Uncategorized

Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run, is a German science fiction film about Lola trying to save her boyfriend’s life by collecting 100, 000 marks in 20 minutes. The film does this by using strange but aesthetically pleasing sequences. Some more strange than others. These sequences are shown by the 4 relationships that are graphic, spatial, temporal, and rhymic. Run Lola Run is unique as it uses all 3 of the 4 in various sequences in the first 15 minutes of the film.

The film’s opening sequence uses the rhymic relationship, which is when multiple shots are combined to play off on an idea like light vs dark, static vs dynamic, etc. The opening scene is a crowd of people herding along, as the narration sprouts off philological ideas and focuses in on certain people in the crowd. In this shot it hops to person to person, making them focused while the herd is just a dark, unfocused cloud. The focused person is also in the light and colourful to the point of almost being neon. All of that together builds to a rhymic sequence and a great opener.

The graphic relationship is made during the various sequences of Lola’s running as it goes from real life to a cartoon reality and back again. The graphic relationship is all based on visual similarity between two or more shots. In the running shots, the visual similarity is apparent as it relies on Lola’s running through her apartment and various other locations in the film.

The final sequence relationship is the temporal relationship, otherwise known as the chronogical order. It establishes the order of events, though real-time or flashbacks. In Lola, it is used in flashbacks and there are many in the beginning as it sets up the events that lead to her three runs. It starts with Lola’s boyfriend Manni calling her saying he has messed up their deal by her not being there to pick him up. It proceeds to go into flashback mode detailing what happened to Lola as she was buying cigs, how her moped was stolen and then how her taxi driver was terrible at directions. Manni proceeds to derate her and tellings her how he messed up, going into another flashback. With all these flashbacks and the phone call, you know what happened to start off the movie as know Lola’s relationship dynamic with Manni.

SKILLS INVENTORY 

My greatest strengths in Writ and Comp include: Never giving up, even though I constantly do not know what is happening
For greater success in this course, I need to: Go to the writing centre more often and not waiting until the day of to do essays

My greatest strengths in Printed Page and Silver Screen include: doing the homework, actually watching the movies, and having an interest in film
For greater success in this course, I need to: Not procrastinate the homework so much

My greatest strengths in Drawing 1 include: Knowing how to draw, being a perfectionist, knowing my strengths when it comes to art
For greater success in this course, I need to: Plan out my time more, do less of my style and more what is required

My greatest strengths in Visual Studies include: My willingness to learn about these concepts I may or may not use in the future
For greater success in this course, I need to: Apply myself more to think outside of the box

My greatest strengths in Visual Studies Seminar include: Being open-minded about others art and having a want to learn about others inspiration. And I do the homework on time
For greater success in this course, I need to: Ask questions to the visiting artist

My greatest strengths in Honors Seminar include: Taking great notes
For greater success in this course, I need to: Do the responses earlier

Computer skills:

My computer skills include: Knowing Google docs and their system, very little photoshop, and how to procrastinate with youtube
I still need to learn: More photoshop and other Adobe systems

Research & writing skills

My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include: Knowing where to look and how to fake it
I need to work on these aspects of research and writing: My grammar mainly
I learn best & accomplish most when: I know what I need to do and enjoy it

ACTION PLAN

The class I could do better in is Drawing 1

1. Take more time to draw in my free time and build up my skills
2. But less of my style in the drawings
3. Try not to get so annoyed
4. Follow the drawing rules that work for me
5. Take more pictures of the subject from different viewpoints
6. Work on geometric drawings
7. Shade better
8. Work on sizing of the object
9. Also on composition
10. Work faster

For the final harmony project, I focused on the concept of colours and lines in a disorganized fashion. I wanted to show how disorganization can be harmonious in some way. I really liked my first one, as someone left some good paper in the MK tray so I used it and I think the disorganization works together. The border, the black and white, the glitchy picture work for and against each other.

For me, I had issues with the analoge aspect of this collage. The digital part was a lot easier and those parts to me are the better parts of the collage. It was easier and less stressful than the analogue. For the analoge, I did not know what to do or how to do it. I just had trouble figuring it out.

PART ONE

• I really enjoyed seeing Clara’s landscape work. She has an eye for detail, and her photos from Europe were wonderfully done. When she commented on how she did not mesh well digital camera’s and I sympathize with that. I am a traditionalist artist so photoshop and all this digital stuff are weird to me. I like using my hands and having material in front of me. I can understand where she is coming from.
• Michelle’s work was amazing. It is childlike but without being childish.  Her style is very popular nowadays, with its whimsical lines and nonproportional body. Definitely, something you would see on one of those kids shows that a bunch of adults like. Like Steven Universe for example. While it is not my style of art, I can still appreciate it and her work ethic.
• Hanna’s typography was very nice and I adored her typeface she made with leaves and flowers. It’s very kitschy and something people would use for their mommy blogs or Esty ventures. Which is still good, if she charges for use of it she could make some money. I think her designs were cute, slightly vintage and overall very nice.
• I actually quite liked how Alexis focused on more job and overall skills needed in the workforce. It was a nice change of pace compared to everyone who just showed their art. It showed her character values, and how she overall wants success for people here in her major. I respect her for that.

PART TWO

• https://www.designerhelen.com/
  • I love the layout with the links on the side of her main header with her name. It is very sleek, simple but you can tell that she is an actual fashion designer and not into the fast fashion world. Her pictures of her collection are clear and the photos are well done. I like how small they are so you can see all of her collection without having to scroll forever. And her for her shop link, she has a picture of her size chart for ease of use.
• https://www.avanirui.com/
  • I like the gif she has displaying some of her work when you open up her website. The website is very easy to venture through and use. I personally love her portfolio and how she has them all grouped together by project. Instead of how others just dumped everything onto one long page. The fonts she used are eye-catching and follow the theme and aesthetics she has.
• https://www.latexlucifer.com/
  • His website is simplistic, minimalist with works with his art as it is loud, gory, and out-there. Instead of the website being the main focus, the photographs are.
• http://www.marisaellison.com/
  • Same with the latexluicifer website, it lets the work talk without any other extremities. The size of the photos are big, so you can see the photographs without squinting or missing details. Also, she has put the photos together to the point where your eye goes to every photo and not skip over some. Finally, she puts what magazine, website, etc. the photo was in below it for ease of searching.

For my digital collages, I didn’t know how I would achieve harmony with my collages. I ended up just playing around in photoshop for most of the 6 hours trying to come out with ideas and/or good collages. It wasn’t until I accidentally made the fourth one that I decided to focus on the concept of lines and squares to find harmony. My favourite is the fourth one as I feel it intrigues the eye by the way the background two squares contrast each other. While the flowers just float in space. My least favourite is the ladies, I wanted to incorporate them into this collage but it just didn’t work out.

I also ended incorporating colour into the collage as well, just to add something to the set and I liked the colour overlay effect I accidentally got.

1. The goal of the assignments was for the first one, draw one of two bags realistically an accurately. As you can see I am not finished with the drawing. And the second was for Visual Studies Harmony project. It is one out of two of the analogue collages. You had to create something that had harmony, from the use of colour, line, dots, etc; while leaving artistic intent at home.
2. For the first project, it is not finished but right now I feel like I am going in the right direction. For the second one, I bought a couple of black and white postcards that went together. And I cut them out in a way to get harmony as well as balance out the different tones of black.

Self Critique – On Collage

1. The strongest aspect is the colours and the balance between the lighter pink toned greys in front and the darker sepia tones in the back. It makes it more eye-catching and your eye lingers on the way the colours shift and blend into one another.
2. The design is the weakest aspect. I should have done a more interesting shape and layered the pictures over one another in a more strategic and pleasing way.
3. Changing the overall design, cutting out different parts of the ladies other than their upper parts.
4. Technically, I would change my cuts as I am not used to using an x-acto knife, so my cuts are not as exact as they could be. And I would have printed on better paper either ultra premium matte or lustre.
5. Additional I would maybe change my use of postcards. There were these Mexican colourful postcards that showcased movie posters. I was thinking of doing a face with those postcards but the naked ladies just caught more eye.

For my first two collages, I found my items at tesoros trading co on South Congress. It’s an overpriced gift shop and a really long walk from here. It took me about an hour walking back and forth. My items, postcards, were only a dollar each. Since it never said that you could not buy the items and I really wanted to get the photos anyway, since they are interesting and very old-timey. So for my collages, since there is not a theme but I still wanted to create something. I decided to use female forms as my postcards are of females in their natural shapes, so why not take that as inspiration.

Joanne by Lady Gaga was one of the best albums to come out in 2016 or 2016 in general. It was fully released October 21 but suffered a leak a few weeks. The album which is inspired by Gaga’s aunt named Joanne, who died of lupus complications after being sexually assaulted when she was 19. The death, which happened 10 years before Gaga was ever born, deeply affected her father’s side of the family. This year she released a documentary, Five Foot Two, that shows the creation process of Joanne as well as her own struggle with fibromyalgia and doing the Superbowl.

For me personally, I am quite iffy on Joanne. I understand the concept, and I think it is a great memoir to a person who was gone too soon. But it does not feel completely genuine. Knowing that her last album, ArtPop, flopped it almost seems like she distanced her self from her old self. She states “You can’t make music with a bunch of boys who are staring at a lobster on your head. They are going to get distracted.” It feels very fake and similar to how another pop star, Miley Cyrus is distancing herself from her past album cycle(s). But I do enjoy most of the music, Hey Girl especially. But due to lack of promo, she didn’t sing any song off of Joanne at her halftime show, you can tell that this album cycle was a waste. None of the songs got really huge, only Million Reasons breaking the top 5, but only staying there for a week. 

So in total, Joanne is a complicated album that is not that well but did inspire me to dig dipper into pop music as well as criticism of it.

Joanne, Lady Gaga Aunt

In the final gestalt project, my theme has reached its end with Death. As we will die sooner or later so will nature. Sadly nature seems to be on its way out sooner than what should possibly be. But I wanted to focus on more beauty or positivity in death if that makes any sense. Over the weekend, I saw the movie Mother! which is an allusion to God and how he keeps trying to remake Mother Earth/Nature over and over again. Even though in the end his creations keep destroying Earth. God still tries again and again. And seeing that movie made me want to have a different spin on death than the usual death junk.

With Gestalt, I focused on the law of containment as it fit my theme and it was the easiest to show.

Looking back on my time sheet made me realize how much I procrastinate my school work and how I honestly do not have a social life.  I very much am a homebody, and I’m usually stressing to get my homework completed, especially if it is an essay or a draft. Part of me wants to kick those habits in the butt but then realistically I know that will probably never happen as I’ve been doing and procrastinating everything and anything since 3rd grade. It’s a habit that I am used too. And I wished I had more a social life but what can you do.

Mother, prismacolour pencils with flowers and holographic paper added, 2015-2016

I did this piece in my Art 3 class in 2015-2016, and it is very much my favorite art/drawing I have ever done. It defiantly represents my interests in nature, involving different techniques and art styles in my art, and my style. As I love drawing the body but not so much the face. Part of it is the face is hard to get proportional compared to the body which is in a way easier. And I love shading, which this has in shades.