Color

Beauty

Natural

Creative

Peace

Warm

Love

Freedom

Soul

Passion

In the presentation, Lawrence Lessig presented his opinions about the laws that choke creativity. He told three stories that state the conflict between the law and the use of technologies. For example, two famers think airplanes were trespassing their place that cause the chickens strike the wall. According to the law, airplane cannot fly without permission. So famers think the airplane against the law. Also Lawrence mentions the copyright. To sum up, when some new technologies occurs, laws are usually protect the old cultural. As Lawrence said, “Laws that choke creativity”. It’s may limit the development of the new technology. So the question is how can we maintain the old cultural and to develop the technologies by law.

As Jones mentions, the primary thesis of “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins ”is to establish the relationship of specific image, object, event or environment to conceptual frames, and these frames exist within art and technology and are present in other forms of symbolic and material culture. (51). Also, she believes that old form of cultural contribute to maintenance new forms of art and technology (51).

In Jones example, in the 1940s analogue computers were used to generate the earliest computer graphics and display them on oscilloscopes (52). By looking at this idea, we can see that old form of cultural influence new technology in some ways. New technology has developed more advanced on original basis. At present, we got iPhone, iPod, iPad and so on, all of those are technical products. In the past, mobile phone is only with a black- and –white display and cannot take photos and videos. But for now, we can use mobile phone to take videos or photos, and use Internet by phone. And many companies are developing HD screen. The So technology is developed based on the past pattern. Also, computer graphics makes our life better. And computer graphics exists everywhere. For example, Ltd screen, electrical advertisement screen. And we are always surprised by the 3D games and 3D movies.

Jones, B. J. (1990). Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins. LEONARDO: Digital Image – Digital Cinema Supplemental Issue, pp. 21-30.

I believe Jane Mcgonigal opinion is correct; Gaming can make a better world. As Jane mentions, “ the total we need at 21 billion hours game play every week”.  Why we choose play games? Personally, I think the main purpose for gaming is for fun and relaxes. After watched the presentation, I realized games could enhance people’s abilities. For example, LOL is a popular game, and players have to cooperate with team members. So in some ways, games enhance team spirit and communication skills. Moreover, when you win the games, you may feel more confidence.

How do you define “spirituality”?

Personally, I think spirituality is used to determine person’s ability. And it is not an innate thing. You may have spirituality when you suddenly got into the spirit of things. Also, I think spirituality has another meaning. It’s refers to mystery. Moreover, spirituality may control people’s thoughts; just like the human beliefs. We can’t really know what is the spirituality; every one got different answers on it. Maybe when can feel it at church, forest, temple or somewhere.

Does spirituality differ from religion?

For me, I think spirituality is differing from religion. For example, in Asia, there are lots of people believe in Buddha. In their life, ahimsa, nonviolence are the basic principles. When you doing a good thing, you will get the good return, but if do not do so, you will get the bad results. And the Buddhists call this karma. On the other, Islam has the different principles. Muslim never eats pork, they think pork is very dirty, but they eat other meat, like chicken, beef, etc. Thus, spirituality is various in different religions.

How do you define “creativity”?

In generally, I think creativity means you create something unique, the unique ideas, innovation or invention. It’s one of human’s ability. It could be exists in anywhere. For example, Newton discovered the law of gravity. Designer shows their collections in fashion’s week. Artists draw a painting. Mom’s cooks a special dinner. Those are involving creativity. Creativity does not have a fixed form, but we would like to define it as a unique thing or unique thoughts, which means unprecedented.

What is the source of creativity?

The source of creativity is from our life or from our experiences. But every one got different sources. I saw a music TV program before; the singer called Leehong, he always went to forest to find his inspiration. For him, the sounds are the source of creativity. He records birds’ sounds, stream sounds, etc. For me, I do not the exactly source of my creativity. Sometimes, I got creativity from TV or the Internet, but some times I got creativity from outdoor. So I think the source of creativity is also variety.

In general, artists create artwork via particular aesthetic experience. As Grey states, “ First artists see their subject, which inspires them to create. Then there are the technical aspects of seeing, such as an accurate analysis of the formal relationships that the artist wishes to express. Next comes a critical translation phase, where the art-making hand dialogues with the seeing mind. This dialogue can be a halting argument filled with traps and pitfalls or a harmonious song that flows form the soul of the artist” (72) by looking this idea, we can deduce that, artists always observe subject, and then put their understanding or feeling into the subject, finally, the artwork is created with artists minds and souls. Furthermore, Grey mentions, “ There is a vast difference between looking and seeing- a difference which is fundamental to the artist’s experience”(72). For me, I think artists experience is the basis of the creation subject in the aesthetic experience. Only accumulated a large amount of life materials, artists can give out the unique feeling on their artwork. Artists experience is often accompanied by strong emotional activities, so it is an indispensable part of art creation. For example, designers are shows their collections during the fashion week. Sometimes, we can deduce designers’ minds, souls, and personalities via their collection. Most designers put their life experience, feelings, and minds into collections. Additional, I think artist experience always includes artist’s value, personalities, and their attitudes on subjects. Also, as Grey said, “ Every artist has his or her unique process of inspiration” (80). We do not which moment their inspiration comes out, maybe a second or maybe few days, or even longer. And we always did not understand how artists seeing, their thoughts are unique, and different than us. Sometimes when we saw an artwork, we may it is bad, but artists may think is good, or maybe we think the work is prefect, but artists think the work is terrible.

Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.

According to this week lecture, we know that diegetic sound is the sounds in the stories, including the actor’s words, the voice of the objective object, the voice of the instrument and so on. And it is used to achieve the most natural, real effect on the stories moreover, non-diegetic is the sounds out of the stories, such as adding music make the story forward, is the most common narrative voice. As I see, I agree with that diegetic sound and non-diegetic sounds could be the factors to create horror atmosphere.

In the article, “ The sound of horror: Why hearing stuff is scarier than actually seeing stuff”, the author Renee believes sound is the key to unlocking the horror potential of film. For example, in Buffy the vampire slayer video, I remembered vampires were occurring when the background music started. And at that moment, the scene was scared me, so I agree with sounds could create horror in movies. Furthermore, the author described the reasons why sounds scare people. The first one is being sudden; the second one is by generating a frightful tone. Thus, sometimes sounds plays same rule as image in horror movies. Just like we have learned from this lecture, sounds can be contributed to the aesthetic of horror for the video.

In recently years, there are increasing number of people enjoy to watch horror movies. People may curious about ghost or vampire, which does not exists in our real life. However, I do not like to watch that kind of movies. Horror movies scare me, and I can’t sleep after watch horror movies. Because I always think of horror scene when I close my eyes.

In the article “ Why our brains love horror movies?”, the author Sharon Begley mainly discuss the reasons why people love horror movies. According research, she thought to watch horror movie is a good way to get excited. By looing this idea, I think people may want to experience something that is differ in our real life. Or their life is peace, so they wanna experience something to stimulate their brain or soul. Moreover, Sharon states, “Horror movies help young people learn to manage terror. They can either succumb to frightening images or learn to manage”. So maybe could control their bearing ability better via horror movies. It’s pretty similar as Carroll’s opinion. As Carroll mentions in his article “Why horror?”, “Many of us seek out horror fictions of this sort despite the fact that they provoke disgust, because that disgust is required for the pleasure involved in engaging our curiosity in the unknown and drawing it into the processes of revelation, rationcination,etc” (284). As I see, maybe people like to watch movies for fun or to satisfy their curiosity. And some people may want to challenge their bearing capacity on horrible things. To sum up, some times watch horror movies is good for us, but its depends on you thought.

Sharon B., (2011). “ Why our brains love horror movies?” The daily Beast.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/25/why-our-brains-love-horror-movies-fear-catharsis-a-sense-of-doom.html

Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., Chap. 17). New York, NY: Routledge.

Renee, V(2011). The sound of horror: why hearing stuff is scarier than actually seeing stuff.  No films school

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/11/why-hearing-stuff-is-scarier-than-actually-seeing-stuff/

Mise en scène refer to a production design, which contains sets, props and costumes. It’s also present in lighting, and includes actor’s performance. In the video, around 21:24 -23 minutes, there are few people walk in the street. The water pipe seems burst, and it spurted water into air. No one was speaking at that scene. Also the lighting is mix with gray, looks very dark. After a very short period, there are two vampires appeared. All of those create a horror atmosphere. So mise-en-scene in this example contributed to the aesthetic of horror for the video.

Diegetic sound is the sounds in the stories, including the actor’s words, the voice of the objective object, the voice of the instrument and so on. And Diegetic sound is used to achieve the most natural, real effect on the stories. In the video, around 7m minutes, heroes and heroine are talking. That’s is the example of diegetic sound. However, in this scene, diegetic sound did not contribute to the aesthetic of horror for the video. It’s just a simply conversation.

Non-diegetic is the sounds out of the stories, such as adding music make the story forward, is the most common narrative voice. And some movie sound is reflected by the voice-over. In this video, around 15:35, the girl come into room, and wanna say Hello to another girl, but she can’t speak any words. At that time, music is played. So that’s is an example of non-diegetic. This scene was scared me, because I do not know what may happened, maybe some vampire will appear immediately, so non-diegetic contributed to the aesthetic of horror for the video.

The examples of non-diegetic and mise en scene I had chosen are conform to video’s principle. The video talks about vampire, so the scene I mentions above are contributed to a horror atmosphere.

As Sanders said, “ A person’s physical appearance affects his or her self-definition, identity, and interaction with others” (1). Everyone’s aesthetic is different, so people dressing differ from each other. Personally, I believe people’s dressing and body adornment reflects people’s beliefs and values. As a young, I always try to dress up various style clothes in different occasion. I love dress up, and I will spend 20 minutes to make up if I have time, dress up can let me have a good mood. I collect many types of shoes, boots, flats, wedges and so on. I think shoes should match my clothes.
In school day, I wear very simple, and wear a little make up. I am an easy going person, so I do not wanna others think I am wired, so like a normal student, I love wear t-shirt, jeans and coat, and its also makes me comfortable in class. If I have to meet friends, I’d love to wear skirt and high-heeled shoes. But I do not like dress up in rainy days, rain makes me feel uncomfortable. And I just wanna sleep after end of class in rainy day, so I wear never wear make up and wear beautiful clothes during rainy day. And sometimes I am so tired, and then I got up very late, generally, in this situation, I will wear UGG or flip flops and with sportswear, because I do not wanna costs extra times to find clothes. However, in some formal occasion, like go to dinner with family, or important friends and etc., I will wear formal dress, I think its shows respects to others. In recently years, my attitude on dress up is different, in the past years, I think the expensive item is the best, but for now I think the suitable item is the best. And for me, I will never wear some exaggerate or wired clothes that may over fashion. Furthermore, I do not have any obviously body adornment, like tattoo, piercing. I am afraid of the pain, so I will never do something may hurt myself. And I always had bad feeling about tattoo, may be I got that feeling from Hong Kong movies, in most movies, the people who has tattoo is always a bad guy. So I do not like that. However, I love to change my hairstyle and dye my hair. In the past, I will change my hairstyle every three months, curly or straight hair. I believe change hairstyles could change mood.
And my parents are wear formal suits every day, because they have to looked as professional person, and wear formal suits is a kind of respect to other partners and customers. So in working days, my mom always wears formal dress and my dad wear suits. And none of my family member has body adornment, like tattoo and piercing. But my mom do like dye her hair as well. But in weekend, they like wear casual clothes, like tee and pants. I believe they influence me a lot on dress up.
At last, friends may influence our dressing style. My friends and I both love to change hairstyles and dye our hairs, so in most time, we do that together; and we have same taste on fashion, so we are go shopping together as well. Because we are in same age, so we always have the same thoughts and feelings. Some of my friends have the piercing, I think that’s looks good, but I afraid the felling on pain. One of my friend called Amanda, she love dress colorful clothes, and every time when I saw her, I always feel so happy, maybe because her colorful clothes I guess. And for a short period, I was wear colorful clothes, just like her. However, I always feel uncomfortable when I see some one dye colorful hair, wear exaggerate clothes, and with tattoo. But it’ okay. Every one has the rights to express their personality via dress up and body adornment.

Sanders, C. R. (1989). Introduction: Body Alteration, Artistic Production, and the Social World of Tattooing. In Customizing the Body (Chap. 1). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.