For this blog, we read the article "Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness" by David Rendall from the website www.ChangeThis.com. The main theme throughout the article is that people should use their weaknesses to their advantage to figure out what they are good at and figure out what makes them different from everyone else around them. We were then asked to respond to three of the nine listed suggestions and the three I chose are listed below.
4. Forget It: Don't Try To Fix Your Weaknesses
In this suggestion, Rendall suggests that you shouldn't try to fix weaknesses in order to try to grow as a person. He gives four reasons that I agree with to support his point. The two I agree with the most go hand in hang. They state that fixing weaknesses is a slow process and it distracts from activities where we could make more progress. Personally I have seen this happen many times. One example of this in my life is a friend's study habits. He always insisted on using notecards to study but didn't learn well from them. Instead of trying to find a new way to study he kept insisting on trying to make notecards work and ended up wasting even more time than he would have if that effort had been put to trying to find a new way to study.
5. Foundation: Build On Your Strengths
This suggestion sort of goes with the one I mentioned above. In it, Rendall states that "strengths are patterns of passion and proficiency." Your strengths usually come from the things that you love doing and you tend to do well at. I can personally relate to this suggestion too because I have experienced it in my own life. I have always liked listening to things more than I enjoy looking at them. Especially if that thing is a book and reading it is an assignment for a class. It was because of this that I discovered audiobooks and have used them when available to listen to while I read along. I get an entirely different outlook on the book when I hear it in tandem with seeing the words on the page. Rendall says that "you have the greatest potential in your areas of strength" and I couldn't agree more.
6. Focus: You Can't Do Both
This suggestion seems sort of like a summary of both of the two I have talked about above, but I feel that there are added points to this suggestion that make it worth mentioning also. I feel that the support given for this point is very valuable and everyone should take the time to consider it. Rendall says that we have limited resources, and focusing on strengthening both strengths and weaknesses at the same time actually limits progress instead of expediting it. By trying to make both better at the same time, it keeps you from getting really good at any one thing and instead can make you mediocre at a lot of things. Also, since strengths and weaknesses can correspond to eachother, fixing something that is a weakness can actually hurt the strength that it is linked to.
I feel that the combination of these three points are is the most important lesson that Rendall makes in the article. The lesson shows that you won't get better if you try to do everything at once. Instead you need to focus on the things you are good at, get better at them, and use that to your advantage, making you an even more effective person.
In my own journey learning more about the creative process, I have learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses that I myself have. I have figured out that I am more deadline driven if I am working in a team instead of individually, my ideas usually aren't the best but collaboration with others can allow them to expand and grow, and that being open to change allows you to become more flexible and end up with a better product 99% of the time. I feel like the articles on ChangeThis.com have been very helpful in adding a different view to some aspects of the creative process and they all offer good advice as to things that students can do to try to better their creative careers.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
9b - Collapsus
Here's a link to a very cool media experience (for lack of a better term) called "Collapsus: The Energy Risk Conspiracy"
It is sort of a interactive media piece/game that is very unique in its approach to its presentation. Check out my vlog below talking about my experience with it:
It is sort of a interactive media piece/game that is very unique in its approach to its presentation. Check out my vlog below talking about my experience with it:
Saturday, March 5, 2011
9a - Gaming reflection
This blog is a reflection to the game presentation that our group gave yesterday in lab.
I feel like our game presentation went pretty well as a whole. Overall in my group I feel like there could have been better communication and if we had taken a better approach to the entire project maybe we could have ended up with a better final product. However, with all that aside, I feel like we came up with a game that would have done pretty well if created in the real world.
Our game is like many other first person shooter games and the mechanics and rules we designed were based mainly on the games Call of Duty and Halo. It is because of this familiar setup of a game in which a player goes through a game with a specific objectives such as killing the opposing team in the game with the overall goal of reaching the end and defeating the entire opposing force that we think our game would do well on the market.
I don't think we did as good as we could have with regards to selling the game. We presented many of the main points and told people that they would enjoy it but i don't think that we gave any hard hitting reasons as to why people should buy our game more than others.
I think that our mechanics were the easiest to explain because we related them to other games that are similar with the expectation that if you are someone who would think about buying our game, you've probably already played these other similar games.
The goals of the game were probably harder to communicate specifically because a lot of the game is based on the story in the single player mode. Therefore we can give a basic "you have to kill the opponent" goal and people get it, but if we give some of the more specific goals involving parts of the story people might not understand what we are talking about until they actually play the game themselves.
I feel like our game presentation went pretty well as a whole. Overall in my group I feel like there could have been better communication and if we had taken a better approach to the entire project maybe we could have ended up with a better final product. However, with all that aside, I feel like we came up with a game that would have done pretty well if created in the real world.
Our game is like many other first person shooter games and the mechanics and rules we designed were based mainly on the games Call of Duty and Halo. It is because of this familiar setup of a game in which a player goes through a game with a specific objectives such as killing the opposing team in the game with the overall goal of reaching the end and defeating the entire opposing force that we think our game would do well on the market.
I don't think we did as good as we could have with regards to selling the game. We presented many of the main points and told people that they would enjoy it but i don't think that we gave any hard hitting reasons as to why people should buy our game more than others.
I think that our mechanics were the easiest to explain because we related them to other games that are similar with the expectation that if you are someone who would think about buying our game, you've probably already played these other similar games.
The goals of the game were probably harder to communicate specifically because a lot of the game is based on the story in the single player mode. Therefore we can give a basic "you have to kill the opponent" goal and people get it, but if we give some of the more specific goals involving parts of the story people might not understand what we are talking about until they actually play the game themselves.
8b - Other Heros
Jay Deal's Hero/Villain/Sidekick
Jay's Group did a good job using contrasting colors between the hero/sidekick and the villain to show the differences between the good and bad.
Their hero and sidekick share a red and blue color palate. The hero is blue with red accents and the sidekick is red with blue. This allows the two characters to look similar while at the same time looking different enough to be distinguishable from one another. The blue and the red are brighter colors and it allows them to stand out a little bit in the dark.
The villain on the other hand is uses very cool colors and looks less bright than the other two. He is mainly purple and grey and because which also sets him apart. However, he also uses blue and red to show that he is in the same group as the hero and sidekick but he is still different enough that you can tell he is on the other team.
Chris Faust's Group
Chris's Group had some of the more creative characters that I saw in our lab. His character, Slasher, looks like a skateboarder with a red outfit, a white hockey mask, and a sword. The dark red color contrasts the warmer green, yellow, and orange of the hero, Guy Rollaris. You can tell that Guy is related to Slasher because he also skates, but he roller blades which makes him different from Slasher. The two of them have similar movements but you can tell that there is a distinct difference between the two that indicates a difference in motives between the characters.
Mike Giles's Group
The third group I will be critiquing is Mike's group. The hero and villain in this group showed obvious differences between the two of them. They were both fruits which I found to be a very creative way to approach the project. The hero (a banana) is very bright yellow with a blue/purple cape. His stance makes him look strong and powerful and his facial features make him look like he has a very square face even though his entire body is a banana. The villain (a watermelon) on the other hand, is very rounded because of the nature of him being a slice of watermelon. His cape is black which contrasts from the hero and his stance makes him look more sly and like he is up to no good. The two heros do a good job having many similar characteristics (both being fruits) while at the same time having many contrasting features (colors, cape color, shapes, stance) that allow them to be seen as part of the same group but completely different characters.
Jay's Group did a good job using contrasting colors between the hero/sidekick and the villain to show the differences between the good and bad.
Their hero and sidekick share a red and blue color palate. The hero is blue with red accents and the sidekick is red with blue. This allows the two characters to look similar while at the same time looking different enough to be distinguishable from one another. The blue and the red are brighter colors and it allows them to stand out a little bit in the dark.
The villain on the other hand is uses very cool colors and looks less bright than the other two. He is mainly purple and grey and because which also sets him apart. However, he also uses blue and red to show that he is in the same group as the hero and sidekick but he is still different enough that you can tell he is on the other team.
Chris Faust's Group
Chris's Group had some of the more creative characters that I saw in our lab. His character, Slasher, looks like a skateboarder with a red outfit, a white hockey mask, and a sword. The dark red color contrasts the warmer green, yellow, and orange of the hero, Guy Rollaris. You can tell that Guy is related to Slasher because he also skates, but he roller blades which makes him different from Slasher. The two of them have similar movements but you can tell that there is a distinct difference between the two that indicates a difference in motives between the characters.
Mike Giles's Group
The third group I will be critiquing is Mike's group. The hero and villain in this group showed obvious differences between the two of them. They were both fruits which I found to be a very creative way to approach the project. The hero (a banana) is very bright yellow with a blue/purple cape. His stance makes him look strong and powerful and his facial features make him look like he has a very square face even though his entire body is a banana. The villain (a watermelon) on the other hand, is very rounded because of the nature of him being a slice of watermelon. His cape is black which contrasts from the hero and his stance makes him look more sly and like he is up to no good. The two heros do a good job having many similar characteristics (both being fruits) while at the same time having many contrasting features (colors, cape color, shapes, stance) that allow them to be seen as part of the same group but completely different characters.
Friday, March 4, 2011
8a -Hero Life
This blog post is based on the "First Act" of This American Life
If i could pick a superhero to have the same powers as I would pick
And heres why:
If i could pick a superhero to have the same powers as I would pick
And heres why:
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Characters and Animation
These are the characters and animations from the Hero/Villain assignment in class. My partner for this assignment was Colin Mercer
To view Colin's Villain and animation check out his blog here.
To view Colin's Villain and animation check out his blog here.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
7a - Video Reflection and Video Links
Our Joke videos can be watched here:
Joke 1
Joke 2
Our videos had a great deal of contrast and affinity between the two. Since they were both based on the same joke, the videos had very similar characteristics in the storyline and the same characters used in both videos. They were different in that we used two completely different takes on the same joke and because of that the videos each have their own individual feel.
In video one, we used virtual lines when the mom and son are interacting because they are never really looking at each other in the same shot but instead are cut to when they are looking over at the other.
The second video does a good job of using lines to break up the background and frame the characters in the video more. It also utilizes movement to show the depth of the space we shot in when Johnny walks from the battle ground up closer to the camera when he goes to his "room." Also, while he is in his room, the viewer has to think actively (rather than didacticly) while Johnny tries to decide what his next move will be.
Joke 1
Joke 2
Our videos had a great deal of contrast and affinity between the two. Since they were both based on the same joke, the videos had very similar characteristics in the storyline and the same characters used in both videos. They were different in that we used two completely different takes on the same joke and because of that the videos each have their own individual feel.
In video one, we used virtual lines when the mom and son are interacting because they are never really looking at each other in the same shot but instead are cut to when they are looking over at the other.
The second video does a good job of using lines to break up the background and frame the characters in the video more. It also utilizes movement to show the depth of the space we shot in when Johnny walks from the battle ground up closer to the camera when he goes to his "room." Also, while he is in his room, the viewer has to think actively (rather than didacticly) while Johnny tries to decide what his next move will be.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
6b - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Original Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IWwscadsMM&feature=related
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Blog 5A - Picture Reframing
Original Image from Goossens:
My 'Reframed' Version:
In my reframed image I focus completely on the door as the image is cropped down to just that. My picture offers more ambiguity as to what is going on because there is no context surrounding the door and the rest of the image outside the door is left up to the viewers imagination as they try to figure out what is surrounding the door right outside the frame of the picture.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Song Review Blog 4b
The songs that I will be reviewing for this blog are from Alex Bolinger, Matt Brody, and Adam Cesarz. (Links to their songs can be found by clicking on each name.)
Here are my audio reviews of each person's song:
Here are my audio reviews of each person's song:
Blog 4a
4a
Seth Godin’s “Brainwashed” can be found at www.changethis.com.
For this blog entry we were asked to read the article I have linked to above and analyze two of the different layers mentioned in the article.
The first layer that we are asked to analyze is the "Acknowledging the Lizard". This is a statement that until this point I had never heard before but after reading more about it, I realized how important it is in my day-to-day life especially as a media major at Ohio University. Godin speaks of this lizard as a sort of blockade in between one being creative and one conforming to the brainwashing and normal life that everyone else lives. It is when we are able to acknowledge this "lizard" and work towards actively ignoring it that we can be successful and not affected by the resistance that is placed upon us by others.
The second layer that I am choosing to talk about is "Connect". I have always been one that has tried to keep up on the latest social network trends using Facebook and Twitter as well as many other social sites like Flickr, Tumblr, Vimeo, and Youtube. Through these sites I have been able to connect with other people who have similar interests as I do and do similar things. As I read more about connecting, I felt like I was successful in using this to my advantage instead of just getting sucked in and using it to hang out with friends online. By using these sites, it allows me to connect with others who value media like I do and allows me to view and criticize their work while they can do the same with mine. There are many people who create content to share on the internet with other people just for the sake of being creative and sharing their talents and not doing it for any profit or recognition. I have learned quite a bit from these people who have shared their talents with complete strangers and it has inspired me to also share my talents with others as I can when I can.
I recommend reading the entire article for more tips that can help as one is looking to enter into a media career or for those already in a media profession to keep being successful and learn even more.
Seth Godin’s “Brainwashed” can be found at www.changethis.com.
For this blog entry we were asked to read the article I have linked to above and analyze two of the different layers mentioned in the article.
The first layer that we are asked to analyze is the "Acknowledging the Lizard". This is a statement that until this point I had never heard before but after reading more about it, I realized how important it is in my day-to-day life especially as a media major at Ohio University. Godin speaks of this lizard as a sort of blockade in between one being creative and one conforming to the brainwashing and normal life that everyone else lives. It is when we are able to acknowledge this "lizard" and work towards actively ignoring it that we can be successful and not affected by the resistance that is placed upon us by others.
The second layer that I am choosing to talk about is "Connect". I have always been one that has tried to keep up on the latest social network trends using Facebook and Twitter as well as many other social sites like Flickr, Tumblr, Vimeo, and Youtube. Through these sites I have been able to connect with other people who have similar interests as I do and do similar things. As I read more about connecting, I felt like I was successful in using this to my advantage instead of just getting sucked in and using it to hang out with friends online. By using these sites, it allows me to connect with others who value media like I do and allows me to view and criticize their work while they can do the same with mine. There are many people who create content to share on the internet with other people just for the sake of being creative and sharing their talents and not doing it for any profit or recognition. I have learned quite a bit from these people who have shared their talents with complete strangers and it has inspired me to also share my talents with others as I can when I can.
I recommend reading the entire article for more tips that can help as one is looking to enter into a media career or for those already in a media profession to keep being successful and learn even more.
Soundscape Reviews Blog 3b
The three soundscapes I have been assigned to review are from Chad Vasquez, Christina Wang, and Emily Zink.
(Links to their soundscapes can be found by clicking on each name).
Here is my critique of the three soundscapes soundscape:
(Christina at 0:20, Chad at 2:10, and Emily at 3:52)
(Links to their soundscapes can be found by clicking on each name).
Here is my critique of the three soundscapes soundscape:
(Christina at 0:20, Chad at 2:10, and Emily at 3:52)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
'Over My Head' - Blog 3a
3A.
"Over My Head" by The Fray
"Over My Head" as covered by A Day To Remember
The song I have chosen for this blog is “Over My Head” by The Fray and the cover by A Day To Remember. The cover was done as part of a compilation called Punk Goes Pop in which punk bands have the opportunity to cover more mainstream, Top-40 music. All of the covers are very well done and offer a new spin to a familiar song which can be a welcome change especially when a lot of the pop music of today can sound very similar to many other songs. The two songs have a great deal of contrast (provided by the different styles of bands) and affinity (as can be expected in a cover) to each other that is shown through many different aspects of the song. The lyrics and the melody of the two songs is the exact same throughout the entire song. This helps the listener recognize the song in the cover. However, the speed of the two songs is drastically different as is the intensity and the pitch. The speed of the cover is quite a bit faster than the original mellow tempo of the first song. The faster tempo gives a little more energy to the song which is emphasized even more by the use of electric instruments instead of a piano being the basis of the song. The use of the electric instruments also effects the intensity of the song making it louder because of the changed instrumentation and the addition of other instruments adding to the volume. With the instrument change comes a vocal change as well. There are lower instruments added to the cover that are more prominent as well as a lower pitched lead singer and even a screaming voice in the cover that is a low drone sound. There is also a section that utilizes tension and release in the cover in which the sound of the song goes from being a hard rock screamo song to sounding more like the mellow, acoustic sounding original version. This change back to the original sound builds tension as you wait for the screamo style of the song to come back in to the song. I personally enjoy the original version of the song more. I’m not a huge fan of screamo which may be the main cause for this. At the same time, I also like the mellow feeling that The Fray gives to the song and it has a very relaxing nature to it as the instrumentation is light and the tempo is one that creates a kind of lull that you fall into while listening to it. I welcome the new take on an old song and think that A Day To Remember did a great job of taking a popular hit and making it their own while keeping the main aspects of the song the same as The Fray had originally intended them to be performed.
"Over My Head" by The Fray
"Over My Head" as covered by A Day To Remember
The song I have chosen for this blog is “Over My Head” by The Fray and the cover by A Day To Remember. The cover was done as part of a compilation called Punk Goes Pop in which punk bands have the opportunity to cover more mainstream, Top-40 music. All of the covers are very well done and offer a new spin to a familiar song which can be a welcome change especially when a lot of the pop music of today can sound very similar to many other songs. The two songs have a great deal of contrast (provided by the different styles of bands) and affinity (as can be expected in a cover) to each other that is shown through many different aspects of the song. The lyrics and the melody of the two songs is the exact same throughout the entire song. This helps the listener recognize the song in the cover. However, the speed of the two songs is drastically different as is the intensity and the pitch. The speed of the cover is quite a bit faster than the original mellow tempo of the first song. The faster tempo gives a little more energy to the song which is emphasized even more by the use of electric instruments instead of a piano being the basis of the song. The use of the electric instruments also effects the intensity of the song making it louder because of the changed instrumentation and the addition of other instruments adding to the volume. With the instrument change comes a vocal change as well. There are lower instruments added to the cover that are more prominent as well as a lower pitched lead singer and even a screaming voice in the cover that is a low drone sound. There is also a section that utilizes tension and release in the cover in which the sound of the song goes from being a hard rock screamo song to sounding more like the mellow, acoustic sounding original version. This change back to the original sound builds tension as you wait for the screamo style of the song to come back in to the song. I personally enjoy the original version of the song more. I’m not a huge fan of screamo which may be the main cause for this. At the same time, I also like the mellow feeling that The Fray gives to the song and it has a very relaxing nature to it as the instrumentation is light and the tempo is one that creates a kind of lull that you fall into while listening to it. I welcome the new take on an old song and think that A Day To Remember did a great job of taking a popular hit and making it their own while keeping the main aspects of the song the same as The Fray had originally intended them to be performed.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Soundscape File
Here is the final version of our (Sam Binnig and Alex Bolinger) soundscape for MDIA 203.
Our emotion was "Awkward Embarrassment"
Our emotion was "Awkward Embarrassment"
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
How(l) to find your Howl
This is an audio blog entry that can be listened to by clicking the play button below.
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas (Blog 1B)
For class this week's class we read an article called "14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas" written by Mitch Ditkoff which can be found at ChangeThis.com (link to the PDF).
In the article, Ditkoff presents many different ways to come up with ideas for creative people. The solutions all seem like valid ways to come up with ideas but still offers a broad enough spectrum to include many different people and the ways different people think. There are also enough different ideas to make it so that if one way doesn't work out, there is another one that you can try to see if it works out better for you. Throughout the article, many different points are given to show the pros of each method of coming up with creative ideas and at the end even gives you questions or suggestions to reflect on or enact in order to help you start becoming more effective at creative thinking.
The first method I will respond to is number two in the article. Immerse. Immersion is something that many people have done throughout time in order to be completely surrounded by a certain thing or idea. In this world of multi-tasking and everyone being “connnected” during every waking moment of their lives, being immersed or concentrated on any one specific thing seems like it might put you behind the curve because you are not focused on everything that you should be doing all at once. It may initially feel like you are getting less done at that time, but overall it will be a better outcome and you will reach that outcome quicker than you would have when distracted by other things. By immersion in any one specific topic, you have the ability to think just about that topic and when an idea comes to you, you are able to write it down immediately and build on it instead of trying to remember it at a later time. Many ideas are lost because we are so distracted by the many different things that we do in our day-to-day lives that we do not have the time to write down what we are thinking and even if we do, it is hard to come back to it in the exact same mindset we were in when we first came up with the topic. I use immersion to a certain extent when I’m working on projects of my own. The cell phone gets turned on silent, Facebook gets turned off, and my email gets ignored for a little bit. This allows me to just concentrate on what I’m doing at that specific moment and I feel like some of my better ideas have come out of these times because I have the ability do exactly what I have described above. Overall, I feel immersion is a very good way to dive deep into your thoughts and come up with ideas and then record those ideas to actually use and enact them.
The second method I will respond to is number four in the article.
Make new connections. This is an important method because each and every person you meet in your life will have something new to offer you intellectually. Even if they don’t have any new information, they may still be able to offer a new insight on an old topic or a new view on something you saw in a different way. Usually, people stick to what they know because it is easier and there is already a set path laid out for the way things are normally done. However, when time is taken to step outside the comfort zone there are many other paths that can be added on and many new things to be learned. I have been able to take this method to the next level by coming to college. All of the things that I thought I knew before have been completely reinvented and I was put in situations where it was not only necessary but almost unavoidable to meet new people, make new friends, and be able to experience all of their different points of view and thoughts. By making these new connections, each one opens you up to a completely new way of thinking and offers you insight to things that may have seemed foreign and distant up to that point.
The third and final method I will respond to is number eight in the article. Take a break. Even though working and thinking about a topic is important towards coming up with new ideas for it, sometimes you can get overworked and your brain isn’t able to come up with any new things. As a result you keep thinking the same things over and over again with nothing new. This can start to cause frustration or lead to being discouraged when working. Both of those are things that will inhibit creative thoughts instead of encouraging them. I practice this in my own life by not working on any one thing too long and have taught myself to take breaks when I am stuck on something or am having trouble coming up with new ideas. This seems to work very well and it allows me to be able to walk around and relax and talk to people more and not spend days cramming information all day just to forget most of it.
As the last part of the assignment we were asked to answer one of the prompts placed at the end of one of the fourteen methods for getting ideas. The prompt I am answering is from suggestion number nine, “What is the topic of your next group brainstorm? Who will you invite? Who will facilitate? When?”
I have been thinking about recording a show of sorts with short episodes to put out on the internet based on four college student’s lives and their day to day adventures. After reading this article I started to talk with some of my roommates and friends that live around me and we all are interested in doing something like this. The topic of the brainstorm will probably be ideas for the episodes and the different things we can have our characters do. I’ll invite the core group of guys I have already talked to and even open up the group a little more to some more friends so that they could also add their creative input to the project. We are currently planning on meeting later this week on Thursday or Friday depending on how everyone’s schedules work out and will plan on running a meeting to bounce ideas back and forth to see who is thinking what and how we can manage to pull something like this off.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Influential People (Blog 1A)
There are many people and groups that I admire and have influenced the things I do in many different ways.
However, for this blog I will be picking two of the most influential and talk about them a little bit.
First is the group Twenty One Pilots. I just recently (within the last 6 months) learned about Twenty One Pilots, a band local to where I live in Columbus, Ohio. Their music can be best described as alternative and electronic and most of it is also music that makes you want to get up and dance to it. While this description may apply to a very wide variety of bands and musical artists, Twenty One Pilots still has a very unique sound that sets them apart and contrasts them from everyone else. The band consists of three guys who play a variety of instruments. Most of the instrumentation is based a piano part and is filled out with the drums and bass. This is one of the many things that already sets them apart from many other groups. A second technique that gives them a very unique sound is the use of electronic instruments such as synths and electronic drums along with their organic counterparts pianos, basses and a drum kit. Add a lead singer who isn't like any one particular singer but instead a culmination of the best parts of many singers and also a great band chemistry and you have the unique, infectious sound of Twenty One Pilots.
Their song "Air Catcher" shows some of the more melodic calmer music they do and is linked directly below.
Twenty One Pilots can be found at http://www.twentyonepilots.com/
Second, is a TV show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. As you read this you're probably thinking about how you've never heard of this show which isn't too suprising. Studio 60 only lasted one season on air before being removed but that speaks nothing of the quality of the show. The show is written by the very talented Aaron Sorkin who is also known for writing Sports Night, The West Wing, and most recently, The Social Network. I enjoy this show for a variety of reasons. The first being the incredible use of tension throughout the show to keep the viewer engaged in the show. The use of tension repeatedly keeps the viewer wondering as a situation is set up that could fulfill a variety of outcomes both good and bad. That tension is then released to allow the viewer time to relax and digest information before it sets up for even more tension. A second technique used by Sorkin throughout the show is that of subtext and creating situations that on one level will portray one thing but may also use a great deal of irony or sarcasm to portray the real underlaying meaning of the scene. A third way that Studio 60 is engaging to a viewer is that it is constantly making one think about the different things going on and interpreting them on their own. Although there are many points that are presented in black and white to the viewer, there are many more that cause the viewer to be an active thinker instead of a didactic one. Since the show is based on the behind the scenes of a show like Saturday Night Live the characters in the show are bound to be very sarcastic as their humorous attitudes are prominent throughout most of the show.
Below is a promo that was run on NBC for the show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
However, for this blog I will be picking two of the most influential and talk about them a little bit.
First is the group Twenty One Pilots. I just recently (within the last 6 months) learned about Twenty One Pilots, a band local to where I live in Columbus, Ohio. Their music can be best described as alternative and electronic and most of it is also music that makes you want to get up and dance to it. While this description may apply to a very wide variety of bands and musical artists, Twenty One Pilots still has a very unique sound that sets them apart and contrasts them from everyone else. The band consists of three guys who play a variety of instruments. Most of the instrumentation is based a piano part and is filled out with the drums and bass. This is one of the many things that already sets them apart from many other groups. A second technique that gives them a very unique sound is the use of electronic instruments such as synths and electronic drums along with their organic counterparts pianos, basses and a drum kit. Add a lead singer who isn't like any one particular singer but instead a culmination of the best parts of many singers and also a great band chemistry and you have the unique, infectious sound of Twenty One Pilots.
Their song "Air Catcher" shows some of the more melodic calmer music they do and is linked directly below.
Twenty One Pilots can be found at http://www.twentyonepilots.com/
Second, is a TV show called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. As you read this you're probably thinking about how you've never heard of this show which isn't too suprising. Studio 60 only lasted one season on air before being removed but that speaks nothing of the quality of the show. The show is written by the very talented Aaron Sorkin who is also known for writing Sports Night, The West Wing, and most recently, The Social Network. I enjoy this show for a variety of reasons. The first being the incredible use of tension throughout the show to keep the viewer engaged in the show. The use of tension repeatedly keeps the viewer wondering as a situation is set up that could fulfill a variety of outcomes both good and bad. That tension is then released to allow the viewer time to relax and digest information before it sets up for even more tension. A second technique used by Sorkin throughout the show is that of subtext and creating situations that on one level will portray one thing but may also use a great deal of irony or sarcasm to portray the real underlaying meaning of the scene. A third way that Studio 60 is engaging to a viewer is that it is constantly making one think about the different things going on and interpreting them on their own. Although there are many points that are presented in black and white to the viewer, there are many more that cause the viewer to be an active thinker instead of a didactic one. Since the show is based on the behind the scenes of a show like Saturday Night Live the characters in the show are bound to be very sarcastic as their humorous attitudes are prominent throughout most of the show.
Below is a promo that was run on NBC for the show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Below is a scene from the first episode that showcases some of the many different ways Studio 60 engages its viewers.
Friday, January 7, 2011
MDIA 203
Hi, I'm Sam Binnig and I'm a Freshman at Ohio University studying Audio Post Production in the Scripps College of Communication. Welcome to my Blog created for my MDIA 203 class this quarter at Ohio University. This blog will primarily be used to complete assignments for the class but I might keep blogging even after the quarter is over.
I'm in the 8-10AM lab for the 203 class which has its ups and downs all at the same time. On one hand, I can get up and get it out of the way first thing in the morning and have the rest of the day to do whatever I want which is nice. On the other hand, however, it means getting up early and walking across campus in the cold weather (and snow) to come to class.
203 seems like it will be an enjoyable class and I'm sure I'll enjoy it because it will involve a lot of media creation and other creative thinking.
I'm in the 8-10AM lab for the 203 class which has its ups and downs all at the same time. On one hand, I can get up and get it out of the way first thing in the morning and have the rest of the day to do whatever I want which is nice. On the other hand, however, it means getting up early and walking across campus in the cold weather (and snow) to come to class.
203 seems like it will be an enjoyable class and I'm sure I'll enjoy it because it will involve a lot of media creation and other creative thinking.
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