Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version

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If you ever wondered what the deeper meaning behind music videos were…
- FlashAddict

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John DeVeaux – Portfolio

To download a high-res PDF version of my portfolio, please click the link below (17 MB in size):

http://www.ecuad.ca/~jdeveaux/john_deveaux_portfolio.pdf

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About the Artist

John DeVeaux is a third year Film, Video and Integrated Media student at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Classifying himself as a Digital Artist with future aspirations to be an accomplished professional in either the film or video game industry, his work focuses on combining a wide range of media including crowd sourcing, data capture, film/video, installation, storytelling and internet blogging.

Artist Statement

clean   [kleen] -er, -est, adverb,  -er, -est, verb –adjective
1. characterized by a fresh, wholesome quality: the clean smell of pine.
2. free from all writing or marking: a clean sheet of paper.
3. complete; unqualified: a clean break with tradition.
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sim·ple   [sim-puhl] -pler, -plest, noun –adjective
1. easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.: a simple matter; simple tools.
2. not elaborate or artificial: a simple style.
3. not ornate or luxurious: a simple gown.
+
ef·fec·tive   [i-fek-tiv] –adjective
1. producing the intended or expected result: effective steps toward peace.
2. creating a deep or vivid impression; striking: an effective photograph.
3. able to accomplish a purpose: an efficient secretary.
=
de·sign   [di-zahyn] –verb (used with object)
1. to plan the form and structure of: to design a new bridge.
2. the combination of details or features of a picture, building, etc.: the design on a bracelet.
3. to intend for a definite purpose: a scholarship designed for foreign students.

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World of Warcraft: The Burning Addiction
Research Project – ECUAD Creative Process 2007

For this project, I wanted to focus on what extent people would spend time from their real lives on their virtual ones. I then went to the Alcoholics Anonymous website and took their manifesto of questions that they ask potential addicts (ie: Have you ever missed school or work due to alcohol?) and then remixed the questions to ask my fellow Warcraft players (ie: Have you ever missed school or work due to Warcraft?) and was amazed at how honest their responses were.

Click the link below to download the full project PDF and explore the addictive qualities of video games in greater detail (1 MB in size):

http://www.ecuad.ca/~jdeveaux/addiction/addiction_print.pdf

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World of Warcraft: Haikus
Video Editing and Production – ECUAD Video Art 2009

This Video Art project required us to use found footage and splice it together within the theme of a haiku and I chose to focus again on World of Warcraft. Several different scenes from official game play trailers were used along with my own poem sequences in order to create its own unique storyline set to a haunting yet beautiful soundtrack.

I also received some additional publicity from a major World of Warcraft fan blog and as a result, have now had over 6,000 views on YouTube:

http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/05/12/wow-moviewatch-world-of-warcraft-haikus/

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Medal of Honor: European Assault
Poster Design – ECUAD Design Essentials 2005

With creative control to choose our own subject matter, I decided to create this poster for the soon to be released add-on of the popular Medal of Honor video game using World War II imagery and incorporating pertinent graphics and typeface layouts, with the centerpiece being this iconic image of the D-Day landing.

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Emily Carr Foundation Exhibition
Poster Design – ECUAD Digital Basics 2008

In my Digital Basics course, our instructor challenged us to create our own poster design that would be submitted for that year’s Foundation Exhibition. The design that I chose focused on a clean and precise grid layout, with the typeface echoing this overall theme as well.

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Read Between the Lies
Poster Design – ECUAD Visual Communication 2008

With an overall political theme required for this project for my Visual Communications course, I decided to focus on the ongoing tragedy occurring in Iraq. I wanted my critique to be bold and biting, yet symbolic at the same time by using George W. Bush’s own words being contradicted by documented facts on the ground within the layout of the American flag.

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The Starlight Express
Poster Design – ECUAD Design Essentials 2005

One of the first poster design projects that I worked on in the Design Essentials program at ECUAD and BCIT, I wanted the overall theme to reflect a bygone age in which the Royal Hudson train serviced passengers from Vancouver to Squamish. This was all tied in with the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics along with using Futura as the typeface.

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International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Layout Design – ECUAD Design Essentials 2005

This layout design was created to reflect on the tragedy that landmines cause in third world countries by mirroring two family units. Where the Nuclear Family is shown with the requisite two parents and two children, the Landmine Family is shown with obvious limbs missing and the daughter being replaced by a tombstone due to a landmine explosion.

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Tribeca Film Festival
Layout Design – ECUAD Design Essentials 2005

Utilizing still images from the films playing in that year’s festival, a double-sided handbook spread was made highlighting film screenings and appearances in a clean and elegant design.

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Phoenix Rising v1.0
3D Design – ECUAD Design One 2007

These sculptures were created for my Design One class as the project called for us to construct new and unique 3D sculptures by combining a singular object in a repetitive fashion so that the original object would get lost in the sum of the whole of the new piece. Version 1.0 is a freestanding structure and able to balance on the tips of plastic spoons.

Phoenix Rising v2.0
3D Design – ECUAD Design One 2007

Version 2.0 was created as an alternative and two interpretations that I have with this sculpture are that of a Phoenix Rising out of flames (hence the title of the pieces) or of a frame-by-frame rotation of a high board diver tucking in as he falls to the water below.

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OBSCENE
Flipbook – ECUAD Digital and Interactive Arts 2008

Wanting to play on my audience’s moral standards, this flipbook showcased a woman performing an otherwise overtly sexualized activity, yet because I enlarged and hyper pixilated the original video footage, the viewer is not able to immediately ascertain what they are viewing. On initial viewing, they may in fact realize what they are seeing, but due to their personal embarrassment, may not give in to such puerile thoughts.

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HDR Porteau Cove
HDR Photography – ECUAD Digital and Interactive Arts 2009

On a very windy and cold January afternoon, my girlfriend and I drove up to Whistler from Vancouver and stopped briefly at the Provincial Park in Porteau Cove where I wanted to capture the incredible whitecap waves and this beautiful island in the distance. I took my original shot into Photoshop and digitally manipulated it in order to create this much richer and vibrant image.

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Oppositions
Design Exploration – ECUAD Design One 2007

Playing around in Illustrator for one of my Design One projects in 2007, I became transfixed in creating artificial 3D perspective illustrations on a digital 2D plane that draws the viewer in to mesmerize and make them dizzy.

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Compression
Typography Exploration – ECUAD Visual Communication 2008

For this typography exploration, I decided on taking words at their literal meaning and creating abstract illustrations out of the words themselves. Compression being a thematically delicious word to utilize in such a fashion, the word is repeated and imploded without end into itself.

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Poster Girl
Illustrator Project – ECUAD Design Essentials 2005

One of my first major digital illustrations, this image has always been a favorite of mine and its title harkens back to the process of origination by using the Posterize tool in Photoshop to create the initial blueprint and then cleaning it all up within Illustrator.

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ROLEX Submariner
Illustrator Project – ECUAD Design Essentials 2005

Another of my digital illustrations, I spent over 20 hours on this perfecting every detail in order to match the precision of the original watch itself. Created entirely in Illustrator, this illustration could substitute for the original any day.

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Idris Salih Photography
Website Design, Identity, Logo 2005

One of my freelance web design clients back in 2005, I was originally hired to just design and produce his portfolio site, but after seeing the logo and identity that he had been using, I challenged myself to provide him with a new one which would reflect the high contrast and starkness that is representational of his b/w portraiture photography and he loved it.

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John Fortunato Photography
Website Design 2005

Another of my freelance web design clients from a few years back, his work reflected a lot of what my design philosophy entails as well: clean + simple + elegant = design. With that in mind, I decided to use a clean palette with a lot of white space and simple, yet intuitive navigation, in order to allow the photographs to stand out and have greater impact on the viewer.

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World of Warcraft – Haikus

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I made this video for my Video Art class at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, BC, Canada this spring and it is based on the online video game, World of Warcraft.

The project required us to use found footage and splice it together within the theme of a haiku and I chose to focus on Warcraft, using several different scenes from official gameplay trailers along with my own haiku sequences in order to create its own unique storyline.

Enjoy!
- FlashAddict

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http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=110645

http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/05/12/wow-moviewatch-world-of-warcraft-haikus/

Spanish artist shocks with Damien Hirst gun sculpture

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Some trippy art coming out of the ARCO exhibition in Spain…
- FlashAddict

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For the Love of Gold

For the Love of Gold

A statue of British artist Damien Hirst pointing a gun at his head has caused a stir at the 28th Madrid International Contemporary Art Fair, known as ARCO.

Sculptor Eugenio Merino’s piece puts Hirst in a suicidal pose with blood pouring from a bullet wound to his head. It was unveiled at ARCO’s launch over the weekend.

The piece has already been sold for $41,290 Cdn to a collector in Florida.

“Hirst is always trying to think of ways to make his art the most expensive,” Merino told Bloomberg News.

“If he killed himself, then the value of his art would increase a lot.”

Called For the Love of Gold, the work of parody was produced over a two-month period and refers to Hirst’s For the Love of God — a diamond-encrusted platinum skull that was reportedly sold in the summer of 2007 for more than $100 million to a group of investors.

The life-size silicone sculpture uses real human hair and glass eyes. Hirst is posed on his knees with a Colt 45 in his right hand pressed against his temple wearing a skull T-shirt.

It’s in a tank that looks similar to the ones Hirst himself uses to display dead animals pickled in formaldehyde.

Hirst is known as the bad boy of art.

After capturing the Tate Gallery’s Turner Prize in 1995, he’s created shocking sculptures including one of a 3.7-metre tiger shark and other animals preserved in formaldehyde, insect-encrusted canvases and pharmaceutical-inspired pieces.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2009/02/15/hirst-sculpture-spain.html

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In a sure sign of the state of the modern art world, the single artwork attracting the most attention at ARCO (the Madrid International Contemporary Art Fair) that opened today was not a masterpiece by DAMIEN HIRST, but rather a parody of the UK bad boy artist by EUGENIO MERINO depicting the master financial strategist encased in one of his own white display cubes, shooting himself in the head. Titled “For the Love of Gold” in reference to Hirst’s $100 million diamond encrusted skull “For the Love of God,” the hyper-realistic yet oddly contorted piece incorporates real human hair, glass eyes, and realistic blood pouring from a gaping hole in the cranium and was quickly snapped up on opening day by a Florida collector for $33,500 USD. Sounds like Damien’s busy decorating his Miami winter home…

http://urbanpromoter.com/newsart-gag-of-the-moment-eugenio-merinos-for-the-love-of-gold-damien-hirst-sculpture/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst

Reading Media Culture – Friday’s class notes

FIRST WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE NEXT WEEK – NEEDS TO BE PRINTED – NOT EMAILED!!!
Summarize in 500 words (2 pages) one of the readings for next week
- Digital Encounters – deal with animation and interface
- Introduction to Gramophone – linking technologies / theorizing military and ideological reasoning behind the technologies

MEDIATION
- film, video and media were used to expand our minds to make us speculate and understand what Egoyan was up to when he made the film, Calendar
- we are all media consumers, producers
- medium = plural of media = collective of mass types of media
- ceramics, painting, writing = media as well (think outside the box to what is considered media and artists who create them are still media makers)
- systems or vehicles for the transmission of ideas or entertainment = transportation method
- media are the materials that communicate – early examples, hieroglyphs, alphabet, radio, moving image…
- the human body produces a form of mediation such as shown in the public performance (dance, spoken word, music…)
- Calendar had multiple types of media and media technologies listed
- translation, transcription and interpretation or size have an effect on the distribution method and overall interpretation that the media has on the audience (ie: watching a movie on your iPod vs. watching it on an iMax screen)
- all media give shape to experience – human experiences are affected
- selectivity of media and method of distribution helps set the tone of the piece (amplify, extends, restricts or prohibits)
- may open or close doors (reveal, conceal)

Issue of memory / morality
- rise of video distribution has enhanced the dissemination of culture, thought, ideas and art can be compared to the Guttenberg press – more people who can read and access information
- the loss that results is that people do not have to remember anything when they can simply look it up
- medium is another term for language (create dialog and communicate with an audience and articulate an idea or way of thinking)
- The medium is the Message
- mode of transmission that forms part of our total environment
- in the film Calendar, the telephone becomes a medium that mediates communication between two people on either end of the phone
- character relationships are mediated through the various technologies shown in the film (phone, video camera, answering machine, many different languages, written notes and letter, human body of Egoyan’s wife in the way she interacts with the guide)

Marshall McLuhan
- canadian scholar who embraced various media technologies during the 1960′s
- the professor in the film Videodrome, by David Cronenberg was a satire of him

- book called Understanding Media – Extensions of Man and Guttenberg Galaxy
- metaphor of a paradox – medium is the message – global village
- most important = tools to provide understanding technology
- all technological advances produce a new type of sensorial experience and alters human embodiment and reaction to the technology
- seduction and power of media technology – humans become mesmerized by technology
- called his ideas prose so they are designed as thought pieces to change perspectives in the reader
- writings were prophetic – anticipated the persuasiveness of the extent of media technologies available to the general public today
- cross-disciplinary media has further contributed to his idea of the global village and is being documented by a new generation of media savvy artists
- size of the day changed for many with the introduction of the electric light = communication media with no overt content
- message of electric light = purest form of information because it makes thing instant – acceleration of time
- invention of electrical light irrevocably changed human culture (revolutionary media)

“The message of electric light is like the message of electric power in industry, totally radical, persuasive and decentralized. For electric light and power are separate from their uses, yet they eliminate time and space factors in human association exactly as do radio, telegraph, telephone and TV, creating involvement and depth.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gutenberg_Galaxy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_Media

Mothlight – Stan Brakhage

- this is used as an example of McLuhan’s ideation about technology being required to disseminate information
- the purest form of watching this film would be to watch it on film and have the actual light to shine through the moth wings onto a screen

MEDIA SPECIFICITY ESSENTIALISM
- what are the properties common to all media and what and what are the specific to individual types of media – what are the properties associated with that media? (ie: film vs video vs photography vs print vs painting vs sculpture…) – what is essential for the medium to consist of in order to convey the associated ideation to the audience?
- McLuhan talks about when we use the medium for a particular purpose, it becomes a part of that purpose (form of content)
- subscribe to the idea that the medium that is chosen to convey the art that that technology becomes prominent and has a voice
- technologies become interpretative frameworks – representation is a major theme of this course
- what messages are encoded in the choices made in how they publish their work
- ie: Fast Film

- brain shifting = ability to question to what you as the audience are viewing – what is the artist trying to convey to me and not in any other way?
- process by media and process of mediation interact with one another
- personal, social consequence of particular types of media – introduction of TV changed the family dynamic (eat dinner at the table or in front of the tv)

FUJI – by Robert Breer (1974)
- an experimental animation – very original for its time – good use of rotoscoping – animating over existing film stock and combining film footage with animated overlays
- framing an artwork is a method of mediation (process of inclusion and exclusion)
- composing the frame and deciding more importantly what is in the frame is also an act of mediation
- framing devices used in both Calendar and Fuji
- page 375 (bordwell & thompson) – use of rotoscoping – use of motion picture footage and print over it with frame by frame animation or otherwise manipulate
- original derivation comes from motion picture (series of images)
- motion capture is a form of rotoscoping (different but related)
- Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly are contemporary examples of this process
- window frame of the picture frame is on display in Fuji = frame within a frame
- 24 views of Mount Fuji is mediated by this footage of the place on the train and looking out of the window and then further extrapolated by the rotoscoping
- technological applications that appear in the film (line art, colour splotches) become mediations in their own right as well as existing as the sum of the piece
- perspective is dictated by the person who took the footage (north american tourist visiting Japan and the inaccessibility to outsiders = culture is alien to him)
- commentary on representation – as a cultural outsider truthfully represent that culture or that cultural icon in a media presentation
- the subject matter is further mediated by his body language and interaction with Japanese people on the train
- he’s not trying to be politically correct and act with reverence to such an iconic Japanese symbol – he was simply trying to illustrate his personal connection to Mt. Fuji as a tourist and as an artist — he’s acknowledging his own subjective, highly mediated experience of Mt. Fuji

Calendar – by Atom Egoyan
- deals with issues of tourism and also uses framing devices
- various storylines run through the film and they each have their own transmission mode
- the film itself exists as a signature medium to begin with – base layer for the other transmission methods to be projected
- video footage within the film acts as above as a frame within a frame so as the audience to experience and feel different emotions then the base film itself
- video camera is mobile and handheld lacking the resolution of the high-end production film camera
- a trauma has been inflicted on the Armenian people by the Ottoman/Turkish empire – not overtly referenced yet that is the reason why the Churches were abandoned and now revered as holy shrines
- they were the headquarters of religious identity and for the christian armenian population but also their own headquarters of population control (christian dogma being forced on the masses)
- cultural tourist in Armenia but also in his own marriage – without knowledge of what the significance of the churches signify, but more importantly without knowledge of the significance of the growing relationship between his wife and the guide
- ideation of separation and language barriers are developed and referenced
- obsession – he becomes paranoid at the aspect of feeling estranged of losing understanding of the situation
- interesting duality in the fact that Egoyan himself appears in it and plays the part of the fool and not understanding the importance of what the churches represent to the history of the massacre of the Armenian people – he would eventually make a future film called Ararat which specifically addresses this massacre, which is still denied by the Turkish government to this day
- further framing is shown in Egoyan’s kitchen as he has multiple dinner encounters with several different escorts, yet whom each are a different cultural background and speak different languages
- the phone scenes are further compared as each escort asks to use the phone and make outgoing calls vs. his ex wife making incoming calls
- there is a sick fascination for Egoyan to reconstruct the visceral and deeply hurtful experience of losing his wife in order to create the urge to write the letter
- forced alienation is the message being portrayed in each location (Armenia, kitchen)
- idea that memory is as collective as it is individual – community of two and individual conscience of the cameraman
- engages in a pathetic way in how he responds to his lack of interest in the history behind the churches and also in his pathetic attempt to write the letter but only with the reconstruction of traumatic memories with the escorts

http://www.ecuad.ca/~rburnett/calendar.html

A new type of media permeates the scene, a new problem of memory can be observed. (positive and negative charge – change for both good and bad)

Tales of the Past III – by Martin Falch

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I will be showing clips from and talking about Tales of the Past III, a Machinima Film based on the video game World of Warcraft to my Video Art class at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design tomorrow for our Previous Inspiration Presentation project.
- FlashAddict

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Tales of the Past III, by Martin Falch is the ultimate achievement in fan-made Machinima Film based on the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, World of Warcraft. Martin spent over a year and a half single handedly piecing together the overall visual majesty of the film, from screen capturing from the game itself, editing hundreds of hours of footage, painstakingly doing all of the special effects, to labourously directing dozens upon dozens of other virtual actors on live game servers for massive group sequences. He also had professional voice actors volunteer their time and efforts to help piece together the emotional tone of the characters and organized an incredible array of songs for the soundtrack that effortlessly leads from sequence to sequence.

While most World of Warcraft Machinima Films are rudimentary and poorly strewn together with freeware software, Martin Falch has set the bar for all aspiring Warcraft Machinima auteurs to shoot for, myself included.

Opening Scene:

The Ashbringer:

These are the Duranin:

Final Battle:

Trailer:

Movie Plot and Download Links:
Since the death of Yimo and the shattering of the Orb of Visions, the Horde and the Alliance have accepted an unstable peace agreement. However, old hatreds stand in the way of cooperation and at the same time, chaos erupts as the Lich King finally takes action. In the meanwhile, Blazer travels to Northrend to hunt down Mograine, the Death Knight, and retrieve the legendary blade that may decide the fate of Azeroth – The Ashbringer…

After 1,5 years of production, Tales of the Past III is finally complete. Having spent an average of 3 hours every single day on the movie, there have been times where this whole project was frustrating rather than enjoyable. However, looking back on the whole project, I’m glad that I started and I’m glad that I managed to get through it! Also, having watched the entire movie, I’m really satisfied with the outcome and I hope you feel the same way! Now, since the movie is huge, I hope you’ll take your time to read through the block of text here!

http://warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=53953

Milestones:
Martin Falch is number 4 on the all-time Warcraftmovies.com download list currently at 2,361,104 total downloads.

http://warcraftmovies.com/halloffame.php

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1.000.000 downloads
Posted: 28 July 2008 @ 09:39 (CET)

Hey people! Just wanted to inform that TotPIII has now reached 1 mio downloads on Warcraftmovies.com, making it the second movie ever to archive this (number 1 being Leeroy) – I just want to say thanks to all the people commentning on it and sending me mails, it’s been awesome with all the support and nice words. Also a big thanks for the people informing their friends/guilds/forums about it in order to spread the movie around!

I’ve mentioned this before, but hopefully I’ll be able to make new story line machinimas later on, perhaps some relevant opportunity comes up for the case – having just watched the most brilliant film I watched in a long time, The Dark Knight, it’s a bit tempting to get back to machinimating. However, until then I hope you’ll enjoy the little Synergy Contest submission I’ve made, which should be up today – I’ll post the link here when it is. As mentioned it won’t be anything fancy, but it’s a bit different from what I’ve tried making before and the whole thing about following someone elses script has been both a challenge and interesting!

Again, thanks alot for all the support!

- Martin

http://www.talesofthepast.com/

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Soundtrack:

“I was… the Ashbringer.”

* (0:38/–:–) Legendary – King Arthur Soundtrack – 02 – Woad To Ruin

* (–:–/6:00) The Blade – King Arthur Soundtrack – 04 – Hold The Ice

* (–:–/–:–) The Ashbringer In Battle – Pirates of the Caribbean 2 – Hans Zimmer – 08 – a family affair

* (–:–/–:–) Betrayed – 01 – Age of Music

Discord

* (–:–/–:–) Saurfang’s Challenge – Hans Zimmer- The Contender (Main Theme)

* (–:–/–:–) Rexxar’s Journey – Trevor Rabin – Armageddon – Launch

The War Begins

* (–:–/–:–) Council of War – The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Main Title Music

* (–:–/–:–) Two beers per kill – Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s chest – 07 – Two hornpipes (Tortuga)

* (–:–/–:–) eternal_silencetheme_ngm_by_mike_cameron_force

* (15:16/16:44)”No! He must no scape!” – 10 – The Peacemaker – Devoe’s Revenge Take 3 Take 2.wav ; Hans Zimmer – Devoe’s Revenge

* (–:–/–:–) X-Ray Dog – Clash Of Arms(1)

* (–:–/–:–) The Last Samurai (Soundtrack) – 09 – Hans Zimmer – Red Warrior

* (–:–/–:–) Edgen+discovery

* (–:–/–:–) Movies – Hans Zimmer – The Last Samurai – Spectres In The Fog

* (–:–/–:–) “To Hell With This Mission”-The Last Samurai (Soundtrack) – 03 – Hans Zimmer – Taken

* (22:40/24:50) Starsailor – Way to Fall

* (–:–/–:–) 01 – Danny Elfman – Introduction

* (–:–/–:–) Mograine – Immediate Music – Epicon (Hybrid)

* (27:43/29:46) Harry Gregson Williams – Metal Gear Solid 1 End Title: The Best Is Yet to Come

* (–:–/–:–) Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – 06 I See Dead People In Boats

* (–:–/–:–) Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – 02 Singapore

* (–:–/–:–) Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – 03 At Wit’s End

* (–:–/–:–) Serphentos and Rexxar Travel – 10 – In Search of the Grail

* (–:–/–:–) Saurfang and Rexxar – Theme – Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

* (–:–/–:–) Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – 11 I Don’t Think Now Is The Best Time

* (38:10/40:46) Ambush – Saw Soundtrack – Final theme

The Emerald Dream

* (40:58/43:20) Quite A View – Star Wars Episode II – Attack Of The Clones – 02 – Across The Stars (Love Theme)

* (–:–/–:–) “This is why I chose you!”13_-_Hans_Zimmer_-_Barbarian_Horde

* (–:–/–:–) Metal_Gear_Solid_LegendoftheSnake_OC_ReMix

* (–:–/–:–) Memories – Naruto OST – 08 Sadness and Sorrow

* (46:00/46:40) Gronn Slayer – Naruto – Strong And Strike

* (–:–/–:–) Naruto – Main Theme

* (–:–/–:–) Warcraft 3 – Comradeship

* (–:–/–:–) “Let us cast it, into the flames of Blackrock Mountain!” – Lord of The Rings – Main Theme

* (–:–/–:–) The Plan – Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – 05 Up Is Down

* (52:42/55:37) Coco Lee – A Love Before Time (Mandarin)

* (55:45/59:26) The Final Trial – Godspeed You Black Emperor – Moya

Armies Unite

* (–:–/–:–) Metal Gear Solid 3 – Snake Eater (Soundtrack) – 211 – Norihiko Hibino – Last Showdown

* (–:–/–:–) Metal Gear Solid 3 – Snake Eater (Soundtrack) – 210 – Harry Gregson – Williams – Lifes End

* (–:–/–:–) King Arthur Soundtrack – 05-Another Brick in Hadrian’s Wall

* (1:03:50/1:05:03) Monori In Death – Nightwish – End Of All Hope

* (–:–/–:–) Immediate Music – 48 – Orch & Choir Rise – 3

* (–:–/–:–) 31 – Asteroid Chase – The Shuttle Crash

Final Push

* (–:–/–:–) Too late… – Naruto (Orochimaru’s Theme)

* (–:–/–:–) The Lich King’s Power – Naruto 15 – Orochimaru’s Fight

Blazer, returned as the Ashbringer

* (1:07:40/1:09:45) Return of the Ashbringer – Hans Zimmer – King Arthur – Hans Zimmer – Crimson Tide Theme

* (–:–/–:–) Ash and Frost Part 1 – X-ray Dog 50 – Tightwire Orchestral

* (–:–/–:–) Ash and Frost Part 2 – Immediate Music – Blasphemy 2.0 (Choir)

* (1:13:50/1:14:30) Remember Them When in Hope you Doubt – Immediate Music – With Great Power

* (1:14:32/1:14:55) “If you think that’s cool…” – Immediate Music – Desperate Hour

* (1:14:56/1:15:28) Phoenix and Frost Wyrm – Immediate Music – Serenata (Choir)

* (1:15:29/1:15:53) “Nice One!” – Immediate Music – Liberation! (Choir)

* (–:–/–:–) “I smell demons coming…” – X-Ray Dog 44 – Secret Agent

* (–:–/–:–) Monóri vs. Serphentos – Soundtracks – Mission Impossible 2 – Hans Zimmer – Injection

* (–:–/–:–) X-Ray Dog 21 – Big f’n Drums

* (–:–/–:–) “No match for me!” – Immediate Music – With Great Power

Victory of the Ashbringer

* (1:17:05/1:18:10) Retribution – Trust Company – Downfall

* (–:–/–:–) Arthas Reborn – Batman Begins Soundtrack – Corynorhinus

* (–:–/–:–) Blazer’s Final Sacrifice – Metal Gear Solid 3-End theme Harryson Gregson Williams

* (–:–/–:–) “Honor Them!” – Theme Songs – Naruto – Hokage’s Funeral Scene

* (–:–/–:–) “We had a deal…” – King Arthur Soundtrack – 02 – Woad To Ruin

* (–:–/–:–) The Tale Ends – TavernAlliance02

* (–:–/–:–) 04 – Danny Elfman – The Story…

* (–:–/–:–) 10 – Danny Elfman – The Tree of Death

* (1:26:06/1:27:58) Credits – Nightwish – Ghost Love Score

http://www.wowwiki.com/Server:Dunemaul_Europe/Tales_of_the_Past#Soundtrack_TotP_III

Reading The Screen – class notes from 2 weeks ago

been lazy again – my bad – here are my class notes from 2 weeks ago…

THE SHOT = smallest unit in film

PUTTING SHOTS TOGETHER = EDITING
- overshot = protective shooting to make sure all of the angles were covered (Shane is an example)
- Edwin S. Porter in 1903 = The Great Train Robbery (introduced cross-cutting / parallel editing)
- cutting back and forth between the sheriff, the townspeople and the robbers

D.W. Griffith – Intolerance was his masterpiece

- cutting to continuity – walking cycle across the room can be condensed for example from beginning to end
- establishing shot – how you introduce a story – geography shot (Lawrence of Arabia opening shot)
- cut to a full shot for example to zoom closer in as you bring in main characters
- in classical editing, the more information you place in the frame, the longer you hold the frame
- edit for dramatic intensity
- used closeup for intensity whereas before it was used solely for information
- thematic cutting / montage – different timelines intercut to break up linear storyline
- contemporary films showcase this primarily in romantic comedies now (usually short and doesn’t involve dialog)

Roger Spottiswood?
- when the audience absorbs all the information they need to receive, that’s when you need to cut
- if you cut too early, they will wonder what they are looking at – if you cut too late, they will get bored

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 1917
- they embraced the camera in order to educate the world about communist ideology

PUDOVKIN – made MOTHER

- thought Griffith was brilliant but thought closeup could stand on its own
- especially if it is juxtaposed with another closeup
- inspired by Pavlovian theory about feeding dogs – putting meaning together with bell ringing and feeding the dog

LEV KULESHOV
- put one closeup with another closeup = greater meaning
- audiences fill in meaning when faced with ambiguity
- built stories around completely separate images by editing them together to make meaning

SERGEI EISENSTEIN
- the essence of existence is constant change / conflict is the synthesis of opposites
A + B = C (Thesis + Anti-Thesis = Synthesis) / light versus dark / mass of people versus single person
- if you photograph reality, then you create a truer reality in jolting the audience (masses being exploited by the bourgeois)
- compiling these shots was very different from German films
- they used long shots and takes to follow the scene

BATTLESHIP POTEMPKIN
ODESSA step scene

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI


Enter The Dragon (similar scene)

- Orson Welles 1948 – married to Rita Hayworth at the time (broke up by the end of shooting)
- 24 two way mirrors and 80 regular mirrors were used to create the shots

What happens when you join two pieces of film together?

Graphic connection
- match cut (similar position, colour, lighting,
- mildly discontinuous (contrasting shots to play off of each other – Pulp Fiction diner scene – clash in their positioning as they talk in the scene)

Rhythmic connection
- 24 frames per second and if you set cuts to specific number of frames for editing
- intense shots tend to be shorter and to decrease tension, shots become longer
- many experimental films base their editing on graphic and rhythmic editing (Ballet Mechanique)

Spatial relations
- editing creates space for the audience – they need to understand where they are in the plot, location, timeline…
- if you provide with important information, the audience will fill in the blanks
- cross cutting like in The Godfather part 2 between 1950′s Nevada to 1910 New York

Temporal relations
- constructs and manipulates story time
- Incident at Owl Creek is best example of this
- assumption that sequential scenes are linear, but this isn’t always the case
- elliptical editing = an action is presented so that it is edited to speed up the process
- punctuation cut (fade in, fade out to important information)
- empty frames (man walks up 2 stairs then man walks out of frame, then show top of stairs and walking on last 2 steps)
- cutaway (man walks up the stairs then cut to inside his apartment)
- overlapping editing (prolong the action in different angles, perspectives longer than it would happen in real life)
- jump cut (signifies spatial and temporal cutting)
- if the camera moves into a close up then the camera would ned to move 30 degrees or else it will be a jump shot

TRIUMPH OF THE WILL – Leni Riefenstahl

- Adolf Hitler’s muse film maker

Continuity Editing
- you need to tell a story clearly and it needs to be edited to reinforce the continuity
- graphic continuity is respected – important people, settings are in the centre third of the frame
- respect for cause and effect of what will happen to these characters
- spatial continuity 180 degree axis and when we film characters, the camera cannot cross this line otherwise the scene is flipped
- same principle applies to cars
- match cut = action that compresses time and space
- reverse shot = dialog scene cutting from person to person (helps audience if people’s eyelines are the same)
- cheat shot = Lord of the Rings type of effect to play with perspectives, sizing…
- in action films, you can cross the line, provided that the last shot is on the line (Mad Max)

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
- writer Nora Effron and Director Rob Reiner – diner scene

- onlooker who is watching the whole scene and they have the last line, which makes us laugh so hard = Rob Reiner’s mom
- classic example of not crossing the 180 degree line as well – also with Billy Crystal looking over at the end and then editing to Rob Reiner’s mom

TRANSITION SHOTS
- clean straight cut
- fade in / fade out
- dissolve = taking 2 frames of film super imposed = more significant link between the 2 scenes
- wipe = like a windshield wiper (also flips – 1968 version of Thomas Crown Affair is a good example of this)

A PLACE IN THE SUN – dir. George Stevens


- good use of dissolves to link different scenes together

GERI’S GAME

- film is so strong due to its editing

The Heart of the World (2000) – dir. Guy Madden

- inspired by Elita Queen of Mars (Russian silent film)

JU-DOU

- very few times were all of the characters in the same shot to show distance between them

E.T. – THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

The SHOT – Reading the Screen

THE SHOT
= the smallest unit in film – when the camera starts / records / then stops
- compared to language (word, letter) – a shot in film is like a sentence
- when you write, you start with a sentence or a phrase (are you writing an essay, letter, poem…and you build your structure from there)
- every film starts with a shot (feature film, documentary, animation…and you build your film from there)
- film maker decides how the shot will be setup

- how the film image is photographed – based on film stocks and immulsion (b/w, high contrast, low contrast…)
- technicolor was an invention developed in the 1930′s
- tinting = dip b/w film into a bath of dye
- toning = positive print developed and dye is added

DAISIES – dir Vera Chytilova

- film made just prior to the Soviet takeover in 1968 – they went nuts over it and forbid her from making any further films
- great example of toning

- overexposure and underexposure
- under crank film speed was a throw back to early film days from manually cranked cameras = high speed when projected
- over crank = slow motion when it plays through the projector
- wide angle lens = distortion – normal lens is 35 to 50 mm – telephoto lens = character takes forever to move forward:

THE GRADUATE

- depth of field refers to what is in focus in the frame
- deep space – director stages action that is in focus on several different planes (Citizen Kane)
- selective focus = multiple plane action but only one is in focus
- CITIZEN KANE = faster film, shorter focal length lenses, deep focus
- pulling/rack focus = Mission Impossible – Jean Reno holding the rope in the air duct – in comes the rat and he is terrified

SPECIAL EFFECTS
- super imposition = one image over another and put in through the projector
- rear projection = driving and projecting a street scene behind the actors
- front projection – camera films through a 2-way mirror
- mattework = actor is filmed on a blue screen

Aspect Ratios
Academy Ratio = 1.33 / 1 (oldest and was the standard for a long time)
Widescreen = 1.85 / 1

CAMERA SHOTS
- extreme long shot = panorama – cannot see people – just the landscape
- long shot = large area but also has characters
- full shot = full figures and it is the size of what would be a stage
- medium long shot = from the knees up
- medium shot = waist up (also known as the sitcom shot)
- medium close up = head and shoulders

- close up = head / hand / foot only
- extreme close up = extremely close viewpoint of one part of someone’s anatomy (Citizen Kane = saying Rosebud – only see his lips)

- cut away / insert = information only – hands reading a letter / inserting a key into a lock
- point of view = what the character sees
- mask = character looking through a telescope / keyhole = black mask area to signify this
- over the shoulder = conversation shot
- dirty over the shoulder = shoulder is in frame of the conversation shot
- reaction shot = very manipulative (AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH reaction…)

STATIONERY CAMERA ANGLES
- straight overhead = bird’s eye view (Lullaby of Broadway / Mystic River – when Sean Penn realizes his daughter is the body)

- high angle = when the camera is looking down on a subject (used as to be read as having a certain significance – subject is read to be vulnerable, powerless or insignificant)
- eye level = documentary and comedy in order to see what is happening
- low angle = camera is low looking up (subject seems menacing, overpowered or important)
- extreme low angle / worm’s eye = camera in the floor looking up
- oblique/canted/dutch angle = tilted or askew (Do The Right Thing)
- mobile camera = camera is stationery but the camera pans from right to left (street shot panning and then stops when main character enters frame and starts following them in the other direction
- tilt = camera moves up and down (camera tilting down to show Dorothy’s Red Ruby shoes)
- switch pan = camera is stationery but there is a swoosh showing a change (Citizen Kane breakfast scene in the first marriage)

- zooming in and zooming out = camera doesn’t move but moving in with the zoom (implies finding out what the character is thinking – or Godfather zoom out intro with Marlon Brando)

- snap zoom = instead of cutting back and forth they use this instead (see kung fu movies – camera follows the action of the punches/kicks

MOVING CAMERA ANGLES
- dolly shot = use push in or pull back
- tracking = dolly shot where they actually lay down tracks
- traveling/trucking = camera on a vehicle and film the people on that vehicle
- hand held = camera operator following the actors (the conformist / blair witch)
- vertigo = made famous by Alfred Hitchcock (dolly in as you zoom out or vice versa)
- steady cam = Goodfellas shot
- space cam =  flying aircraft with a camera built into it (Into the Sea with Javier Bardem)
- crane shot / cherry picker
- jib shot = camera goes up or down along a mast
- aerial = airplane shot

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA – dir. David Lean
- incredible range of shots used in this film

DO THE RIGHT THING
- Spike Lee started internships with the unions so that they would hire more women and people of colour
- based on an actual event of a race riot that took place in Howard Beach
- several black men had a flat tire in front of an Italian bar and were chased out by the Italians are one tripped and was killed when hit by a car
- 24 hour period from one morning to the next – set in the neighborhood
- Samuel L. Jackson plays the DJ and ties the setting and characters together
- Radio Rahim was always shot solitary to showcase his lack of wanting to be part of the community and low angle to show him being imposing
- statistic of when the temperature goes over 95%, the murder rate rises as well as people lose their tempers much easier
- film ends with differing quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X (non violence versus intelligent self-defence)
- restlessly wandering camera – starting on a closeup then move all over the place

TOUCH OF EVIL – dir. Orson Welles

- probably the most famous sequence shot / long take
- instead of close up, followed by pan to long shot, a long series of shots are choreographed into one single shot

TOKYO STORY – dir. OZU

- filmed at the height of a person kneeling on a Japanese tatami mat
- usually full shots with people moving in and out of the frame
- focuses on family drama / stories – focus on Japan but they are universal
- flips traditional Hollywood convention by crossing 180 degree line where characters and settings flip perspective

TRAGIC STORY WITH HAPPY ENDING – dir. REGINA PESSOA

- director had a schitzophrenic mother – very aware about being different and the community’s reaction to her mother
- draws each phase on a piece of paper – each frame is photocopied onto glossy paper -indian ink is drawn in on top of the drawing and then uses a razor blade to scratch into the ink – background is on a separate piece of paper and scanned in – superimposed to form the final image

Do the Right Thing – Reading the Screen film of the week

DO THE RIGHT THING

Trailer

Opening Credits with Rosie Perez

Race Rant

Love vs. Hate

Sal and Pino

- opening credits featuring Rosie Perez dancing – who could forget her in this movie with that accent
- that’s the truth ruth – samuel l jackson
- doing the ying and the yang, the flippity flop
- great pan shot rising up from a crane
- shot under Smiley looking up – centered in scene with church behind him
- interracial relationship between MOOOOOKIE and rosie perez (black and puerto rican)
- in comes Danny Aiello with his 2 sons at his pizza shop
- John Turtorro “detests this place like a fucking sickness”
- “This is a respectable business”
- “I’m gonna kill somebody today” – Danny Aiello = prophetic words
- Spike Lee looks so short and small and dopy looking
- mother sister is the actress who played denzel washington’s mother in american gangster
- ossie davis – “It’s gonna be a scorcher today!”
- quick cut shots from person to person as the conversation flows from person to person
- “You the man – I’m just visiting” – martin lawrence to radio rahim
- ossie davis to mother davis conversation – camera angle is slanted from either side to side as they talk to one another
- 3 older black men talking against a red brick wall – prophetic for the heat wave they are experiencing
- nothing but italian men on the wall of the pizza place – “How come no brothers on the wall?!?”
- BOYCOT SAL’S…BOYCOT SAL’S!!!
- Mook…stay black!
- Always do the right thing…that’s it? that’s it – I got it…I’m gone (conversation between ossie and mookie – same slanted angles again)
- everyone seeks their relief from the heat in different ways – head in the ice filled sink / cold shower / cold beers / turning on fire hydrant
- everyone makes way for radio Rahim when he comes across the fire hydrant
- but here comes mr soprano bad guy and he gets his car soaked
- moe and joe what sir? did you happen to catch their names?
- samuel l jackson is trying to get spike lee’s attention in the background as he talks to vito’s son on the street
- battle of the beat boxes between the puerto ricans and radio Rahim – camera pans back and forth between the two like a spectator at a fight
- enter celtics fan who scuffed black rage’s white nike sneekers
- this is a free country – a man can live wherever he wants
- I WAS BORN IN BROOKLYN…OWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
- slow motion scene as the cops and the 3 middle aged black men eye each other – with sombre solo piano soundtrack overtop
- either you korean motherfuckers are geniuses or you black motherfuckers are dumb
- ossie davis’ speech to the younger generation…”You don’t know shit!”
- nigger this nigger that – favorite basketball player is Magic Johnson – favorite actor is Eddie Murphy – favorite singer is Prince
- deep down I think you really want to be black – get the fuck outta here!
- mookie’s rant – to italian brother’s rant – puerto rican rant – italian cop – korean shop owner rant
- YOOOOOOOOOO HOLD ON – THAT’S THE DOUBLE TRUTH RUTH!!!
- young black girl drawing a picture with chalk on the street of a house, car, sunshine (only place where it will happen for black people)
- RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND – LOVE VS. HATE
- slanted camera angles again between Vito and Radio Rahim – as conversation flows
- slave days are over – my name aint Kunta Kinte!
- Pino wants out of the pizeria in the black neighborhood – but Sal’s Famous Pizzeria is here to stay and that’s the way it is
- you better boycott that god damn barber who fucked up your hair!
- if you really tried hard, you could really put your energies into something positive
- Mookie and Pino can’t believe the conversation between his sister and Sal
- D MOTHER FUCKER D!!! – motherfuck YOU!
- older man takes a piss on the wall in front of the others
- Sal is in love with Mookie’s sister Jade
- TAWANNA TOLD THE TRUTH – graffiti on the wall – what does it mean?
- when main characters do sermon like dialog, the camera is always below them looking up as they are centred on the screen
- thank god for the lips, for the neck, for the knnecaps, for the elbows, for the thighs, for the right nipple, for the left nipple
- almost like a zoetrope effect with the light shinning through the ceiling fan – very prolific against their faces
- fight between pino and vito – the light overtop is going from side to side – highlighting the tension between the 2 brothers
- who the fuck does he think he is…fucking don corleone?!? – for making me turn down my box – didn’t even say please
- business was terrific – we had a great great day – nothing like a family working together – gonna rename it Sal and son’s pizzeria
- mookie, there will always be a place for you here – you’ve been like a son to me – four slices and then we’re outta here
- slanted camera angle again to highlight the tension – enter radio rahim and his crew
- I’ll tear your nigger ass off! – seems like Pino is enjoying it though
- the boom box is no more and the silence is deafening – I just killed your fucking radio
- Gary that’s enough – 3 times – SHUT THE FUCK UP – GET THE FUCK UP ASSHOLE! as radio rahim drops dead to the ground
- they didn’t have to kill the boy…as Mookie looks at Sal and his sons – walks over to grab the garbage can
- Da Mayor begs the crowd for calm – someone is gonna get hurt
- Sal finally realizes that he doesn’t understand the community – mookie grabs the garbage can and throws it into the pizzeria – starting the riot
- BURN IT DOWN BURN IT DOWN – mother sister as the camera shows a cracked frank sinatra picture burning
- I BLACK – WE THE SAME – says the korean shop keeper
- back come the cops again along with the fire department – but this time they have the riot patrol
- PEOPLE PLEASE DISPERSE! you’ve had your warning as the fire hoses are turned on the crowd – now they try to fight the fire fighters
- NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo – mother sister wails as she collapses in da mayor’s arms
- smiley puts up a picture of malcolm x and martin luther king on the the burnt out wall
- prologue with samuel l jackson – overture soundtrack overtop his speech
- are we gonna live together – together are we gonna live?
- mother sister and da mayor are finally speaking to one another and look down on the block
- I BUILT THIS FUCKING PLACE WITH MY FUCKING HANDS!
- my salary is two fitty a week as Sal throws the bills into mookie’s face
- you keep it, you keep it, no YOU KEEP IT – I don’t believe it
- “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral…” – martin luther king jr.
- “I don’t even call it violence when it’s self defense, I call it it intelligence” – Malcolm X
- final shot in the film is the black and white picture of malcolm X and martin luther king shaking hands and smiling

Thursday’s CrossFit WOD

I have been a little slackish on doing CrossFit for the past week because I have a slight upper abdominal strain that I picked up from doing pull-ups but lo and behold I bit the proverbial bullet and went to the 5pm class after working at school all day and busted out some blood, sweat and tears…

Thursday’s WOD:

Max Front Squat: worked my way up to a Max of 165 lbs.
Max Pullups: was only able to do 2.5 pull-ups due to my abdominal strain but at least I gave it a go!

Also, here is the video from the last CrossFit Clean & Jerk session that took place in September – better late then never to show you the video – you can see me in action during the last clip of the video:

RAWR I BE STRONG!!!