This week, we recited poetry in class. I wasn’t looking forward to seminar because although I am a social person, I don’t like speaking in public, even the small group of 20 that we are. We first listened to a video of Robert Frost reciting his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. I was able to better understand what Professor Kahan meant when she said to enunciate and make sure that certain words/phrases are emphasized and stick out to the reader/audience. I have always appreciated poetry, even if I didn’t like it because I know how much work goes into a poem, and its hard labor to even write the 4/5 lines that may become famous one day. It was interesting to hear everyone reciting their pieces, which varied in theme from love, death, immigration, putting on a fake personality, stereotypes, etc. I haven’t heard of most of the poets prior to the readings so it was interesting to hear some background on the writers. I also enjoyed listening to everyone’s interpretation of their poem. Although we all have different opinions and can interpret the same poem differently, I was able to agree with, and understand everyone’s interpretation of their poem. Without a doubt, I think everyone did a great job with the poems they were given.
Author: evakuperman
Blog #10
This week in seminar we viewed the videos that we worked on in groups for the past few weeks. The first group was Matt, Cece, Robert, and Sandy. Matt and Cece did the speaking in their video, which focused on the sculptures of the Statue of Liberty, William Tecumseh Sherman, Postcards 9/11 memorial, and Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle. What I liked most about their video was how detailed and descriptive they were about every piece, and gave relative background historical information. The next group was Adam, Alana, Sam, and Michael. Their theme was historic women and they focused on the figures of Joan of Arc, Golda Meir, Gertrude Stein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harriet Tubman. I thought their video came out really good and I liked most their ability to find sculptures that were part of collections. Having done a great amount of research on different sculptures, I found it was much harder than I thought it would be to find sculptures that were parts of collections. My group of me, Rob, Joe, and Johnnan was next. Our theme was historic figures throughout NYC, with Joe and Johnnan speaking. We focused on the sculptures of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Juan Pablo Duarte, William Seward, Christopher Columbus, and Gandhi. I think our video came out really good and I learned a lot from my research.
The next group was Hannah, Anthony, Stacy, and Jason . Anthony was the main narrator in this groups focus on equestrian sculptures. It was interesting to hear the history of the horses hooves and what each type of horse/amount of hooves up meant. Their sculptures included those of Theodore Roosevelt, Jose Marti, WIlliam Sherman, and Simon Bolivar. I liked the time lapses they used, and their choice of music. The final video was of life underground by Gil, Tim, Lisa, and Yeniliz. Their theme was the most interesting as they focused on the sculptures in the 14th Street and 8th Avenue subway station. I thought this was an interesting choice because the statues were small, and I know that even I would most likely not notice these figures that were on the ground or on the sides. Capitalism, money, and hope were all prevalent themes within the sculptures.
After having watched all 5 videos, I have to say that I think every single one was amazing in its own way and it was interesting to see the different themes and approaches taken by each group.
Blog #9
This week in class, Joe was our substitute, and I was glad to finally switch topics over to the structure of movies and different forms of media.We discussed the movie A Bronx Tale. I liked this movie more than I thought I would and certainly more than Ace in the Hole. Joe went over the basic narrative structure, which most movies, books, plays, etc. follow. The structure includes the exposition, which introduces the characters and world. The next part is the rising action, which highlights the tension or conflict of the story and builds towards a climax. The climax is the turning point of the story. The falling action establishes the state of the characters and world at the end of the story. Furthermore, we discussed some of the main topics that arose in A Bronx Tale such as allegiance, neighborhoods, race, gender, class, morality, organized crime. I have never heard of the Bechdel Test, a test to see if a show/movie has atleast 2 female characters that talk about something other than a guy, and it was interesting to me that many productions don’t pass this test.
Towards the end of the class we discussed how there are different media forms such as books, movies, plays, comics, and more. Some of these mediums have simply transformed the original, others have made changes due many factors, one being budget cuts. How we perceive these productions is based on these factors. For example, A Bronx Tale, the movie is able to portray the seriousness of some of the topics, but the Broadway show may not be able to convey the same emotions. One example Joe provided to us for a story with numerous mediums was Frankenstein. We then came up with a few examples our selves such as Annie, Hairspray, Frozen, Superman, etc. It was interesting to learn something other than techniques and a whole bunch of vocabulary, but focus more on content and not the technical stuff.
Blog #8
This week in class, our substitute was Dr. David Wechsler. He is a member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and plays the flute/is the main director of The OMNI Ensemble. He discussed the Brill Building and Tin Pan Alley, as the popular hangouts in the city for songwriters such as Irving Berlin and Carole King in the mid 1900’s. Dr. Wechsler also told us about ASCAP and BMI, companies who collected royalties from artists for their music and performances to register them/give them licences for these events. I wasn’t surprised when he mentioned that as time progressed, there was a decrease in live music performances, but an increase in recorded music. Of course, technology changed and the times changed. However, I didn’t like hearing that it was once considered that music wasn’t a career, and it was actually frowned upon to pursue music, especially not for women. Music was used for cultural purposes, not for a profession, which is absurd to me because someone has to write the music that is used for culture. We can’t just listen to the same songs a million times, aside from the classics just about everyone knows.
Furthermore, Dr. Wechsler discussed different types of piano companies and different flutes. He spoke A LOT about himself, such as attending Brooklyn College then Stony Brook University, how he got into the Brooklyn Philharmonic, how he got one of his flutes, etc. Towards the end of class, Dr. Wechsler played a few pieces on his flute and electronic wind instrument. It was interesting to hear some of his pieces because they don’t seem to be the easiest to play. Unfortunately, I don’t think just flute music or the wind instrument music is what I am in to or would go out of my way to listen to. It just isn’t my type of my music and some of the sounds that came out of those instruments were odd and unappealing. I’m looking forward to hopefully change gears and discuss something new with Joe next week.
Blog 7
This week in class, we listened to Bob Dylan. I have heard his name before, but have never listened to him since I’m not really into his type of music. It was interesting to me that he won the Nobel Prize for literature, not for music. However, towards the end of class and after having heard some of his songs, it’s evident why.
One thing I liked about his music is that whatever there is to hear, it’s right there for you. There’s nothing extraordinarily spectacular about his lyrics or his voice, but you can tell him apart from others and his message was there loud and clear. His singing doesn’t appear to be singing, but rather him speaking into the microphone at times. That was another thing I liked about his music. He makes a few subtle changes from what we now consider to be “the norm”, and what everyone else is doing, but he’s special for that. His performances were simple, just him and 2 other instruments, opposed to singer now a days, who use their voices and a million other effects/instruments/featurings. I liked the more toned down effects, and more focus on the lyrics and voice of the singer. The lesser the amount of editing and distracting effects/unnecessary sounds, the better you can hear and understand what the singer is trying to convey.
I think it’s true that Bob Dylan is sui generis, meaning he’s his own genre, and one of a kind. Although he falls into the category of folk music, he is clearly his own category within. He’s different from people of his time, before, and after as well. Being that many of his songs were anti-war and pro-civil rights, many of them stirred up controversy and got him into some trouble.
One song we listened to was “Blowin’ in the Wind”. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are still battling American involvement in military conflict. Is sad to see how a song written not so recently discusses a problem we are still facing. We still have people constantly dying in warfare and people are fighting for this country all the time. “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” was also an interesting song to me because he sang about the nuclear threat. Although these songs were written many years ago, they are scarily still relevant to us.
Finally, I can see why Bob Dylan is such an icon, and there is no doubt in my mind that he deserved that Nobel Prize, but I personally wouldn’t listen to his music again since it isn’t my style.
Blog #7
This week after class we went to the Metropolitan Opera House to see Don Giovanni. To my surprise, I found Don Giovanni to be more interesting than I anticipated. The opera is written by child prodigy, Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte was the librettist. Although the opera still felt somewhat long, those 3 hours went by quicker than I thought they would. I still don’t know if going to an opera is something I would do again on my own leisure, but I have to give all of the actors props. Boy, do they have amazing voices. Their voices filled all of Lincoln Center and they were able to sing and act simultaneously. I also really enjoyed the orchestra. This was my first time having seen a live orchestra and it was so amazing to watch. It was so interesting to see the orchestra playing throughout the entire opera and hearing the music to highlight certain notes being sung. For example, as Leporello was describing all the different women from his little book of names that his master has seduced, the music changed with each description, really adding to the effect of him describing all the many types.
Don Giovanni is an opera about a young man who has sex and pulls in every woman he sees. He discriminated no one, and everyone should get a sample of the amazing man he apparently is. This is because there are numerous women, but just one of him to go around. Most of the men he meets rightly don’t like him, and he even has a large set of women with whom he isn’t on good terms. I didn’t originally like that the opera was going to be sung in Italian because I thought it would be impossible to understand, but the screens on the chairs certainly helped.
Leporellos character was one I was somewhat intrigued by. He’s the first person we meet and his first remarks have to do with how much his master doesn’t appreciate him. Throughout the opera, he continues making subtle remarks about, or making fun of Don Giovanni. If he hated his job so much and so strongly disliked Don Giovanni, he would have quit or at least not helped him accomplish all his mischief. I think him and Dona Elvira are somewhat similar because they both seem to have that little faith in Don Giovanni becoming a better person, which he clearly doesn’t.
I liked the first half much better than the second. Maybe it was because it was getting so late, but I enjoyed the more livelihood of the first half. There was more movement, less arias, and more little jokes here and there. Regardless, I’m grateful for having been able to experience such a moment, and it was definitely a new experience.
Blog #6
This week in class we began discussing opera and its history. We also learned some information on the playwright of the opera we are going to see, Mozart. Mozart was a child prodigy and and the first freelance composer. I was surprised to learn that it was once thought that if music was put to the text, then the text was considered to be of a lower form. These two concepts enhance each other and make the other better, and it’s unbelieveable that this was once even a thought. We also learned different vocabulary that comes with an opera such as “scena”, “recitative”, “aria”, and “da capo aria”. Additionally, there is a libretto, a little book of text that goes along with the music. We covered musical vocabulary such as “soprano”, “mezzo”, “tenor”, “bass”, and more.
In two weeks are going to the Metropolitan Opera House to see Mozart’s, Don Giovanni. I was intrigued when I learned that this opera is a dramma giocoso. Its supposed to be a funny, happy little drama. However, this drama is about rape. I personally don’t see how this could be a funny or amusing matter when the main character has raped over hundreds/thousands of women from Spain and numerous other countries. I did however appreciate that the music changed for each type of women that was being described. The music got slower, faster, louder, more upbeat, etc, as each woman had a different description.
While readings Kierkegaards Don Giovanni, I liked the fact that he said “So Don Giovanni is an image which constantly appears, but does not gain form and substance, and individual who is constantly being formed, but is never finished…”. The reason I liked this was because although Don Giovanni is the main character, this statement shows that there isn’t much to him and even though he is the main character, he isn’t really the most important or who we see the most. After remembering that Don GIovanni has seduced over 1,000 women, the line by Kierkegaard in which he says, “His love is not psychical but sensuous, and sensuous love, in accordance with its concept, is not faithful, but absolutely faithless…”, really showed what kind of a person Don Giovanni is. The number of women seduced means nothing until we realized that he has basically raped them and has no feelings for these women other than their physical appeal.
Finally, I’m thrilled to have switched gears into music, but I hope the opera we are going to see will be more interesting and exciting than I imagine it to be.
Blog#5
This week in class we discussed how certain shots help with character development. We also discussed how not having the sound in a scene can influence the scene and our perception of it. For instance, everything seems out of context, and to me, not as interesting when there is no sound. In a fight scene such as in The Bourne Trilogy, the sound of hearing the punches and the reactions of the actual characters pulls me in much more than no sound, which decreased the effect of the tension and wasn’t as compelling. Even in Ace in the Hole, when Chuck Tatum was talking to Booth, the publisher of the paper, the camera, and Tatums position in the scene made him seem superior to Booth, even though Booth was the boss.
For the second part of class, we finished watching Ace in the Hole. Although it felt a bit long, I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. It was during the movie that I really began to pay attention to what effect certain shots can have, or how they help with character development. It was crazy to me to see how for some people, money and fame can be such a drive to do such ridiculous things, such as taking action to keep a live human being in a cave longer, just so they can write stories and make money off of it.
Although the last few weeks have been captivating and I learned a lot, I’m excited to see what our next class as an “Introduction to modern dance” will be like.
Blog #4:
This week in class we began discussing film technique. The three most important concepts of this technique is content, form, and meaning, but we will mostly focus on content and form in class. There are many different shots that can be taken, including the long shot, extreme long shot, medium shot, close up, and extreme close up shots. The hardest shot is the tracking shot because the camera follows an object, and has to move around other objects at the same time. There is often an establishing shot to let the watcher know where they are, whether it’s a famous place or a sign, you will be able to identify where you are. We also began watching Ace in the Hole, a movie about reporter Chuck Tatum who is looking for a job and winds up working for a newspaper in Albuquerque. However, there isn’t much pressing news, until Tatum finds out about a treasure hunter thats trapped in a mineshaft. Ace in the Hole is an example of a film noir, but I’m still not quite sure why since those movies are usually dark and take place at night.
For the last half hour of class, we went to the art exhibit, “can a line define?”. There were a few interesting pieces there, and even a performance by the Le Brothers. Although their performance was interesting, I don’t understand what they were doing or trying to represent. Overall, I am still eager to continue growing my vocabulary and learning more about different art forms.
Blog #3: Arts in NYC
This weeks class was more interesting than I originally thought it would be. We had a guest, Professor Beatrix Reinhardt, a world renowned photograph who discussed her duties as the curator for the art exhibit coming up next week, and some aspects of art. Her job is vital to the experience someone going to the exhibit will have. Prof. Reinhardt coordinates the exhibits, chooses the artwork that will be presented, and decides how to present the work. She showed us how changing something so subtle and seemingly miniscule, such as the border around the painting, can have a major impact on how we view the art and our impression of it. We also discussed how an artist can have one idea, but generate hundreds of pieces reflecting that one idea. Furthermore, I also learned that all of the prints in an edition look exactly the same and after the last print in that edition is sold, those prints will never be sold again. Lastly, we discussed her trip to India for the Kumbh Mela. We looked at pictures online of the event, and then the pictures she took, which looked like two completely different events, leaving us with two separate impressions of this occasion.
For the second part of the class, we looked at the pictures we took the previous week at the High Line. Each person’s picture portrayed a different part of the High Line, or showcased a special part of NYC. We all had something we found really interesting or symbolic to photograph from this experience and it was nice to hear everyone’s impressions of their trip and why they photographed what they did. Just a slight change in the angle or lighting made a BIG difference in everyones photos and made each one unique.