Metacognitive Analysis

Marlene Herrera

May 5, 2013

Metacognitive Analysis

   The Hybrid Essay was an outstanding opportunity to really dive into films. Words alone would cut short in analyzing how images and sounds placed together to form one huge motion picture. It would be ironic if I tried to talk about films without providing images and sounds. That is why I decided not to just write a traditional essay it would be to boring for such an exciting topic. I decided to base my hybrid essay on both Dillon Marsh Photography blog (http://dillonmarsh.com/assimilation.html ) and Perez Hilton blog (http://perezhilton.com/). The reason was because they both demonstrate the importance of telling a story with images and videos. Dillon Marsh blog placed images and then wrote about them and their importance to the topic of the post. Even though many can argue that the blog perezhilton.com is not worth much time, it sure is fun and that is what I wanted my hybrid essay to be; fun and accessible. The way I formatted my essay had to do with basic film aesthetics and an exploration of the topics importance. I move from the big picture to slowly dissecting it big element at a time.

   My first topic was how a story is told. Whether it will be through animation, a dance number, or dialogue, it has to portray smoothly and vividly. By using videos like Hum Saath Saath Hain, (1999) an Indian Film, Pixar animated short film For the Birds (2001), and a clip from the movie The Departed (2006), I was able to portray the idea of films being a universal spectrum. A story can be told in various way and still carry the message across. Though musical or animation, the story is well developed and portrayed.

    As I continued my hybrid essay I moved on to sound. I wanted to emphasize the importance of how music a lone and music place with images can make a huge difference on how the scene is portrayed. The movie, Pirates of The Caribbean used a score written by Hanz Zimmer to portray adventure and voyage. By itself, the musical piece is fast paced and provides numerous grandiose moments but when placed with images and scenes from the movie they just connect. The adventure scenes are perfectly paired with the high intense musical notes and when the music becomes slow the scenes also slow down. Music allows feelings.

    After we hear we begin to see what we hear. I then progressed into analyzing clothing. In order to completely embrace a film, being able to immerge into the setting and time is important because it truly places the atmosphere. For example, the images I provided for this section are from the movie, The Kings Speech (2010), provide sufficient clothing specifications that any person can point and notice a time period. Like the fur around the coat in the second image. Now a day’s PETA has protested against animal abuse and with this background information, it becomes rather easy to say the fur used is to illustrate a different time period.

   After we see we try to comprehend the creativity process behind it all. I provided a short YouTube video titled, Behind the Scenes of Wallace and Gromit because the video focuses on all the little details places in a cartoon in order to be developed. I could not just simply talk about how a character is developed I had to provide visuals of how it is created and all the effort placed into it. Like the many different facial expression each character has and the different miniature handmade sets. The video, for me is the highlight of my hybrid essay. It truly embraces all the aspects of what I wanted my essay to show.

     Finally, I decided to talk about writing last because after everything is dissected to find the meaning of a film, what the characters say is what stays with us. That is why we have numerous memes quoting movies. I also, touched upon genres because I found it extremely interesting how to many critics, most movies produced in Hollywood are considered westerns. At first I disagreed because Batman is not running around with a cowboy hat in a horse, but I later realize he was running around in a motorcycle in a bat costume.

   For me, writing the hybrid essay was a good liberation from the traditional way of writing a paper. It was a bit intimidating in the beginning with just hearing “hybrid” because it seemed a bit complicated and technological but in the end it was rather easy and fun. Of course, the examples provided like, Dillon March Photography blog made it easier but in the end it ended being completely different from that blog. I hope that other teachers hear about a hybrid essay and start applying it to their course because it is so much fun.

Hybrid Essay

Don't Just See, Experience a Film

     During my short time frame, I have heard a couple of inspirational talker's here and there. I bet a few of us know how this works out. While in the room bomb's are being dropped everywhere on how to change this and that and as soon as the meeting is over everything is forgotten, right? Well, I am a rebel. I actually took it very personal when one of the motivational talkers went to my high school to talk about how to choose a career. She said "if you want to do your homework and you are watching TV then you are committed to watching TV not you homework therefor you are in a committed relationship to your television and not your studies." Did I just hear wedding bells? I have a feeling that she was trying to be funny but to me her words set light to a path I had not seen before. I was well known to choose a good intriguing movie or show over homework. Applying the unintentional advice to my life I notice that film played a huge role in my life. If I was not trying to act as a character I was trying to film the sky or a fly in my food. A passion was clearly there and when I got a chance to explore this flame through a blog , I just had to share the heat.

Films are a universal language. Whether, the film tells the story through music, animation, or just simple dialogue we can all enjoy it.

Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999)

For The Birds (2001)

 

 

The Departed (2006)

 Films use musical scores to set the mood of the scene.

Hans Zimmer-

Pirates of the Caribbean Theme song (just the music)

The score added with visuals adds thrill and adventure to the scene. 

No one uses top hats anymore.

Fashion or clothing is a huge deal in movies. In order to set the time periods in movies and to convince the viewers that they are really watching a film that takes place in a different time, costume designers have the challenge to create clothing that resembles any given time the movie is set in. In the movie The King's Speech directed by Tom Hooper was release in 2010 but thanks to it's amazing costumes we are place back in 1930 before Great Britain declares war on Germany.

Fancy! Would you like some tea with that fur?

Craft. Sculptures. Drawings. Are also involved in Films. Pictures are not always the only form used to create a film. For example, in the animation field, two very lovable characters called Wallace and Gromit created by Nick Park, are literary getting there face fixed for there close ups. This short video shows how the characters and everything around them are hand made by professional artist but before they begin they have to draw every single movement they want the main actors to do.Take a look.

Amazing. Such dedication  for creativity. It creates a different meaning to talent because it involves numerous talent concentrated  into just one form. It is unique and that is why people celebrate it so much.

   The creme of the crop is the writing. The first step to a film is the script. without one there is no movie at all. The script narrates scene-by-scene. It serves as a platform that filmmakers will transform into visuals.Writing can either make or break a scene. It can depend on how aggressive the writing is that allows the scene to stand tall (of course with the help of an actor) or how weak it is that the story line falls flat. Screenwriting goes hand in hand with genres. At first I only new  a few genres like fiction, non-fiction, and science fiction. It turns out there are a lot more . A few of my favorites are musical, comedies, science fiction, and comedy-drama and screwball comedy.My least favorite genre is Westerns but many critics have commented that most of the films that  are produce in Hollywood are Westerns. Just because the setting is not in the dessert and the actors are not wearing cowboy hats it does not mean a movie is not a western. It turns out that western movie characteristics involve themes of revenge and clothing that signifies a characters inherent natures.For example, The Dark Knight Rises is considered a western because the character Batman's clothing portraits his anonymous personality and The Joker involves getting revenge on society. If it wouldn't been for the research I did in this blog the correlation between the two would of never happened.

    A subject I would have loved to explore but did not touch was the business side of film or better know as film politics. It  was an interesting subject that came across during my research. Los Angeles is my home and is known around as the home of Hollywood. Since Hollywood produces so much money I became curious to how all that money travels around.Hollywood attracts millions of dollars a movie and with the right combination of actors and directors, billions of dollars stack up. Who are the producers? How much does it take to produce a commercial film from an independent film? What studios produce what movies? What qualities are needed to ensure a successful film? How much effort does it go to advertising? It is the math and statistic side of film making.One that would probably get me confused but a lot wiser. This would be the next step to my blog if I do continue.

    As my first time blogging I truly enjoyed it. At first I though of blogging as a drag because I was new to it and it was a lot of writing and commitment but after I posted my first post I enjoyed it. I notice that I was very sincere with my post and very detailed. I got caught up in the discussion and the art of film that it became fun. As my research progress I began learning more about how to watch a movie. For example, how to approach a movie when  first watching it in the theater. One thing I learn to look for was to understand why the villain/ antagonist act's the way he does and why he is considered the antagonist. But not everyone wants to look for for those kinds of details when trying to enjoy the movie. Sadly, no one posted any comments on my post which makes it hard to notice if they developed any arguments or if someone though opposite of what I wrote. I have to say that not everyone will agree with my post The Importance of Film because an argument could of been that for some movies goers movies are just simply to watch without any justification. It does not mean they will go into the theater looking for entertainment and leave with different aspect in life it just means that they will get a sense of all the hard work it took to create what they are watching. For them to appreciated the value of  a well done movie versus a commercial movie.  That is why the topic was significant because films are a collaborative project meant to be watch in a group and with the tips to watch a movie, the more meaningful it becomes. For me that was one of the driving purposes for this blog and I feel I was able to tap into that topic. Overall, I had around a month to blog and the discoveries I made where great. I learn to voice my passion for films and to teach others what I learn in a cool exciting way. This might be the longest post to my blog but I hope it is not the last one.


                       

Ethnography Reading

 

Sitting in the back row surrounded  by books everywhere I look i cant help to notice this is the perfect environmental for a public reading. It sets the mood to complete relaxation of understanding knowledge. As I looked around I spy the food table. The hostesses provided crackers, ham,

sour cream, and bread. Too bad I had Chipotle before the event. As, I walk back to my seat a little table is set up displaying books from the presenter.The cover art seemed intriguing, but we all know not to judge a book by it's cover.  As the host started to present the author , they decided to open up with Mad Libs. After some laugh it was time for Professor Eloise Klein Healy to start the show. She seems laid back and funny. While she read her poems she made eyed contacted as much as she could. Some of her favorite poems included "Dark," and a line that stood out to me was "it's own idea" because for me poems embark a journey of there own, never same twice. The reading was great and very funny, I truly enjoyed it.  

Final Edit

                               

      When first introduced to the blogging assignment, my ideal purpose was to shine light on the passion I have for film and how influential it is in our modern world. Films or Movies are more than just motion pictures being projected in a white drape hanging in a wall. Films are paintings, sculptures, musical scores, catwalks and poems all in one big production. They are a series of dreams taking a life of there own in front of our eyes. Yet, films are still more than that. Not many of us realize that our first introduction to a different country or culture is through films. Filmmakers originate from different cultures and backgrounds which allows some sort of diversity and introductions to a different backgrounds and views. Another, reason I wanted to dedicate a blog to film is to try to teach my followers about how to see a film beyond its hot actors/actresses and awesome fighting sequences. One way I tried to illustrate this was by providing some pictures and videos directly from a movie that focused on the art of film making it self instead of the actors. I also posted a couple of tips to remember while watching a movie that can help the viewer understand the purpose of the film and why they are attracted to paying to see the film. For example, understanding the setting or  when a character wears red clothing they are more likely to be the temptation of the antagonist that leads to their down fall.Overall, blogging has been a great first experience. It allowed me to show my admiration of films through pictures and videos, which made it a lot more entertaining and easy to understand.

Scholars Against Films

  Across the pond, arguments are heating up with disputes over TV and Films and the impact they have on cultures. It seems, both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states do not want their "Kannada language, and literature, culture and social heritage" to be influence by what  Hollywood depicts it as being.

Placing my self in the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States position, it is very easy to see why they would want to keep Hollywood stereotypical films and TV shows out of their state. The tendency to over exaggerated a culture life style or to portrait it as "rural" is Hollywood's way of showing how  America is the Modern world. It serves as an ego busters but it angers everyone else. It is also easy to see how liberal and violent our TV shows and films are. Some few examples are American Pie, The Bad girls club, Honey Boo Boo, and the Chainsaw Massacre. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States simply just want to protect their culture and heritage from the negative influence ours might have upon their's.




















 http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/1799109/report-scholars-against-films-dubbed-into-kannada