Thank you, Professor Leeper and everyone else.

I want to take this my last blog to express how much I appreciated this class. I was pretty skeptical in the beginning of semester what is going to happen and what I am going to learn in this class. But now I feel very fulfilled and grateful. It`s like trying out delicious exotic foreign food. It looks alright but when you actually try it, you like it a lot and it`s even gluten free organic food!

Professor Leeper has profound insights gained from his experience about life. It is very easy for DMA majors to neglect the idea, philosophy behind art and get caught up in techniques and how cool they look. Professor Leeper teaches the ideas behind art.

One thing I was sad about this class is that not many people participated in conversations and discussions. Sometimes, I felt like I was the only one who was talking. More engagement from more people would`ve made this class more fruitful. (But I`m glad it was pretty small sized class)

The other thing I wish I should`ve done is reading. I skipped the readings many times, sometimes, I didn`t get much out of Professor leeper`s talking.

Lastly, I wish I could`ve known Professor Leeper in more personal level. But everything take some time. Right?

Well, sadly, this is probably my first and last semester here at Huntington and I am proud to say that this was the best class I took here.

Thanks very much professor Leeper and everyone in class for letting me speak up and feel belonged.

Good Bye.

J.
5.10.2016

Animation transcends the language.

Last post at the end, I talked about how voice over in Korean ruined my experience. Well... maybe that`s either translator did bad job or different nuance problem. 

Despite the fact that translation does not 100% deliver its original language, I believe that animation transcends the language. 

Here are my points.

In films (not animations), actors and actresses are real even though they are acting, They really exist and people know they are alive. But when it comes to animation, people perceive the characters and settings in movie differently. The things in Animations are not real!! And people know it! This allow the animators to create beautiful "metaphors".

For instance, in the little Prince, I liked how little girl`s neighborhood was all square and extremely organized , looks like a machine compare to the old man`s house. I guess this could be done in non-animated movies too but still they are not as effective as animations since people know it`s not real.

Animators create their message and forms. They can do whatever they can do since every bit of scene is under their control. 

For my presentation, I talked about how the form itself has a voice and create new message. Forms matter but in non-animated films, there are limitations to control or change the form since everything is already "set up" While in animations, there`s no limitation.

I know in order to create a "form", it takes very much effort and time. I respect my animation major friends and their immense hard work.


My second point is that in animation, voice over in many languages is possible, you can show one animations in 300 different languages since the characters mouth aren`t really perfectly matching their lines anyways. 

Ok. I was wrong (part 2)

Anyways, I loved the scene when the girl asked the old man how he knows the little prince is up there. And the old man answers that he just knows. And the girl ask many questions of what if he died? what if he is gone?

I can relate this to the existence of God. The old man is faithful enough he knows that the little prince is there.


“The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists.” 
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” 
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I loved how the business men ruin the world but one little girl saves it. She must`ve felt bern.

I am more and more convinced that children are the most innocent and bright and creative creatures.

I am glad I share this view with C.S. Lewis, Saint-Exupéry, and Professor Leeper.

Overall, this movie is definitely worth watching several times and I appreciate Professor Leeper`s faith for this movie.



P. S. I think the biggest reason I did not like this movie first time is because it was Korean voice over. (I know it sounds like an excuse ;))

Ok. I was wrong. (Part 1)

In the beginning of this year, I watched this movie with my mother in a theater. And I did not like it because I thought the story line was so expected and it wasn`t much different than other Animation movies I have watched before. My mother was not interested in movie (I don`t think she likes Animation at all), she fell asleep.

However, watching this movie again today changed my perspective and view of this movie.
I could find some connections(connotations ans symbols) in some parts throughout the movie (Stars in the bowl, flower) that I did not notice last time.

I really liked that we watched this movie on the last day of our Intro to DMA class because this movie kinda sums up what we talked about throughout this semester. (Children`s movie, animation, theology, the beauty of art)
Also, I find this book incredibly philosophical.

“What makes the desert beautiful,' said the little prince, 'is that somewhere it hides a well...” 
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince


I don`t understand this quote fully but what makes it great is that it is beautiful enough for me to keep wondering. Haha just like the quote!

God is Not Dead 2

So a little while ago I went to go see this movie. My non film friends loved it. Me not so much.  Within the movie there were some characters that I have seen before in other movies. I feel it had a pretty god story line. Where I saw it going wrong was how much it tried to promote things that did not pertain to the movie. For example to relate to another movie would be the beginning of Daddy's Home when the dad is advertising his Ford tissue box sort of car. I feel the movie had potential but did not go through with it. I did some research and figure out this movie grossed more that Woodlawn. I have not seen Woodlawn but to me it sound better than this movie.
   

West Bank Story and Passing hearts

I think Thursdays video was super funny. The first video about the heart transplant was super sad and heartwarming. It really made you think twice about being grateful for what you have. At first you wonder what he is looking at in the mirror and then you see him off on the sidelines in soccer, so they  keep you wondering what is wrong with him and then BAM you figure out, oh he had a heart transplant. It is really sweet when he goes to visit the parents of the kid who donated his heart. If you easily cry this could have been something you cry over.
 
I thought West Bank Story was a really good note to end on it had a controversial topic but made it into a funny story. It was like a mini musical which was nice and it made you giggle a little.

The Immersive audio Example

I apologize for how long it took me to post this as i have a pretty busy day. I have spent the petter part of the last hour trying to find the website I was telling you about in class but unfortunately it seems to be missing from my mind. In my quest to find it though I did find some interesting things and some interesting programs that relate to audio. First here is a microsoft application that I had a good bit of fun messing around with. I want to talk a little bit about audio and give some extra examples and hopefully start a discussion about music in this post. I have another website I found but i do not know wether it actually works or not because i don't have headphones so hopefully it does. Here is the link to that one. Now I have been listening to a lot of music lately and I imagine you all do to. I feel like most mainstream music is not very good. I may get assaulted for this but I don't even like Beyonce. Mainstream music isn't very good for the same reasons that Trump is not very good. The message is usually nonsensical or superficial, the melody usually conforms to what has been proven "popular" to boost sales, and finally it is so overplayed that every single time I hear it I want to rip my ears of. I want to hear what you think makes music good and if you have any examples post them. 

Google Tilt Brush

This new app developed by Google now allows your art to be manifested into the 3D world. That's right, you can now draw things around you and all over the place. It's somewhat similar to that 3D pen that was invented a little while back but this is different. You use an HTC Vive and purchase the Tilt Brush app via Steam. Then you can let your imagination go wild and whatever you think of can now come to life.

What are apps like these going to do for the world of media, of animation, of artists? How is this new technology going to be implemented? And to where? I think this is exciting new technology which could potentially change the way art is created and viewed. I wish I could try this, but unfortunately, an HTC Vive is required and this new app was just released very recently. So the possibilities are still being explored. But regardless, this opens doors to many different forms and styles of art and media, and I can't wait to see what this has in store for the future.

Topics we didn’t cover: Radio

Since I had wrote a mid-term paper, I didn’t need to do a final project, but I did think it would be fun to talk about news and radio—my two passions. Radio is another form of art that falls under the umbrella of DMA but can be overlooked (pun intended). I find this one of my favorite forms of art because it all takes place in your mind’s eye. It is so engaging because it completely captures your mind in a world that you have built. Recently my team member, Jazlyn Rust, and I made a radio drama that I got the inspiration for in this class. We found it a wonderful challenge to convince our audience to believe there was a character that was not a human without telling that he wasn’t human. It was fun to come up with the script when we knew that the audience will never see what is in our heads unless we describe it to them with voices, music and sound effects. I find this method of communicating so personal because you are only using one form of your senses—hearing. With the stage of your performance in the minds of the audience, this gives the perception of a one-on-one interaction.

Topics we didn’t cover: News

Since I had wrote a mid-term paper, I didn’t need to do a final project, but I did think it would be fun to talk about news and radio—my two passions. I know we went over documentaries, and those are similar to news, but I think news has a few different aspects. The first of which is the time, for a long story you only have about 4-5 minutes of airtime max. This presents its own trials, what to keep and what to not show your audience. I ran into this problem yesterday when I was producing a package about the Cruz rally but only had 2.5 minutes to explain everything that had happen. The next challenge is the timeliness of the piece. Since FDN only covers the news once a week, everything we talk about needs to be accurate for the moment we go on air. This week of FDN was a challenge to present all the rallies FDN filmed but told it in a way that explained the final outcome. The final challenge that I find the most difficult is portraying everything in the right light. The last thing you want to do as a reporter is to report falsely, even if it is just displaying something in a false light. This is where news media tends to get a bad rap. Putting all of those factors together (and many other challenges) news becomes a race to the truthful finish with many challenges crazy deadlines and only a few minutes to show for it. It is wonderful.  

George Lucas in Love

The true story of how Star wars came to be. I loved this film for the humor, and for the cleverness of it. When you look at satirical films like this they are often funny if you're in the right mood but are usually very very bad. I thought it was very clever in it incorporation of many of the star wars characters in Lucas' daily life to serve as inspiration for him while he wrote. I wanted to find something wrong with it so bad but i just couldn't manage to. I wanted to watch it again before writing this so i tried to find it online and i found a copy that one of the original editors for the short uploaded to Vimeo. I got lucky because the quality is actually very good because of this. When looking at the idea that this is how Star Wars came about it makes the series much funnier. i know this short film is not an accurate representation of how George Lucas came up with the Star Wars stories but if it were then just thinking about the idea that each character in the universe is based off of a real life person makes it all much funnier for some odd reason. Although i would never want to meet the inspiration for Jar-Jar Binks... Anyway i just thought this was a clever little piece of work that i thought i would share my thoughts on. I'll add a link to the video so you can watch it again if you want to.

Messiahs: Jesus vs. Hollywood Heroes

Let’s face it. Jesus Christ was not what any person would first choose as a Messiah. Instead of being the type of savior who took down the people we deem the “bad guys” and gave them what they deserve, he chose to endure suffering and a humiliating death on the cross. When we look for a Messiah, we want someone like a Hollywood hero who will defeat the people that are ‘oppressing’ us. Even the Jews back in Jesus’s day wanted a savior who would conquer the Roman Empire and not someone who would save them from their sins, causing many of them to completely overlook Jesus.

The demand for this “conquering” type of Messiah is very evident in media today. There are plenty of heroes in films and tv who save the world only because they were strong enough to overcome the enemy and not because they were willing to suffer or even die to save people. The first character I think about as an example of this is the current version of Superman on film (the one in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman). Unlike most of his previous incarnations, this current version of Superman is viewed as a savior to the human race only because he’s able to punch the enemies really hard, not because he has good morals or an upright character. It's ironic because Man of Steel uses lot of Jesus imagery, implying Superman is a savior like Jesus, but he's the exact opposite kind of savior and acts almost nothing like Jesus.

Anyways, moving on… while Jesus was not the Messiah people wanted, he was definitely the Messiah people needed. People are too short-sighted to realize that where their hearts are spiritually is more important than living comfortably right now. Thankfully, Jesus knew a lot better than us and, instead of going to beat up the “bad guys,” he chose to do the hard thing that would make a lasting difference in the world. He chose to die for us. And I think that is what makes him stand out and be a much better Messiah than any other.

Malick's a confusing filmmaker, and that's okay.

I'm sure everyone's had a run-in with a Malick film before, and he has a very distinct way of making films. I'm personally following a theory that Malick is looking to make one film in every genre before he retires, and that can be pretty weird considering how some filmmakers work for years just to become proficient in their one genre of preference. And then you get to the film The Tree of Life and you're left sitting there thinking "what in the world is happening?"

I never really liked Malick until later on in my college career when I learned to appreciate what he does, and you can see him channeling his style full-force in this film. His other films like The Thin Red Line and The Badlands are more narratively driven in a prominent way than the film we previewed, but his way to let the camera drift and display incredibly beautiful landscapes, even in a film about something as gritty like the war in Vietnam. Hopefully, his next films will continue to impress as he has 2 more projects potentially on the way this year.

Film Review: Poltergeist (2015)

So I enjoy an occasional scary movie so last night my husband and I went to Family Video to rent one. James had heard a lot about Poltergeist (2015) and how good it was supposed to be, so we rented it. I hadn’t seen the ‘82 version so I had no idea what it was about. From the cover I thought it was about clowns, which would have probably been a better movie. Anyway, this film was a major let down. There wasn’t much character building before the hauntings happened, thus I really didn’t feel connected with the family. So when bad things started happening to the family it was hard feel emotions for them. As the film continued there wasn’t much build up in the hauntings. There was a few instances where strange things were happening, but it just kind of jumped into the scariest part without any suspense. Before the movie had really began, the youngest daughter was taken into the world of the poltergeist. The family suddenly knew where to turn to get help, and conveniently the lady that helps them was formally married to a tv star that deals with hauntings all the time. From there on there was just a giant portal that leaded into this other world, where the graphics were pretty bad. After they retrieve the girl form this other world, the tv star sacrifices himself to lead the poltergeist into the light. I think they wanted the audience to be sad that he might have died, but back to my first point, they didn’t do enough character building to make you feel any emotions for any of the characters. So if you are wanting an actual scary movie with an engaging storyline, this is NOT your film.

The Tree of Life

I have to say that the scene we watched from this film was incredible. With context from the actual movie it has a very profound impact on a person. Now I have not seen the entire thing, just clips here and there but i want to give a bit of context to this scene. It comes after a woman loses her son and she asks God for help. I feel the scene is a visual explanation that god makes all thing in the universe. People often think they are the most important things in it but this puts into perspective how small we really are. I feel that we as a people have a need that is unfulfilled and it is one that many people will never fulfill. Humanity needs to understand that we are not the important things in the universe but just a part of the importance of the universe. The beginning the middle and the end are unknown to us and we don't know where we fall on the spectrum so it is important to embrace the beauty of it and accept what we are. Striving for greatness is a task that is admirable, but in the end who is to say it matters at all. To strive for honor is to worry what people think, to strive for money is to worry about things, and the strive for power is to strive for memory. None of these matter in a universe that decays and in a world where we all cease to exist. So I think that success in life is to be content and accepting of the unknown. All dictators fall and all life is but a spec on the timeline of space. Experiencing our own lives and sharing them with family and friends is what matters, because in the end of it all who is to say anything else does.

West Bank Story

This short film that is meant to outline the problems that Israel and Palestine have been facing for a ver long time now. The film certainly has an interesting take on the conflict but it manages to highlight many of the problems in a seriously satirical style. West Bank story outlines a romeo and Juliet esque family feud between the kosher king and the hummus hut. Actually, as i am typing this I am sitting here enjoying some hummus. Anyway back to the point, the film does a good job highlighting the how ridiculous the battle between the two nations are. i did feel a bit uncomfortable watching it at first because of how racist it is but that is a part of the film and it was meant to express what it did. This film would upset sjw's but anyone who looks at it with an open mind can understand the intent the makers had. The makers meant to not offend the two groups, but to hopefully shed light on the conflict and open some minds to the absurdity of it in hope for an eventual peaceful resolution. The film certainly ignited the minds of some, but unfortunately we still see conflict today, more than 10 years after the release of the film. It is my hope that eventually with media like this and other forms of influence we can change the opinion of the worlds people and create a better future for peoples affected everyday by unnecessary conflict.

Video games

So as a child I liked to play Nancy Drew PC games. In my opinion I really enjoyed these games because it was all a big puzzle that you had to figure out and in the end you were surprised as to who the criminal figure was the whole time. The whole games is going around to other people and asking questions, finding stuff to get things opened. You also get to break into places so I think that's pretty exciting.
   Being honest all the games were a trial and error sort of thing, you can't just kill zombies the whole game like other games. I really liked how much of a challenge the whole game is, it challenges kids to think and they all take place in different places. One takes place in Venice others take place in Kapu cave, abandoned carousals, and many more. It's cool to see how games have evolved, you can get Nancy Drew on your Wii now which I find interesting.
 

Media and Politics

    This weekend, I went to Bill Clinton and Donald Trump`s rally, so I want to talk about them.

     In the world of politics, more attention means more brand recognition that directly relates to higher approval rating. Therefore, politicians want their names out on as many media platforms as possible. # matters to them, catchy slogan matters to them, and even their parody video matters to them. They are the species that require attention from the public to survive. 

 Often times, that attention does not have to come from positive quotes or deeds. Provocative words are very sufficient to attract people`s mind. And Trump understands this the most. He intentionally puts provoking words in his speech to get more attention from the media (It`s ironic how he says media are"disgusting and dishonest" while he knows how to use them the best.) 

    In the rally I attended today, Trump argued that "we can't keep allowing China to rape our country." And this happened.

Whatever the context his controversial words are used, he and "his people" know exactly what specific words to be included and emphasized in his speech to create issues and draw more attention. And, people fall into his trick so easily. He understands the nature of media well enough he abuses it in order to get what he wants. 

Neil Postman argues that "Entertainment is the supra-ideology of all discourse on TV -- the overarching presumption is that it is there for our amusement and pleasure."

The problem is not Donald Trump, he just knows how to play with the system. This "Trump" phenomenon was ultimately inevitable. The problem is the medium itself that "pollutes public communication and its surrounding landscape."

Donald Trump does not deserve or expect serious political discourse or dedicated comprehension from his audience. What his performance expects and deserves is a comfy chair with spicy boneless wing and medium mountain dew.

West Bank Story

Sadly enough this will be my last blog post.  To end on a high note, let me talk a little about this awesome musical. 

Israel has been a site of violence as conflict and strife between two opposing people that claim possession over the same land.  Vicious violence on one side leads to retaliation on the other. A brutal cycle of retaliation has kept the nation in turmoil for generations. With a strong Christian demographic (and some slightly misguided theology) the U.S. has shown favor with the Jewish people of the nation. Whenever tension arises we'll exclude the Jewish people from any blame and instead villainize the Palestinians.

 I believe the blame is often on both sides.  This musical goes to show exactly that.  Instead of taking favor with one side the movie makes fun of both sides in congruent proportions.  It shows how quickly both parties are to shift blame the other side, how irrational their hatred is for the other side, and how ridiculous the cycle of revenge can be.

I'm not a fan of musicals.  Typically I find them obnoxious and boring. Not this one.  I believe a witty musical like this is the best (if not the only) medium capable of portraying a message like this.  The setting is comical enough to be disarming to keep the public open-hearted, but at the same time realistic enough to address some of the actual problems at hand.

In the end both sides have to put aside their differences and unite under the same goal: the people need fed. Reminds me of the ending to Don't Mess With The Zohan.  Terrible movie.  Don't watch it unless you're a fan of terrible movies like me.  I thought about attaching a clip from that movie, but I thought I'd preserve as many brain-cells in my readers as I can.  Instead here is a song by Tim Minchin discussing how peace can be acheived if both sides would unite under their similarity.

Faith Films

So since we watched some pretty great faith-based films, some like Prince of Egypt I have seen before and it was great to revisit them, while others like The Apostle have really peaked my interest and I will definitely be checking them out. After watching quality faith films, it got me thinking: If these films get it right then why do so many Christian filmmakers get it wrong. So I’m going to give a few of my thoughts on why.

The first problem is that with the mentality of many Christians creating media or art is, as I heard someone once put it, “with Christians, it’s not enough for the media to just be Christian, it has to be Christian enough.” For many Christian filmmakers, they feel the need to make sure their films are always shouting the gospel message as much as they can, because if it is in any way even slightly difficult to see or takes anything more than 30 seconds of thought, then that means they are not doing their job right. While I understand this train of thought, as Christians are called to proclaim the gospel clearly and make disciplines, the problem is that the art of subtlety becomes lost. These filmmakers often forget that a subtle message or theme is often a more effective way of getting people to deeply rethink how they view the world. As a result, many Christian films come off as in-your-face preachy, insulting the audience’s intelligence and only driving people away instead of bringing them to God.

Another thing is that there is often an Us vs. Them mentality in these films. They often treat Christians as completely good and non-Christians as completely bad. While, yes, as Christians we are supposed to be separate in how we live from the ways of the world, that doesn’t mean we should treat non-believers as the ultimate enemy. The thing is, all of us, every single person in the world, are sinners and in need of a saving relationship with Christ. If anything, all of humanity is the bad guy because we’ve all sinned and rebelled against God, and the only good guy is God because he is the only one that is completely righteous. So instead of alienating people by telling them they are the bad guys and they need come and join the good guys, the Christians, what Christian filmmakers really need to be doing is getting all people (both Christians and non-Christians) thinking about their lives and the fact that they cannot fix themselves, and point them in the direction of God (while not forcing it upon them) because he is the only one who can truly fix people’s lives and save them.