Freak Factor Blog 10

      The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness By Flaunting Weakness

     

     In the article The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness written by David Rendall to be a pretty interesting article. In this article Rendall outlines 9 ways that someone can recognize their weaknesses and ways that the can use their weaknesses to their advantage. The nine tips that Rendall offers are as follows:

1. What’s your problem? This suggestion means to ask your family and friends what your weaknesses are.

            2. What’s My Problem? This suggestion ask what do you think your weaknesses are.

3. Flawless: There’s Nothing You: This suggestion states that for each strength there is a weakness that goes along that strength.

4. Forget It: Don’t Try to Fix Your Weaknesses: This suggestion states you shouldn’t fix your weaknesses because it is a slow, hard, difficult process that distracts you from other activities

5. Foundation: Build On Your Strengths: This suggestion states that you should build on your strengths rather than fixing your weaknesses.

6. Focus: You Can’t Do Both: This suggestion states that it is too hard to fix weaknesses and build on strengths.

7. Fit: Find the Right Spot: This suggestion states that instead of trying to fix something find a place where you fit in based on your strengths and weaknesses.

8. Freak: The Power of Uniqueness: This suggestion states that your weaknesses make you unique and you should embrace them.

9. Freak Factory: Putting Your Quirks to Work: This suggestion states ways to increase your “freak factor”

     In my opinion I thought that this article offered some good suggestions but overall I found most of the suggestions repetitive and contradictive to what I have been taught as a student. One suggestion that I thought was a very bad idea was the number 7 which was find the right spot. I understand where he is coming from but I think he didn’t explain it very well. I understand what he is trying to get out of the Rudolph analogy about how his flaw which he thought made him useless ended up saving Christmas. However what bugged me most about this article is the “Freak Fallacy” at the bottom of the page that stated “I need to adapt to fit the situation”. As a student I have been told that  adaptability is the number one quality that professionals want their employees to have, especially in the media business that changes so rapidly. I think that a person needs to know how to adapt to things, and waiting around for the right opportunity is just going to screw you over.

     Another suggestion of Rendall’s that I didn’t particularly care for was number 4, Forget It. He says that someone should not try to fix your weaknesses. Yes, I understand that reasons he gives for why not to because it’s slow, painful and distracting; yet building on your weaknesses is going to make you an all around stronger person. I don’t believe that you need to completely change your weaknesses into strengths but I do feel that you need to work on your weaknesses to get them to a point where they are not weaknesses that are going to bring you down as an individual. Take a look at the movie The King’s Speech, the king had a stuttering problem and could not give speeches. However he worked on it and fixed his problem. If he did not work on his weaknesses it would not have made him the person that he was.

     There was a suggestion that I did find useful though. His third suggestion “Flawless” helped to show me that to every strength there is a weakness that goes along with this. I feel I can use this to help me in both ways. I can take a weakness that I have and find a strength that comes out of it. I can also find a strength that I have to notice a weakness that I can build on.

Trans - Media Blog 9B

Collapsus Video Game

Above is a link to a different and interesting video game. I recommend you check it out. And below are my thoughts on this game.

My Thoughts on Collapsus

Video Game Critique Blog 9A

This past week in class, we had to create an idea for a video game. In my opinion I think my groups game The Morning After: The Game was a good idea for a game and I think that the presentation came across pretty effectively. However, one part of our presentation that did not come across very well was the Mechanics of the game. For our game we had came up with all of the mechanics that we thought were necessary and went over them many times as a group, but reflecting on our presentation I don’t think they came across as well as they could have. The main reason for this would be that without creating some of the game for people to see visually or play with, makes understanding the mechanics of the game difficult. As a group we tried to relate many of the mechanics to games that other people may have played so they have an idea of what is going on. However since we’re creating a brand new game, our mechanics are different and will be hard to grasp without seeing them at work.

What Superpower Would I Want Blog 8

This American Life - Superpowers

If I had to pick any superpower I would definitely choose to have the power to fly. Here's some little bit of audio of why I would want to fly.

Why I'd want to Fly

Superheroes and Villains Blog 8A

Here are mine and Ryan's Superheroes, Magnet man and Zoom.

For this assignment I have to critique 3 of my other classmates superheroes. The first one I am going to critique is Daniel's. The hero he created is called the Janitor. The first thing I notice about the Janitor are the colors. He has very neutral warm colors by the olive type green that his work smock. To me this warm hue of green that is used makes him seem like a very normal everyday type person. His smock is not very bright however he does have a bright yellow undershirt that sticks out. There is not an image of the villain on his page but I'm going to assume that the yellow will stick out against the colors of the villain. Going along with the brightness the saturation of the hero's colors are very saturated. They have a nice rich color.

The next classmate's characters I'm critiquing is Jenny's. For Jenny's critique I am going to focus on the shape of their characters because that is the first thing that sticks out to me. The hero is tall and lanky while the villain is short and stocky. Right off the bat it makes the two characters stand out from each other.Their shape symbolizes their strength as well as which one is more important. In this case the hero is more important and you can tell by their height. The next thing I noticed are the shapes of the characters. The villain has a triangle head and a big rectangle body that gives the viewer the mood that he is a thick headed dominant individual. On the other hand the hero has a very rounded head that makes him relate able to the viewer and gives the viewer a mood of feeling safe and happy. The way the characters are shaped adds a lot of contrast between the two of them, further distinguishing them.

Joke Video Project Blog 7

 

     For this project we had to take a joke and make two different movies out of this one joke. For our first movie our group decided to turn it into a horror movie and for our second movie our group made it into a slapstick humor. In this post I’m first going to compare line and space between the two movies.

Because our group decided to do the movie in the form of a horror movie, a lot of the lines that were used were by the Billy’s eyes. He has lines from his eye to the toy in the beginning, to his mother and then at the end the knife made a line pointing to the Billy’s head. In the second movie however I feel that the use of lines and framing was used more effectively. The mother is framed in the doorway with the kid in the right third of the screen. When the kid goes into his room the lines are everywhere. The railing of the stairway creates a line and the brick wall create lines that all point directly to the man. The two movies also used space very differently. In the horror movie we used a little of limited and ambiguous space to create tension. The best example is when the kid is looking out from the closet at his mother. In our second movie we mostly used deep and limited space. In this movie the best example is the opening shot where the kid is in the foreground and the mother is framed within the doorway in the background. 

     In both films I think that Tension and Release were used to a very effective level. In both jokes the tension builds up with the boy using bad language and being sent to his room. When he gets out the viewer feels that something else is going to happen to the kid and in both videos the kid ends up getting beat in one and killed in the other. Another binary term that I feel the videos both encompassed would be contrast and affinity. In the horror movie there was a good amount of contrast and affinity because it was in black and white. In the second movie we used a lot of bright colors to draw objects out. However the best example of contrast and affinity would be the movies themselves. Both movies are the same joke but very different stories.

How to be Creative

And here is what I have to say about this article:

Video Game Breakdown

Here is a breakdown of Call of Duty: World at War Nazi Zombies Level. Enjoy!

Blog 5B Movie Scene Breakdown

Here is a video post breakdown the scene from the movie 25th Hour directed by Spike Lee and starring Edward Norton. I recommend you check it out if you haven't seen it.

Image Reframe

I chose an image by Ben Goossens for this assignment. What drew me to this original image was its sense of obscurity. This picture is very strange to me because there is a floating house. This is not normal. What makes this picture particularly intriguing to me, alongs with other Goossens’ photos, is the color and shadows he uses. In this pictures there are a lot of depth cues. Goossens does this by giving a foreground, midground and background. The shadows also give a sense of depth. The shadow for the floating rock house is very large meaning it is closer. The person has a shadow too, a much smaller one showing that he is farther away and in another plane.

The original image and the reframed image that I used are both in the rule of thirds. In the original the house is on the left third and the person on the right. In the reframed image the man is on the left and what looks like an abandoned building is on the right third.

The house, eagle and person also create a line connecting all things. I think that the line begins the top of the house and motions down to the person through the eagle. This draws more attention to the person.

I picked to reframe the picture this way because of the person. When I first looked at the original picture I did not notice the person but the more I looked at it the person came into sight. The person looks like a dark, devilish guy, due to the dark colors, really grabbing my attention. As I was reframing the image I noticed how the new image is also on the rule of thirds. I think that the picture I framed could be an image all on its own.  

Song Critiques

Here is the critique I did of some of my classmates original songs.
Song Critiques

Ashton
Daniel
Annalisa

Brainwashed

Above is a link for the essay "Brainwashed" by Seth Godin. This article is about getting out of the monotony  that is every day life for some people and reinventing yourself. Godin talks about seven ways that you can reinvent yourself. They are:

1. Connect

2. Be generous

3. Make art

4. Acknowledge the lizard

5. Ship

6. Fail

7. Learn

"Acknowledge the lizard" was one layer that I though was really interesting. Acknowledging the lizard means to listen to that voice that is in the back of your head that tells you that everyone will laugh at you or you work isn't going to be good enough. Instead you must acknowledge the voice and recognize that it is there before you can overcome it and move past it.

Another layer that really intrigued me was "Make art". Godin explains that everything that is created is art, not just paintings or sculptures. Godin continues art is one thing that doesn't have rules but is can be anything. It isn't something with a lot of rules. By creating art you can create something original.

I think that these two layers are very connected to this blog that I have to create for my media class. For many people writing a blog can be very nerve racking and they may be scared to post original content online. By acknowledging the lizard someone can overcome this fear and make good blog posts. By creating this blog we are also showing our own art to the world. We created everything on our blogs and it is all original. I think this makes us a better student, artist and most of all a person by allowing us to reinvent ourselves.

Soundscape Critiques

Here are the critiques I did of other soundscapes as well as links to their soundscapes.
My Critiques

Ryan Nord
Paige Kelley
Mark Adelserger

Sympathy for Who?

"Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones

                                                 "Sympathy for the Devil" by Jane's Addiction

            One of my favorite songs of all time is “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, who are also one of my favorite bands. It just so happens that another band that I really enjoy is Jane’s Addiction and they made a cover version of “Sympathy for the Devil”. It is hard for me to pick which version of the song I like better. There are a lot aspects of songs that contrast each other making each of the songs very different.

            The first difference that someone will probably notice is the instrumentation and organization of the song. The Rolling Stones version has many more instruments and layers to it than Jane’s Addictions version does. By doing this, the Stones add more distance to their songs. The Stones start out with the drums, shaker, piano than the base guitar. The electric guitar does not come into the song till the bridge for a solo and does not come back until there is another solo. For Jane’s Addiction there are not nearly as many layers. There are drums, tambourine and two guitars. Jane’s Addiction replaces the piano with a guitar. In their version they keep all the instruments in the whole time, they do not bring instruments in and out like the Rolling Stones do.

            Another difference between the songs is their speed. The Rolling Stones version starts out moderately slow and gradually increases to a moderato tempo. Jane’s Addiction’s version is much faster. However, the rhythms of the songs are the same. They are both in 4/4 tempo. Although the two songs tempos are the same, the versions vary in their timbre. Jane’s Addiction uses a lot more distortion and their tonal qualities are not as crisp as the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones do not use many effects on their instruments if any are used at all. The guitars, drums, and piano all have very crisp, natural sounds to them.

            One thing that is exactly the same between the songs is the lyrics. Both versions use the exact same lyrics that Mick Jagger wrote. I feel that if Jane’s Addiction changed the lyrics, the song would lose a big part of what it is. I’m sure everyone who has heard the song recognizes the rhythm of the bongo drums but I think that the lyrics really make the song what it is. Who does not love the opening line, “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste.”

            If I had to choose which version “Sympathy for the Devil” I would have to pick the Rolling Stones’ version. I think what I like most about it is the simplicity of the way the song is organized. The same bass line, drum rhythm, and piano arrangement is used throughout the whole song which allows the lyrics to take center stage. To me the lyrics make the song what it is. The first time I heard it I did not that it was being sung as if he was the devil. But after listening to it more times it is quite obvious to me. I feel the arrangement Jane’s Addiction uses is a too complicated for the song and takes away from the lyrics. You just can’t beat the original.

Songs Me and Ryan Created

For our newest project in class each group had to create two songs in which they kept one listening aspect the same in each song. For our songs we decided to keep the tempo of each song the same but we ended up creating two completely different songs. Here they are.
Tony's Song
Ryan's Song

Soundscape

Here is the soundscape the Kramer and myself did. Our word was Agression. ENJOY!http://www.box.net/shared/tq2v2byifo

Finding Your Howl

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl

Jonathon Flaum’s article is a great article about overcoming obstacles or stages in your life to move on to new ones. The article consists of two stories. One is about a red wolf trying to find his howl and the other is about a tiger that is trying to escape from the zoo. The tiger plans his escape for days and one night he leaps out of the top of the cage. He wakes up though and finds that he is in another cage in another zoo. So the tiger escapes again at night but wakes up again in another cage. This happens to the tiger over and over again and he never escapes. In the story the tiger uses his surface skills but doesn’t look around for any other tools to help him. The moral of the story is that in order to move out one situation we have to fully embrace the one you’re in before we can move on to the next. You have to move through one situation before you can move on to the next.

I also have one last gift for you guys. I've included a recorded bit about my favorite "Howl". It's a quote from the book Haunted by Chuck Palahnuik. If you've read the book you may recognize it but if not I hope you enjoy. Just follow the link below.

http://www.box.net/shared/qa88dz6uta

Where do I get my creativity?

As a creative person I take my influences from many different places. For my future career I want to work with sports like shooting football games, basketball games, baseball or working for ESPN. Anything along those lines is what I would like to do. Naturally as someone who wants to work with sports I get a lot of my inspiration from the stuff ESPN does. As I mentioned before though, I get my inspiration from many places not just sports. I’m a big movie fan and get out lot of inspiration from work some of my favorite directors. I also get a lot of inspiration from different musicians too.

One of my biggest influences is Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam. What inspires me most about him is that he is not afraid to pour his soul into his lyrics and the music fits perfectly with the emotions that he is trying to convey to his audience. To me the best example of this is the song “ Alive”. In this song he the text is about Eddie finding out when he was 13 that who he thought was his dad wasn’t at all. The whole song has a kind of relaxed mellow tempo, nothing to heavy or fast but I gradually builds and creates some tension for the listener. At the end of the song after a very calm guitar tone that is very soothing, they break into a fast heavy solo jam session that offers a release, both for the tension of the music and the lyrics. I hope that in my work I can convey these emotions to my audiences and I really respect Eddie Vedder for doing this.

My favorite influence as a movie director is Martin Scorcese. I’m a giant fan of all of his movies and I love the work that he does. The movies Taxi Driver, the Departed, Casino, Gangs of New York, Goodfellas and Raging Bull are among my favorite movies. Scorcese uses a lot of complex camera moves in his movies as well as big twists. In most of his movies he will spend the whole movie building up tension, for example the ending of Taxi Driver, to make a huge release. Scorcese also uses a lot of contrast throughout his movie. He is known for his Italian-American gangster movies which always include a lot of blood. He often makes the blood look as red as possible to contrast with the background. By doing this he always makes sure to emphasis violence. I’ve included the ending of Taxi Driver with this to show what I mean. Throughout the whole movie, the audience knows the guy is absolutely crazy and at the end he finally snaps and snaps big. He goes down with guns blazing and a ton of blood. I admire the way that Scorcese is able to put everything together to make fantastic movies.

Another influence of mine would be Kanye West. Kanye has changed the way rap has been made and in a way is a revolutionary. Before Kanye most if not all rap songs were behind heavy bass beats but Kanye has introduced collaborations into rap which other people wouldn’t have thought of. He has added synthesizers, pianos, guitars pretty much anything. This has gotten away and influenced a new breed of rappers such as Kid Cudi and B.o.B. With Kanye’s music, I’m sure a lot of people thought that the beats that he uses would contrast with rap but it has done the complete opposite. Kanye has created an affinity between his beats and his lyrics. Kanye has also made his more recent songs very didactic. Not necessarily in his older songs but in his new CD he is teaching lessons about being, for lack of a better word, an asshole. I’ve included the song Runaway with it to show the combination of piano into rap. This song is also a perfect example of him trying to teach a lesson that he’s learned.

14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas - Mitch Ditkoff

changethis.com/manifesto/show/49.06.14Ways

Mitch Ditkoff begins his article “14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas” by explaining how CEO’s are constantly looking for innovation to improve their businesses and get ahead. But what is it that inspires innovation? There are two schools of thought, the Western, which is based in Rene Descartes’ “I think therefore I am” which means that ideas come from within. The second school of thought is Eastern which focuses on feeling and is the opposite of the Western. Ditkoff goes on to say that most people are a hybrid of the two schools and in the rest of his article goes on to give fourteen suggestions on how to jump start our innovation and activities for you to try.

1. Follow your fascination: If you’re fascinated by something, let it grow.

2. Immerse: Once you have an idea immerse yourself in it. Make sure you put away time to focus on your idea.

3. Tolerate Ambiguity: When there is a setback do not look at it as a setback but as a learning experience

4. Make New Connections: Look for connections in some seemingly unrelated things.

5. Fantasize: Imagine the impossible.

6. Define the Right Challenge: Come up with a breakthrough question before the breakthrough idea.

7. Listen to Your Subconscious: Don’t discard dreams or random thoughts. Allow time for daydreaming.

8. Take a Break: If you’re stuck take a break and focus on something else.

9. Notice and Challenge Existing Patterns and Trends: Don’t accept existing trends, challenge them to find the next big trend.

10. Hang Out With Diverse Groups of People: Hang out with people outside your normal group of friends. They’ll challenge your thinking, seeing and acting.

11. Brainstorm: Two brains are better than one, but pick the right people to brainstorm with.

12. Look for Happy Accidents: Some of the biggest breakthroughs have happened by accident. Get rid of your expectations and assumptions and get curious.

13. Use Creative Thinking Techniques: Use some aids to help spark your inspiration.

14. Suspend Logic: Suspend judgment, evaluation and your addiction to the practical.

Ditkoff’s suggestions all sound like very good ideas to jump start innovation but there are three that really stuck out to me and sounded especially helpful. The first one is Fantasize. Many times I will think of ideas that seem just absurd but I usually discard them. But after reading this article it made me think that the whole idea could be crazy but there may be some tiny bit of an idea that could spark that breakthrough.

The second idea that stuck out was Take a Break. I am a pro at taking breaks but often for the wrong reasons. Not because I’m stumped but I’m bored or tired of doing work. I know that when I am stumped on something taking a break will take my mind off it and when I go back I will often see something that I overlooked that can make solving the problem easier.

The third idea that I really liked was Hang Out With Diverse Groups of People. Most of my friends I’ve known for years and I hang out with them all the time. But because we’re friends we have many of the same ideas, beliefs and hobbies. But by broadening my horizons my eyes will be opened to whole new worlds of thoughts.
Finally, I’m going to try one of the activities at after one of the suggestions. I’m choosing the one after Make New Connections. It states: 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. This one looks fun so I’m going to give it a shot.

Dogs         Play       Lumpy
Music       Climb     Sleepy
Table        Judge     Cold
Couch      Drink      Wet
TV           Watch     Large
Cup          Tickle     Tiny
Car           Jump      Vast
Chicken    Sleep      Thick
Trash        Throw     Black
Suit           Attack    Moldy

At first look I don’t seem to see any connections. Perhaps a better cup that keeps things cold. Maybe some kind of large play area for dogs to play with each other is an idea. Or may even some kind of car that will drive for you while you’re sleeping could be possible. None of these ideas will probably be the next big breakthrough but this was a fun activity that really got me thinking. I will have to keep trying it.

I think that “14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas” is a phenomenal article that can be extremely helpful to anybody. I know that I am going to implement these suggestions into my life. Be sure to check out the link above to read the article for yourself.

First Blog Entry

Today I have finally been introduced to the blogging world. I will begin with this adorable video of kittens.