Saturday, November 29, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
NewsWorld
The symbol that is used in this story is their theme park NewWorld. It's something that the boys have grown up with, they love it and they are used to it, they know it, but not it feels as if a part of them is missing without it. Even once they get inside the park they notice how the illusions of their childhood park are just so obviously fake, even things they wants to visit are no longer accessible to them, they are literally blocked from the places that the want to go to.
And element of ht story that i was able to connect with on a personal note was the amusement park. I grew up in New ORleans and for a period of time, before they turned it into a Six Flags, we had a themed park called Jazzland. It was a major part of my childhood, everyone went. But as you know New Orleans had it's own tragedy, going on it's ten year anniversary this August. It was something that we are still not allowed into in this day. Another part of my childhood not accessible to me.
If I was adapting this story I would turn it into a short film. I would used real new footage from when the planes hit the towers to give that impact and remind everyone the gravity of the situation. Then I would have my actors breaking into the amusement park, using either their mobile phone cameras or a night vision handy cam so that it would have the feeling of authenticity and it wouldn't be over glorified with lighting. The simple camera choices would help to show the theme park for what it is, just a facade like how the boys see it, a shattered illusion.
And element of ht story that i was able to connect with on a personal note was the amusement park. I grew up in New ORleans and for a period of time, before they turned it into a Six Flags, we had a themed park called Jazzland. It was a major part of my childhood, everyone went. But as you know New Orleans had it's own tragedy, going on it's ten year anniversary this August. It was something that we are still not allowed into in this day. Another part of my childhood not accessible to me.
If I was adapting this story I would turn it into a short film. I would used real new footage from when the planes hit the towers to give that impact and remind everyone the gravity of the situation. Then I would have my actors breaking into the amusement park, using either their mobile phone cameras or a night vision handy cam so that it would have the feeling of authenticity and it wouldn't be over glorified with lighting. The simple camera choices would help to show the theme park for what it is, just a facade like how the boys see it, a shattered illusion.
Sophia Coppela
After watching three of Director Sophia Coppela's movies I found certain characteristics of her directing style that can be found in all of her movies. One of the most prominent thing in her movies is the music. In Marie Antoinette at first glance the music seems completely out of place in such an ornate period film. But as the movie progresses it becomes more apparent that though the songs appear both out of place and out of time, the lyrics and feeling of the song actually fit perfectly. Music is such a major part of her movies, they always seem to be able to convey what's happening in the film without having to have the characters say anything. These songs where not just picked because it's a popular song or just some ketchy tune. Each song is deliberate and has a meaning, it has a place in the movie, a specific place that would not work else where in the film. Music is a major piece in all of her movies, if you deleted the soundtrack you would have a completely different experience. Another common thing among Sophia Coppela's films are the subject matter, directly comparing The Bling Ring with Marie Antoinette, we see a close up into over the top luxurious life styles and the want to be a part for them. In both of these movies the main characters are not normally seen as the best people. While she let's you make your own judgment on these people she does try to humanize them as she exposes their wrong doing, almost trying to explain to us why the moth is exposed to the flame. She reminds us that we the viewer are also attracted to the same type of lifestyle, that we have the same wants as these people other wise we wouldn't be watching or interested in the subject matter. But she always shoes the danger of it and the price people pay for living like that, whether is be loosing a head or spending the rest of your days in prison. Color is another aspect of Sophia Coppela's movies that really stand out. The clothes pop and catch your eye in a way that demands your attention, you have no choice in the matter you have to look at me, is what they seem to say. Jewelry in her movies seem to have their own lighting crew with they shine and sparkle reminding you just how good these people have things, at least for now. The colors used in her movies are carefully planned out and seem to give things more depth and helps to set the mood for certain scenes. More often then not they are used to emphasize someone's beauty and how important they are to a scene. All of these things combined; color, subject matter and music, are all things that can be indetified as directing traits of Sophia Coppela and are what give her movies that unqiue and distinct feeling and taste.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Sleep Donation
When I was reading the story of Sleep Donation, certain things scared me. Besides the possibility of an incurable insomnia what really frightened me was how close things that were happening in the book were so relevant and relatable to what was happening now. Thinking about this book in context to current events it what truly made this book frightening.
Currently we have a medical crisis starting to arise, Ebola, and in this work of fiction the mass populations reaction was almost exactly what we've been seeing here in nonfiction. We have some people on the verge of mass hysteria, for no apparent reason, people are scared and terrified even that out of no where they have contracted this terrible virus. In Sleep Donation there was the nightmare scare of Donor Y, it became an epidemic causing mass panic to where people, who would die if they didn't sleep, would no longer accept donated sleep. All of the volunteers stopped because they were afraid of getting infected as well, and possible people who were at one point willing to donate where no longer even entertaining the notion because they claimed they had nightmares as well. All of this is almost exactly what's happening now in reaction to the current problem we are faced with. People, who are no where near or could not have been exposed to, believe they are infected because they feel under the weather. They create mass panic because it is contagious, though no one bothers to look up in what way it is contagious.
Another feature of the story that matched with what is happening in the real world today is the media. The only thing I could think about while reading how the media in the story was reacting in a time of crisis what that that is exactly what is happening now with the virus. The media does not report fact but fiction, they do not have peace of mind in mind when they blow whatever has happened completely out of proportion. The reactions that is causes is almost as catastrophic as whatever is actually plaguing us. They cause so much damage that the people who are actually trying to do good and solve the problem no longer can because of all the misinformation people have received. The media in the book and here keep giving out wrong information, which either scares people or makes them angry at government officials that have no power over these situations. Putting this story in context with what is happening currently makes this story a bit to close to home and makes it a lot more frightening than I think was originally intended.
Currently we have a medical crisis starting to arise, Ebola, and in this work of fiction the mass populations reaction was almost exactly what we've been seeing here in nonfiction. We have some people on the verge of mass hysteria, for no apparent reason, people are scared and terrified even that out of no where they have contracted this terrible virus. In Sleep Donation there was the nightmare scare of Donor Y, it became an epidemic causing mass panic to where people, who would die if they didn't sleep, would no longer accept donated sleep. All of the volunteers stopped because they were afraid of getting infected as well, and possible people who were at one point willing to donate where no longer even entertaining the notion because they claimed they had nightmares as well. All of this is almost exactly what's happening now in reaction to the current problem we are faced with. People, who are no where near or could not have been exposed to, believe they are infected because they feel under the weather. They create mass panic because it is contagious, though no one bothers to look up in what way it is contagious.
Another feature of the story that matched with what is happening in the real world today is the media. The only thing I could think about while reading how the media in the story was reacting in a time of crisis what that that is exactly what is happening now with the virus. The media does not report fact but fiction, they do not have peace of mind in mind when they blow whatever has happened completely out of proportion. The reactions that is causes is almost as catastrophic as whatever is actually plaguing us. They cause so much damage that the people who are actually trying to do good and solve the problem no longer can because of all the misinformation people have received. The media in the book and here keep giving out wrong information, which either scares people or makes them angry at government officials that have no power over these situations. Putting this story in context with what is happening currently makes this story a bit to close to home and makes it a lot more frightening than I think was originally intended.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Book of the dead
Surprisingly enough I did relate to the book of the dead, somewhat. Possibly one of the most relatable things in the story was they way she had built up her father in her mind, then finding out that he was not the man she had always thought he was. I believe it happened the same way for me as it did for the narrator in this story, as you get older the more you start to realize, or the more things are revealed to you, that the way we have always seen someone was through almost rose colored glasses. The more that comes to light the more we have to deal with the fact that our reality was never really accurate for begin with, making us reevaluate certain times in our lives.
Another relation was the artistic aspect of it, how she was trying to get her art to sell, and how the cracks were not planned but happened, for the vast majority of students at an art school accidents are literally just waiting to happen, more often then not they happen in our artwork. Most of the time they are not 'happy accident's' as Bob Ross would have us believe, but they are terrible horrible out of our control 'photo shop crashed the day before my final and I need to start all over again' catasphories. THough sometimes there are rare cases were things go wrong, but like in the book makes our artwork look better than expected and still somehow manages to go with what we were originally intending to do with the piece.
Another relatable thing in the story was how that one story about her father kept coming back to her, she obsessed over it really, almost seemed to drive her crazy. Lot's of times we were told stories as kids that we don't fully understand but we still wonder about, that we think about. And then somehow after years, without anyone bringing it up you think about it again and now you have more knowledge so things make a little bit more sense, things in the story reveal itself. But you still wander about what actually happened but the person isn't there to ask anymore so you just have to accept it even though you mid comes up with a hundered different theories about what could have happened and you will never have true peace because you will never actually know what happened.
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