Fireside Chat

Art is a very important part of my life; in fact, I think that it is important to us all in the media arts program here at BYU. That is why I loved giving my presentation about art in schools. Being up there was exhilarating and I love that we had to incorporate a story into it. I was very nervous at first and I could tell my voice was shaking. At first I was kind of mad that we had to do another presentation in front of everyone. For me, I realize that this gets me out of my comfort zone and could better me in things like directing and doing stuff with production. Even though I didn’t like it, it betters myself.

I also chose a PSA because I wanted to show that there is something that we can do. Even though the website was fake, it still showed that we as people can do something. I really was struggling in school before I went into the film program at my school. I felt like I was special because I got into the exclusive program.

          It kind of reminds me of Be Kind Rewind. They are trying to save something so dear to them. I feel like even though art is a universal thing, it means so much to me, that I don’t want anything happening to it in schools. It literally changed my life and I definitely feel that it can change others and I feel like I got that across in my fireside chat. 

Concerned Citizen

Jeremi Brewer

Artist Statement

For our project we decided to focus on the executive director of the Academy for Creating Enterprise, Jeremi Brewer. Jeremi Brewer received his PhD from Texas A&M University, performing his doctoral research on culture, poverty, and necessity Entrepreneurship. Jeremi conducted the majority of his research in Mexico and Brazil. He is a Peery Fellow at the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance. Since December 2011, Jeremi has worked as the Executive Director of the Academy for Creating Enterprise. The Academy for Creating Enterprise provides entrepreneurial education and ongoing support to individuals in developing nations. Specifically, the Academy focuses on taking education to markets where traditional job opportunities are scarce or nonexistent. They teach students how to develop and launch their own businesses. Through this newly-acquired self-reliance, their students are able to stay in their home countries, provide for the needs of their families, and strengthen their communities. We were able to film during one of Jeremi's classes at Utah Valley University, that is specifically reaching out to Native Americans living in the Valley. Lucky for us, Aralie's husband helps teach Jeremi's class at Utah Valley University. We were able to go and film during their class, which was very interesting and intriguing. It was great to see the effect that Jeremi's program and class had on the people. Many Native Americans were there, all genuinely wanting to take something away from the class. We were able to talk to a few of them, and they seemed motivated about starting their own business' because of the program and each had a great respect for Jeremi. It's amazing that one person can help and effect the lives of so many. We were inspired to focus on Jeremi for this project for a variety of reasons. The main reason was that we had a connection to him, due to Aralie's husband working for him, so getting in contact with him wouldn't be too difficult. Also, After watching the Neighborhood and stoop sitting videos in class, we really wanted to focus on someone who was interesting in people, and helping other people. Jeremi was the perfect candidate for that, his whole career being devoted to cultures and giving people a better chance. We were also inspired by the Bill Withers' song Lean On Me, and felt it related to Jeremi well. This song is about helping others, being their support, and that is exactly what Jeremi is for many people out there.

Protest Poster

I wanted to do something that no one really knew was a problem. Everyday people take their dogs on walks and have them poop and then just walk away from it like it is no big deal. Sure, when a dog poops on your lawn, you get mad, but everybody should be upset because it is hurting the environment. Dog poop is not like other animal poop, it is not fertilizer. Unlike horse or cow poop, which helps plants grow, dog poop kills the plants that it is surrounding. There are chemicals in the food dogs eat that makes dog poop harmful to the environment.

In my poster I wanted to show contrast of what is and what could be. I showed the poop almost as big as the tree to show the detrimental effect dog poop can have. I over exaggerated to make a point. On the other hand, I made the tree in the other frame so big that it actually cannot fit in the frame. This shows that people can help the environment just by bagging their dog’s poop.

            The last part that I did was the slogan: Bag It! (With a paw on the exclamation.) I wanted to show that it was dog’s poop, but not shout it out. I want the audience to take two and two and make four, not just give them the four. I wanted to be more ambiguous. I did this because I feel like if the audience thinks about it when looking at it, they will remember it. It will also maybe make them research something that they don’t know all that much about and that’s what this project is all about.

WebSpinna Battle

           Artist Statement

            We were inspired to choose Television versus Movies because we knew we wanted to show our differences through the sounds we chose. Aralie is more interested in television, while Hailey is more into films. So, because of this we intertwined our favorite television shows and movies to create a continuous battle of sounds. We first started with a very prominent movie and television sound track. We did this because we wanted to engage audience and bring them into our sound sphere. We initially wanted to just go in chronological order, which we still mostly did, but after reading the DJ spooky article were we were encouraged to read things out of order, we thought it would also be interesting if we mixed up the sound track a bit. That is the reason why the beginning and end are out of order. Fresh Prince and Breaking Bad are very recognizable themes and so areThe Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Dark Knight.

            Aralie took inspiration from “A Day in the Life” a Beatles song that switches up in the middle. It almost seems like two songs, but also still flows together nicely; it creates chaos, but also is pleasing to the ear. It is a hard technique to replicate, but we tried our hardest. Hailey took inspiration from “Look After You vs. Barry Bonds”, a mash up that mixes a The Fray song with the rapper Kanye West’s lyrics to form one song with very opposing sounds that somehow work together. This led to the mash up of The Godfather soundtrack, which is a big beautiful orchestral movement with the harsh sounds of The Jaws soundtrack to come together to make an interesting and somehow pleasing mix of sounds.

            Our performance was exhilarating and nerve wracking, but turned out very well, with only one minor problem of a clip being played out of place. It was exciting to be able to hear the crowd react from the themes and quotes that we decided to play. We knew that certain clips would bring nostalgia, but we were unsuspecting of the laughter that followed. Overall it was a great experience to be able to perform live and have it go as well as it did. 

Fresh Prince

I love lucy
Lucy I'm home

star trek
You will be

Gilligan

Full house
How rude

Simpsons

Doug

Friends
We were on a break 50 seconds

The office
That's what she said

HIMYM
Suit up

New girl

Breaking Bad
What's my name

World Building- Pokémon

click here to see video

When it comes to building worlds, the film industry has to do a lot more than most other mediums. Learning this skill will become very valuable over the course of our careers. The one advantage that we had to create the world with real Pokémon, was that there already is a world established. However our goal was to create a world that would have realistic possibilities.

One of the key things we learned from the readings was about “thoughtful exploration.” When examining the possibilities of a world where Pokémon actually exist, we did not simply insert ourselves into the world that had already been created to enjoy the fun we would have as kids, but rather, we considered what would be the real issues. We thought about politics and education, pop culture etc. and which of those would involve or revolve around Pokémon. We decided on what we thought would be the key issues, created a few ideas of our own, and then considered how they would be represented or advertised in that world. Here’s what we came up with:

Recreation

For recreation we decided to show how in a world where Pokémon exist they play cards with animals from our world. I used the animal’s real name and changed a lot on the card. I chose to do this because I felt that a lot of people have fun playing Pokémon and I think they would have fun playing cards with animals.

Animal Rights

Or should I say Pokémon Rights. I thought of this because the idea of Pokémon battles is kind of barbaric. No doubt, in a world where Pokémon exist would be a Pokémon rights group. Pairing the two: Pokémon clips and Sarah McLachlan’s commercial was the perfect way of trying to show what I meant. When people just hear the music they think of that commercial right away.

Along that same vein I created a billboard ad that I modeled after some that I’ve seen from a very popular company called Domo. Although, this ad is geared towards the protection of Pokémon against poaching. With so many different species of Pokémon there is plethora of opportunity for poaching. This ad would be intended to generate awareness of Pokémon poaching and contains a website address that would allow people to help protect innocent Pokémon. Not only does it generate awareness, but it makes protecting Pokémon cool. At least, it’s supposed to.  

Magazine

When I was coming up with the concept of this world I thought about how I would show multiple things going on in a small space. There was no better place for that than a magazine. Complete with articles and advertisements that would expand the world. For the first advertisement I wanted to show a release for a new PokéBall. I used Photoshop to create everything by first creating the outline of a PokeBall then layering a galaxy and keeping only what fit inside, and then did the same with the silver bottom. When that was set I tried to make it look a bit more three-dimensional by adding a bit of a gradient shade. Then I just created a tag line and copy for the advertisement the same way apple would have. This was largely inspired by Apple advertisements because I pictured the eSiplh. Company to be a leading innovator in technology.

The second portion of the magazine was merely a news report about rising stars. I kind of treated this like a typical kids magazine because most Pokémon trainers are young. So I made sure the type was larger than normal and it was merely about simple stuff and their achievements. However I wanted to also make it informative and have a call back to Aralie’s video. This was all created in Adobe InDesign, I largely didn’t know what I was doing but had some good drive about how I wanted it to look. The Pictures I just took from the internet from some great Co-players That I felt had a good look about them for the world and Ideally if I were to create this world for a film I would have made a photo-shoot with actual people.

The last part was to show how Pokémon influenced the fashion world. This doesn’t quite fit into a teen magazine but I feel that it would help influence the kids to learn better fashion but more so If this were to be a real world there would be more street worthy clothes and not so bright or flamboyant as we see in the anime. However that goes without saying that some cultures might adopt that type of style. Yet from my perspective I felt that high fashion would drive the industry. This photo was made by merely inserting a Pokémon into the already taken photo from fashion magazines and with a selected Pokémon to show a possible influence of style.

Education

When Pokémon are the animals that inhabit your world, you’re going to have to study them. Considering that there are so many types, I started at the beginning. I created a page out of textbook that shows the anatomy of the Pokémon, Bulbasaur. It includes a picture of its exterior and also the interior anatomy of how it functions. The page also includes a physical description, some interesting parts of its personality, and its evolution forms.

Textual Poaching

Click here

Remix of A Woman

I chose to do a remix of two songs that I really love. The first part that is played is “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman and the second is “Blackbird” by The Beatles. I think that they are very different songs and that is why they make a great story. After we watched the remix of The Birth of a Nation I was inspired by how the DJ took two forms of art that were opposite and made them into something new. That is what I tried to do, but with a twist.

The reason why I think that these two songs are really different is because “Fast Car” is about a woman being oppressed by her life and “Black Bird” is about black women’s rights. Tracy Chapman is a black woman and so am I; I feel like I identify with both of these traits. Many women feel that they can do more so they try to break free. That is where “Blackbird” comes in. It is about freedom and setting free. I feel like in my rendition the woman is oppressed and then is set free. The Beatles sing about freedom and not being oppressed anymore:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

In the end I go back to “Fast Car” because this woman had to come down to reality, but I do play it a bit stronger to say that she is content and not timid anymore. Even though she returns to her old life, it is a happy story, she finds the missing piece to her life: wings.