Thursday, December 29, 2016

Podcast: Ampersand from Poets & Writers

"In the eleventh episode of Ampersand, Poets & Writers editor in chief Kevin Larimer and senior editor Melissa Faliveno preview the January/February 2017 issue, featuring a special section on inspiration, The Darkness and the Light, that includes our twelfth annual look at debut poets, and talk to best-selling author Colson Whitehead about his National Book Award–winning novel, The Underground Railroad. "The episode also includes a reading by Roxanne Gay, whose story collection, Difficult Women, will be published in January by Grove Press."

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Article: How Female Fans Made "Star Wars" Their Own


Amanda Hess writes in "How Female Fans Made Star Wars Their Own," in the New York Times:
In recent years, a whole world of chatty podcasts, metacriticism, and fan art and fiction has cropped up to satisfy [a need for information about the women of Star Wars. “Fangirls Going Rogue” has done much to elevate the work of female writers and actors at Lucasfilm. It’s part of a podcast sorority that includes “Scavengers Hoard,” “Rebel Grrrl,” “Lattes With Leia” and “Rebels Chat,” on which Ms. Macias and her mother, Maria, discuss the Disney XD animated series “Star Wars Rebels.” On Tumblr, predominantly female fans come together to engage in “shipping” — imagining romantic relationships between characters like Finn and Poe, or Rey and Kylo Ren — and to share fan-created art celebrating their favorite characters. These destinations also have a political bent. Ms. Barr started the site FANGirl Blog to “redirect the tone of the conversation among the fandom aimed at fangirls, which at times had been hostile,” she wrote, and to encourage Lucasfilm to “create more strong female characters.”

Monday, October 31, 2016

TED Talk: Everything you hear on film is a lie.



"Sound design is built on deception — when you watch a movie or TV show, nearly all of the sounds you hear are fake. In this audio-rich talk, Tasos Frantzolas explores the role of sound in storytelling and demonstrates just how easily our brains are fooled by what we hear."

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Video: Dylan Sunflowers



Congratulations to Bob Dylan on winning the Nobel Prize for Literature!

Here's a video I made a couple of years ago. Music is Dylan's great song ""Duquesne Whistle."

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Nothing is original

I once came to an artist with only a semblance of an idea. All I knew was that I wanted a tattoo of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in a lightsaber battle. I brought some pictures from the movies into him and he asked me to give him a few weeks. So I did and he gave me one of the coolest tattoos I thought I'd ever seen. He kept telling me how much prep work he put into it. He was trying to create something super original. And sure enough I thought he did. That is, until I started surfing the internet for more Star Wars tattoo ideas and I came across something almost exactly identical. I guess tattoos really have become so common that you really just can't have something completely original.


Monday, October 10, 2016

Trailer: 'True Grit' (2010)



Still haven't seen the Coen Brother's re-make of True Grit. To be honest, this trailer doesn't make me want to.

Trailer: True Grit (1969)



Haven't seen True Grit since 1969 but this trailer brings back all the feels!
Must have read the Mad Magazine parody a hundred time, as well!

Michael Sandknop with Scott Charles Marvin talks about their time with AFN Baghdad

POD CAST: Michael Sandknop with Scott Marvin relive old times at AFN Baghdad
 Sgt First Class Michael Sandknop in full battle gear video taping reconstruction of an electrical plant in Iraq.








 Sgt First Class Michael Sandknop in his "hooch" at the presidential palace in Baghdad  his latest care-package






Bus stop destroyed during a motor attack.


Sgt First Class Michael Sandknop at the world's largest graveyard in the world.  Located in Najaf Iraq, he was covering the aftermath of Muqtadah Al-Sadhar's Mahdi Milita's attack on US Forces.  The photo was taken in August 2004, one day after a cease-fire was negotiated.

Somewhere in Iraq, Michael Sandknop shows the afternoon temperature.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Panda Cheese Commercials

The video Michael showed about the kid throwing a temper tantrum in the store to get candy reminded me of this commercial series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYz3sl0LEA4

Video: Through the Hills

Video: Architectural Models


How a Director breaks down a script
by Michael Sandknop









On Directing
by Harold Clurman

ISBN-13:9780684826226
Publisher:Touchstone


Available on Amazon: $14.52





"What's my motivation?"
This side answers that question for the actors.
Think of it as a "Story Board" for performance.


In my previous post I discussed the example of "Karate Kid"
Here's how the Director starts out.




Here are two videos that illustrate two different "Director's Idea" with the same plot line:
"A little boy want's something from his parent."










Here is an example of my notes for an upcoming
music video I'm Directing.
 It's  is a parody of Madonna's "Material Girl" rewritten
as "Clinton Felonious Girl."

Left side are the storyboards
Right side are the overhead views


As a Parody, while similar in style
the TONE is completely different,
and so is the "Director's Idea"
This is a "mock-up" of how I want the actor's to deliver their performance
which leads to how the audience reacts.

Again this is a mock-up on how it all comes together.
In the case of "Clinton Felonious Girl" I've broken it down each page to 30 seconds.
The song is 4 minutes long, so I have 8 pages.


Here is the original music video of Madonna's "Material Girl"


Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Radio Marketing Interview With Former A.M. Host: Ryan Freeman



I posted my podcast above in YouTube video form. This is my first podcast ever and I chose to interview my friend, Ryan Freeman, about Radio Marketing. Hope you all like it.

Rici's video


Maker Spotlight: Rici Hoffarth
from Rici Hoffarth on Vimeo.


This was my first attempt at a professional(ish) video. I found the editing process with Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects to be intuitive and interesting. I found the filming process and dealing with the camera/mics to have a much steeper learning curve. I know I can improve on the quality of video/audio, but I’m proud of the editing, sequence, tone, and rhythm. What are your thoughts?

It did feel awkward to do a whole video featuring myself- it was more of a practice run. I was available and accessible, after all. But, I would absolutely LOVE to make a video featuring someone else’s work. If you know anyone interesting- send them my way!

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Podcast: This American Life -- Buddy Picture


"This American Life producer Jonathan Goldstein with a story about friendship, mothers and sons, and what some have called the greatest phone message in the world—it circulated at Columbia University in New York City, and had something to do with the Little Mermaid. (19 minutes)"

If the embedded player above doesn't work, click the This American Life link above.

Asia's Blog

Asia: Natural Hair

Monday, October 3, 2016

Trailers: The Infiltrator versus Notorious



I'm quite possibly the only person in the world to watch the trailer for the forthcoming film The Infiltrator and think of Hitchcock's Notorious but here you go.

Parody & Satire: Sinkhole Live Report - Saturday Night Live

Taking the form of a parody of a local breaking news report, this Saturday Night Live skit satirizes some commonly held views on relationships.

Alex Video

Mackenzie's Blog

https://eatingstl2016.wordpress.com/

Demetria's Blog

Here is the link to my blog https://beyoubeautifullyblog.wordpress.com

Important: Course Evaluations Conducted Online During Classes

Course evaluations will be conducted next week, Monday, October 10.

Please bring a laptop, tablet or a smart phones to class. Any of these devices will work using university WiFi. Go to: www.evaluation.webster.edu where you will find a log-in page asking for your Connections ID and password. Once logged in, you will find the form for this class and you can complete it. The responses are anonymous.


Video: Raven Wolf In His Own Words

Perhaps a resource

Alex,

 I saw this article the other day and I thought you would find it interesting, if not helpful to your project.

Riverfront Times article on Ragtime Tattoo

Friday, September 30, 2016

Video: 3 Top Secrets Of How To Make Money On Youtube




Never heard of Survival Lilly until tonight. Sharing this mainly for the comparison of an interesting video versus a boring video, which begins at around 2:12.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Video: True Print



Cool video shared by Steven Heller of Print.

Nice use of animated text, stop motion, sound, and music. (Sounds like he used Antonio Sanchez's music from Birdman.)
Dafi Kühne is a graphic designer/letterpress printmaker from Zürich and Glarus, Switzerland. Since 2009 he has been working full time in his studio babyinktwice, designing and printing posters, invitation cards, brochures and magazines for music, art, architecture, theater and film projects. Since 2011 he has also been teaching everything from short workshops to full semesters in various universities in Europe and the United States. He combines contemporary graphic design with old techniques—a computer, four letterpress proof and production presses from the ’60s, old lead and wood type, new lasercut wood, plexiglas or lino blocks, photopolymer plates, hand-cut lino or cardboard and so on.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Video: "Alan Moore Knows the Score"

From out of the primordial mists of 1989, here's a video by Pop Will Eat Itself. Imagine what they could have done with Premiere Pro! (One of these grebos eventually became the soundtrack composer Clint Mansell, who has scored such films Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, and The Black Swan.)

Posting because this song mentions Alan Moore, who came up twice in class tonight. First, as the author of the Batman tale The Killing Joke and secondly, as the author of the comic book series V for Vendetta, on which the movie was based.

Some comic book related lyrics from the song:

We dig TV we dig remote control,
We dig the Furry Freak Brothers and the Twilight Zone,
We dig Marvel and D.C., we dig Run-DMC,
We dig Renegade Soundwave and AC/DC
(Can U dig it?)
Bruce Wayne auf wiedersehen,
Dirty Harry, "Make my day, "
Terminator, hit the north,
Alan Moore knows the score!



PS: PWEI founding member Adam Mole writes: "Clint was always a comic book fan, Spider-Man in particular. He celebrated his love of the webbed wonder with a tattoo on his upper arm."

Blog: Shadress Burks

Click here to visit Shadress Burks' blog.

Video: Sopranos


Click here to watch Sean's version of the Sopranos opening credits.


Here's the official intro:

 

Video: Exquisite Corpse

Tutorial: After Effects Animate Text

Inspiration: "The Director's Idea" by Ken Dancyger

During our last class, I had the opportunity to speak about the role of a Director.
Directing is an art form unto itself. Every art form has three parts: technical, artistic and craftsmanship.

The “Director’s Idea” is about craftsmanship.

The “Director’s Idea” is a concept that “moves” the audience and makes motion pictures memorable.  The concept can be used to transform any type film or video; even a used car commercial.




The original Karate Kid (1984) stands out as an enjoyable, memorable, and powerful experience for the audience.  Even 32 years later, anyone who’s ever seen it, even if just once, can share his or her favorite scenes and quotes.
Why is this?  It’s a “Great” movie.  Just like “Rocky” (1976), it has stood the test of time and is relevant now as it was then.

But how?









How both films are “Great” can be understood by reading Ken Dancyger’s book  “The DIRECTOR’S IDEA The Path to Great Directing” (Focal Press 2006)






Dancyger defines the “Director’s Idea” as this:
The director’s idea, the magnifying lens that helps the director choose characterization, narrative, and visualization strategies that will elevate the work to another level. (page 52)

He further expands:
The great director transforms the experience of the film when he utilizes his director’s idea to add a powerful voice to the film. (page 55)








The powerful voice added to “Karate Kid” comes from Director John G. Avildsen.
His “Director’s Idea” is TOLERANCE.

He utilizes it as a guide for each and every scene in the movie.
The drama of the film comes from the clash between TOLERANCE & IN-TOLERANCE.

Avildsen offers a “hint” in one of the scences that most people miss. During Daniel’s first day at school the camera pans away from him and pauses briefly on this plaque.






Daniel is the new kid at school.  The bullies beat him mercilessly. They are intolerant. During one of these beatings. Mr. Miyagi comes to his rescue. 

Here's a clip of The Halloween Fight

Later in the movie Daniel finds Mr. Miyagi in his home, drunk.  He says he’s celebrating.  These are the script pages from the movie.  Why is this scene in the movie?









“Rocky” (1976) also stands out as an enjoyable, memorable, and powerful experience for the audience.  Anyone who’s ever seen it, even if just once, can share his or her favorite scenes and quotes.

Again, it’s a “Great” movie. It has stood the test of time and is just as relevant today as it was then.





“Rocky” is also Directed by John G. Avildsen. 
The “Director’s Idea” is REDEMPTION.

Rocky’s goal is not to win the fight with Apollo Creed because it’s not possible.  Apollo always wins by knock out by the 5th round.  Rocky’s goal is to make it to the 6th round.  He feels if he can do this, no one will ever call him a “Bum” again.








V for Vendetta (2006)
Directed by James McTeigue
The “Director’s Idea” is INTEGRITY

Here is the scene where the Director found his Idea.
“Vallerie’s letter”




Here are the lines from “Valerie’s Letter” when she “comes out” to her parents”

But it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it's all we have left in this place. It is the very last inch of us. But within that inch we are free.



So how can such and “Idea” be incorporated into a used car commercial?

Yes.


Who remembers this gentleman?


This is Dave Sinclair.  He’s a St Louis mainstay, known for his straight forward commercials. At the time he had one of the largest car dealerships in St. Louis.

In every commercial he closed with:
If it’s not right, I’ll make it right for free.
Thank you and here’s my address.

INTEGRITY!
It “moves” an audience.

Although Dave Sinclair passed away in 2009, St. Louisans can still remember his commercials! 


The “Director’s Idea” is a concept that “moves” the audience and makes motion pictures memorable.  The concept and use is universal regardless if it’s a major motion picture or a commercial for local car dealership.


It’s part of the craft.