The Museum of the Moving Image

The Museum of the Moving Image was extremely interesting and entertaining for me. I went with my two friends, and we were genuinely (pleasantly) surprised by the variety of different exhibits and sections of the museum. For some reason I thought it would be just about movies, and artifacts from movies, and while that isn't all it was at all, I ended up really loving the Jim Henson exhibit the most. I didn't even know who Jim Henson was before entering the museum, but my friends filled my in and I became really interested. It didn't only show his most popular and known work (Sesame Street, etc.) but also many other interesting artifacts, such as advertisements he made a long time ago in the 60's, early sketches and paintings and drawings. I love seeing the work of one artist over a span of time - how their works progress and change, especially from early on to later in life - it's very interesting to me to see that change and the growth of the artist. I also think its really interesting to see pieces of an artist's life that weren't really meant to be shown, or works that were in the 'process' but never finished - such as notes and storyboards and random doodling. My friends really liked the sound room, as did I, though we couldn't stay too long I would definitely go back for a more in depth experience. I enjoyed the time I spent there a lot.

Review

I really enjoyed this class - it's probably one of my favorite classes I've taken at Hunter! Some of the reasons I liked it were first of all, the teachers. I also particularly liked working in groups. Usually when a teacher says that the class will have to work in groups I get nervous or uncomfortable and shy, but since this media class (and being in the media field, in general) is all about teamwork, it felt very natural and comfortable and effortless, collaborating and working with other people who had the same ideas, or even conflicting ideas. It was fun because we were able to get our thoughts and creative ideas across to one another and work cooperatively and create something really cool, also while enjoying our time doing it. I haven't really been able to do that in any other classes so I loved that aspect of the class. I also like how we got to pick our own partners because it was almost at random, and it made the relationships with the people in your group more personal because you found each other rather then being 'assigned' a person.

I also really liked what we learned. I never knew how to do anything in Photoshop before - all my friends are really knowledgeable with it and I've always been kind of jealous because I wanted to edit pictures and stuff with the program, and I actually learned a lot about doing that. I definitely got a lot of the basics down, and know just enough to figure out the other stuff for myself. Even though the potato head assignment seemed kind of silly I actually think that was one of the most helpful assignments we had, the same goes for the stamp assignment.

Overall, I had a great time with this class, the only thing I wish was different was that we could meet more then once a week. Either way, I learned a lot and enjoyed my time.

Movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9opKuVjyNE&feature=youtu.be&fb_source=message

I wasn't sure how to upload the video into the blogging format, so I just put up the direct link. Anyway, for our video (Ray and Alden) we decided to do something that was suspenseful. We came up with the idea of a stalker, and weren't sure if we should make it have a serious tone or a humorous one. In the end, we had a little bit of both. We used a lot of quick, choppy shots for the chasing scenes. The beginning scenes are a little longer because there's less suspense there. One of my favorite scenes in our video is the scene where Alden notices me and starts walking quickly out of the library, but the camera is from her point of view. The camera is kind of shaky and she turns back twice, both times you see me following, and the third time she looks back I'm not there. The ending scene is the humorous part, and I like how we didn't take ourselves too seriously because that's what makes it entertaining, in my opinion. Also, the choice of music picked definitely added a lot the the movie. While editing it, the footage without the music wasn't very effective, but once added in, it really picked up the pace of the movie and made it a lot more exciting to watch, and finally gave the perfect overall 'feel' we wanted initially.

"Enlightened"

This ad is an ad for a show called "Enlightened" on HBO, though you can probably get that from reading it. I remember first seeing this ad in the subway and immediately being intrigued by what this ad was about. I knew it was probably some sort of show or movie because of the quality of the image - it kind of has that sharp documentary-like quality to it, one I recognize a lot in HBO television shows. Anyway, I went home and ended up watching the pilot episode and loving it. The show hasn't completed its first season yet, there have been 6 aired episodes, but I think the viewer has gotten a pretty good idea of what this show is about. And I also think this promotional ad gives a lot of insight into what it's about, as well.

First off, the image is a closeup of a woman's face. Clearly she is either sad, or angry, or emotionally distressed, probably all of those things. Her makeup is running, her eyebrows are furrowed and the way her mouth looks gives her even more of a sense of anger (she makes this face all the time in the show). Now the funny part is the contrast between the tagline and the title of the show compared to the image shown. The italicized "Meet the new face of tranquility" completely contradicts the face of Amy, anything but tranquil, in fact, quite the opposite. The italicized tagline definitely gives a calming feel, an airy like quality that is meant to be the opposite of what is shown in the image. Then the title of the show, "Enlightened" has a casual and fading green font that gives off a sense of tranquility, serenity, a calming feel, which basically mirrors the meaning and actual feel of the definition of  'enlightened'. The colors used in the ad aren't necessarily pretty, and they don't really 'pop' either, they're more subdued and gloomy, very gritty. The green brick wall behind Amy almost seems like that of a bathroom, a jail room or an office building, somewhere constrained, somewhere that makes you feel trapped.

The show itself definitely resonates with this ad, because the first episode shows Amy at one of the worst points in her life. She has a breakdown at work, screams and threatens her boss and ups going to a retreat in Hawaii for her anger issues. The whole show is about Amy coming from from treatment, 'completely changed', with a different view on the world, only to realize she's been demoted at her old job, her husband is still doing drugs, her 'friends' don't like her and she's constantly getting in fights and arguments with her mom. Every episode shows some sort of struggle to 'enlightenment', but it isn't pretty and it isn't easy or clean cut, and I think this ad shows that perfectly. 

Photo Assignment

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

For this photo assignment, me and my partner initially wanted to pick a topic that was a little more interesting. We planned on taking pictures of 'interesting' looking people, because we felt that represented how strange the city could be, even on  a college campus. However, we quickly changed our idea once we started noticing how much construction we saw going around our school, and how easily overlooked it was. Construction happens all over the city, people pass by it every day without even noticing, and the city is constantly in a process of change and transformation right before our eyes. This was happening at our school, on almost every side of every building, so we decided to document this with our pictures. My favorite picture we took was #5 because of the way the colors came out so vibrantly, and all the parallel lines, of the ladder, of the dumpster, of the sign, and the street, the poles and the stone wall, make the picture more interesting to me.

Stamp

For the stamp project, I contemplated making a stamp with an important political issue but decided to just do something a bit more carefree and fun. Since I really like country music, I decided to make a stamp with four prominent country stars from around the 50's and 60's. In the top left corner is Johnny Cash, in the top right corner, Dolly Parton, in the bottom right is Loretta Lynn and the bottom left is Hank Williams. I chose black and white pictures of all four singers to give it more of an old-time, vintage feel. I was originally going to do something a little more simple, like a single picture of a banjo or guitar, but I decided that wasn't enough. 

Artist's Statement

I have many interests when when it comes to media studies. My interests are quite varied, from the different types of art forms to the different genres of these art forms. I haven't done much creatively with media, but I do find a lot of inspiration and entertainment from television shows. One in particular, starring the actress Lisa Kudrow. "The Comeback'' is a very specific type of mock-reality show that films the every move of a washed up and deluded actress named Valerie Cherish (played by Kudrow). The reason I find interest in this kind of television show isn't because of the plot line or far-fetched cliff hangers, but because of the way it simply intertwines so many different genres and the way the main character develops and grows throughout the course of the show. This character development is the main focus of the entire series. I'm very interested in characters who are in some way 'deluded' or completely oblivious to the way they come across to other people.

This sort of comedy is the kind I find most humorous, and most interesting. I'm also interested in the way different characters interact - how a personality type can rub someone else the wrong way and completely change the mood of a particular scene. I also admire how ''The Comeback" was capable of making the viewer feel so many conflicting emotions. One moment the viewer hates Valerie Cherish, then the next moment they're feeling sorry, and the next they're laughing at her and so on. The reason I find ''The Comeback'' and other television shows like it so interesting is because this is how real life is - it isn't always funny the way so many sitcoms on television depict it, and it isn't always dramatic and serious either the way dramas make it out to be. Life is a huge mix of things - such as contradictions and emotions. It's sometimes awkward, cringe worthy, depressing or funny.