Unified Composition
I’ve been struggling for the past couple of days to make my project available via the internet, but I think I’ve finally done it.
I kind of changed my mind at the last minute and decided to make a flash game rather than a video for my project, just because I’ve done a lot of videos and I wanted to try something new like Mr. Loan suggested. It took me a couple of days to figure out how to use the program I downloaded (Game Maker 8.0), but I finally sort of figured it out. I also think the idea of a game fits well with my keyword…but we’ll see what you guys think. Unfortunately, you need to download it in order to play it but I promise there are no viruses attatched and it shouldn’t take too long. Here’s the link:
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/120745-unified-composition-game
Use the arrow keys to move. The point is to touch the video tapes, which will then display a URL for a YouTube video that you should watch. Pull up a new tab to do so.
Composition Library Work
I wanted a way to record my library work today in a way that I could display exactly what I was doing…tumblr is perfect for that, I think…
Anyway, here we go…if anyone who reads this doesn’t, for whatever reason, want to know what the keyword I’m focusing on is, then turn around right now because it’s about to become very clear…in fact, I’m going to flat out say it…entertainment. The reason I chose this word is because it’s a topic I have strong feelings about…I’m hoping to one day be an actor or director or producer or writer…so basically, entertainment is kind of my life.
I’m going to make a video, because a) I know how to make videos and use editing software and stuff of the like and b) because I do sort of have an idea of where to go with it…and it involves commercials. Lots and lots of commercials. In fact, you might go so far as to say it involves a sh*tload of commercials. I’m going to be recording probably a few hours of just straight commercials off my TV to use in the video.
Herein lies my first problem…I’m a tad bit vague on the point I want to make in using them. The idea to use commercials came to me when I was thinking about how one big form of entertainment (television and movies) is so fast and in-your-face all the time. I think I’m going to have the commercials flashing silently in the background while text is displayed over it…but what exactly do I want people to take away from that? What do I want the text to say?
I believe entertainment is a good thing, even if it is so quick and scientists say it melts your brain or whatever…I like to think I have a relatively good imagination. And I believe that came from watching so many movies and TV shows when I was a kid. So I have no problem with it whatsoever.
But that’s only one part of the definition of the word “entertainment” isn’t it? Entertainment isn’t just television and movies…it’s anything that can be enjoyed. I want to deal with this, as well…I want to talk about a family playing charades or a man performing on the street or anything, literally anything that holds people’s attention for a while and that they enjoy. The question is: how can I do that?
Great song. And the first section has quite a bit to do with materialism and how it affects people, particularly materialism focused on television, drugs, and religious symbols. Why do these things have so much weight in our society?
Materialism is not the focus of this commercial…but something is definitely very materialistic here. Let’s see if anyone can spot it…
Keywords 2/18/10
All right, so my word of the week is “materialism”.
As I didn’t end up with anyone’s CD last time, I had to randomly come up with four things: a movie, a piece of music, a newspaper article, and a Superbowl ad. I wound up (through a process of random selection involving what was on TV, what my iPod played first, etc.) with The Bourne Supremacy, Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day, an article titled “Left and right united in opposition to controvercial SCOTUS decision, and this year’s Focus on the Family superbowl ad.
Ooohboy…here we go…let us begin, first, with the definition of materialism: preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values. My personal definition would be obsession over “things”…so it’s basically the same as the dictionary definition.
I’ve been trying desperately to come up with an idea as to how in the hell any movie in the Bourne series relates to materialism, and my conclusion is that they do not…except for in this way: while Bourne is not obsessing over a “thing” exactly, he is obsessing over regaining his memories and finding out what exactly his past was like. That sort of connects…but not really. It’s a different sort of obsession. I would see materialism as people buying lots of shit…not trying to get their life back. So, in a sense, The Bourne Supremacy does not relate to materialism at all. It’s too bad I didn’t end up with Confessions of a Shopoholic or something like that…
This next one I’m much more excited about. I love Green Day and Jesus of Suburbia actually does have a little bit to say about materialism. I’ll post a link to it above…be warned, as it is quite long…anyway, here are some key lyrics:
On a steady diet of/Soda pop and ritalin
Get my television fix/sitting on my crucifix/my living room/or my private womb
To fall in love and fall in debt/to alcohol and cigarettes/and mary jane/to keep me insane/doing someone else’s cocaine
These lyrics to me present a slightly different view of materialism than “binge buying” I think is the term…they talk about “falling in love” with alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and cocaine…all “things”. They paint a very negative view of materialism…in fact, let’s look at the CD American Idiot as a whole to get a better idea of how they do. I happen to be familiar with the story the songs tell, a boy calling himself “the Jesus of suburbia” gets fed up with his mundane life and heads to a city. There, he falls in with a drug-dealer named “St. Jimmy” and falls in love with a girl named “Whatsername”. Ultimately, it is revealed that St. Jimmy is actually him…he adopted a new personality to better fit in. His girlfriend leaves him, and, realizing his rebellion is pointless, he returns home. A recurring theme throughout the album is the idea of J.O.S. hating “American Idiots”, or, as the titular song says:
Don’t wanna be an American Idiot/don’t want a nation that doesn’t know media/hey can you hear the sound of hysteria/the subliminal mind-fuck America
Television. Media. Those are the material things Green Day is attacking in their songs. The idea is that people place so much worth into television that they begin to worship it like a god, believing everything it says and doing what it tells them to do. That sounds like materialism to me.
Anyway, moving on…the article. Unfortunately, once again, it looks as though I’ve stumbled upon a piece that has little to do with materialism…the SCOTUS decision was a supreme court ruling that was set to allow corporations, labor unions, and other organizations to spend money from their general funds to influence campaigns. Basically, everyone hates it now. Democrats and Republicans. Here’s one way it could relate…what’s one of the biggest ways to influence campaigns? Advertising. Commercials. Billboards. Bumper stickers. Those are all “things”…and people like them. Because of this, it could be argued that SCOTUS supporters are materialistic because they would place so much emphasis on advertising through material things. Does that make sense? I hope so.
Anyway, last but not least, we have the Focus on the Family Superbowl ad. I’ll post it above…The commercial looks as though it has nothing to do with materialism, but there is one huge thing it features that is materialistic. Can anyone guess? Gee, I wonder what it is…the photo? Naw…
People place a lotta lotta lotta emotional weight into photos. I knew a family who just recently had to evacuate their house due to fire and were faced with the prospect of gathering their most treasured belongings…all they wound up taking were photos and photo albums. Why is that? It’s because photos are the most nostalgic things in the world…second only to maybe home videos. They’re memories on a piece of paper…people forget, but photos don’t let them. Because of this, they become some of the most materialistic things.
Anyway, there you have it. I leave you with the two YouTube videos to ponder…
Keyword 2/4/10
The keyword I have chosen for this week is career. And what is a career exactly? Here’s the dictionary definition:
an occupation or profession, esp. one requiring special training, followed as one’s lifework: He sought a career as a lawyer.
…and that’s pretty straightforward. What images come to mind when the word career is brought up? Briefcases. Three-piece suits. Ties. Basically this:
When the word career is brought up, I see my dad. He dressed like the faceless men’s room-figures above and was at work from early in the morning until late at night. That was what I always thought was a career. A place where you sit in a cubicle, write things on pieces of paper, and a fat, mustachioed man is your boss and he yells at you a lot for things you didn’t do.
But let’s look at a broader form of the word. I no longer see cubicles when someone mentions a career. I see success…or failure, which are the two ideas I have decided to juxtapose.
Let us first take success (within the idea of careers, of course). Forget how the dictionary defines it. How do people define it? The most obvious answer to that question is money. Money, money, money, money. If you are successful, you have lots of money…and you’re happy. And that’s the second answer. Happiness. If you are successful, you are happy. You’re doing what you love, in a place you love, with the person you love. Is that happiness? Yeah, I think so.
And then there is failure when it comes to a career. And it’s exactly the opposite. You aren’t doing what you love, or you aren’t in a place you love, or you aren’t with the person you love, or some combination of the three. Or it could be even more extreme. You don’t love any job, place, or person at all. That’s failure in my eyes.
Anyway, I’m getting off track. Career is such a dignified word, isn’t it? If you say you have a career, people say, “Ah, yes, and at what corporation are you employed, sir? Are you a figure of authority there? How far up the corporate ladder do you sit, sir?” That is because, in my opinion, the value of the simple word “job” has gone down. Sure, if you’re a teenager, a “job” is something great, but if you’re thiry, a “job” sounds like something a teenager should have. People wanted a new word…one that implies lots of training and hard life’s work, and thus, “career” was adopted. Take a look at the original, archaic definition of the word career:
Archaic. a charge at full speed.
Honestly, I was hoping I’d have something smart to say here, but I just have no idea why that word became the word that it is today, which is an indicator to me that it is time to wrap things up. I leave you with two youtube videos to juxtapose…
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