Final Thoughts

The answer to your question about both my favorite and most challenging aspect of this class is this…creativity. Taking this course seemed to spark something inside me. Before, I struggled badly with coming up with ideas for projects and assignments. Now, I have many ways to overcome this hurdle. I could especially notice the difference with my final project. Instead of sitting down and starring  at the wall, trying to come up with something to do, I utilized ideas that I learned from this course. I didn’t really use just one technique, more like a combination of several. The whole experience was much better.

I just want to thank Beth, along with all of my classmates, for providing an interesting semester.

Thank you.

“I heard a joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life is harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says, ‘Treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go see him. That should pick you up.’ Man bursts into tears. Says, ‘But doctor… I am Pagliacci.’ Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.” -Rorschach, Watchmen (2009)

Twelfth Day’s Twelfth Thoughts in Twelve Words…well, sort of

I. Would. Like. To. Say. That. The. Final. Projects. Were. Great.

This class is something special. Special in a good way, not in a ‘short bus’ kind of way…

Honestly though, I really enjoyed this class. Watching/seeing/observing all of the projects was fun and it was interesting to see how people took an idea and ran with it. Although, I didn’t quite understand some of them…

I think it is safe to say that Brandon’s final project was the best, at least that is what I think. Good job, well done. That short video portrayed a message so deep that some motion pictures try to convey but just don’t quite get there.

I just realized that I apparently love to use ellipses…oh, there it goes again!

Also, I forgot to submit a URL for my final project, I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me

The End is Nigh

Fin.

TOP 5IVE

From the list of 50 ‘What if…’ questions, I picked these five.

• What if there was a floss monster?
• What if he was drunk during filming?
• What if he had mountain dew?
• What if he didn’t hear ‘fluoride,’ but something else?
• What if Batman. Yes. Batman.

I picked the first one because the idea of a floss monster intrigues me. What would a floss monster look like? Hmm.

The next one, well, that’s pretty much self-explanatory…drunk people are pretty funny sometimes.

Mountain Dew FTW!

Hearing things? OoOoOoOoOo

Batman? Classic.

Saying Goodbye

Monday, June 14, 2010. That is the day one of my best friends, for a very long time, left Indiana to live in Houston, Texas. My apologies to my classmates and Beth for not making it into class today…I hope you can understand. Instead of a recap of class, seeing as I was unable to make it, I will share my thoughts and experiences of what I did instead.

My friends and I decided to celebrate his departure and safe journey to Houston, at Gray Brothers Cafeteria in Mooresville, Indiana. I woke up today with an uneasy feeling. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the source of this feeling was, until it finally hit me before I arrived at Gray Brothers Cafeteria. Upon arriving, I was one of the few first arrivals. The few that had already arrived and I, waited for the others to arrive outside the cafeteria. A few minutes later, the rest of the party arrived and we proceeded into the cafeteria. While everyone was eating and visiting, I felt as if I was sort of numb. I didn’t really feel anything, the uneasy feeling from earlier in the day had subsided. As everyone finished up eating dinner, a few of us stepped outside. Eventually, the rest of my friends made it outside. We stood around and watched as the storm rolled over Mooresville. We were out there for about two hours, chatting and watching the storm.

Everything hit me when my friend, Travis, started saying his goodbyes. He hugged his mother, it was a long hug. The kind of hug that you know means something. As Travis continued to say his goodbyes, the girls of our group started to cry…it was a very sad moment. I don’t like to see people cry, especially the people that I care about. I believe that when we cry, we are the most exposed and open and raw, we are leaving all of our emotions out in the open for everyone to see. To be completely honest, it took everything in me to hold back the feelings. Just seeing all of them crying and knowing that Travis is moving away, was tearing me up inside leaving an empty feeling.

If you can remember, one of my fears is the fear of being alone. I believe that with this fear, the feeling of “feeling empty,” go hand-in-hand. I also have another one…a fear of separation. I really didn’t want to share that one, because it roots back to my childhood along with other experiences in my life. On this day, I was facing those fears, and it hurt and still hurts.

Just before he left we took this snapshot from a cellphone.

After Travis left, the girls stood in a circle and spoke of all the good times that we all shared together over the years. They cried and held each other and it was really hard not to cry with them. We stayed right outside of the cafeteria the whole time, some of us in the rain, some not.

Shortly after that, the storm had passed, the sunlight broke through the clouds and this amazing double rainbow appeared.

After it was all said and done, we all said our goodbyes and went home.

Even though you were not there, thank you for sharing this experience with me.

B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo, Was His Name-O

You can find the original blog post here. This is the egg assignment done by Brandon Brungard. I chose his video because I like it, and because even though it was our first assignment, Brandon, did a very good job being creative without much direction from Beth. I enjoy watching stop-motion videos, especially ones that have quirky music in them. I think he did a good job with all of the sound effects and music at the end of the video. Now, on to the 50 questions. Here. We. Go.

1. What if he dropped the egg?
2. What if the music was different?
3. What if the music was from a Super Mario game?
4. What if it was done in black and white?
5. What if it was done in sepia tone?
6. What if he used mustard for the “The End”?
7. What if he used ketchup for the “by…”?
8. What if he used mayo?
9. What if it played backwards?
10. What if there was a woman’s voice for the count-down?
11. What if it was real smoke?
12. What if the colors for “USA” on the egg were inverted(switched)?
13. What if the audio was backwards?
14. What if the audio was really slow?
15. What if instead of orange juice, he had apple juice?
16. What if the plate spun the other direction?
17. What if the ‘rocket’ exploded on launch?
18. What if it was a real rocket?
19. What if there was no audio?
20. What if there was no video?
21. What if it played in super speed?
22. What if the audio was really fast?
23. What if this took place outside?
24. What if the video was longer?
25. What if the egg ‘rocket’ collided with another egg ‘rocket’?
26. What if the flames were all red?
27. What if the flames were all yellow?
28. What if the camera was stationary?
29. What if the egg ‘rocket’ never flew?
30. What if the song from the end played throughout the whole video?
31. What if this video was done by several people?
32. What if this video was done by one person?
33. What if I run out of “what if’s”? Just kidding…What if this was a commercial for the Incredible Edible Egg?
34. What if Brandon got paid for this video?
35. What if Brandon paid someone else to do this video?
36. What if the count-down counted down by twos?
37. What if the count-down started at the number 4?
38. What if the frying pan was directly above the egg ‘rocket’ so when it took off, it collided directly into the frying pan?
39. What if Brandon filmed himself eating the egg at the end?
40. What if he filmed someone else eating the egg at the end?
41. What if he filmed his dog eating the egg at the end?
42. What if there were no egg?
43. What if the chicken decided to never lay the egg?
44. What if the egg came first?
45. What if the chicken came first?
46. What if the egg came first but another creature ate the egg?
47. What if this was Brandon’s first video?
48. What if the video was shot from a digital camera?
49. What if the video was shot from a blind person’s perspective?
50. What if the video was shot from a web cam?

Where There is Light, There is Darkness [Contrast]

I define contrast to be the ratio between light and dark, similar to what is found on a television set. Also, the difference between multiple items.

The following picture is of my group’s effort to display contrast. One example of contrast in this picture is the difference in textures, from the rough crumpled foil to the  soft cotton socks. Another example is the difference between the hard, brittle leaf and the soft, fragile flower. There is also a difference in color between the leaf and the flower. As well as the socks and foil. There is one more example of contrast which is the life of the flower and the lack of life in the leaf and sticks.

In addition to what my group and I did, I also took a few snapshots with my cellphone. The following picture displays a contrast in color and textures. Also, there’s the single plant that is full of life, living in a non-living environment.

The last picture shows a contrast in color, from the green of the tree, to the brown of the bark, to the lighter brown of the mulch, and finally back to the green of the greenery. Also, there is a good example of life and death. There is a little memorial plaque beneath the tree, obviously in remembrance of a once-living individual, that is contrasted by the tree and greenery surrounding it.