4A. Brainwashed

Seth Godin’s manifesto,“Brainwashed” http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed explores the seven layers necessary to reinvent yourself after the brainwashing we have endured from years in the system.  Here I summarize two of the layers and how they connect to my own creative work and this blog.

1. Acknowledge the Lizard

We all have a lizard brain, it’s the part of our brain that worries and gets angry.  Being laughed at is its worst fear.  The fear leads to “the resistance,” or shutdown, the voice that keeps your head down and urges you to follow directions.  The resistance lives in fear and threatens to shut us down at the first sign of challenging social mores.  The resistance is easy to provoke, so we follow rules, and the resistance wins.  This resistance cripples artists and prevents their genius from transforming into art.  We need to recognize the lizard, and then ignore it.  We need to realize that we might get laughed at, but we need to push that aside and do our work, our art.

2. Learn

Learning is the key.  School used to exist to learn a trade, not anymore.  School does not end when you graduate, it is now, it is never ending.  It is the trials and errors, the experiences and the failures of shipping and learning.  Reinvention is a path, discard what you think you know and instead learn.

For me, the Blog we are creating this quarter is the definition of acknowledging the lizard and learning.  I’ve never blogged before, I’ve never made a soundscape before, I’ve never put my work and thoughts and ideas on the internet for others to critique, but I am learning or at least trying to learn.  I am experimenting with new mediums and techniques and trying to overcome “the resistance” and be comfortable putting my work out there, and even when I am not completely comfortable with it, doing it anyway.  I presented a song, my first time doing so, and I failed.  I was not happy with it, I was embarrassed to play it for others, for the fear they were judging me and my worth, based on my first try at something new.  I acknowledged the lizard, ignored it, made the art, and presented it, but then “the resistance” came back.  In a way doing the assignment was sort of contradictory, because the main reason I did was because a professor told me to and failure to do so would have resulted in social punishment, however I also did it to learn.  Learning is something I have always done and loved, and this blog is a perfect example.  At I was unsure of how to do most everything associated with the blog and assignments, but the more I learn about it and the more I do, the more I enjoy it and want to learn even more.  I think the various exercises make me a better artist, person, and student, because I am getting more comfortable with myself as an artist and a person sharing ideas, and as a student, not only doing assignments for the grade to but to learn and enjoy as well.

3B. Soundscape Audio Reflection

Beth's Soundscape

Beth Carter: Soundscape Project

Dan's Soundscape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCfl42iOlIk&feature=player_embedded

Alex's Soundscape

Alex Wiseman MDIA 203: Soundscape Presentation

My Critique
http://vocaroo.com/?media=vHlYWWifH7gie0WxB 

3A. Cover Song Exploration

MR. TAMBOURINE MAN

Bob Dylan
/play#Bob+Dylan:Mr.+Tambourine+Man:10283:s1201854.9561605.4657974.0.2.9%2Cstd_ea51e5813ea04ceaae7437c50eb6d15d 

The Byrds

Mr. Tambourine Man, released in 1965, was written by Bob Dylan and he was the first to perform it, however in the same year The Byrds covered the song.  There is both contrast and affinity between the two versions of the song.  Techniquely, the contrast comes mainly from The Byrds adding a 12 string guitar, changing the some of the lyrics, and shortening the length, but the contrast in the timbre or feel of the song comes from the emotion that Dylan creates by just opening his mouth, while The Byrds have a happier, lighter feel to their voices and sound.  Dylan also has more varied pitch range. The affinity between the songs is apparent in the melody and speed of the songs, as they both have the same melody to hum throughout. 

The lyrics of the original song are repeated in the in cover, but The Byrds also removed some of the verses.  Some of the lyrics missing in the cover:

Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

It is almost a shame that these beautiful words were removed, but no one can replicate the raw emotion Dylan creates when writes and sings.  Dylan has created beautiful text, but also a hidden subtext that brings light to the politics and social tension of the time, and we lose this in The Byrds version, but they were a pop group, not folk singers or activists.

The timbre is the biggest difference between the two songs, as they each create a completely different feel to the song.  Dylan’s version is much more tonal and simple, and has that hardy, emotional, feel of pushing for change.  The Byrds have created a version that is happier, lighter, and easier to obliviously sing along with.  The timbre of the cover is also more noisy and has more complexity with the increased number of voices and instruments.  The pitch also contrasts between the two versions, Dylan has a wide range of pitches, while The Byrds have a lower vocal pitch, but higher instrumental one.

The affinity comes in the melody and speed of the songs.  Both versions are almost identical in melody, as we hum the same line for both and the speed is contrast throughout both versions.

Although I really enjoy listening to both versions of the song, I like The Byrds version better, sorry Bob.  It is the version I grew up listening and it just has a happier, lighter feeling, it easier sing along and dance to, without feeling melancholy.

My Song

Soundscape

Emotion: Getting Yelled At

2. Audio Response to “Finding Your Howl”

“Finding Your Howl” Jonathan Flaum http://changethis.com/ 

http://vocaroo.com/?media=v8LZc23EROkzUpLZ6

"If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" - Cat Stevens

http://vocaroo.com/?media=v47vsBGzTnzF6xpMg 

1B. Ways to Get Ideas

In Mitch Ditkoff’s article, “14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas” http://changethis.com/, he looks at the creative process and suggests ways to enhance this process.  According to Ditkoff, people spark innovation.  In order to get new ideas, you need to realize where ideas come from in the first place and get out there and.  There are two schools of thought.  The first is that you can make up new and different ideas if you will yourself to do so.  The second, ideas are not created, but already exist and must become accessible to other human beings.  Ditkoff goes on the lay out a 14-point plan for generating ideas.  The plan includes; follow your fascination, immerse, tolerate ambiguity, make new connections, fantasize, define the right challenge, listen to your subconscious, take a break, notice and challenge existing patterns and trends, hang out with diverse groups of people, brainstorm, look for happy accidents, use creative thinking techniques, and suspend logic.

Three of the fourteen suggestions stood out and spoke to me, in both positive and negative ways. 

1. Immerse

Breakthrough ideas come at odd times, so we are not always ready to receive them according to Ditkoff.  In order to counteract this, we need to immerse ourselves, by becoming completely involved or absorbed in something.  

Of his fourteen suggestions, this is the only one I disagree with.  When I am working on an idea or stuck, the last thing I want to do is immerse myself in the problem and I find it is the least helpful.  I also do not think this is a very inventive or helpful idea, because most of us who are looking for breakthrough ideas are already immersed in our own thoughts and ideas.  I find immersion more helpful when trying to get something done or learn as much about a subject as I can, but as far as generating ideas, I think it is a waste of time and something that most of us have already tried and we are still stuck.  When you can think or your great idea, obsessing about it is not going to help, it jst make you more frustrated.

6. Define the Right Challenge

“It’s not that they can’t find the solution, they can’t find the problem!” – G.K. Chesterton

Ditkoff says that most people in their hurry to find a solution, forget to frame their challenge in a meaningful way.  Coming up with the right question is at least half of getting the right answer.  To generate a breakthrough idea, you need a question that “communicates the essence of what you’re trying to create.”

While reading the article, this is the one suggestion that really stood out to me above anything else.  I have a tendency to get stuck trying to solve problems without looking at the bigger picture or I end up overlooking the question I am trying to solve.  Be reframing a problem and looking at it from a different perspective, I think this tactic could be very useful in generating ideas, but sometimes coming up with a great question is just as difficult as coming up with a great answer. 

I have already started to implement this suggestion in my own creative life.  I am in the process of writing a short script and I have been so stuck in my own head and having trouble getting ideas on paper, I decided to frame my problem by asking myself, “What am I trying to create?”  The answer was quite simple, I want to create something with meaning, a story that will make people think.

10. Hang Out with Diverse Groups of People

Ditkoff states that most of us tend to stay within familiar groups of people, whether they agree with us, report to us, or are joined to us at the hip.  However, diverse inputs are essential to the development of breakthrough ideas.  To increase our chances, we need to break the bonds of the familiar, hang out with a different crowd, seek the input of oddballs.  If we can let go of our need for comfort and agreement, we will likely find ourselves with new ways of seeing, thinking, and acting.

This is one of the most repeated and obvious suggestions when it comes to generating new ideas, but it is one of the most helpful.  Just talking about different subjects or hearing a new opinion, one different from that of people you talk to everyday, can spark new ideas and even lead to think in new and different way.  Anyway in which you vary or stray from your normal routine is helpful when trying to come up with the next great idea.  Obviously, our old way of thinking and doing is not doing the trick, so spicing up our lives is ideal.  It can only heighten our senses and make life more interesting if nothing else.

Prompt 10

Make a list of ten people (or groups of people) outside of your traditional “posse” who you can spend time with this month.  Who’s first? When?

1. Elderly
2. Exchange Students
3. Professors
4. Handicapped
5. Eden
6. Sigma Alpha Lambda Girls
7. Townies
8. Graduate Students
9. Non-Ohioans
10. Old Friends

The elderly come first, because I rarely spend time with anyone not in their 20s and I find their lives very interesting and have always enjoyed spending time with the elderly.  I just have not made a point to do this.  I always find I leave thinking about something I would not have normally considered and many older folks have great insights and amazing stories.  I am going to call today and make a date with GoodWorks Senior Life program to go talk with elderly people in the Athens community.

1A. Who Influences you as a Creative Person?

I have always been a logical-mathematical creative person, I love to solve problems.  So when it comes to film and books, I enjoy a challenging script or storyline that allows to me figure out what is going to happen before it does, but more than anything, I like the challenge of a twist or a surprise ending, one that I was not even expecting.  I also love films that allow me to pick out the smallest details and see their influence on the narrative or character development.  Stories that make you think and introduce to a world outside our own also influence and inspire me to make films that will have this same affect on others.

Many artists inspire me, including filmmakers, musicians, painters, writers, photographers, and many others.  For example: 

1. M.C. Escher

http://www.mcescher.com/

I have been fascinated with the work of M.C. Escher ever since I can remember.  When I was younger, I was so intrigued by how fluidly he made impossibility real.  Water cannot and does not flow up, but in his world it does, nothing is impossible.  He allows his and almost forces his audience to actively view and engage in his work.  The answer is not handed to you, he bends reality right in front of our faces, but does not tell us how or where or why.  He is not a didactic artist, it is our job as the audience to actively participate in his work and figure out its meaning.  We as an audience have to figure out for ourselves his meaning and what is real and what is not.  Escher entices us into his world and then confuses us once we get there.  The more detail we notice and the more we think about and look into his work the more we are pulled in and the more we have to think and discover.  Escher never hands us anything, it is our own imaginations and discovery that allow us to appreciate his work.  He was remarkably talented, but never obvious, he was not trying to please anyone, he wanted the audience to discover for themselves.

“The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure.” – M.C. Escher

2. Janusz Maniski 

The work of cinematographer Janusz Maniski is a recent discovery and love of mine.  His work on movies such as Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan has been winning him awards since the early 1990s, but it was not until The Diving Bell and the Butterfly came out in 2007 that I realized his talent and the beauty he creates in his work.  Maniski’s talent for making a movie beautiful is based on his understanding of contrast and affinity and his ability to use to manipulate and audience or an image.  His use of affinity, whether it be a color scheme, outdoor images, or the types of shots he uses allows the viewer to see and understand his concept and work as a beautiful and complete whole.  His skill also lends him to use contrast to throw off the viewer and really make a point with the images and scenes he is trying to create.  Maniski’s collaboration with various directors has always lead to a beautiful story being told and his ability to create beauty out of any situation is something I hope to emulate in my own work.

3. Harold and Maude

The unlikely romance between a young, death-obsessed teen and a happy-go-lucky eighty year old is the basis for one of my favorite movies of all time.  It not only is an enjoyable film to watch, but there is more to it than meets the eye.  Director Hal Ashby and writer Colin Higgins collaborated to create a great film full of tension, but also the necessary release.  The first scene in the film introduces us to Harold, as he is in the process of hanging himself.  This first few moments and filled with confused and tension for the audience, but then we realize the triviality of the situation and his mother comes in, sees him hanging, and says, “I suppose you think that is very funny, Harold…” and we as the audience, get a somewhat unconventional release as we realize he did not really kill himself.  We are then lulled into a false sense of security as these ‘suicides’ continue throughout the film, but towards the end of the film Ashby and Higgins use this built up comfort with suicide to trick us and once again create a new tension.  This film inspires me to create my own work that can be enjoyable, but also get a message across and toy with the audience, not to mention the incredible soundtrack by Cat Stevens.