Fireside Chat Artist Statement

          
            This week's Fireside project was one that helped us build unity and relationship through media. This development was done through several aspects relating to this specific experience. Up front, this was an opportunity to gather outside of a typical class setting, on a Friday which allowed for a different mindset to be present. We also were able to bring food and friends to come enjoy the experience with us as well. Therefore, instead of slowing trudging to school, we came awake, energized and excited to share something we had worked on. The Fireside chat would not have had the same energy if it was simply an in-class presentation. Also unique to this assignment, was the surprise effect of it all. Who knew Ammon could play the saxophone, or that Helen could dance like the Cougarettes on steroids? This assignment reminded me of Dan in Real Life when the family gathers for a “talent show.” They are all close, and their relationships with each other allowed them to have experiences of opening up, with out embarrassment, much like our night was. The applauding and appreciation components allowed for a warm atmosphere in which everyone was happy to share something personal to them, and that ultimately built a closer bond between us as classmates. Overall, the actual setting of the Fireside gave us the chance to grow closer through media.

          The creation of my own Fireside presentation was unique in its own way. I spent a lot of time trying to organize my thoughts, and find some important aspect of my life that I felt was worth sharing with others. This process forced my to think deeply about who I am, and what makes me, me. In other words, I began analyzing my personal life from an outsider's perspective. I knew fairly soon that whatever I would eventually choose to talk about would have to somehow relate to my family situation, since this seemed to be a component in my life that often distinguishes me from most others. Once I chose a specific aspect that had meaning to me, I then had to continuing developing my presentation with that outsider's perspective, trying to articulate what I learned from this aspect of my life that others might not know, or understand the in the same way. This process all in itself was a good experience in learning more about myself, what I believe, and how to share that with others.  

Concerned Citizen Artist statement

http://youtu.be/esame_238ZE

        For this project we decided to create a short documentary film about Chris Baird and his project called Serve Daily. Serve Daily is a unique monthly newspaper publication based out of Springville, which is largely dedicated to spreading the news of service activities and opportunities within the community. Our short film focuses on Chris working in a predominantly LDS culture (a very service-oriented church) to reach out and help further this idea of helping others. Through promoting local fundraisers and service opportunities in his paper, he encourages the act of service rather than the mere thought of it, and has dedicated his life to spreading this idea. The “your voice, your community” slogan and the fact that anyone can submit articles for this paper is another service in and of itself, because it gives a “voice to the voiceless”; an outlet where people can express themselves on a wider scale than they might otherwise have access to.

        Although this project has flourished into large scale collaboration between Chris and several other members who contribute to the process, it is also important to consider Chris’s personal contributions. He chose to step away from a “monotonous job,” to a career path that he felt would bless the lives of others. While this specific career may not be the most beneficial income wise, for Chris it was the most rewarding. He chose to break the commercial trend, and start something unique that would leave his community better off each month.

        In the reading, Goldbard says that “anyone who wishes to make significant headway on a social problem or opportunity must engage with people’s feelings and attitudes about it.” As film students, we know that media in all its forms can be a very powerful way of stirring peoples feelings and persuading them to act. Therefore, Chris’s choice of using local media to spread his love for service, is a powerful way to get to the heart of the issue. This specific form of media to spread a good message of service relates very closely to the recent media campaign of Mormon Messages employed by the LDS church. Mormon Messages is a campaign aimed primarily at spreading knowledge about the LDS church, almost all of its short videos relate to service, and the importance of building a strong community. Both Serve Daily and Mormon Messages utilize contemporary media sources to spread their Christian messages of the importance of serving one another.

Artist Statement

         This week's activity was an interesting exploration experiment into social issues. Taking it a step further than simply studying the issue, this assignment pushed us to also imagine the life of a character bound within the restrictions of this social issue. In other words, rather than simply examining what this issue was, we had to apply it to everyday living and provide ways to confront and overcome the various difficulties our issues presented. The specific issue I decided to examine was poverty among young adults.

         Although I recognize that mine is a very limited presentation of the depth behind this issue, I tried to adequately touch on several aspects involved in the lifestyle of individuals suffering from homeless a state. Rather than presenting up front any initial reason behind the character's homelessness as an underlying cause, I tried to present a series of collective set backs that would have perpetuated the character's negative situation. Using the information from the sources I collected, I selected several elements common of homeless individuals and tried to weave them into my short narrative game. The main elements I chose to present were mental illness, addiction and lack of family support. While some of these aspects are obvious contributors to being homeless, research also revealed different insights regarding the issue—such as lack of family support arising from children’s sexual orientation, and the large percentage of homeless individuals who claim to be members of the LGBT group. For example, one source quoted almost 40% of homeless claiming to LGBT members, and almost the same amount to be under the age of 18 (dosomething.org). One other news article explained that the national unemployment rate doesn't help their cause, making over qualified people take low level jobs before any homeless person can be accepted (http://www.streetpulsenews.org//‘why-don’t-they-just-get-jobs’).

The last article followed a homeless couple as they struggled to survive selling newspapers for long hours just to get by ((http://www.streetpulsenews.org//day-life-homeless-person). In almost every case, each new storyline ended up with the same outcome, just a different hardship that led the character there. This was to fully present the endless cycle of homelessness, that it often can't be broken by a simple fix.

         In the talk we watched this week Chimamanda mentioned the dangers of single stories. She explained, “to only listen to one negative story is to flatten the experience.” I feel like this applies to the this week's assignment since we often see one side of the issue at hand. Media often presents homeless individuals as lowly characters, in a negative form. Rarely do we ever see homeless protagonists. This project relates to a French film called The Intouchables. This film presented the difficult lifestyle of Driss, a poor man from the projects. The movie studied the rich man's initial negative perception of Driss, and how it changed over time as they got to know each other. Learning more than just the initial “one story” Phillipe gained respect for Driss and accepted him.

        This assignment helped me to personally branch out and consider more than one story. By examining various sources and presenting this story through a different point of view than the common perception, I offered a new insight regarding this specific social issue. 

Sources:
http://www.streetpulsenews.org/?q=articles/2014/02/20/‘why-don’t-they-just-get-jobs’
http://www.streetpulsenews.org/?q=articles/2014/05/17/day-life-homeless-person
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-homeless-teens


Game: http://www.philome.la/ColtonElzey/roberts-life/play

World-Building Artist Statement

When we were given the task to create a world in which toes act as sexual organs, our minds immediately jumped to popular culture and fashion. What position would the toe have in this world’s advertising? Would people even walk around on their feet? Shoes and socks began to take on an entirely new meaning. The BYU Honor Code and other religiously-influenced rules and regulations would be different. As we delved deeper into our discussion, we began to see the extent to which our unique reproductive organs would affect our new world.

The most jarring social discovery we made during our world-building was how saturated with sexuality our media is. As we tinkered with the media we consume daily (i.e. television, advertisements, websites, literature, etc.) we realized most of what we came across, no matter how innocuous it seemed, alluded to human sexuality. These sexual references ranged from vague innuendo to combative measures against STDs to the “sex sells” mantra parroted by unabashed advertisers. Our society’s subliminal sexual messages (and let’s face it-- not-so-subliminal messages) connect with media consumers on a base, biological level; sexuality is the timeless, universal aspect of the human experience. Sexuality drives our politics and not merely by way of scandal. Many of the divisive political issues within governmental, religious, and social hierarchies center around gender equality and sexual objectification. Women are voted for and not voted for because of the internal placement of their reproductive organs; centuries-old religious customs are deteriorating as individuals question why anatomy must affect spirituality; a college student’s performance art regarding sex crime legislation gains international attention as she advocates local change.  We kept these hot-button issues in mind as we constructed our new world and quickly realized that altering the location of our genetalia does nothing to alter the spirit behind our reality’s ongoing sexual dialogue; in a world where toes are sexual organs, our eyelines, not our focus, changes.

In his essay entitled “Design Fiction: a short essay on design, science, fact and fiction,” Julian Bleeker discusses how products of design fiction can only present selections, or corners of this new, imagined world. The author goes on to explain that these objects complete these fictional worlds because they encourage imaginative thinking. These small “windows” spark our imaginations, and we naturally fill the social gaps they leave. Theodore Twombly’s (Joaquin Phoenix) world within the film Her (2013) is an excellent example of how design fiction products can reveal something about the social landscape they’re found in. Like our group’s fictional world, Twombly’s world is marked by its members’ needs for sexual fulfillment. A pocket-sized gadget that houses an Operating System provides thousands of men and women with companionship, but as the film reveals the scope of the humans’ dependence on these gadgets, it becomes clear that the Operating Systems are a symbol of the culture’s isolation and social deficiency.

As world-builders, we embraced Bleeker’s design fiction concepts by creating artifacts that drew attention to various facets of everyday life. These products introduced a world with a completely different interpretation of the term “modesty” and an even more insatiable demand for shoe donations than what exists in our reality. Although our artifacts represent only a sliver of what this new world has to offer, their pervasiveness makes them “totems through which a larger story can be told, imagined or expressed.”

Snow White and the Perfect Man

         The specific aspect of my identity that I decided to examine in this weeks project was that of my gender as a male. The media source I chose to remix and exploit was the classic animated film Snow White (1937). While this film has several interesting components worth examination and remixing, the particular element I chose was the film's presentation of the perfect Prince Charming. This project relates to this week's reading primarily in the author's discussion of how art can come alive, and contrive deeper meanings through the attention an audience gives it. The theme contrived from this remixed version of Snow White relates to the more modern media source of such television shows as “The Bachelor.” Overall, this assignment was an interesting way to discover and examine on a more in-depth level different aspects of my identity as a human being, and the way the world categorizes that aspect.

        The form and content of this short compilation of clips were aimed at presenting the theme that men are all dashingly attractive, smart, talented and charming, and that falling in love with them is but a simple task. All of the content involved came from the original film, and when combined with the form of using a quick montage of clips, this theme can be easily exploited. In other words, the movie itself did present this version of a male character, who not only saves the day, but is the immediate love of Snow White after only “one song,” just on a more subtle level than my compilation.

         This similar picturesque presentation of males is also seen in modern media examples, such as the popular TV show “The Bachelor.” Each male is exploited for his physical qualities, and seems to instantly win the hearts of several dozen women over the course of just a few days. We can see the effect of these media sources as mentioned in this week's reading. Just as with the boy and the Velveteen Rabbit, audiences can make artistic and media presentations 'come alive' based on the merit and attention they lend to them. As our society grows more open to social media and celebrity presentations, they give these presentations unanticipated significance. Therefore, young adult men will begin to base their romantic personages on the charming and seemingly perfect men as media presents them. While similarly, young adult women will begin to asses potential companions on these specific terms.

        This style of picturesque males as historically presented in the media is, however, very far from the actuality. While physical attraction, and talent are important elements in relationships, the media has focused on them too much. This leaves little room for normal men with acne, who don't ride horses through the forest singing perfectly in key to the hidden instruments while saving kingdoms and slaying dragons. The Average Joe deserves a shot too.  

Trek Wars

        Our project this week was a Webspinna battle involving several well-known scenes from both the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises. Since this style restricted the use of presenting video, our content solely relied on the use of audio to communicate each advance in the 'battle.' This style produced a form mixed with our own choreography to match each scene. Thus, we created something new, based on the foundation of something familiar.
          The Webspinna battle activity related directly to this week's reading specifically on the note of Jonathan Lethem's explanation of plagiarism. In his essay Lethem explains that “literature has been in a plundered, fragmentary state or a long time.” To this effect, people have been using and re-adapting archetypal themes for centuries. In one case, mentioned in the essay, William S. Burroughs incorporated several “snippets” of other authors' works into his own book titled Naked Lunch. Lethem explains that while at first glance many would have considered this an action of plagiarism, Burroughs does not. As Lethem details in his essay, there are many famous, replayed and reused themes that exist in space. Many of these are so well known, and so often alluded to that we have accepted theses repeats without the judgmental finger of plagiarism. In a similar aspect, our particular Webspinna performance was based on these types of familiar and instantly recognizable clips. Many of the clips we used have become part of our culture. This brings up the question: was using them then plagiarism? As Lethem states with Burroughs, we too were simply “interrogating the universe with scissors and a paste pot” to create something new and exciting out of something old and familiar.
          Memes can be viewed as the visual form of a Webspinna Battle. Some memes take images from well-known movies and their stars and edit them for comic effect. For example, soon after The Avengers and other various Marvel movies were released, several memes appeared and went viral on the Internet. To anyone who is not familiar with the world, these memes would not make any sense. Just as with our performance, there needs to be a familiarity with the subjects for the joke to be funny. One particular meme counts on the viewer knowing the Daft Punk song “Get Lucky,” as well as the Avengers world, for the joke to make sense. This is what makes the meme funny. The same follows for the Webspinna Battle: this prior familiarity with the sounds is what makes the new form fun and interesting.
         The form and the content of this assignment were particularly well suited to each other. In the case of Star Wars and Star Trek, many of the most recognizable features are quotes; these are very easy to share verbally. Since this was an audial battle, the various quotes and scenes were easy for the audience to identify, such as “Live long and prosper.” Therefore, this assignment's success was based on our success of “cutting and pasting” well known content, and presenting it in a form that the audience would be able to understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGsKzZtRwxw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru4E-8aW2bQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__sDEWIjQ_g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2we_B6hDrY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNQBKFmrllo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbjru5CQIW4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkZwL9R8Yd0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHFy3YWpRx8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zezvjOHkYaE

“5 Styles”

Poems are really odd,

And sometimes don't have meaning,

Like most of haikus.

But thats quite an alright thing to do,

There are many styles to choose and who-

Knows it may be a,

Limerick type day,

And they will try out that pattern too.

If all else fails,

As far as pattern and rhythm go

You can always try and write in free verse

Which is even better than blank verse

Since not only do you not need to rhyme—

But you don't follow any meter pattern either.

That seems,

Like such an easy way

to live then

Again there

Are some classic

Style 's worth mentioning.

In sonnets—

A poet has to make old things unique

He must conform also to rules and guide-

Lines which are set to teach—the key

Is open if poets only try not to hide

Behind the fake, reality can then

Be open'd up to all our senses but

Provide him first with tools, important: ten

Syllables needed. Sonnets also cut

Poetic lines off in to iambic.

Also needed: certain number, fourteen

to be exact, lines needed for this trick

The lines must also follow a rhyme scheme,

In order, first with third, second and fourth,

The poet follows that on each stanza.

But, most vital to all poets in expression and style is the simple couplet form,

Two lines, that rhyme—maybe this is where the first poetry was born.

Artist Statement on “5 Styles”

          The specific medium of art expression that I chose to examine for this project was poetry. I decided to analyze and display several different types and styles of poetry—primarily: haikus, limericks, free verse, sonnets and basic heroic couplets. I decided to use the specific rules regarding syllable count and rhyme scheme as a frame work for the poetry to talk about itself. In short, I combined five meta-poetry examples, one from each of these poetic forms, and used their meter and rhyme guidelines to discuss the elements of poetry. This was a unique experience that allowed me to understand the different ways art forms can both restrict and allow us to express ideas.

          

            In dealing with form and content, the rules for these different types of poetry each helped set the stage for the different ideas I wanted to express regarding poetry. The content for each separate poem was—in some part—restricted by its form. For example, opening up the list was a vague haiku, about vague haikus/poetry. The idea I wanted to express was tied into the haiku form: short, specific syllable count for each line; and the limit of information allowed in these three simple lines. Other examples of when content and form were tied together are seen in the sonnet, where the actual words used were restricted by a noteworthy attempt to appeal to iambic pentameter. This caused each individual poem to have a specific language about the same topic: poetry.

            I related this activity to this week's by following a similar pattern as McCloud. For example, in his short comic McCloud dove into what comics are, and where they originated from. He also spent some time trying to articulate a clear definition of 'comics.' However, his ideas were restricted by the comic book form; he couldn't skip over to a movie montage of old comics, or explain in an essay format with bullet points. Similarly, I had to use the tools within poetry (rhyme, rhythm and meter, or in the case of free verse, the flow of line breaks) to talk about rhyme, rhythm and meter. This assignment also correlates with the poem "Arte Poetica" by Vicente Huidobro. In his poem Vicente asks his audience to allow 'verse' (or poetry) to be like a key to open millions of doors. He also calls the poet, "a little god," since he is able to use poetry to express an infinite amount of ideas.

            Although many of the poetic restrictions limited what I could say, this assignment also served as a celebration to poetry because it guided the way I could express ideas, and gave them more force. The power and beauty of poetry is that it isn't a simple written statement, but rather, through its aesthetic qualities, it resonates in a more powerful way. So, although I could not say everything I wanted, that which I was able to 'fit' into each poem's structure, came across with more depth than my own original choice words would have.

Earthquake Script

Historical Story Artist Statement

Earthquake

           The historical event we chose for our script was the Northridge, California earthquake which occurred on January 17, 1994. We incorporated this week's reading in trying to display how this historic event would affect individuals on the family level. Just as the 1980 cultural conflict affected the girl and her family in our reading of “The Veil,” we contemplated how an earthquake, and potentially deadly situation, would affect individuals in a family. While “The Veil” presented the relationship between the cultural conflict in a comical view, from the child's perspective, we tried to explore the sentimental route of the earthquake's effect on a dysfunctional family. We took advantage of the opportunity to present a story based around the facts of when and where the earthquake hit and what could happen. In this sense, we explored the dynamic relationship between how our fictional characters acted—initially the classic angry son who learns his responsibility in the family—with the fictional, but common family situation, in the real environment that we placed them in. In other words we tried to explore how the life-threatening situation of the shattering earthquake would effect an already broken family.

            
               The initial idea for the historical script was a mom and son surviving the earthquake and becoming closer because of it. In the collaboration process we created a script that depicts a mother and son struggling to overcome the recent abandonment of the father and husband. The earthquake comes to be a metaphor for how the characters felt internally during their emotional struggle, and provides a medium for them to symbolically let go of things out of their control. Once the mother and son decide to move on and work together against the uncontrollable situation they have been placed in, they become a stronger, slightly more functional family unit.

              A movie that shares a similar theme of disaster bringing family together is the film Deep Impact produced in 1998. When news of a meteor possibly crashing into Earth hits the inhabitants of our planet, we see the "impact" it has on a father and daughter, as well as a newly married husband and wife. Each character has their internal struggles that shine through and must be resolved before their ultimate physical destruction takes place.

           The sources we drew from for this assignment helped us gather the facts regarding the earthquake. We learned the location, covering the San Fernando Valley community of Northridge, and the time it hit, around 4:31 in the morning. The Los Angeles Daily News was a close to home report on the event and the NBC timeline article also gave us a detailed timeline of the events, such as the initial quake and many of the devastating reports—including widespread fires and floods, some of which we incorporated into our story. It was a devastating event, but like all others had some positive repercussions: bringing families closer and reminding people in general how important others in their lives truly are.

Sources:http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140111/northridge-earthquake-1994-disaster-still-fresh-in-los-angeles-minds-after-20-years, http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Timeline-The-Northridge-Earthquake-240665071.html

            FLAB Screening of Hellboy

            Today we had the FLAB screening of the film Hellboy with Sharon. It was a unique experience to gather together as film students and sit down to enjoy a film as a group. Sharon spent some time in the beginning of the forum to explain ideas revolving around the film, including its content in relation to contemporary issues, as well as aesthetic principles that she enjoys. A large focus that she presented regarding Hellboy in its contextual aspects, was its thematic element of the need for something inherently evil to battle another evil. She also spoke about cinematic elements she enjoyed, and told us to pay attention to specific scenes from the movie. Overall it was a good introduction to looking at the film with a new eye—or rather, through a new lens.

          

           At the core of Sharon's “Hellboy: an inside look” was the film's thematic presentation of a devil-like creature to help us fight for the greater good. She related this to our recent involvement in the war with the middle east, in the aspect that we started to do bad things. These bad things—essentially off shore illegal activities—were, in a sense, to fight against a greater “bad.” We were trying to combat against this great evil, and the only way we could retaliate was with evil. The film portrayed this issue since Hellboy was the essential hero of the film, who although from hell, was fighting to protect us here on earth against darker evils. This film doesn't condone this action, it simply provides a medium to express the issue.

           Aspects that related to her discussion were also seen in the film's plot. In the opening scenes, the Nazis—possibly one of the biggest evils the world has witnessed—are trying to open a portal to wreck havoc on earth. This is happening during the war, and just as they are in the attempt, the 'good guys' jump in and kill them; committing an evil action, to stop a greater evil from happening. Its also important to notice the focus on ignoring the evil actions of us as a people. The film touched on this element with a constant theme of how secretive their band of super heroes were. No one knew of their existence, and they were hidden from the world. Its as if this plot point is to say, here we have this evil part in ourselves, that gets the job done when we need it to, but then we have to shut it away for fear of being discovered.

        Sharon also pointed out her enjoyment of the film based on cinematic qualities. Briefly she explained the beauty of cinematography throughout a specific, funeral scene. It was during this scene, the one that she says is the most beautiful presentation caught on film, that she realized Guillermo was a cinematic genius.   

Bill Draper Forum

                  

                This forum was a very unique experience to become more acquainted with the media-arts lifestyle through a business related viewpoint. Bill Draper, production manager at Warner Bros, spent two hours with us, detailing his history and “lucky” rise to success in his field of work, and several different tips to help us during our journey. One of his most prominent themes, of course, was the focus on how competitive this job is, and that the Hollywood lifestyle is not for everyone. Overall this was a great opportunity to meet a top-level production manager, and get some insight into what awaits us after graduation in that almost-imaginary place often called “the real world.”

                 

              Bill's specific history, as he explained, was one very, very blessed and lucky. He was lucky enough to get into BYU, and later one of the 8 students selected for their BFA in theatre and film. He originally didn't want to do film studies, and was studying business, until a friend suggested a fine arts class that captured his attention and pushed him to change majors. His experience in business was one of the attributes that he explained greatly helps in his line of work; having a background in business is a good attribute in the film industry. After working for Disney, he bounced around several companies, and was eventually offered a job at Warner Bros where he steadily rose, and has been there for 19 years.

               

              His lifestyle is very busy, and he is always working to the point where even on vacation, the phone calls are still constant. He explained that film industry jobs are competitive, to the extent that if he died today, there would be someone at his desk by monday. He also said that there is no “route” to success, that there are many different ways to go about it, but that the most important elements to have are talent, and hard work. Hollywood doesn't care about color, position, etc—they care about talent, and the ability to deliver. Bill expressed the importance in going to Hollywood prepared with an “arsenal” of material, that you know back and forth, both ready to be confident about presenting it, and ready to accept when others tear it apart. Seems like a fun road ahead.   

Artist Statement Process Piece        

Midnight Snack 

https://soundcloud.com/hadderbean/midnight-snack

        The process we chose to present this week in our audio process piece is the act of going out for a late night snack. We tried to present the major steps involved in one leaving their home, long boarding to a nearby gas station, purchasing a candy bar and soft drink then going home to enjoy the treat. Both the form and the content involved in this project stretched our conception on the importance of the individual steps involved in processes. We drew from many of the videos studied in class and also saw connections with other audio presentations such as Fantasia 2000.

          The form of this assignment, which forced us to view things simply through audible sounds, specifically expanded the way we view processes. While brainstorming what to select for our process, we realized all the various steps involved in every process. For example, after deciding on our specific process, we discovered that in order to fully present our process we had to break it down into over fifteen different steps. As far as the content involved in this assignment, we had to take a deeper look into how each step could be presented through just audio. Therefore, we had to isolate the individual steps into specific noises that would successfully represent that action. Using a mixture of objects—including cups, plastic wrap and even elevator music, we were able to create the individual steps of our process, and ultimately present the overall activity. 

          We found a tie in with the film production Fantasia 2000 made in 1999 by Walt Disney Studios. This film took classic song pieces and devised stories based solely on what the creators heard and could visualize from the notes. While listening to all the different process pieces that come out of this assigned project, each individual will visualize different images even though everyone is listening to the same sounds. This helped us contextualize what story we could tell with our piece. When it came to deciding on a process we looked to the recommended videos as references of what a process meant. Each process was unique in its purpose and execution allowing to stretch our imaginations a bit to come up with something that was both creative and feasible. A midnight snack seemed fun and also left room for interpretation to the audience. Everything we do is a process and through artistic talent we can find the beauty in these everyday events. 

Artist’s Statement

Round Robin


As we all have looked over each other’s contributions, the overall plot arc for each story suffered a dramatic change. Looking at them all lined up next to one another, we can see where we wanted each story to go and contrast that with where the stories actually went. For example, Colton’s story started out following a detective and his wife, but when it got to Parker, it suddenly switched to a story about a lover with a raccoon addiction.


DJ Spooky discusses this disconnect in his article. He presents an important example involving the children’s game Chutes and Ladders. This game was originally played in India, around 2nd century B.C and was called “despada.” We now play this game for entertainment, but in its earliest form it was designed to teach morals and the classes of reincarnation in the Hindu religion. The British adopted the game in the 1800’s and slowly morphed it into the game we play today. This is a prime example of how different cultures and ideas will influence media, and slowly alter it into a very different form. We saw this happen in our tiny stories, where almost none of them ended as we would have guessed. Similar to the Chutes and Ladders example, we all separately added our own insight and good ideas and guided the stories in the direction that we wanted, without any concern for the original authors. However, just like in this example, each new element we introduced was something that somehow connected to our group as a whole, being middle-class, LDS, film students—such as the wedding in the temple, film noir references, or even our generation’s fascination with super heroes. All of these elements were familiar to us due to our shared culture.


From an author’s perspective, it was also slightly upsetting. (We should note that not everyone was upset with the changes, but some people – Sarah – were.) That facet of this experience reminded us of Joss Whedon’s words on his experience writing the screenplay for the film Alien: Resurrection, which was drastically changed from his original treatment:
“It wasn't a question of doing everything differently, although they changed the ending; it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong. They said the lines...mostly...but they said them all wrong. And they cast it wrong. And they designed it wrong. And they scored it wrong. They did everything wrong that they could possibly do.”

He wrote a script, sent it into the world, and it was transformed into something he barely recognized. As future filmmakers and artists, we will most likely experience this feeling again and again. We will have to learn to work with others and accept that when we collaborate with others, our original ideas will inevitably be altered by their creative contributions.

Colton’s Story

Day 1 

The detective hurried toward the old warehouse, to close in on the infamous Red Bandit. He smashed the door open, but the culprit was none other than his own wife.

Day 2

His wife was waiting in the interrogation room, but the detective wasn't ready. He supposed the obvious question was, "Why?" But did he want to know the answer?

Day 3

"I don't need to tell you anything, Darling. You were there the whole time."

DAY 4

“Wearing your kimono and slippers you two-timing raccoon lover.”

DAY 5

It was unfortunate that his wife leaving him was the thing that drove him to go, he thought, but he was glad to finally do something about his raccoon addiction.

Her Hand Awaiting Mine

The selection that I choose for the music mosaic is the song “Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky. The song is a mixture of slow guitar melodies mashed with up beat rhythms that seem to disrupt the calm feeling at times throughout the song. Although these up beat rhythms periodically are weaved throughout the calmer, slower tune, the song ends where it began, with a slow, peaceful feel. The song creates—in a sense—a story within itself. The pictures I created were meant to match that story, as the calm, present theme passes through chaos and commotion, only to end back at the simple, peaceful beginning.

The content of each photo, as presented in order of thematic progression, matches the progression of the song. The photos, like the song, start simple and present a common theme—being that each picture is of the same person. This essential attribute is toyed with, again to follow the nature of the song, presenting in each phase an older version of the main subject, just as the song's calm melody slowly changes. As the song begins to become loud, confusing and complicated, we see similar complications introduced in each individual picture, all of which correspond to life's many distractions, and trials. The distractions grow from needs, such as that of food, to other struggles—issues with money and employment, and, of course, broken hearts. Like the different guitar rhythms, these distracting elements all fight for the audience's attention, clouding the once white scene with each progressing picture.

The form of each picture also mirrors the song. The objects are initially introduced symmetrical and clean, but soon scatter across the blank slate creating confusion and disorder, until the end when the cycle resets. The disruption of the peaceful structure reflects the song's similar structure in beginning and ending clean, and simple.

 Connections to this specific artistic representation of “Your Hand in Mine” can be drawn from both the class reading, and another short film called Into the Labyrinth. Dillard's essay expressed several concepts regarding analyzing each thing we see. She says, “Seeing is very much a matter of verbalization.” She makes note of the importance of analyzing each element within sight to truly understand what we are seeing as a whole. If we lack this quality many aspects will not go simply “unnoticed , but...unseen.” Likewise, as I set up for each image, I had to put into a literal sense the desired impact, and then select each individual component. Literally, and often verbally, conceptualizing each shot, helps us understand the message. This also relates to Into the Labyrinth, because it, like the film, expresses the struggles that we all face during our human trial. Both the film, and the photos present these trials as universal, and of a cyclical nature. Birth, life, struggle, and death are universal, but end with a new life. We pass through the fire, only to start over once again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdiY6kijYHE

  

“500 Days of Reality”

The film 500 Days of Summer is a romantic comedy released to theaters in 2009, directed by Marc Webb. Taking on the male's point of view, the film was the presentation of an alternate perspective on common, modern day love relationships between men and women. The film gives a very honest presentation of the male's point of view in relationships, and was successful in presenting the reality of love through his eyes. The film did this by exemplifying not only the ecstasy of their highs, but also the dread of their lows, as well as the harsh reality of their cyclical nature. While the film itself was able to successfully combine several different textual characteristics, it also utilized contextual aspects in its attempt to express this honest portrayal of love relationships, and all their many consequences.

500 Days of Summer utilized many basic textual elements to present the true reality of relationships. On the surface level of the film, the director presents the basic plot story of 'boy meets girl.' The boy, Tom Hansen, soon falls for the girl, honestly believing that she is—as the narrator quotes, “the one he has been searching for.” Here is the presentation of one of the first realistic aspects, that Tom, our male representation in the film, falls head over heels for the girl. He honestly believes he has found the answer to all of his love-life questions in the form of Summer, the woman. Its important to notice that Tom's initial destiny defining moment comes when he barely meets Summer, expressing the idea of “love at first sight.” He begins to feel that Summer will solve all his problems, and cure his love-less, and un-eventful life. This story element combined with later plot points; primarily when Summer leaves him, and when he meets another woman, help express a reality of love. Love can often come out of nowhere, unexpected and unplanned. It can appear to be the answer to all of our problems. Love can convince you to be stuck on one person, that they are somehow different than all the others. As his sister explains to him after the initial breakup, Tom has had several other girlfriends before. Some have left him, and he has left others, but for some reason he feels stuck on Summer, thinking that she is the only one. The film expresses the harsh reality of 'more fish in the sea' when Tom meets another girl. Both the pun of the film, and its success in showing the true cyclically nature of love and relationships comes when he discovers her name is Autumn.

Several other strong characteristics, both textual and contextual, of the film help portray the reality of relationships. One primary textual attribute was the aesthetic choice to show the whole story from Tom's perspective. We see his happy mood reflected in scenes immediately following their first date, to express the high of love life and the joy it offers. The juxtaposition of this scene combined with a flash-forward to his dreaded, and dreary state after the break up, express the reality that while love fills you up, it also tears you down. Combined with the contextual aspects of the film's authorship and genre, considering this romantic-comedy film was written and directed by men, we are given a strong view on the males' side of the playing field in romantic life. Tom, the male, is the one who falls for Summer. We can also view a reality of the film in the relation to the contextual, modern sense of cultural trends where men are often the enemies, or the ones on the offense when it comes to love. However, 500 Days of Summer exemplifies a reality of love when flips this idea. Tom is the one who wants the relationship so badly, and the one who can't get over her when she leaves. Tom is the one making constant effort, and the one who seems to be hurt when the dust settles. This aspect of the film helps shatter other ideas of men being the heartless-heartbreakers in this game called love. It helps show a reality that men also can be victims of loss, and heartache, correcting many common Hollywood and contemporary ideologies of quite the opposite belief toward males.

500 Days of Summer is a romantic-comedy film which took on the task of expressing a truer version of love life, and adult relationships, from the male point of view. The film combined several textual aspects, using its basic plot and aesthetic presentation, alongside contextual elements, such as the film's all male authorship and genre, in context with culture trends to present a more correct and honest reality of love. From the film, we see that men are also victims of puppy love, and that as such they can be the ones wounded as well. The film also expressed that love has a cyclical nature, and we seem to get stuck on one person, there are in fact “many other fish in the sea.”