Time and Symbolism

When it comes to time and symbolism, there are definitely many examples I can think of to share, but for the purpose of not making my post too long, I will share a couple examples that I immediately thought of for time and symbolism.

Time - Time can sometimes be a tricky subject when it comes to both film and photography. After reading the time chapter in the Breslin text, I could relate to the aspect of the decisive moment - which is "the ability to choose the right moment to freeze" (Breslin 172). The decisive moment is something I have had a bit of a struggle with as a photographer. I have found that the decisive moment can relate to film as well. I remember a recent moment I had while apple picking where my sister wanted me to capture a short clip of her biting into an apple to share on her Instagram. We tried it a few times, and each time the timing was off by just a few seconds. We ended up giving that idea up and doing one of her tossing the apple into the air and catching it. Time also comes up in many films, one that I immediately thought of is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In this movie, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) receives a time turner, which allows her to bend time throughout the movie. This becomes an integral part of the story in this movie, and essentially helps the trio to save lives.

Symbolism - Symbolism is often something I am always on the lookout for in film, music, and art in general. One of the main pieces of symbolism I can think of is in the song Hotel California by The Eagles, and I want to relate this to the show American Horror Story: Hotel as well. In the song, there are a lot of forms of symbolism, but the line I want to focus on is "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" (The Eagles). In the show's fifth season, the plot is centered around a hotel and the lives of the people in that hotel, the song plays in the end of the first episode - as one of the main characters checks back into the hotel after previously checking out. This line is a significant use of symbolism in this episode, because that is the last line of the song that plays as the episode cuts out. Without giving too much of the story away, essentially most of the people who checked into that hotel never checked out - they are free to leave it but can't escape from it. Here is a link to an article that goes a bit more in depth to the connection - https://www.bustle.com/articles/115603-is-ahs-hotel-based-on-hotel-california-the-eagles-song-is-filled-with-clues.

Collaboration - When it comes to collaboration, this is honestly something I have never really been a fan of. However, I can certainly see how it is an integral part to creating a film or show. I decided to look at a list of all the collaborators on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I was honestly really surprised at all the people who have worked on this movie. Here is a list to all the collaborators - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304141/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast and as you can see, the list is quite extensive. When it comes to the necessity of collaborating in media arts, I really only think it is absolutely necessary if you are creating a long film. When you are creating short clips, you could absolutely do it by yourself, but sometimes it is nice to have actors and people helping to edit and film.

Works Cited:
Cuaron, Alfonso, director. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. IMDB, IMDB.com, 2004, www.imdb.com/title/tt0304141/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017. 

Murphy, Ryan, and Brad Falchuk. American Horror Story: Hotel. IMDB, IMDB.com, 2015, www.imdb.com/title/tt1844624/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017. 

Piwowarski, Allison. “Is 'AHS: Hotel' Based on "Hotel California"? The Eagles Song is FIlled with Clues.” Bustle, Bustle.com, 7 Oct. 2015, www.bustle.com/articles/115603-is-ahs-hotel-based-on-hotel-california-the-eagles-song-is-filled-with-clues. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017. 

Roberts-Breslin, Jan. Making Media Foundations of Sound and Image Production. 3rd ed., Waltham, MA, Elsevier, INC, 2012. 

The Eagles. "Hotel California" Hotel California, Asylum, 1976, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTU4YygWVsY

My Various Skill Sets

I have always been creative, so naturally I have a varied set of skills when it comes to the arts. I definitely have my strong points, and my weak points though. However, here is a comprehensive list of all my art related skill sets, with pictures of some of the art I have created to go along with some of the skills.

Dance - I danced from when I was around 5 to when I graduated at 17. Even though I danced for a good majority of my life, I was never really great at it. I'd give myself a 2/5 stars at dance.

Pottery - I took two pottery classes in my senior year of high school, one was beginner and the other was advanced. So basically the amount of experience I have with pottery equals out to be about 10 months. However, I was pretty decent at it. I'd say a 4/5 stars for pottery.

Video Making/Editing - I took digital storytelling last semester, so I have about 3-4 months worth of experience with that. I would say I was average at it, with a 3/5 star rating. For this, I used Movie Maker. 

Digital Manipulation - I took both the intro and advanced digital art and design classes, so I have about 8 months experience with that. I have also experimented a bit on my own with it. I believe I am at about a 3.5/5 stars with digital manipulation. For this, I used the Picmonkey photo editor.

Painting - I have painted on and off throughout my life, and took a painting class in high school. I really enjoy painting, but often find that I don't have the patience for it. I'm also not that great at the drawing aspect of painting. I would give myself a 3/5 for painting. I have used oils, acrylics, and water paints. 

Photography - Lastly, the skill that I am the best at is photography. I have been taking photographs and doing shoots for 6 years now, and have only gotten better at it as time has passed. I would definitely give myself a 5/5 in this area. When I edit my photographs, I use either the Picmonkey photo editor, or the Befunky photo editor. 

When it comes to my final project, I want to use my film making skills in order to create a sort of monologue about how I came to realize my passion for photography. I plan on doing this by doing adding in a combination of photographs and video and doing a voiceover on the project in order to tell the story of the paths I went through while trying to find my niche. 

Project Proposal - Rough Draft

When it comes to what I want to do for this project, I want to focus on doing a filmed monologue about how I came to realize that photography was my passion. This will be done using the linear pattern described in our text. The intended audience is anyone like myself who had the courage to follow their dreams. The planned distribution plans include posting the video to YouTube, and then sharing it on my blog. I haven't decided on a budget yet, but I know that I want to keep it as cheap as possible. 

Truby, J. (2007). The Anatomy of Story. New York , NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

What is Media Arts?

Media arts is basically using resources such as “film, audio recording, or digital imaging” in order to be able to tell a story (Roberts-Breslin 2012). In my opinion, media art also encompasses photography as well, even though it might not seem like photographs tell a story – they certainly do!

In this course, I plan to follow the linear story pattern. This is when “a single character is tracked from beginning to end” (Truby 2007). This type of story appeals the most to me, because I prefer stories that have a set beginning, middle, and end. However, like with many things, there are pros and cons to this pattern. The main pro would be that the story would be easy to follow along with. Another would be that the story would be able to be filmed and edited in chronological order. A con would be that it would be hard to stray from the story (adding on different points to the story) even in the slightest amount, because then the lines between beginning, middle, and end could become skewed.

This pattern could also be used in the blog environment, because when you think about it – each post has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each of us are technically already using this when we write our posts by using the beginning, middle, end thoughts on our blog assignments. I am also implementing this when it comes to my course project. Below is an image of my initial planning process for my course project. This is just the basic setup, and how I plan to use the linear pattern with beginning, middle, and end.

Works Cited:

Roberts-Breslin, J. (2012). Making Media Foundations of Sound and Image Production (3rd ed.). Waltham, MA: Elsevier, INC.

Truby, J. (2007). The Anatomy of Story. New York , NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.