I think it's easy to look at this video and say that it has a sad, depressing ending since the wind covers over everything the sand people made. But isn't that how it all came about? From nothing?
I think it speaks to how it can be scary to make art and to make something new and dear to your heart because what happens when no one likes it? Or even cares about it? It becomes a question of how much do we care about it if all that's gonna happen to our hard work is being viewed and appreciated by ourselves until it gets demolished.
Sometimes it's not even ourselves that say it's not worth our time sometimes the audience will come out and tell it to you in your face. Isn't that why we don't make art for the church? Which is truly sad because that kind of art can be really beautiful. I mean God made a creative people so why is the church afraid of us being creative? So what if you don't like it; you don't have to view it. There's a lot of other media out there.
Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! SORRY! This left my mind! I was busy with a lot of work! And that midterm paper! I am SO SORRY!
Anyways, Fredrick Back! His animated movie The Man Who Planted Trees! He told people who made animated movies that they should try better! I can agree! Not only was the animation beautiful, but the story itself was really fascinating. It is the kind of story that is environmental but doesn't shove it in your face. Which is a problem with a lot of other enviormental movies and T.V. shows (Captain Planet) which gives the viewer heavy handed views on why polluting is bad and you shouldn't do it! Which I agree with. Pollution is bad! But how many pieces of paper did you have to write to say that? And that includes scraps! Yeah...thought so. But with this movie, it's different. It presents an admittingly outlandish story, but a believable one no less.
It begins with war and destruction. Madness, chaos, anarchy, destruction, by the hands of the people who built the city they lived in. Until the town collapsed. Then years later, when it was nothing but a barren wasteland, a farmer, alone, without a family, and old, rebuilt the wasteland with acorns seeds, until many years later, it grew into a forest, rebuilding the surface from dead to full of life. Everyone recognize that, and it became a land mark. He didn't have a specific reason for doing it. He wasn't paid to do it, but he felt obligated to do so. I feel like that this is a message that we all can feel like we should adapt to. We don't have to do something, but we should if we believe in it. The farmer had this idea, and saw through it. That...is rather inspiring if you ask me.
One of the things I loved about the films Leeper showed us was how innocent it was. There wasn't really anything dark, unlike the ones by Back (which I also didn't blog about yet CRAP!) which were dark and relatively bleak, these films by Co Hoedeman was basically made to be fun. And with great animation effects as well. With Sand Castle I knew that the creatures were made out of clay, but I could imagine how frustrating the animation was for the sand itself. I mean I never animated sand and from the tour I went on for this course back when I was still registering for college last year, I could imagine how much fun that would be! But anyways, there's a bit of childlike charm with these films that I do admire. And with Tchou Tchou, painting the movements on each of the blocks would be a pain to do! Just to keep it in sync with the movements and the specific scenes with those specific blocks, I can't imagine! And with that in mind it just made the final product that much more impressive with the effects and how the final product turned out!
Not to tote my own horn, but I also did a stop-motion film back in high school. The project was a music video for whatever song a group of students chose. I worked by myself and I chose "War on War" by Wilco, because Wilco is awesome (seriously, listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot! I agree with Pitchfork, that album is a masterpiece!)! But anyways, that project was a mixture of stop-motion effects with Legos, pipe cleaners, and whatever else I could think of. It took me a long time to finish. And when it was done, I was proud with how well that turned out. And everyone else was too! Mine was literally the best one in the class! I got an A! I bring this up because I can relate to Hoedeman, at lease with animating a video. I mean it is no where near as impressive as Tchou Tchou or Sand Castles, but it did take a lot of effort to have it turn out into something great. It just goes to show how painstaking making a film can be, and how great it will turn out with the passion you can put into it.
In this post I'm talk more about the Yuri Nortstein films shown in class. Among this films shown were The Fox and the Hare, The Hedgehog and the Fog, and lastly, The Tale of Tales.
The Fox and the Hare was beautifully done, I loved the picture book style of the film and how the characters had to literally walk from picture to picture. All of this just added to the film's comedic aspect. I really enjoyed this film, and it just comes to show that there is something in children's media for all of us.
Next we have The Hedgehog and the Fog. Again, as are all of Nortstein's work, the film is visually stunning. I think it's amazing that he was able to animate the fog in such a realistic way, without the use of computer technology.
Lastly we have The Tales of Tales. I really enjoyed this film, for all the same reasons I enjoy his other films. It has amazing animation, a very moody atmosphere, beautiful imagery and composition. I have to admit that I was confused by the story, but as Prof. Leeper said, you shouldn't try to get it on the first watch through, just sit back and enjoy, which I did.
I immensely enjoyed Yuri Nortstein's work and would love to see more of him in class.
There are times when watching films causes me to have
strange abstract ideas that seemingly come from nowhere. I had one of these
experiences while watching Hedgehog in
the Fog. For some reason, watching this film made me realize that there is
such a huge cultural difference between the United States and Russia. There is
this aura of mystery surrounding Russia, an almost mystic, ancient mystery.
The
thought struck me that I want to explore this culture myself. In fact I want to
be immersed within this culture. I do not know exactly what this looks like,
but I feel that there is much that can be learned from an experience such as
this.
Continuing
on this thought of the mystery of Russian culture and art, this was definitely
evident from all of the films we saw in class on Thursday. Though the images
were sometimes disjointed, they were absolutely beautiful. The breathtaking
frescos in the first film, the majestic animals in Hedgehog in the Fog, and the mysterious eternity sequence in Tale of Tales were amazing. Though I
don’t understand the meaning of any of these films, it doesn’t matter to me. I
was just happy to be along for the ride.
Well after watching all of those movies, it is clear that
the way you get your point across is definitely up to the artist. Going from
the Man who Planted Trees on Tuesday to what we watched on Thursday. There was
a huge difference in the messages of the pieces. For me it was difficult to
engage with that last piece but it was a beautiful piece of work don’t get me
wrong.
As for how I feel coming into the mid semester, I think I am
effectively confused about many things now. I have never felt like I was
capable of making good media anyway, but now I think I really need to start
looking at things differently. I think I am not thinking deeply about my own
personal message that I want ot share with the world. I am not ready to produce
any film that is under my image for the fear that it may become like a warmed
up leftover. People have seen it done to death and no one ever wants to see
that crap again.
Hope everyone has a safe and good fall break! See ya back on
Thursday!!
A lot of our recent class topics and
current personal experiences have urged me to talk about a massively
important subject that is surprisingly often overlooked, and that is
how we have been and continue to be affected by the media we consume.
A lot of artists who work in the media like ourselves are well aware
of what movies and shows can do to us mentally (i.e. Stephen
Spielberg did not allow his children to watch his movies until they
were a certain age). Though this a topic that tends to be severely
overlooked by the general public, it is definitely a very real
occurrence.
This does not mean to say that this
issue is always bad. In fact, it is a 50-50 two-way street. Media,
when criticized, is usually given credit to people becoming evil or
overly obsessed (sometimes to the point of death), which is a huge
issue. I don't think I have to tell anyone that there is a crap load
of bad media out there. However, that shouldn't make anyone conclude
that all of it is bad, or even that the human results are necessarily
the fault of the media.
The cons of this issue are massive,
since they are the issues that we hear about the most. It's a very
tragic experience when guilty people try to blame media for what they
have done, and to a vague certain extent, it could be the truth. If
people allow media to manipulate their mindsets in dangerous manners,
people could start themselves to becoming dangerous. It is truly
amazing how media can affect us, and yet it can be so easily
overlooked by the people who produce it. Though our general mindset
has changed for the worse in this country, where we have to be told,
“don't try this at home”, there has always been a mentality that
is gained from over-consuming media.
There is only one good way to counter
this inevitable issue: Make good art. Unfortunately, we can't stop
people who make crappy art, and we can't stop people who will consume
bad media and allow it to consume them in return. But we can give
good, well-written media to the public, so that they can enjoy the
consumption of something that isn't crap. Please don't think that I'm
saying our art has to be wholesome Christian-community-like media,
because that isn't what I mean at all. Just make good art, no matter
what.
I'd like to take a moment to get
personal with this topic, and mention the pros. In the most recent
couple of years of my life, I have had to deal with many difficulties
that were life-changing and hard to handle. Unfortunately, a road to
mental and emotional recovery isn't something that is easily balanced
during college (go figure). Cartoon media has always been a huge part
of my life, as well as a decent amount of film.
However, I have never had a show legitimately help me in life as much as Supernatural.
At
this point, you're probably thinking something along the lines of,
“Oh crap, this crazy-ass die hard fanatic is about to tell us all
about how her tv show obsession changed her life.”
I
know the fan base for this show is insane, but just a heads up: In my
situation, that's not the case at all.
One
of the main characters in this show is a character by the name of
Dean Winchester, a young man who loves his car, loves classic rock,
and has a cut-throat, shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude. He
would die for his family, and protects his younger brother Sam with
his life. Oh, and loves bacon cheeseburgers.
The
honest truth is that I am exactly like Dean Winchester. Seriously.
The only differences between us are that he is male, he fights
supernatural monsters, and I like my jackets with hoods.
If you ever want to get to know me as a person before meeting me, just watch
a few episodes. He is the male version of me.
When
I first started watching this show, I was shocked because of how much
I related to him as I continued getting to know this character. I
have never connected with a character from any story like I have with
this, and it made me uneasy and cautious. But as I accepted/embraced
it, it helped me in the weirdest way.
In
my recent years, I have had to deal with a lot of death, something I
have a very hard time dealing with. I apologize if this topic makes
anyone uncomfortable, but I am used to speaking about it. In the past
4 years, I've lost my uncle, my father, my cousin, my aunt, and 2
close family friends, the most recent passing away last week. But how
does this relate to Supernatural, you ask?
For
those of you who watch this show, you know that Dean Winchester deals
with a massive array of death of close friends and family quite
often, most of the time losing them in horrible ways. As I've
observed the way he deals with these constant situations, it has
overwhelmingly helped me deal with death in such a better way than I
have been dealing with it the past. Those who are around me have noticed this as well, commenting on how watching this show has
helped me mentally since I now have a character I can emotionally
connect and relate to. I've been through what they've been
through, and see how they deal with these situations.
There are many situations where people have had a similar occurrences happen to them with a character they connected with. So, though you
may think I'm nuts, this show has legitimately raised my emotional
stability as a person through the actions and personality of one
character that I can relate to, and partially (VERY partially) look
up to. I feel like, as a rising generation media creators, we should strive write great
stories and characters that have the potential to help people like
Dean Winchester has helped me. Plus, he's funny as hell in real life,
too.
After our past intro class that hit on
the topic of biblical artwork, it provoked me to bring up a topic
that my former Doctrine of the Christian Life class hit on last
semester: modern portrayals of Christ in art. But I wanted to take it
a step further, and talk about what we should do with the Christian
artwork we see.
I mostly targeted street art, since
that is normally the type of modern artwork that is the most raw. I
did grab others as well. Some were silly, like these:
The silly ones oddly enough have an
interesting message to them, even though their main point is to poke
fun at Christianity. They're also wildly creative, which makes them
even more interesting to look at.
Some of them were beautiful:
These are beautiful depictions of
Christ make you stop in your tracks and stare in awe at their
magnificence; however they are merely beautiful. They do indeed tell
a story, and there is an old message to these that has been told in a
million different ways over the centuries. But they do not invoke
change, they exist to reiterate what is already there.
Then, there were the powerful images:
Woah, what have I stumbled upon and
why have I not been smited, huh? When I found these images, they
rocked me in a powerful way. The ones out of this that hit hardest
are the materialistic Jesus and Mary. What a shocking realization to
see that this is how a decent portion of the world views us. Are we
really seen as money-hungry materialists?
When we see the big problems taking
place in the world, sometimes our first go-to question is to ask,
“Lord, where are you?” when in fact the answer is staring us back
in the face, with a metaphorical image of Christ pointing at you and
saying, “I'm right here”. As Christians, we are called to be the
hands and feet of Jesus, to do His work and care for those who are
struggling. You will always have those who create art like this out
of misguided hatred and bitterness of youth, and being a Christian is
not a popular trait these days. But on a larger, generalized scale,
what image of ourselves are we portraying as Christians in order for
others to see us this way?
A
current issue that has been facing the art industry for many years,
and still has difficulty keeping it's footing held in the doorway is
a point that can not logically be argued against: video games as a
form of art and storytelling. Video games are highly underestimated
as a legitimate art form, especially among older generations. What
the skeptics don't seem to see is the amazing storytelling
experiences that keep the viewer alert and alive through the ability
to interact and control.
“Indeed,
video games may be the most immersive medium of all, in Melissinos’
estimation. ““In books, everything is laid before you,” he
says. “There is nothing left for you to discover. Video games are
the only forms of artistic expression that allow the authoritative
voice of the author to remain true while allowing the observer to
explore and experiment.””
- Chris
Melissinos, guest
curator of “The Art of Video Games,” exhibition at the
Smithsonian When
watching a film or reading a book, the entire story, as stated, is
laid out for you, which is all fine and good, and most stories are
told this way. This way of storytelling is timeless and beautiful.
However, the ability to be able to control the character without
necessarily turning the story for a loop allows you to be in the main
characters' shoes. Interaction can put you into the story, and in to
the lives of those people your character develops relationships with,
therefore making you feel close to the characters around your
character as well. Talk about being in someone else's shoes.
Stories
in video games are often critiqued for being shallow or “brain
numbing”, but as studies show, it is quite the contrary. Not only
do you gain improved hand-eye coordination and reaction time through
play, but also become immersed in a different world of artistic
creation and culture. Granted, there are the occasional games such as
'Grand Theft Auto' that do not fit into this category, but one piece
of art that you don't like shouldn't cause you to never look at art
again.
These
are screen shots taken from the highly accredited video game 'Okami'.
In this game, you play as the Japanese wolf goddess and reiterate an
artistic take of the ancient story told for hundreds of years in
Japanese lore. As you can also see, the art style of the video game
is completely based on Japanese ancient art and inking, which is a
huge chunk of why it is so highly acclaimed. Plus, you get to play as
a Japanese goddess! You gain the ability to revive dead trees, turn
the
sky from day to night, and slice through bad guys with a
calligraphy brush. How cool is that?!
Have
you ever wanted to take a tour of the ancient 11th century
Holy Land? How about Italy during the Renaissance, the 13 colonies
during the Revolutionary War, or be a pirate on the seas of 1770's
Caribbean? Assassin's Creed is definitely the game for you. This
video game series was created by a multifaceted team with many
different faiths and beliefs, all sharing an immense knowledge of
historical world truth. Besides slight tweaks that are made in order
for your experiences with known historical figures to be improved,
these games are extremely historically accurate, and worthy of being
fact-checked multiple times to make sure. As I mentioned, there are
few inaccuracies to improve the gaming experience, but for the most
part, the historical and artistic beauty of these games is
overwhelming. You also will meet and build relationships with
historical figures such as Da Vinci, George Washington, Benjamin
Franklin, and Black Beard. What isn't awesome about this?!
The
picture on the left is a birds-eye view of Constantinople's Imperial
North Port, 14th
century. On the right is a picture of an elderly couple that was
posted by their grandson, with this to say:
“My
grandparents love Venice so I let them play assassins creed 2. They
took it in turns to just row a gondola around for over an hour.”
Games
like these hold amazing stories and unbelievable immersion in the
world of artistic knowledge, brought to the table by talented
individuals bent on giving you entertainment, as well as a fantastic
interactive experience. This
is not a visual form that should be feared or underestimated as
mind-numbing time wasters. This is a legitimate form of art and story
that should be used for good and as a benefit to the modern art
world.
Today we watched three animated shorts by Russian artist
Yuri Norstein. Even if I hadn’t been told the films were made in Russia, the
style of the films displayed a prominent feeling of eastern European art. It’s
fascinating for me to watch. I love how Norstein kept the style of animation
like that of a book illustration, and for its time and location, it was
probably very complex to create.
I wonder if children
from this day and age would respond to the films the same way they did back
when they were made. I mean, it wasn’t
that long ago, but animation has changed so much. I wonder if American children
and Russian children would have different or similar opinions on the films.
This could be an interesting psychological study.
I’ve seen other movies in
Russian, but for the most part they remind me of American cartoons, maybe a
little cheesier because it’s in Russian, but still the same quality. In my
opinion, because everything is done on the computers now, it cheapens the heart
of animation. Time is money after all. That’s why it was so refreshing to see
something like this. You know Norstein had his heart in it; it clearly shows.
Wow. It’s hard to believe that we are already half way
through this semester.I thought I’d
take this time to reflect on this class as a whole.Tuesdays and Thursdays have been very helpful
to me, because in this time I’m being exposed to different types of art. Art
that is, literally, foreign to me. I would say that prior to this class I’ve
watched no more than five foreign films in my life. In my life I have had very little exposer to foreign
art, but I’m glad that now in this class I have had the opportunity to watch films
produced in other countries. Watching these films remind me that there are artist
everywhere around the world, not just in the United States, and that we are not
the only ones with stories to tell. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Professor
Leeper is going to show us in the next half of the semester.
I was completely blown away by the work of Yuri Norstein, his artistry is nothing short of beautiful. One of my favorite films of his shown in class is The Battle of Kerzhenel. The
film was visually stunning, haunting, and brilliantly scored. I loved
how Norstein used old artwork to bring this very simple and very
beautiful story to life. Now you may asks me, what is so beautiful about
a film where everyone dies at the end? Well it's the way they die. They
die in the process of defending their loved ones. I don't know about
you, but if I could choose a way to die, it would be in this manner. So
far, out of all of the foreign films I've seen, which sadly isn't a lot,
this is the one that stick out to me the most. Every single element of the
film came beautifully together and formed a piece of art.
The films that we watched today were really fun to watch and gave us a different aspect of each of the artists' work. Some were dark, others were funny, and they all told a beautiful story in a wonderful way. The Battle at Kerzhenets was really beautiful in the beginning and a little sad when you see the women's faces when the men were going into battle, many of them probably knew that they would never see those men again after that day. Mary and the Christ child to me became a symbol of hope and courage for the men who were fighting the battle. Though it became very dark when the battle started.
The Fox and the Hare was a very cute children's story that involved a hare, a fox, and a rooster. The rare is sad due to the fact that the fox kicked him out of his own home and took it for herself. The rooster helped the hare get his home back and they live happily ever after. I guess the lesson that little kids would get from this film is to fight for what rightfully belongs to that person. A definite must watch for kids and adults of all ages just for the fun of it, or to watch the rooster kick the fox's butt out of the hare's home.
Hedgehog in the Fog is one of my favorite film and is a really cute story of how a hedgehog has a little adventure in the fog. Seeing the hedgehog's reaction of seeing everything differently in the fog allows us to see the perspective of what a child thinks is hiding in the fog. I'm sorry Alex, but the owl reminded me of you too much, all the owl needed was a red hoody, glasses, and a cast on a wing and we have the Alex owl.
Tale of Tales was very beautiful in it's own way and felt like a lullaby being told on the screen that made it seem more dreamlike than anything else in this film. In a way all of our dreams and imaginations are just like the film, it's crazy and strange, but in the end is beautiful in its own way.
