Media150 Class Review

Taking Media150 I have learned to truly appreciate the time and dedication put into creating certain mediums. I have also gained so much more respect for the depth of thought put into style whether it is photography or cinematography or even graphic design. This class has taught me a lot about the past and a lot about the present. One thing I will always keep in mind is how far communications has come in our world today and how much people take it for granted. Taking this class I feel like has opened my eyes to look at things I didnt really pay much attention to in design for example fonts, and focal lengths, and colors. Developing the right medium to express the meaning one is trying to reach takes alot of thought and effort, you cant just open up photoshop and create a postage stamp, nor can you just snap a picture and expect it to be amazing, these kinds of things take alot of thought and energy if they are going to be done properly. I think the fact that this class is a lecture combined with a lab is perfect because in lecture I got to hear some of the opinions of many students and in lab it was a more intimate environment where I really got to know some people and understand why they choose certain styles over others. I look forward to taking the second half of this class and also look forward to creating more intriquite mediums paying extreme attention to design,composition, and stlye.

Design I Like

The kind of design I like is probably what most professionals would call a mess. I like to see a lot of color, a lot of graphic, a lot of everything! However I also find beauty in the simplistic designs as well that only have a little bit of graphic a little bit of color and a little bit of text. I like loud colors but soft ones as well. I am a very open person however one thing I do not like when it comes to design is cliche. I like images that are balanced but my eyes tend to enjoy the unbalanced design more. Focusing on typography I think less is definitely more. I think they simplistic fonts are the most beautiful and the less letters there are the better! I am most certainly a Helvetica fan! I think a white sheet of paper with a big bold A on it is beautiful! The designs I like more often convey messages of self expression and human activism. Its like music, the best songs are the most simple ones and those always sound the most extravagent. Although I do like the designs that are crazy and wild I do feel like there is a point where there is too much and in which case the image just begins to look like a lot of nothing. So basically what works for me is a simple yet crazy design that screams at its audience in a vivid and clear manner. Make sense? What Im trying to say is that I like designs that are urban and funky. Here are some examples of what Im trying to say:

http://www.youthedesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/graphic-design-portfolio-chuck-anderson.jpg

http://blog.howdesign.com/content/binary/word.png

http://tcritic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/sex-drugs-helvetica.jpg

http://www.sugarscape.com/userfiles/bandtee_paramore.jpg

What I See

The film I decided to analyze for this assignment is Kill Bill. The reason I chose Kill Bill is not only because its awesome, but also because I feel like the lighting, the camera movements, and the sound of the film not only make the film that much more awesome, but they were done with much creativity. For me I felt like Kil Bill stands out from the average American fighting movie because of the techniques the cinemtographer used during production. I noticed how the lighting in the film was very bright and in most scenes the picture is very clear and the colors vivid. Whereas in the average fight movie the fighting scenes are dark and theres so much going on its hard to focus. In Kill Bill although the length of time between shots are sometimes very short the camera is always still and you can always clearly see what is happening. I feel like as a result of the quick changes between shots and the concise and steady camera movements (which are usually very subte and most times not moving at all) the audience can injest the intensity and the high emotion the character is feeing and really truly feel how passionate this woman is about killing these people! Another technique that worked well for this film was the lack of sound or music in some scenes. Whenever there was a fighting scene it would be realy quiet- no music- and all attention would be completely on what was taking place in the movie. The director and cinemotagrapher did an excellent job in not only keeping the style consistant throughout the movie, and creating something fresh and unique but also giving the film a certain "look" and "feel" not only with actors but with the camera as well.
Heres a clip of the movie so you can see what Im talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDscluTJ540

My trip to the Museum of Moving Images

After walking a couple blocks in the wrong direction I saw a little sign that pointed me towards my destination where the rest of my class was waiting. At first glance you would think this place sucks but the as they say never judge a book by its cover. This museum had all kinds of crazy artifacts that a person my age could never imagine. Home theater systems that resemble cabinets, computers the sizes of my room, and televisions that look like washer machines? Talk about demographics! It was a little awkward jumping around and acting silly with people I dont know, but after my visit Im thinking of installing a chroma-key screen in my room! Moving image technology has changed in ways far beyond my capacity to understand how. I could never imagine living in a world without color television I wonder how it felt for people to experience color on tv for the first time? The moving image has gone through so many changes and as a result of visiting the museum I have definitely gained alot of respect for the history of many of the technologies we use today as well as those that were used back in the day. What I'd give to actually have experienced on a first hand account the advances of technology from film, telvision, radio, and even video games. To feel the significance of color tv and truly appreciate the impact of media on the world. I definitely plan on visiting the museum once it is finished construction and I would advise everyone to do the same! They have Chewbaca's head...it doesnt get any better than that!