Reflections on Sound Design

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LAXJPlpD4k

The scene uses one main use of the “Listening Modes” and that’s semantic sounds. Semantic sounds are representational sounds, which means sounds that aren’t literally happening but represent the action that is taking place.  So when Spongebob first pulls the pencil out and puts it up in the air you hear a sword being drawn out of its holster because that’s what it looks like.  They don’t include any causal sounds because this scene is meant to have a lot of action that Spongebob thinks is happening but actually isn’t.  And causal sounds are literal sounds taking place.

            This scene uses the “Gesalt Principals and Illusion” really well to make it a stronger piece.  They use the illusion technique by never having an overlap of sounds but they keep them constantly coming and never slowing down.  The sword being drawn, then the helicopter sound falling, then the wisps of writing so fast.  It’s a constant mess of sounds never overlapping just constantly going.  The figure and ground method was also used.  When the pencil is up in the air above his head there is a bright shining light hitting the pencil making you focus on it more than the background.  Its also a lot bigger than it was before it went up in the air.

Finding Your Howl

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/51.01.YourHowl

The article called “Finding Your Howl” by Jonathon Flaum is about a group of wolves that were captured and released into the wild once they had offspring.  There was no leader because all the wolves forgot their howl.  One wolf stood out of the group (Mumon), he knew he had to “find his howl”.  So Mumon killed a deer to try to find his howl.  Mumon was then killed by a hunter and sent to the middle of earth where his pack awaited him while he stood on a rock and gave a big howl followed by the group howling.

The main point of the article was to show that it is possible to lose your howl or your own identity.  Flaum writes about Mumon and his pack being held captive and losing their howl.  Mumon eventually finds his howl after entering the wild and makes some sacrifices (killing animals and waiting for the bullet).  Flaums trying to say that even people can lose their howl in the way that their taught how to act and how not to act.  So you must do anything to be your true self.

Quote: "Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one." by Stella Adler.

After searching online for a quote that stood out to me I eventually found one that definitely had a big impact.  The quote is “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” This quote by Stella Adler speaks to me, as a creative person because it explains that art is a way to express yourself, a way to get away, and that it can give you life.  I can relate to this quote because for me making videos was a way to show off my own creativity to my friends.  It’s a really good feeling when you can tell that you have had an impact on even a couple people looking at your art.

Art has an ability to change people.  It affects people that create it by giving them an ability to express what the feel inside and their creative side.  This quote explains that life can be bumpy at points along the way but you can get through it.  People use art to let their emotions out on paper or on whatever they can.  Art can be made out of anything, which gives you such a wide array of options.  Freedom is a feeling that many think of when they think of art because it makes you in charge.

People go to art as a way to get away from the outside world.  From all the stress and pressure of the real world.  In this quote Stella Alder is explaining that troubles can be pushed away with the right method.  This quote was had such a strong impact on me because I feel such a big connection to it.  I connect to it because I know art has always been there for me.  When I create a work of art I know that it has my name on it and no ones else.  It gives me my own personal identity.

Art can give meaning to your life because it creates an identity for yourself.  It can give a face to you.  It gives you a whole open mind to whatever you want to create.  You get all the control of what you make and no one has a say in how you create it.  Instead of living in a cubicle for your whole life listening to a bosses order, you get a chance to be your own boss.  Being able to be creative leads to new ideas, new inventions, and can have a huge impact on society.

This quote is meaningful to me because it explains art can give you life, a way to get away, and is a way to express yourself.  These reasons make this quote a very memorial quote that I will keep in my mind for the rest of my life.  I have always gone to art as a way to let myself do whatever I want and has given me such a great sensation of being free.  Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.

Deconstructing Antagonist

Red was used for the villain because it is linked to aggression.  Seeing a red hue on this character can also increase energy and enthusiasm.  Red for fire is often associated with evil or darkness.  This character uses a red and black color scheme. Black is authoritative and powerful which are two reasons why so many villains have black on their costume. This black hue causes a mysterious evoking sense of potential and possibility. Also, while red is a powerful color on it’s own, black adds a sense of darkness to the character giving him an ominous presence. Both great colors to show an evil being.








This character is uses sharper shapes to symbolize action or conflict.  Narrow features appear evil and sinister.  While the triangle has sharper edges giving a more evil appearance.  It also creates a sense of chaos and anger when using geometric shapes.  He is surrounded by curves making him stand out more than the background and helps focus eyes more on the character.  Having him in front of a powerful asortment of curved lines gives him a feeling of even more strength than everything around him.  Straight lines and angles add to the fact that he is planning to do something bad.




Most of the image is used with red and different shades of red and other strong colors used to emphasize power.  The light is coming from the background and makes shadows under most of the characters body features pop out more than it normally would.  This helps your eyes move throughout the whole character.  Light is a big part in this character because the colors in the background are already strong and even with it the character is still prominent in the picture.  Red, orange, and yellow are used to symbolize fire and light in the picture of the antagonist.


Character name: Blazer

Deconstructing Protagonist

The hue I went with was blue because it’s seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed, which are qualities that almost every superhero out there possesses.  Also blue is perceived as a constant in our lives.  Blue is an excellent color for a superhero because it creates a calming and relaxing feeling.  The second hue I went with was green because green is seen as very tranquil and refreshing.  It has a balance of cool and warm (blue and yellow) undertones.  Green is also considered the color of peace.  Analogous colors- green and blue are adjacent on the color wheel. They are both peaceful colors that go well together and don’t contradict each other.





The hero has light shadows that are only a dark shade of blue. This allows the character to remain bright and gives a sense of good. The shading was only on him and at an upward angle which is used to symbolize how much power the hero has.  Light is associated with good.  Using bright light colors lets the viewer feel a sense that everything is going well and having almost all the colors on the character that way really lets the viewer know that the character is intending to do good things.  I used a brighter blue to make the character stand out so you would focus on him more and have everything behind him fade into the background.  Bringing out the saturation in his body really helps your eyes move towards him.







This character has really rounded features giving a calming, natural, flowing feeling when looking at it.  A circle is complete which is a sign of good and suggests infinity.  All the features of this character are rounded "organic" shapes which are easy for eyes to look at unlike geometric shapes which are based off sharp edges to create their symbols.  This character is obviously strong too because the lines of the shapes have curve which was mainly used to show strength throughout the whole body.  The character is rounded creating another sense of being protective (think of protective encircling arms).

Character name: Blizzard