http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNK6qvt-d14&feature=player_embedded
I mixed a friend's rap song with my own special brand of nerdiness to create this little beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMRsBsbsuu0
That there is my favorite example of a video remix. Uses mash-up of visuals and music to elicit emotion and convey themes.
The traditional vs. contemporary is pretty apparent, using a song that mixes an old-school super-heroic horn section with a beat that "sounds monumental," (listen to the lyrics!) and some excellently flexible lyrics is the first layer. Part of the reason why this was so easy to cut was that the beat really did follow that classic John Williams style rhythm of superhero music, meaning that it matched well to the clips I found. Another element of traditional vs. contemporary is the mix of old and new superhero shows and movies. Finally, just mixing superheroes and rap is pretty dissonant in terms of past and present (most of the classic superhero characters were first created in the 30's and 40's or so) but I'd like to think this video illustrates that the two can mix well with the proper handling.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Project Brief- Ongoing Project
Being a screenwriter and general story teller, the sociological topic that interests me most with the Montagnard is their storytelling traditions. I would like to research and present traditional stories from their cultural heritage, and possibly contact/research a local Montagnard writer. I would examine the archetypes and themes at play within Montagnard story telling traditions and see how they compare and contrast with their more modern writings.
Here are some resources I've found from the materials dug up by my fellow classmates.
(Religious beliefs help to inform story telling tradition to a huge extent)
http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vrelig.html
(This rapper everyone keeps talking about is a very modern example of story telling)
http://diacritics.org/2011/01/05/mondegas-for-the-people-a-montagnard-hip-hop-debut/
(Contains an example of Montagnard myth; also looks into possible interpretations and relations to mythology of other cultures as well as more recent history, highlighting how some stories never cease to be relevant.)
http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forfathr.html
(If this source is to be believed than I will have difficulty finding any Montagnard stories written- it would be better to hear them told directly if possible)
http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vlife.html
I still would like to find a modern Montagnard writer in a more classic sense- a screenwriter, a novelist, a stage writer, etc; a storyteller. I would also like to find more examples of Montagnard myth.
The image below represents the connection of my interests to the Montagnard, as well as what sort of resources/information I will need:
Here are some resources I've found from the materials dug up by my fellow classmates.
(Religious beliefs help to inform story telling tradition to a huge extent)
http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vrelig.html
(This rapper everyone keeps talking about is a very modern example of story telling)
http://diacritics.org/2011/01/05/mondegas-for-the-people-a-montagnard-hip-hop-debut/
(Contains an example of Montagnard myth; also looks into possible interpretations and relations to mythology of other cultures as well as more recent history, highlighting how some stories never cease to be relevant.)
http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forfathr.html
(If this source is to be believed than I will have difficulty finding any Montagnard stories written- it would be better to hear them told directly if possible)
http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vlife.html
I still would like to find a modern Montagnard writer in a more classic sense- a screenwriter, a novelist, a stage writer, etc; a storyteller. I would also like to find more examples of Montagnard myth.
The image below represents the connection of my interests to the Montagnard, as well as what sort of resources/information I will need:
Monday, April 4, 2011
{[("'-Framing-'")]}
Framing is essentially a new word for an old concept, a term that has ironically been invented because of the different frame it puts on the concept it expresses: subtext.
Comparing the words "subtext," and "framing," is actually a very good illustration of the concept represented by either word- subtext describes everything discussed by framing: the subtle implications behind words and images that go beyond literal meaning and color our perception. However, subtext is thought of as a term that relates more to the arts and literature in particular. This connotation is apparent even in the word itself: subTEXT. Text implies writing, writing implies reading, thus even though the word subtext could just as easily be the subject of our current DMA studies, there is a perceived need to replace it with a word that is more relevant to the digital age- a word that carries fewer if any ties to an aging artistic medium that is not really being examined in this class.
Enter "Framing:" framing carries with it different connotations that are also visible in the word itself. Even in an era where far more photographs are not only digital, but never leave the binary nest of 1's and 0's to become physical objects (in the traditional sense), a "frame" is still an object or concept associated with pictures. In many ways, like subtext, the frame has traveled with the concept that it is attached to, albeit in a limited capacity. We may no longer employ the gold-painted metal squares of old to hold physical copies of images, but frames still exists online in the form of borders and backgrounds and all such things that surround the images that we are constantly ensconced in when we venture forth into the world wide web. Discussing framing as opposed to subtext almost makes me feel like I'm at one of the fancy-dos for Song airlines seen in the "Persuaders," video, a Joe-schmo being fed information by a representative of some higher class who has tailored everything from their suit to their vocabulary to sell me on an idea.
A video illustrating the nature and power of subtext.
Comparing the words "subtext," and "framing," is actually a very good illustration of the concept represented by either word- subtext describes everything discussed by framing: the subtle implications behind words and images that go beyond literal meaning and color our perception. However, subtext is thought of as a term that relates more to the arts and literature in particular. This connotation is apparent even in the word itself: subTEXT. Text implies writing, writing implies reading, thus even though the word subtext could just as easily be the subject of our current DMA studies, there is a perceived need to replace it with a word that is more relevant to the digital age- a word that carries fewer if any ties to an aging artistic medium that is not really being examined in this class.
Enter "Framing:" framing carries with it different connotations that are also visible in the word itself. Even in an era where far more photographs are not only digital, but never leave the binary nest of 1's and 0's to become physical objects (in the traditional sense), a "frame" is still an object or concept associated with pictures. In many ways, like subtext, the frame has traveled with the concept that it is attached to, albeit in a limited capacity. We may no longer employ the gold-painted metal squares of old to hold physical copies of images, but frames still exists online in the form of borders and backgrounds and all such things that surround the images that we are constantly ensconced in when we venture forth into the world wide web. Discussing framing as opposed to subtext almost makes me feel like I'm at one of the fancy-dos for Song airlines seen in the "Persuaders," video, a Joe-schmo being fed information by a representative of some higher class who has tailored everything from their suit to their vocabulary to sell me on an idea.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Hello! "Hello!" (Hello!): My first entry
Hello DMA class (and apparently the Dega people as well), I am Samuel James Newsome, amateur screenwriter and full time lay-person. If you want to write collaboratively on any sort of project I'm your man: I'm great at finding the emotional core of another person's writing and helping other writers to structure their work in such a way that this key element shines.
I'm a story teller at heart- film has just turned out to be the storytelling medium that suits me best.
I'm also a songwriter and music aficionado. My favorite genres are rock and roll in all of its forms, old school rap, old school metal, motown, blues, and a bit of country, but my first and greatest musical love will always be folk.
I've always been interested in making a story (film or otherwise) based on that song.
Ethnically I'm whiter than bread. Supposedly there's some Native American mixed in, not sure what tribe. It's more believable if you look at my Dad. For the most part however, my ancestry hails from Scotland and England, as illustrated below.
I'm a Jedi, which is to say that I believe in the force and said beliefs inform my moral conduct. This does not mean that I believe any part of the Star Wars franchise to be fact, only that much truth can be revealed through its fiction. It may seem odd that anyone could find fulfilling, meaningful religious experience from material written by George Lucas, but remember, in creating the force and other aspects of the Star Wars mythos, Lucas was in many ways distilling and hybridizing ideas from mythology and religion the world over. It could be said that just as Carl Jung theorized the collective unconscious and Joseph Campbell the monomyth, Jedism could be considered a sort of monoreligion, with all other religions being different forms that the force has taken in communicating with the life forms that have been molded from it. The concept of the force is similar to Taoism in that it suggest that all life is made of and connected by a universal energy that runs through all things. The force however is thought to be a touch more sentient, as if it has more a will of its own, and is characterized by an inherent universal code of morality. The basic idea is that the force is the energy that makes up the matter that forms and breaks down and reforms over and over into all that is, was, and ever will be in the universe.
Put more simply: "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."
This passage from Thich Nhat Hahn represents the idea of the interconnectedness of all things in a more physical sense:
http://moodle.uncsa.edu/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=true&id=5259
This picture is also a good example of the concept:
The world is all interconnected by the constant flow of matter and energy from one form to the next, but it is made a rich and complete whole by the individuals that make it up, just as the individual is enriched by that which he/she shares with the world around him/her.
I'm a story teller at heart- film has just turned out to be the storytelling medium that suits me best.
I'm also a songwriter and music aficionado. My favorite genres are rock and roll in all of its forms, old school rap, old school metal, motown, blues, and a bit of country, but my first and greatest musical love will always be folk.
I've always been interested in making a story (film or otherwise) based on that song.
Ethnically I'm whiter than bread. Supposedly there's some Native American mixed in, not sure what tribe. It's more believable if you look at my Dad. For the most part however, my ancestry hails from Scotland and England, as illustrated below.
Here's me, totally and completely right on the Scotch/English border. No photoshop or any such picture editing used. Nope. None.
I'm a Jedi, which is to say that I believe in the force and said beliefs inform my moral conduct. This does not mean that I believe any part of the Star Wars franchise to be fact, only that much truth can be revealed through its fiction. It may seem odd that anyone could find fulfilling, meaningful religious experience from material written by George Lucas, but remember, in creating the force and other aspects of the Star Wars mythos, Lucas was in many ways distilling and hybridizing ideas from mythology and religion the world over. It could be said that just as Carl Jung theorized the collective unconscious and Joseph Campbell the monomyth, Jedism could be considered a sort of monoreligion, with all other religions being different forms that the force has taken in communicating with the life forms that have been molded from it. The concept of the force is similar to Taoism in that it suggest that all life is made of and connected by a universal energy that runs through all things. The force however is thought to be a touch more sentient, as if it has more a will of its own, and is characterized by an inherent universal code of morality. The basic idea is that the force is the energy that makes up the matter that forms and breaks down and reforms over and over into all that is, was, and ever will be in the universe.
Put more simply: "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."
This passage from Thich Nhat Hahn represents the idea of the interconnectedness of all things in a more physical sense:
http://moodle.uncsa.edu/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=true&id=5259
This picture is also a good example of the concept:
The world is all interconnected by the constant flow of matter and energy from one form to the next, but it is made a rich and complete whole by the individuals that make it up, just as the individual is enriched by that which he/she shares with the world around him/her.
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