1. Your Voice

Jonathon Flaum describes a principle of life through a story he recalls from his younger years. Flaum's rhetoric is blurring and complicated but ironically the concept he tries to outline is very simple; to grow we must explore. Flaum uses the analogy of the futile escape attempts of a caged tiger. He says the tiger cannot escape because the cage is a part of the tiger and he brings it with him wherever he goes.

In my own interpretation of Flaum's anecdote I found that the tiger is trapped simply because captivity is all it knows. Flaum says we must transcend our cage to have ‘new life’ or grow. Take any challenge like opening a door, talking to your love for the first time, walking on two feet; any of these tasks challenge us to get out of our comfort zones (cages) and learn something new without any assurance of safety like the feeling of failure if you can’t open a door, the possibly getting crushed by your infatuation, or tripping over your feet.  

You will learn over the rest of this post that I possess a very healthy self-esteem. I actually created my own favorite quote, “Don’t Stop”. I could almost say that the song “Don’t Stop” by Foster the People inspired my quote because that is the source of the words, but the true essence of them is missing.

These two words speak to me because they are my trigger and because this trigger is in the optimal position to be pulled daily. I engineered the quote to have both words capitalized and for it to be short because it implies both importance and urgency. The quote is my trigger because I respond to self-motivation. I believe that to succeed one must have the drive to excel and not only do I have it, I am proud of it. The optimal position I mentioned earlier is my computer. The quote is programmed to appear on my screen if I switch between programs for a long period of time, which is something I do when I am bored. Once that quote pops up on my screen the fire inside me begins to burn red hot and I remember that to succeed one must have the drive to excel. This quote has been my panacea for the last year and has been the catalyst for some of my most acclaimed achievements.

We know that Flaum believes that to break free of our cage we must venture into the unknown. My favorite quote is the domino that tips the venturing into motion. Because of my self-motivation and the use of my quote to catalyze my actions I am consistently digging out of more and more cages. I think that Flaum would be proud of my ability to dive into the unknown and impressed with the experience I have with it. 

2. Storytelling

The medium I chose to tell my story is a computer program. Unfortunately I cannot upload the actual program. I chose to use a program as my medium because that gave me the ability to customize the story. I realized that the best way to make a story for third grade children was to let them control the tale.

In my program the user is asked three questions and their name. These three questions change the story and make it seem like the user may have actually created some of the work themselves. I would want to make this a picture book but if I did that it would require too many pictures because of how many options the story gives. What I have posted is just one of the possibilities for my story. The input from the user determined the dog breed, the vacation trip location, the dog name, the author, and the name of Emily's friend. 

I used Apple Terminal to create a program using the Java coding language. 

This is the top of the Java program I coded

This is the bottom of the Java program I coded

This is some of the user input to create the story

A Girl and Her Dog

By: Thomas

One sunny day a little girl named Emily went with her mom to the animal shelter to get a birthday present.

Emily saw many animals at the shelter but Emily’s Mom decided that they were going to get a cute golden retriever

On the ride home the golden retriever rested its head in Emily’s lap. Emily was happy.

When Emily got home her Mom walked her inside and asked Emily what she wanted to name the dog.

Emily said: I want his name to be Pumpkin!

And so they named him Pumpkin.

Pumpkin and Emily got along really well. Emily would tell Pumpkin to do tricks and he would do them for a little treat.

Emily took Pumpkin on walks to the park with her Mom all the time.

When they got to the park she would always play Frisbee with Pumpkin. Sometimes her friend Thomas would be in the park too and they would all play together.

One day Emily got to take Pumpkin to the family camp site. Emily was happy and had lots of fun with Pumpkin there.

One morning Emily woke up and wanted to see Pumpkin but instead she found her Mom crying.

She asked her what was wrong, her Mom said that Pumpkin had to go back to the family camp site because he had so much fun there.

Emily asked if she could go with Pumpkin but her Mom said she had to stay.

Emily was upset and ran up to her room and cried, she wanted to be with Pumpkin.

A few days later Emily went with her Mom to the park. She was sad that Pumpkin wasn’t there with her.

Thomas was at the park already and asked Emily why she was sad.

Emily told Thomas what happened to Pumpkin.

Then Thomas said: I miss Pumpkin too, but don’t forget all the fun times we had together.

Emily frowned and nodded; she still missed Pumpkin.

Emily’s Mom was standing near by and heard Thomas; she came up and told Emily that it’s important to cherish the memories you have.

Emily agreed. It was more fun to feel happy than to feel sad.

Emily’s Mom passed the Frisbee to Thomas and Emily played with Thomas until her Mom told her it was time for dinner.

The End.

3. Media Critique

Bravest Warriors Episode 1, Time Slime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpDOscUDQ_0

Bravest Warriors is an animated-short comedy series created by Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time). The plot is loosely based on four teens who save people and fight evil monsters.

I think Time Slime opens a whole new level of cartoon realism relying heavily on verbal spontaneity and creative humor. The characters of Bravest Warriors use a new style of language that might begin to catch on with the next generation. Specifically, the characters use slang like “moop” to mean emotion and they change phrases like, “we have to go,” into “we got’s to book”. Not only is their dialogue different but their delivery is deviant (alliterations galore) of other cartoons. In Time Slime there are a few lulls in conversation that are reflective of natural conversation but not of cartoon conversation. Time Slime is also unique because of its humor. The comedy is a mix of both adult and child humor that draws upon multiple concepts of humor. One example is the reoccurrence of Danny’s middle finger. In improvisation techniques it’s taught that having situations reoccur are funnier than trying to tell jokes. Another example is the use of unexpected situations. During the scene with Prof. Fartsparkles a character yells, “Pour the slime” and there are sirens buzzing and machinery moving to prepare to pour the slime. The audience will then draw humor from the fact that the machinery didn’t actually hold the slime, it held a small person inside with a small bucket of slime with which a small amount was poured.

As a story, Time Slime follows a very sound plot structure. There is an apparent three-act structure in the story just from the setting locations. The end climax is reached because of a previous incident in the story (the glove) that brings the story full circle. Time Slime also does a good job of foreshadowing; later in the Bravest Warriors series it is revealed that Chris has a crush on Beth, they are two of the stories main characters. When the monster starts killing the characters Chris sacrifices himself for Beth, foreshadowing a secondary storyline that deals with Chris’s and Beth’s relationship.

To determine the aesthetics of Time Slime I rigged up some tools to help me visualize eye trace and the rule of thirds. In the pictures I show an example of a cut that utilizes good eye trace technique (titled Eye Trace pt 1 and pt 2) and some scenes that follow the rule of thirds perfectly.

I have more to say but adding another aspect to this blog will put it over 500 words. I have also posted my unabridged critique for anyone who wants to read it. 

4. Personal Essay

I feel that my life in college has accelerated my natural mental development. I find myself realizing the importance of mantras. I am beginning to be more affected by words and their deeper meaning. Most importantly I am forming my own ethical code. What I intend to do with my education in media arts and studies is the same thing I would do with any other major; I would innovate. As of late I’ve been wondering more about my purpose as a person and I’ve realized that to feel satisfied with myself I must stand out. I am not somebody who enjoys being in the pack. The reason I like jazz music is because the performers don’t just play their instrument; they use the instrument as a medium to convey what they feel.

Me and jazz music

I believe that to achieve the level of creativity I want I must innovate a current medium of media we use now. When I first heard The Mercury Theater on the Air perform War of the Worlds I was enthralled. I had never heard of anything like that done over the radio. More recently, I purchased Bioshock Infinite and blazed through the game because I had never played any video game with such a complex storyline.

I think that to best achieve the ability and influence to create such an innovation I want to become a television producer. Using the skills I will develop from such a job, the money I will accrue, and the connections I will have I would begin my own research into developing an innovative media based off of what is already (meaning will be in the future) available to the public.

If I were to compare what I want to historical figures in the past the one I would start with is Frank Conrad and the first regular broadcasting radio station KDKA. Frank Conrad did not invent the radio nor was he the first to being broadcasting. What is special about KDKA is that it was the first with regular, commercial broadcasting. Take Orsen Welles and The Mercury Theater on the Air they neither invented storytelling nor the radio, but they combined the two to create an innovation.

When I am able to begin my own development on an innovation the first place I will look is the video game market. I find that there is a lot of improvement waiting to be had in video games. If more games like the Bioshock series are released the gaps will begin to fill but there are also new mediums of video games being developed and I think that when my future comes the largest technological strides in media will be in the Internet and video games.

Because I want to do both producing and game development, I think that Integrated Media would be the best major fit for my pursuits. However, I am also up for what you may think is a better destination for my future. 

5. Weakness

I chose to critique number 3 and number 7 of David Rendall’s "FREAK FACTOR".

Number 3. Flawless: There’s nothing wrong with you. I find this to be true mostly because of Rendall’s comparison chart between strengths and weaknesses. As I read through the list one by one all of them struck me to be true. I would implement this idea into my own life by taking that flowchart. When I eventually get into positions where I am working with other people more closely I would begin compiling my own personal list of personality traits of my bosses, co-workers, and subordinates. Using the chart, I would also include the corresponding weakness or strength to that person even if I have not seen that trait personified. I believe that this will help me choose what types of people I should work with in my future to best promote myself.

Number 7. Fit: Find the right spot. I wanted to talk about this point in particular because I realized how I was already following this rule without knowing that it was already a rule. I am currently a producer, assistant director, technical director, gaffer, studio lighter, studio engineer, script supervisor, editor, and assistant camera on four different student groups, one of which I founded this year. Next year I will be producing and directing two different AVW shows (one of which I created and pitched this year). The point of that wasn’t just to tell you what I’ve done this year at OU (some of it definitely was) the main point was to explain how I’ve already implemented this rule on myself. I rotate around, doing different jobs, so I can find my niche. In my future I don’t plan on stopping this rotation of work. I want to always be branching out into other opportunities and jobs to see if I will fit them even better.

I’ve found that my “weakness” is social ability. I am organized, dedicated, calm, reflective, self-confident, passionate, and responsible. Looking at Rendall’s chart in suggestion three that means I am also inflexible, stubborn, emotionless, shy, arrogant, impatient, and boring.  I believe that all of these traits are true. Unfortunately, none of Rendall’s additions are sociable traits. What I usually do with my time is work on personal projects and pursue my interests. You can find me in the library during the late hours of the weekend. The way I see my social network is that of a few close friends and just a lot of acquaintances, regrettably, neither of which I spend a decent amount of time with. This greatly hampers my ability to network with peers.

However, I’ve turned my weakness into strength. Knowing that I don’t like to party or spend long amounts of time just talking I have taken up expanding on my knowledge of computer coding, specifically in Apple products. The only reason I’m going to have such lucky opportunities next year are because of the weekends I’ve spend honing my ideas and broadening my knowledge. I have also been able to bridge the networking gap by utilizing my strengths of organization. I founded a video group and brought in everyone I knew so that they would bring in their friends for me to meet them. Hopefully I will continue to be able to overcome my weaknesses with creativity and ingenuity. 

6. Creative Work

This is a project for MDIA 1400 Video Production Basics.

This is a short video parodying a woman on a cooking show making her food. Our editing class got the same footage to use for a project. We all shortly found out that there was not enough footage to create a believable storyline in traditional-cooking-show fashion. My intent for this film was to show my editing skills and use of a wide range of effects and visual movements. It was also just to have fun. 

I created this video with FCPX and recorded my voice with the microphone on a Macbook Pro.

Link:  Action Cooking

Unabridged Media Critique (see number 3)

Bravest Warriors Episode 1, Time Slime: Episode

Try this one if the first one doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpDOscUDQ_0

Bravest Warriors is an animated-short comedy series created by Pendleton Ward in 2012 (he also birthed Adventure Time, 2010). The plot is loosely based on four teens who save people and fight evil monsters.

Pendleton Ward has a unique style of storytelling and it is apparent in all his stories. I think Time Slime opens a whole new level of cartoon realism relying heavily on verbal spontaneity, narrative spontaneity, and creative humor. The characters of Bravest Warriors use a new style of language that might begin to catch on with the next generation. Specifically the characters use slang like “moop” to mean emotion and they change phrases like “we have to go,” into “we got’s to book”. Not only is their dialogue different but their delivery is deviant (alliterations galore) of other cartoons. In Time Slime there are a few lulls in conversation that are reflective of natural conversation but not of cartoon conversation. Another aspect of this storytelling technique is its unexpectedness. With a plot set up like in Time Slime the audience would expect the heros to defeat the monster but in this story not only do the characters die, they also walk away! Pen Ward is also a sucker for inciting a dark backstory to his bright and childlike cartoons (In Adventure Time there was the Mushroom War that wiped all of humanity except Finn). Characters in the story very quickly incite ‘The Great Time Catastrophe’ and ‘the see through zone’. This adds the illusion that the audience is jumping into the action rather than seeing it from the beginning. Finally, Time Slime is unique because of its humor. The comedy is a mix of both adult and child humor that draws upon multiple concepts of humor. One example is the reoccurrence of Danny’s middle finger. In improvisation techniques it’s taught that having situations reoccur are funnier than trying to tell jokes. Another example is the use of unexpected situations. During the scene with Prof. Fartsparkles a character yells, “Pour the slime” and there are sirens buzzing and machinery moving to prepare to pour the slime. Naturally audience draws humor from the fact that the machinery didn’t actually hold the slime, it held a small person inside with a small bucket of slime with which a small amount was poured.

As a story, Time Slime follows a very sound plot structure. There is an apparent three-act structure in the story just from the setting locations, first the main base, then the moon base, then the time room. The end climax is reached because of a previous incident in the story (Pixel’s jealousy) that brings the story full circle. Time Slime also does a good job of foreshadowing; later in the Bravest Warriors series it is revealed that Chris has a crush on Beth, they are two of the stories main characters. When the monster starts killing the characters Chris sacrifices himself for Beth, foreshadowing a secondary storyline that deals with Chris’s and Beth’s relationship.

Now doing some digging I found a quote from Pen Ward about Bravest Warriors it goes like this, “I wanted teens fighting monsters in space with their emotions”. Without that knowledge it is hard to discern that these characters are fighting monsters with their emotions. If you were to review the episode Time Slime again you would realize that there are many different hints to the powers of emotion besides the obvious climax inclusion. In the beginning of the episode Danny explains that he’s taking “moop management classes”. We’ve already determined that moop is a synonym for emotion (Yes it is hard to tell that it means ‘emotion’ from that specific quote. At first it seems like ‘anger’ would be the more appropriate term but later in the episode anger wouldn’t work as a substitute for moop). The director decides to reintroduce this idea later in the episode not only for its humor but also for its importance to the story line. There is also evident emotional tension between Wallow and Gael from past experiences. There is the very sudden sacrifice of Chris’ life for Beth’s, grated a very hard one to catch not having seen anything else (my first reaction was ‘what just happened?’) but it shows the emotional bond between them. Finally there is the climax where the power of love, then hate, determines the characters’ fate. So over all as a pilot episode it does a very good job of inciting one of its main purposes that most people do not realize.

To determine the aesthetics of Time Slime I rigged up some tools to help me visualize eye trace and the rule of thirds. To measure the aesthetics for the Rule of Thirds I used a ruler, measuring tape, thread, tape, and my tv to determine where the four crosshairs are. To measure the eye trace I used a tripod, stabilizers, and my glass dry erase board. For eye trace I sat perfectly still and quickly plotted the eye trace using the glass board as a lens. The rule of thirds was generally followed very well, especially in images I’ve attached to the blog post. I also found that the cartoons action was never held on the outlying areas of the screen, all contained within or near the center of the television. When I paid specific attention to eye trace I noticed a pattern that emerged. Not only were the points of interest rather clustered but also when the point moved, it generally moved to the right. See the pictures way below for more detail!

Thanks for taking the time to read my long unabridged critique of Time Slime!

PS: I want to get into the topic of why Pen Ward’s material is so popular among kids and adults but that’d take a really long time… Basically… it’s because of nostalgia.

This is the end of one cut which leads directly to....

.... this one! The red oval constant over the two shots

Eye trace plots

This displays the right directional motion of the eye trace. At one point the far left dot moves the trace to the orange dot which then cuts to the next orange dot, the eye trace was a combination of movement and editing shots.

Danny and Chris are framed in the top two cross hairs

Great example of rule of thirds. Gael is framed in the top right while the other characters are grouped together in the bottom left corner. In context of the story Gale also has power because she can choose not to accept their help, this framing shot gives Gael power over the characters.

Danny and Chris are lined up along the left and right lines of the screen. Their heads fit in the crosshairs. Danny's circle button fits very nicely over the bottom left crosshair as well.

Eric Williams in Meme Form

So in MDIA 2010 we had to create a meme. 

Eric Williams was the only option. 

Enjoy!

PS: all in good spirits and fun.