Blog 10 – Lights, Camera, Action!

My favourite show on Netflix is Grey’s Anatomy and it has been something that I look forward to watching every week. The show surrounds a group of doctors working in a Seattle Hospital. Meredith Grey is the daughter of the famous surgeon, Ellis Grey, who acts as the main character in the series. This is a series that needs no introduction because each episode is packed with drama, romance, and medical jargon. Further, the way the characters interact with each other in surgeries, and in their personal lives is beyond interesting and is extremely entertaining. The most recent episode Season 14 Episode 21 struck many emotions, which is why I think this scene was the most powerful. The scene includes Amelia Shepherd (head of neurology) and Owen Hunt (head of trauma.)

Amelia Shepherd is a character that suffered from drug and alcohol problems from troubled experiences in her early life. She has been in and out of rehabs for many seasons including the spin off of Private Practice in which she herself tried many detoxes, some which helped but nothing being permanent until after her fiancé’s overdose and her baby symptons of anencephalic. This episode opens with Owen adopting a baby, which happened to be a young girl’s baby, Betty, who had no family and was an addict because of a hospital providing the wrong dosage of pain medication post surgery. She was a club soccer player who tore her ACL and after the high dosage of pain medications her life was never the same. Amelia sees that she has a bright future and even sees herself in this young girl. After Amelia having a short conversation with the girl and noticing her arms and constricted pupils, she asks Betty where she wants to see herself in two years because the incident happened two years prior. The scene moves from Betty’s close up facial expressions to Amelia and back to medium shots of both of them sitting outside. It reflects to the viewer that her position was one that Amelia was in at a similar age and with help and rehabilitation and therapy she could in the future be as successful. At the end of the episoe Amelia decides to adopt Betty and help her in any way that she can. They use a long shot of them both holding hands on their way home.

In conclusion, a variety of shots were used to accentuate the theme of this episode.  I believe the filming was very well done as it incorporated many angles along with softer sounds and music to establish the tone and setting.  It is important to notice the virtue of compassion and empathy that Amelia had at the very first meeting of this young girl and her instinct to immediately want to help. This is something we should all strive for.

Part of this scence can be watched at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-_F7oYWP38.

This was the concluding scene at the end of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0_HnenaEfU.

Blog Nine – Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives

A designer is a person who plans the form of something prior to its creation. Today, their is a vast range of creative careers in this field, including interior designer, fashion designers, and multimedia animators. Designers use their passion, skill, and drive to put their ideas into action. Typically a person in an industry, as such acts as an important figure in society, and can use this to their advantage in raising awareness for social justice issues. In addition, designers can manipulate the components of their work in order to acheive their desired theme and message. This can be done through various, shapes, sizes, fonts, images, colours, etc.

Without the works of designer, the world we live in would be a very different place. Designers have to work laboriously to ensure that they are communicating their message properly, and if done so, great strides can be made in promoting awareness for the injustices that exist today. Alice Rawstorn, a design critic for the New York Times said, “I find design endlessly fascinating, because it is richly contextualized and constantly changing, forcing me to continually reassess my understanding of it.” This cultivates the job that designers face, to not only create work that is easily understood in a clear and concise manner but also to work in an environment that is always changing, which means their work has to universally understood at any time and age.

Two examples of works that captivate designers impact in our lives today are the “Non-violence project” and the “Stop Telling Women To Smile project.”

This knotted gun, simply titled Non-Violence, was created by the Swedish artist, Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, after the murder of John Lennon in 1980. This piece was originally placed across the street from Lennon’s home in New York City but since then was moved to the United Nations Headquarters as a symbol for peace and non-violence. It has become a worldwide figure for the ongoing struggle for gun control worldwide.

These posters created by the New York artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, spoke to the message of gender injustice women face regularly. The displayed posters feature portraits of women along side a quote relaying their personal experieces.

Let us always remember that art gives voice to the people who cannot express their own.

 

Blog Eight – My Life In Art

Art is a critical component to our daily lives. It is everything we see, beyond our great imaginations. Everywhere we look we are surrounded by works in this field that have had a drastic impact in how we live today. Whether it is in our favourite songs or in our favourite posters, this is something we are always faced with. Consequently, this is a big component in everyone’s life even if they fail to realize it. I enjoy specifically music and photography, as these are what I spent the majority of my time doing.

 

I enjoy listening to a variety of music from Hip-Hop, R&B and Rap, to EDM (Electronic Dance Music.) This industry have become flooded with a lot of up and coming artists that are currently working to put their place in the field. Some of my favourite artists include; NAV, Pnb Rock, Migos, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, and Boogie wit the Hoodie. It has been proven that listening and playing to music can drastically enhance the form and function of the brain. Take piano as an example, performing the individual tasks involved will improve one’s creative, visual, motor, auditory, and emotional functions, which gives your brain a great “workout.” Further, listening to music can also reduce anxiety and blood pressure while improving sleep quality, alertness, and memory. Music can also remind you of memories associated with the emotions you may feel with the songs.

 

In the movie and production industry, I will typically not watch movies as I prefer watching television shows more. However, in the event that I would, I would watch either the genres of Romance and Comedy. I enjoy photography because I enjoy how a snapshot can create a number of emotions and puzzling analysis. Photos are something you can keep and cherish forever which is equally as important. People in all industries of art can be credited with bringing back to the communities and areas that they started in. As their selflessness and charitable acts do not go unnoticed. Dr. Dre as an example grew up in Compton, Los Angeles,  and since then has donated over 10 million dollars to the performing arts theatre to ensure that these children can positively direct and define their futures. This is one example of many artists, who are continuously giving back to express the gratitude of their successes.

 

 

Critique Practice

The picture I received is a wolf, in a howling position to the moon in what appears to be the night. Throughout the entirety of the wolf’s body, there is a vast majority of bold shapes and colours in which the artist uses different values of darkness to light that are contrasted across the body. Further, the artist is most likely an indigenous aboriginal artist who would connect spiritually with animals in nature. The emphasis lies on the wolf as an object that the artist Melanie would have a personal relationship with. It is possible that the artist feels a bond with traits of might, strength, and courage as the wolf portrays. I also believe that the artist is indigenous because living in remote areas of Canada, they have the privilege of being one with their surrounding landscapes and would see animals quite frequently.

Upon first glance, I also immediately notice the leading lines from the tail up to the lower body and down through the moon. Across upon observing the hind lends and lower back, there is a pattern of triangles illustrating flames of fire. Further, the artist uses harmony to make the piece have unity as a whole by using similar sizes and shapes with respect to each other to ensure equal importance and balance amongst aspects of the image. She places a heavy importance on circles with black dots in the middle which to most aboriginals represents different aspects of both the physical and spiritual world. Examples of these physical aspects include planets, stars, sun and the moon. All things follow the pattern of circles as all move in a circular motion around each other. Spiritually, circles can represent the body and soul as a life cycle from birth to growth, to ultimate death. The artist is conveying that all things are interconnected and depend on each other by using a variety of elements to create this visual interest.

Blog Seven – The Social Good of Social Media

Social Media is a new platform in which we can easily deliver messages to the masses. With posts immediately updated, the public stays informed. Social media can be used in a variety of ways from being used to follow your favourite celebrities, to being used by companies for exposure and trafficking of products. In terms of marketings, using social media is the most cost-effective way to reach mass amounts of consumers. Not only does social media have a variety of purposes but it also can come in a variety of forms such as in apps, websites, or profiles. Further, Social Media has created many positives in our society, some that can lead to opportunities unimaginable, that can now become possible with the click of a button.

 

I use social media for several of personal reasons including networking with people I have met, finding new things, and connecting with friends and family all over the world. These include the popular ones of Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, which are the ones I use most frequently. Twitter is a micro-blogging network in which users can send “tweets” of short messages, clips, or pictures amongst each other. On the other hand, Instagram is used to post and share pictures or videos with your “followers” while Snapchat is used to capture “snaps” of pictures and videos that will disappear in less than seconds. While looking at my own profile, I would have to say that it is highly curated as only the best pictures would be posted in order to match the current “feed” that exists. This is a process that involves many people, the best lighting, and countless different poses and pictures in the perfect outfit. The common goal is to strive for a feed that is organized and concise with the previous photos in order to ensure that holistically the composition of colours used will match. Consequently, another key component is to ensure that you are updating the feed regularly but not to regularly to make sure that the “likes” to followers ratio does not go down. This would be a problem!

Pictures that are out of the norms and are spontaneous would typically receive the most exposure and attention from one’s followers. These would include activities that would engage your audience with more interesting posts. For example, attending a music concert with a bunch of your friends or vacation pictures with aesthetically pleasing landscapes. Moreover, people would be more inclined to respond to your posts if it is something they can relate to and share an experience with you. Social media profiles tend to be someone’s first time meeting you metaphorically because what and how someone posts will tell a lot about their personality and interests.

This is an exemplary feed to which most will model their profile too. (Above) It is important to note, that the user has created “for the feed pictures” that are to be used as fillers to only enhance and add to her profile. These would include landscapes, streets, or foods. She has also been careful to ensure not too many group photos in relation to pictures alone.

Social media has transformed the way we live and connect with our peers today. It is not to say that it is only used to share photos, but it can also be used to meet people such as apps such as Bumble or can be used to connect and network with people to find jobs such as LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an important part of the business world as it lets you find other clients and colleagues whom you already know. You can easily upload resumes and applications to apply for jobs in an instant that will help to advance you in your career. In addition, public relations and marketing workers will use social media to transform their brand in a way that is absolutely costless. You will find how little makeup brands and clothing brands will spend on marketing because today the cost versus benefit principle in this industry is very rewarding. Take Kylie Jenner as an example, where her KylieCosmetics brand is growing to be worth over 420 million dollars today and she has not spent a cent on advertising other than using her Instagram and Snapchat.

Our society along with new trends and technologies are always changing and so is social media. Companies like Instagram are making it even easier for other brands and corporations to use their platforms specifically with “Business Settings” to analyze how many people are interacting or not interacting with their new posts. From there, they will be able to add a company phone number, location, or email all in order to see how their posts are performing.

 

Blog 6 – Two is the New!

Collaborations are the act of working with someone else to create something else. From fashion to music, stars from all genres and industries around the world will work together to make real and lasting changes. After all, two working together is better than one and the more the merrier! In working with other like-minded individuals, you and your collaborator(s) can achieve great work like nothing before. Especially in the fashion industry, a limitless industry where anything is possible. Arts, Entertainment, Fashion, and Music are some examples of where we can find some of the best collaborations.

Top Left: Louis Vuitton x Koons

Top Right: Comme des Garçons PLAY x Converse Chuck Taylor

Bottom Left: Sennheiser x Dior

Bottom Right: Supreme x The North Face

Further, another example of this in the music industry is to raise awareness for funds in the form of benefit concerts or having songs spark activist groups for humanitarian issues. Band Aid, a charity band founded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, first released “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (1984) The initial goal was to raise money for a famine crisis in remote areas of Ethiopia. This collaboration included rock stars like Bono, Paul McCartney, Paul Young, raising $14 million dollars for relief. In 1985, the band held “Live Aid,” one of the most influential charity concerts. Similarly, “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan and young Canadian artists including Drake and Justin Bieber to promote their music to raise awareness for the famine and troubles in Haiti.

 

Louis Vuitton x Supreme

In 2000, Louis Vuitton sued Supreme for knocking off its box logo. In doing so, LV made Supreme’s box logo its most coveted item. Fast forward, this would be the most monumental collaboration of 2017. Once the two brands settled their differences, they were able to create everything from a fanny pack to sweaters. They did so by blending each companies logos, colours, and signatures of what each brand is known for. This collaboration was only on sale for a single day and was hotly anticipated because of this. Consequently, this promoted an uproar for pop up stores and remakes.

Nike x Off-White

Virgil Abloh is the founder of the Milan based brand Off-White which is “a fashion label rooted in current culture at a taste-level particular to now.” He is a DJ, creative designer, and creator of a high-end brand. His Nike collaboration revealed his spin on 10 of Nike’s most popular shoe collection from AF-1 to the Dunk. It is important to note how minimal of these shoes were created to ensure that they would be the most coveted sneakers.

1-800-273-8355 by Logic featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid

This collaboration can easily be one of the most important tracks of 2017 and it is often referred to as “1-800.” The title is the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The lyrics of the song are set up as a conversation between an operator of the hotline and the person calling. 1-800 is a song on Logic’s album “Everybody” but by recruiting Alessia Cara and Klaid on this song in particular maximized the reach of this song. With Mental Illness on the rise, it is important that artists follow and use their network to spread awareness as much as possible. There is no saying how many people this song has helped and will continue to help.

 

 

The full song can be found on Youtube, Apple Music, or Spotify.

 

 

 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5tz69p7tJuGPeMGwNTxYuV

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb24RrHIbFk

 

Blog Five – Article Review

In this day and age, our world is filled with emerging technologies that will soon if they have not already impact and change the way we see the world today. There is not much interest placed on such companies that will shake the foundations of how we live our lives. Examples of these include Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, CRISPR-Cas 9 and Nanotechnology. Impossible Foods, Ethereum, and Deepmind are a few companies that exist today at the forefront of trends that challenge the norms in fields ranging from Medicine and Banking to Food Production. Upon having a vast interest in this, I visited the American Magazine, “Wired” . “Wired Magazine focuses on how new technologies will affect cultures, economies, and politics.

After scrolling through the site and reading several articles, on that caught me was regarding a new motor transportation called Hyperloop One by Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT). Further, The companies mission statement and goal includes is to reinvent and “eliminate the barriers of distance and time.” Hyperloop One will move people and goods, and unlock unprecedented value for governments, businesses, and consumers. This can lead to a transportation revolution and will be the next big thing as nothing of this caliber has been presented.

 

The article titled “India Might Just be Getting a Hyperloop” announces that this idea once presented by Elon Musk himself has just signed with the state of Andhra Pradesh, in southeast India. HTT announced that they will be spending six months predicting routes for the hyperloop connecting the cities of Vijaywada and Amaravati, a move that would transform a 27-mile, hour long drive into a six minute ride. In addition, upon the routes being finalized the production of the hyperloop will begin. Hyperloop previously launched the “Devloop” which is were they test their designs in the Nevada desert. The Indian deal is only the latest in addition to plans in South Korea, Abu Dhabi, and Slovakia.

 

The CEO of HTT, Dirk Ahlborn is confident on the project and says they are “ready to build” because the “technology is not the problem.” He argued that the only problem lies in making a transportation system that can be successful in competing with the price and practicality of established airlines, train companies, and private cars.

For the full article please visit, https://www.wired.com/story/india-hyperloop-transportation-technologies/.

 

 

 

Blog 4

The Scavenger Hunt Assignment’s purpose was to introduce us to a digital camera’s features rather than using a cellphone and to learn the basic concepts in taking great pictures (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) to ultimately lead up to final unit project. The three most difficult shots for me in doing my photography scavenger  were the ones that seemed most vague while each description left the student with inspiration to be found. I tried for the majority of my pictures to think of the word listed and proceed with the first idea that came to mind and take that a bit further. The most difficult shots for me were the categories of “Garbage,” “Slow,” and “Selfie.”

To begin, for the “Garbage” shot, I did not want to simply take a picture of garbage but rather I wanted to go deeper into what is truly bad for us keeping vices and habits in consideration. Further, I wanted to take a better picture with a stronger meaning rather than the standard picture of garbage cans. This was challenging because I was not completely sure how to go about doing so.  This shot might have been easier if I had more experience so I struggled with setting up the photo to ensure that every object in the photo connected to each other and served its own independent purpose. I decided on the final result of rolling a twenty dollar bill with a decanter of whiskey and lines of narcotics across the table. I did so because often all three vices are associated in union together.

The second shot I had trouble with was the “Slow” shot. This is because the word slow can be used profusely for many different purposes. I had to determine how I was going to interpret this word for this shot. Some questions I was left to decide were whether I should take a picture of something that was slow or should I take capture something moving slowly? If I had a high speed slow motion camera or software to use for the picture, it may have come out a bit better or have been easier to begin with. More experience with shutter speed may have been helpful as well. I ended up taking multiple shots of a Subway train coming into the station and used the one in between its first arrival into the station and when it stopped. I tried to get as close as possible putting my camera in “Action Mode” to ensure that the shutter speed would click as quickly as possibly to capture the train’s motion. Together the collection of pictures look in slow-motion but for the purpose of the assignment I used only one picture.

Finally, the last shot I had difficult was the “Selfie” shot. Selfie was once only known by only the younger generations; however, in this day and age is a concept known by everyone everywhere. This image would have been easier and faster if I had taken a selfie with the camera or asked someone to take one with me. I chose rather to take it further and capture the emotions drawn from one taking one. For this I used my brother in many positions and took the best one. In addition, I found the best picture was when I went slightly above his head pointing the camera downward because in doing so I got all aspects of his features outlined with immense detail instead of looking at him head on with half of his face in the shot.

If I had to redo this assignment with access to all materials, I would easily have travelled and equipped myself with all tools that I may have needed. For example, the City picture would have been taken in New York City outside Times Square in or in the Upper East Side to capture the saturation of people in that given area. Moreover, another element I would change is broadening my horizon of landscape and subjects. I would have most likely went to Iceland and taken a view of the village of Vik and Skógafoss Falls outside of Reykjavik. I would have tried to encapsulate the Aurora Borealis for the “Slow” shot because I feel as though when you move away from city life and enter an area of remoteness, that is where one can truly find peace and hit pause on the chaos of everyday life and enjoy the world’s natural beauty.

Blog Three

If I were a photojournalist, my area of expertise would be in disasters either natural or of human control.  For example, visiting impoverished communities and imaging children our age’s living conditions. I would want to immerse myself in these tragic events and expose the society we live in and what we are not doing to change this. As haunting as some images may be, I want to truly encapsulate the most vulnerable and their epic struggles. Steve Liss, founder of a non-profit alliance of photojournalists, put it perfectly to CBS, ” I can recite statistics to you all you want, but when I so that people’s eyes glaze over, but if I tell the story of one family, and one family’s struggle in a compelling way, then they’re engaged.” The purpose is to shine light on areas the media refuses to cover, to make the invisible, visible.

 

These images along with the “Falling Man” and “Ground Zero Spirit” and many more act as a symbol of their story. Further, it is often difficult to recount an event as such without the help of photojournalists. A good photojournalist to me captures the essence of their struggle and uses it as a message for hope and change.

The Pulitzer Prize Photographs are a great example of exemplary photojournalists intending to encapsulate a great story within the photos.

As a photojournalist, I would work with top magazine corporations, such as Time Magazine and Maclean’s. Time Magazine was published in New York City in 1923 and was dominated by Henry Luce. Maclean’s is a Canadian founded 1905, reporting on issues such as current events, politics, and pop culture. Its founded was publisher J. B. Maclean. I would want to work for a company that gets at the heart of the emotional framework of our times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Two – Everything Everywhere

An account that I like to view frequently is Gary Arndt’s “Everything Everywhere” mainly because I love travelling and we tend to share that same passion. In 2007, Gary was bold enough to sell his home, his job, and everything he had ever known to travel the world without direction. Since that very moment, he has been travelling with no end for over 9 years. Dog sledding in the Canadian Yukon, swimming with whale sharks in Australia, and riding the world’s highest zip line in Puerto Rico are some among the many key cornerstone activities that Gary has participated in. He has visited all 7 continents, 185 countries, and all states and territories of the United States, Canada, and Australia. Further, he acts as an activist of the United Nations Educational and Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and has visited 335 of their historical landmarks including the Medina of Marrakesh, the Villa of Adriana in Tivoli, and the Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. There goal is to preserve the world’s most alluring cultural and natural heritage sights.

 

His account draws to me because of the diversity in his travel and spontaneity of his character. I find his account to be appealing because he visits some of the smallest, most remote places of the world and finds beauty and history in everywhere he goes. Moreover, I enjoy the variety of colours in each post that gravitates towards my taste very much. Another thing I find extremely interesting about his page is how each picture is carefully planned and carefully thought out to present us the viewer with an aesthetically pleasing image in each. The feed of both his blog and Instagram work very well with each other which I believe is crucial for a photographer.

 

I can learn from artists like Gary even though I do not have the knowledge and techniques that they have developed over the course of their careers by taking simple tips from each of them. With his platforms and others on Instagram as a guide, I can use vantage points and lighting to my advantage in that he uses each to create sleek, simple, and clean images. Also, I can take how he edits his photos so certain aspects of the picture gravitate to the viewer at first glance and using post placement strategies to create a feed that works well together. Since I enjoy taking pictures as I travel, “Everything Everywhere” seemed like the perfect fit for me.