Response to Brainwashed

http://changethis.com/manifesto/66.01.Brainwashed/pdf/66.01.Brainwashed.pdf

^Link to Brainwashed, by Seth Godin^

Layer #1, Acknowledging the Lizard, spoke about how nobody likes to get laughed at - that the anger it causes "shuts down our art". We need to realize when this "resistance" (the little voice in our head that keeps us brainwashed) is barricading us from our creative selves, and to break it down. That we need to know that lizard-brain, the one that keeps us in line to do what we're told, is there so that we can ignore it, and get past it to what we want to do, are suppose to do.

Layer #2, Fail, was about that we cannot invent without failing - that we need to have the ability to fall and pick ourselves back up to re-invent. We need to take risks, so that one of those risks pays-off; and even if it doesn't, we can learn from it, and know that failure isn't the end. We need to change, and failing helps that for the better.

I did find this assignment useful: I like to preform stand-up comedy, therefore I make people laugh. However, I am not used to being laughed at, or disciplined for that matter. It was inspiring to read Acknowledging the Lizard because I realized that I may get laughed at someday for my work, but that I just need to persevere and ignore the jeers to get to the cheer, and be successful, yet appreciative. Then, in Fail, I found that I am not alone in the fear of it. I have always been timid in creating my thoughts because of failure; yet in this section, I read that failure is now a demand, because it makes you that much stronger. You cannot create a masterpiece with the first stroke - you need to fail so that you can learn. And in video production, I may not get the best role in the film, or present the best idea - but that shouldn't stop me from pushing to get a higher position, or to stop expressing my thought and ideas.

This was a great article, and I would suggest others read it.

Music/Song Critiques

Music/Song (Danny Rambacher and Jon Mikesell)

Soundscape Critiques

3A - Demo and Written exploration of Cover Songs

Cold as Ice

By B.o.B.

No Genre

Cold as Ice

By Foreigner

Foreigner

For this blog, I chose the song Cold as Ice, originally by Foreigner, but later covered by B.o.B. The original version came out in 1977, while the B.o.B. cover came out in 2010. Though this song is a cover, it is very different then the original. First off, the Foreigner version's genre is classic rock, while the B.o.B. version is hip-hop/rap. What I notice first is a difference in lyrics in the chorus and the verses:

Foreigner - "You're as cold as ice; you're willing to sacrifice our love. You never take advice; someday you'll pay the price I know."

B.o.B. - "You're as cold as ice; you're willing to sacrifice our love. And now you got me froze, I said you got me froze, because you're so c-cold, you left me cold tonight."

This difference in lyrics occurs throughout the song as Foreigner sings about a gold-digging girl who leaves when her man runs out of money; while B.o.B. songs about a girl who gave him up to the cops. Two totally different stories for one similar song.

Next, I examined the melody, as this too is noticeably different:

Foreigner - created the original melody

B.o.B. - changes the melody - starts the song with a different sound of piano and added a synthesizer, he added a beat to go with the melody, and lastly changed most of the chorus, keeping the main "cold as ice" tune the same, but changing the latter part of the chorus.

Then, I looked at the quality of both pieces - and within that quality, I specifically examined Pitch and Organization. When I looked at this, I noticed that these were the most different elements of the song; basically both were opposite of the other song:

Foreigner - their pitch was low at the piano part; however the pitch was high in the vocals. The organization was ordered - started with the chorus, went into a verse, then back to a chorus, then instrumental. They basically just repeated the same lyrics throughout.

B.o.B. - his version had a higher pitched piano as the melody then Foreigner's, but a lower pitched chorus. Then in the organization, he started with a verse, went to a chorus, then back to the verse, chorus, and then into a vocal transition. He really told a story in his version. He also changed the lyrics in the chorus, as I mentioned before, therefore having a create a new organization for the song in that aspect.

I furthered my examination into analyzing the lyrics. Though they were contrasting in the literal text, I could find the affinity of the songs within the subtext. As I said before, Foreigner was singing about a a gold-digging girl, and repeated all their lyrics; while B.o.B. told a story about a girl who gave the narrator up to the cops. Yes, these are very different, but when looking at what the song is about, the subtext, the affinity can be discovered - that the songs are about men whose hearts are broken because of their girls. B.o.B. decided to keep the lyric "cold as ice" with the same meaning Foreigner presented it.

Soundscape: Image & Sounds, then PowerPoint

PowerPoint music: Play Your Part (Pt. 1) - By Girl Talk, from the album Feed the Animals

1B - Mitch Ditkoff's 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas

This article was an awesome article. It was helpful in so many ways that it is going to be difficult to just critique three of them; however I will only do three because I prefer not to do four for this blog post.
3. Fantasize -
To fantasize is one of the best things to do in life - to create your own perspectives and ideas, invent your own objects, make people do what you want in your mind. Fantasizing, as I agree with Ditkoff, is definitely one of the musts to get a breakthrough idea. One of my guilty pleasures is to fantasize zombie attacks, such as Day of the Dead, and what I would do if one were to happen right now. Well, right now I am sitting at my desk, so if one were to occur I would run to a car, hijack it, and get to Wal-mart so that I can have shelter and everything else that exists because if it exists, then Wal-mart has it. See, I was off on one of my fantasies again - they are so easy to get into. But my guilty pleasure of fantasizing that lead me to have an awesome idea for a movie that I acted on and created with one of my best friends a few summers ago. That is why I agree on this one.
2. Listen to your subconscious -
Have you ever had a dream that you thought would make an awesome movie? I do all the time - so much that I keep logs and then create stories out of them. The subconscious is so amazing in that way - things seem so realistic when your asleep, yet what occurs is so radical that the concepts are sometimes amazing. I once had this dream that an American extremist group evolved to create a mass terrorism attack on America - yet it was set about 50 in the future. The landscaping and building were awesome, and so were the cars and roads. But what stuck out the most to me was this highway exit/entrance thing that looked like a giant beehive of weaving roads right outside this future city. I found it to be so amazing that I have kept the image in my head and hope to one day write the dream story into a movie and use that image. Dreams are amazing to help create ideas.
1. Suspend logic -
What would have Inception been like if not for the verisimilitude it presented in helping us believe that going into dreams was possible. If we watched the movie and thought literally throughout, the movie would have been terrible. We enjoy that movie because we suspend our thoughts on whats real and not real. Yes, dream invasion is not possible, but how much fun is it to believe that it is for 2 hours? We need to let go of gravity when brainstorming for ideas that could be breakthrough..let our inner-child free and imagine whatever we want. Media is the one place where humans can fly, and aliens do exist. That is why I found suspending logic to be the #1 way.

Prompting Action:
As I mentioned before, I have a guilty pleasure of fantasizing about zombie attacks. And as I also mentioned, I took action to this fantasy in creating a short movie. But my fantasies are not just limited to zombie attacks. I fantasize in books - in what the authors's write, I imagine the actions and events my own way, I create faces for the characters. In this form of fantasizing, I could turn the books into screenplays, and those screenplays into movies. And that is how fantasizing prompts action from me - so that I will one day turn an epic story into an epic movie.

2 - Find Your Howl

Find Your Howl, By Jonathon Flaum

An audio summary of the manifesto & my example of a meaningful howl:

1A - Who is Daniel F. Rambacher creatively, and why?

I like meaning: when I create, I want my work to mean something to me and the audience. ALL of my work (musically, video-based, written) is based off meaning and .
When I write, I want to feel the emotion I felt when I wrote it. I want my heart to race because the notes, scene, or words hit home - and I want the audience to feel that same affinity that I desired for the production: sad during a slow & deep-toned score, or happy during a sun-lit, blue skied scene that presents two characters in love.

Though I am mainly a video production/creative writing guy, music is a very large influence to me. I write poetry, and music can be as deep and symbolic as poetry - just interpreting the melody and notes that draw specific emotions. One of the composers who helped garnish that inspiration is Clint Mansell.

As the composer of this score "Dead Reckoning" from the movie Smokin' Aces, the music just awe-struck me because of the emotion it generated. The songs begins with that tension - the slow building beat and volume of the melody - that creates a havoc in the mind like "what's about to happen"? Well for those of you who have not seen the movie, this is the scene where Ryan Reynolds's character pulls the plugs on the ventilator machines, killing the man he was meant to protect and that man's father. The music helps with that tension of what is Reynolds's character about to do, then releases that confusion on what is about to occur with the upbeat, high toned part of the score and then Reynold's action of killing the 2 men by unplugging the machines. Mansell has also done inspiring work for Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, and Black Swan. Each and every one of his works creates the kind of emotion I want to create, and present meaning from that emotion.

Not all of the emotion I desire to create is sad or emo, as though it seems; humor is my number one favorite emotion builder. The largest influence to me from comedy is, of course, Dane Cook. His comedy is stomach-wrenching funny to me - I want that kind of humor in my movies. Yet his humor is not just senseless jokes; a lot of his text contains subtext. For example, in his Isolated Incident album, Cook tells a joke about his parents (both who had recently died of cancer).

It is easy to interpret these jokes as a coping mechanism for Dane - by telling these jokes, he feels he is able to move on while keeping his parents in his thoughts. This creative way of presenting real-life events in work helps influence me because I would like to present some events from my life in my works as Dane does.

As I mentioned earlier, I like to write. Poetry is by far my favorite method of writing, and also my best. I have always felt that by knowing poetry, anything can be created: music, movies, stories, art, etc. I feel that poetry is the most important form of creation to grasp to be able to be truly good at all the other forms. The poet that has influenced me the most has been Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran. His form of poetry is very inspiring and full of wisdom. What work I like the most is The Prophet, with my favorite chapter being "On Love".

Every chapter in this poetry book is subjective - what the Gibran's "prophet" says is not necessarily a general consensus; yet with his very persuasive voice, and beautiful use of language, it is believable and feels true. Fpr example - in this chapter, one cannot say exactly what love is, and what Gibran says may not be how some see it; however for the readers that believe him, or feel his emotion in the words, it is very believable. This subjectiveness occurs in all of his works, and I base many of my poems off of Gibran's style as I desire to be subjective as he is, so that others may criticize my words or praise them - just as long as they feel an emotion and show it.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes me run in the race to be a quality producer and writer. This is what fuels my dream to one day touch someone with my work so that they may experience the emotion and truth I attempt to within it. 

That my dream to be forever remembered some day can come true...