So, here is my final project! What are the main technological devices we use every day? We use cell phones, lap tops, and ipads probably 50% of our waking day. Those three devices all bring us closer to other people. Whether it's texting a friend or significant other, checking facebook, watching a youtube video, or even reading the news, these small devices connect such a large world. Than why do we sometimes feel so alone when we have the world at our finger tips? I decided to feature that idea as the concept of our video art. Earlier in the year, I ended a four year relationship with a guy I thought I was going to marry. Now, even though it's a good thing we aren't together, when we first broke up, the hardest thing I had to deal with was having all this technologies as reminders that I am alone. I was constantly checking my phone to see if he called, or texted, or sent me a message on facebook. But because every time I checked the screen was blank, I felt so alone and started to feel like I was going crazy. I know, so dramatic. Well that's the idea behind the video. That feeling of being alone when it is basically impossible for us to ever be alone. So enjoy! I edited this in Finalcut and created the music in Garageband. I filmed everything myself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veVaIeyaNGc&feature=youtu.be
According to the Vocaloid website, "Vocaloid is a technology for singing voice synthesis developed by Yamaha... the software allows users to input melody and lyrics in order to synthesize singing. In other words, with this technology, singing can be produced without a singer."
So I asked my little sister, who is really into Anime and Japanese culture, if she knew about vocaloids. She immediately said, "You mean like Hatsume Miku?" So that answered my question if people really did listen to this music. While my sister said that she doesn't listen to it a lot, some of her friends do. Honestly the whole concept is pretty genius. It is a pure money making machine. The software is already developed, so people can make music and eliminate a lot of the labor generally involved in creating an album. They can create music videos, sell merchandise, and even have concerts without having to work around a "stars" schedule.
I can definitely see the value in vocaloid music, but I find it difficult to appreciate just because it is so up-tempo, a little high pitched, and in another language. It doesn't really register for me, but check out some examples and see what you think
A scopitone is a kind of mix between a juke box and a music video. Popular mostly in Europe in the 1960's, the scopitone was a forerunner to music videos that we know of today. Music has a way of generating imagery for the listeners. The scopitone was one of the first technologies that explored creating imagery to sell music. Personally I love the idea of scopitones. They have a certain appeal for me just because they combine dance, music, and fantastic sets all together. Although the scopitones were fairly short-lived, their influence can not be overlooked. Part of me wishes that these were still around, but if you think about it, they kind of are. A lot of clubs or places where music is important will play videos like this to kind of show the crowd how to dance to a song, or get them into a particular mood that the club is trying to create. Like I said, music and imagery go together very well, the scopitone was just one of the first technologies to capitalize on that fact.
Here is my performance art! According to a study published in the New York Times, The average person spends 8 hours a day looking at screens. That's more time than we sleep, and definitely more time than we spend with any people in our lives per day. Most of us spend time on our screens even when we are with our friends. So it's kind of like our phones, laptops, iPads are all our friends. So for my performance art, I decided to spend a little quality time with my friend. I went to Target with my laptop and walked around with the Finder icon up on my screen. Here it is.
II believe that words can not fully explain EVA & ADELE, so instead I decided that pictures could better describe this striking couple. This couple who go beyond the boundaries of gender and mainstream thoughts of beauty are completely unique. They claim that wherever they are is a museum. I would have to think that this is true.
An iconoclast is a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc. as being based on error or superstition, or a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious verneration. Iconoclasm has been around for almost as long as religion itself. The reasons behind this deliberate vandalism of religious artifacts vary from literal interpretation to the bible to political reasons. The first iconoclastic period was between 7256 and 730 and was spearheaded by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. Modern iconoclasm is still just as controversial as it was in the beginning. One example of such an incident was in 1972 when Lazlo Toth attacked La Pieta a Michelangelo sculpture with a hammer while claiming to be Christ. This act led to calls for Toth's death as well as a nomination for a transgressive art performance award. Many avant-garde artists of the early 20th century preached destructive rhetoric. Duchamp himself was once quoted saying to "use a Rembrandt as an ironing board." But this school of thinking and the actual destruction of art are two different things. I feel like I am open to many different schools of thinking when it comes to art, but the destruction of religious or classic artwork can never be justified in my opinion.
Joseph Beuys was a German sculptor, installation artist, performance artist, and art theorist that participated in the Fluxus movement. While Beuys was always interested in Art, it wasn't until after World War II that he became a professional artist. During the war, Beuys was in a plane that crashed. He claims to have been rescued by a nomad who nursed him back to health by wrapping him in animal fat and felt. Although there has much controversy over the validity of this story, there is no doubt that this experience had a great influence on Beuys' work. Beuys studied sculpture at the Dusseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. By the time he graduated as a master student, Beuys work consisted mainly drawings that used unconventional materials and were often difficult to interpret. In 1961, Beuys became a professor of 'monumental sculpture.' It was during his time teaching that he became internationally known. Beuys was doing a performance art at an anniversary of an assassination attempt on Hitler when students attacked the artist. Beuys continued teaching (even after being dismissed from the University), being a shaman to his students and even participated in politics the rest of his life.
Brion Gysin was an important painter, writer, and performance artist of the twentieth century. Gysin studied surrealism with the greats at a very young age. But when he was about to preview some of his work, he was expelled from the surrealist group by Andre Breton. After serving in World War II, Gysin opened a restaurant in Morocco called 1001 Nights. But four years later he would again face failure when his restaurant was closed. Moving back to Paris, Gysin moved into the Beat Hotel and discovered a Dada technique by accident. Slicing through a pile of newspapers, Gysin translated a painting technique into writing by mixing together raw words and text. Gysin's close friend William Burroughs used this cut up technique in several of his novels. Another invention of Gysin is the Dreamachine. The dreamachine is made from a cylinder with slits cut on the side and then is placed on a rotatable object which turns the entire contraption. There is a light source in the center of the piece. With the combination of the light and the revolution, the dreamachine pulsates and gives the viewer a feeling of relaxation. The dreamachine is experienced with eyes closed. The effect of the dreamachine can be very intense and can cause the viewer to enter a hypnagogic state.
Here is my piece of grid art. It is an embroidery that took 25 hours, 23,000 stitches and a lot of yards of string. Although it took me much longer than expected, I am happy with the results. This is the original image that inspired me.
Dada was an art movement in response to World War I that begun in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916. Dada was anti-bourgeous in addition to anti-war and was the beginning of the abstract art movements in the 1900s. Dada was an informal movement, but at it's roots believed that the bourgeous attitude of Europe was what brought on the war. According to Hans Richter, dada was anti-art . Dada represented everything art was not. Dadaists hoped to destroy culture and aesthetics. Some of the techniques that were developed through the dada movement are collage, photomontage, assemblage, and readymades. While art historians look on dadaism with criticism, there is no doubt that this movement contributed a lot to the art of the 20th century and beyond Here's a short video I found on the history of dada
This video explains the way that I feel about video games and their potential affect on future violence in children. Violent and action video games have been around for almost 20 years now. So if these games directly cause the player to become a sociopath and a killer, wouldn't we half of the nation be killing other people? Media in general has desensitized the general population to violence and death, but desensitization is not enough to make people start being violent. Humans in their nature are constantly at a war with themselves. We have a strong desire to create and build, but at the same time, we are very destructive in nature. To say that we are more violent now than we ever have been just doesn't make any sense. The only reason why our destruction may seem greater is because we have created more advanced weapons to do the destruction for us. While I don't think that 8-year-old kids should be playing a bunch of shootem-up games, I think that it is the parents responsibility to educate their kids about the differences in fantasy and reality.
Ray Kurzweil has a long list of titles that goes along with his name. But the one that he is most known for is being a futurist. But what is a futurist? Futurologists are scientists that attempt to systematically predict the future. So what is it that a futurist does? I imagine this guy sitting in a dark room pondering with a pipe and pulling random ideas out of a hat. Well I guess a futurist does a lot more than that. Futurists consult with different companies and public organizations about upcoming global trends, plausible scenarios, emerging marketing opportunities, and risk management. Futurists are basically practicing probability.
Ray Kurzweil is most known as his position as a futurist, but he also has done a lot of studies in transhumanism. This new trend in futurism looks into the ways that humans will extend their intelligence through the use of technology. Kurzweil has written many books on the future of humanity and some of his predictions have come true. In the 1980's he published a book called "The Age of Intelligent Machines" in which he predicted that by the end of the 1990's most of our documents would exist solely on computers and the internet. While Kurzweil has received criticism for some of his ideas, I believe that humans really are curious about the future of humanity and love looking to smart people such as Kurzweil for answers.
When War of the Worlds first aired on October 30, 1938, panic ensued in much of North America and parts of Canada. Looking back, it seems silly to us that people would believe that aliens were actually invading. The circumstances that lead radio listeners to believe that the world was coming to an end was a part of a perfect storm of state of mind, format, and and a more trustworthy view of the medium. When War of the Worlds aired, the general public were in a state of heightened security awareness from the climate of the world scene. The second world war was causing tension and panic world wide already. America was also coming out of the great depression which was a time where the radio became a staple in every American household. The radio had become a source of entertainment and a way to get information about what was happening in the world. Every radio program had a certain format that the public had grown accustomed to. So when Orson Welles wrote War of the Worlds in a news format, people believed it. I've heard people today shake their heads and say that the only reason why people panicked with War of the Worlds was because people used to be much more naive than we are today. I just don't think that's true. Instead, I think that people today are just more cynical towards media. We are used to having information instantly and know that many times this information could be false or exaggerated. But even though we know that the information may be assumed, the majority of the public still believes what we are told anyways. So maybe we are naive too.
For my grid art, I chose to cross stitch a poster that I found online on a 10.5 X 13 sheet of gridded plastic. In hindsight I should have chosen a much smaller grid seeing as this one was composed of over 13,000 squares. It took me 20 hours to complete it. I used different color yarns but kept the stitch the same over the entire project to give it the look of little tiny pixels lighting up on a tv. So here it is. Unfortunately its too big to scan the entire thing so I had to scan it in chunks. You'll get the overall feeling of the piece when I bring it to class on wednesday
Here is my flipbook! The beginning is a little choppy and I'm going to add some more pages in, but overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. I'm calling it "Heartbreak." So, let me know what you think!
Walter Carlos was born in 1939 in Rhode Island. Carlos was a
musical prodigy and also a technical genius. Before the age of fifteen, Carlos
had composed “A Trio for Clarinet, Accordion, and Piano” and had built a
computer (even though this was before the word computer was a household term)
From an early age however, Walter Carlos was aware of her gender dysphoria. In
1962, during her time at Columbia University, Carlos learned about
transgenderism and in the fall of 1967 began hormone treatments. At this time
she changed her name to Wendy and began living life as a full-time woman. In
1972, Carlos underwent a sexual reassignment surgery.
Wendy Carlos is known for electronic music and being the
first to draw attention to synthesizers as musical instruments. Switched-On-Bach was Carlos’
break-through album that was created using multi-track recording and performing
pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Moog synthesizer. It was the first
classical album to sell over 500,000 copies and even entered Billboard’s pop
Top 40. The creation of this album was tedious and required numerous takes and
overdubs to create. The two sequels to this album are The Well-Tempered Synthesizer and Switched on Bach II.
In 1971, Wendy Carlos worked with Stanley Kubrick to create
the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange.
Not all of the music she created was used in the movie, so Carlos released Wendy Carlos’ Clockwork Orange with all
of the additional music. Carlos continued scoring soundtracks for movies
through her work in The Shining and Tron.
Wendy Carlos is a pioneer in electronic music, but also had
many personal problems due to her sex change. In 1979, she decided to announce
her change in Playboy because this magazine was so concerned with liberation.
She later regretted this decision calling the editors “arrogant selfish
prig[s].”
Here are some examples to the contributions Wendy made to the electronic world.
To find out more about the life and music of Wendy Carlos,
here is a link to her webpage.
Stanley Kubrick’s A
Clockwork Orange is a movie that you will never forget. Now whether or not
that is a bad thing is up to the viewer. For me, I watched this movie a couple
years ago because I had always heard of it and had recently taken a film
history class and was adamant to watch as many “important” movies as possible.
So, I rented A Clockwork Orange, not
knowing what to expect, and ended watching it feeling confused, uncomfortable,
and a little disheartened. What a sad world this movie depicts. I understand
the importance of this movie and other dismal futuristic tales. Many would
argue that the culture of our youth today is much more aggressive, sexualized,
and desensitized. This movie, adapted from a book by Anthony Burgess, sees a
future world where ultra-violence becomes the norm and turmoil and anarchy
reigns supreme.
One of the most unsettling scenes in this movie is where
Alex and his gang beat up an elderly author and rape his wife while signing the
song Singing in the Rain. I was
researching online the reason behind choosing this specific song for this
scene. I found out that actor Malcolm McDowell started singing this song
spontaneously during rehearsals. Warner Bros. immediately secured the rights to
this song to be used in this production after hearing McDowell sing.
Even though McDowell singing this particular song was
spontaneous, the choice for the director and producers to include this song was
a real choice. I believe this song was used to connect to the audience. This
movie was made in 1961 only 9 years after Singing
in the Rain was released. So almost everyone who went to see this movie in
the theater had probably seen Singing in
the Rain. Suddenly this movie becomes a possible reality rather than a
depressing unrealistic piece of fiction.
I asked my Mom and Dad about the movie Earthquake. They both remember
this movie being released, but neither of them went to see it in the theaters.
I asked if they remember people passing out or getting scared in the theater
for that movie and they both said that they don’t remember any controversy over
this film. But, my parents lived in Chicago at the time, so there aren’t a lot
of earthquakes there. So perhaps, people in California were more frightened of
this film because it was a reality to them. But where earthquakes aren’t
common, there wasn’t really any reason for audiences to be frightened.
The importance of sound in movies cannot be overstated. Not only can more complicated plots be developed through the use of audible dialogue, but soundtracks and music to drive forward plot could also be used. For example, soind can be used as a way to foreshadow events that are going to happen. Think about any horror film you've ever seen. you always know the bad guy is around the corner because the music changes to a lower more foreboding sound. Of course there are visual cues that work with sound to foreshadow, i don' think we all realize how important sound is. Here is a famous example of how sound csn be used to foreshadow.
Now every time We hear this song, the audience is prepared for something bad to happen. Here's and example of how sound and editing van effect the whole tone of a movie. As we all know Dumb and Dumber is a rediculous comedy, but if you put the exact same scenes of a movie and add a different soundtrack it changes the whole meaning of the visual.
Color can also have a tremendous effect on a movie. Color, like sound allows the director to introduce themes. Because color already has an cultural meaning behind it, the audience can infer a lot about characters and location through the colors used. For example, white has the connotation of purity and innocence in many cultures, so if you dress a character in white or light colors, the audience understands inherent qualities about a character without the film having to spell it out for the audience. On the contrary if the character is wearing red, the audience will believthe opposite to be true.
One of my all time favorite movies is called The Fall. It is an amazing movie for many reasons, but one of the best things about this movie is it's use of color. Heres a trailer. Now you tell me, do you think this movie would have the same impact in black and white?
Yet another innovative film to discuss! In 1927, French director Abel Gance released "Napoleon vu par Abel Gance" the cutting edge masterpiece depicting the early life of Napoleon. This movie is known for many new technologies in film making, but arguableythe most important of these was the use and invention of polyvision. The final scene of this movie was of a great battle, and Gance didnt feel that the standard screen size would do this ending scene justice. So he developed a method of outting three cameras together to film in a wide screen fashion. The three scenes were orojected on three screens with a seam attaching them. Gance was unable to make the images seamless, so insome parts, he projected three different scenes on the oanels at the same time.
Many theaters were unable to project this movie because they lacked the panels, so the film has many different versions. this is a problem that filmmakers still encounter today. There may be interesting and new technologies that directors want to use in their fikm, but if theaters do not the proper technology to show the movie, it isnt oractical to be made.
Napoleon by Abel Gance has now been restored, but it is still difficult to view this cinematic masterpiece. Some scenes are still missing fro. the original production.
"The Great Train Robbery" is a very important movie in film history. Created by Edwin Porter only two years after Melies "A Trip to the Moon," "The Great Train Robbery" is a great example of how fast movie making techniques were evolving in the years of early cinema. Already in this film, we can see how Porter manipulates the camera. Instead if having the camera be a stationary observer of the action unfolding, the camera follows the action and acts as an active partisipant in the story telling. For example, in the chase scene the robbers are seen starting fro, the background and running towards the camera. Then as they run off to the left, the camera moves to follow the action. This simple manipulation of the camera doesn't seem innovative to us, but it really was. it broke the fourth wall because it made the audience feel like they were a part of the action. Porter broke the fourth wall even further with the final scene of this film. One of the most iconic scenes in early film history, many modern directors have paid homage to the bandit dhooting the camera in their films.
The editing in this film were also cutting edge for the time. Porter used double exposure composite editing in the scene on the train car. Although this scene was shot on a set, they had the door open and added in film that was shot on a moving train. It was kind of like the first green screen, but instead of digitally adding in the footage, film makers physically added cut and paste the two pieces of footage together.
Another interesting film technique used in "The Great Train Robbery" was that some of the scenes were filmed outside on location. Up until this time it was highly unusual to have any parts of a film shot outside. Not only were the characters outside in this film, but a real train was used as well. This film took big steps for the way we make movies today. Instead of acting as an expasnsion of theater, This movie showed that films can be closer to reality.
To anyone who has seen the movie Hugo, this image is quite familiar. Melies 1902 film "A Trip to the Moon" is an amazing example of what was done in early cinema. "A Trip to the Moon" is hailed as the first known science fiction film. Using many different experiments in special effects and cinematic trickery, this Melies classic is revered by many. This film doesn't really break any new ground in editing or camera angles. The use of the camera in this film is obviously from the perspective of behind the fourth wall or where an audience would sit in a theater. The one editing choice that has intrigued movie critics in the fact that they show the actual landing of the spaceship twice. They show the bullet hitting the moon in the eye and also the bullet actually hitting the surface and the astronomers climbing out. Showing the same action from multiple perspectives is something that we take for granted today, but in the early days of film they didn't think that the camera could be multiple places at once. The set of this movie is incredibly elaborate. It is amazing that even though this film is not in color, so much detail of this fantasy world is given to the viewer.
I love looking at pre-Hollywood era movies. At this times there were no rules that directors had to follow. They were not bound by a set of standards that are now followed in almost all movies and that all people today have grown accustomed to. This freedom produced some beautifully creative films, such as "A Trip to the Moon."
I have always thought of myself as a creative person. Growing up I was never involved in any sports or anything like that. Instead I danced, performed in theater, took singing lessons, and played musical instruments (guitar, cello, and a little clarinet). So when I was deciding what I should major in in college, I knew I wanted to do something with my creativity. I soon found out though, however that creativity involved with advertising and graphic design is very different from performing a musical number. In my first real try of being creative in my major was in my survey of advertising and public relations class. I soon found out that it was really hard to come up with an interesting and creative idea. But it didn't seem as hard for some of my classmates to achieve. This was the first time I became worried that I wasn't going to be able to be successful in my major. I became, like Jason Theodor opened his speech with, intimidated that I wasn't original enough. This is something that I'm still working through, the fear that I might not be good enough. I would categorize my creative type to be an empath. I really understand the way things work, but I don't really have a lot of experience or faith in my own vision. I often struggle with being able to come up with ideas that are fully my own and when I do, I don't always know the best way to execute them. The best thing that I can do to get past this barrier is to continue practicing my craft. Jason uses a great quote that I feel like will help me get past this hurdle "Creativity is not a talent. Creativity is a drive" -Hugh Macleod I feel like I have the drive to get better. I love the excitement and challenges that the advertising major has given me. I have been interning at an ADPR firm since this summer and I absolutely love my job. I am excited to come to work since no two days are the same. And I think that's why I'll drive to practice my creative side through the exercises proposed in this video. So that I can have a profession that I love and am passionate about.
I have always been a huge fan of Broadway. I've been in a lot of musicals and seen a fair amount of popular musicals. (Being in Tampa can limit what you see) Here are some of the clips from the Stage Door blog that I felt used technology in an interesting way.
This is Chita Rivera performing "Where you are" from Kiss of the Spider Woman. I'm starting out with this clip because it introduces us to some of the basic ways that Broadway uses technology. Many musicals have sets that glide on set from the wings, lower from the ceiling, or come from the floor. This technology isn't much different from the kind that was used in opera's hundreds of years ago. The effect however is still as magical as it would have been back then. In this clip the bars in the background raise and lower during different times of the song. This clip also uses a spotlight to highlight Chita Rivera when her dancers are on stage with her. The spotlight is also a tool that has been used for years. Spotlights are used to show the audience where to look. There can be a lot happening on stage and it is easy for the audience to get distracted, so the spotlight draws our attention to what we should be looking at. Both of these technologies and the rest of the effects that I will talk about serve the same purpose. It is used to enhance the story being told. While some shows focus on wowing audiences with special effects (cough cough Spiderman the Musical) I tend to gravitate towards shows with an interesting story and music.
This is "Big Spender from Sweet Charity. I saw a local theatre do a production of Sweet Charity (My friends was playing one of the "call girls") This clip is also a great example of how lighting can be used to create mood on the stage. There is a low red light that is used to light the stage. This doesn't make the audience feel like this is a going to be a nice innocent song. The atmosphere of this scene is dark, seedy, and seductive. All of this is able to be communicated with the lighting and mood of the song. There is no set besides the bar that the ladies are leaning on. That is why lighting is so important, it can tell the audience all they need to know without a big elaborate set.
The effects that I'm taking about in this scene are quick since this is a montage. This clip is from Bye Bye Birdie. The train near the end of the clip shows one of the ways that a stage can transform through the use of pullies that glide pieces of the set across the stage. The revolving doors is another way that motion of set pieces can contribute to the story. While the technology behind the two set movement methods are not complicated in comparison to the special effects used in movies, the are effective in transforming a stage into a completely new setting.
This is a montage from Jesus Christ Superstar. This musical is traditionally performed on a pretty simple stage. The set is minimal, but they use lighting, specifically in the background to show a change in scene and contribute to the story. For example, the big "H" in some of the scenes shows Herod's home. The cross is used for the crucifixion. Lighting also plays heavily during the scene where Jesus is beaten. You can also see a part where the platform that Jesus and Judas are standing on rotates around the stage. I believe this scene is from right before the crucifixion and the platform rotates to the cross. Then Jesus is raised onto the cross. This technique is used a lot on broadway. What is always amazing for me is that many times the character is walking around stage and then is magically lifted into the air. But you swear they didn't have a harness on a minute ago. As with the rest of the clips I have discussed, the technology used in this show add to the story being told.
Speaking of being raised in the air, this favorite scene from Wicked depends heavily on the use of harnesses to raise Elphaba into the air. Without technology, this scene would not be able to be performed. This is the defining moment of the musical, and another instance where you don't see the technology at use. The lighting also adds the the flying effect of this scene. The lights are streaming up as she raises into the air. By using panels of light, it gives the added illusion that she is soaring high on her broomstick. When the chorus appears on stage, a cloud of smoke appears around them. It is as if she is flying about the clouds and the rest of the people are below her. All of these combined effects adds to the story.
West Side Story is a modern telling of Romeo and Juliet. Set in New York, it tells the story of two lovers from different backgrounds. Maria is Puerto Rican and Tony is a New York Italian. The lighting in this scene shows the harsh contrast of these two sides of the gang wars in New York. The lighting changes from red to blue depending on which side was dancing. The Puerto Rican side is depicted with red colors and the New York Italians are depicted with blue lights. Once Tony and Maria come together from across the room, the lights come together to form a purple color then dim down to a light blue that doesn't create such a harsh light on the two lovers. Then, at the end of there song a bright white light shines down on them the create a sort of halo. The symbology of these colors show how something as simple as light can mean so much. Purple of course is the made through combining red and blue. And a white halo represents a sort of innocence and purity. The love of these two is greater than ethnicity or background. They see past that and only see the one they love.
Finally, I want to wrap up this look at technology on Broadway with a clip of the opening of the Tony Awards. The Tony Awards is filled with people who work on Broadway and the people who watch on TV are all Broadway aficionados. The opening number for the awards comments on a lot of inside jokes and exposes some of the behind the scene action that happen in a musical. One of the first technological aspects of this show was the lightning strike behind Neil Patrick Harris. It was perfectly cued with his hand and the thunder went along at the exact right timing. People underestimate how much work is involved with that two seconds. The timing and the technology behind that part of this clip really set the mood for the entire song. It is poking fun at the shows on Broadway, but in a good natured way. Next we have Mary Poppins gliding across the sky. At that point the lighting changes to a starry look on the entire stage. NPH even points out that you can hardly see the harness. Then when Patti Lupone comes on a stage there is a set change that brings on a house from the side of the stage. I love it when NPH and Patti talk about the audience during the "intermission." This is something that anyone who has been on stage can relate to. The whole performance is filled with lighting that fits whatever is being sung about. Especially when NPH talks about what real life is really like. The lights change from bright pinks to blue. There are even lighting strikes behind him. Then when little orphan Annie comes back on stage the main stage lights go out to show that there is a pause in a production. Overall this scene shows the importance of technology on Broadway. The use of lighting, harnesses, fog, and set changes all add to the story. Without the use of timing in music, lighting, and all of the technology used in these clips, these musicals would be stripped from their very essence. They would become a shell of a performance, and wouldn't be a part of the Broadway genre.
Good news everyone! Cabaret is showing until the end of the month! Click here for more information.
Also here's the information for Scattered. Even though it isn't playing this semester, I thought you might like to see a clip of their performance and maybe you'll be interested in seeing it.
Jazz is often referred to as America's Classical Music. It is a genre that grew out of the fields of slaves and has developed into a music that African American's can call their own. Music has always played a huge role in the lives of African Americans. Songs known as spirituals were sung during a time of slavery to pass time and pass along stories of their past. Many of these songs were filled with a yearning for freedom and a deep dedication to God.
In the 1800s an influx of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, France, and many other European countries contributed to the melting pot of cultures in America. These waltzes and jigs inspired African American composers like Scott Joplin and Earnest Hogan to combine the rhythmic nature of spirituals with the music of Europe. This became known as ragtime. Ragtimes has a syncopated rhythm with melodic accents occurring between beats. Rag time was extremely popular in the African American community and even became popular with the rest of the North American Audience in the early 20th century. Maple Time Rag is one of the most famous examples of ragtime music
Was created in the early 20th century as a combination again of European styles of music with traditionally African American music like blues and ragtime. Although jazz developed in many different cities in the United States, many believe that it originated in New Orleans. New Orleans has a history of being a mix of many different cultures. At one time or another, all of the European colonists held stake in this piece of land. Sitting at the mouth of the Mississippi River made New Orleans made it so unique. As African Americans moved to northern cities like Chicago and New York, this daring new kind of music dared the youth of America to break away from their parents old fashioned views. With new technology such as the radio, the sounds of Jazz were able to reach every corner of America which helped this genre grow at an amazing rate.
This video provides a brief overview of the history of jazz and some examples of the early pieces
Prohibition also contributed to the growth and possibility of Jazz. Known as the jazz age, this period of time was filled with speakeasies where this genre of music thrived.
There are many different styles of Jazz. Bebop, swing jazz, ragtime jazz, folk jazz, gospel jazz. Each one of these is like a separate genre. But my favorite type of jazz is Big Band. Big Band Jazz gave names to Duke Ellington and Luis Armstrong just to name a few. This type of jazz has three main parts, reeds, rhythm and brass. These bands played mainly in unison, but often a solo instrument would start lines of improvised melodies. This type of jazz later developed into swing music.
Here is one of my favorite Jazz songs. I heard this played when I went to New Orleans. This song just takes you back to the Jazz Era. It is amazing to think of all of the genres of music that came from Jazz (Like Rock and Roll) It is an amazing genre of music that is uniquely American.
