immerse the player much deeper than if there was one specific theme.
Lost in the World by Kanye West
One of my favorite artists is Kanye West. Recently, he came out with a new album which is the reason I began to like him so much. He is so influential to me because he produced the beats and rapped for this album. Seeing someone produce something almost entirely on their own inspires me to tap my creative power for all that I can.
This song is a prime example of the use of text and subtext. If the lyrics of this song were to be read literally, it would have no meaning what so ever. But through the use of subtext, Kanye is able to use creative language to make meaning out of technically nonsense. One the lines in the songs speaking about a woman he loves is "You're my stress, you're my masseuse." He does not mean that she is actually his stress and his masseuse. The subtext of the lyric is that she can frustrate him sometimes and cause stress, but other times she is what calms him down and relieves his stress such a masseuse would.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cover Songs
The song Feeling Good was made by Nina Simone in 1965 and later covered by Michael Buble in 2006. Both of the songs have the same lyrics except for their endings. In the original, Simone finishes the song with about thirty five seconds of scat. In the Buble's cover, he finishes the song by repeating the chorus multiple times. Unlike the original, Buble's version has a period of about twenty five seconds of pure instrumentation in the middle and then continues with the lyrics. I love the lyrics of this song and I feel that Buble made a good choice keeping the same lyrics. While the lyrics of both the original and the cover are almost identical, the musical quality differs a bit more. The rhythm and speed are the same while the intensity, pitch, timbre, and organization are contrasting a little between the two songs. Through out the original, the voice and the instruments are more subdued than they are in the cover. Also, the use of the instrumentation break in the cover increases the tension between the lyrics and makes for a more intense finish. Another way that the songs differ is through their pitch. Simone's voice is higher and Buble's is lower. To counteract Buble's lower voice, the pitch of some of the horns are raised. This also creates a more intense, sharper sounding song. Buble’s version increases the timbre of the song by adding more instruments and increasing their volume.
The version that I like the most is Michael Buble’s. Although they are extremely similar, I find that Buble’s version carries more weight because of the choice of orchestra and his amazing voice. The way he can create such passion and heartiness with his voice is really what makes me like his version the best.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
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