Youtube Assignment

The Youtube video I chose is a fake commercial done by College Humor for the popular alcoholic energy drink, Four Loko. It is suppose to be a spinoff of a commercial advertising the drink, the shot duration is only a few seconds long to capture and keep the audiences attention. They make appealing to the viewer as something exciting and cool to have. In every shot, besides the shots of the MRI machine and when the customer is in the parking lot, they use a long lens. The long lens’s purpose is to only focus on what is important in the shot so it can keep the viewers attention. For the MRI machine and the parking lot scene they use a wide-angle lens, which we can tell because everything is in focus, which is important for the parking lot scene because it establishes the setting. The last shot of the video they use a low camera angle of a security camera  In addition to using quick shots they use special effects with bright colors in the center of the frame to attract the viewers attention.

What I like about this Youtube video is how they achieve the goal of an advertisement even though the content of the commercial is stating how bad the drink is for you. The quick shots and special effects keeps the audience engaged and the clip never looses momentum.

What I don’t like about the Youtube video is the parking lot scene. It doesn’t add up. It is more the content of the shot that confuses me. How is drinking three Four Lokos the equivalent of driving over a small baby? Besides that, the Youtube’s message is clear and concise.

 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJyaACQaLYQ&playnext=1&list=PL9FCCCB9BD9CFA022&index=42

Graphics Assignment: A Clockwork Orange Movie Poster

There are a number of themes that I incorporated into the movie poster. The main theme I focused on was violence. I illustrated this by the bold colors and how they clash with one another looking as if they are fighting for the viewers attention. In other words I call this, "violent colors". This is symbolic of the main character Alex Burgess in the film "A Clockwork Orange". He is a teenager who is different and leads a far from typical life. He is constantly at war with himself especially at the end of the film after his experimental science test where he still wants to commit vulgar activities but every time he even remotely thinks about it he gets a deathly sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach forcing him to restrain. It also has elements that are based on the time era which was in the early 1970s which at that time the Hippie era in the mid '60s was loosing it's influence. This can be seen in the font of the text.

Photoshop Lesson

The basics of photoshop is great for any person interested photography. It allows the user to use multiple techniques they wouldn't be able to use on your typical program. For example, most programs don't have layers that you can change independently from one another. Within that layer you can adjust the opacity which can be used to create, lets say, a professional looking business card if you have a color for the background. Another great tool is the blur tool. It can be used to blur different layers together to make a nice looking business card especially when the two layers greatly contrast one another. There are so many different tools and effects that can be used in any variation to create something special.

Norman Rockwell Exhibit

This past Saturday I went to the Norman Rockwell Exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Norman Rockwell, who for over 40 years, created the cover artwork for The Saturday Evening Post and is known for his other art collections of Willie Gillis and the Four Freedoms. What he is really known for his Santa Claus collection which what many art enthuses argue is that it epitomizes an era. What many people view use or wishfully believe that his artwork is an accurate depicting of what life was like back than (1920’s and 30’s). Of course, this is very bias and different from the reality of the situation but people still want to believe this is true. 

As a counterarguement people can only gather what they known about the post-"Roaring '20s" through either history books or through art. This is where Norman Rockwell comes into the picture. Norman Rockwell presented life back as carefree, were young kids didn’t have to deal with competition for getting perfect grades and getting into the best college, there was no TVs and so as a result there was no projected stereotypes of what kids should be and how they should act. All kids were suppose to do back than was have a good time being kids. This can be seen in his artwork when there was still a magical component to Christmas. The picture of Santa and the Elves has a nostalgic theme that is present not only the in '20s but also when a kid’s imagination ran wild with excitement before technology crushed all of it.

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