Blog Assignment Scene

Pulp Fiction
SCENE FOR PROJECT LINK:
Pulp Fiction - sequence 25:17

 Overall I feel like this scene is a great representation of the film. Not to mention it is probably one of my favorite scenes from any movie of all time. It has everything in it. There is humor, action, and drama in it. Quentin Tarantino does and incredible job using sound and dialogue in this scene and in the movie itself. Of course Tarantino is known for his unbelievable ability to create interesting and endless amounts of dialogue. Also his ability to use music perfectly to get a certain feeling from each scene. Its something that I hope to understand when I work in the movie business.

As I said before Tarantino utilizes sound very well in this scene. The loudness of the gun shots and unexpectedness of them make the audience jump and get caught off guard. This is because the gun shot is a causal sound. This means it is the literal sound of a gun firing. If he tried using anything else to represent a gun firing it wouldn't have worked. Also it uses figure and ground well when showing them shooting Brett and Roger. That way the viewer gets the full effect and emotion of the action.

Finding Your Howl BLog 2

http://changethis.com/manifesto/51.01.YourHowl/pdf/51.01.YourHowl.pdf


In the story, a bunch of wolves are released from captivity and let into the wild. The only problem is they have forgotten how to howl. One wolf goes on a journey to find his howl and encounters many things on his path. He has to kill a deer, talk to a raven, and confront a farmer. But then you find out the wolf was dreaming and woke up. He then found he could howl again and became the leader of the pack. The moral of the story is basically you have to “risk it to get the biscuit”. In order to find yourself you have to be taken out of your comfort zone.

My Howl: "A lot of people think the hardest thing about this game is making it into this league. As you get older and you accomplish most of your goals – all of your goals – you find out the hardest part of this game is walking away." - Ben Wallace

The above quote is one from star NBA player Ben Wallace. This quote has stuck with me from the day I read it. What Wallace is describing is that how people say the hardest thing about the NBA is getting into the league, when in fact the hardest thing for him is walking away from the game. This quote applies to me on so many levels which is why I really appreciate and admire it. Now I am no unbelievable basketball player looking forward to a professional career but this quote directly relates to my days playing football and basketball in high school. 

I grew up in Parma, Ohio which is a suburb of Cleveland. It literally takes about fifteen minutes to drive from my driveway to the front gates of Jacobs Field (the Indians baseball stadium). Ever since I was a kid I was always interested in sports. Whether it was baseball, basketball, football, or soccer I did them all. My entire childhood revolved around sports. I always told myself I was gonna be a star athlete one day and making millions while playing in front of thousands of fans. But when I stopped growing in the 8th grade (filled out at 6'2”) I realized my dreams were, well just that. It was a hard pill for me to swallow. But I needed to move forward in my life. That didn't mean though I couldn't give it all I got in high school and help out the basketball and football programs. Before I go any further I must tell you that in Parma we rarely have good sports teams (almost never good basketball or football teams). The football team never made the playoffs. In fact, the last time the football team won a championship was in 1972, which just so happens to be my father's senior year in high school when their team was one of the best in the state. 

My freshmen year the varsity finished with 2 wins and 8 losses. Even worse our freshmen team that I played for didn't win a single game. Sophomore year the varsity turned it around and had the first winning record in while finishing with 7 wins and 3 losses. Junior year was the year we were supposed to make playoffs, but we finished with a disappointing 6 wins and 4 losses. My senior year we weren't supposed to be good at all. But then something crazy happened. Before we knew it we were winning game after game. We finished with 7 wins and 3 losses and made the playoffs for the first time in school history and won the division championship for the first time since my dad's senior year. It was moments I will cherish for the rest of my life. After we lost in the first round of the playoffs I knew it was gonna be tough to walk away from the game. I wasn't going to be able to play at the college level and I accepted that. But I would still give anything to put that gear on again and play one more snap. 

After football season started basketball season. Our team was coming off an impressive season the previous year when we finished with the best record in over a decade. This was my senior year and our team knew the sky was the limit for us. We went through an incredible season filled with exciting wins and a few agonizing defeats. We ended up finishing the year with 19 wins and only 4 losses. Those 19 wins are now the record for most wins in our school history. I will never forget cutting down the nets after going undefeated in our division and winning the championship.

As for how all this relates to the quote I know that I would do anything to relive those moments I spent on that court and that field. I had always thought the hardest part about basketball was making the team. Or having to deal with tough practices everyday for football. But I know now that the hardest thing I had to do in my sports career was walk away from it. Even though I have accomplished all my goals I still had a hard time giving it up.  But in order to move on in my life I had to give up a big part of my childhood. All my hopes and dreams I had as a kid I had to move past them. Which is what Ben Wallace is saying. Even though he will become a Hall of Fame basketball player he still can't find it in himself to walk away from the game and retire. It really is the most difficult thing for an athlete to do.

Deconstructing Characters Blog 1

Protagonist:
Color

My protagonist utilizes mainly two colors and those are green and black as you can see in this picture. The black is mostly used to evoke a sense of darkness and unpredictability. Also the black is used to really make the bright neon green stand out a lot more. The green has multiple meanings to it. The green symbolizes fate but also uncertainty. Also because of how bright and bold the green is it can also give a feeling of power. The bright green and the blackness really portray this protagonist accurately in the image of inexperience but has very powerful abilities.

Light

For the shadow and the lighting about my antagonist I decided to choose this picture of two guys in a foggy spotlight. The reason is because the spotlight represents a sense of justice. It gives off the feeling of being heroic and standing out from a crowd. It shows that he is sort of saintly and does good with darkness around him which can symbolize crime and evil. The reason that I wanted the spotlight foggy is because the protagonist is not entirely pure. He does not always makes the right decisions. It gives the impression that he is very human.

Shape

Lastly, for the shape of the protagonist I decided to use the picture of a diamond. The reason I chose to use a diamond is because the diamond represents multiple things. The diamond shows that he is round and very human like. But also it means that my character is a little rough around the edges. Not to mention the diamond represents strength and durability. Diamonds are very difficult to break and so is the antagonist. He is incredibly tough and can take a beating. He is a rare breed just like the diamond is and very bright and vibrant.

Antagonist:

Color

For the color of the antagonist is decided to use the hues of yellow and black. In order the show those colors I chose to put a picture of yellow lines on a black street. The black signifies that the character is a dark and evil villain. It also shows that he is a very mysterious person as well. The yellow on the other hand represents that he makes clear decisions and isn't nervous. But it also represents deceit and betray. But also since it is a bolder and more distinct shade of yellow that symbolizes a sense of power as well.

Light

As far as the lighting and the shadow for the antagonist I decided to use this picture of a shadowy figure with a gloomy light behind him. This picture can also have multiple meanings to it that help represent the antagonist. The shadowy image of the person symbolizes that the character is a dark and mysterious individual. It can also just simply show that the character is an evil and mean spirited individual. The glow of light around him shows he likes to be in spotlight. It can also mean that with good all around him he will still stay evil.

Shape

I feel like the best way to describe the shape of this antagonist is only through the image of a bowling ball. This is because plain and simple, the villain is short and round just like that of a bowling ball. I guess he can also be seen as somewhat sharp and angular in the face but the bowling ball is the best resemblance of shape to him. The shortness can symbolize the short temper that he has. The roundness on the other hand goes to show the human type appearance of him. But mainly just because the character is a short pudgy man.

Random Title Insert "Here"

Cool stuff.

Fight Club

Green Lantern

Green Lantern is my favorite superhero because I always watched cartoons of him when I was young.