After looking into Angel de Quinta's Stage Door blog, I gained some new insights about broadway performances. One performance that stood out to me was "Fifty Percent." The song is about a woman who is having an affair with a married man, and so she is only able to have fifty percent of him. The song is an expression of the woman's emotions about her situation. I really liked Barbra Streisand's cover of the song. She has such a powerful voice and sings with not just her voice, but with her heart. Another broadway show that I liked from the blog was the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory clip. The whole set, costumes, props, singing, and dancing was great and truly shows the excitement and beauty of broadway performances. It shows how far the creation of musicals has evolved over time. Finally, my third favorite clip from the blog was Micheal Buble's cover of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." It’s just such a classic song by an amazing artist.
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Mise En Scene
A movie I believe will always have the best “mise en scene” is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That movie will forever be one of the greatest movies of all time when it comes to props, actors and everything in between, there was a chocolate river for crying out loud. Everything from candy forests, to old rickety houses and lavish houses, a girl turning into a blueberry, to beautiful candy shops and jaw dropping golden tickets... let us not forgets the Oompa Loompas, this movie clearly did everything right. In 1971, three million dollars was a lot of dough to be spending on the production of a movie, even for Paramount. People are wanting a real life Willy Wonka Factory but thanks to Advanced Tech Services, we now know that the total cost of starting the factory is at the very least a whopping $224.6m, that’s insane. Here’s a breakdown for you
Yearly energy costs: $2m... Chocolate river: $32.7m... Oompa Loompa salary: $73.4m... Oompa Loompa healthcare: $8.1m... Edible wallpaper: $2,652... Golden goose egg: $6,032... Flying glass elevator: $109m... for a Grand total of: $224.6m.
Robert Goodall on Opera
Howard Goodall’s documentary taught me a lot about how historically significant opera was. It was considered a way of life and originated in Italy. Goodall describes opera as a “fusing of music with universal stories and ideas,” which is a perfect way to describe it. It involves passionate singing without a microphone while also telling a meaningful story about society. Opera first came to be when there were two main groups of intellectuals that would get together to discuss the arts. One of the groups decided on creating the first ever opera show, Daphne. The show was a success and after this, all musical composers made their goal to create an opera performance. This is a very difficult task because it's hard for composers to transition between singing and speaking. Goodall mentions how most opera composers are much better at singing than speaking, and singing delivers the overall message of the show much more passionately.
Madame Butterfly animation
I found the Madame Butterfly animation to be very emotional and sad. It depicted a woman who had to give up her child and then fell into a deep depression. The animation shows the woman tearing off her face, clothing, and skin, until she breaks down to basically nothing. Then, she turns into a butterfly and is able to fly free. The animation was very different from the actual opera, but was still a moving piece of performance art. It was less dependent on the opera singing and actually depicted what was happening. It also did not include the woman’s marriage to her husband or her taking her own life. It included clay puppets and a setting in nature, but still conveyed its message clearly and with meaning. I liked the animation better than the actual opera because in the opera, I had trouble understanding what was happening because the singing was in a different language. The animation made me more emotional and I was able to interpret what was happening solely based on the visuals which was interesting.
Native American to Hagia Sophia
The Hagia Sophia is a major monument of Byzantine architecture. All the traditional churches of the Byzantine, Slavic, Orthodox worlds, built over the past 1400 years descend in some form or other from this original design and I think that’s very important to note. Some cool things I found that were created by the Hagia Sophia had to do with the architecture, wanting to be an interior designer I found that part super interesting. They created the Cross-in-Square and the Pendentive dome! The cross-in-square features a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross, topped by a dome which is still seen in modern day very, very often. A pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular done over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. I found these aspects of the Hagia Sophias inventions very interesting.
Why are some more creative then others?
In the article talking about a new study revealing why some people are more creative than others, I found it interesting reading on the “divergent thinking” study. I liked how they used specific examples from the study such as one person suggesting using the sock for warmth and another suggested to use it as a water filtration system. I do however feel that originality and creativity is in everyone no matter your psychological makeup. Creative people are often times solve problems in new and inventive ways, they see things and make you see things from a different perspective. Being creative means taking risks, delving deeper into your doubts and fears. Sometimes being creative means you’re your own worst critic, we all like to judge ourselves but creative people often take it to an extreme, especially when it comes to their projects and masterpieces.
Raul Cuero interview on creativity
I find Raul Cuero very interesting. One of Cuero's main points that he makes in the video is that in order to be creative, you must prove others wrong when they see your abilities as limited or have low expectations of you. He says that if you set out to prove them wrong, your creativity will spark. I agree with this point because in my own life I find that I am even more motivated to complete a task if someone else thinks that I'm not capable of it. Similarly, Cuero also says that he deals with the critics in his life by proving them wrong and working harder at what he does. He takes criticism very well and uses it to fuel his work and be more positive, which I find to be inspiring. Cuero also makes some comments about how the American education system is flawed. He says that people are not learning by doing as they should. While I find this to be mostly true, I think reading and listening are also important ways to learn. Everyone learns in different ways and reading, listening, and doing are all significant methods of channeling creativity.