Blog 6

Balto : Picture 1

 Picture 2

 The two pictures I chose are taken from the movie “Balto”. The movie is about an outcast half-wolf that goes on a journey to try and save his town. As a kid this was one of not only my favorite animated movies but movies in general.But now looking back at it and taking this course and learning what I have I can now figure out what the animators were trying to make the audience feel with every scene based on the colors and lighting they used.

The first picture is one of Balto trying to save the medicine from falling off a cliff. The color used in this picture is very important to the movie. They used the hues of gray, brown and even black for the colors of the dogs. This is so the dogs do not really stand out from one another. But what really makes Balto stand out from the other dogs is that his eyes are yellowish gold. This puts him in the spotlight and makes you focus your attention on him and his eyes. The background has a pinkish hue which makes the dogs stand out from the background. The box of medicine however is golden with red writing on it to symbolize its importance. The brightness of the medicine box draws your attention to it to make you realize that this is precious cargo. The side of the cliff has a slight shadow to it to maybe symbolize that if this glowing medicine falls it will go into a dark abyss. The overall mood is shocking and makes you want to know what happens next.

The second picture is of Balto and of two of his dog friends on the sled. The hues are still the same for the dogs being gray and brown. But the background is a lot darker and more mysterious and chaotic. The only thing that is bright is Balto's eyes which draw your attention to let you know that he is not exactly sure where to go. The shadow of the trees in the background just makes the picture look more dangerous for Balto. The overall mood of this picture is very dark and suspenseful.  

Blog 5

Storyboard

Overhead view

 The movie “Pulp Fiction” is one of my favorite movies of all time. One big reason is because director Quentin Tarantino does a tremendous job with the dialogue of the characters but also the way he chooses and sets up each shot throughout the movie. I think that he did a great job directing the scene I chose because he followed every rule there is. There is the 180 degree rule which means the camera should not cross this imaginary 180 degree line for continuity purposes. There is the Rule of Thirds which means the screen is broken up into thirds and characters and objects that are important are placed in the intersections of the horizontal and vertical lines.. And there is the 30 Rule which are used to avoid a jump cut in which when changing camera positions move your camera at least 30 degrees or change the size of the image in your camera by at least 30 percent.

He starts off with John Travolta's character in the center of the shot to really have him stand out. Then he moves Travolta to one of the crosshairs of the Rule of Thirds. Samuel L. Jackson's character is put in the left crosshairs and the man on the chair is in the lower right crosshairs to show Jackson is in control of the situation. Tarantino breaks the 180 degree rule but since he moves the camera and establishes a new 180 degree line so it doesn't matter. Also Tarantino didn't really need to avoid any jump cuts so the 30 Rule does not really apply.

So overall Tarantino does not break any of the rules and utilizes everything to make a great scene. Tarantino is one of the best directors in Hollywood and obviously knows how to follow the rules and to generate any emotion he wants from the audience by setting up each shot in certain ways.

Blog 4 Song Deconstruction "Hey Ya"

Original Song: Hey Ya by Outkast

Mat Weddle Covers Hey Ya by Outkast 

 I decided to listen to and compare and contrast one of my favorite songs. That is the song “Hey Ya” by the group Outkast. I am comparing it to the cover that Mat Weddle of the band Obadiah Parker made and posted on Youtube. The cover has over 8 million views on Youtube while the original song has almost 14 million views. While both are the same song and very popular they are also very different as well.

Since they are the same song that also means the lyrics are the same as well. But the way that each singer sings the lyrics is very different. Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000) from Outkast is very upbeat and fluid in the way he uses the lyrics. He uses a combination of singing, rapping, and at some parts just talking throughout the song. While Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker really sings the lyrics throughout the whole song. The tempo of the original is a lot faster than the tempo of the cover. But the source from both songs is the same as the acoustic guitar is where the rhythm is coming from. The groove of the original song is upbeat and funky while the cover song is more chill and mellow. Instrumentation is similar too because the guitar drives each song as well even though the original also uses the drums. The structure of both songs are practically the same since they are the same song. But the emotional architecture is a little different. While both don't have much builds or drops they have different tone to them. The original is higher frequency compared to the lower frequency of the cover. Both songs also had low width with little to no panning. But the depth of the original is a lot deeper than the cover considering the cover only uses a guitar. The rhythm of the original is a lot faster and upbeat than the cover which is slow and relaxing. The original also has a higher intensity than the cover which has a very low intensity. The pitch of the original is a lot higher than the cover which has a low pitch.

The song I like better is the original because it is one of my favorite songs. Plus because it is more upbeat and fun to listen to.