Carrie

Last night, my roommate and my good friend Dillan watched the movie Carrie which is a re-make from a 1976 classic film. As we were watching Carrie last night, we were strongly against the entire film, because, the finale of the film did not add much of anything new at all for example; the only thing that happened that was explosive was when Carrie went on a rampage. Also, another reason that I myself did not appreciate the re make of the 1976 thriller was because, of the lack of excitement. I would not say it was a terrible film, but it is defiantly not what I was expecting.

Short Films

Today's class was really interesting, yeah I probably say this a lot but I couldn't help but to smile during the Sand Castle film as well as the Tchou Tchou one to. They both held a very innocent feature as well as an understanding to the reality as well. Like when the wind would blow the sand around their new sand house or when the dragon came after the two children's playhouse they both held a small darkness in them. But they also had some comedy as well like when the three legged drunk was walking around while laughing and as the children were able to ride the dragon in the end.

The one I really liked was the last film, the man plating trees. It just brought to mind that no matter how hard it may seem when you're trying to conquer your goal just keep pressing on. But don't do it in a rushed pattern rather in a peaceful one like the Shepard did as he planted thousands and thousands of trees changing the deserted land to a paradise in the end.

   

Troubled Child

A while ago we watched a film with a child that was mean and angry. The child did everything a child shouldn't do, from drawing on the walls to destroying a teddy bear. Then at the end the mother came home and she was happy. I personally connected to this film because when I was growing up my parents weren't around a whole lot, especially in high school. I started to go down some very bad paths. Luckily my youth pastor helped influence me to become a better person for God. After I accepted Jesus as my savior I realized that some of my bad choices were my friends. They had begun to get into drinking, drugs, and sex. I quickly realized that I needed to find some new friends. The unfortunate part is that at that point I was a Junior in high school. Most of the friends I had were friends I've had since elementary school. So for the second half of high school I didn't really have any friends. Going into college I was afraid this would happen again and now that I'm here at Huntington I have more friends than I could ask for and I am extremely grateful.

Sandcastle

Sandcastle was very creative. I thought the sound effects fit perfectly with the entire plot. The little man thing that popped out of the sand was pretty creepy in my opinion.. although it kept me interested to see what was going to happen next. He created this weird pet thing that rolled away which was pretty humorous. He also created a starfish, or so that is what it looked like. The little piggy he created was cute and made me smile. This film was overall very strange, but I enjoyed the creativity that took place to think of something like this. The three legged creature was definitely the funniest and very derpy. It reminded me of Looney Tunes and I could not help but laugh.I feel like this guy who started out at the beginning was the main creator of new life that began to create other things.. He kind of resembled the role of God. Perhaps this was done on purpose based on Genisis. 

A Kid Again

The other day we watched kid videos and one of them was about a girl who did not listen to her parents and did whatever she wanted to until her grandfather came and took her to some religious holiday and she was excited because she got to throw color in people's face! Then they quickly ran home and sat at the dinner table as the parents arrived and they sat there as if they never left. Another was a girl who threw a tantrum and by the end she was lovey.

I can reflect on this because I remeber not listening to my parents when I was little and always had my grandparents coming over. When the grandparent came that's when we'd break the rules and be crazy haha like go get ice cream. And after watching those videos it brought me back to being a kid! 

Smile it's a baby😊

So age appropriate? Nah it's Good for them!!

So since we are talking about children's media in intro to DM I thought I would talk about things as a child.  Lets be specific age appropriate things.  So I had this weird phase that my mom quickly took me out of thank God!  Which was regulating what I should watch.  I had this weird idea of maturity or maybe that as a child I should watch what was right for my age group.  Which in a way took more of a christian view on things.
During that time period where I did this stupid thing of in reality kind of shutting myself off to the world I saw the show Chicago for the first time.  I was maybe around the end of second grade and our teacher who would pick what was appropriate which meant no toilet humor.  Yeah she didn't let us do fart jokes... Oh yeah I went to a catholic school.  Just thought I would help clear that up.  So we went to see it at a local theater.  The show was fantastic, very well done which was no real surprise.  But one of the style elements of the show is that all the women are in Burlesque style outfits because they are becoming essentially the sex symbols and celebrities of the show through the news.  The show is about women who killed their lovers and are in jail because of it.  The show follows Roxie who just killed the man she has been cheating with behind her husbands back.  She goes to jail and through the news becomes famous through her trial and it is all set in the 1920's.  So it deals with some racy things.  Usually I was mature about these things and have been ever since but then.  Afterwards I would only focus on the use of basically underwear for costumes and the sexual things saying it was inappropriate.  When in reality I sort of didn't agree with it.  I had cell block tango and mr. Cellophane in my head.
So after a little my mom got pissed off at this since she knew I was more mature than this and decided to shut me up about this.  So she told me that she would actually start adhering to the rules of film ratings soon that meant I could not watch spider-man anymore or other superhero movies I was allowed to watch.  I obviously realized very soon that entertainment got very boring and very fast.  So I snapped out of that phase.  I watched things and took it for what it was.  I didn't know what it was I asked and my parents were straight forward about it.  No matter what which is what children need parents to do instead of denying it's existence.  Only by learning and accepting it as children can we as adults accept things as adults.

 
Dat was my mom!

"Isn't that show made for little girls?"

Talking about high quality children's media on Thursday was awesome for me. I've always been one to enjoy a kids tv show or movie if it is well made. I don't care if I'm not the target audience, I don't care if it's got a little kid's lesson in it, I want to support and enjoy well crafted art.

One show in that category of high quality children's media that I enjoy is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

I know how some of you are going to react…

Come on, guys, just give me a chance to explain! ;O;

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (which I'll start referring to as MLP in the interest of typing and reading time) is a kids show that airs on Hub Network. It is the 4th generation of the franchise as a whole and its rework is the brainchild of Laura Faust, animator on The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Wander Over Yonder (all works of Craig McCracken, her husband). 

This show's target audience started as 4-11 year old girls, but has transformed due to the wide variety of people that enjoy the show's wit and quality animation. 

The show has extremely well written songs, complex characters and development, and interesting and original plots. Faust took part in the creation of the show to show that "cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness." (A quote of Faust's from the wikipedia page about the show.)

So what did Faust and Hasbro receive for striving for diversity and quality in a "little girl's tv show?" They got a huge and unexpected audience, excited to support something they enjoyed and something that they thought was a positive creation. This fan base is often referred to as the "brony" community, made up of adult men and women who really enjoy the show.

A lot of people think that its super weird that adults (especially guys) love the show. I know a lot of people in this room think that its weird. But when did it become so "gross" or "messed up" for people to support something that they think is well made and awesome? If you've ever watched the show, you have to admit there's something there. If you haven't watched the show, I'll tell you a good episode to start with and please, give it a try. If only to appreciate the work of a group of really talented, dedicated artists.

Though I don't expect you to be quite this excited about it.

Yes, there is a lot of weird stuff in the fan base too. I'm not saying that stuff is okay, but please, don't judge the show or anyone who loves it based on 1. the radical outliers that make it seem messed up, 2. the "target demographic" of the show or 3. anything you know about the old MLP franchise.

This is real art we're talking about here. And this art is acting and reacting with society in a very real way. And that's important.

How to Become a Good Parent

Is it really worth censoring what kids' watch? Is it really protecting them or conforming what we believe in?

I'm under the belief that having kids watch rather heavy material for their age is a good thing since it allows the child (or in this case children) to view these things in a manner where they learn why this thing that they saw is bad. Now I'm not saying we should have kids watch movies like Pulp Fiction, Schindler's List, or 12 Years of Slave, or even straight up pornography for that matter! I'm just saying that filmmakers or T.V. production staffs should not shy away from darker and challenging material. Because if kids are fed with crap that adults think they should watch is in quite frank honestly bullcrap!

Remember the movie Duel? The short movie that Leeper showed us in class on Thursday? That is my point. Kids should learn these things on their own or at lease have them seek out to understanding what it is rather than have it crammed into us in the hopes that they will learn from what the school systems teach them in order to become a proper citizen. In our media, especially for children, creators, executives, writers, animators, practically anyone in the entertainment industry should not pander to the kid demographic!

Now that isn't saying that censoring things is not a bad idea. Keeping things in bounds with an age demographic is a good idea, but it is often misused to have it be what the adults think kids should watch rather than what kids should or want to watch. I wouldn't have an episode of Adventure Time! that has Finn and Jake fight off a Mexican drug cartel! And I'm not saying that kids programs now-a-days suck. Because unlike a lot of other people (especially on the blogs nudge nudge wink wink) I do feel like there are good things for children on TV and in the movies. Gravity Falls, Legend of Korra, How to Train Your Dragon 2, good stuff! I'm just saying don't be hard on the entertainment industry for kids. Get your hands dirty!

IT'S ADVENTURE TIME!!!

The first time I saw Adventure Time advertise several years ago, I thought it looked a little weird and probably wasn't very good. However, after watching a few episodes I was hooked. I think Prof. Leeper was spot on with what makes Adventure Time so unique: its randomness and unpredictability that makes stop and think, "What the heck just happened?"

On paper, a show about a 14 year old boy who fights evil with his adopted brother (who is a magic dog), lives in a land filled with people made of candy, has friends that include a talking video game system and a 1000 year old half vampire/half demon, who dates a princess that's made of fire, and has an archenemy that's an ice wizard who lives with dozens of penguins named Gunter doesn't sound like something that would work, but somehow it does. Another thing I think that makes it special is how my little sister (whose 14 years younger than me) and I can enjoy it together, and both get something different from it. She loves it for the bright colors and outrageous antics, and while I also enjoy the randomness, I also like when it takes a more serious tone, like when it explains some of the post-apocalypitc backstory of the land of Ooo.

The only annoying thing about the show is that the cool backstory episodes are few and far between, leaving the viewer hanging for weeks on end. I haven't watched the new episodes in a while, so maybe some of the missing info has been filled in.

Who would have thought this shot was from the same show as the others?

Lately, it seems like a lot of new shows on other networks are trying to copy this formula (I'm looking at you, Nickelodeon), yet none seem to be as successful as Adventure Time.

Because I really love Cartoon Network....

FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGiNARY FRiENDS

Oh yes, but another sweet children's TV show. Foster's is a great show that relates to many children who have ever made up an imaginary friend or even played pretend with action figures or dolls. This is personally one of my favorites due to cheese, blue's "brother." Cheese is so random and much like a toddler, he is very hard not to love. Sometimes he talks about cereal as well as chocolate milk. It is quite entertaining and I wish they aired this TV show more often. Who does not love the comical standpoint and light atmosphere of Foster's anyway?

Pokémon

Another great series from Cartoon Network is the famous Pokémon. This falls more in the category of anime than cartoon; however, I grew up with this show as a kid and I absolutely loved it. I still enjoy it to this day, but I play the videogame more than watch the show. This gets children interested by the realistic plots of villains versus kids their age. They battle with their captured "pets" and set out on journeys all on their own. They also meet friends on the way and create a lot of memories. It also shows true relationships between friends. I truely am a big fan of Pokémon and I never want to see it die out!

Gone Girl

     Over the weekend some friends and I went to see Gone Girl in theaters. We all thought it was one of the craziest and most suspenseful movies we had ever seen. This is also taking into account that none of us had read the book, so we had no idea what was about to happen. The great story line only added to the suspense and drama that kept us on the edge of our seats. I won’t go into detail about the plot of the movie other than that a man is accused of killing his missing wife. I think that going to see this movie without knowing too much about it only adds to its value.

     One thing that really sold the suspense to me was the acting job of the wife and missing girl, Amy Dunne. This character was played by Rosamund Pike and she did an absolutely incredible job. Ben Affleck also did a great job as Nick Dunne, but the reason the movie was so convincing and suspenseful was because of Pike’s stellar job. I would highly recommend people to go see this movie while it is out in theaters especially since the effect of the film is only heightened on the big screen.  

People’s art

Art is definitely people’s perception of what they like. I personally will try to keep an open mind with it all. But I do not believe that people should sit a just complain about stuff they don’t like. As Leeper said in class, if you don’t like it, keep moving and shut up. You can’t please everyone, not by a long shot. Artists have the toughest critics in the world just because there is no real standard for what people want and what they don’t. That is something unique to every person.

The way people show off their art as well is something that is to be desired as well. They will stick their necks out and just hope and pray that people like it and if no one does then they are dead in the water. How they keep things moving, I have no idea. Their art is their life, and they are sticking it out and hoping that it can support them to go forward. It’s just awesome and scary to think about. If people don’t like it, then either you make something else or you find something different to do. I personally fear that I will end being that second one. 

Children Media in today’s Light

The media programming for children today is just crap to be blunt. I don’t think all of it is but I think its heading there. If our next generation is supposed to be the next big thing, then why are they absorbing the bad media? I honestly never really grew up with Saturday morning cartoons, again farm kid, I have always just been shown the PBS educational stuff and I think it was just beyond dry. But then again, I have seen the polar opposite as well so…. I guess this is just becoming a war over ratings and who can get more people to tune in.

Looney tunes, Disney animated tunes, all of them! You never really see them anymore and I think it’s kind of sad today. The way things are accessed as well is definitely becoming more of a “watch whatever whenever”. The internet is becoming king and it’s not really going to change. I just hope that their media will not become something to cringe at like some of the other stuff the world puts out. Children can be talked to from a higher level of understanding, but talk with them and not at them. Create some things for them.

Saturday Morning Cartoons Gone.

September 4th marked the first Saturday in almost 50 years that there were no Saturday morning cartoons aired on TV.
This Cartoon channels stilled show cartoons, but TV networks that used to show cartoons as part of their block did not show them. Why is this?
Cable TV, Netflix, Hulu, and every other internet streaming service. The internet truly is taking over the media world. But is this such a bad thing?
I don't think it is. Some would argue that it's terrible that Saturday morning cartoons are gone. But the world is moving forward, and Saturday morning cartoons, just like every media outlet was a phase. Technology is moving towards the internet, so why shouldn't the era of Saturday Cartoons be over? They had their time, and it was a good run.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Writing for My Niece

I'm not particularly into children's media, but I would be lying if I said I didn't think about it from time to time. The main reason that I think about movies and shows made for kids is because of this little munchkin.



This is my niece, and I'm usually the one that watches her when I go home. She loves stories and she loves telling them. Her favorite games are games of pretending; watching her play and have her toys talk to each other and our family is one of the treats I get when I go home.

Her love of stories extends to the shows and movies that she watches. If something we're watching gets boring to her, she'll start ignoring the movie and do her own thing. I've noticed that what she's most interested in (the shows that have her leaning forward and entranced) are the ones that seem to balance the focus of the show on action and relationships. For example, she loves My Little Pony. She can name every character in that show and always asks to watch it. That show seems to have a lot more standing and talking than other kids shows, but she eats it up.

This little girl is the one I would write for if I were to create a children's show, film, or short, and her desires are different than what I've seen people say that kids want. I've heard people say that kids only get pulled in by the action, the music, the images of a show. But not this kid (well except the music. She knows so many Disney songs by heart). She loves tales of girls being friends and saving to day together. I have to wonder if making something for this one girl could grow into making something that many kids would fawn over. I'm not sure if I could take it that far, but I know that the next time I see her I'll be showing her some Miyazaki to see her reactions.