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