Well the night has finally arrived for the Total Lunar Eclipse, an event that only comes around every 18-33 years, and it was surprisingly fun. All around the world people of all ages, religions, and ways of life come together in the most peaceful spectator sport, watching the world around us and realizing just how amazing it all is. Even if your opinion of how or when the world was made, everyone agrees that it is still amazing. What's important on this occasion isn't necessarily the science of how it happens, but what it represents.
An event so seemingly insignificant to some, may be a magical night for others. About two hours before the eclipse was supposed to be happen, I was laughing with my girlfriend about how silly and lame it was. "It's for old people, and for little kids. I'm going to go out there and get bored. Then go inside and finish he second blog that I was slacking on. Despite my pessimism at around 8:24 my girlfriends mom called down said that there was a shadow forming across the moon, we jumped up and ran outside. Except, it was just a boring white moon with a small shadow, the wait began.
For the past couple of weeks the media has been gabbing about how the moon will be blood red, this created the best part of the night. While we were staring up at the night sky, a shadow was creeping along the left side of the moon, growing ever larger. Then my special gal stated that she saw a tint of red coming from the farthest part of the shadow, neither her parents or myself could see anything but black and white. A slight bit of frustration began to grow inside me. Especially because I could have sworn that I saw some blue on the far right side of the moon. But with my girl's mom constantly exclaiming how the news anchormen and women were full of crap. But, then her dad and myself saw the red, oh it was a joyous time. Except the mom was still really cranky which led to a thirty minute period of some poking fun at her, that was a funny time.
For myself and those around me during the time of the eclipse this was a bonding experience that helped us understand each other. It highlighted our personal personality quirks to a tee. The father spent time fiddling around with a camera, despite all us knowing that the camera wouldn't be able to take quality pictures, but that's why we all love him. For the things he truly puts his mind to can't be silly or pointless because they matter to him which makes them matter to us. The mom was being stubborn and picky about the color of the moon. This is really funny because her personality is quite similar to my own. My girlfriend cuddled up next to me, and I was right by her as well. This seemingly forget night became something more when shared with people whom you care for.
Goodnight all, hope your eclipse was as wonderful as mine.
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Sunday, September 27, 2015
The Evolution of Special Effects
Writing a story full of adventure and emotion has been around for centuries, but the introduction of special effects is rather new. Sure Shakespeare had his cannon in the Globe theater, and the use of cloth for water in Asian productions. However such additions were not highly valued, so little effort was put into the production of such objects because it was the story that was important. They were never meant to be in limelight for all to admire, just spice up the show a little. With the invention of the high functioning motion picture camera, along with knowledge of controlled pyrotechnics, lighting effects, and computers anything is possible.
In the early days, camera effects were rather simple, but very inventive. It may seem silly and outright lazy to an audience toady, but in the 1930s and 1940s the usage of rear projection to simulate background footage through a car or train window was a huge leap forwards. Although the major drawback of this effect is the obvious difference in resolution between the inside of the vehicle and the supposed background.
By the time of the 1970s special effects began to take off in both their frequency of usage and the desire to improve them. Now when special effects are brought up many minds jump to Star Wars. The effective use of miniatures, and very early computer generated images (CGI)
wowed audiences around the globe in 1977. The famous lightsaber made kids feel like knights of the future. Which is what drove the sales of millions of lightsabers. The "vast" space battles made viewers believe that those were real life spaceships, which shoot lasers that result in spectacular explosions. In reality this was done with optical allusions by way of the use of miniatures and primitive computers. In the Empire strikes back, a crude animation of the behemoth AT-AT made me appreciate how hard it was to do any type of scene back then.
More on this later gang
329 words
In the early days, camera effects were rather simple, but very inventive. It may seem silly and outright lazy to an audience toady, but in the 1930s and 1940s the usage of rear projection to simulate background footage through a car or train window was a huge leap forwards. Although the major drawback of this effect is the obvious difference in resolution between the inside of the vehicle and the supposed background.
By the time of the 1970s special effects began to take off in both their frequency of usage and the desire to improve them. Now when special effects are brought up many minds jump to Star Wars. The effective use of miniatures, and very early computer generated images (CGI)
wowed audiences around the globe in 1977. The famous lightsaber made kids feel like knights of the future. Which is what drove the sales of millions of lightsabers. The "vast" space battles made viewers believe that those were real life spaceships, which shoot lasers that result in spectacular explosions. In reality this was done with optical allusions by way of the use of miniatures and primitive computers. In the Empire strikes back, a crude animation of the behemoth AT-AT made me appreciate how hard it was to do any type of scene back then.
More on this later gang
329 words
The De-sensitization of Modern Media Consumers- The Sexual Revolution in Media
In the modern world of Mass Media an apparent problem with it is one of the biggest parts of the media, smut, violence, and drugs, plus the people who are offended by such things. Every other day it seems that there is some new "scandal" brewing in the most important place in the world, Hollywood (or maybe that was just heavy sarcasm, I'm thinking it was). Whether it being the new divorce that anyone with a life doesn't care about, or Miley Cyrus has again made her father regret the day that he spawned the attention sucker who enjoys shaking whatever that is that god gave her, and can kind of sing? Any who, the most prevalent critics of modern culture are, the previous generation. Our generation is full of sex, drugs, and violence, we will never amount to anything according to them, no one was like this back in their day, etc. In reality, what is so heinous in our time was just building on what their generation put forth. Then back in their day their parents criticized them, it's just how we humans are. But, I'll be darned if I let the generation of pot smoking hippies act all high and mighty.
In the modern era of anytime period entertain is always trying to "push the boundaries" of what is acceptable, and ends up making more things commonplace. Such as when there was once an outcry over Captain Kirk getting frisky with Lt. Uhura. But now the majority of people wouldn't even have a thought that anything was wrong, unless of course you enjoy the teachings of the pillow case brigade (Klu Klux Klan). Another example of this would be the handling of sexual scenes during the past nine decades. Gone are the days of the shared lit cigarette as the camera pans out, or fades to black.
Over time, sex and even nudity have become more prevalent in cinema, television, and the everyday lives of celebrities. The start of this evolution in the way sexuality is seen in the public eye began with the sexual revolution of the 1970s. Where women took to the streets saying that they could do what they wanted with their bodies and no one else had any say in the matter, which is completely right. This became reinforced by the historical Roe v Wade case which allowed women to have legal abortions. Because of that historic legislature, along with the introduction of birth control, sexual promiscuity exploded among the youth and hippies of that era. That attitude towards free love is shown heavily in television where there is always a character or two that seem to be in a different bed every night, or where cheating isn't seen as so shocking anymore. Also what is able to be "seen" has changed as well.
Few people are aware that in the first two decades of the nineteenth-century films were largely unregulated which lead to the production of pornography being made as if it were an ordinary movie, in order to put an end to that practice very strict censorship rules were put in place. That is why the pan out, woman in bed with a lit cigarette, and other similar tactics to imply a sexual encounter was commonplace. The rules even went so far as to say that to members of the opposite sex, even when married couldn't be shown, such as in the Brady Brunch.
I'm aware that this barely scratches the surface of this subject, which is why I'll revisit this topic later. Later gang.
Week Two, Blog 1: 593 words
In the modern era of anytime period entertain is always trying to "push the boundaries" of what is acceptable, and ends up making more things commonplace. Such as when there was once an outcry over Captain Kirk getting frisky with Lt. Uhura. But now the majority of people wouldn't even have a thought that anything was wrong, unless of course you enjoy the teachings of the pillow case brigade (Klu Klux Klan). Another example of this would be the handling of sexual scenes during the past nine decades. Gone are the days of the shared lit cigarette as the camera pans out, or fades to black.
Over time, sex and even nudity have become more prevalent in cinema, television, and the everyday lives of celebrities. The start of this evolution in the way sexuality is seen in the public eye began with the sexual revolution of the 1970s. Where women took to the streets saying that they could do what they wanted with their bodies and no one else had any say in the matter, which is completely right. This became reinforced by the historical Roe v Wade case which allowed women to have legal abortions. Because of that historic legislature, along with the introduction of birth control, sexual promiscuity exploded among the youth and hippies of that era. That attitude towards free love is shown heavily in television where there is always a character or two that seem to be in a different bed every night, or where cheating isn't seen as so shocking anymore. Also what is able to be "seen" has changed as well.
Few people are aware that in the first two decades of the nineteenth-century films were largely unregulated which lead to the production of pornography being made as if it were an ordinary movie, in order to put an end to that practice very strict censorship rules were put in place. That is why the pan out, woman in bed with a lit cigarette, and other similar tactics to imply a sexual encounter was commonplace. The rules even went so far as to say that to members of the opposite sex, even when married couldn't be shown, such as in the Brady Brunch.
I'm aware that this barely scratches the surface of this subject, which is why I'll revisit this topic later. Later gang.
Week Two, Blog 1: 593 words
Sunday, September 20, 2015
SuperHero Movie Fad
Superhero movies have
been dominating the box office for the past decade, what is the cause of this
new niche? Well it’s pretty simple, comic books were huge in the past few
decades. So how to get that crowd to spend more money? Simple, allow them to
live out their fantasies as a child through a motion picture! However, it’s not
that easy, those boys and girls are very finicky. Gone are the days of the
whacky Batman and Robin show, and thank god for the departure of movies quality
similar to the first three superman movies. In this modern era where bigger really
is better, big budgets and big box office returns are needed.
Super hero movies have been casting big stars to bring in
more of a crowd using their fan base. X-men has capitalized on this strategy
with actors and actresses (respectively) such as Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart,
Halle Berry, Ian McKellan, Jennifer Lawrence, James Marsden, the arbitrary but
appreciated cameo of Stan “the man” lee, and many more. This helps to avoid
corny acting in a role that is hard to make serious when your apparel looks like
a rainbow threw up on your wet suit.
Scripts seem easy to write for this genre since the story
is already written, but that isn’t the case. Sure the story has already been
written for many of the characters, however the problem is comic books can’t
easily transfer into movies. As the movie Watchmen
knows, trying to copy the graphic novel only turns out so well. So a little
bit of improvisation, and new material is needed, which is a bit of a gamble at
times. This has been shown beautifully by the new Fantastic Four movie. The key to a superhero movie is violence,
action, and suspense. A movie is not a book. Long dialogues aren’t feasible
because the subject of people in tights who can fly isn’t necessarily a great
base for a moving dialogue. Which is why Batman is a successful franchise in
this decade. He flies around, using cool gadgets and doesn’t talk all too much.
With a catch phrase “I’m Batman”, you know the movie won’t be similar to the
excessive and honestly boring dialogue in Avengers Age of Ultron.
Well I’ve got to go gang,
more on this subject next week!
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Fifa: "For Ourselves. For the Money"
FIFA,
an organization which is in charge of advancing the sport of soccer, also
enjoys its fair share of corruption. To get a better understanding of FIFA and its
dirty dealings, then imagine FIFA as a fake dating profile. “Hello my name is
FIFA, I’m in charge of one of the most watched events in t.v. history, the
World Cup. Every four years I choose a new country to host the World Cup. Now
how do I choose you may ask? Well I enjoy long walks on the beach with my Bluetooth
on figuring out which country will give me the most money as a bribe. I know I know
I’m a little naughty. But what would I do without some small contributions, after
all FIFA is a non-profit organization (which is why I don’t pay taxes in the
host countries). Since the money we earn is supposed to be put back into the
sport in the form of equipment, fields, and other supplies. Again, I kind of
have sticky fingers and somehow that money turns into a new car, whoops! But
don’t tell this anyone, I may go to jail, or not because I have Justice Systems
on the payroll ha-ha.”
As
you can see FIFA is a stinker, but in all seriousness it is a very destructive
corporation to poorer nations. They require a nation to build several massively
expensive and unsustainable fields/stadiums that cost quite a bit. And such
fields barely get any use for the amount of resources put into them. In South
Africa two of the six fields are able to be maintained and the other four may
be closed down. South Africa is already a poor country, and those six stadiums
cost $1.3 billion to construct, and maintaining them costs millions more every
year. In Qatar twelve stadiums are planned to be built. Using workers from
foreign countries as slaves to build those stadiums, already twelve-hundred
workers have died and FIFA has said done nothing to stop it.
For more help and understanding:The Olympic Games: Then and Now
The Olympics, an event
now famous for extravagance, feats of athletic prowess, and glory for one's
nation, has not always been so. 2,800 years in the past the Olympics differed
immensely in the political, economic, and social aspects of the games.
The
start of the games is partly due to the formation of city states. Because these
city states were often locked in combat with each other, times of peace were
rare. Therefore during the games no fighting shall occur so that Greek citizens
may attend the games without fearing death or injury at the hands of rival
cities. This rule was broken by Sparta, the warmongering city state who led
siege to a fort during the games. Which led to Sparta being banned from the
games. A modern comparison to this would be the first and second world wars. Where
the central and axis powers were not invited to join the summer games.
The
Olympics have come a long way from its start in 776 B.C. ancient Greece, to being
hosted in modern day cities and has changed with the times. Where ordinary
citizens, not professionals mind you, competed in various events for honor and
glory. Originally hosted at mount Olympus, a site once used to worship the god
Zeus. The famous lighting of the torch to symbolize the start of the game has
changed immensely since its conception. In the early years a sacrifice of a
hundred oxen were burned in order to keep flies away from the meat offerings.
While now the lighting of the torch is to show a cooperation of nations. It is
first lit in Greece, where the Olympics originated and several rituals are
performed. Then the torch is sent to the host nation where an athletic
celebrity from that country will carry it to its final destination, a giant pit
that will burn during the length of the games. The costs of modern day Olympic Games
continues to rise because of nations trying to outdo the previous games and
break new records. Bigger and bigger stadiums are being erected to show power
and wealth. The problem is that those facilities will more than likely to
become abandoned after the games because they have little to no use for
anything but the Olympic Games. However the money invested in the
infrastructure doesn’t return a profit, usually only half of the original
investment is earned during the games which makes hosting the game a case of
hot potato. Because previous hosts know the negative aspects all too well, is
why only two nations volunteered to hold the games in 2024.
The
Olympics now boasts over three hundred events, stemming from twenty-six to
twenty-eight sports (not including the winter games). In the first thirteen
years of the Olympics there was only one event, the 196m dash. Which was known as
the stadium race (because it was the length of the stadium). The next two
events were just modified versions of that. After the next few decades boxing,
wrestling, the pentathlon, a race while wearing armor, an 'all-power' race
(where one could with by any means necessary, even attacking), and the always
famous chariot race which was shown to the modern world via Ben Hur.
In
modern days the games last sixteen days. Two of the first days are ceremonies
where doves are released, the president gives a speech, and an athlete from
each country swears an oath to uphold the sanctity of the Games. Each event has
its own medal ceremony. So with three-hundred events, there will be
nine-hundred medals being received. These medals are the source of national
pride and rivalry. Nations with the most medals receive pride for home and
country, also bragging rights over rival nations who didn’t do as well.
For more details and help:
- 628 words
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