Blog 6A

On Modern Warfare 2 (AKA Blog 6B)

On Dali and Resizing (AKA Blog 5A)

Original:

Resized:

The original image by Salvador Dali draws our attention to the “Earth Egg” at the center of the image, which appears to depict a man emerging from the center of a cracked Earth. To draw the focus of the observer, Dali uses the RULE OF THIRDS by placing the man’s hands and feet at strategic spots where the lines of thirds that divide the image intersect. Also drawing our attention to the man inside the Earth Egg is the fact that all of the LINES in the image are directed at the Man and the Egg. The woman on the right is pointing to him and the fabric floating above the Egg has its edges and corners pointing down at it. The crack through the egg also draws our attention to the man. This, in terms of camera angles, is what we could call an EXTREME WIDE SHOT because we can see all of the characters as well as their environment.    

      The resized image of the child standing behind its mother could be called a WIDE SHOT because though the other elements of the original image are not seen, the entire body of the child is in view. In the original image, our focus is on the man emerging from the Earth Egg because of the painting’s TEXT AND SUBTEXT. The text of the image is that a man is emerging from the Earth, which is shaped like an egg, while a mother and child watch. The subtext is Dali’s interpretation of the creation of humanity, born from the protective and nurturing egg that is the Earth. This creates AFFINITY as all people are aware that we are born from the Earth, so much so that we refer to it as “Mother Earth.” However, the image also creates CONTRAST in the mind of the observer because most do not necessarily think of humanity as being born from eggs. In this case, the contrasting element compliments the familiar element, creating the idea in the mind of the viewer of the Earth as an egg.

On the Death of Walter McGuinn (AKA Blog 5B)

On Brainwashing (AKA Blog 4A)

In the manifesto Brainwashed (conveniently located here, at: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed) Seth Godin discusses possibly the most important issue facing the 21^st century American; how to stay relevant. We live in a time, here at the turn of the century, when the American is trying to stay important to the economy and the society of his country, and his country is trying to stay important to the economy and the society of his world. He once lived in a time when he could be master of his universe by following a set of clearly-stated rules. He went to school so he could get a job. He got a job so he could make a family. He made a family so that his children could continue this process. His country encouraged him, because it believed that as long as this process continued, as long as the country itself followed strict rules, it too would be the master. America built an economy so it could build a military. It built a military so it could protect its interests. It protected its interests so that it could build an economy. And so on. As long as the cycle continued, three things would reign supreme, America, the American, and Liberty.

But in this century things have changed, as things are known to do. American has been humbled abroad, the American has been humbled at home, and Liberty is as humble as ever to the point where it is considered either a threat, a burden, or the idealistic, wishful thinking of university students like myself. This is not the result of the brainwashing. For a long time, the society of training, the culture of machine-people was successful. The world is simply different now, and following a strict set of directions no longer gets you where you need to go. Into the gap between what we must do and what we were trained to do, America has fallen.

            Our generation bares a great burden. Whether in the end it will have been a fortunate or lamentable undertaking I cannot say. But it has been left to us, and we must carry it. Our parents were able to make wonderful lives for themselves (and for us) by following the rules. This is the culture in which they were fortunate enough to live their entire lives. Our children will live their entire lives in a culture where creativity, artistry, and original thought are encouraged and rewarded. We cannot imagine this culture for the simple reason that we have not yet invented it. This is our burden. We are the ones who must explore and settle a New World. We are pioneers on what is not the final frontier, but simply the next one. Our disadvantage is that we were taught only the rules of the world we have left behind. Our only advantages are that we are willing to be pioneers, and that we have no other choice. In this manifesto, Seth Godin provides us with seven pillars to help us along in our journey. They are not rules, for in this undiscovered country there are no rules, and following them can be deadly. The two that I will discuss here are “Acknowledging the Lizard” and “Connect”.

Acknowledging the Lizard

-          The “Lizard” is something that is inside of us all. It’s the old part of the brain that used to protect us from saber-toothed tigers and those giant bird things by telling us when we should leave the safety of the cave. Today the Lizard does the same thing, only the tigers and birds are other people, society, and the consequences are no longer so deadly. The Lizard keeps us in the cave, stops us from venturing too far out of our comfort zone because when we do so, we flip a coin, and we hope that the predators out there will like what we do when we leave the cave. In this scenario, failure is always an option. Given the choice between risk, which offers both success and failure, and safety, which offers neither, the Lizard will choose to sacrifice success to avoid failure. The Lizard will present to us its decision, and we will listen because we have always been trained to.

The trick to not bending to the will of the Lizard is not to ignore it. The Lizard is not something that can be ignored. If we pretend it doesn’t exist, we fail to attach a mouth to the dissenting voice, and so what the Lizard says will seem less like the opinion of half our brain and more like the opinion of the Universe. We forget that the voice that says “you will fail if you take a risk” exists only in our heads. By acknowledging the Lizard, we bring it down to size, and see that its word is not law. We may take its advice, or we may disregard it. It keeps us safe, but it also keeps us down. By ignoring the Lizard and listening to its voice, we make the Lizard a tyrant. By seeing its advice as just one option out of many, we democratize our conscience, and Liberty prevails.

Connect

-          I have a friend named Corrine. Corrine and I are very different people. She is a very nice, innocent, religious, conservative girl. I am an obnoxious, liberal young man. We probably wouldn’t be friends were it not for a certain set of circumstances. But one thing that connects us is that we’re both writers. In our writings we tell very different sorts of tales, but we are still able to help each other out. I find that one of the most important, and also the most difficult, parts of writing is coming up with names. Names for characters are infinitely important. One always wants a character to be memorable, and a memorable character is one with a memorable name. Jay Gatsby, Sherlock Holmes, Jean Valjean. Names are paramount. The same goes for place names. They can be as specific as 221b Baker Street, or as broad as Gotham City. But they can’t be random. People have to remember the characters and where they exist. So one time Corrine texted me and described a small New England town where her story would take place. I gave her the name “New Derry, named after the home county of the Irish immigrants that settled there.” Then a few weeks later I described to her a city of moderate size, located in central Ohio, and she gave me the name “Hawthorne, named for the hawthorn trees that grow around the city. A large forest was cut down to build the city.” This is a very simple example of how a connection of two or more creative minds can lead to a breakthrough. A small breakthrough, but a breakthrough nonetheless.

In this class, our blog assignments allow us to engage in both of the pillars that I have just described, as well as others. We are able to acknowledge and (hopefully) reject the Lizard who is telling us out opinions and ideas are unimportant and undeserving of broadcast. Allowing the blogs to exist as a class requirement makes it slightly easier to reject the fear of embarrassment. It also allows us to connect with other creative minds by reading what others have to say on their blogs, and what’s more, it allows us to connect with creative minds that we are in close, classroom proximity to.

Music Project

Soundscape

This is the soundscape video. It's on vimeo which means I can't post it on a video because Youtube and Google are in cahoots. But in any case, here it is;

http://vimeo.com/22487531