Karim Rashid's Creative Manifesto

Karim Rashid's "Creative Manifesto."

I particularly enjoyed Karim's manifesto, out of all the ones we've read. I really connected to his point #9. which reads: "Experience is the most important part of living, and the exchange of ideas and human contact is all life really is. Space and objects can encourage increased experiences or distract from our experiences." This is actually something I grew up hearing, because it is something my mother would probably include if she ever wrote her own manifesto. 


My parents are artists, so we never had any notable amount of expensive material possessions, fancy cars, or lavish houses like some of my peers had. My parents built our house, the car I learned to drive in is turning 20 this year and looks it, and when we went on vacation we didn't buy souvenirs for ourselves or all our friends because we simply couldn't afford it. 


Which leads me back to the point Karim is making. 


Where we didn't buy a lot of material items, my parents made up for in experiences. In the end all you have is your memories, and that's what sticks with you the most anyway. I actually read somewhere that Queen Elizabeth I's last words were, "All my possessions for a moment of time." In the end possessions don't matter. So my parents made darn sure that my sister and I got life experiences few other kids can boast of. I have backpacked in Utah canyons so remote the only roads to the trail-heads are not even gravel, but dirt, touched ancient Anasazi ruins, snowboarded in Colorado, participated in a month-long program to bring peace to Northern Ireland (and went there the next Spring), swam in glacier-fed mountain lakes, taken the train through Germany and walked to Austria, and many, many others. 


Karim says that experiences are imperative for understanding the world and learning about yourself and others, and I agree completely. I read a quote that said "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page." You cannot begin to understand how the world works unless you experience it, and likewise you cannot lead a creative life exploring these kind of things unless you have experienced life. 


Looking at Karim's work, I can definitely see a connection between his manifesto and his work. He talks about creating and buying culture, and he shows that in his work. It is all creative and out there, and you know he has soaked in all the work of others he has seen throughout the years to create his own stuff. He also says that "Normal is not good," and this is apparent in the weird yet fun and organic shapes he creates in his works. His manifesto is fun-loving and prompts thinking outside of the box, and his work mirrors that. 


Here is my own Manifesto:


Gretchen's Super Duper Manifesto

• Travel, travel, travel. There's always another culture out there that you've never experienced, and you must experience as many as possible if you want to understand the world outside of your own little bubble of your home. 
• Do something every day that scares you or puts you out of your comfort zone, or just something you never thought to do. Run in a race, get your ears pierced, see an opera, cut your hair, get in your car, throw a Rand McNally in the backseat and just see where the highway takes you. 
• Explore! Go for an adventure! The real world can wait. 
• Take a class way outside your major for no other reason than because it sounds kind of interesting to you. 
• If your're interested in something, do it. Don't just sit there and go, "Gosh it sure would be fun to paint something." Buy yourself some watercolours and do it. 
• Don't worry. There's a song called the Sunscreen Song that says, "Do not worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is about as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum." Worrying will accomplish nothing but stressing you out, so for goodness sake, refrain from it. 
• Relish the weird. 
• Don't be afraid to show your work to others. In fact, show it to everyone who will look. 
• If you have an idea or a goal, don't wait for some undetermined future date to put it into motion. There won't be some magic date when suddenly flashing lights will appear saying, "Now!" You've gotta live in the moment. 
• Sing loudly and break out into dance. Frequently and with abandon.
• Don't be afraid to fail. There's a great Samuel Beckett quote that says, "No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." One of my greatest acting teachers once told us, "You have to be able to say, 'Look at me! I am a trainwreck! I am a debacle! And I will dance in the flames.'"

FREAK FACTOR

Freak Factor: click me!

In this article, David Rendall is talking about existing between your strengths and weaknesses, and figuring out what needs to be "fixed," versus what can actually be used to your advantage and shape you into a successful and society-accepted individual. He talks about how instead of fighting his weakness -- such as being hyperactive, needing to be the center of attention, and talks to much -- he used them to find a career as a professor, always standing and talking to his class.

He talks about taking your weaknesses and finding out how you can create a strength out of them -- how you can work with yourself instead of fighting yourself. The latter will only make you unhappy and uncomfortable, whereas the former will give you a sense of being in control of your life.

One point Rendall makes is to Find the Right Spot. He uses the example of Rudolph: all the other reindeer laughed at and belittled him, and he felt as though he was a freak amongst the others with no purpose. Rather, Rudolph's "flaw" was what caused him to become Santa's favourite, lead the others, and save the day! Rudolph's nose was the "perfect fit between his unique qualities and the situation." You don't have to change yourself or hide who you are to be successful, sometimes you're just looking in the wrong spot. You need to choose situations that fit you, fit your strengths and spotlight you for the difference you can make.

Another point Rendall makes is to recognize the Power of Uniqueness. Here, he uses the example of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Tower was, of course, a complete accident but as we like to say in the creative world, it was a happy accident. Because of its uniqueness, tourists have simply flocked to Italy to see this landmark, spending absurd amounts of dollars to do so. People are attracted to its "flaw" because it makes the Tower interesting and unique. Quite simply, it is better to be interesting than normal, because we are surrounded by normal and people trying to be "normal" every day of our lives. What we want is a breath of fresh air, and that is what uniqueness gives us.

A third point Rendall makes is to Put Your Quirks to Work. Throughout this article he has made very clear that being unique and working with your strengths and weaknesses is the key to success, so how do we do all that? How do we channel our individuality like he says we must? Rendall put together a wee list explaining this, and they are an excellent way to get started. You need to do things like seeking out situations that maximize your strengths, and keep yourself from situations that highlight flaws. Stop doing activities you don't like, because they will only drag you down and stop the creative juices from flowing. Find people who complement you and bring out your strengths, while you bring out theirs. This kind of partnership will benefit all parties involved. Finally, find the uniqueness in others, and that will help you understand them and understand yourself. These connections, bringing together all his points, really helped me understand everything he was saying and how I could relate it to my own life.

I have found out a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses. My weaknesses include:

• I am a perfectionist, and it is often hard for me to be satisfied with an end product and stop continually tweaking it.
• I can get restless. 
• I can sometimes bite off more than I can chew, and then be very reluctant to admit this and ask for help. 
• I am easily distracted. 
• I am very impulsive and will jump into one thing or another, sometimes without taking the time to really think it out. 
• I often like to be in the center of attention. That might be the product of my theater major. :P

Some strengths I have found include: 

• I am a very good listener. 
• I am good at self-entertaining and am very patient. 
• I am very organized and like to keep everything in order in my head. 
• I am always punctual. In fact, the clocks in my room and my car (and my wristwatch) are set 5 minutes fast so I am never late.

Audio Response to "Collapsus"

Trans-media piece "Collapsus": click me!

Here is my audio response to "Collapsus":
(There's some extra time at the end, it didn't stop recording when I first hit stop... Oops.)

Gaming Presentation Reflection

Our game was about evading the OUPD coming home from Fests; basically the ultimate OU-encompassing concept we could come up with. One thing that didn't really come across during our presentation was that each level would be its own Fest. I think it sort of sounded like you were just running from the police, when really each level will begin at a different and distinctive Fest, and then you must get back to your dorm safely and without being arrested. This will add difficulty to the game because you can't just memorize easy routes -- each Fest takes place at a different location, so therefore you must really strategize while getting home.

Our game was not super complicated, so other than that I really felt that we got across what we were hoping to. One particularly strong point of our presentation was explaining the rules and objectives. We worked really hard to make these very clear and I thought we did a good job of explaining them to our classmates. The rules were simple: navigate your way back from the Fest, get a drunken-muchies snack, and get your friend home before returning to your own dorm. Since this is basically how real-life is for many college students in Athens, our audience was able to understand these rules very easily. Basically, the main rule was don't get caught. This is not a difficult concept to understand, so we were very successful in getting everyone to understand this.

The hardest thing to discuss and explain were the mechanics of the game. When we were designing the game, we had to pull a lot of references from pre-existing games before we could all decide on how the game was going to function and the characters move around the screen. There are so many options to choose from in designing a game, you have to be really specific about what it's going to look like and how it's going to run or people can mix it up. And since there are all these options, people get an immediate image in their head when you mention something, and if that's not what you want it can be very difficult to change that image in their mind.

Super Hero Powers!

The "First Act" of This American Life about superpowers: click me!

A cool superhero in my opinion:Wind Dancer.
-Ability to control the movement of air
--generate wind
--lift and carry objects with wind
--fly
--amplify small vibrations in the air to hear faraway conversations
--disrupt the equilibrium of the inner ear, cause unbalance

For some reason the audio got a little funky at the end when I recorded it, but here it is anyway:

Hero/Villain: Aqua Woman versus Evaporation Girl

Our hero, Aqua Woman:

Her nemesis, Evaporation Girl:

Our video:

My critiques of other heroes/villains:
Brendan Trepal's hero/villain project:

Brendan does not list his hero's name on his blog, but he is dressed in colours of shiny gray and black, with a helmet. There are gold accents to his outfit, which appear even brighter against the black and gray. This contrast of brightness creates visual interest to the character's costume, and also distinguishes him as a hero. Villains do not wear striking colours that pop out at us like that, so we know he is a good guy.

The lighting on his costume is that of stark contrast and shadows. Although it is mostly gray and black, it is made of metal and therefore very shiny and bright. The shadows help the highlights stand out. The mood of this character is that of confidence and power. In the animation, he is surrounded by fog but then the hero comes in and forces it all away. He is like a light in the middle of all this fog, and that helps to show how he is a hero.

For movement, this hero is able to teleport. He crouches down and the poof! disappears in a cloud to the next location. There is not a lot of weight in his movement, although when we walks he moves slowly and deliberately, which might attest to the weight of his armor. The character also moves with linear motion, opposed to overlapping, since only his legs move when he walks.

---

Maddie Schneider's hero/villain project:
Maddie's hero is named Sonica, and her villain is Psycho. Sonica is dressed in yellow, which is very bright and makes her look like the sun. This use of colour makes us realize immediately that she is the hero. The saturation is very intense, and it contrasts Psycho, who is wearing black and a deep purple. Sonica is dressed in warm colours, whereas Psycho is in cool colours. Just this difference sets them apart significantly.

The lighting is very clear between the two characters. Sonica has almost no shadows to her costume, whereas Psycho is nearly all shadows. Even his power involves purple "shadows" that spread out at Sonica. This symbolizes his evil-ness, and how he is a "dark" individual. Sonica evokes a mood of goodwill and triumph, of good over evil. On the other hand, Psycho evokes a mood of darkness, deceit, and trickery. All this is done through the lighting of the two characters.

Weight is used very well in this animation. When Psycho stands up, he does so slowly, like a real person would. He also uses a cane, which shows his weight being lifted. Sonica floats in the air, and they actually show her hair rippling in the wind, which adds to the realism of the piece. When Sonica hits Psycho with her power, he is sent backwards, back first and then his arms and legs fly outwards. This shows overlapping movement, and makes it more believable. It was really difficult to show weight in Pencil, and I think they did a really good job of showing it here.

Joke Video Reflections

Joke One:






Joke Two:







In our second video, we focused more on line and shape than we did in the first one. We had the actors sitting against a cinder-block wall, where the lines of the blocks directed the viewer's eye to the action. When the shot changed to a tighter frame of the actors, the lines even worked to create an actual connection between them. At one point they stop talking and glare at each other, and the virtual line of their gaze is accentuated by the literal line of the blocks at their eye level. Since the punchline of our joke landed one character in considerable trouble, the lines even created a sense of being imprisoned. We also used movement in this one, with the bike wheel spinning at the beginning and end of the film as a reminder of their crash. This also helped set up the space they were in, giving a sense of depth.

The first video took place out on a road, and the line of the road and sidewalk was what connected the two actors there. However the background did not offer the virtual lines that the cinder-blocks offered, so it was less emphasized. Both films used minimal movement in the sense that the actors remained sitting throughout the majority of the films. When they did move, it was to exit the scene and in both cases, to leave one character in a state of panic. In the second film, the space was deeper as there was not a wall marking the end of the space. Instead, we could see the background going on and on to the horizon.

Text and subtext were used in our films. In the first video, they were literally drinking liquor and had literally gotten in a car crash. In the second film, they had gotten in a bike crash and were drinking cool-aide, but the subtext was that they had gotten in a serious crash and drinking something illegal. At the end, Gretchen's character giggles, "I'm going to tell your mom you were DRINKING AND DRIVING!" While they were drinking Kool-Aide, the subtext is that they were drinking alcohol.

The only affinity in our films is the idea that the two characters crashed and are dealing with the aftermath. They also both used dubbing for the text, instead of using subtitles like an old silent film would. The time periods were also similar, both being in the present-day. However, the contrast between our films is really much greater, and provides more to comment on. Instead of both casting adults, the second casts "kids." Instead of drinking alcohol, they are drinking Kool-Aide. Instead of driving cars, they are "driving" bikes. Instead of calling the police, they  are calling a teacher. We really liked the differences between these two scripts, and how it had been adapted to fit for children, which is why we chose to film these two. We felt it really helped explore the joke in different ways.

Extra Credit -- Fair

I went to the Research Fair and saw this booth, for ETB:

Their booth was all about recycling and reducing the amount of waste Americans produced. They talked about how 70% of the stuff in landfills can be recycled, which is an enormous number. Their goal is to raise awareness of recycling through "campus and community outreach." They had a video playing and a skit they'd written that you could read.

How To Be Creative and Stuffs

Check out: Hugh MacLeod's How To Be Creative.

Audio Commentary of the Video Game "Portal"

Here is my audio commentary of the video game "Portal":

Audio Commentary on "WALL-E"

Here is my audio critique of the use of line, space, and movement in Pixar's film WALL-E.

Re-Imagining Visual Framing

Original image:

Re-Framed:

I really liked the first image, done by the artist Ben Goosens, because it reminded me of something like a forest elf's abode -- some strange living space out of a fairy tale. I thought the combination of the tree and the aspects of civilization were artfully done, and looked compellingly realistic.

I chose to zoom in on the "PRIVATE" sign on the door, with a hint of the light post on the right hand side. The eye is drawn to the "PRIVATE" sign because it is bright red and violently contrasts the rest of the colours in the image, which are dull earthy tones. This contrast creates visual intensity. The sign is in the far, lower right-hand corner of the photo, so I added in part of the lamppost to even out the picture. I liked the emphasis, the details which attract the eye, being on polar opposite corners of the frame; I felt this gave it visual interest.

Ben Goosens chose to not zoom in on these two details like I did for obvious reasons -- you lose the context of the picture when you zoom in so drastically. By framing zoomed farther out, you can see that it is a door in a tree. Cropped, not so much. It could be anything from a door to a cabinet to window shutters. Why have a "PRIVATE" sign on a cabinet? What are the swirls coming out of the bark? Zooming out gives us these answers.

The original image uses line to frame the "PRIVATE" sign on the doors. These are actual lines, clearly visible and identifiable, running parallel to the edges of the picture to draw the eye toward the bright red sign. The horizontal lines also point toward the sign, as it is not centered on the door but slided to the left. Zoomed in, there are fewer lines of the door visible, and thus not as much available to point to the sign.

The original picture uses a sense of space. We see the tree-house in the foreground, where it is in focus and in the very center of the frame, drawing our interest. In the background, it is blurred, hazy, more or less unidentifiable. We don't know if we're looking at a fog or a representation of something, or nothingness. By blurring the background and clarifying the foreground, we are drawn to the tree and can understand that there is considerable distance between the two. Thus, space is created.

Mr. Goosens uses the Rule of Thirds by putting the "PRIVATE" sign right in the middle of the frame, which is considered the most visually interesting part of the image. When I zoomed in, the sign is popped out of its place in the Rule of Thirds and is thrust to a corner.

Goosens' clever use of the Rule of Thirds helps give the picture Visual Movement and Rhythm. As our Western minds read screens left to right, top to bottom, we see line of the top of the door, which draws our eye to the lamppost. The curve of said lamppost directs our eye back down, where we are drawn immediately to the red "PRIVATE" sign. The two main elements -- the lamppost and the sign -- are connected through the lines of the picture and move our eye with ease. This is disrupted when I zoomed in, because all of a sudden our eye is forced to see the top of the door, which begins leading over to the lamppost like earlier, but the pattern is broken because the lamp is not there. We see the end of the curved post, and our eye, confused, drops down the tree, eventually to the sign. While we end up at the same place in both, it is not with the same ease or sense of naturalness.

The original picture uses a Wide-Shot, showing the whole base of the tree and a background. My re-framing of the image creates a Close-Up of the sign and door corner. These are very different ways of framing the shot and as a result, create very different moods for the viewer. The red of the "PRIVATE" sign is even more jarring in the close-up, as it is much closer to us and a much larger part of the whole picture. In the wide-shot, it is a little more congruous.

Songs I Reviewed

I reviewed songs by:
Morgan Messenheimer: Morgan's song
and Katie Mack: Katie's song

Soundscapes I Commented On

Samantha Williams:
Soundscape

ACooke:
Soundscape

Kent Engel:
Soundscape

Song Project

My country-folksy, knee-slapping banjo song:

Brainwashed

Go here to view Seth Godin's article "Brainwashed."

In this article, Mr. Godin talks about there being seven layers of reinventing yourself. These include:

• Connect
• Be Generous
• Make Art
• Acknowledge the Lizard
• Ship
• Fail
• Learn

One interesting point Mr. Godin makes is in regard to Acknowledge the Lizard. Godin defines the "lizard brain" as being "that prehistoric brainstem that all of us must contend with." It's the part of our brain that is self-conscious and and worries about being laughed at. It's the part of our brain that shuts down the art we are trying to create, which Steven Pressfield calls "the resistance." Being raised in a world where we are encouraged to listen to our elders and follow orders and instructions blindly, we are tempted to listen to this little voice in our heads that says, "No! Do what you're told!" It is afraid of messing up, and stunts our creativity. 

In order to counteract the resistance, we cannot ignore it. Instead, we have to acknowledge it. It's there. It's undeniable. It has been ingrained into us at a young age and it exists in everyone. By acknowledging its existence, we can then stand up to it. We can listen to it scream in our ear to sit  back down and melt back into the crowd, and then push through and create art anyway. As Godin summarizes, "we acknowledge the lizard so we can ignore it."

Another point Godin makes that I found really interesting was the "ability to fail." Failing, Godin says, is very important for eventual success. Back in the day failure was the absolute worst possible thing that could happen to an individual. Now, as he says in his article, "the only way for organizations to grow is to ship risky things, to create change, to make art, to change people. And yet, shipping risks failure. And so we demand you fail." 

In high school, I was part of an acting program called Groundlings that was run by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. In the rehearsal room where we met every week, was a quote painted across one of the walls. It read: "No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." 

Failure builds solutions. I think it is very important in this day and age for us to realize that failure is not something to be afraid of. Instead, we should embrace it. Mistakes and failures help us build and grow and move forward, and maybe even discover something greater than what we were first trying to achieve. Art takes "supreme effort" in its creation, and in failing the first time, we can take our experiences and be pushed toward even greater success. If one cannot fail, one cannot succeed. 

I found reading this article to be very interesting and certainly connected both to this Blog and to my classes and career choice. Going into a creative field, one really needs to think outside the box in order to succeed and feel fulfilled. My ex's parents were very much from the generation of cookie-cutter, mindlessly-following workers and everything about them from their house  to their interests to their confusion at my career choice proved how brainwashed they were. They would never understand the need to fail, or the need to repress the voice that is trying to keep you from being laughed at. 

I think these seven layers Godin talks about and explores will definitely help me as I delve deeper into the media world. They help me when I approach creative assignments, and thinking back to past assignments they  help me see why certain things worked and certain things, well, failed. 

Soundscape - Worry

This is the soundscape Lauren and I created for the prompt of "worry."

Cover Songs

There are several songs I really like by a French singer/songwriter named Joe Dassin. We listened to his music a lot in my AP French class my senior year, and one of my favourite songs by him was one called "Les Champs-Élysées." It's a song about the narrator strolling down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, a little lonely and looking for companionship. He comes across a girl and strikes up a conversation with her, and she tells him she's off to spend the night with "the crazies who play their guitars from evening to morning." He accompanies her and by the time the sun has risen again they've fallen in love. "In the sun or in the rain, at noon or at midnight, anything can happen on the Champs-Élysées."

The first is the original, by Joe Dassin, and the second is a cover by a band called NOFX:



The two versions of the song could not be more different. For one, while the songs have the same name, NOFX actually leaves out a whole verse from the original song. By manipulating the lyrics, they completely change the song's meaning. In the Joe Dassin version, the two people start out as strangers and, after spending the night with a bunch of "crazy musicians," they walk down the Champs-Élysées together the next morning as "lovers." In NOFX's cover of the song, this never happens. They meet, go to the club, and then the song ends. It's like there's no resolution to the story.

The chorus to "Les Champs-Élysées" is as follows:

Aux Champs-Élysées, 
aux Champs-Élysées
au soleil, sous la pluie, 
à midi ou à minuit
il y a tout ce que vous voulez
aux Champs-Élysées.

This translates to:
On the Champs-Élysées, 
On the Champs-Élysées, 
In the sun, under the rain, 
At midday or at midnight
There is all you want
On the Champs-Élysées.

This makes sense in the song because the two find each other out of all the other people walking down the Champs-Élysées and fall in love. With the last verse omitted, the listener might be confused as to why they're saying "all you want" is on the Champs-Élysées.

Another point where the NOFX cover differes substantially from the Joe Dassin original is in the musical quality. Joe Dassin's version can be describe as very folk-y, very laid back, optimistic, and pleasant to listen to. Contrariwise, the NOFX version is very harsh, in-your-face, and a little nasally. Joe's version uses softer instrumentation, with a clear and peppy trumpet in the chorus. The song keeps a steady tempo, little variation in intensity, and a much better sense of organization. The lyrics are articulated clearly, with a sense of clear timing and intent.

The NOFX interpretation is rather all over the board. Even if you can't understand French, it is clear that they jumble their words together, almost seeming to snarl them instead of the comfortable, cheerful singing used in Joe's song. The song begins with a rapid, "UN DEUX TROIS!" (one two three) and the use of electric guitars and a drumset. The tempo is slowed just before the singing begins, which is still much faster than Joe sang it. The song sounds rushed, uncontrolled, and in general disorganization. They try varying the tempo, but the effect is just that they couldn't decide what they wanted.

Because of their extreme differences, the songs evoke two very different emotions. Joe Dassin's version makes me feel happy, youthful, and ready to take on the day. NOFX's version makes me feel disoriented, a little apprehensive, and generally yucky. Obviously between the two songs, I strongly prefer Joe Dassin's version. It is 100% better, in its arrangement, presentation, understandability, musicality, and most basically, its enjoyability. NOFX should have just left the song as it is and enjoyed it for the masterpiece it is.

Find Your Howl

Jonathon Flaum tells two stories in his article, Find Your Howl. The first is about a wolf named Mumon, who is raised in captivity and released back into the wild as an adult red wolf. Back in the wild where he and the other wolves belong, they find that there seems to be something missing, keeping them from truly becoming wolves. They have lost the ability to howl. Without a howl, there could be no leader and without leadership, the pack was doomed. Desperate to find the connection they were missing, Mumon struck off on his own.

He walked and walked until he became so hungry that he could nearly not go on. That was when he came across a deer and his instincts kicked in and he killed the deer and ate it. Immediately he began feeling the energy from the deer surge through him, and he started running across the countryside, transforming from the captivity-raised wolf he once was to a full-fledged wild wolf. His journey finally led him to a human, who shot him. As he lay there bleeding he heard the drumbeat and saw people dancing around a fire, dressed as red wolves. At this point, Mumon raised his head... and howled. Then the vision fell away and he saw the people were really the other wolves in his pack, joining in with his howl. And thus, the wolves had re-discovered their howl.


The point Jonathon Flaum is trying to make is that we must make sacrifices in life, step outside our comfort zones and spend time in self-reflection to truly discover ourselves. It can be exhausting, terrifying, and may take a very long time, but this is the only way to discover our "one-of-a-kind voice." We can't just ignore the "cages" put around us, but fight through them like Mumon does.

This is an example of my own "Howl."
The volume was a little weak when I recorded it so bear with me.

WAYS TO GET IDEAS

It must be important, because it's capitalized!

WAYS TO GET IDEAS!

As the title suggests, this article is all about the art of stimulating one's creative juices. Written by Mitch Ditkoff, he explores fourteen different suggestions for getting awesometastic ideas. The article is well-written, interesting, and in my opinion brings up many valid suggestions and approaches towards generating ideas. I found myself nodding as read it, thinking, Oh, that makes sense. I can definitely see how that would work!

• One suggestion Ditkoff brings up, #2 on his list, is to Immerse Yourself. We're often so caught up with whatever we're doing that when an idea starts bubbling in the back of our mind, we tell it, not now, I'm busy. And then by the end of the day, chances are we've forgotten it. How can we avoid this? By setting aside time for our ideas and our creativity. Time to just muse. In fact, says Ditkoff, Google employees are given "20% of their time to immerse in projects that have seemingly nothing to do with their so-called 'day job.'" Immersing yourself in whatever interests you is vital to boosting your creativity and dreaming up new ideas. I think one way I could implement this idea into my own life would be to grab a coffee up at the Donkey after my classes every day and just sit outside (now that it's getting warmer) and focus on nothing but my imagination for maybe an hour or so. This hour would be solely "me" time, and it would give me an excuse to not have to worry about anything. 
• Another suggestion of Ditkoff's is Taking a Break (#8 on his list). When your're struggling with a problem, Ditkoff says the best thing you can do is to walk away from it, let your brain focus on something else. This has actually been scientifically proven to help, which is why I definitely think it is a good suggestion. Working and slaving away at a problem that is fighting you only wearies your brain and clogs up your thinking process. But if you walk away from it for a while and let your brain recharge, you are much better prepared to re-tackle the problem. My parents make stained glass windows and mosaics for a living, and my mom has often told me that if she sits too long working on a design, she finds herself in an art-block. Her solution is to go for a walk, and she says it always helps. Luckily, Athens is a pretty compact community -- you can walk to pretty much anywhere from campus. So when I get in a slump trying to do homework, I often just get up and go out for a walk, exploring new parts of Athens I've never seen before. Just getting out helps. 
• A third suggestion from Ditkoff's "Ways to Get Ideas" is #10: Hang Out With Diverse Groups of People. If you're a media major and you spend your time with no one but other media majors, you will only ever hear the opinions of like-minded people. However, if you join other groups, you will start hearing the thoughts and opinions of all sorts of people. This in turn will help you view problems with a much broader understanding. It really enriches your understanding of the world. I try to hang out with as diverse a group of individuals as possible. I'm double-majoring in Theater and Video Production, minoring in Studio Art, a member of the Marching 110 (which is filled with all sorts of majors), I attend Vegan Cooking Workshops on Tuesdays (I'm not vegetarian myself, but I like cooking), my best friend is a pre-vet major, and I have been a member of a Shakespeare acting troupe since my freshman year of high school. As I continue through my education at OU, I hope I can keep expanding my circles and acquaintances. 

I decided to try out suggestion #4: Make New Connections. At the end of this suggestion, Ditkoff offers a prompt: "Make three parallel lists of ten words. The first list? Nouns. The second list? Verbs. The third list? Adjectives. Then look for intriguing new connections between them." 

I have been working on a webcomic based around a circus, so I thought I'd use this to see if I could invent some unique acts to explore through the story. These were my lists: 

NOUNS: fiddles, juggling balls, elephants, jewelry, clowns, hoops, tight-ropes, tomatoes, shoes, swords

VERBS: juggle, conduct, throw, set afire, tip over, paint, skip, balance, stand on, lasso

ADJECTIVES: spiky, radiant, spinning, blindfolded, under-water, giant, smoking, heavy, grouch, muddy

The combinations I came up with included:

• stand on smoking elephants
• skip on spiky tight-ropes
• juggle heavy shoes
• set afire to giant, spinning hoops
• stand on muddy hoops
• paint under-water clowns
• throw radiant swords
• juggle giant fiddles
• balance muddy tomatoes
• lasso smoking juggling balls
• conduct grouchy, spinning clowns

I definitely think I will implement these bizarre acts into my webcomic, and I would not have ever made these sort of connections if I hadn't done this activity. It definitely helped me make interesting and creative connections. 

Who Influences You As A Creative Person?

I come from a background in art (both my parents are artists), so my creativity is fostered by basically the entire world around me. I am inspired by everything from interesting news articles, to films and shows, to artwork, to just the crazy shenanigans that are a part of everyday life. 

THREE EXAMPLES

• "Kiwi!" by Dony Permedi
• This short film is beautifully tragic; the tale of a wee kiwi bird, which by nature is flightless, in his attempt at reaching for his dream: flying. I was really drawn to this particular video because of its ability to engage the audience with relatively simple animation and no dialogue whatsoever. The themes and messages are all conveyed actively. The viewer is guided toward understanding the kiwi's dreams by watching him build a virtual forest and "soar" through it... downwards. We can see this when he pops out his "wings" and waves them as though he is actually propelling himself forward, and a single tear escapes from his eye. There is significant tension when the kiwi jumps off the cliff, as the audience doesn't know why he's plummeting down through a bunch of trees. Then the screen is tilted and we get the release: he's flying. And while this is a tragic way of attaining his dreams, or as close as he can ever get to his dreams, we are to understand that he is finally a happy bird. 

• "The Curse" by Josh Ritter, video by Liam Hurley
• Josh Ritter is one of my favourite musical artists, in part because of his incredible creativity in creating worlds and scenarios you would never think of, and setting these stories to his signature "folk-rock" genre. In this song, "The Curse," he tells the story of a mummy that wakes up after years of slumbering in his sarcophagus to fall in love with the archaeologist who discovered him. It is then set to a video created by Liam Hurley, a puppet representation of the story. The text of the lyrics describe the mummy exploring the modern world and meeting people, the press, etc, but the subtext is about love and loss. Since he's a mummy and not technically alive anymore, he continues existing while the archaeologist grows older and eventually passes away, leaving him alone. At the beginning she asks if he's cursed and he replies, "I think that I'm cured." After she dies the question is presented to him again and repeats his answer, but "hopes that she'll forget that question." I feel like the video is a didactic representation of the song, as the lyrics are visualized for us so we can really connect to what's being said.
• "The Saga of Biôrn" by Benjamin J. Kousholt, Daniel D. Christensen, Mads Lundgaard Christensen, Jesper A. Jensen, Jonas K. Doctor, Steffen Lyhne, Pernille Ørum-Nielsen, Frederik Bjerre-Poulsen, and Jonas Georgakakis
• This short, animated film is clever, funny, and uses mythology to bring to life a world we might not be familiar with: ancient Vikings. I was drawn to it because of attention to detail and unspoken commentaries on the two different worlds presented. The creators of this video used tenion and release expertly, with the audience wondering if each battle will be his last. Is this it? Will he die? No, all his foes are inadequate and kill themselves. Then finally he is led to a beast he cannot defeat, and we breathe a sigh of relief that he attained his goal. Until the nuns intervene... The film contrasts the Vikings and Christian nuns to further the plot. The nuns are passive and orderly, whereas Biôrn is crashing through the land in search of an honourable death so he can be permitted to live with the Gods. This contrast is what what makes it so funny when he finally attains that honourable death. The nuns bury him in their graveyard with a cross at his head, and instantly he is transported from the entrance of Valhalla to the Pearly Gates, which is the equivalent of Viking Hell, the affinity between the two places providing additional humour. 

The Maiden Post!

Ahhh MDIA 203! A very, very early start to my Fridays.

Why did I choose an 8AM class? I'm a double-major in Theater Performance and for whatever reason the School of Theater has an enormous amount of required classes for Freshmen, and my Acting I class is 10-12, so that ruled out the "middle" class.

As a Freshman, I don't have a car here on campus, so I take the GoBus (I'm from Cincinnati) whenever I want to go home. Said bus leaves at 4:30 so there went the later class. So there we go! 8AM class.

-Gretchen