Freak Factor

The article “Freak Factor” is a list of suggestions of how to overcome various weaknesses in life that may come up and how to address them when they do.

I think that the first suggestion of “What’s Your Problem?” is a great one.  Before going in to job interviews I know the first thing that will be asked, or if not, one of the early questions, will be what are your strengths and weaknesses?  I like to think this question through before going in and it really helps.  Instead of fixing my weaknesses I like to build my strengths, as I think if I am good at one thing it may overshadow the bad qualities that I have.  Of course, this is not always true and I go about it based on the situation.  I think that this step allows for a good chance at self review and allows for character building.  It is one of the most important questions one can ask themselves.

The fourth rule goes hand in hand with my previous answer to rule number one, “What’s Your Problem?” and it is “Forget It: Don’t Try to Fix Your Weaknesses.”  I agree that it is a waste of time to try to fix things that can’t be fixed or won’t really matter for all the time you put into fixing them.  I think that fixing a weak area is a hopeless cause and shouldn’t be recommended.  Why spend time on fixing your social skills if you are going to be working in a field all alone or vice versa: why work on something you don’t need?  It makes no sense whatsoever.  I think that working on strengths is the best bet at finding a great job that you love someday.  I hope to build on my strengths and do good in media.  That will make me the most happy.

I agree with rule number eight as well, which is “Freak: the Power of Uniqueness.”  This suggestion is really good, as all innovation is the result of a mutation from the norm that is introduced into the world and gains notoriety because of how unique it is.  Doing something different gets you noticed and if people like the unique idea will go for it and invest in it.  Being unique means you stand out from the crowd and that is not a bad thing.  Blending in will make you bland and show that you have nothing to offer to the world.  That is why I try my hardest to stand out in everything I do, from movie ideas even to the way I edit behind the scenes footage, like I did for the movie Getting There.

I think my weaknesses in the Creative Process are explaining my ideas, a problem I have had for a while. I think everyone thinks like me, so it is hard for me to explain to others what I have in mind.  My strengths are probably that I am good at thinking outside of the box.  I like to do things that other people don’t think of, especially in the way I edit and when I direct photography.

9B

collapsus

Blog 9A

I think that in our presentation we could have explained mechanics a little bit better.  It is tough to convey to an audience how to play the game.  We didn’t have a whole lot of information to explain it all and it was a pretty confusing system.

I also think that we could have talked about our characters more.  I think we barely touched on their back story and why they all have their certain motives.  It is hard to explain a story that was created by me.

I think the hardest thing to explain is mechanics, because without actually playing the game it is hard to picture what we are talking about.   We could have incorporated visuals, but even if we did it would be hard to see how the mechanics work.

super hero

Superheroes 8B

I liked Harrison’s character Taffy Man and his ability to contort. It really reminded me of Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four.  In his animation, he used a lot of movements. One of these movements is weight, used when the hammer crushes the evil people with guns.The movement in Harrison’s project is really good.  It makes it feel like the hammer is super heavy and really hurts when it crushes their heads. The movement is a lot smoother than that of the Notorious BLOB , who moves rather rapidly and in a jumping manner it seems.  There is a lot of overlapping movement in Harrison’s, as he throws the gun while the guy shoots.  There is a lot of contrast and affinity between the two characters, including color.  BLOB seems to be white, while Taffy man is blue.  Shape is a big contrast between the two, as BLOB is small and round, while Taffy man is tall and skinny, and can change shape to help him in his surroundings.  This fits their looks, as evil is usually round, like the penguin played by Danny Devito in the Batman movie.

For the next villain/hero combo I picked Zack Eisenfeld’s.  Zack Eisenfeld’s evil villain uses color to express how evil it is.  The red head really shows that the character is evil and that the saturation of the red really catches the eye.  The red also catches the eye because it is so bright compared to the white and black background.  The triangle shaped head also reveals the evil side of him, as most normal people do not have a huge triangle for a head.  The whole animation was in red, black, and fire colors, so it really gives the sense of evil.  There is a lot of tension when the triangle man pulls out a bazooka, and it is released when it explodes. Unfortunately, Zack’s hero video was not working at the time I viewed it, so I could not compare the two.  If I could though, I am sure that there would be a lot of contrast in the color of the two, as good colors are usually blue or cooler colors than what is typically seen on a villain.

The next person who I looked at was Scott O’Lone’s character Dolphin man and his evil villain of the shark.  His character used color to show that it was good.  He used a lot of blue with high saturation. He also used a lot of brightness to show that it was good.  The hue was all around the blue area of the color wheel, and blue is typically seen as a heroic color, like on Superman.  The shark was a lot more of grey and darker colors without much saturation.  This darkness makes him seem evil.  I think the contrast of color tells you that the two are evil or good and will often battle each other.  There is little afinity between the two characters, other than that they are both sea based super people.

Jokes

Our two videos were based on the baked beans joke.  My video was a little more liberal with the story, while Nate’s was more true to the original joke.  Nate’s video used line when Harrison was looking at the engine of his broken down car.  The lines of the parking spot center on him and puts the eyes toward him when viewing the video.  The other thing that Nate’s movie did was use rhythm when he walks by the curtains in the diner.  It makes the shot feel smoother and gives the eyes a certain rhythym to look at.  My video used a lot less movement in it, as it was mostly about the emotions rather than the actions.  Nate’s had the character walking all over the place, adding to the idea that he was on his way home.  My video also had a lot of tight shots that really show off the emotion of the main character, portrayed by yours truly.  By showing the tight shot, you can see facial expressions and how said the character actually is, like when I am seen eating the beans underneath the staircase. You feel bad for the character, who has given into his horrible bean addiction.  Both videos used a lot of tension and release, in that they started off with eating of beans, and then tension came with the gaseous feeling or eating of the beans.  All was released at the end when the family was in the room while both people were farting continuously.  This added to the humor.  The movies use straight  text instead of subtext.  The joke is straight forward with no hidden meaning at all.  There is no other way it could have been to add subtext, or the joke would have made little to no sense.