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Blog #29: Favorite Thing you Learned; assigned 4/24/2019

My favorite thing I learned this semester was probably the different methods of interpreting images, pictures and paintings. Until we learned about these methods, I always used to just see images as images. Nothing more, nothing less but upon learning about the different ways you can interpret an image, I realized that you can always come with a deeper meaning to an image or that an image, picture or painting may carry an underlying meaning.

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Blog #28: Favorite Music Video; assigned 4/22/2019

https://youtu.be/aJOTlE1K90k - Girls Like You by Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B

- I really like this video because first of all, two of my favorite artistes produced this song and naturally, the song is just pleasing to listen to. So apart from this being my favorite music video, this song is also my favorite song. I like the video because I like the dynamic behind the video especially how every time the video camera rotates around AdamLevine, a new girl pops up. I find that really interesting. Its cool to see how they manipulate the camera and edit the video to give that feel of the video. 

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Blog #27: New Media: Music Video; assigned 4/17/2019

https://youtu.be/LXXQLa-5n5w - Pretty hurts by Beyonce

- I think this music video is a good portrayal of how the imagery rather than the lyrics illustrates what the video is about. In the video, Beyonce enters a pageant and does all these things to prepare for the pageant and basically what this is trying to tell us the audience is that there is too much pressure too feel or be pretty, especially with these pageants. People always feel like they have to do so much to meet society’s standards of beauty and that is what this video portrays and you can tell even without listening to the song or looking at the lyrics.

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Blog #26: New Media: Music Video; assigned 4/15/2019

https://youtu.be/QcIy9NiNbmo - Bad Blood by Taylor Swift

- In this music video, we see the elements of new media applied here. First off, we see how this video gives us the feel of a movie, especially the feel of an action movie. So, at first sight, just looking at the picture above, you would think that this was a movie until you search it up and realize that it was a song all along. So, I find it very interesting that they had the idea to make the music video have the feel and look of an action movie. Finally, the visual illustration or the imagery of the video really portrays what the song or video is about because in the video, we see Taylor Swift along with a group of girls kind of preparing for war or a fight with an opposing team and the illustrations shows exactly that. 

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Blog # 25: Television; assigned 4/10/2019

https://youtu.be/WdsrTWKCGIw - Homecoming Season 1 Trailer.

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Blog # 24: Television; assigned 4/8/2019

https://youtu.be/GvSMctrfb9A - Full house “The Beginning”

https://youtu.be/40KSSlLqi44 - Family Matters “Steve Urkel the Sleepwalker”

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Blog # 23: Bear Day; assigned 4/3/2019

- Unfortunately, I didn’t have an actual picture from the event that I attended at Bear Day but I chose this picture because I went to an event put on by the Engineering students and it fell in that zone because this picture is also of a project put on by the other Engineering students. So, the event I went to was a project that these group of students created for a little girl known as Sadie. They basically created an autonomous miniature car that made it easy for children with back problems or scoliosis to easily navigate these cars. So, they added a joystick and a red button, so if someone couldn’t reach the joystick, they could just hit the button and get the car moving.

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Blog # 22: Constructing Images with the Camera; assigned 4/1/2019

This is a constructed, miniature outdoor scene created by a photographer known as Vatsal Kataria. I fell in love with this landscape because at first sight of the first image, it looks so real and it looks like something that belongs in a movie as well and then, I looked at the second picture and I was just in awe at the fact that someone created this. Like, you can tell the artist is not only talented in what he does with creating this miniature landscape but he is also talented in photography with the way he turned something totally unrealistic into a life-like and naturalistic feel.

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Blog # 21: Field Trip, Museum of Arts and Sciences; assigned 3/27/2019

- These are two images that caught my eye when we took a field trip to the Museum of Arts and Sciences. These two images are my favorite because of the complex colors and designs that have been incorporated in the making of these artworks. Each picture at first sight, just seems interesting and like any other artwork but as you continue to look at it, you see that each piece of artwork has a certain uniqueness to it, drawing its audience to further evaluate the intricate colors, designs and meaning behind each artwork. 

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Blog # 20: Film - Mainstream to Experimental; assigned 3/25/2019

https://youtu.be/KamHwKHg64o - Experimental film by Maya Deren known as Meshes of the Afternoon. 

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Blog # 19: Film History and mechanics of film; assigned 3/20/2019

https://youtu.be/nfopLOkNres - Fight scene from Avengers infinity war.  

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Blog # 18: Fine Art - Art 21; assigned 3/18/2019

“Ladder for Booker T. Washington” (1996) - Martin Puryear

“Neukom Vivarium” - Mark Dion

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Blog # 17: History of Photography; assigned 3/13/2019

The invention of the daguerreotype process was important because it was the first successful photographic process in the history of photography and because of that it was very expensive and very fragile. So, only the wealthy were able to purchase it back in the 1800s.

-Second picture by contemporary photographer known as Jayne Hinds Bidau.

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Blog # 16: Photography; assigned 3/11/2019

- These two images can be considered a type of art; Documentary art and fine art. The first image is a picture and a clear example of documentary photography because this was a picture taken during the Great Depression of an immigrant mother and her children whilst the second image is an example of fine art photography that captured the Blue Cypress Lake in Florida. The first image is considered documentary photography because its just not a photograph of art but it was a picture taken specifically to talk about an issue while the second image is considered fine art photography because it was just taken randomly, not to document any kind of issue but to give people an appreciation of art and the beauty of the environment. Some similarities that can be seen between these two images is that they are both black and white and both images seem to have been taken in a certain way that could almost make it look like the photographer manipulated the pictures to get the real feel of the image. I don’t think each one could fit in the other’s category or rather, I think the second image could fit into the first image’s category and can be considered documentary art because it documents a part of the world, specifically a part of Florida. However, the first image would be very difficult to consider as fine art because its uniqueness to it being documentary restrains it from being anything else. 

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Blog # 15: Hermeneutics; assigned 2/27/2019

- These two pictures can be said to be polysemic pictures of advertisements whereby two different meanings are portrayed in the picture. For the first image, which is an advertisement by Chick-fil-a, we see the cows in the image saying “EAT MORE CHICKIN’”. I feel like this has a double meaning because obviously cows are known for beef and anyone who has ever been to a       Chik-fil-a knows that they don’t serve beef at all, they only serve chicken. So by having the cows say that phrase, I feel like the fast food restaurant is both trying to encourage customers to come to their restaurants by kind of having an underlying meaning that chicken is healthier and people should eat more chicken instead of beef. Also, secondly, they might be trying to tell their customers that they don’t serve beef. This may especially go for anyone that has never been to Chik-fil-a before. They want people to probably know what their menu is all about.  The second picture with the fries in a cigarette pack has kind of a double meaning because we all know that fries are addicting and for some people, so are cigarettes. So, I feel like this image or advertisement has a double meaning to it because on one hand, it could be telling its audience that “Hey, its as good as fries” which could be a good way for the company to promote its brand and on the hand it could also be warning to people that “Hey, It’s as addicting as fries! SO be careful!” So, this just shows the polysemic aspects of these two images/advertisements because we see how a double meaning may be portrayed or identified. 

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Blog # 14: Semiotics - Index; assigned 2/25/ 2019

- So, I thought this assignment was kind of interesting because I remember doing something similar back in my art class in junior high and I wasn't that good at it back then but I liked the idea behind it. So, getting another change to give this a try again felt exciting. I decided to go outside to the brick pathway leading between the bottom floor of the library and the entrance of Einstein’s. As you can see, I wasn’t successful with it this time either but you can still see the lines in the rubbing made by the bricks which is a much bigger improvement than what I did back in junior high because you couldn’t see anything at all. Overall, this was a pretty cool experience. I did feel a bit weird just going outside and placing a sheet of paper on the ground and just coloring with a crayon but after many efforts of trial and error, I finally succeed and I thought it turned out pretty well. 

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Blog #13: Semiotics: The Sign; assigned 2/20/2019

1)

- Signifier: In the first image with the Mitsubishi advertisement, I believe that the signifier is the rhino being portrayed as a car.

- Signified: We could say that the signified is the fact this car company is . trying to tell us, the audience, that the reason we should buy this car is because it moves like a rhinoceros and from our knowledge of the world and our knowledge of rhinos, we know that rhinos are big and tough. So, the signified could simply be that the rhino symbolizes how strong and durable and indestructible this car is. 

- Sign:  The sign is the tie between these two things (the signifier and the signified) because the signifier could change to be any other thing or any other kind of strong animal but the signified will remain the same. What this company is trying to tell us, the audience, will remain the same because they are basically trying to tell us why their product is a good buy; because it is durable.

2)

- Signifier: In the second image, I would say that the signifier is the recognizable symbols that are usually associated with the gender types; male and female. The circle with the cross usually symbolizes the female gender type and the circle with the arrow pointing downwards usually symbolizes the male gender types. 

- Signified: If we were not previously familiar with these two gender symbols, we could not tell what the signified of this image is but from knowing that these two symbols are related to gender types, we can infer that the signified is sending the message of equality because we see these two symbols converge, become one and become equal. So, the signified could simply be the equality being portrayed in the image. 

- Sign: The sign of this image could be based on personal bias. In general, one could say that the sign is the convergence between the two symbols and taking these two separate symbols and making it one.