A brief description of Marvel’s latest company-wide event
Reaction: Skin Sculptures Tuesday, Mar 24 2009
Uncategorized 12:47 pm
For my reaction I chose Pig Skin Portraits . The article deals with the sculpted portraits of Heide Hatry. The sculptures are unique in that they are covered in untreated pig skin for the flesh and use fresh meat for the lips as well as pig eyes. This is meant by Hatry to “appear as if it were looking at the viewer with a vital expression which the photographer had just captured at that moment.”
This article is a reflection of what I intend to do with my second module in that I will ask different creators of the 72-Hour film festival what they intended when they showed their film.
Report: Dylan Lee and Chad Schreiner Tuesday, Mar 24 2009
Uncategorized 12:38 pm
This week I spoke with Dylan Lee and Chad Schreiner about the films they entered in the 72 hour film project. My questions basically dealt with what they intended to do when they made their films and what they felt about the ones that one. Lee’s intent was to stand out by using his knowledge of stop-motion animation for “My Apartment.” The synopsis dealt with a man coming into conflict with an action figure who he shares his apartment with. The film went over well and won Best in Show. One film that Lee praised for being funny and though provoking was “My Best Friend,” which dealt with the emotional support that a young man gains from the memory of his deceased friend. Lee explained that he felt that the films that won did so because they were funny.
Schreiner directed the film “Saturday Afternoon,” which a number of people in the audience had trouble understanding. Schreiner explained that the film was meant to illustrate how conflicts can work out by showing three stories that all take place on a Saturday afternoon.
Reaction: Washinton Post Tuesday, Mar 24 2009
Uncategorized 12:25 pm
Reaction
For my reaction post I looked at The Washington Post.com day in photos. I like the setup they have for this section because it is very well organized. Each photo collection is organized by a theme and viewers can go from the main page to differently themed albums that are organized like a book you can flip through by selecting either left or right. This is what an internet based story is supposed to be like: separated into bite sized little pieces so that they can be. It is also nice that you get sidebars on the pictures with little captions that help the viewer understand what they are looking at better. This sidebar also contains links to different stories that are related to the pictures. For example, the picture related to the German student who shot up his school and then died in the ensuing police shootout.. This picture lists a link to the article that further explains what happened. This reminds me of the articles found on IGN.com, and how they are similarly separated into segments.
Research Saturday, Mar 7 2009
Research 8:05 pm
I saw this review of Watchmen and feel it exemplifies my project topic of everyone having a different view on art because it takes the time to look at the movie from a psychological standpoint. The article talks about the motivations of the characters Ozymendias and Rorschach and believes them to be polar opposite characters, and yet their motivations make them similar:
“The weirdly arch-conservative Rorschach patrols New York City’s mean streets like a deranged guardian angel, while Veidt’s abstruse liberalism makes him feel superior to those he would supposedly save. Rorschach believes in killing the guilty to save the innocent; Veidt believes it is acceptable to kill innocents to save others from the guilty.”
This is just one view of what the movie is really about but it shows just how a work of art can be interpreted.
Report: Phil Seng and the 72-hour film festival Saturday, Mar 7 2009
Report 7:44 pm
This week I contacted Philip Seng about the book he co-edited, The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West about his feelings regarding the popular interpretation of art. He responded, saying:
“People view art, or anything, based on their own desires, interests, training and habits that condition how they perceive things. People’s perceptions of art become philosophical when their perceptions raise questions about the nature of art–What is it? How does it work? Why do I enjoy it?”
This information is good because it gives me an expert opinion to back up the basic premise of my story. I also scheduled to speak with some of the winners of the 72-hour film project in order to ask them what they intended for their films and the end result.
Reaction: NPR Thursday, Mar 5 2009
Uncategorized 7:26 pm
For this reaction I listened to NPR sound clips, sound clips that are submitted by listeners along with a story about what the sound clip is. This is a double edged sword: on one side, you have the ability to find really interesting stories such as the Primate sancuary story, which engages the listener with an interesting story and sounds that are out of the ordinary.
On the other, you have the English organ story which is very boring by comparison. The story isn’t all that intriguing, basically the man is giving a lecture on how an organ works and where this particular organ was made. The sound clip is of someone playing a simple song on the organ, something that can be easily found on the internet and does not engage the reader very much.
It is good for a website to take submissions from its users and putting them online because it builds a community, something that holds every newsgroup together. While the organ story might not be the best example of user submitted content, it is still an example of NPR reaching out to its listeners and allowing them a try at decision making.
Reporting: Different Sources Saturday, Feb 28 2009
Report 6:00 pm
I spoke with Benjamin Steinberg again about talking to the contestants of the 72-hour film project and he told me they were not comfortable speaking with me during the contest. I am going to speak with them next week at the presentation.
I also spoke with Diane Luchese about her views on art and how it effects people. This is going to appear in my first module.
Research: Wizard of OZ Friday, Feb 27 2009
Research 4:09 pm
I liked this article because it presented me with an interesting subject to base my story on. The way a person interprets a story is a reflection of who they are. By looking at this, I have a good idea of what to ask my sources: how they feel that the art forms they take part in have impacted them.
I like how this article gives an overview of the book by giving examples from different essays, such as “Dude, When did Pink Floyd Write a Soundtrack to the Wizard of OZ,” which examines how many people believe that Dark Side Of The Moon matches the story of the Wizard of Oz and that parts of the movie actually keep time with the song. The article proposes that this belief of similarities between the two is due to people only looking at it from their own perspective.
Likewise, other articles observe that other people view the film as a story about feminism or slavery. From this, I believe I can talk to other people about other works of art and learn something about them from this.
Reaction: BASIC Principles of Journalism Monday, Feb 23 2009
Reaction 9:27 pm
The articles examined this week didn’t reveal anything new really. The first one, B is for Brevity talks about the importance of keeping things short in online stories. This is necessary because of the sheer speed that people go through web pages. An average web site has only fractions of a second to grab the reader’s attention, and even then they can only hold it for so long. Because of this, online stories need to be shorter than other forms of media.
The second article, A is for Adaptability, is also a familiar topic. One of the most revolutionary aspects of the Internet is that it is able to present information in the form of text, video, or audio. Online journalists must be able to tell a story to the best of their abilities and sometimes this means using the internet in creative ways such as a slide show to give the audience a more personal view of the situation than a written article could.
S is for Scannability goes along with Brevity: People want their news capitulated for easier digestion. I know plenty of sites, particularly IGN.com, which use this format and work very well with it. It goes through the information in a well organized, labeled fashion so people know what they are getting into.
The third article, I is for Interactivity, is one of the most respected aspects of the internet. The Internet was first created so that professors could communicate and transfer information over large distances quickly. The aspect of communication has remained even to today. People want to communicate with their feelings to the author, so there is always some sort of contact information for the author.
Community and Conversation are some of the Internet’s most important aspects. Most people use the Internet for some form of interaction with other people, so many sites that aren’t necessarily focused on social networking have message boards to allow people to discuss their topics.
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