Wrap-Up of Intro to Digital Media Arts

So, this is my last blog and I thought that I'd give my input of this class. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect so I had mixed feelings towards it, but after being in it, I realized that I have more of an opened mind about film and I loved the discussions that we had in class. The blogging was fun as well and it was great to see other people's opinions about things.
All in all, this class was a great experience and I am glad that we all had the opportunity to talk and let out our opinions, and learning everything together!

New Movies

The new movies that are coming out very soon are both The Hobbit and Les Miserables. Unfortunately, I have not read The Hobbit, but I have seen all of The Lord of the Rings movies, and I loved them, so my plan is to hopefully read The Hobbit before the movie comes out, because I like reading the books before I watch the films in the first place.
As far as Les Miserables goes, I have no idea what it's actually about, but I do know that it's a movie musical and I have heard about it before, but I never actually was informed as to what it's about. There are lots of famous celebrities in the film who are very talented, and I love the music for the film so I'm excited to see it. I would read the book before I watch the film, but the book is huge and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't finish it in time. Anyways, I think I can speak for almost everyone in saying, I'm super excited about these films coming, and others as well!

Movie Sequels

My friends and I were randomly talking about sequels to movies, and I figured that I'd blog about it, because I think it's a topic within the film industry that is discussed a lot, sequels. In all honesty, I don't really like them, only because usually the original is the best one, and if there are sequels, I'd prefer them to do one, and not keep on going. An example of this is Shrek. I love Shrek, and I love Shrek 2, however when they came out with Shrek 3, it was not good. It was mostly about Prince Charming and not really about Shrek, and you could kind of tell that they made the film because they knew that kids would love it since both Shrek's were such a good success, but I did love that they had cute little babies! I sometimes won't even go to a film sequel because sometimes I just feel like it won't be as good, but maybe I should not have that mind set because I want to have an open mind to sequels. Sometimes they actually are good, but I just am not the biggest fan of them. This is just my opinion, I am sure a lot of you like sequels. As for me, I am O.K with making a second sequel to a film, but once you get to the third and fourth sequel, not for me.

Christmas Films, Only for Christmas?

A lot of people, including myself have been posting about Christmas and Christmas films. My question is, are Christmas films only for Christmas? Do you personally not like to watch them unless it's Christmas time? For me, there are some that I like to only watch during Christmas, but then there are others that I can honestly watch all year around.

This is kind of like the preference about whether or not to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving whereas some people like to wait until after Thanksgiving. I think that it's fine to listen to music before Thanksgiving, and I think that it's great if you like to watch a whole bunch of Christmas movies all year around! The best thing about Christmas movies is that they put an immediate affect of happiness while you're watching and after you're watching, which is what I absolutely love!

6 days!

As we all know, Christmas is approaching! I know that we are all looking forward to getting finals over with, but I just wanted to encourage everyone to think positively and study hard, and you will do well and also be happy after you come out of the class with confidence about your performance on the exam. Since the classes are now done, I have noticed personally with people that there can be small bickering and irritation between groups of friends, mostly because they are stressed about finals and are ready to be able to go home and get away for a few weeks.
If you see this, remind them to just keep staying positive, because bickering about things will only make it worse on yourself and others as well. I posted this because if this is happening around you, I encourage you to stay confident, strong, and you will do great!

Signs and Wonders

I knew about signs and wonders before I got here from students and the website. I thought that it seemed really cool and I was glad that I was able to attend a couple this semester. I really like that the films are discussed in depth and the films that are shown really opened up my mind and even though a couple I did not really enjoy, I thought that it was a good experience. I hope to go to more next semester since I didn't go to many this semester. I thought that the films and discussions were success and informing!

Random Non-Film Related Post: It's December, Where's the Snow?!

As many of you can tell, it is December, and there is absolutely no snow on the ground! I know that this can be an annoying topic, however, I am from Minnesota, and it's quite cold and snows alot..so that is just what I'm used to, and I love it. I am sad that it hasn't been snowing yet, because I think it stinks to have Christmas without any snow! Plus, you can do so many things in the snow like go sledding, snowboarding, having intense snowball fights, etc.
Last year in Minnesota, there was barely any snow because we didn't have a winter as cold as we have had in the past, so I am hoping that we will get snow in the next few days, if not here then I hope we do in Minnesota! I realize this is kind of a pointless, non important topic, not to mention is really has nothing to do with film, I just hope that other people want snow as well, because, well, snow is part of Christmas, and it's beautiful and so happy!

Bioshock

Today during Emily's presentation she told us about the video game Bioshock and said it was a creepy game, and I am sucker for scary games. So I decided to check out the trailer for it, and looked at some game play. It all honesty, she was right when she mentioned that it was extremely violent, it very much looks like it when the trailer opened up with the man trying to kill a little girl with a wrench, but the story of how the game probably has a very dark and creepy plot, and even though it's it may be dark, I can tell that it is creative and something that keeps the gamers intrigued throughout the game. I'm not sure if I will play it mostly because I am not much of a gamer, but if the opportunity comes about then I will give it a shot because it does look very intense!

Film Stereotypes By Gender

Matt's presentation made me think of something that has come across with most people: film stereotypes. When I say this, I mean stereotyping films by your gender. I don't like that people automatically assume that guys love the films with lots of action, guts, gore, things blowing up, or fighting, and that girls only like the films that have to do with romance, drama, girly things, etc.
Even though these stereotypes can be true for MOST people, it is NOT true for all people. For example, I know a handful of guys who love The Notebook, and I know girls who hate it. Personally, my favorite genre of films is horror. Not because of any vulgur things such as blood or gore, but because I love a really good horror flick, something that is scary and well written with a good plot. I don't like blood and guts, but I do love a good horror film.
I wish that these gender stereotypes in film didn't exist, but unfortunately they do and we can't do much about it because the majority of guys love action movies, and majority of girls like romance movies, so it's hard to break the stereotype, but I don't like that guys and girls have their own "specific category" that they like.

Today's Presentations

To the people who presented today: a job well done! I thought that everyone's presentations were very informing and entertaining. Everyone seemed to be very knowledgeable about what they were talking about which was awesome. I don't like when people don't research or don't know any knowledge of the subject they are talking about, and I was happy that everyone seemed very informed about their subject and it made the presentations that much better! I was intrigued and found out a lot about things that I didn't know before!

Powerpoints

Responding to TJ's post on powerpoints I just wanted to put a little bit of my opinion about powerpoints. I do agree with him by saying that they are pretty cliche and they can be overly boring, however I think that powerpoints can be a success or a fail, depending on the person. Powerpoints can be the worst way to teach if the presenter is reading the information off word by word and not involving or connecting to the audience, because reading off of a slide is not informing the audience, it's very robotic and it simply bores them. I think that powerpoints can be a great way to teach students if it's done correctly, meaning they aren't monotone, they show passion in what their teaching, and they don't fill up the powerpoint with pointless paragraphs, but short and quick phrases or sentences. So, concluding all of this, I agree with TJ that yes they can be boring as all get out, but I think that they also can be very entertaining and informational depending on the presenter. My opinion is pretty neutral!

The End of the Twilight Saga

I went to the midnight premiere of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two, and I hadn't blogged about it yet, so I figured I would. First of all, I know that people either love the Twilight Saga or they hate it, there is little or no people who are in between with it. I have read all of the books, except I only got half way through the last one, but did not finish it. Even though I hadn't finished the last book, I knew what happened from multiple people talking about it. In my personal opinion, the books are way better than the movies, which is usually the case, though I do find the films entertaining, but I'm not saying that they are amazing, but yes, entertaining.
Breaking Dawn Part Two started very slow, and was a little flat throughout the film. I thought that the CGI was not very well done, but this is just my personal opinion. It wasn't until the last 20-30 minutes that I loved. There was a small twist thrown into the end, which I thought was genius, because it was not put into or mentioned in the book. I thought that it was clever and really grabbed the audiences attention. Other than the small twist, the movie obviously portrayed the book throughout. One thing that I will say about this film, is that it's not my favorite out of all of them because like I had mentioned before, it wasn't very intense until the end. I wish that there had not been such a long time frame between the last film and part one, because there was definitely not as much hype, which could have hurt the box office sales. Part of me thinks that some people went to watch it because it was the last film and knew there would be no more, rather than being super obsessively excited about it.

Life of Pi

Last night I went to go see Life of Pi, a story about a boy who is not only faced with the challenge of having to survive on a boat in the middle of the ocean, but also with a huge tiger that wants nothing more than to attack him to show him who's boss.
I watched the trailer for it and I was pretty excited to see it. In all honesty, it might be one of my favorite films. The storyline is very beautifully done and the film is also very pretty as well. I was entertained throughout and my mind never wandered off. The movie was truly inspiring and was definitely a Godly movie. I thought the acting was good as well and the film overall was nicely done. I recommend that you go and see it this weekend if you can, it definitely is worth it!

Presentors Today

I just wanted to do a quick blog about the people who presented today. You guys all did a great job and I really enjoyed everyone's presentations. Matt's presentation definitely put the class to discuss more about the films that go on in Hollywood today and even though it seemed people had their own opinions and similar opinions, it was very entertaining and and was great to listen to, and the other two presentations were also entertaining and taught me things that I had not known before which was great! Can't wait to hear the others' presentations! 

Tree of Life

I didn't attend Signs and Wonders on Sunday night, however I did want to post about this film. I watched this film this summer and let me tell you, boy did the film confused my brain, but also made me question and want to know more about it. Afterwards I listened to someone talk very deeply about it and what she thought the meaning of it meant, which was beautiful. This film is truly uniquely done along with the cinematography, which is to die for. Even though there are certain points where you find your mind lost and confused, this film is wonderful. I thought that the actors were wonderful as well, and like Leeper had mentioned, this film is very deep and difficult to follow sometimes, but it is definitely worth watching if you've not yet seen it. I wish I could have gone to go see it again tonight for the second time because I feel like as film major, watching films a second time makes you watch different things and notice other things within it. This film is very heartwarming and shows Godly things throughout.

Moonrise Kingdom

I was unable to attend Signs and  Wonders for the viewing of Moonrise Kingdom but I will say to those that have not yet seen it: SEE IT! It truly is an amazing film, so entertaining, humerus, and clever.
I was sick and couldn't make Signs and Wonders to see it, which made me pretty sad because I could definitely watch this movie more than once. I saw Moonrise Kingdom in theaters and I was very satisfied with it and left the theaters with it being one of my favorites. If you're looking for a film that is funny, entertaining, and something non-boring, then you should definitely see Moonrise Kingdom!

Christmas Films

This time of year has many reasons to be happy, and one of them is watching Christmas films over and over again! A common question is asked as to which movies are the best to watch over the holidays, and I can truthfully say that there are a selected bunch of movies that I can literally watch over and over again without getting bored, and the classics and older films are definitely some of my favorites.
If you find yourself asking this question, I definitely first would recommend watching this first: White Christmas, Holiday Inn, and Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Clause is Comin' to Town, and A Christmas Story. And then follow your inner kid and watch: The Santa Clause (1, 2, and 3). How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon and live action), Home Alone (1 and 2), National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Polar Express are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head!

Wreck-It Ralph

This weekend I went to go see Wreck-It Ralph in theaters. Before going I looked at the ratings it has gotten and it seemed to be rated pretty well, which made me excited to see. I can honestly say I loved it! I thought that everything was very clever and well thought out, and I love animations from that put other things into prospective so that as an audience we feel what it's like to be them for a couple hours. Other movies that are examples of this are Toy Story, A Bug's Life, etc. This film was well done and I thought it was very funny and entertaining. The humor was clever as well which made me happy at the fact that the film is enjoyable for both children and adults.

This is just my personal opinion, and I respect those of you who may not have found the film as enjoyable as I did. In all honesty I am huge sucker for the movies that are the point of view of things such as toys, bugs, etc. Films like that remind me of my childhood which makes me  happy and smile from ear to ear.

Children and Heaven

In our discussion today, I was glad to listen to all of the different opinions about how parents should tell their children, if they should tell them, about death and what happens afterwards.
Personally, I feel as though you should inform the child if and when they ask "what happens to people when they die?" By telling them that they go to heaven, they will have that idea in their heads, but as the kids grow older they may or may not start to believe in something else. Every child is different, but I feel as if a parent should let them know that haven does exist and that people go there when they die, but a child's imagination will go off from there which is the interesting and beautiful part. Like the film, many children believe in many different things. As the child grows faithfully, they will believe what they feel, but in the end, I feel like parents cannot force their kids into believing something at such a young age because sometimes they simply cannot wrap their heads around it, being so young still. As the kids grow into their teen years they will believe what they feel more so than what they hear. As a person grows emotionally and physically God works with you by letting you feel him in your heart, body, mind, and soul. 

Geri's Game

Out of all of the films, one of my favorite's was Geri's Game. I personally thought that this short was both clever and entertaining adding humor not only meant for children, but for adults as well. I know that Leeper mentioned in class that Pixar is great, but they may be slowly declining when it has come to the last year of animations, which is a little sad.

I grew up on Pixar and one of my favorite film's is Toy Story. There's just something very heartwarming when watching films like Toy Story, A Bug's Life, etc. because I feel like I'm a kid again whenever I watch them, and my connection with them is very strong and comforting. Geri's Game is played before the film "A Bug's Life," and it's definitely a short film that I will remember.

There are a few films that I picked out as my favorites that were shown in class, but I enjoyed the Pixar day, and hearing the different opinions, both good and bad, about the films in the past an the present, and possibly future. I hope that  Pixar continues to grow and not get too wrapped up in something that isn't what Pixar is at heart.