Before we read our poems, we listened to Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. This poetry reading showed that the actual recitation of the words is a huge part of the meaning of the poem. Since the lines “He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake” are read faster than the next two lines of the stanza, the poem receives an emphasis that would not have happened otherwise. This shows that vocal variation and meter are two essential parts of any poem. The poem that I had to read was written by Langston Hughes, an African-American poet who wrote at the time of the Harlem Renaissance. His poem was all about unrest, unease, and impatience that African-Americans all felt during that time. When I first read the poem I thought I couldn’t connect at all because I obviously don’t personally undergo the same type of problems that African-Americans did. However, I did feel a connection between his poem, and themes from the art exhibit, “Can a Line Define?” The same impatience, unease, and unrest that he felt, is probably very similar to that of a Syrian Refugee. They both have a theme of a lack of acceptance, simply because of a culture difference. Both sides want respect in an unaccepting world. Langston Hughes captures something very similar to this. Listening to other classmates recite poetry was both entertaining and educating. Exploring the various themes of each poem and poet made this class one of the most enjoyable.
Author: anthonyastarita98
November 23rd Blog- Sculptures
The last class was spent presenting our videos on various sculptures of New York. Each video had something specific that I admired. For example, I really enjoyed watching Cece’s presentation because it taught me facts about something I’ve seen more times than I could count. The 9/11 memorial in St. George is something I’ve visited countless times (my father was a fireman, so I had to) but I had no clue that the plaques that showed outlines of the faces of the victims were 9×11 inches. Tim’s group did an amazing job talking about someone who I had no clue even existed. In all my years of taking the subway, I’ve never noticed the statues that were right under my nose. I could almost see why the artist used some of his daughter’s inheritance money to fund his project. There’s just something interesting about art that is incorporated into so many people’s everyday life. For instance, there are countless people every day who pass by the sculpture of the two men holding the saw, but I’m sure that most of the people who pass by hardly notice it. Not to mention, the majority of those people aren’t thinking about the story it tells about America. As a narrator, I learned some things that I will absolutely take with me the next time I complete a project similar to this. If I learned one thing from this project, it’s that pronunciation and articulation are key.
Blog #9
Last week, our ITF Joseph Pentangelo substituted the class. He did a tremendous job explaining the basic structure of a narrative. The exposition sets the stage for the rest of the story. Then comes the rising action, then the climax, and finally the falling action (or the dénouement). We spoke about how these parts of a narrative relate to the Bronx Tale and all its story. Then we talked about the various themes in A Bronx Tale such as race, gender, organized crime, alliances, etc. He brought to light a variety of subtle aspects of the movie that I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. For example, the fact that there are very few female characters in the play was something very surprising. The idea that most of what the mother suggested were shut down by the father, and that she just disappears from the movie at one point never to be mentioned of again was interesting to think about. Also, we spoke about how movies, plays, and books of the same story can change based on the medium it’s portrayed under. Budgetary constraints and camera work can immensely change the viewing experience between plays and movies. When one watches a play, they can only see the play from one point. As opposed to movies, where cameras can be transported wherever the director wants. An actor in a play opening night could slightly change how he/she performs compared to closing night. Compare this to movies, when one literally watches the same exact performance over and over. Books are another story (haha, get it? Like stories in books). This is because books are dependent upon the reader’s imagination with no visual aide.
Joe was a great substitute and did an amazing job conducting class.
Blog #8
Last class, Dr. Wechsler enlightened our class to some of the histories of the arts of New York. He began the class talking about topics that most of us knew very little about such as Tin Pan Alley, which was a popular hang our spot for songwriters. He spoke about Irving Berlin, most famously known for writing “God Bless America” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”. We spoke about the evolution of cartoons and the lack of restrictions the cartoons used to have. We watched two Betty Boop cartoons, “Just a Gigalo” and “Old Man of the Mountain”. The most interesting part of the class was when Dr. Wechsler told us his own story of how he achieved a successful music career. His story of how he became successful by “not following protocol” is something I’ll remember and carry with me though life. In addition, he played a few songs on his metal and electronic flutes. Besides the class, I’ve never seen his electronic flute before. I was thankful that he played it for us because from the moment the class started I wanted to know what I sounded like. While it had a very odd sound, it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Don Giovanni
The experience overall of the opera wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought that I would be asleep most of the time, wake up three and a half hours later, and be on my way home. But instead, I was pleasantly surprised that I stayed awake through the whole opera and actually enjoyed seeing the actors and listening to their super-human voices. Part of the reason why it was so entertaining is because I can’t imagine how much practice and hard work it must have taken to get to the level of singing that the actors are at. Not only do they have to sing and memorize lines in a different language, but to hold that voice for three hours is astounding. These people have more talent than I could ever dream of having.
I was actually entertained by the plot. Even though the plot was about a man who raped thousands of women, I still enjoyed it. I was also surprised that some parts actually made me laugh. It’s very impressive that even in an opera in a foreign language, actors still were able to make the audience laugh. My favorite part of the play was when the ghost of the Commendatore came at the very end to send Don Giovanni to Hell. It was entertaining to finally see justice be brought to this man after hours of watching him escape people.
So after the first Act Gil and I decided that we would move down to lower levels. At first, we didn’t want to risk it because we didn’t want to be kicked out of the theater. So at first we attempted to move down to the orchestra seats because we were very greedy to get the best possible view of the show. We made our decision to move down relatively late in intermission so we were rushing to get a seat. Sadly, we accidentally went to a section that exclusively had suit seats only and there was a man who stopped us and asked for our seat numbers and since we didn’t know what to say we had to move up. So we moved up to the second row of seats and we sat down in two seats that had nobody in them. Another minuet of wandering around and we wouldn’t have been able to see the second act because we would have been locked out. These seats had head rests and more leg room so the performance was a lot more enjoyable.
I’m looking forward to watching a Bronx Tale with the class.
Blog #7
Before the last seminar class, I’ve never really listened to Bob Dylan. I may have heard his songs somewhere before but I’ve never taken the time to listen specifically to him. Many millennials today have this stigma towards music that our parents listened to. Today, millennials tend to opt for more contemporary music because it’s perceived as the “cool” thing to listen to. However, many young people today gloss over musicians such as Bob Dylan simply because his music isn’t as modern as Fetty Wap or Kayne West. Music today is meant to be catchy, upbeat, and auto tuned. Music today can fall in the trap of simply being made to be put on the radio. Some musicians today are looked at as “sellouts” because either they don’t write their own songs, or their songs all sound similar just to be made popular. Take Katy Perry for example. She has people write songs for her simply because her producers want her to sing songs that will inevitably be made popular and be put on the radio.
Recently I’ve been getting more and more into older music. This past year I’ve been listening to more bands like Neil Young, The Who, Pink Floyd. I think Pink Floyd’s critique of the music industry in the song “Welcome to the Machine” summarizes this idea that some music isn’t genuine. Repetitive, catchy music, sometimes takes priority over more creative and risky songs in the music industry.
That’s what I think is my favorite part of older music, it’s more genuine. Bob Dylan seems more enjoyable to listen to when all he has is his voice and an acoustic guitar. There’s something more enjoyable about listening to his songs because they all have some kind of deeper meaning. For example, I found the song “The Times They Are A-Changin” so much more enjoyable because there was a clear meaning and impact. The reason why I loved it was because it, at one time in history, changed people’s thoughts. In the line, “There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’ It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls for the times they are a-changin’,” Bob Dylan inserts his views on the Vietnam War. It’s so interesting that music can be used for something other than entertainment. This song challenges the old thought that the Vietnam War was a just war, and tells listeners that isn’t the case anymore. I also thoroughly enjoyed the song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” and I’m glad it was the last song played in the class. The fear of a nuclear fallout was a prominent thought of the time and I think it’s very interesting to hear these in a song. Songs can also be looked at as windows into history and a prime example is that song.
Blog #6
In 2016, the opera is looked at as a dying art form. With the rise of cinema, broadway, and television, the average Joe seems to look for alternate ways to experience entertainment. While this form of the fine arts may seem like a fossil to most, I couldn’t be more excited to attend the opera tomorrow. The most impressive aspect of the opera that we learned about in class is that plot isn’t a priority. What I find fascinating is that it doesn’t really matter what’s going on. The writers, directors, and actors aren’t that concerned if the audience knows exactly what’s going on. Instead of a plot being a top priority, emotions portrayed through song seem to overshadow the story. In some aspects, I have a feeling this will be more entertaining than a plot heavy story. The reason why the opera isn’t sung in English is for that reason. We would rather hear actors belt notes, hit high notes, and sing their hearts out compared to listening to what’s actually going on. The plot of Don Giovanni is pretty disturbing when one thinks about it. So we have an opera about a man who lies, rapes, and seduces women all his life, and yet surprisingly it’s achieved the status it has. Why? Because the actors carry their voices with such emotion and power that its entertainment is undeniable. Yes, it’s in Italian. Yes, it’s very long. But as live performances go, I’m excited to see a performance that relies solely on character portrayal through song and acting.
Blog #5
The first half of the class was meant to illustrate the effect of camera angles with respect to character development, amplified through the absence of sound. The most interesting of all the scenes that we watched with the sound off was All the President’s Men because of the camera’s subtle nods to the actual plot. The shot with the two reporters in the large office, alone, working from early in the morning relied heavily on the camera. Starting off as such small members of the scenes, then gradually becoming the focus, could only be possible through the deliberate angles of the camera. Something the class didn’t even touch upon was that towards the end of the scene, there were two televisions, one up close, and the other is far into the background. The interesting thing is that both of the journalists have their heads directly turned away from one of the televisions, giving the slight nod to their unsusceptible nature in the film. Having their backs towards what is seemingly the most important activity in the scene, Nixon’s inauguration oath is a deliberate, symbolic camera decision done by the director to prove their role in the scene.
As for the second half of the class, the movie itself was far more entertaining than I would have suspected. There are quite a few camera angles in that movie that strike me the most. One being the scene that we watched as a class without the sound, and the other one being the final scene where the camera is on the floor while the audience watches Kirk Douglas’ death from the ground-up. But you’ll hear more about this from the essay.
Blog #4
Our last Seminar class focused primarily on the form and content of some of the most famous film techniques. The analysis of the techniques used in “Psycho” were my favorite. If I were just watching the movie by myself, I don’t think I would have picked up on the echoes of the shower head, her eye, and the drain which I found to be an interesting deliberate filmmaking decision. We spent all of our time on the form and content aspects of the movies while leaving meaning to be undiscussed. I know that in the beginning of the class, it was mentioned that if we wanted to learn more about meaning, to go to a film class, but I REALLY wanted to hear a class discussion about the meaning of the films techniques. This has absolutely influenced my decision to take a film class or two in the future because I feel like there was so much left unsaid in the last class. As for the art gallery, I think that the live performance was the most striking/memorable/impressive aspect of the entire show. Every decision in the performance brought to question what it symbolized. What do the colors yellow and red have to do with the Syrian Civil War? Why was the man holding a mirror as he let himself become wrapped in string? Why did the red flowers have a yellow string and the yellow followers have red string? Why did the two younger men have casual shoes on while the older men have more professional grade boots? I think they all tie into the specific struggles of living in a time of civil war and looking for a place to escape. The War makes the refugees take shelter in countries that will accept them, hoping to have a more stable, safe life while their country is in chaos
Blog #3
Last week Professor Beatrix Reinhardt taught our seminar class about facets of art that most of us were unfamiliar with, which included: editions, the significance of boarders/light contrast, and what the job of a curator entails. She showed us Google’s perspective of the Hindu pilgrimage Kumbh Mela compared to her perspective through her photography of the live event. What I found most interesting was the impact the boarder of white/dead space has on a photograph, which is something the average person rarely associates with art. Then after that, we spent some time analyzing the class’ photos from the highline. I’ll be honest here, although I feel that the dissection of the class’ photos were essential to the understanding of the aesthetic appeal to the highline through photography, I believe that the same result would have been achieved with a fraction of the photos shown. The majority of observations that the class had made were most likely not what the student intended on when the picture was taken. However, some of those unintentional aspects of the photos were very enriching to hare with the class, but this wasn’t the case for every photo. I’m not saying that means we should discount any analysis, only that we could have spent less time on the show and tell of our photos. Maybe it’s just the kind of thinker that I am, one that prefers a thorough discussion on literature, poetry, or speeches, rather than photographs. But nevertheless, I was glad that Professor Reinhardt could share her findings with us and contribute to the class’ discussion. I was also very glad the class could partake in a night in the Brooklyn Museum because normally I wouldn’t have gone by myself otherwise. Analyzing art with fellow Macaulay students was something I’m glad could be organized because then I was able to observe other student’s perspective on the art in the museum.