Abel Gance

Abel Gance

Abel Gance is considered to be a very important figure in film. He "embarked on his greatest project, a six-part life of Napoleon." Apparently, he used a lot of concepts that were rare for the time. You can see his work influences movies now still.  For example, Gance was the first to use a handheld camera. If you watch the movie Cloverfield, the whole movie is filmed from the viewpoint of a handheld camera. He made a widescreen image of a French flag. If you notice, all of our movies are showed in widescreen. He is most famous for a system he called Polyvision which used "triple cameras to create a spectacular panoramic effect." Personally, I think the most influential technique he brought to the table was the rapid cutting. It's something that we use in every movie, show and cartoon.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Gance

Frame By Frame

Grease- Summer Nights  (featuring Legos)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_whyjdt5Qso

First off, I thought this was hilarious. I know that it was drawn out like the videos we have seen in class, but using legos requires the same technique. I thought it looked very smooth and was very well done. I like how they used a from a movie and fit the legos into the parts. I'll be honest though, I personally have never seen the movie so I can't comment too much on how it feels seeing legos representing a "classic" movie. Either way, the animation is well constructed. There are times you even see the frame of the bleachers (or whatever the guys are on) come out of place when the one lego leans on it then back into place when he leans forward. Maybe it's just me, but I thought that was a nice touch.

Flash Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyeg5qK3uZI

This one was really short but I thought it was interesting to showcase the process that you have to go through to add color, shadow, etc. First, the frame by frame shows the sketch motion. Then, it shows the same motions with the outline. Then it adds color, etc. It was interesting to see that the frame by frame has multiple steps as opposed to just one overall draw, color and everything.

Post-It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-OSwVDtug&feature=related

This one was really interesting. The animation included drawings, hands, objects. Everything worked. The hand would add more drawings. The objects moved with the drawings. Just the whole thing was my favorite of the 3 that I've posted up here. If anyone checks any of the 3 out, this one should be it.

Taylor Who? Oh, you mean Beyonce?

Graphics I found online

Music Maze

Very cool. Called the music maze.

http://static.echonest.com/musicmaze/MusicMaze.html

Stock Markets

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 occurred after an economic boom that led everyone at the time feeling as if there could be no wrong. "A crowd gathered outside of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, stunned at the downturn," according to the article. "Rumors circulated of people committing suicide." People lost everything. They had put so much faith into their investments that when the crash happened, people had nothing to go back to.

The major differences, according to a user on yahoo website (I know. Not the most reliable source, but he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Plus, I couldn't find many other answers other than yahoo answers), is the Federal Reserve "failed to react in 1929. In the 2008 crisis, the Fed reacted with 'quantitative easing.'"

Also, in 1929, people would buy "on margin," which referred to someone paying for a small percent of the stock, while loaners would pay the rest. If the loaners felt uncomfortable with the drop of a stock, they could demand that the person pay back the money. When the market crashed, no one had the money to pay back the loaners.

In 2008, increased living expenses meant mortgages and interest rates began to double or triple. This led to many not being able to pay to keep their houses.

Both had the same outcome though. Many lost their savings. Many lost their jobs and their homes. Hopefully we can get out of the slump again.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100517135817AA3niDg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_market_crash#The_Crash_of_2008-2009
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/stockcrash1929.htm

Origins of Jazz

Jazz originated in New Orleans in the early 1900s. It really began to erupt during the prohibition and really had a lot of job opportunities in the speakeasys.

I thought this site was most interesting because it gives you a section for related readings, and even songs of the time, included with the history of jazz.

Did you know that Louis Armstrong sang What a wonderful world? I love that song. I always forget who sings that song. Now hopefully I won't forget since it's here in my blog. Random thought. Do you think Neil Armstrong and Louis Armstrong were related? There is a possibility. I know one was black and the other was white, but that doesn't mean one doesn't have a hint of the others race.

Blues also had an influence on jazz. Maybe I have a misperception, but wasn't the blues more of a sad, "I'm feeling down and expressing it to you" type of music? Wasn't jazz more upbeat? If that's the case, then I find it funny how something meant to express sadness went on to influence something more upbeat and happy like What a wonderful world.

http://www.jazzstandards.com/history/history-2.htm (Found this on the 4th page of google I believe)