FEEDBACK

I truly enjoyed the creative aspects of this class. Making the movie at the end was especially fun as a feel like it was a great way to put some time into a project at the end with out making it some sort of stressful and over the top event. I liked working in groups, especially because they weren't picked for us. I came in knowing absolutely no one in the class and came out knowing some great new people who I feel like I will collaborate with in the future, they may even make great contacts for the future in the media industries! 

I'd like to wish all the best to my fellow classmates as well as our Professors! 

Thanks! 

Jam Session, In a Jam, Wham Bam Thank you Jam and other such Puns

      Let's face it, it often takes a long time to get from place to place at Hunter College and in New York City in general. New York city is highly populated and thus so his Hunter College. All of this traffic and congestion can put one in a jam, to borrow from our earlier unedited "traffic poem" video. (you can watch that here) . We wanted to expand on this idea and create a film in which a young girl, who just happens to be named "Jam" is just fed up with all of the traffic. Nothing about her day seems to go smoothly, and as she is about to find out no one really cares! We used voice over to convey our characters frustration and our music and camera angles were meant to give more depth to each situation. Not even her traffic counselor, who has been employed by Hunter College to help students cope with such Jam Packed situations!

Museum of the Moving Image!

 Sound in film has always been a challenge. The dubbing of older movies often seems silly in modern times, but it had to be done, as cameras were not able to pick up sound. The dubbing is almost always slightly “off” if one looks closely.  Now, as we look at more modern films, most of the time the sound quality as well as the matching of the voice to the actor is much improved. Currently, most cameras used to record movies are “sound capable”, however the quality often does not match the quality which the directors and producers are hoping to achieve, especially in high budget or high action features.

            At the Museum of the Moving Image, the tour guide, or shall I say “educator” took us into a sound booth modeled after those used on films, especially the high budget ones. The actors must sit in a room, a soundproof one, listening to their voice from the recording and watching themselves on the screen. As we learned, this is a practice not often talked about by the director and the actors, however it can prove very challenging to do it right. An actor must have the same emotion in his or her voice whether it be happy, sad, frightened, angry etc. even though they are simply sitting in a room, either with the other actors or alone, matching their voice to the movement of their mouths on the screen.

            During the demonstration, we were able to try out the sound booth for ourselves.  The fact that the challenge was to dub over someone else’s voice was even more difficult as each and every person has a different way of pronouncing their words and thus one who is dubbing for someone else has to match the way they form their words as well.

             Sound is vital part of any film, yet it is not something regular moviegoers, who are not in the industry, or are not film buffs ten to think about.

Design I LIKE

Okay, so if you know me you probably know that Beyonce is my favorite favorite singer/artist etc. I think she is fabulous on stage and to see her tour live is to see a show unlike any other. Beyonce aside, I must say that I truly enjoyed this cover of Gotham Magazine for its simple design and it's use of the face as art. 

    This cover proves that less is often more. The font is simple and easy to read and the cover isn't cluttered with different headlines advertising the magazine's featured stories. It is expected that the cover will catch the reader’s eye and thus they will want to read more. The cover does not show off the "model's" body or the clothing she is wearing but rather the focus is simplistic color. Much of the color is exhibited through the makeup on the model's face rather than extra-computerized features. (This is not to say that Photoshop and color correction were not used, of course.)

    The theme of this issue was "International" and Beyonce; the cover model represented "Made In America". This idea is conveyed simply through a basic title in the right corner as well as the patriotic colors used along with the red white and blue, symbolic of the American Flag, stripes across the face.

     To put things "simply" simple clean lines and ideas in order to convey a message is what its all about. Simple clean lines put me at ease, and I strive for such. I myself have a tendency to be scattered and thus I admire when messages can be conveyed and displayed quickly, beautifully and to the point. 

In a JAM!

Ever been in a jam? No not a jar of jam, not a door jam, but a traffic Jam! New York traffic is infamous for its horrific jams during rush hour, periods of construction, or even a movie shoot. Any New Yorker, or unlucky tourist can say that the taxi they took instead of the subway because they were running late cost them 20 dollars and 20 extra minutes because of a traffic jam.
 Hunter College, being in the City of New York also has its own traffic issues. The library computers are notoriously hard to come by, and don't try to catch an elevator in a hurry, especially in the north building. The thing about traffic jams is no matter the frustrating detor the light will always turn green and you will be able to keep moving forward.

Not so Hot Potato

This is the Not So Hot Potato. She is sad because her eyes disappeared in photoshop... They were fruit so I think somebody ate them. She wears purple eye liner to cover up her missing blueberry eyes, and is trying to raise enough funds to purchase new ones on the Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead black market as they are hard to come by. She is thinking about purchasing insurance on her carrot nose just in case the mean photoshop thief decides to return. For now she is going to rock her purple and pink chic! 

Construction Deconstructed

If you live in New York City you know that it is constantly under construction. Roads always need fixing, "improvements" are always being started and sometimes it seems the projects are never finished. .. ie the second avenue subway line etc. You know that one building you always pass by that seems to be under never ending construction and repair? Of course you do.  Hunter College might even be one of those buildings... If you really stop and take a look, Hunter has many construction projects going on all around it. Some of these projects are Hunter sponsored and others aren't even Hunter related at all. The goal of our photo assignment was to stop and take a look at the projects going on all around us.

Stamp Art!

Haylee, now 21 was born with Cerebral Palsy, for her this is only a physical condition and has not affected her  mental abilities. She was cared for by her grandfather but when he was too old to give her the care she required due to her physical disability the state of Alabama only had funding to put her in a nursing home, she was 21 years old and living in a nursing home with senior citizens. Recently, she was invited to live with a couple Judson and Donna Emens, who new her when she was a child, as Donna was her social worker in her head start program. The Emens hear that Haylee was living in a nursing home and decided that wouldn't due; they are currently in the process of adopting Haylee and Haylee calls them Mom and Dad. Haylee's law is a law that would require the state of Alabama to provide services for people over the age of 21 with physical disabilities not just for people with mental disabilities. Although Haylee's story has a happy fresh start there are so many Haylee's who do not get the same chance, Haylee plans on going to college in the near future but with out the Emens help, the way the law currently stands she would be sitting in a nursing home playing bingo instead of pursuing her dreams. See Video from NBC's Nightly News, and Huffington Post article at this link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/10/haylee-cain-21-year-old-w_n_677203.html

Artist Statement

            My name is Ariana and I grew up where I didn’t fit in. My values were different than many of those around me and I felt that there was many times in which I was not given the opportunity to show my true self. In living in Manhattan I find myself in a world of “true self’s”, of course there will always be those who pretended to be someone they are not, but that is the beauty of it. One can be whomever they choose to be, naturally are, or wish they were. The people of New York make up one priceless work of art. There are pieces which we would never wish to purchase, those we wish we could have, and those who clutter up our tiny apartments but we can’t manage or really don’t want to get rid of. My art is not just about New York, it is about the values of New York, whether it takes place in the city or not. I believe in showing people things they may have once looked over and allowing them to decide whether or not they would like to keep looking. My hope is to one day produce documentaries that shed light on not only problems, social, economic and otherwise but also on those involved in the process of solution big and small.  I'd love to one day document street performers, as I'd like to know and would like others to know more about the life behind the performer, the human being removed from their art as well as what inspires their art.
The following is not a video that I took personally but I often see this performer, an older man performing in the 42nd Street Subway station specifically near the ACE lines. Apparently others are taking notice as wel.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZl7HvDuKTk&feature=related

UPDATE! The performer I posted above is named Danny Small! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DSXUcVK-QA&feature=related