Sloth you later! (Blog Entry 14)

I must say that over the course of the past weeks, the idea of blogging has become a whole heck of a lot less intimidating to me. When the class first started I was worried that I would fail horribly at it, that I would end up looking like an idiot or a lunatic. Writing the blogs was hard and took a long time, as if I had to labor over them for a while for them to be even close to worth posting.

However, now I feel much more comfortable writing to such a wide audience and actually do enjoy it. I feel that I came to know my fellow bloggers in a way, and sought some out each week for different reasons. It has been a strange feeling though, as I feel that I know my classmates better than I should, being that I have never actually met them. Funny how that happens.

Among the things I have learned from our blog is how important the visual aspect actually is. I found that I was drawn to the more unique looking blogs, rather than the blogs that just used text (for this reason I have posted the unbelievably cute picture of a photo bombing sloth below). I also found that I was drawn to the blogs with unique or witty titles, I suppose because if someone put in that amount of effort to their blog title, the post itself had to be good.

As far as my own writing goes, I do believe that it has improved.  The combination of blogging constantly and writing a paper every week has really had an effect on the way that I am able to edit myself as I am writing. Rather than having to constantly look back on my work, I can spot out more of my mistakes or bad habits as I am going. I am excited to put my new skills to the test this coming fall as I write my thesis! I think these new skills will save me from some serious headaches.

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of your summer!

The Power of Good Design (Blog Entry 13)

I chose this resume randomly from Google images because out of the sea of boring looking resumes, this one seemed to have a good sense of design to it.  The name on the top really caught my eye, as it was big and easy to see, causing me to consider it more than the others. As far as I can gather this person is an aspiring architect, looking for his second real job out of grad school. It is obvious by the layout and look of the resume that the person is in some sort of design profession, but not something too ostentatious. His arrangement is conservative and tasteful, as well as almost perfectly symmetrical, indicating a very perfection-driven profession. This shows his potential employers that he is capable of producing such designs, and will probably aid them greatly in their architectural works.

By using white space and text, this professional was about to create something pleasing to the eye. The resume is well balanced with variations on grey tones, giving it an edge without going overboard. His white spaces are apparent but do not dominate over the sections of text, although in my opinion the text could be just slightly bigger to really bring it out in places.

This resume is a great example for what employers in the design industry are looking for these days. By exhibiting solid design skills within the first document your employer reads about you, you are automatically putting yourself ahead of the crowd. Resumes like these are intended to impress the audience and indicate to them how accomplished and professional you are, while still retaining creative aspects that would make you a beneficial part of their team. This almost perfectly formulated resume provides a good example of what is really necessary for us to create in order to “sell” ourselves effectively in the modern job market.

Updated CV and Work Sample

Psychological Issues in American Psycho

*SPOILER ALERT* If you haven’t seen American Psycho (2000), and you think you may someday, consider reading a different post!

American Pyscho (2000) provides a sound example of the use of psychological issues in film. Adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 novel, the story follows Patrick Bateman, a run of the mill businessman in New York City with serial killer tendencies. In the end of the movie it is not obvious to the viewer whether or not the events within Patrick’s life actually occurred and no one seemed to notice, or if the events only took place within his own mind.

The films director, Mary Harron, utilizes many techniques of visual rhetoric in the film in order to achieve the confusion that the viewer feels at the end of the movie. First, to support the fact that Bateman has been killing people at will throughout the film, Harron had to evoke the social stance of late 1980’s New York City and the yuppie culture that dominated. Each character in the film is pretty much identical; they look the same, act the same, say the same things and often mistake each other for someone else. By highlighting this through costume design and casting, as well as the screenplay itself, Harron was able to draw on the absolute anonymity that Bateman experienced, allowing him to literally “get away with murder”.

In order to support the claim that nothing actually happened, and that Patrick Bateman was actually experiencing some kind of psychological break, Harron had to include some scenes that pointed out this possibility. Towards the end of the movie, after Bateman has supposedly murdered multiple women, a prostitute finds all of the bodies in a closet in the apartment he is masquerading as his own. When Bateman returns to the apartment to clean up after himself, the bodies are gone and the realtor acts as if nothing had happened. Later, as he is experiencing his final psychological break, he goes to an ATM and the screen reads “FEED ME A STRAY CAT”, when in reality the viewer knows this is figment of Bateman’s imagination.

This film draws on issues of conformity, narcissism, and the need to satisfy the ever-present “id”. By using the previously stated tools, Harron was able to convert the violent novel into a visceral film experience that causes the viewer to question the capabilities of the human psyche.

A Dancer’s Obsessions (Blog Entry 11)

While there are many psychoanalytic theories that could be applied to Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010), I think the one that most applies to the main character, Nina Sayers, is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The Mayo Clinic classifies this anxiety disorder as one that is “characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions).” Most of us have probably come to associate OCD with nervous ticks, things like constantly washing your hands, or flipping the hallway light switch a certain number of times before going to bed. However, the disorder also encompasses a lot of other obsessive behavior that may not be as obvious.

Nina’s life is ballet and her obsessive behaviors all revolve around her dancers lifestyle. Some of the symptoms she shows are typical to those with OCD but also to dancers in general, such as bulimia. In order to be flawless, Nina has to be as skinny as a rail and so she purges herself regularly to keep up. It has been known for dancers like Nina to get sick and even die from over-exercising and malnourishment. The daily preparation it takes to be a ballet dancer is obsessive for her as well, such as the wrapping of her feet in her toe shoes. Aronofsky shows Nina performing this act multiple times throughout the film, demonstrating to the viewer how often this is done. Some symptoms that Nina exhibits that are not as usual include her repetition of dance sequences until she has completely exhausted herself, and scratching at her own skin. Her quest to be “perfect” causes her such stress that she must do these things in order to feel at peace, even if she doesn’t realize it. As she strives for this fulfillment, she is killing herself. Her mind and body begin to deteriorate, and she loses herself in hallucinations, which eventually take over, causing her to take her own life in order to “find freedom” like the White Swan.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/DS00189

Black vs. White: Duality in Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010)

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010) was an instant classic. It won praise from every prominent movie critic, and triumphed at the Academy Awards with good reason. Engrossing and maniacal, this film grabs hold of its viewers on my different psychological levels. The story follows Nina, a new star chosen to play the part of the Swan Queen in Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, Swan Lake. Nina is naturally timid, and embodies the White Swan in all of her childlike innocence. The real work that Nina has to do involves transforming herself into the Black Swan, the White Swan’s sexual and devious counterpart.

This duality between the two sides of the Swan Queen is made obvious throughout the film by various channels that use the juxtaposition of black against white, or light against dark. First, in the beginning of the film, Nina is always wearing a white or pink costume that signifies the pure nature of her White Swan side. As time goes on and Nina begins to accept Black Swan side of herself, she begins to wear grey and then eventually black as she embraces her darker side.

Another example of this juxtaposition can be found in the decoration of almost every set that is used throughout the movie. The rehearsal hall, Thomas’s apartment, Nina’s dressing room, the bathroom etc., they each employ the use of light and dark to subconsciously remind the reader of the Black Swan/White Swan duality.

A more obvious example can be found in a scene during which Nina is going home towards the beginning of the movie. She is walking through a passageway alone at night, but then notices that there is someone else there as well. Nina, dressed in light pink and white, keeps walking wearily towards the other woman, who is dressed in black. As she walks past her, she see’s her own face for a split second, and then the woman becomes someone else. This is one of the stronger foreshadowing effects that were used in the film as it shows the viewer that Nina has the Black Swan within her, she just needs to find a means by which to bring her out. These examples as well as many other techniques used by Aronofsky are what make this film the twisted psychological thriller that astounded the world.

Where the Sidewalk Ends (Blog Entry 9)

If you never had a Shel Silverstein book as a child, you were deprived. Just putting that out there. That being said, one of his finer works that I have probably read cover to cover about a thousand times in my life is Where the Sidewalk Ends. This book, like other Silverstein books such as Falling Up and A Light in the Attic, consists of many poems with accompanying drawings to match the poems subject. The poems are goofy and kitschy, aimed at the sentiments of children but also funny to me even now, as an adult. Some hint at more serious issues through childlike means such as “Hug-O-War”, where the narrator wants to hug instead of play tug o’ war. Peace not war, love not hate, and all that.

 

Other poems, however were written solely to be silly and make the reader laugh a little bit, such as “The Acrobats”. This poem is written from the point of view of a trapeze artist who describes a trick that he and his partners are going to do. I feel as if this is one of the most successful drawings as far as the narrative of the poem goes. It allows the reader to visualize what the poem is saying, rather than trying to imagine what it would look like for you to “hang by your nose from a high-up trapeze”.

All of the drawings in the book depict what is happening in the poem with which it is paired, and shows the reader what Silverstein had in mind when writing them. In this way, kids can share in the crazy world that he has created and go on a journey with him. The poems are light hearted and humorous, and the drawings even more so. They brighten my day even now, and that is something I find truly special.

Snow White: Heroine or weakling? (Blog Entry 8)

The character of Snow White is a major presence in the storyline of the graphic novel Fables, created by Bill Willingham. As the second in command of the community of Fabletown, Snow basically pulls all the strings among the fairy-tale outcasts that inhabit the “Woodland” as well as the up-state community of non-human fables called “the Farm”. In Vol. 1 of Fables, Snow Whites sister Rose Red has been murdered (or so we are led to believe throughout most of the volume) and she helps to investigate the crime. In this story she is strong and willful, not taking any crap from anyone (especially not Detective Bigby Wolf). It becomes obvious that her character is naturally very just, and does what is best for the entire community, unlike some of the other rather self-serving characters. When Fabletown needed her most, she was there to do her duty and protect that which the mismatched band of excommunicates held dear.

However, I feel as though her character is weaker in the second volume of Fables called “Animal Farm”. In this volume Snow and her (very much alive) sister Rose Red head to the up-state community of magical misfits, only to find them forming a rebellion against the city of Fabletown. They seek to gain control over their government and return to their homelands to win them back from “the adversary”, who stole their magical lands from them in a violent siege. Here, Snow loses her edge of bravado in my eyes. Her ignorance of what is happening when they arrive at the Farm, and then reluctance to accept it really bothered me. In the end she essentially saves the day, but not before making some foolish mistakes. Her character from the first volume seemed to be smart as a whip, but in this one she fizzles slightly. I will say though that throughout both volumes Snow White never loses her integrity, staying steadfast with what was right and just for the people of the Fable community.

Whodunnit?! (Blog Entry 7)

I honestly don’t know who killed Rose Red!  Bluebeard seems a likely suspect seeing as he has killed all of his previous wives in cold blood.  However, as Snow White pointed out, it was his M.O. to kill them on their wedding night, not before they were married.  Also, Bluebeard goes to the prison cell where Bigby is keeping Jack to torture him into telling where he hid Rose, or Rose’s body.  There is also a part of me that still suspects Jack.  As a question of motive, perhaps he found out about her secret engagement to Bluebeard and killed her for being unfaithful to him?  However, he did lead Bigby to the scene of the crime and has been cooperating with him as much as possible, so why would he do that if he were guilty?  I expect that the crime as something to do with matters of love because of the blood on the wall that reads “NO MORE HAPPILY EVER AFTER”, and in fables a “happily ever after” usually means that a man and a woman end up together and live the rest of their lives in peace and harmony.

The middle frame of page 55 shows Rose Red saucily undressing for Bluebeard on a bed. Being that it is inked in purple tones and surrounded by a gold frame, the reader can assume that it is a flashback or a memory belonging one of the characters. This interests me because it doesn’t seem as though it was particularly necessary to the storyline to include a depiction of their relationship in this manner. I believe the authors chose to include it because it gives the reader an idea of what kind of character Rose Red had been before she died. Seeing as Rose is not ever actually present in the story, these moments of reflection are what gives readers a victim to put with the murder mystery. Somehow though, one can’t help but wonder if these images are painting her in a light that somehow doesn’t reveal another side of the story, her side. From what we have seen she seems to have been a promiscuous party girl with no real regard for consequences, but is that just what the writers want us to think for now? These overly sexual images of her make me wonder exactly what we will be learning about her character in the coming chapters.

“Alexa Split In Two” (Blog Entry 6)

“Alexa Split in Two”, is a self-portrait done by the artist Alexa Meade. With this work she has chosen a close-cropped frame, focusing solely on her face, forcing the viewer to make eye contact with her. She has painted the right half of her face as she would if she were painting herself on a flat canvas, with thick, rough strokes of acrylic paint. Her left half is left unpainted, allowing her skin to show through. The warm colors of her painted and unpainted skin contrasts against the cool blues of the background, which is also split into two distinctly different appearances. Her stare is intense, and somewhat confrontational in my opinion. It is almost as if she is challenging her viewers or imposing upon them.

I am not sure if this image would have the same power if it was of someone else besides the artist. Being that this is a self-portrait it can be thought of as a representation of herself as both artist and artwork. She is equally herself and that which she creates, making her dedication to her art extremely apparent.

As she writes in her artist statement her work “[repurposes] the common codes of painting and create a reciprocal self-referentiality in which the reference envelops its referent.” With this idea Meade has broken the traditional convention of painting and replaced it with something else, something entirely her own. She forces the viewer to confront the subject of her works in a way that they are almost uncomfortable with, causing them to rethink what is real and what is illusion. I would imagine that the Internet has been very influential in the furthering of Alexa’s career and goals as an artist. I know that I have seen her works before but only because of social media outlets such as facebook or StumbleUpon.

Tales from Taiwan (Blog Post 5)

http://twstories.wordpress.com/

A good friend of mine has recently moved to Taiwan.  His departure was unexpected and rapid, and I hadn’t seen him in a long while before he contacted me to tell me he was leaving. Being that he was the first person I met at CU (he helped me move into my dorm freshman year and lived across the hall from me), I have a very special attachment to him.  He has been one of the most honest and caring people I have ever known and I miss him terribly. That being said, his blog is just as honest as he is.

His blog is directed mainly toward his family and friends, but I believe it to also be a sort of emotional outlet for his troubles as well as his enthusiasm. He writes about the things he has been doing, funny things that happen to him, how hard it has been to adjust to living in a foreign country etc. It has been wonderful to read his blog as his friend, sparse as the entries have been, to be able to see what he has been up to and that he is doing alright there.

I believe his blog achieves the goals that he created it for in that it allows him to write in an organized chronological order (he uses WordPress, just like we do!). The design he has chosen is also very simple, and doesn’t distract much from his text. He uses pictures mid-blog to accompany his writing, which is nice when he is telling his readers about an apartment that he is currently living in, or a phallic sculpture he encountered while walking through a market. Jesse is a wonderful writer, and I would definitely recommend reading his blog, although I’m not sure if it would be that interesting to someone who doesn’t know him. 🙂