New playlist2

Music's link

http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/6c4149bc7212a590d86c8ee20a555138

Week 3B

The comment to Maggie Mitchell:

A nice soundscape!

The reverb guitar sound creates an engaging emotion for listeners. It also give listeners a sense of distance and movement because the volume and repeated guitar melody. The similar guitar melody had been put into right order to create some kind of familiar but loss feeling, which is a good foreshadow of your targeted emotion, anticipation. In the middle of the soundscape, you have some kind of beats come into the music, which create a tension, also hook and imply your theme again. Your continuation goes a different but smooth way. I like your transitions. I do like your directionality as well. The music gave me a very clearly directive feeling because you separated the sound tracks. There is part of your soundscape your beats and guitar take turn to be played. When the beats are playing, the guitar fades out. When the guitar comes to play, the beats fade out. Then, they both come back together. Such technique will give me a feeling of unknown, which gets my attention to keep listening. The proximity of the interchange playing was controlled right enough. Neither too much nor too little.

I like your soundscape! It is a good one with brilliant ideas in it.

http://maggiemitchellmedia.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape.html?showComment=1303081760050#c222

The comment to Morgan Messenheimer,

Your soundscape is really professional! It is amazing! I don’t what your assigned theme is, but I definitely will guess it is something makes people feel creepy or some kind of scary emotion.

The heavy and shaky sound in the beginning perfectly set up a tone for your soundscape. I feel like you have few layers of soundtracks in the beginning. I can’t tell what kind of sound you used, but the way you manipulated the volume and proximity of each sound gave me a deep feeling in my visualization, which give me a sense of distance and movement as well. It sure goes well with the fog in your picture. In the middle of your soundscape, you have bell in it. It is genius to add bell in it at that time, because I didn’t expect a bell sound in it since the bell sound is different, not similar with, the sounds you used at the first part of the soundscape. The bell sound also strengthens your targeted emotion you want the listeners feel. You have great continuation. I can’t tell the name of that kind of sound, but you repeated used in your soundscape. I want to say you have a great control at the proximity of when repeat that sound and when make that sound fades out.

An excellent soundscape.

http://morgansmedia203blog.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape-project.html?showComment=1303083195545#c2033497661995109918

The comment to Lucas Slykerman:

It is an awesome soundscape. So far, I can only tell most of people present us the knowledge they learned from the class. You and your partner not only tell the techniques you learned, but also gifted something many people don’t have in their soundscapes, the story.

The sound elements you used, which are very different from each other. You have a good use the proximity of heartbeats and whisper sound. The contrast of steady heart beats and the thunder gave me a feeling of distance. The violin is melodic. Your use of violin is beautiful because it unconsciously strengthens my uncomfortable, sad and anxious feeling.

I like how you guys add the cops’ car alarm sound. You pause it a little bit but then continues. It is that part of soundscape extremely makes me feel like there is a story in your soundscape.

You two are very good at manipulating the space of the soundscape through the volumes of your sounds and different sounds. Also, the violin gives me a sense of movement as well.

But I will suggest you guys to increase the thunder sound and have your violin melody right after the shocking thunder sound rather than have these two together. So the thunder sound is breaking the steady and quiet heartbeats sound.

A great work!

http://slykerman.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-playlist2.html?showComment=1303084954124#c3826773662313189492

Week 3A

I Only Have Eyes For You

My love must be a kind of blind love


I can't see anyone but you


Are the stars out tonight


I don't know if it's cloudy or bright


I Only Have Eyes For You, dear



The moon maybe high


But I can't see a thing in the sky


I Only Have Eyes For You



I don't know if we're in a garden


Or on a crowded avenue



You are here (You are here)


So am I (So am I)


Maybe millions of people go by


But they all disappear from view


And I Only Have Eyes For You

              Flamingos

VS

Frank Sinatra

I Only Have Eyes for You was firstly played in 1934 at the movie Dames. Since then, other singers had covered this song for more than 50 times. I picked the version sang by the Flamingos and Frank Sinatra. These two versions were both produced in 1960s ish. Flamingos’ version was produced in 1959 and Sinatra’s Version was produced in 1965, or 1962. However, Sinatra’s version sounds more like a 1930’s music style.

These two songs have the same lyrics and the basic melody. These two elements haven’t been changed, but the musical qualities have changed a lot through many aspects. For the timbre, as we can see in the video, in Sinatra’s versions, there was an orchestra playing the music but only one electronic guitar and drums in Flamingos’ version. I feel like they used shakers but I am not that sure since the sound quality of the video is not that good. But definitely, Sinatra’s version has a more complex timbre. Both of these two versions have quite steady and regular rhythms and very similar intensity, but I think Flamingos’ version could be a little softer since his version more sounds like flirting or telling his love to the listener. Due this reason, Flamingos’ version has a slower tempo than Sinatra’s version.  Also, Flamingos’ version has a higher pitch than the other one. Both of these two versions are very in ordered, although Sinatra’s version has an orchestra accompanying his singing.

I really like both versions, but I will prefer Flamingos’ version. His version sounds more happy and sweet. Sinatra’s version is a great song for some nice and theme restaurants, which can create relax and some kind of sweet emotions for the listeners. With the same lyrics and basic melody, the English Singer Martina Topley-Bird’s version is quite sad. Topley-Bird has a very charming voice. But her version makes me feel she is singing to laugh at herself about the “blind love”. It is no longer a sweet love song in her version. However, Flamingos totally gave me another feelings. The slow tempo and rhythemic melody gave me a sweet feeling. It is like the singer is repeatedly telling his sweet and happy love through the song.

Also, just feel interesting, there are covered songs back in China as well. There is a very classical love song called ”The moon represents my heart” sang by Teresa Teng in the 80s. She was the Queen of pop music at that time, but sadly, she passed away in 90s. 

Teresa Teng

VS

David Tao

Two decades later of that song, a Taiwanese R&B singer, David Tao, covered that song into another version, which became a popular song right after the song was released. Since Tao grew up in US, so many of his songs are very similar to American music but in this song, Tao combined Chinese pop music style and American pop music style. Tao changed the name of the song to “The moon represents whose heart”. It is interesting to see how Tao add some traditional Chinese instruments in his version but also has a little bit of light rock or pop music style in it. Tao only used the classical part of the old song melody and lyrics in his new version. The old version is a sweet positive love song, which basically meant my love is like moon, which will always be there. But Tao turns that statement into a question, whose love will be like moon, which will always be there. It is very interesting to change people’s ideas through Tao’s way. He made it successfully.

New playlist

New playlist

Week 2

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl

People may think being a creative person is not easy; after all, many of us stick with almost the exactly same daily routine, follow the general rules and there is no need and space for us to change or to be different, or creative. Then, we gradually lose our ability to try something new in different aspects. I guess, Flaum wants to use the story to evoke our internal authentical howl.  Just as in the story, Mumon has to learn what he thought he couldn’t do by sacrificing other things. For us, the internal authentical howl maybe is the creative ability. We have to re-learn the creative ability we are gifted to have but we lost in the middle of way since we believe we can’t do, then, we lost the ability of can-do.

Later, Flaum talked about his childhood classmate’s tiger story, which suggests the way how we, common people, feel about life in this real world. The tiger in the cage of the zoo can never escape from the cage. When the story applies to real world,  There are “us” who create the cage to imprison ourselves in different ways, because the cages gradually become part of us, so that the cages prevent us doing tons of things we used to be able to do. It makes sense because this is how we’re limited, trapped by ourselves. In order to break these, I agree with Flaum, we have to dig deeply to the ground of how and why these “cages” are built, which is sort of digging how we gradually have our different ideologies to prevent, or obstacle, our abilities.

I guess most of times, we didn’t even realized we are in the cages because this is the way how we live all the time. Flaum’s article is a alarm to me wake up my consciousness of my own “cage”.

Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.

Dance like no one's watching.

Sing like no one's listening.

Live like there's no tomorrow.

Fear like a stone.

This is more like a poem, but each individual line is so impressive to me at the very first time I heard about it. How many of us are working just because we need the paycheck? How many of us afraid to start a new relationship just because we were hurt in the past? How many of us hate dancing just because we scary about people’s judgments toward our shape or movements? How many of us stop singing because we pay attention on other people’s opinions toward us?

Thinking carefully, there are more things we don’t do because all kinds of excuses. But this poem gives us an answer of the root of why we are not doing thing correctly, the fear. This fear forms a cage for us and become part of us so that we even have such fear exists in our own worlds. Hopefully, this poem can encourage more people to pursue their goals without fearing too much. 


my audio link
http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/f565a7d4fe986089a7c2110c7a501143

Week 1 1A

My creativity works when I am happy. A blue day probably will not wake up the creativity in my brain. But, to be honest, I have very limited creativity. I guess it is because, a lot of times, I find out my imaginations do not fit into this realistic world. It is very sad to see how the real world works in a totally different way than I thought. All of sudden, all the stories I wrote are not valuable because people are too realistic to appreciate naive stories. 

I enjoy to talk with people who are in my age or older than me. I feel their perspectives and ideas keep inspiring me and giving me sparks when I am creating my stories or generating my own perspectives. My peers are really telling me what common people are thinking so that I can avoid some kind of naiveness in my nature when I am creating something. 

Claude Monet is my favorite impressionist painter. This is one of his most famous paintings, Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. 

This is a view from Monet's private water-lily garden. He has a series of paintings of his garden from different views during different seasons. Among those paintings, this is the most impressive one to me. At the very first time I saw this painting, I was so amazed by Monet's techniques of using the similar colors to draw the layers in the painting that represent the real garden.

It is very easy to make mistakes by using similar colors which will confuse the readers as well. The affinity of green colors is also a challenge for people to carefully appreciate this painting. Light green, dark green, medium green, all these green colors are just right enough to make readers feel the pleasant summer in the painting. Also, contrasting with colors for other objects in the painting, including water lilies and the bridge, the green colors seem overwhelming but even more essential than people expect. The usage of other colors kind of neutralize the overwhelming green colors. 

I definitely appreciate Monet's guts of using similar colors, which encourages me to create on topics that people have already used for many times, because, even they are the similar topics (or similar colors), as long as I have the right technique of using them, I can make a good story or a nice creation anyway. 

Joe Hisaishi, a Japanese composer, probably is the most talent and gifted composer in my perspective. He has been composing music for movies and Japanese animations over twenty years. Hisaishi is not only good at matching the story with the perfect music, obviously, he is good at using the concepts we talked in MDIA 203 class, such as tension and release. 

In this One Summer's Day, there times that tempi are apparently faster than their following parts. The beginning goes quite slow, that gives listeners a peaceful feeling, a beautiful release. At 3:24, the tempo starts to go faster, which creates a sort of tension, then the tempo goes slow again to give listeners another release. Those kinds of techniques are appearing in his music all the time. A lot of times, his music is more than the example of using these techniques but a gorgeous sound from heaven. The repeated cycle of fast and slow tempo keep catching listeners' attention and giving the repeated tension and release. 

James Cameron, the director of Titanic, did a great job on Titanic, though I fail to appreciate Avatar that much. I am sure people knowTitanic and, maybe even stereotype this movie. We can't deny the huge success this movie enjoyed when it was released at a global market level. 

here are many touching details and moments that used those concepts we talked in class. The very first one I remember deeply is a scene a old man hugs his wife on bed when water flows under their bed. That is a two or three seconds scene. It goes really fast but it already includes all the information we need. By that time, audiences already know the ship is about to sink and almost every one is trying to get on the lifeboats but there are not enough lifeboats, meanwhile, people from first class have the priority to get on boats first, which means, people from second class or third class don't even have the chance to get on dock. The old couple, who automatically give up the chance to survive, who peacefully wait for their death, now appear in this scene then cut to other people. The texthere is the couple hugs on the bed. Then, what about the subtext? It can be diverse, depending on audiences' personal opinions. I will argue the subtext has multiple meanings: the couple's graceful attitude to death, they give the survival opportunities to others, and it even is a suggestion that people from lower class in the society are not as "valuable" as people from the upper class society. 

Week 1 1B

Mitch Ditkoff's article, 14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas, offers readers fourteen ways to grasp, hold and generate new ideas or innovative thoughts. Through different approaches, which people do not really use in their daily life, Ditkoff suggests that people can use these ways to brainstorm different ideas. 

Whether these approaches work or not is depending on each individual readers themselves. Personally, I feel these approaches are more likely to teach readers how to grasp or hold the flash ideas people have in their brain rather than really inspiring readers. Or, it is more like practices to think differently and have new ideas through these differences. 

The first suggestion, from my point, is a good one. I agree that many people just let their fascinations go. The nature of fascinations is a charming idea that attracts our own attention first. However, I think many people have a wrong ideology toward our own fascinations. I am a fitting example. When I have some imaginations about some thing that probably will not happen in the real world, I will deny the innovative parts of my imaginations and then totally throw my ideas away because that idea is not practicable in real life. So I will come up with other ideas, then I will throw these ideas away because of the same reason- not practicable in real life. This cycle repeated. My ability to think differently keeps getting fade. How can people develop an idea if that idea even could not attract our attention first? How can other people find our idea fascinated if we are not even fascinated by our idea? I am almost completely agreed with Ditkoff’s opinions about fascinations, which include many potential possibilities. Next time, when I have some ideas really grasp my attention, I will just let my brain works on them instead of letting my ideas be scared away.

The fourth suggestion, which asks readers to make connections, is another smart way to generate creative ideas.  I appreciate the example the author provided in the suggestions. Car plus banking is drive-in banking. We have drive through for many other things that convenient people’s life and bring more business to different companies. I am sure when the drive-through just came to people’s daily life, it gave people a fresh try to something new and also changed people’s traditional ideas of buying things. A lot of time, people are just too lazy to make connections. Also, the ideas or final products generated by making connections are more likely to be practicable than other wild ideas people generated through other approaches. Making random connections on differently things wouldn’t hurt if we only think about them. If we don’t even think in this way, it is not only connections loss, but also innovations loss as well.

Hanging out with different group is the suggestion I don’t really agree with.  I do understand if Ditkoff wants readers get inspirations from other people’s view, from the people that readers don’t really communicate often. I can’t deny there is a chance people can get inspirited by their other friends, but I really how reliable it could be. I believe that many people are inspirited in the conversations or in the communication process. If people don’t really hang out with the other group of people, communication will be a lot harder than we think. If people fail to have good conversations, I doubt the chance for each of them to get very different and charming ideas. I do understand when people are stuck with their ideas; their close friends not really can help them out because they probably hold similar ideologies, life philosophies and worldviews. Other different people’s philosophies, life attitudes can fresh their opinions.  But I just couldn’t understand what if these two different people are not even able to make a conversation to talk those issues, how can they exchange their deep life values? However, I am sure we can never ever eliminate the potential chance.

I am going to do the prompt for suggestion 4.

Laptop IPad Picture Bed Oven Dishwasher Car Plane Moon Ocean

Move Eat Walk Think Read Drive Beat Produce Shake Rise

Stable Beautiful generous useful frequent happy fast unstable different similar

Let’s see what crazy and nonsense connections we can make at here:

The Oven eats the Dishwasher because the Oven is jealously with Dishwasher since the owner thinks the Dishwasher is more useful. Hm, we can have a Kitchen War at here.

The Laptop thinks IPad is beautiful so the Laptop wants to date IPad—Electronics’ romance!

Crazy but interesting ideas.

 http://changethis.com/manifesto/49.06.14Ways/pdf/49.06.14Ways.pdf

Lake in NV