2nd option of Blog 4

 I wasn't sure if the 1st blog was solid enough as a film example, consequently I made another in case.

      
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR0R9KfU4tY

              Mission Impossible 2 is the quintessential glamorized spy thriller, and the soundtrack certainly stimulates the action with adventurous sound. In this scene, Nyah had just injected herself with a virus called chimera to prevent it from getting into the bad guy’s hands. Agent Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) is shocked and upset that the woman he loves will die in 20 hours if they do not get the cure in time. A firefight erupts and Nyah insists Ethan should kill her. The non diegetic music in the background is soft but dramatic sound as Ethan decides on whether or not to follow her request. The Spanish acoustic guitar plays the music heard when Ethan first sees Nyah , which becomes her song throughout the movie. The exotic cords add a touch of sensuality and passion between the two characters. The music turns and roars as he throws a bomb against the wall away from them. He says that he refuses to kill her and will do everything he can to save her. We hear the dramatic music and gunshots only as Ethan runs heroically. and fires against the enemies. He runs out where the bomb had left an opening in the wall, and jumps out of the skyscraper. The music pauses as he is falling through the night, silence surrounds Ethan until we hear the parachute being opened.  Having it turn into a holy-like sound when he makes his escape from the dangerous chaos inside to the safety outside as he falls almost gracefully through the air, enhances the relief for the viewer that the protagonist got away.

Final Project

http://vimeo.com/114167260

Blog 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnZ2XdqGZWU
             
               Zoolander is a cheerful and humorously shallow take on the male modeling world. The film is a parody of the shallow male models of the world.  After Ben Stiller’s character model Derek Zoolander suffers an embarrassing loss to his model arch nemesis, Hansel, the night before, his three roommates and best friends (who are also male models) do what most good friends do and critique Derek’s enemy. Things are relatively calm in their apartment. The sound is focused on the discussion and some of the background noise of what they are doing while talking. One is doing sit ups, another is using a juicer, and the other is on his two cell phones. When all fails to cheer Derek up, the boys in unison joyously suggest they get orange mocha frappachinos. Derek perks up as the song “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham! starts playing. The cheesy song sets the mood of fun and happiness as the four friends are then shown driving along in their open Jeep on that sunny day. The edits are made to show the careless atmosphere. They are shown dancing and driving, dancing while filling up their car with gas, and breaking into a playful gasoline fight. It is hard to differentiate the music since they are dancing, but this music, I assume is non-diegetic. It is the sole source of sound, with their laughter secondary. They pull into a gas station and subsequently have a gasoline fight. The music tunes down while Derek walks towards a magazine cover he is on, seen in a trash near the road. The caption  visibly upsets him. He then looks up at his friends who are still laughing and spraying each other with gasoline, and can’t help but smile because he is around nice people who are all having a great time. It seems as though nothing can go wrong at that moment. The feel good music cuts as he watches Brint light a cigarette and screams to try to stop him. When the music stops, that was the turning point of the scene. The song had set the tone as a fun and playful time, so it is a surprise to the audience when his friends then are blown up.

Nam June Paik Retrospective

                                            Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot

Entering the second floor of the Asia Society Museum to view Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot was electrifying. The “father of video art” is an exciting, zany individual whose energy is reflected in his art. Paik’s imaginative visions for the future during the 1960s were extraordinarily similar to what is now reality. His idea of TV glasses then became what Google now calls Google Glass. Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway” was an Internet like social media for artists. In today’s world, that might be walk we would consider Facebook or Instagram. He valued the concept of bringing people closer together and using technology as a medium. It made me proud and excited NYC had an exhibit about someone whose ideas and art was way ahead of their time. Paik wanted to humanize robots and incorporate technology used in society.

On the 3^rd floor, “Good Morning, Mr. Orwell” was screened. It had a psychedelic and sci-fi twist to it. Orwell envisioned the TV as a tool of totalitarian control, whilst Paik demonstrated its usefulness in hosting conversations across thousands of miles, ultimately bringing people together and making the world smaller. It was a satellite instillation that used his “video synthesizer” for special effects. He wanted to use technology as a bridge between people, connecting them in ways beyond imagination.

        Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot is highly related to film 160. Paik is known as the “father of video art.” He experimented a lot with moving images and that unique creativity transformed itself into provocative art. Paik also used TVs, recording equipment and moving images in his artwork.

       The form and content had mixed media (cameras/statues/TVs/sketches/participation) to make displays about humanizing technology/robots with the use of breasts and genitalia, in addition to defecation as the robot was designed to poop beans. Making male and female “robots” using TVs, as well as the TV showing video segments that made the robots “come alive.” The three-camera participation included cameras, color filters, TV and projector. Playing around with the ideas of “live” and “recorded” broadcasting. Without the participant, there is no art, only equipment.

       To humanize technology, he tried to make it stimulating through nudity. K-456 is a robot with genitalia and breasts. The Reclining Buddha has a sculpture of the reclining Buddha laying parallel to a naked woman in the television. There was also the Woman playing cello with a TV bra. Paik explains, “By using TV as a bra . . . the most intimate belonging of a human being, we will demonstrate the human use of technology, and also stimulate viewers . . . to look for the new, imaginative and humanistic ways of using our technology.”

       It was an entertaining exhibit that truly glorifies the artist’s innovation and creativity, rightfully. The Asia Society museum celebrates Nam June Paik and his visionary art that opened the gate for so many others.