Reinventing Yourself

I recently read an article by Seth Godin titled Brainwashed. In this article, the author discusses several methods (seven, to be exact) or "reinventing yourself." I have chosen two of those methods that I feel are the most relevant to my work on this blog.

Acknowledge the Lizard

Godin says that we, like a lizard, have a tendency to concern ourselves with self-image and what others would think. He says, however, that it is this instinct that stops our creativity and that, in order to produce great work, we must first acknowledge and work around this lizard-like instinct. I believe that this blog is my "input" source for saying what I truly feel, without restrain. This blog allows me to display my creative work, comment on it, and gain insight from my peers. This blog allows me to break away from that lizard-brain thinking and lets me be myself.

Fail

Godin also says that an important part of breaking away from this "lizard brain" is the ability to fail. We need to be willing and unafraid of failing a few times before we get it right. If we are afraid to fail, however, our lizard brain will take over and we will become trapped in a limited mindset. As this blog is my input source for creativity, it is also my opportunity to fail. It gives me the ability to post my work and, if it is bad, have it shot down. However, doing so would give me the opportunity to go back and adjust my work to make it better and would improve my skills as a result. Therefore, this blog is an experiment and a learning tool for me.

Wait Until Tomorrow

 When considering a good song that has been covered well, one song comes to mind. That song is Wait Until Tomorrow by Jimi Hendrix, which has been covered by John Mayer. Though it is the same song, each version bears its own unique qualities and offers a different musical perspective.

The lyrics of the song tell the story of a couple who is in love and plans to run away together. However, when the boy comes to meet the girl, the girl changes her mind, saying “I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow.” This angers the boy, causing him to question the girl's reasoning, saying that he is “hearing strange words stutter from the mixed up mind” of her and that she's “so unsure of [herself] leaning from [her] unsure window pane” In the end, however, the girl's dad shoots the boy, turning the story to the tragic side and ending the young love prematurely.

I feel that not only is this song quite catchy, but it's lyrics are meaningful as well. It tells a classic love story of a couple of young lovers who want to spend the rest of their lives together and are willing, seemingly at first, do anything to do so. However, the girl cannot seem to make her mind up and is not sure that she wants to enter a commitment at the present time. In the end, however, her indecisiveness brings about the death of the one that she may have loved. From this, we can learn several things. First, although it is always good to fall in love, we must be careful and make sure that we really are in love before we commit to anything more permanent such as marriage. Second, you cannot be wishy-washy when it comes to love. You are either in love or you are not, and the sooner you figure out which it is, the better. Similarly, the longer you wait, the more chance there is that you will miss out on love, and it could have turned out to be the one true love you have been looking for.

Although both versions of this classic song are good, they are each unique in their use of speed and intensity. Jimi Hendrix's version is much slower and has much less intensity than John Mayer's version. Hendrix uses the steady beat of the bass guitar to set the pace for the song. This gives the listener more of the feeling of someone telling a story from their life experience, while at the same time acknowledging the tragic element in the song. John Mayer's version, on the other had, has a much faster tempo and uses intense lead guitar solos and backing to present the listener with a different image. This version suggests that the events described in the lyrics are simply chaotic and hints that the perhaps narrator is shocked at what has happened. This version indicates that the couple's love went from calm and happy to confused and then tragic in one night and that it happened so fast that it was hard to believe.

I think that both versions of this song are worth listening to, but I favor John Mayer's version. Though Jimi Hendrix was the original artist, his version is not as interesting as Mayer's. His version gives me a psychedelic feeling and has that rather weird dreamy aspect to it. Each time I listen to it, I can't help but wonder if Jimi Hendrix was on something (more than usual) when he recorded his version. John Mayer's version, however, has a much more upbeat feel to it and simply makes me want to dance (or just play the guitar, depending on what kind of day it is). John Mayer's version stands out as being more rememberable.

Music Assignment

Below is my song titled "Funktastarific", made from GarageBand loops.

Soundscape for "Shock"

In addition to posting my own soundscape, I have critiqued several of my friends' soundscapes as well. These soundscapes can be found by using the following links:

Ian Bullington's "Affection" Soundscape:
http://blogofthebullington.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape.html

Gabe Marchetti's "Anxiety" Soundscape:
http://mdia203marchetti.blogspot.com/2011/04/soundscape.html#comment-form

and
Joey Buccini's "Jealousy" Soundscape:
http://mdia203joeybuccini.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-playlist4.html

Finding Your Howl

Jonathan Flaum's article titled “Find Your Howl” tells two stories. One of these stories is about a wolf who has been in captivity for so long that he has forgotten how to howl. So, he sets out on a journey to find it. In the end, he ends up howling without even thinking about it and finds his pack that he belongs with.

This story is about finding who you are. However, it indicates that to do so, you must pay a price. We must spend time on our own and go through an eye-opening experience. We must experience something that will allow us to find our one true voice, to find where we belong. This story is symbolic of the fact that to find joy and happiness, we must first experience suffering. This reminds me of a quote I once heard:

Creating Innovative Ideas

Mitch Ditkoff's “14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas” is a very useful tool for someone working with the creative process. In this article, Ditkoff describes 14 different ways in which the reader can come up with good, innovative ideas to start a project with. He notes that these ideas must address a need and should create enough hype to “rally sustained support”. He then describes his 14 points.

Though I won't describe all of Ditkoff's methods, since you can read the article for yourself by clicking on the link above, there were three that stood out as being particularly interesting to me.

Immerse

Ditkoff says that one of the most effective ways to create a breakthrough idea is to immerse yourself in something that interests you. He says that by giving yourself time to “unplug” from the rest of the world, you can increase the likeliness that you will think of a great idea. I completely agree with this. I often find that when you disconnect yourself from distractions such as television and the internet, you give yourself time to concentrate on the things that actually interest you. As a result, you end up with a large number of ideas that you would not have had if you had not have given yourself the opportunity to truly ponder the subjects that enter your mind. I have also found that it is very useful to continue to immerse yourself in creativity and thought throughout the day. This does not mean that you have to ignore others or allow yourself to become distracted at inappropriate times, but simply that you should be open to new ideas as you complete your daily routine. Recently, I decided to try an experiment: I would carry a pad of paper with me and write down any interesting concepts that could be the premise for a movie that I thought of throughout the course of one day. By the end of the day, I had filled at least an entire page with ideas. I now carry a piece of paper with me all the time.

Fantasize

As Ditkoff says, fantasizing can be a great outlet for creativity. However, it often has negative connotations and is commonly associated with childish or perverted thoughts. Though fantasizing is generally discouraged, it is an important factor in coming up with new, innovative ideas. I agree with this as well. However, I think that calling it would be more effective to call it dreaming. Whether we remember it or not, we each go on an obscure adventure each time we sleep, when we dream. Though we cannot control these dreams, we can allow our minds to wander during our free time, which can be a very useful way to become more inventive. I think that if we set apart some time to simply “daydream” each day, we would come up with many interesting new ideas. We could then write these ideas down and expand upon them until we have a completely developed breakthrough concept.

Take A Break

In contrast to the idea of immersing yourself in a subject, taking a break can also be a very useful tool. Ditkoff explains that it is very important to step away from what you are doing when you find yourself stuck. I completely agree with this idea as well. I have always found that if I can't figure something out or am unsure of what to do next, it is best to just walk away from it for a while and do something else. This gives me the opportunity to concentrate on another subject and then come back to the original work with a fresh start. I think that taking a break allows you to get your thoughts together and see the answer to problems that you couldn't see before. If we overwhelm ourselves and rush our work, such actions will be reflected and the quality of our work will then decrease. When we encounter a problem, we enter a cycle in which our actions will only make us more and more frustrated. The only way to break this cycle is to take a break.

After reading this article, I decided to try one of these methods for myself. I decided to try the suggestions for “Make New Connections”, which ask the reader to make three lists of words – nouns, verbs, and adjectives – and then make interesting connections between them. To make this even more interesting, I decided to use an online random word generator to be more original in my word choice. I came up with the following words:

Nouns

Rain, beast, click, cocoa, color, digger, jelly, lightning, manager, radar.

Verbs

Carry, fuss, shine, flip, diffuse, receive, choose, skip, fly, refuse.

Adjectives

Witty, cardboard, misleading, slow, bare, national, unpleasant, autumn, binary, inexperienced.

Some connections that I made:

• An autumn rain machine: a device that recreates that cool autumn mist that blows through the trees in late September.

• A cardboard carrier: something that could be used to carry cardboard boxes in a compact and orderly fashion. It could also be used to store cardboard recycling.

• A fussy, unpleasant beast: a creature that lives in a cave because he complains about everything and others don't want to be around them. Could also be used to describe a person's boss at work.

• A radar receiver: something that detects radar signals and can pinpoint exactly where they are coming from.

• Color chooser: saves women a load of time in the morning.

• Rain and lightning skipper: allows you to skip through a storm and get to nice, sunny weather.

• Misleading manager: a person who is hired by an advertising agency to subtly mislead the customers.

• A jelly diffuser: instantly spreads jelly over food. Useful for toast, bagels or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

• Flying digger: a device, similar to a giant rake, that can be attached to a plane or helicopter and dragged across a field to quickly plow it.

• Binary clicker (a.k.a. key locator): a small device that is comprised of two parts: sender and receiver. The sender – about the size of a quarter – is attached to the keyring of a person's car keys, and sends out a signal. The receiver is a band worn around the wrist of the owner, which receives the sender's signals. When a driver misplaces their keys, they simply press a button on the receiver, which then emits two clicks. The first click indicates the direction of the keys and only beeps when the driver is facing that direction. The second click indicates the driver's distance from the keys, and increases in speed as the driver approaches the sender.

The Inspiration Behind My Work

As far as creativity is concerned, there are many elements of a movie or tv show that inspire me. So many that I would probably be here for days if I were to attempt to describe them all. However, I find it quite interesting when a movie or show makes reference to other shows or makes you think about what is said or happening. I like it when there is so much in a video that you have to pause it here and there to think about it or re-watch it several times just to get the full picture. In short, I am generally fascinated by creative works that make you think “that was clever.”

As a result of this, I am drawn to the people who create these types of movies and shows, and hope to someday follow in their footsteps. I feel, however, that it is important to understand who these people are and what about them captures my imagination and inspires the work that I create. So, I have created a list of three of these influential people.

Seth MacFarlane

In today's day and age, it is very difficult to create a successful television show. Audiences are very critical and have specific tastes that they expect to be satisfied. However, one person seems to have defied this notion: Seth MacFarlane.

Since 2005, Seth MacFarlane has been producing two hit television series: Family Guy (1999) and American Dad (2005). However, Seth MacFarlane doesn't simply produce these shows, but created, animates, writes, and voices a majority of the characters on them as well.

Though it is simple to see why I admire this man, the thing that really inspires me is the amount of thought that goes into each episode. Each episode is riddled with sub-text in the form of references to movies or current events, in addition to clever gags and dialogue. It is these elements that turn an ordinary television show plot into an intriguing adventure through pop culture that allows the viewer to laugh at life and even learn a few things here and there. Seth MacFarlane has taught me the importance of looking at ourselves and laughing every once in a while, and it is this that has influenced my work.

Leslie Nielsen

Although it is very unfortunate that this great man died this past fall, his work will continue to influence many - myself included - for years to come.

Originally a serious, dramatic actor, Nielsen rose to prominence in the early 1980's after starring in Airplane! From this point on, Leslie Nielsen would become a household name which was synonymous with the goofy, over-the-top, parody style of comedy.

There were many things to admire about Leslie Nielsen, such as his innate ability to say or do something completely wacky while maintaining a straight face and acting as though nothing were wrong. However, the thing that inspires me the most is his impact on modern comedy. Along with the writing/directing trio comprised of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, Leslie Nielsen helped to create a new form of comedy that would become known as deadpan or the “screwball” comedy. This sparked a sub-genre of its own and inspired a series of films and tv shows that would mimic the style of Leslie Nielsen. One particular example of this is the 1982 TV series Police Squad! (shown below). Like the rest of Nielsen's films, this parody of the classic crime/detective drama used the concept of contrast in a comical way. The characters in the show acted seriously in silly situations and seemed to be oblivious to what was happening around them. As a result, this added to the show's funny nature and created that deadpan style of comedy that Nielsen was known for.

Charlie Chaplin

Perhaps one of the greatest and best-known actors/directors in comedic history, Charlie Chaplin has influenced my work in several ways.

Charlie Chaplin made comedy what it is today. His visual comedy style is reflected in many comedians and actors today, including that of Leslie Nielsen. He often portrayed characters who were out-of-place misfits whose mistakes provided entertainment for the viewer. However, the greatest thing that I have learned from Charlie Chaplin is that you do not need to talk to be funny. Since the majority of his films were made during the silent film era, Chaplin used slapstick and the concept of tension and release to make the audience laugh. As demonstrated in the clip below, Chaplin would often put his characters into tense situations (such as being near a grenade that is about to detonate) and exaggerate his actions. He would drag a routine on for an extended period of time, making the audience feel rather uncomfortable, and then “release” the tension by having the character get out of trouble at the last second. This method proved to be extremely effective and drew large audiences to see his films.

MDIA 203 8-10am

I chose the 8-10 section because I work on AVW Productions' Fridays Live (a student-run tv show) at 2pm on fridays, so I wanted to leave room for that. Although I am not one to wake up early, I thought that this would be the only option that would allow me to do both the class and the show. However, I think that as long as I can wake myself up each Friday morning, this will be a good class, and I look forward to attending it throughout the quarter.