Webspinna Potentials

Here are a few links that I'm probably going to use in my webspinna:

http://www.ampgames.com/game/4/Punk-O-Matic.html
http://www.virtualmusicalinstruments.com/
http://soundation.com/
http://www.mediacollege.com/downloads/sound-effects/

http://religion.ambient-mixer.com/heaven

http://www.looplabs.com/
http://remixer.clubcreate.com/v2/musiclab/launch.html

Funk>Lagrove + LoveLow + Nighters + Logrove x2
HipHop>D88bigdrum1

http://remixer.clubcreate.com/v2/dubstep/launch.html

Set to 83 bpm
Bass>01XTADubBass
Drums>01XTADrums+DSDrums5
04XTADubBass
05XTADubBass


http://www.virtualmusicalinstruments.com/drums

http://soundation.com/studio
http://www.mediacollege.com/downloads/sound-effects/
http://www.ampgames.com/game/4/Punk-O-Matic.html

http://www.findsounds.com/ISAPI/search.dll
search crazy + Laugh

http://ambient-music.ambient-mixer.com/distant-world

Medium Specificity

Artists Statement:

For this creative assignment we were to choose a medium such as film, photography, music, literature etc., and then discover something that is unique to that medium only. I chose the medium of film and the unique attribute that I chose to demonstrate was motion. Photography can show some motion as well with blur and other effects but I believe that solely film can display motion at its best given that it is multiple frames, not just one.

To demonstrate, and kind of exaggerate, film's unique ability to show motion I filmed the above video of myself. The first "Josh" that enters the frame from the right moves in extreme slow motion while the various other "Josh'es" that enter frame move at a higher speed than normal and interact with the "slow motion Josh." I also reversed the motion because that is also something very unique to the medium.

One of the reasons I chose to explore the medium of film is because I love it's ability to create impossible worlds such as this one, where I can have 3 clones if I want. I felt that having the multiple Josh'es moving at different speeds would display a contrast of the range of motion offered in the medium of film. This project celebrates the medium of film because it shows the limitless options film offers from displaying a reality to creating a new reality that no one could experience in any other way.

Social Media Adaptation: The Great Gatsby

For access to our Google+ account enter username: nickcarrawaycrv@gmail.com password: gatsby12

 

Artist Statement:
After exploring through a few different mediums of social media we decided that Google+ would be a perfect platform for “The Great Gatsby” to be adapted to. Google+ offers many features such as “Circles” for groups of friends and also “Hangouts” for gatherings. What also played into our decision to use Google+ was that when it was first released it was a “by invite only” application. In other words it was very exclusive which fits well with the exclusiveness found inside the book. Google+ also allowed us to tell the story simultaneously from multiple perspectives.

Here is the main process of what we did to adapt the story to the new medium. First we created new Gmail accounts for each of the characters and then made them each a personalized google+ account as well. Since Nick Carraway was the narrator of the book we made sure that all the posts were public to him, but private to the characters that wouldn’t have known the content. We went through all the major events of the book in chronological order through events, dialogue threads, and hangouts.

The Google+ format has a variety of different posting types, which added a variety to the story that even other social networks would not afford. For example, the distinction between hangouts and events allowed us to show a difference in larger setpieces like Gatsby’s parties and smaller moments, like phone calls and private gatherings. These features also gave us the ability to detail who could see individual posts, and the private or public nature of certain moments is integral to the way this story is told. If every moment had been made public, critical moments in the plot would no longer make any sense, which is the true challenge of adapting to a social network.

The last great challenge we had to pull off was the collaborative aspect of this project. Even alone, this project would have been daunting, with management of multiple social media accounts being necessary. In execution, we had to plan an outline of our version of this story in great detail before we even began posting. The timing of the posts had to match exactly, or else the entire project would be out of chronological order. We were forced to be constantly relaying information to one another, which made for a collaborative process that was not only instructive, but vital to our success.

Textual Poaching

Artist's Statement:
For this assignment I recorded a quick rough-cut instrumental version of the song "Come Thou Fount," which is one of my favorite songs. It is a song that is performed very often as a musical number during church services. However the version I recorded is one that would never be played during a worship service. The reason is because I added distortion, speed and loud drums. To be short I made it into a rock n'roll song.

Who decides what tone of music is spiritual? Why is rock music not considered spiritual? I believe it is because of the actions of those who invented the "rock" genre of music. They were often found partying, doing drugs, and in short, causing trouble. But what if this wasn't the case? What if the founders of rock instead were sophisticated, religious gentlemen? What if they had used their free time to serve others instead of get wasted? I believe that if this had been the story, then rock music would not carry all the negative connotations it carries today. I venture to say that the music would be considered spiritual and would be performed in more church services.

After getting feedback from some friends a important point was brought up about why rock music became known and unspiritual. This reason being the lyrics. The majority of lyrics inside rock songs are definitely not uplifting. But yet again I simply want to ask what if. What if the founders of rock wrote about uplifting lessons? Would then, their songs be considered spiritual or is it still the distortion, tempo, and beat that drives the spirit away? I believe that this decision isn't one that should be decided for us, but we must venture to make our own stance.
-Josh Weathers

Historical Story Script

Artists Statement:

The tale of Mario is essential both through a historical and a storytelling perspective. Historically speaking, Super Mario Bros. started the modern era of video games by popularizing the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), a console available at home rather than at an arcade. In fact, the NES was so popular it has gained the credit for revitalizing the US Video game industry from the video game crash of 1983, a recession in which the revenue for video games dropped from $3.2 billion in 1983 to $100 million by 1985. Building further on this point, our screenplay used montages of Mario traveling throughout the world as a metaphor for Nintendo expanding throughout the world due to the success of Super Mario Bros. Viewing at the world today, it is possible to see the popularity of video games, and how its influences has spanned across many countries, which, in a sense, has allowed for a unification of media interests throughout the world. We depicted this in our screenplay with the clash of two languages, Japanese and English. Now, with the cultures more closely intertwined through the media has encouraged the use and collaboration through both languages.

From a storytelling perspective, Mario is significant because it once again shows how stories can be retold, and still be successful. Although Mario does not compare to the skillful levels of the Shakespeare or Homer, Mario utilizes a similar method in which a writer retells and recycles a story, and it works. Mario always saves Princess Peach, the damsel in distress. Society tends to like that. In a similar way, we also decided to use the damsel in distress plot. However, we can view our work as a modernist and feminist critique of the concept of damsel in distress. We originally unintentionally included Peach as the only female character in our screenplay. Once we realized what we had done, we decided to keep it that way because it shows how we, as male writers and members of a patriarchal society, tend neglect female empowerment in the media. As the aforementioned paragraph stated, media occupies a large role in influencing society today. Thus, society identifies gender roles through with the damsel in distress plotline found in popular mediums such as video games.

After sharing our script with others we were able to receive some feedback and ideas on how to improve it. We added a scene to make it more clear on how and why Peach was kidnapped by Bowser’s spies. We also added more struggle to Mario’s journey chasing Bowser which heightened the stakes. By adding more conflict to the story we hope that the audience will feel more involved and want to know what will happen next. Other feedback that we received was to not to explain so much of the little details and symbolisms that it doesn’t leave room for the director to do the interpreting for the film, which is an important part of filmmaking.

To research for the writing of this historical film we had the diverting task of researching about Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. This included, but was not limited to, playing the game for a little while. Seeing the levels inside the game gave us ideas on how we could find similar landscapes in our real live world. We thought of how we could symbolize the enemies of the game to real life obstacles. We also did our best to study the dialogue that each of the characters uses in the game and then incorporate it into our script. The final level of the game is a lava level in which Mario battles Bowser. Coincidently the same year Super Mario Bro’s was released(1985) there was a volcano eruption in Columbia that tragically killed many people. We decided to stage the final battle scene between Mario and Bowser right in the middle of this historical event.

This screenplay, when combined with the artists’ statement, acts as a self-reflection, critique, and awareness of our familiarity with the damsel in distress plotline. Thus, our screenplay acts as an examination of history and its impacts on society, which constructs our perception, not only on a historical event, but also on our perception of ideology, and how it affects our values and cultures. We had a lot of fun writing this script because we felt nostalgic to the story and we both would love to see it be made into a film one day.