▲Catching Fire? More Like CATCHING STUPID (Spoilers)▲

▲Catching Fire? More Like CATCHING STUPID (Spoilers)▲

So I recently saw the sequel to the Hunger Games called "Catching Fire" in theaters. I have mixed feelings about it.

I would say that I liked it better than the first one, because the first one was just alright to me. It wasn't a great movie, but not terrible either. My biggest problem with the first movie was that it didn't make me care about the characters. There wasn't much development, and I found myself not caring wether Katniss ant Peeta made it out alive (although I already knew they would since I read the book). The second movie at least succeeds in this area. I was more invested in the characters, all except for Katniss. I've never been able to like her, but the supporting characters are pretty great.

As someone who has read the book, I must say that the visuals in the movie closely match what I saw in my head when reading the book. It's almost scary how close they got some stuff. The movie
definitely succeed visual, but then the story…

THIS IS WHERE THE REAL SPOILERS COME IN

So Katniss and Peeta are in the Hunger Games again and are in this crazy clock-like bio-dome.  You find out that the big dome works like a clock, and every hour one section has something deadly that would killed you if you stayed. Blah blah blah. I assume if anyone is reading this you've already seen the movie, so I might as well cut to the chase. You find out that the game maker is working against the capital and helping the tributes to escape. Apparently he and the other tributes were in on the plan the entire time, but for some stupid reason they never told Katniss and Peeta. This is where all the plot holes come in. Supposedly this was all planned, but the thing is so many things could have gone wrong with the plan, and yet even though the game maker has godlike control over everything in the dome he literally never once did anything to help the tributes (except for the magic healing water That was awfully nice of hime). They almost died on multiple occasions and only survived by sheer luck and convenient timing. I'm going to list off all the 'what ifs" of the plan to point out how horrible it was.

Since you didn't tell Katniss and Peeta about the plan, what if the killed the other Tributes who were trying to help them without realizing they were on their side?

What if Katniss and Peeta were killed by a tribute who wasn't in on the plan?

What if Katniss and Peeta tripped and fell while running away from the acid fog stuff and died a horrible death?

What if one of the baboons jumped from behind and killed Katniss and Peeta?

What if that one tribute didn't jump out at the last second to save Peeta from the baboon?

What if Finnick wasn't able to revive Peeta after he hit the forcefield. Katniss would probably freak out and refuse to cooperate.

What if when Plutarch (the game maker) made the entire arena spin around killed Katniss and Peeta in the process? They were hanging on for dear life and could have easily fallen off and drowned like that other tribute.

What if Katniss didn't find out that the map was a giant clock? Why didn't Plutarch just tell her?

What if that guy with the metal wire was killed by another tribute before meeting up with Katniss and Peeta? They would never have gotten out.

What if Katniss didn't figure out at the last second to fire the arrow at the forcefield so that the lightning broke it apart? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL HER?

What if the lightning strike also killed Katniss? Then she would be dead…

I could go on for a long time but I will stop. The point is, their plan was terrible and the could have easily made it so much better. WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THEY NOT TELL KATNISS AND PEETA ABOUT THE PLAN?! And why almost kill them tons of times? Because of this, I hard a hard time enjoying the movie.

~Josiah▲

▲Myosis // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #4▲

▲Myosis // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #4▲

This is the fourth and final blog in my four part atmosphere blog series. In this blog I will be talking about an animation called "Myosis" which I showed in my presentation, but you can watch it again here.

This animation is absolutely beautiful. The style is almost exactly what I want in an animation. The story is also fantastic and draws out a lot of emotion in such a short time. As far as atmosphere goes, I think this relies most on color to convey the feel of it. The warm red against blue mixing into purple, which might represent the mixture of emotions and internal conflict the main character has about leaving his love. 

Sound and Music also was crucial in the old of this short film. It was very calming and beautiful at first, but then it grew more intense as the story climaxed. I haven't found out a way to incorporate pacing in relation to achieving atmosphere, so maybe it isn't one of the main factors. I'll have to keep thinking about it, but this is the last blog I'm going to do on that matter.

If you read my blogs I appreciate it, and if not, it's no surprise. Everyone is rushing right now to get blogs down, so blogs are just getting buried.

~Josiah▲

▲Breaking Bad // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #3▲

▲Breaking Bad // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #3▲

Breaking Bad. Leeper, you don't know what you're talking about. This show is amazing.

So this is the third part of my little atmosphere series. It's also crazy that I haven't blogged about Breaking Bad yet, because it is my number one favorite show. It has some of the best character development I've ever seen, best plot, most tension and unpredictability in the plot, and probably the most stressful show ever made. This show takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotion. It is also beautifully shot on 35mm film, with interesting angles and POV shots that always appropriate for the mood of the scenes.

Now let's talk about atmosphere. Out of the four pieces of media I've chosen to inspect the atmosphere of, Breaking Bad seems like the least focused on atmosphere. That is not to say that it isn't atmospheric, but just that the other media I've chosen to talk about is more heavily focused on atmosphere. That being said, it still has an amazing feel to it, and I think it is significant enough to talk about.

Going back to my previous blog, I mentioned Audio and Music as two of the four main determiners of atmosphere. Breaking bad has amazing sound design, with environmental noises playing in to add to the mood of the scene. I really don't want to use examples to prevent spoilers. The music in the show is great too, but they also really know how to use silence as a big tension builder.

Well that's about all I'm blogging about Breaking Bad, because I have one more atmosphere blog to do.  Just watch the show.

~Josiah▲

▲Ergo Proxy // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #2▲

▲Ergo Proxy // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #2▲

This is part two of a three part blog series about atmosphere in media. I have broken down how to achieve atmosphere into four basic parts, which I will discuss in this blog.

Man, I can't believe I haven't blogged about this show Ergo Proxy yet. It is a masterpiece, and one of my favorite shows. It is a great example to use when discussing atmosphere, because it has such a distinct feel to it. It pulls on your emotions, sucks you in to the dreary world, and takes you on a bleak adventure with the characters. It's hard to explain how good it is, as I realize most excellent media is (at
least for me). I highly suggest watching it!

Now I will break atmosphere into four basic parts;

#1 // Audio

Audio is a big part of achieving atmosphere. This includes sound effects, mixing, and voice actors (tone/sound of voices). Ergo Proxy has excellent audio mixing, and creates a certain feel with atmospheric droning of environment noise, electric humming, or whatever else.

#2 // Coloring


Viewers are generally very visual, so how something looks leaves a huge impact. Color is a great way to set the mood or convey emotion. In Ergo Proxy, the coloring is very limited and dark. Everything is treys, browns, or tans. It can feel constricting at times, and you find yourself begging for color, begging to emerge from this bleak world. Just like the characters feel.

#3 // Pacing

This aspect is the least clear in my mind, and is subject to change. But as of right now, I think pacing plays a sizable role in establishing mood/atmosphere. Ergo Proxy sets it's own pace, and a lot of times forces you to slow yourself down and stride at the speed it's going. This really makes you take everything in, and also forces you to feel the weight and length of the characters' journey.

#4 //  Music

Notice how I separated "Audio" from "Music". I feel like these are two very different things, and Music is the most important of the three. Music has such an emotion effect on people, and it is very unclear why, All theories aside, we know is that it is powerful and an extremely helpful tool in successfully producing atmosphere. The music (or lack thereof in some instances)  plays along beautifully with the visuals and emotions in Ergo Proxy.

/ / /

These four factors of atmosphere are subject to change, and I expect some to be modified or added as my research and exploration of atmosphere progresses. In the next two parts I will pursue each point further, and try to nail it down more.

I know hardly anyone will read this, but at least writing these blogs is really helping me get a better grasp on atmosphere in media.

~Josiah▲

▲Top Three Music Videos ▲

▲Top Three Music Videos ▲

(counting down from least favorite to favorite)

#3 // Diane Birch - Valentino

I was very impressed with this video due to the sheer amount of work that went in to making it. It was all one shot, and had a very clever trick with a projection screen. They had to do so many takes on this video it's astonishing. The fact that they must have had to run through it over and over again is really impressive and admirable. It was enjoyable, although I didn't like the music at all, but that is expected.



#2 // Kaly Live Dub - Allaxis

The animation style was extremely interesting and fascinating. I was always looking to try and figure out what was 3D and what was 2D. It was visually pleasing, but the story was great too. It seemed to me that it was about a man who was haunted by his conscious after killing a police officer. It also appeared that he was being haunted by past mistakes and victims too, although some of them didn't seem to be related. The ending was chilling, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole video.

#1 // Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

I really don't need any explanation. This is just gold.

But for the sake of length I guess I'll talk about it a little bit. At first it had me fooled that it was just a horrible children's song to teach kids to be creative. However, it slowly dropped hints that something was off, and I started picking up that the crappiness was purposeful…And then everything went to hell, in the best way possible. Love, love, love, love, love it!

~Josiah▲

▲Super Late Chicago Blog▲

▲Super Late Chicago Blog▲

Welp, I intended to write this blog almost two months ago, but here we are.

So Rachel, Karli, Taylor, Pantless, Caity and I went to Chicago for the Chicago International Film Festival, and it was a blast! Definitely one of the best times I've had in a while (besides the dinner with PES that blogged previously about). We screwed around, laughed, walked around with our arms in the air to embarrass Leeper and watched tons of short films. One film we watched was feature length called A Letter to Momo.

The film was very reminiscent of studio Gibli's style, both in storytelling and visuals. I enjoyed it more then I expected, which was good since I had to sit through about two hours of it. It is a very cute film that also has some funny comedy in it. I would suggest it to anyone who likes studio Gibli's films. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but still enjoyable and worth the watch. 

Oh also we saw the best short film ever about unicorns, fairies, and goblin things. It had all of my favorite things; glitter, sparkles, pink, glitter, colors, hair, rainbows, glitter, unicorns, fairies, flowers, glitter, children, happiness, joy, death and glitter.

~Josiah▲

▲I HAD DINNER WITH PES AND YOU DIDN'T▲

▲I HAD DINNER WITH PES AND YOU DIDN'T▲

On Thursday I had the amazing opportunity to air down and have dinner with Adam Pesapane (aka PES) who is an Academy Award nominated animator who has made videos like this:

We sat and talked for more than three hours. I got to pick his brain about his creative process, how he animates and directs videos, his disdain towards commercial businesses, and even his childhood. It was a ton of fun, and he's a really great and funny guy. Talking with him has given me invaluable insight on animating and how the commercial industry works. I will never forget this meeting, because I have been following his work for years and really admire and respect him, so it was crazy to actually meet him and ask all the questions I've had.

Also on Friday he showed almost all his films in succession at the Wexner Center which is an art gallery I interned for. Afterwards he had a Q&A, and then showed a new short film he made which only a few other people have ever seen. All in all it was an amazing experience that I will always remember.

PS: This is me next to Adam.

~Josiah▲

▲Seven Brides for DOUBLE BLOG CREDITS▲

▲Seven Brides for DOUBLE BLOG CREDITS▲

I saw this musical on its premiere (Is that what the call it for plays?). And it was horrible. Absolutely terrible. A disaster. Catastrophic.  Dismal. Pathetic. Stupid. Sad. Worthless. Boring. A waste of time. Complete and utter filth. So bad that I want those two hours of my life back. No entertainment value what-so-ever. If this play was my child, I would dis-own it and kick it out of my house without  a penny to its name. If it was a person driving a car, I would cut it off and flip it the bird. If it was a pair of shoes, I wouldn't wear that pair of shoes. If I ever came across this play in a dark alley, I would shank it, steal it's wallet and leave it to bleed out on the cold concrete ground. The police probably wouldn't even investigate the case because they would just be glad to get rid of it. The world would be a better brighter place if this play didn't exist. If there was an online poll on whether you would prefer to get needles shoved through your eyelids or watch this play, the needles would have 99.9% of the vote, and the only people who would vote otherwise are extreme masochists. I can't believe they spent the electricity to light the play, let alone the time and energy to make it. Sam and white Sean performed terribly. I am ashamed to even say I know them. Now every time I see them I avert my eyes and walk in the opposite direction so that I will never be associated with them. If I even get within a hundred feet of them I go through an ancient Aztec purification ritual to cleanse myself from their filth. I doubt the would even be let into hell, the play was that bad. They would just dwell in limbo for all eternity. 



Actually the play was pretty good.

~Josiah▲

▲Drive // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #1▲

▲Drive // ATMOSPHERE BLOG #1▲

I'm doing a four part blog series about my favorite atmospheric media. The movie "Drive" is my first example.


Drive is a completely underrated movie. It is one of my favorite movies and yet It had some of the worst trailers I have ever seen, which totally misrepresented what the movie is like. I'm not even going to explain what the plot is, because honestly the description also gives you a false impression. Don't watch the trailer. Instead, I advise you watch this scene early on in the movie:

First off this movie is beautifully shot. Absolutely stunning. But that's not what stood out to me the most. This movie is quiet. Extremely so. It takes its time, letting the viewer take in every little moment, calming and yet at the same time building tension. 

Recently I have become obsessed with atmosphere in media. If you don't know what I mean by atmosphere then I'll explain: It means the feel or tone of a movie/show/piece of art the fact that something can make you feel such a certain way is fascinating. Drive has a great atmosphere to it, truly immersing you in the story. However, I've spent a considerable amount of time thinking about atmosphere, and I've realized that it seems to always be incredibly hard to describe. It is something abstract, fleeting as you attempt to grasp. However, I will try my best to describe Drive's "atmosphere".

It feels very calming and pleasant, but somehow underplayed with a sense of unease that slowly builds before climatic parts. In sections it is almost surreal, taking you to a different world that resembles our own, and yet startlingly feels distinct. Drive can go from a fantasy-like feel to brutally gritty and violent. It doesn't sound like it would work, but somehow works wonderfully. Unfortunately I have a hard time putting into words how great this movie is and why, so I suggest you go and watch it. I have it if you want to borrow it.

This repeatedly seems to be the case in atmosphere-heavy media. You don't know how it works so well, but it just does. This is where I'll end the first part of my Atmosphere series. As I blog further, I hope to uncover some insight on what makes media "feel" a certain way. If you have any insight to contribute please feel free to comment!

~Josiah▲

▲Why Anime Is Stupid▲

▲Why Anime Is Stupid▲

Do you like Anime? Then you're stupid because Anime is stupid.

I keed, I keed... But seriously, I've never understood why Anime is so popular. I'm going to point out and explain my problems with the Anime "genre" as a whole. Understand of course that I am generalizing here. Not all Anime is like this. However so much of it is, that I can never say I like Anime. I do however like a few shows that happen to be Anime. These shows are the exception to the genre (Ergo Proxy, Deathnote, Tetsuwan Birdy and ERGO PROXY AGAIN BECAUSE IT IS A MASTERPIECE), but sadly these nuggets of gold fail to redeem the sheer amount of crap that is Anime.

PROBLEM #1 ▲ Style
In any animated show, style plays a huge part in portraying character. It allows you to give each character unique characteristics that embodies his/her personalities. Unfortunately in anime, most characters have the exact same faces with just different hair and slightly different eyes. This makes for a very bland expressionless character that frankly fails to provoke any kind of emotional attachment from me. They are boring.

PROBLEM #2 ▲ Quality of Animation
Anime shows are notorious for being cheap and cutting corners. They typically use many stagnant shots, where the only thing that is animated on screen is the camera panning or the character's mouth. I understand that you have a budget, but come on. It's embarrassing to even call this animation at times.

PROBLEM #3 ▲ Endless Exposition
I don't want a character to tell me what's going on in the story, I WANT TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE IT! I can't stand when characters clumsily spit out long spouts of exposition to explain what's going on in the plot or to provide back story instead of presenting it to the viewer in a way that actually takes CREATIVITY AND THOUGHT.

PROBLEM #4 ▲ Convoluted Plot
Plots in Anime do not make sense 99% of the time. They are all over the place and contain ridiculous amounts of plot holes.

PROBLEM #5 ▲ God-like Characters
I see this all the time. Let me break down a simply story-telling method for you all: An extremely important part of a story is the characters. You make the audience attached to the characters and put them in hazardous positions. The audience likes the character and doesn't want them to get hurt/die, so it creates
tension. You give your characters limitations and weaknesses so that you are afraid for their safety. That is interesting and exciting. However, when a main character seems to have no limit to their power and seems incapable of dying or has even DIED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS AND STILL CAME BACK TO LIFE the story loses all tension. You no longer care about the character because you know they'll be fine. They're gods! Who cares. I HATE THIS SO MUCH!

I have even more problems with Anime, but frankly I'm tired of writing and I'm sure I've already stirred up enough of a shit storm as it is. 

Oh also Mushi-shi is a pretty good show that happens to be Anime.

~Josiah▲

▲Let's Talk About Our Stories▲

▲Let's Talk About Our Stories▲

So we're all animators, and as such we are story-tellers. I assume that most if not all of us have at least one story line rolling around in our brains, so I invite you all to make a post about your own personal story!

I'll start with my own (although I don't want to go to heavily in detail because of spoilers and stuff).

My story doesn't have a name yet, but it's focused on a character named Isaac. It takes place in a world similar to earth in the 1600-1700's. In this world, an alchemic form of "magic" exists, which is biased off of basic chemical principles. Although this form of magic is pretty limited and to a certain extent realistic, There are creatures and things in this world that are beyond scientific explanation. Isaac, the main character (featured on the right and below), becomes immortal after summoning death. Unfortunately, becoming immortal was not at all Isaac's intention, since he was trying to bring someone back from the dead. Death, being cruel and fond of irony, deprives Isaac the luxury of death and instead makes him unable to die.(There is more explanation to why Isaac summoned Death, but I don't want to get into it because like I said it would spoil it). Anyway, the main story is going to take place a little more than a hundred years after Isaac becoming immortal. I can't really say much more about the story line because I want it to be unpredictable and it is still in early form.


I am planning on eventually making this a "graphic web-novel" but with a twist that will make it extremely unique and much more interactive. I really want to focus on the atmospheric feel of the world, and heavily on character development

Anyway, it would be great if you commented on this post and make a blog about your own story/stories.

~Josiah▲

▲(QUIZ BLOG) I WAS GOING TO BLOG ABOUT THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES BUT TOO MANY PEOPLE ALREADY DID▲

▲(QUIZ BLOG) I WAS GOING TO BLOG ABOUT THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES BUT TOO MANY PEOPLE ALREADY DID▲

So instead I'll be blogging about Sand; Peter and the Wolf.

No point in explaining what it was about since we all watch it in class, so I'll just talk about what I liked and didn't like.

First off, the technique was magnificent! And of course revolutionary for it's time. I was fascinated watching the sand move around and morph into shapes that seemed to come to life. The whole time I was thinking about how difficult it must of been to make the animation. I was impressed and perplexed by it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The use of the medium was also excellent. There were very few hard cuts, and instead each sequence flowed into the next. The whole film had such an exciting feel of energy and fluidity due to this, which made it extremely interesting to watch. However, the film did have some aspects that I didn't like.

I've always been a fan of the musical piece Peter and the Wolf, made by my favorite composer Sergei Prokofiev. Since this was an animation based off the piece, I was very excited to hear some of my favorite music, but instead only a few notes from Peter and the Wolf were in the film. The rest of the soundtrack was some weird "industrialist music" or whatever it is called. Although I think it added to the ambient feel of the film, I was still disappointed to not hear Prokofiev's musical composition because of my high expectations.

Well, that's about all I have to say about the film for the moment. 

~Josiah▲

▲Let's Talk About "Professionalism"▲

▲Let's Talk About "Professionalism"▲

Ok so I just recently did a comic for the Huntingtonian. There was a misunderstanding on my part and I didn't realize that I had signed up for a recurring position. I thought it was just going to be a one-time thing, and didn't really hear anything back after my first comic. I had received an e-mail that had a list of deadlines for everyone, and I didn't see my name on the list so I figured I didn't have to do a comic and I deleted it. Apparently my name was on the list and I overlooked it, so that is my fault. I received an e-mail on Friday saying that they needed my comic ASAP, and I replied that I didn't realize I was supposed to do one, but I would whip one up the next day. So I did, and this was the comic I submitted:

I was supposed to do an "opinion" comic, so I gave my opinion on what I thought of the school's mascot. Well guess what? THEY REJECTED IT! This honestly made my day and had me laughing for the better part of the afternoon. The fact that they didn't deem this comic as "appropriate" was hilarious to me, and I wanted to share my amusement with my friends on facebook, so I did. Along with the comic, this is what I posted:

"So I was e-mailed about a comic I was "apparently" supposed to do for the next issue of the Huntingtonian, so I decided screw it, I'll do whatever I want. This is the result. PS: The Huntingtonian rejected my cartoon :D"

Well after that the Huntingtonian sent me a wordy e-mail about how "in light of the recent public postings you put on your Facebook page, it has become clear that you are unwilling to comply to the standards of professionalism we require for our employees." 

So first off, it's obvious that they must have misunderstood the intent of my post on facebook. It wasn't meant to offend or attack the Huntingtonian, but it seems they thought it did. Anyway, they said:

"Handling the situation in this way was inappropriate and unacceptable. We will be having a different opinion comic artist for the rest of the year. Thank you for understanding."

Which is fine by me because I had already told them that I wasn't able to continue after this comic because I have a different job and am loaded with homework.

Anyway, it's my opinion that they overreacted, and that since they rejected my cartoon I have the right to do what I want with it, but in the interest of starting a conversation, what do you guys think? Was what I posted on facebook fine or do you think I acted "Inappropriately" and "unprofessional"?

Let me know!

~Josiah▲

▲NEW VIDEO IS NEW▲

▲NEW VIDEO IS NEW▲

Just uploaded a new video so you should check it out and subscribe if you haven't already.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with it! Taylor, Terry, Liz, Caity, Shawn, Rachel, Emily, Lance and Karli.

OK, so I've been thinking about why I like making videos and animations. For whatever reason I get a kind of satisfaction from watching something move and come to life on a screen that feels like nothing else. There's a certain joy in creating something that seems to have a life of it's own. This may sound funny, but I imagine the feelings I have towards an animation I just made is similar to what a parent might feel about their children, albeit not as extreme. Creating is one of the best feelings, and that drives me the most. It's so much fun and fills me with joy. 

Why do you guys make things? and how does it make you feel? It would be awesome if people joined in on this conversation. I think it's an important one for artists, and I'm sure we could relate. 

Make on!

~Josiah▲

▲GRAVITY FALLS GRAVITY FALLS GRAVITY FALLS▲

▲GRAVITY FALLS GRAVITY FALLS GRAVITY FALLS▲

Listen, if you like cartoons, then you should 100% check out this amazing show called Gravity Falls.
It.
Is.
Amazing.

I know I'm hyping it up a lot, but I love it so much I find it hard not to. In my opinion, it's the best animated series since Avatar, although it's hard to compare them because they are vastly different.
Let me give you a quick synopsis:

The show is about twins named Dipper and Mabel, who and up staying with their great uncle Stan (Gruncle Stan) in a place called "Gravity Falls." During their stay, they encounter many magical creatures and strange mysteries, including a book that has a symbol of a six fingered hand on the front that holds all kinds of
secrets.

That's all I'm going to give away about the plot, so now let's talk about the reasons why you should watch this show.

1. It is a really funny show that both kids and adults can laugh at. They have cleaver jokes, puns and references that are just splendid.

2. This show will always keep you guessing on what's going to happen next.

3. There's actually a serious plot line that slowly reveals itself as the show goes on.

4. The animation style is flawless!

5. The end of the first season will make you get out of your chair.

6. Because I said so, and isn't that the best reason?

So yeah, I love this show, and guess what channel it airs on? That's right folks, the DISNEY CHANNEL?!??! WHAT? DISNEY CHANNEL ACTUALLY HAS A GOOD SHOW?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!!!?! Don't let the fact that it's made by the Disney channel, I promise this is leaps and bounds beyond anything that has aired on it before. Check it out!

~Josiah▲

▲Comedy is Absurd▲

▲Comedy is Absurd▲

As you might know I make "funny"videos a lot, so I've given a lot of thought to what I find funny and why. This is how I sum it up:

If you really think about it, life is absurd. The fact that we exist by some act of god or an accident. The fact that the sky is blue, and grass is green, and water is wet, and birds fly, and when we walk we're basically just falling and catching ourselves over and over again, and that we're essentially just a collection of atoms and molecules, and yet somehow we're more then that. It's also absurd that when I think, my brain fires off electric signals that travel down through my arm and into my fingers which makes them move and click on these strange symbols that somehow form this sentence which your brain intuitively translates into comprehensive thoughts. Life is strange, and weird, and complicated, and cruel, and beautiful, and most importantly, absurd. And for some reason, there's a certain comedy in this.

We live in a crazy world, and yet somehow we still manage to lose track of this fact. We end up accepting everything as it is, going about our daily lives without giving a single thought to it, instead of really looking at it and realizing how absurd it is. I like to take this absurdity and raise it to an extreme and ridiculous amount. By making normal things over exaggerated, or by doing things that would normally be unacceptable, I try to make people laugh by how ridiculous it is. And maybe, just maybe they will stop to think about WHY they laughed at it. Perhaps they will realize that the crazy scenarios or actions they're watching on screen really aren't as strange as they seem, at least in comparison to the things we do everyday that have somehow become "socially acceptable." Hopefully by looking at their own existence and seeing how absurd it is, they will realize it's immense beauty.

Also, it's just funny, and I don't know exactly why. Which for whatever reason utterly delights me.

~Josiah ▲

▲The Idiot's Blog▲

▲The Idiot's Blog▲

So I watched the Idiot in signs and wonders the other night. And this was my reaction to it.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a bad movie or anything. My reaction was mainly due to it's length and the fact that we watched it late at night. However, the incredibly slow pace certainly played a part in it. 

Out of the Kurosawa movies we've watched so far, this one was my least favorite. It was long, slow, tiring, frustrating, and was difficult to understand the point until close to the very end. The whole love triangle thing was exhausting, and honestly I didn't care to much about it. It came to a point when I just wanted to yell "GET WITH ONE OF THE GIRLS, I DON'T CARE WHO, JUST STOP THE DRAMA! 

This movie has muddled my mind so much that I don't even know what else to say about it. Leeper, you've achieved your goal. I've officially walked into a tree.

But I would like to talk about imagery and elements that Kurosawa likes to use in his films a lot. Three in particular:

The Weather. In all his movies so far, Kurosawa has used the weather as a prominent visual and atmospheric force. I've been thinking it represents a pressing uncontrollable force that represents the character's own inability to control their situation. I'll have to think about this more, but I think I'm heading in the right direction.

Flowers: I've noticed that a flower or flowers seem to always appear in Kurosawa's movies, and I've been pondering what it might mean. I'm still working on the meaning if this, and will get back to it some other time. Do you guys have any thought on what the presence of flowers mean?

Children: And finally, his movies always end with a child, to represent hope, because I think at heart Kurosawa is a real softy and can't leave us with completely bleak endings.

Anyway, I'm done.



~Josiah▲

▲Annoying Shameless Self-Promotion▲

▲Annoying Shameless Self-Promotion▲

Hey guys, guess what? No really, guess!

Ok fine, I'll tell you.

I JUST POSTED A NEW VIDEO! Like I said, I post videos every other Wednesday, and if you subscribed it would make me very happy. And you all want to make me happy, right?

This video was a fun little experiment with mood and atmosphere, with of course my own little twist on it. 

Watch the video before reading what I've typed below!

The idea came because I was thinking how people often seem to view their circumstances as completely hopeless, when in reality it isn't that huge of a deal. We're just about to give up and lose hope, and then it's suddenly over. We always look back at how we acted in the past and think how silly it is, and yet when we get ourselves in the next situation we seem to forget the past and act just as foolish. I decided to illustrate this by doing a "lost in the jungle" type of thing because it just so happened that this space in between our garage and my neighbor's fence was crazy overgrown. My mom told me that I had to go out and cut that "jungle" down. BAM! There you have it. By the way, yes it is all filmed in that tiny space between my garage and fence.

~Josiah▲

▲The Great Hay War of 2013▲

▲The Great Hay War of 2013▲

An Intensive Historical Account of the Great Hay War

Documented by Josiah Clements

The Great Hay War was a bloody conflict that changed history itself. We refer to events that happened before this great battle as Before Hay War (B.H.W) and events after as After Hay War (A.H.W). In 55 B.H.W, tensions were taunt between the two major factions of the time; the Upper Wagon and the Lower Wagon. The Uppers held a lot of political power and wealth during this time, which they spent lavishly on whatever they pleased. The Lowers greatly resented the Uppers for this, because although they were a hard working class, they were mainly poor and suffered under the Upper's reign in poverty. Their relationship was strained for many years, but the conflict didn't truly start until 3 B.H.W, when some Uppers broke the Wagon Treaty and fired un-provoked into a Lower Wagon settlement. Many small skirmishes broke out for the next couple of years because of this, but they were small and mostly insignificant. It wasn't until the mighty Steve Leeper of the Lower Wagon rose up and gathered an army of rag-tag warriors behind him.

Although Leeper's army was undisciplined, they were a passionate bunch with unbreakable resolve. Leeper marched them straight to the Upper Wagon's front lines, which were led by the renowned Lance Clark. Clark 's soldiers were well equipped for war and had the wind on their side as a great tactical advantage, but they lacked resolve and were used to a life of comfort and ease. Both armies stared each other down, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The air was still, and even the crickets held their breathe in anticipation. 

Finally, unable to take it anymore, an antsy soldier fired a round off. The sound echoed all around, which was followed by an audible silence. Suddenly, all hell break lose. The two armies collided together in a horrendous clash. Soldiers dropped left and right, scattering the ground with their still warm corpses. Hay flew everywhere, blotting out the sun itself. The battle was intense, but it soon became evident that the Upper Wagon lead by Clark had the "upper" hand. The Lowers fought valiantly, but no matter how hard they fought, the wind kept on blowing their ammunition back in to their faces, causing more damage to their own forces then the enemy's. With the wind on their side, the Uppers pushed back Leeper and the Lower Wagon, forcing them to retreat. Brave Lower soldiers used their own bodies to shield their comrades allowing them to retreat safely. The most notably of these soldiers was Lance Terpstra the Valiant, Taylor Philips the Resilient, Sean Fitzpatrick the Noble, and Josiah Clements the Gay, who all gave their lives in the front lines of the battle.

General Leeper was extremely disheartened by this lose, and started to lose all hope of victory. Seeing that their efforts were practically futile, the Lower army decided to hunker down and wait for a more opportune moment to strike. They began storing up ammo and supplies in anticipation for a surprise attack. During this time, Lepper withdrew further and further into his mind, slowly losing grip of his sanity. One day, he finally snapped, and began firing upon his own troops in a blind state of hysteria. His soldiers tried to restrain him, but he escaped and ran of into the wilderness. With Leeper crazed and gone, his right-hand man stepped in to take his place; Jay Canul. Although he didn't have as much battle experience as Leeper, Canul had a sharp mind for military tactics. He roused the Lower Wagon troops one last time with an inspirational speech, and when the wind that had been the Upper Wagon's constant advantage died down, he led the army in a glorious final battle. They struck with everything they had, and delivered fatal blows to the Upper Wagon's army. Both sides suffered crippling casualties, and finally the two opposing generals called for a cease-fire, and eventually signed a peace treaty that both sides have kept even to this day. After the war was finally over, the Lower troops found the insane ex-general Leeper rummaging through the trash in their settlement. They captured him, and had him executed by a firing squad for his treason. 


Every year we have a festival to celebrate and remember peace treaty between the Upper Wagon and the Lower Wagon, where we carve pumpkins and drink hot chocolate.


~Josiah▲

▲Over-ANALyzing▲

▲Over-ANALyzing▲

Ah, the onion. Delightfully perceptive and brutally mocking.

After I finished laughing at this hilarious video, it brought some familiar thoughts to my mind.

When analyzing movies I often have to pull myself back. There’s a part me that wants to dig really deep into a film and draw meaning from every little thing. I want to pick it apart and inspect it under a ridiculously sized private-eye magnifying glass. But there’s the other side of me that tugs at my sleeves and draws me away. I have this fear of becoming like those pretentious snobs I see at art galleries sometimes, looking at a canvas painted yellow and explaining how it represents the moral dilemma of humanity, when in all reality it’s just a damn canvas painted yellow. I think that this video by the Onion is poking fun at people like that, and indeed they do seem incredibly silly. However, is it such a crime to come away with meaning that wasn't intended?

Art is supposed to inspire and evoke thought. A bucket might just be a bucket to me, but to someone else it could mean an emptiness that needs to be filled, or childhood memories of playing on a beach, or a flying saucer for all I know.

I think the important thing is not the artist’s intentions, but rather what the viewer comes away with.

~Josiah▲