Compose Your Frame - Still Composition

This is a picture i took on the back road heading to Kolob resivor. The rule of thirds is placed in a few different areas of the picture. first lets start with the sky the mountain's and the ground. Place your eye where the mountain's end at the right side of the picture and follow the ridge. toward the left side and the mountain rang shoots up. Both the mountain and the rainbow forced your eye skyward. The colors are also arranged in three's. First the sky with its grays and white. Then the mountains run from a light yellow near the rainbow then become more red in the middle then fade into bluish purple. finally the ground the field is yellow then turns green the closer it gets to the camera.

The diagonal rule is implemented as the rainbow starting at the top of the left hand corner and draws the eye downward. The cool thing about this rainbow is that it touches down right in the field. Truly making the viewing think that there might actually be a pot of gold. The thing that immediately grabbed my wife and my eye is that its a double rainbow. I have never actually seen this phenomena in real life. So I had to catch a picture. The double rainbow helps reinforce the diagonal rule. Since the first rainbow and second help force your eye downward. its also helps with the contrast of the darkening sky and the bright vivid colors of the first rainbow and the faded muted colors of the second. these two rainbows also act as the vectors of the picture. they are the ones catching your eye and having them take seem like they have movement.

Group Presentation.

Luva Logo

I was in charge of creating the logo for the Luva. When we looked at the original logo, I noticed that the way that Luva was spelled had an accent dots above the "U" making the oo sound. I really liked this feature because it made the spelling stand out. In sticking with the theme of "The Love Glove" I presented the idea that we should have the logo be multiple colors in a "hombre" style of a top color fading into a different color at the bottom. This style looks best when using two colors that complement and contrast to catch the eye. My inspiration for this color idea came from when I was in High School and the Austin Powers craze was in full swing. I looked at the way the text was used and many other 60's style lettering and found that not only was the colors used to make the text stand out but the fount was of a wave or collaborative style. I used my name and designed a wave pattern then implemented the colors of lime green at the top that faded down to a royal blue at the bottom. For the text to have a unique style, I wanted to incorporate the shape of the product. The U was the best choice because the accent dots at the top could be used to look like the arm cuffs of the glove. thus making the logo as a true representative of the product.

Now on to the colors of the logo. The group liked the ideas of blending colors. Many of are meeting evolved around the colors that we would use both on the website itself and the logo. The logo we wanted to have cold colors to contrast between the warm colors of the webpage. Are thought was that the cold colors would spark the mind of the potential customers of when the glove would be used. The original color choice was White, Silver, and Blue. These colors change well since it would start with a white and move through the Hugh into Silver and transition into an arctic blue. After looking at how those colors might blend we decided on a sunset colors instead, to stick to the "Love" oriented colors of a sunset.

Wile working on the film with John the grope decided that using the "U" design was not as romantic as the way the advertising would be used. Some members put forth the idea of using a heat design with geometric lines. This giving a diamond look to the heart (building on the romantic touch). The group still utilized the color skeem of the sunset and a redesign was produced to what the logo is now.

Film contribution

    
After my co group member John put forth the idea of using are film studies to use and shoot a commercial for the product, I leaped at the chance to help out. John and I wanted to use Christmas lights to are advantage of staging a cold winter night were in the Luva may be used. The lights at the main street park was a perfect idea. John and I went to the park together one night to scout out the location and see what the park would offer the project. We found that it was a gold mine of beautiful imagery. We were both surprised to find that the fountain and other water works were still running and the pond area gave a great reflection of the light from the surrounding trees. We decided that no dialog from the characters would be best. In are minds we pictured a jeweler commercial style. Since there would be no script to follow we wanted to record are ideas of how the scene would be set. I took out a couple peaces of paper and a pencil and drew some quick sketches of the ideas that we wanted to capture. These story boards served as are script when filming began.

John did an amazing job directing. and I was more than happy to take up one of the rolls as producer. John and I both asked are lighting for film class if any of them would be interested in helping us with this project. To are great benefit many of are fellow classmates were happy to come and help with equipment and shooting of this great short film.      

Mis-en-Scene

Mis-en-Scene snap-shots from the 1979 film "Superman"

Ok I might have chosen this movie based on my nostalgia. This was one of the first movies went to the theaters to see and it has stayed in my mind ever since I was five years old. This movie is of course "Superman" staring Christopher Reeve as the title character.

The scene I have chosen to focus on is the Fortes of Solitude. As a kid my imagination made me feel like this place must be massive, I have always wondered how it was constructed. Thanks to the power of DVD I learned that during the making of this film the storyboards were drawn by the comic artist working on the Superman comics at the time. Since director Richard Donner was able to hire actual comic artist to come up with the ideas of the sets the art designers had a lot to work with.

The Production designer for this film is John Barry, who became famous for his work on Star Wars. Berry definitely showed his talent in creating sets for fantastic looking worlds. He took the design of the comics and implemented the crystal theme through out the whole set. This varied from the comic book versions a bit, however ever since this film it has impacted the way the Fortes was drawn in the comics from then on.

Some of the principles of design I see in this set is

Gasalt principles - The set is an example of the parts being more than the hole. As you can see etch crystal makes up a part of the walls. They overlap etch-other creating a hole peace.

The crystals all point upwards in a way. Your eye moves in a line at an angle pointing upwards.

The Texture seems to differ depending on were you are at. The walls seem smooth. but the ground where your feet stand is not flat. it has a geological cleavage (smooth) but still rises in arias and gives a traction feel.

Color - since the crystals are very glass looking and the fact that they are suppose to be in the Arctic the main color is white. Bluish hughes accent and make a cold feel. The white that the light coming off the control center makes Clark's suite stand out as a huge contrasts to the white.

One of the resin this film is so well done is because it had the creative teams from two of the biggest grossing movies at that time collaborating on it. The Writer of the film is Mario Puzo who wrote the book and script for the film "The Godfather".    


John Berry the man who designed "Star Wars" was head of set production. Geoffrey Unsworth was director of Cinematography (2001: A space odyssey). Ernest Archer was Art Director (The spy who loved me). Yvonne Blake - Costume designer (Jesus Christ: superstar).

Favorite Directors

Favorite Directors

So when Eric asked us to look through are move collections and see what directors we gravitate towards. In looking through my what seems like hundreds of DVD's, I tried to separate all the films into Directors categories. Many directors had about two or three in there pile. But at the end of the indever I found that two directors had one or two more on there pile then the others. The two film makers were Bruce Timm and comedy legend Mel Brooks.

Bruce Timm - Being that it is well known to the class by now that I am a huge comic book and superhero geek (only DC comics,. No Marvel. marvel has never had that great of characters or stories that have enthralled me, well... except for X-men). Growing up in the 90's I was intrigued to find out that animation director Bruce Timm help produce some of my all time favorite Warner Brothers cartoons. Timm is most famous for directing, and writing the Emmy award winning television program Batman: The Animated Series. What has made this particular series stand out not only agents many other cartoons of the day but agents adult and other prime time TV shows is that even though it is animated, the writing is particularly superb. Timm wanted to show batman as a realistic character and never dumbed down the story just because the main targeted audience was children. The stories were adult in nature and was not afraid to show the evils that are hero faced in his dangerous escapades. I will say it here and now that as an adult I am not overly a big fan of Disney. Over the years of collecting my DVD's, the thought occurred to me that many of these films will probably be viewed by my one day children. As such I want to make sure that they will be viewing quality story telling with dynamic characters. So I started collecting the films that inspired me to venture into reading comics and then became part of why I want to gain a career in film making.

Mel Brooks - This is the man is probably responsible for everything that I find humors in life. Even though my first experience in a move theater was the legendary Superman. my second movie going adventure was seeing Mel Brooks Robin Hood: Men in Tights. This movie made me fall in love with brooks comedy, so much so that every time i visited a video rental store, I could not leave without renting at least one of Brooks prior films. Brooks is known as the king of satire. He takes a fa-miler film property, spins it, and places it on its head to make you lough so hard you cry. Wile I admit that Brooks film are probably not high brow art, they still have a charm and passion that sucks you in. Mel Brooks in truly one of my film icons and I hope to one day meet him and tell him how much I enjoy his movies.                  

Design evaluation

Archery is one of my hobbies that i enjoy practicing in my spare time. Recently I have decided to try something new in this sport and look for a different kind of bow that I have never used before. Since i was introduced in this sport I have only ever used a re-curve bow. Now I want to give a compound a "shot".  The difference for those of you who do not know between re-curve and compound bows is thus. A re-curve bow uses only one string and the archer will hold back the pressure cased by the tension of the string on the arrow. A compound uses a pulley systems which take the pressure off the archer once the string is pulled back far enough that he cam engages.

Compound bows are mostly known to those who enjoy hunting. With a compound bow you can have a much higher ft pound of torch to "take down" an animal with out to much strain on the hunters arms. Plus with the pulley system taking all the pressure off the arm, the hunter can take longer to aim. I am only a target shooter so i have limited myself to Olympic re-curve. I have decided to look up compound competitions, they seem to be the same but different from Olympic style.

Archery can be a very expensive sport to become involved in. Many start by renting equipment at a shooting range then buying a bow latter when they have a better grasp on the technique. I am probably being an idiot and want to buy myself a bow to start with. This weekend I visited an archery supply shop and tested out a compound for the first time. Sadly my phone was dead so I did not take any pictures of any of the equipment that I am considering. There are many different brands that produce archery equipment, and each one performs the same function. Why than is it so difficult to choose one that I want?
Well depending on the materials used to construct the bow, the ft pounds of torch it produces, and the brand are all contributing factors to the price. The true question is, should I spend more and get one that comes complete and in a color I like? Or should i get one that I can add equipment (sight, rest, etc), the price sometimes is not that that different.

A second option is that I would like another riser for my re-curve. with the two set of limbs that i already own this would make a complete second bow. This is only a question of what style, color, and brand. Some examples are as follows.

            

Contrast, Balance, and Harmony

I have always enjoyed learning about sunken ships. As a hobby I enjoy researching and glancing over photos of lost and abandoned wrecks. When I look at the pictures I get the same creepy feeling craw up my spine as when I see a haunted house in a horror movie. It’s shocking and scary, but you can’t help but want to explore inside it and learn its secrets. Just like a haunted house, many shipwrecks tend to have tragic backstories. Usually resulting in the loss of many human lives. However before the grim reaper boarded for a last voyage, many sea fearing vessels have fantastic stories of triumph that make them proud symbols for the nation they represented. One of my favorite examples of this is the story of the WWII battleship Bismarck which wreck is pictured above.     

                This fascination of mine probably all started when I was a youngster. I use to visit and stayed over at my grandparents’ house a lot. My grandfather was in the navy during WWII and for a gift on ether a birthday or Christmas one year, my grandfather received two national geographic documentaries. One on the discovery of the Titanic, The other the search for the battleship Bismarck. I watched these two documentaries at least a hundred times, and I still enjoy watching them today as an adult.  

                A little back story for those who have never heard of the Bismarck. During WWII naval power was one of the key elements of warfare. The German Axes powers had control over much ground, spreading throughout Europe and parts of Africa. Great Britton however still maintained an advantage with their navy. Seeing that naval superiority was a definite contributing factor in fighting there allied counterparts. Hitler himself ordered a battleship to be commissioned that would take the rule of the waves away from Britania. She would be the biggest, most heavily gunned, and strongest armored of any ship built before her. To quote the film maker James Cameron “The Bismarck was like the Deathstar of her day”. Once built it was immediately put into service. Her original orders were to head through the Denmark Strait and into open Atlantic being undetected. Then attack and sink allied cargo ships making their way to deliver supplies to Great Britain. After successfully making it to the Atlantic she encountered the British battleship “Hood” sinking it within only a few minutes, losing all but 3 of her crew. Winston Churchill ordered all battleships and aircraft carriers that the most important thing for them was to find the Bismarck and sink it. The Bismarck proved to be very allusive for her sizes. On an overcast day a small allied aerial photography plain spotted a grey shape below the clouds and snapped a picture. It was their German target, but no ships were within range to catch up with it. Only one aircraft carrier was close enough to be able to send out small one torpedo plains to try and slow Bismarck down. In the following flight only one torpedo was able to strike the Bismarck, jamming its Rutter. Now the ship could only make a huge circle. The allies’ then advanced on the wounded ship in huge numbers the idea being to corner and out gun. The Battle became a bloodbath, the allies riddling the Bismarck’s decks with shellfire. The Bismarck’s crew did fight back but was so outnumbered it was hard to think of anyway it could have escaped or won. She eventually succumbed and sank taking many crew members down with her. After the Bismarck sank there are many stories of heroisms and bravery. Many British ships picked up surviving German sailors. Sadly they also had to leave many behind due to the spotting of German U-bots heading in there direction.

                Being that I know the story this hulk resting on the bottom of the ocean floor tells, may be one of the resins why I like this picture.

                I bring no joy in saying that I see the Contrast most in the swastika symbol that still adorns the bow and stern of the ship. Unlike the rest of the hull it is surrounded by a white circle that seems un-natural.  It tends to stick out compared to the damaged and rusting metal of the rest of the ship, causing your eye to be drawn right to it. Another contrast is the shape of the ship itself sticking out from the sea bed. It looks like a step that rises up to a flatter surface then back down again. On the decks all of the details that come in the form of craters and mountains that once held huge turret guns and the conning tower. They are only seen by the shadow that is cast to fill in the holes. It reminds me of looking at creators in the moon. You can get a sense just looking at this picture what the terrain of the ship would be like if you were there to see it in person.

                Balance to me is the in looking at the shape of the ship. If you look at the top surface it makes a triangle shape, with the high point being were the bridge is and following the line down to both the stern and bow. It is also balanced the way how the ship is sitting upright. Even though most of the hull is buried up the almost the top deck, it makes it seem secured and cemented into the bottom. Since it is sitting upright you can see how it looked still afloat. It has a long deck with all of its busy parts set in the middle like an archery bow riser connected to the limbs.

                Harmony. It looks like it belongs there, embracing the roll of the fabled ghost ship. The holes and lines feel like they have become part of the landscape that makes up the bottom of the sea. Like ancient ruins nature has started to form a partnership with the manmade object. Under 3 miles of ocean it is hard to make out what difference the color of the ship is compared to the earth.