I should have done these blogs throughout the year

So clearly I should have stayed with the blogs and done them throughout the year. I mean this is just plain stupid. I've done about 25 blogs within the past 2 days. And I know my friend Craig has done like 30 just today. Him and I kind of should have done these throughout the year and we made a really dumb decision and I know he would agree with me. Anyways this class has been extremely amazing and very eye opening! I learned a lot about the world I suppose, I mean this class wasn't just limited to learning about stuff in Digital Media Arts. It has really shown me a lot. Like how I should have done the readings throughout the year as well. Those were sure fun... I mean every time Leeper would ask the class if we read, there was like maybe four or five people who raised their hands and actually did the readings, and who knows one of those kids probably just raised their hand to get on Leeper's good side. There is a lot I regret doing for this class, but it is what it is and I know that I learned the hard way and I will definitely encourage the incoming freshman next year to seriously get on it and do all thirty in the first week. Boy thats a good idea.

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim!!! WOAH, this film was freaking awesome, so I’m going to get something out of the way before I get into this blog, ummm, so the plot and story of the film was not the best. okay, there it is, I said it. But even with that being said, I absolutely loved it!!! It was so cool and epic. So there are these big humongous robots fighting these extremely massive sea creatures and the entire film, my jaw was just dropped on the ground because sure we've all seen Godzilla and Godzilla is huge right? Wrong!!! Well compared to these Kaiju. They are MASSIVE! And I love it. I’m so thrilled that they went big and then went 10x bigger!!! Because thats exactly what they needed to do. No one wants to watch another Godzilla film. Pacific Rim is totally not even comparable to Godzilla. Pacific Rim is way more “fun” than any other film out there right now. It was just a fun film, it wasn't like they were trying to make a serious movie. If you go into this movie with expectations about previous movies, it will probably let you down, so go into it with a fun attitude. You will enjoy it then.

Girl Talk

So there is an artist that I’ve been listening to for quite sometime now. Girl Talk, now that I’ve typed that out, it sounds really girly, but I assure you that he is not girly at all, actually he isn’t… well really he isn’t anything. He doesn't really make his own music. He uses songs from other artists and the beats from other artists and then he mixes them together to make amazing music. It seems like a really backwards way of making original music by ripping it from others but it is seriously amazing. It has a lot of electronic bass tones to it and lots of rap and pop music as well. He is like the cooler version of Bastille. He has several albums, but only two of them are available for purchase on iTunes, the other albums can be found on the site for free. One of my favorite albums is “All Day” and the cool thing about this album is that it sounds like a continuous stream of music. You can not tell when the album switches to the next song. If this sounds like it might be up your alley give it a try and google him right now.

Animation in my life

Animation is completely amazing, it is literally moving artwork. Its like drawing something and then making move by using computers. Okay, so I enjoy drawing a lot, it gives me a way to release pent up energy or anger and all a bunch of emotions. Drawing just gives me a chance to express myself. I’m not the best with talking and I feel like I can get a lot of that out through art. I also love computers, but then again, who doesn’t? They are so amazing! They can do so much and they are extremely powerful machines. So powerful in fact, that they can just make art move and turn it into a film. And this is pretty much only with 2d art. I want to do 3d animation which to me is just insane, and it is a remarkable thing that us as animators can do that. You have a lot more possibilities with 3d art rather than 2d. 3d is very tricky though, If you aren’t a detailed person, then your 3d art will look cruddy and no one wants to look at un-detailed work. You can be un-detailed in 2d art though and I actually love the look that it gives.

How I Met Your Mother

How I met your mother is one of the best shows on tv today. It's in it's last season which is extremely saddening because I strictly believe that it is one of the best and well written shows ever. That is saying a lot for a sitcom. Usually sitcoms are not that good and they end up getting cancelled. How I met your mother is not one of those shows. It is completely amazing. I love it simply for the fact that the writers and such can tie all these things together so well and easily. I've never seen a show that can do that. And actually while you're watching the show. It just seems like they've made all of episodes before they air. Like it seems like all nine seasons were made at the time the first episode of the first season aired. I'm so excited that we now know who the mother is as well!! Like how awesome is that. And she's such a likable person!! I’m so excited for how the last few episodes will be. I sure hope that it ends in an extremely positive way and no one dies. Like Marvin Erikson, Marshall’s dad. I know I cried. I can admit that. But I think that it will be an amazing episode to conclude the series:(

Elf

Elf!! So now that we are in the christmas season, everyone is getting into the christmas spirit and I know that me and my family love to watch a plethora of various christmas movies. Everything from Rudolph to Elf. We have recently watched Elf over the thanksgiving break. I love Elf, Will Ferrell does an amazing job at this movie. His character makes this movie absolutely hilarious. I think Elf was one of the last movies that Will Ferrell has done that hasn't been inappropriate. Granted I love most of Will Ferrell’s comedy movies, but I still kind of wish that he would go back to the old Will Ferrell that everyone loved in Elf. He played such a loving, gentle, and especially innocent person which made it even funnier, because for those of you who used to watch Saturday Night Live, we all know that Will Ferrell is not an innocent man, and he definitely does not act like how he did in Elf. Which is another reason that Elf is such an amazing film. Not only is the movie very funny, I mean the story itself is also very great as well. I think everyone has seen Elf and usually everyone loves it. Great film.

Lorde

Lorde is an artist from New Zealand and she is absolutely fantastic. Im sure everyone has heard her song “Royals”, its a pretty big hit. Little do people know, but she actually released her first EP was available on soundcloud on November 22, 2012. She has actually been around a lot longer than people think. Her newest album Pure Heroine is simply amazing. Along with Royals, other popular songs include, Team and Tennis Courts. Which are two other amazing songs. Lorde is such a remarkable artist at only age 17. She has made a total of 16 songs that are available for purchase on iTunes. Thats right, she only has 16 songs and she is extremely popular already, Im very excited to what kind of music will put out in the future, if its anything like the music that she puts out now, then I'm sure it will do just as good as her first EP and LP. In an interview I watched she seemed to have a lot of confidence and did not care about anything anyone had to say about or to her. Im unsure if this is a good thing for her, or if it will completely ruin her. Either way, I still love her.

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3!!! Well most of my recent posts have been about movies that I really enjoy, but unfortunately I did not care for Iron Man 3 at all. I thought it was not realistic at all!!! The previous films Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were sort of realistic, but not this one at all. People exploding left and right. Super regeneration. Fire breath. Like, WOAH? I just could not keep up with everything that was going on in the film. I loved the fact that he made like 46 suits or what ever the number is, but yeah, the suits were sweet. Especially at the end when everyone was fighting on the boat and we got to see all of the abilities that each suit had. I really liked that part. But the end sucked!!! Pepper falls and dies in the fire after falling like 100 feet…. wait no. She's a super hero too, she gets to kill the final enemy and protects her beloved tony stark. hahaha. His girl had to save him this time, wow, thats like really embarrassing. And then he also had the surgery to remove the thing that powers the Iron Man suit, so thats cool. NOT! Theres no more Iron Man. From what I’ve heard, he will assist the crew from behind enemy lines in the HQ in the next Avengers. Thats a major disappointment.

Wright 3rd A cappella

Oh boy, I wish I lived on Wright third for this one. So there are some boys on W3 who have made, possibly the best album I've ever heard in my lifetime. I was completely blown away by the beautiful musical tones that were shot into my ears, with Pop Tunes to Wrecking Ball your Ears. That is an instant classic. It may be #1 on iTunes now. Its fantastic. My favorite song on the album would have to be Roar by Seth Richard Christman, its truly the most amazing song you will ever hear. I'm not sure how Seth Christman got his voice to sound that beautiful, but seriously, its so amazing. Like when he hits those high notes, I get chills. I also love Luke McConnell's rendition of Radioactive. He really gives that song a beautiful twist. I think it was the right twist for the song, just the one it needed. Luke's voice has such a beautiful quality to it that is just remarkable. I think Luke's voice is a mixture of Mariah Carey and Will.I.Am. It just doesn't get better than that. The songs are extremely beautiful and I would highly suggest giving it a listen if you're feeling blue or green or purple. Listen to it all the time!!

Because the Internet

So music is media and I love music. A lot. Childish Gambino is an artist who makes rap music, and I have never listened to him before this new album he hasn't released yet. It comes out on December 10th and I’ve listened to the album in its entirety and I really like it. It has a lot of deep bass electronic tones to it and that is one way to get me invested into album, but a more surefire way to do that is to throw jazz into there. And luckily Childish Gambino took some lessons from Kendrick Lamar and threw some of that in his new album. If cursing and rap music doesn't bother you, I would definitely recommend this album, its called, Because the Internet and its pure gold. My favorite track on the album is “The Worst Guys (feat. Chance the Ripper)” its very good. I also like “Crawl”, Crawl is available for purchase today. Telegraph Ave. and Shadows are other songs on the album that have some of those jazzy undertones which is just purely beautiful. Jazz in rap songs is a hard challenge to the artists because they are just two opposites, but when they are together… its the perfect combination.

Ash Sunday

God is also in Ash Sunday by Corrie Francis Parks, we see a young girl who trapped in a box and she tries to free herself and tries to escape the box. The box represents sin and sometimes we get trapped by sin and we feel like there is no escape and there is nothing we can. So sometimes, we just stop trying to escape and let it take over, like in the film when she sits in the corner and just stops trying to escape because she feels hopeless, just like we do. We are completely hopeless, until we get a small amount of hope like the flare that flies around in the film. And when we get that small amount of hope, we dwell on it and hope it can save us from our problems. When the flare forms itself into a human, it is trying to show the girl that God formed us in his image which is why they look the same. The flare tries to help the girl and tries to help her escape but she becomes scared and tries to hide. This happens all too much for us as well, where we just get over whelmed with things that are going on in our life and we choose to just stay away. Then when we get more hope like the little hole in box, we once again strive to get freedom and overcome our sin. And once God does give us the hope we try to overcome and we push to get out of the situation just like the girl did in the film, she pushed towards the fire because she got a small taste of freedom and so she strives to get it and once God helps us out. Things become a lot easier. Our whole world changes once we get hope. We become filled with life again. Just like when the girl becomes the flare and she becomes filled with life and tries to wipe out all of the darkness in her life by spreading the fire, which is what we do too. Usually when things start getting good for us, multiple good things will happen and the goodness spreads. It may even be inferred that while she is spreading the fire, that she is also spreading the word of God because she finds a guy in the same spot as herself and tries to help him. 

References to God in films

Throughout some of the films that we watch in class, I cant help but to notice the subtle references to God. There are some small references to God and maybe its just myself thinking about it too much, or maybe it was intended by the film makers. When God is prevalent in a film it is not as meaningful to the audience as if you are searching and looking for the presence of God in a film. Some of the references that you may see may just be your mind interpreting them differently than they are intended, but isn't that what art is all about. We all view art differently and I think it is a good thing that we try to see things differently than most people because we must learn to be our own person instead of just living through others. And what better way to become an independent person than seeing art and interpreting it in a different way than others. So some of us may see references to God and others may see references to something else. We are all different and we all have different views on everything in life. Granted, some people may view art similarly but they will never be able to view art the same. When you see these references in films and such you indulge in the idea of God and you start to search for more and more similarities until you have, what seems like a ridiculous sense of the film, but maybe that was what the film maker’s purpose was. 

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is coming next summer and I cannot contain my excitement whatsoever. I need it to be here right now. I am possibly the biggest fan of How to Train Your Dragon. I absolutely love that movie, and it serves for inspiration as to why I want to be an animator. The level of animation and the detail of the movie really speaks to me. I really love the fact that a movie like this can not only be a kids movie, but also a beloved film by adults. It is my favorite movie of time. The story is so amazing and it is just one of those “fun” films, like how could you not like it? How to Train Your Dragon 2 is going to be super amazing. I suspect that we are going to see a bunch of new dragons with fun new powers and that may be what I’m most excited for. Hiccup is much older in this one now. Like he looks a lot older!! I’m also excited to see how Hiccup deals with his one leg and his peg leg. Its going to be very interesting. So I am really looking forward to the new movie nest summer and lets just hope that its better than the show on cartoon network, but lets also hope that they use some of the dragons from the show.

Apple Inc.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks came out on October 22, 2013 and it was completely revolutionary. I remember the keynote like it was yesterday, I really immersed into the keynote. Right after our Intro to Digital Media arts class, I watched it live on my computer. So two months prior to the releases of Mavericks I was keeping up on it every few days or so. And there were a lot of rumors circulating the release, some of the rumors were that they were going to release the operating software when they had their announcement, but I was pretty skeptical of this rumor and there was also a rumor that Mavericks was going to be released for free, which as most of know actually happened. While I was watching the keynote I was extremely excited when they announced that it would be free. I was also astounded that they did that as well. Usually the OS’s are 20 dollars or so. Apple lost out on a lot of money by making this choice, but then I remembered that Apple owns the electronic industry. They know exactly what they are doing and Steve Jobs has paved the way for their success.

Vine

Vine!! So in my previous post I mentioned some small things about Vine. And then it got me thinking about how much I enjoy Vine. I’ve been a faithful viner for quite sometime now. Now when I say Viner that doesn't mean that I post Vines on the regular, that just means that I go on it often and that I stay up to date with the people that I follow. Some of my favorite Viners are Curtis Lepore, Nicholas Megalis, King Bach, and Rudy Mancuso. Now since a lot of these people have become vine famous, they have become friends with each other and it gives me a ton of joy when I see these guys do collaborations with one another. Vine had a huge success from the start with millions of members, but now I fear that Vine is on its decline. I know I have stopped hopping on the Vine lately and I think a lot of that reason is because Vine started doing this thing called “revine” which allows people to repost vines that they think deserves to be reposted and everyone that is following you sees these vines and some people can be really annoying. I think revine is the demise of the Vine and it will soon die out, as if it hasn't happened already.

Youtube's impact

Youtube has completely changed the internet. As we all know Youtube a site that is essentially a database for millions of videos. Youtube receives 100 hours of video every minute. Thats insane!! Not only has Youtube changed the internet, but it has also changed the way we look at the world. How many times have you seen something, and then said “that should go on Youtube”? Youtube has changed the human race. Thousands of Youtube channels are making six figures a year. How incredible is it that you can work form your home and do something you love and still make that kind of money. One of my favorite Youtubers is Pewdiepie and I’ve been watching him since he had 2 million subs, now, he has 17.4 million subscribers. And his numbers have been growing exponentially. He only started a few years ago and now he is the number one most subscribed channel on youtube. Now Youtube has become this huge social media. To me, Vine and Instagram are closely following Youtube, not in the amount of people that are on those social medias. Vine and Instagram are two social media apps that you can post video media. Vine allows you to post 6 second videos and Instagram allows you to post 15 second videos. 

School of Rock

School of Rock!!! Jack Black makes this film. His attitude and the way that he presents himself on camera for this film is absolute dynamite. He brings an insane amount of energy into the film.  I really like how this film is fairly realistic other than the fact that he stays a substitute that long without anyone telling somebody. But for the fact that someone would do that because they are short on money is very realistic, if people would kill someone for money, I’m sure they would lead a classroom of students to become battle of the bands champions. Which they do… Spoilers. Okay so maybe this film isn't all that realistic considering that Dewey teaches these young kids rock music and they not tell their parents. I mean, come on. Kids at that age tell their parents everything. Anyways, this film is completely hilarious!! Just the fact that the kids are usually the ones that make me laugh. Jack Black was implied, he makes everyone laugh. But the asian boy is so funny! When Jack Black teaches Lawrence the “lets rock, lets rock, today”… oh boy, that gets me every time! I actually still say that till this day, along with “You’re tacky and I hate you.” Absolute Gold. I really enjoyed this film and found it extremely humorous.

007

Skyfall!!! Oh boy, I absolutely love this film. It was so beautiful, every single part of it is utterly gorgeous. The film starts out with an intense car chase which later then leads to a fight on a train. The car chase was so awesome and the shots were amazing. Right from the beginning, I could tell that it would be fantastic, and I was right. After the car chase, Bond fights a guy on a train and once again, the beautiful shots occur again and just blew me away. Also, the opening song, Skyfall by Adele is amazing. Later on in the film, it proceeds to get more and more wonderful. Once we find out who the main enemy is, an hour or so into the film, it starts to get even better. Javier Bardem who plays Silva, is this mastermind genius who develops this extremely intricate plan, which actually goes rather well for Bardem. Except for the fact that he did not kill M. Bond and M then go to this beautiful house out in the middle of no where and decide to camp out there and wait for the only man to track them to get there, Silva. Silva’s men are completely blown away from Bond, M, and Kincade, a fellow who used to watch over Bond. In the end, Bond kills Silva, but unfortunately loses M which I'm unsure how they will replace her, but I'm sure they'll do it for many years to come. I cannot wait for more amazing Bond films.

The Grinch

I watched the grinch recently, is it just me or am I the only one who just does not like The Grinch, I know that it is a christmas classic, but I just do not like it at all. First of all, the songs in it are iconic and classic, but terrible. Especially Where Are You Christmas! I really do not like that song whatsoever. The Grinch just seems like such a foolish story. This poor kid took one comment way too far, and now he has become this dude who terrorizes the entire town! How dumb is that? The mayor as a kid says, “look at that hack job” because the Grinch clearly does not know how to shave, and the mayor embarrassed the poor little green guy in front of the love of his life, Martha May. Maybe this entire film is about bullying or something along those lines. The Grinch is a true christmas classic and sure I’ll probably watch it again for years to come, but I will not like it. It’s really boring and I just don’t like the entire plot and such, but it just seems like such a terrible and misconstrued story about bullying. 

He's probably not dead...

The Walking dead is a fantastic show. I for some reason cannot stop watching, I know that some may think that it sucks and or that it is too gory and you're entitled to that opinion, but I think its absolutely remarkable. Especially season 4. Now if you are not caught up, I suggest not reading this post. Spoilers…

The Governor is finally dead…. we hope. So he was stabbed through the chest and then just left there bleeding out on the grass. Michonne just walked away from him and left him suffer. Now there has been times where we think that the governor is dead and that there is no way he survived that… but then he just comes right back into the picture unscathed. Rick has had several chances to to kill the governor and for some reason he just gets extremely terrible accuracy whenever he's around him. Anyways, we've seen the governor come close to death several times, and honestly, I’m extremely skeptical of this though because I think that they will make him have some miraculous escape… I hope that doesn't happen, but its the walking dead. And I also stronger think that Michonne should have and would have like actually made sure that he was dead, if the show didn't have any other plans with the governor, so my predictions with this… One, He wont die and will survive somehow, someone may rescue him. Or…. Two, He will turn and then the crew will just have to go up against him again.