The theme of The Shawshank Redemption, as blatantly mentioned in the scene above, is hope. Andy Dufresne is a wrongly accused convict who was sent to a prison where most people would lose all hope. Andy didn't and knew he had to keep his feeling of self-worth to make it in Shawshank. He was one of the only ones who thought hope could be a helpful thing, and in the end he turned out being right.

This theme is mostly reinforced in the scene by use of line, space and rhythm. There isn't much character movement, but there is a moment when the audience can almost share what Red and Andy are feeling towards each other because of their eye contact. When Andy says "Like Brooks did?" the use of virtual lines between he and Red's eyes gives us that sense of feeling between them. The space used is flat and quite limited. All that you are able to see is the characters at the lunch table and some inmates behind them. It's limited to the space of the inside of the cafeteria. The scene shows all of the friends chatting at the table, but once Andy starts getting deep about himself feeling music inside of him the camera uses both zoom and panning (complex shot) to focus in on Andy. This creates a great tension which is released by Red saying how he used to play the harmonica. Tension is felt again in the end of the scene between Andy and Red when Andy proved his point about Brooks losing his hope. There is contrast and affinity seen in the use of lines. The virtual lines between Red and Andy are very intense and deep feeling, while the lines used when Andy is talking to everybody at the table in general feel much more loose and relaxed (though Andy is still talking very thoughtfully.)

Blog #6: Storyboard Imitation

This scene was shot very well. The director did indeed follow the rule of thirds, 180 degree rule and both of the 30 rules. When Jules walks into the room, it's very easy to tell right away that the director wanted him to be the point of interest. This is because the rule of thirds - Jules walks directly to the top left of the screen and that is where we tend to first focus our eyes. This is used in just about every shot of Jules during this scene and eventually (once he starts reciting bible passages) gives him a great feeling of power and superiority. The director followed the 180 degree rule at all times excluding exceptions such as another character entering the room, if the camera cuts away to another object, or if the characters on screen are moving. Although they takes advantage of these exceptions, the rule is never broken and therefore they avoid jump cuts. They also payed attention to the rules of 30 because you can tell just by the first five scenes that many different shots are used. The first one is an over the shoulder shot which cuts to a long shot from the complete opposite side of the room, meaning the angle changed by more than 30 degrees. The shot after this one is a close up of the guy on the couch, meaning the image size increased by at least 30 percent. Every single shot differs either in angle or image size by 30 degrees or 30 percent. Although the director broke the 180 degree rule on occasion, he did so with exceptions to avoid a jump cut so no harm was done. He also portrayed great use of angles to show who was the more powerful character. Shots of Jules and Vincent are low angles to make it feel like the other characters have to look up to them, while shots of Brett look down on him and make him look cowardly. This is great use of angles because it really gives Jules a sense of power and authority which is important to the overall feeling of this scene.

Blog #7: Animation Deconstruction

These two styles of animation are very different from one another. Tom & Jerry began in 1939 while Superjail is relatively new and first aired in 2007. Tom & Jerry animators incorporate the use of hue and saturation to differentiate between objects. Background objects are all light in value and saturation and have relatively dull hues. The characters are more saturated so they stand out in front of the background objects, and objects like the hammer and wedge of cheese are even brighter in hue and saturation so they stand out even more. The movements of both Tom & Jerry are smooth and have human-like qualities with some animated effects. Camera movement is also used to allow the audience to follow the characters and give them an idea of what is going to happen next. Shadows are used to add a sense of mood to the cartoon, but the lighting is similar for most episodes. Superjail on the other hand is very different. A lot of bright colors are used to give the animation a kind of trippy feel. The rainbow hues coming from the warden's eyes stand out the most in this picture because of the bright value and saturation (also the rule of thirds). The animators pay great attention to facial detail in all of the inmates, but the warden is more cartoonish and fake. I think this is to give a rugged "bad-guy" feel to all of the inmates while the warden is a very animated and almost cheerful character in the way he acts. Movement in Superjail is much less life like. The characters movement is very fast, exaggerated, and often times extremely violent. I feel like Tom & Jerry was very ahead of its time in terms of its animation qualities, but these examples show how different animation genres can become over a long period of time.

Blog #5: Song Deconstruction

The Octopus Project as a band has a very unique style. They bring aspects of both classic acoustic music and mix it with new age electronica to create the perfect blend of old and new. They're widely known for there very uncommon use of the theremin (which can be heard starting at 3:10 in the second link above). The first song, Fuguefat, demonstrates excellent use of irregular timing (7/4 time signature). This song has a very loud intensity, while Upmann has a much softer and mellow feel to it. Although these songs have a very different feeling to them, they are quite similar in emotional architecture and organization. Both songs tend to build up in the intro and lead into a simple pattern that is heard throughout the song while other instruments layer and variate over it. The melody of Fuguefat is held together by the pattern played on the piano, while in Upmann it's a basic chord progression played on a guitar thats heard throughout. The overall groove of the songs is different. The first one has a very solid driving groove with upbeat drums. The second one has a looser feel with use of triplet rhythms and a mellow groove that flows through the song. The timbre of Fuguefat is more complex and hectic while Upmann's is smooth and simple. Both songs are very deep in layers of instruments, however the quality of the layers is different. The first one is more chaotic and the layers tend to drown themselves out so you can't tell all of them apart as well. The second song layers the instruments so that the lead is always heard above the rest, but the others are still clear and in their own space. Neither songs have lyrics, so instead they use instruments to play lead melodies and harmonies over other instruments or variate which instruments are prominently heard. The band also uses electronic aspects of music to create a very technical and quantized feel to the songs. In Fuguefat an electronic percussion pattern is heard in the intro with the piano arpeggio. This adds to setting the tempo of the whole song and giving a feeling of structure to the piano melody. I don't have a favorite of the two songs because they both appeal to me depending on the mood I'm in or what type of groove I want to listen to.

Blog #3: Brainwashed

Read Seth Godin's "Brainwashed" HERE

Acknowledging the Lizard:
What Godin means by the 'Lizard' is the voice inside of you that tells you to follow the instructions and that if you don't you're wrong. He tells us that one way to reinvent ourselves is to acknowledge that the lizard is there, and do the work on our own. Acknowledge it so we know it's there, but then ignore it instead of following any norms.

Connecting:
Another way Godin suggests to reinvent yourself is to connect with others. Years ago we were much more isolated, but now we can connect with virtually anyone. We have to take advantage of that ability and connect with as many people as we need to.

Failing:
Failing is one of the most important and common parts of being creative. Today, being different or risky can be what makes your career. We must be able to cope with failure because there's always a chance people won't like what you have done or made - this doesn't mean to give up though.


These three layers of reinventing ourselves go right along with this class and even our futures in general. Acknowledging the Lizard is a very important lesson because it shows us how important being able to stand out and speak our minds can be in any situation. It goes with this class because we are being taught the creative process and what it means to be express ourselves and avoid the social norms that are taking over people all over the world. Connecting is also a very important aspect of reinvention. If you want your work to be seen/heard you have to connect with as many people as you can (or just a few of the right people). This aspect goes with our blogs/class in that it allows all of us to be connected to not just each other, but anyone else who either reads them or has their own blog. Lastly, failing, in time, will only help you to succeed in what you want to do. Learning to except failure is one of the hardest, yet rewarding lessons that one will learn. It relates to this blog because we know that if we fail, we have still learned a great deal from the experience. At least we are challenging ourselves with new ideas and tasks and giving it our best effort. If someone doesn't appreciate the work you do, that's their personal opinion. You are still in control and know that you put in your best effort, and that's what really matters. All in all, these things lead back to being able to acknowledge the lizard, and be as creative as your mind will let you.

Blog #4: Reflections on Sound Design

Pulp Fiction Scene

This scene, although it's in quite an ordinary place, uses many qualities of both time and space to give Jules a feeling of great power. When he's speaking, it's almost as if he's toying with the three men before he actually gets to his point. Once he does, he makes his point by yelling in a very loud and clear voice. When Brett has any hesitation, he speaks even slower in an angry tone to make a very clear and direct point. Movement is very noticeable as it's not a very large apartment. When Jules walks towards the man on the couch you can tell there's a slight shift in the scene. The space of the apartment is limited, yet Jules uses it to his advantage. He stands at the other side of the table while he's joking with Brett, but when he starts to get serious he flips the table over so there's nothing between the two of them. This almost gives you a sense that Brett's a prisoner because he's sitting right in front of Jules, who's standing with a gun pointed at him. These elements gives Jules a great sense of power throughout the scene in its entirety.

Blog #2: Finding Your Howl

Read Jonathon Flaum's article about 'Finding Your Howl' here - FIND YOUR HOWL

The story of Mumon the Red Wolf is one about instincts and survival. The red wolf was an endangered species at this time, so the 14 that were left were captivated to keep alive. None of the wolves (born in captivity) remembered how to howl when they were released into the wild. This made it impossible for them to have a leader. Mumon learned that the best way to live was to act on his own instincts while in the wild. The message of this story is to live life by your instincts to ensure you get the most meaningful and true experience from it.

Lyrics from Atmosphere - Say Shh

So if the people laugh and giggle when you tell 'em where you live
say shh... say shh...
And if you know this is where you wanna raise your kids
say shh... say shh...
If you're from the midwest and it doesn't matter where
say shh... say shh...
If you can drink tap water and breathe the air
say shh... say shh...
If they playground is clear of stems and syringes
say shh... say shh...
And if there's only one store in your town that sells twelve inches
say shh... say shh...
If no one in your crew walks around with a gun
say shh... say shh...
And if you ain't gonna leave cause this is where you're from
say shh... say shh...

In my personal opinion, Slug (one half of the hip-hop group Atmosphere) is one of the most talented lyricists in the music world today. I can almost guarantee that just about everyone can identify with at least one song he has written. I can identify with these lyrics because he's saying that you don't need to fit into any type of generalization to do what you want to do. He's a very popular hip-hop artist and he doesn't exactly fit into the stereotype that many people attach to his profession. He's saying to take pride in who you are and where you're from, even if other people don't share a similar outlook. He proves that he has done this by writing about how he lives in Minnesota, and isn't a thug like a lot of rappers are portrayed to be. Some even strive for that image, but he is doing the exact opposite. This is only a portion of the song, but the song in its entirety really speaks to me as a creative person. It gives me inspiration to continue to do what I enjoy doing even if people shoot me down along the way. Slug has a way of painting pictures just with the words that he speaks. He's a true poet, which is much harder to find in today's rap or hip-hop scene. When I was deciding on what I wanted to major in I had a tough time deciding on audio production. I know that it's what I want to be doing for the rest of my life because I enjoy music so much, but along the way I've been told time and time again that I should study something that guarantees me a career right out of college. This may not be the exact message that Slug intended to portray through his song, but I feel as though his lyrics can be interpreted in whatever way you choose to look at them. Looking at these lyrics in the way that I did made me realize that I wouldn't be happy with any other major. I wouldn't be satisfied with a boring career working in an office day after day doing the same thing. Audio production will provide me with an interesting career that I can actually look forward to. Being creative, to me, is not always about how artsy one can be. It's about how one approaches whatever they may be working on, and how much time and thought is put into the finished product. It's using your imagination to come up with new ideas people haven't heard of or thought of before you. The creative process is a process that every human being is capable of, but only some people actually utilize it to create something brand new. These song lyrics are inspiration to anyone that anything is possible no matter who you are or where you're from. Never take what you have for granted.