Of this African-American base expressive discourse is what Spooky describes as a “double-coded language” and the way words can “migrate through both written text and oral culture”(101). He describes turntables as a form of this communication. He says turntables contain a double meaning: entertainment culture, music, theatre, club culture and inscription-the “needle of the groove”(101). He says why hip hop hasn’t been embraced in the high world is an issue of class and social stratification. It takes someone of the high art world to sort of translate it to the upper crest of the social hierarchy. He cites Basquiat as an example in the visual art world as a way of moving underground art like graffiti from the streets into museums.

He describes are gravitation to these forms of art as example of a relation to Economics and the “artificial social hierarchy of tastes”(103). Each work of art or person involved is considered given high social stratification. He claims that this happens because “people need music to define their identities”(104). He also says that it changes within each culture, and each culture has their own way of engaging. He describes this culture of one of cut and paste, one mostly of sampling and advanced fragmentation due to the advancement of the digital age. Fragmentation is described as the natural process of absorbing the most dense narrative with the easiest information path. He is good to relate that back to the telegraph, telephone, radio and television.

Overall, DJ Spooky is a well-informed artist who understands the social implications of his work. I found this interview very informative on how hip hop culture is represented and its place in history as compared to other forms of art; as it should be.

For a fair critique, the presentation up until the end of questioning tended to lose focus on the media aspect in favor of more the political issues at hand. This shouldn’t have been much of a surprise but it if we are saying that social media affects peoples perceptions of the issues, then what better way to understand how is to ask questions about this issues themselves? I really liked their point in how mass communication can “de-legitmize” as well as “marginalize the protest groups, especially with what was going on campus.

I can say firsthand that my understanding of what was going on, was mainly through our newest forms of communication; whether it was EJ Youngblood’s youtube clip, the facebook group that was posted and the news sources covering the issue online, the word around the protests earlier in the year spread like wildfire; whether or not the information regarding the protest were accurate. The main message I got from this presentation, especially from the questioning that focused on the media was medias capability to affect social and political gatherings as a way to positively inform citizens but also that it can be easily manipulated.

A really good piece of journalism I found that kinda wanders into similar territory would when a journalist went to Romania  to interview people about an insane asylum. I hope you find this as entertaining as I did. I have a link to the first clip out of three parts.

For my photo montage I used a depiction of Omar Samhan, basketball player for Saint Mary’s. The photo is indeed a little raw but the symbolism should not be overlooked. Riding in a limo around the Berlin Wall, he is staring at the logo of the Gonzaga Bulldog;the now fallen team that for many years has been dominant in our conference. The trophy next to Omar and the fact that he sits in a limousine is a symbol of Saint Mary’s triumph over who we consider our arch enemy.

The two photos I have used for my first photo project came from my stay last year in England:

The first one is a picture of a barge rolling past the London Eye. I thought this photo really put into perspective how massive the London Eye is which is basically operates as a giant ferris wheel. I think the relationship between the backgorund and foreground is vital to making this one stand out from some of my other ones is that it captures movement of the ship and the immense urban landscape in the back. This also demonstrates good use for the rule of thirds as the camera focuses on both the ship and the London Eye.

The second photo I used definitely creates a somewhat bizarre scene. This, taken during winter solstice at Stonehenge, has good color contrasts with the clear blue sky and the freshly green grass. The main plinth, which was placed at this location around 2600 BC makes the background of the photo seem out of place when really, the photo was taken upright. This photo’s definitely an experiment on how your perception can be deceived while observing something in real life vs as a photograph.

Magnificent Obsession under Stahl was centered on the actors, and did not use the camera to help the plot progress. The repetition from a wide shot, to a two shot, and back to a wide shot took place throughout the entirety of the film. In the opening scene, the first frame consists of an exterior shot of a massive ship, then proceeds to a two shot of the daughter and her escort with dialogue on the ship, and of course jumps back to an exterior shot of the port where the ship is arriving. For Stahl, dialogue is what was primarily focused on in the film. Similar instances occur both in the car ride to the hospital and at the hospital where we find out Mr. Hudson has died, just to name a few. The repetition of the camera shots may have been the standard, but lacked the style that the remake possessed.

The difference in cinematography in these two pictures is striking. The opening scene sets a tone that seems poles apart, where expression is not accomplished through dialogue but through the use of camera shots. With the camera at the lake’s water level, the film begins with a speedboat racing by splashing water onto the camera lens. This first frame interacts the power the speedboat has and how fast its passengers are racing across the water. Sirk tries to help the audience understand the film through acting in the picture. For example, upon learning about the death of her husband, Mrs. Bates expresses her sorrow as the scene closes with her walking off into the distance on the grass towards the lake. Mrs. Bates posturing away from the camera then turns the joyful, colorful afternoon into a mournful one.

The array of shots in Sirk’s film to Stahl’s film helps show the difference and progress of films of each era. Since then, film audiences have wanted to be able to get as close as they possibly can to the real thing when it comes to film. This translates into a wide variety of shots, special effects, and even sound which helps heighten the experience for moviegoers. It can only be assumed film’s today will continue to develop and change in much the same way it did between the two decades of each film.

A little about me; I’m an English major in the middle of my junior year at SMC. I wrote for my high school newspaper. My interests range from sports, politics, music and movies. Some of my hobbies are remote control cars, classical arcade games and I love travel. I hope to one day be in the news business so hopefully this is a good start.