Visual Communications

This extreme long shot from the movie Devil really particularly stood out to me, obviously having to do with the fact that it was shot upside down. But in the context of the movie, it sets the uneasy, sinister tone quickly and effectively. Plus, this was a pretty good movie, in my opinion. It felt more like a bloody murder mystery rather than just another cheesy horror movie. Definitely worth watching if you haven't seen it yet!

Exam 2 really snuck up on me. It snuck up on me so well that I couldn’t figure out why the classroom was packed until I saw the scantrons on the table and realized I had about 2 minutes to scan my notes before the test started. Lucky for me, I pay attention in class and still managed to make a good grade. It’s definitely not fun to blank like that on a test day though. Yikes!

While Thomas A. Edison was obviously an innovator in many ways, the more I learn about him, the less I find his contributions appealing. Most of what he put together was largely stolen work, and he was ruthless in making sure he had control of as much innovative technology as possible. I feel like his film studio, Black Maria, was one of his only original ideas. Everything else was a tweaked version of someone else's idea.

I really enjoyed the NPAA guest speakers that came in on this day. They had a lot of amazing insight into how the newsroom process works, as well as ways to do right in journalism, photojournalism, and getting your stories published, aired, etc. They both seemed really passionate about their work, and I find passion really inspiring, especially when it's in the same field as I am working towards. I chose this video because it was definitely the most memorable highlight of the panel. I'm glad he chose to end the panel with this; the whole class was roaring at the punchline!

The exercise we did with the Quino multiframe cartoon (not this one, but this one seemed similar in that it didn't have lines) was really interesting. It showed that not only was there not simply one way to tell a story, but that taking the pieces and putting them in a certain order made a difference in how the story comes out. I thought it was a really cool way to actually put the editing process in our hands and see how the short could change in implications and delivery just by rearranging the frames.

I thought the concept that color affects your perception of distance really interesting. I wasn't expecting that in the same picture, changing the color of a background object can make it seem closer or further away, depending on if it was warm or cool. I guess a good real life example, though would be red cars on the road. People have said over and over that red cars get pulled over more, and that's because they seem to be going faster than they actually are. I think that this may have to do with the fact that warm colors like red stand out to the eye more quickly than cool colors, so they get the first bid at our perception.

Sin City is an excellent example of a film maker choosing to structure the film visually with high contrast and spot color; something that makes the eye go to the area of the screen which has the most contrast at the time, be it black versus white or grayscale versus color. The film makers' desire for contrast over affinity is derived from the fact that Sin City was originally a graphic novel, which was also high in contrasting visuals.

Whenever I think about photography and cameras, I can't help but remember the Diana F+. I think the retro setup gives you a chance to really understand how photography works and how to properly set up shots. It takes skill to use a camera that not only isn't digital, but doesn't have any true mechanical parts of any kind. There are no electronic motors inside, simply a gear at the top to turn the film, and a clicker button on the side of the lens to open it. The pictures they take are also a reminder of how far we've come in photography technology.

Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's moving castle is an amazing animated film that was originally made in Japanese and then redistributed by Disney in English. It is an amazing representation of successful Anime art style, as well as having some quirky steampunk flare thrown in. Not only was this movie visually stunning, it had one of the most compelling storylines in any movie I've ever seen in film, let alone in animated film. Miyazaki is a true innovator and artist.

This editorial cartoon was made to criticize the mainstream news media for their constant erroneous reporting. As this cartoon demonstrates, channels like CNN falsely reported that there had been an arrest made in the Boston bombings, when in fact their hadn't been. The criticism comes in in the punchline, where they have Wolf Blitzer's caricature exaggerating such poor journalism by mentioning a jury's verdict. This cartoon is meant to show that news channels like CNN care more about being the first to have the latest breaking news, rather than having the most up-to-date accurate reporting. 

Also during Spring Break, I bought this little interactive gem: the new Tomb Raider reboot. I beat the whole thing over the break and I have to say, the series is better than ever. Many people were getting bored with the games, and they hadn't been serious blockbusters for years. This game definitely changed things. Definitely one of my favorite games of the year.

During Spring Break, my boyfriend and I went to Austin to visit a friend of his and spend some time enjoying the city. While we were there, we all decided to wander around the UT campus, and this was one of my favorite buildings. Kevin, the friend, is a student there and explained that this particular building, I believe it used to be the Architecture building, was in itself an architectural marvel at the time it was built. I think it's visually striking even today, in the best way.

When we went over the works of Saul Bass and his revolutionizing of title sequences, I immediately was reminded of the title sequence of Disney's 101 Dalmatians. It has the same bold graphic touches that were signature of Bass' works. This movie is one that I always think of when I think of good and visually interesting title sequences. Disney movies always tended to have incredibly long ones and I never felt like fast-forwarding the VHS (throwback!) tape through this particular title sequence. (Plus, this is one of my favorite Disney movies. Cruella was an amazing villain.)

Critical: Based on my understanding of both the photo and the events depicted, my personal reaction to this, of sadness, anger, and distress, are based on the fact that these photojournalists chose not to censor the gore all over these Boston city blocks. We know the damage that the bombers inflicted because we can see it scattered across the sidewalk. This photo and those like it are deeply chilling.