Final project and peermate evaluations

It was an interesting endeavor to collaborate on a group presentation in class.

Dan and Francis had excellent insight in designing our interactive video. Francis in particular knows the pangs of being marginalized for her appearance/lifestyle, so to have the viewer step into the proverbial shoes of an abused individual was a boon. Empathy and creatively.

Dan provided a solid template for the device, much props to him.

Meesha was essential in prompting the idea of a world where we lose our individuality, without her, there would be no project.

All in all, an excellent group for an excellent presentation.

Musuem of Feelings: Come buy Glade

The museum was a waste.

I went in with some peers expecting a some hipster transcendentalism. Instead, I got some cool visual tricks and nice scents.

Overall, a waste of time. I was happy to have spent no money on it.

Priya Shakti visit

The past semester has been a scintillating time of museum and installation visits. The microcosm of Manhattan encouraging all sorts of creativity.

The Shakti one was an interesting mix of experience and mythology. By combining the real life instances of rape with Hindu mythology, it added a long awaited lore and dialogue.

The augmented reality portion was in my opinion, unnecessary. Some comic panels would fly out when you hovered your phone over the image, but the comic panels at the installation spoke enough on their own.

In short, AR has a ways to go.

11/2/15

Very little in the ways of reporting today.

As far as consumption, my parents' HBO account is bust so I tend to stream John Oliver on sites such as primewire. While unconventional (and illegal), I still want access to my programming when I choose not to watch it live.

Often times, I get together with friends on Sunday and Monday nights. This often means missing Fargo, Last Week Tonight, etc. In spite of this obstacle, I find a way to catch my shows after they air.

I say this ad nauseum but streaming is the way to go. Unless its a program that has a large social engagement ( Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, super hero shows) it's worthwhile to take the time and stream the programs another day.

11/1/15

Editing is moving at a good clip for graduate school. Recently wrapped up the principal photography on my MOS. My principal was only available for one day but by sheer virtue, I was able to to use the following day's pickups without her.

Hitting the road with editing is going to be a ton of fun. Like Schoonmaker and Kahn, an editor has level of authorial input on a film as comparable to a director or screenwriter. Beats, pacing and effects are all up to the editor.

One editor I particularly admire is Ralph Rosenblum. He did several of Woody Allen's comedies including Annie Hall. With him, he often gave input back to Woody for additional footage or the cutting of several sequences. In fact, he helped turn Annie Hall into the rom com we know it as today. Previously, the film was a rom com and heist film, with the heist material getting in the way of the laughs. With Rosenblum input, the fat was trimmed into the Best Picture winner of 1977.

Top notch Ralph, top notch.

10/26/15

Tomorrow, we have a lecture on what happened to be a cherished memory of mine. A few years back, a few of my peers and I visited an event entitled Sleep no more. What is Sleep no More?

Essentially, if Macbeth and a 20s murder mystery had a baby, it would be sleep no more. All participants wear masquerade masks and wander around a murder mystery set where different rooms show off different parts of the Macbeth narrative. Participants can't interact with the actors, creating a distinction between the performers and the participants. The beauty of this set up is creating a sense of detachment with the macabre elements of the show. The bystander effect not only racks up the scares, it prompts the participants to think about their own machinations "Why aren't I acting upon this?" "Does this make me a bad person?" etc

A step below this set up would probably be dinner theater. Eating a meal and having performers interact with the crowd is a lot more genial. Especially when most dinner theater is inherently campy. Sleep no More is played straight, which helps with the aesthetic of the production.

Overall, I'm ecstatic for the lecture tomorrow.

10/22/15

The other day was an excellent change of pace with the Integrated Media course.

Having a new speaker come in provided a new voice to speak their mind about the subject. Highlights for me were the discussion on Burning Man and the nature of crowd funding.
Crowdfunding can be done for something successful as a film's budget, other times it can be as irreverent as the best potato salad ever. Useful or not, it goes to show the samaritan level charity people have to give.

As for Burning Man, I'm a large proponent for music festivals. Every year, I attend the Amnesia Rockfest in Quebec. All of my favorite punk and metal groups show, but I'm disappointed to see that its sponsored by Budweiser and Yagermeister. Conversely with Burning Man, the only consumer activity is the ticket purchase. None of it is promoted via a private company and all of the goods there are free. Social experiments have always fascinated me; the No Pants subway ride being a cherished college memory.

Ideally, I want to visit Burning Man at least once with my peers.

Youtube Channel progress

I laid the final stamp on my youtube channel along with Gabe and Katie. Couldn't be more excited for our project. Having the opportunity to create a channel skewering fratty culture is so much fun.

It's cathartic in a way; a majority of my peers from Farrell (well Staten Island in general) fit the parameters of our material. Showcasing this channel in class is going to be a boon for my peers, they can finally relate to what I suffered through for four years.

10/16/15

Few developments have occurred within the few weeks, but one of note has caught my attention

Frequently, I've discussed how it appears to be a boon for millenials to toss out their cable subscriptions in favor of streaming services ( Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc).

Today is the day where it has come to fruition. I bit the bullet and purchased a Hulu no commercial subscription. With it, I have the opportunity to watch my shows and a myriad of films at my leisure. In tandem with my netflix account of course. Coincidentally, many of the films screened for Narrative Structure are on Hulu, saving me the trouble of commuting to Clinton Hill.

It's becoming more and more of a trend for my demographic to forgo traditional means of consumption in favor of carte blanche streaming.

Cheers.

Consumption thoughts

I've noted my activity on social media again. I'm absolutely thrilled that I'm not as hooked as I used to be.

What became an occurrence at 10 minute intervals, evolved to an hourly then bi-hourly ritual. For me, keeping myself unplugged from it all is conducive to my attention span and work ethic.

In class, the prof gauged us on if we've been watching Narcos. A handful of us said yes. I myself would have been watching the program, but instead have been binging Curb your Enthusiasm. In lieu of Netflix, I've used Amazon Prime as my primary means of binging. The service is comparable, and I've picked up that I'm not one to hop on fanfare. Marco Polo launched earlier this year, I didn't bother to tune in. For me, my inclination towards a program requires my own agency, not the recommendation of my service. Attack on Titan came and went for me; I could barely get through three episodes before losing interest.

In short,  I'm happy to be less attached to my phone and partial to trying different services.

10/02/15

Friday night, what a beautiful time to catch up on my screenings while suffering a cold.

Caught up with my Narrative Structure by watching Old Boy. Keeping my netflix account strong through this film. Definitely a polarizing film for its violent and audacious themes. Most of my day was spent consuming youtube videos and television along with Old Boy. With the cold, it almost made it mandatory to pass the time.

09/26/15

The past few days have led to interesting developments within my media consumption.

Yesterday, the class and I went to see an exhibit that used comic book onomatopoeia. Fascinating approach in presenting text that not only evoked the noise but shared similar characterisitcs. Pops looked like balloons, shooom and zkkkkttt resembled sound waves. All fun.

Doing my best to limit social media activity. I've been using online dating (is it a form of media?) with limited success. It's passing interest but it gets me by.

In regards to this course's relation with Brooklyn College, the usage of graphics in integrated platform's is a lucrative trade for me to invest in. Motion graphics, animation; it's conducive to my education.

09/19/15

This week, very little has moved on since my previous post.

The fierstein campus so far has added new decor; names of patrons and investors on the periphery of our entrance.

Consumption wise, I still am trudging through Metal Gear V. With the considerable cut scenes, I continue to play for only an hour to two at a time. Though this past week I played Mario Maker with friends. It's fascinating to see a level creator ala Little Big Planet with Nintendo's approval. User generated content is on the rise: web series; fan art; modded video games. It was only a matter of time before Nintendo took initiative to sell it back to their fans. The game engine is stunning; The original Marios bros to Mario U look and play as accurate as they can.

As for overall consumption, I'm attempting to limit time to Facebook and to a lesser extent my phone. I've found that the diversions have hardwired a shorter attention span. Working in entertainment, I cannot risk having my attention fade when watching a film or editing. The quick glance to the phone or to open a new tab for Facebook, not conducive for work.

Entry 1 09.13.15

Today begins the self-aware processing of all my media consumption. It’s odd because I tend to frown upon people who do nothing but consume all day. Producers being a much more active bunch, both creatively and time conducive.

            

For the past several weeks, I’ve been binging Curb Your Enthusiasm. Curb has the benefit of only running 30 minutes unlike programs; Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, etc which run for 48 minutes to an hour. I could watch three to four episodes in the time frame to watch two of other programming. Otherwise, I prefer to keep the viewing at a minimum, lethargy is not for me.
            Metal Gear Solid V was just released, another time consuming enterprise. Cinematic in scope, cut scenes run for half an hour to forty minutes, often extending play sessions to three hours. As per Curb, I keep it at a minimum. Fun game, but not something to divulge most of my active time.

           

Social Media plays a pivotal role in my daily routine. Checking statuses of my friends; events coming up; all is integral to my daily function. Beyond Facebook, I’m hooked to Instagram and Snapchat. Unsurprisingly, the average consumer spends 1.72 hours on social media a day. With the small instances of checking notifications, accumulation is key.

            Finally, this past week we saw the announcements for the iDevices: iPhones and Apple TV. With Tangerine gaining traction, we’ll see a greater use of cell phones used in lieu of traditional cameras. We’ve come a long way from 1.2 megapixel videos on our Blackberrys. A boon with the Apple TV is it’s new interface. Media consumption is closer and closer to streaming all content. Appointment based programming being fazed out. I for one, support this. Very rarely will I go out of my way to watch something live. Facebook was all a twitter ( no pun intended) about the Late Show. I was indifferent. If there’s a segment I enjoy; Youtube has it up the following day.
            No matter the format, we all consume media, it’s just the habits that are changing, not the format.