Newsworld

Are there any prominent symbols in the story that you read? If so, what are they and how are they used?

One of the most prominent symbols within the story is of course, the 9-11 attack on the world trade centers. The other symbol was the amusement park the kids would go to. The World Trade Center attack was one like no other; for many, it marked the end of the feeling of being safe. For a change, doors had to be locked, people could not be trusted, and you never know what's about to happen, that is what 9-11 means for most, if not all people. Newsworld reflects this symbolism by the kids world being flipped upside down, before they knew where they were in life, and felt safe, but once it happened, everything was taken away from them, including Newsworld, the park that was always there, until suddenly it was taken away due to the incident. The park, Newsworld, seemed to symbolize a time of innocence. It was disconnected from reality; the kids could go there to escape reality or problems. At the climax of the story, when the kids realize this wasn't the case anymore, that's when their eyes opened to the fact that their whole world has changed.

What connections did you make with this story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

When 9-11 happened, I was in third grade; I didn't know what evil was back then. Once it happened, that's the day we started locking our front door, our car door, not talking to strangers, and stereotyping people for merely existing. Like the kids in the story, I had a 'Newsworld', a place to escape to whenever, but once 9-11 happened it wasn't safe to go out alone, instead I'd have to be with someone, it felt as if it was taken away, even though it wasn't. Unlike them, I wasn't old enough to feel the future being a mist of fog, but, upon reading this, the destruction of the safety bubble was the feeling it brought back.

What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What media would you use? What changes would you make?

If I were to adapt this to another medium, I'd make it into a picture book. Even though the subject matter is dark, it'd help those born too young or those not around when the event s happened understand the power of what actually happened. I believe this story only touched me because I was there; I even remember being forced to go inside from recess to eventually leave school to go home due to the smoke of the remains flooding the area. That's a feeling you cannot give to one through text, but you can make those remember through text. Through illustrations one can be shown what to feel. The story I'd simplify it to the point of being for children, but keep the subject matter and events the same. By making it simpler, and removing some of the flavor text, but by adding illustrations, I feel the same impact would be achieved, but, would meld itself into being another genre of book.

In hitting Buddapest, mainly, I thought it was an author who traveled to a land they were not familiar with, then made a goal to show how unfamiliar it is within their writing. This felt like a motif of sorts, introduce an alien thing, then talk about it for awhile. I think if this part of the writing was altered, it would make me immersed in the reading, I wanted to see the child's point of view of the world, not a travelers idea of how a child perceives the world.

The ethos seemed like more of a all for themselves mentality. In order to get by in life one had to do whatever it took. Also, one has to live like they're going to die soon. In the story a 10 year old girl is pregnant, she would've taken more precautions if she thought she was going to live long, or at least it seems.

The writer talks about some daily life and beliefs of the children to convey the world to us. When the kids talk about how God places the baby in the stomach, the author is saying something different tharn what most kids from America hear when they ask the same question. Little things like this are the author saying "wake up, you're not home." 

The characters are in twined with the world of the story mainly by how they stick with their beliefs instead of going with our beliefs as a culture. When it comes down to talking about America, the argument against it is that it's too far, not anything bad really, just distance. This further concretes the world of kids from another country less advanced than most due to distance not really mattering for most. But in this world, the kids are probably thinking it's far to walk or bike to.

Alternity

When thinking of showing an alternative world for an existing intellectual property, I don't think of only changing setting. For this class, I watched a version of Hamlet that took place in modern times. When describing this film, it's difficult to say the least. The version I watched literally the only thing that changed is the time of the play, all lines said by characters are the same for the most part. While the story is cut down a little bit, and lines are edited, many of them are not, and come directly from the playbook. Not a moment went by while watching this film that didn't make me question the point of this version existing. Notable actors are in it, but other than that, the viewer has no reason to watch this film over another version of the play set within the correct time zone. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was shown, the film took the play, and turned it on it's head, offering a new point of view, and mindset when thinking about it.

With alternative versions, one of the better pairs to show from this class would be True Grit the film versions. The dialog was different for the most part, but basically the same thing was being said by each character in each scene. Things were omitted on each side, but, when it comes down to it, the different versions showed their relevance by the way each character was portrayed.

Adaption

This week, I read a starwars screenplay, the screenplay was the original version of The Empire Strikes Back.

If I were to be a costume designer on it, I'd play around the idea of a lizard. One thing I think would be challenging, which is why they might've changed it to a yeti. The first thing that comes to mind when creating this lizard in the screenplay, was obviously it would be a puppet. But, thinking about it more made me feel that maybe it was scrapped due to limitations in what puppets can actually do. Puppets are good for far out scenes, the closer the camera is to the puppet, the faker the animation will appear to be. Puppets can be very lively looking, but they always feel a bit outlandish once animated. Having this giant lizard, being the first scene in the film, will most likely be the first thing the viewer sees. If the first scene of the movie breaks immersion, most likely the rest of the movie wont be taken as seriously as intended. Having the lizard removed i feel is the best decision, which is what happened. Have this been made recently, computer graphics have advanced to the point that it's doable, I believe this wouldn't have been omitted.

Voice

This week, I was supposed to watch three films directed by a specific director, I chose Tomas Tykwer. What attracted me to Tomas Tykwer was his film Run Lola Run. I've seen this film ten years ago, back then I didn't care much for it, but, it felt like an experimental film, so I figured I'd give it another go. I watched Cloud Atlas, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Run Lola Run. Out of these films, I'd have to say Perfume: The Story of a Murderer was the most appealing to me in regards to storytelling. Cloud Atlas, while I didn't care for it, the film was very appealing and could easily been seen as a piece of art. What I noticed with Run Lola Run was how it was reminiscent of french New Wave techniques. Run Lola Run seemed like a love letter of sorts to the films that built that film era. Without going in depth with each film, they're very artsy in their own way. Run Lola Run with the editing, Perfume with the shots, and Cloud Atlas with the aesthetic of how the cinematography was done. One thing I thought up the moment I saw the directors work, was that now that I think of it, the films are very similar. I have seen these films before. Now that I re-watched them knowing they were made by the same guy, the only thing that shows between each film is the voice of the director being identical.

Media

Media is the cat on your face that wont let you sleep.

Multimodal Narrative

One thing that stood out to me while reading Asterios Polyp was the way it was executed. It didn't feel like a comic book, and it didn't feel like a book. The way Asterios Polyp told it's story was unique to me. While, I have seen similar styles of graphic novels, they were never integrated to this extent. While reading it, randomly at times I would stop reading and just read by looking at the pictures. I feel like even without words, the story can be told, and succeeded in telling itself visually. That said, I wouldn't recommend the words to be omitted as they only add to the story, the same goes to the illustrations. The illustrations, while they are done masterfully, aren't required to understand the story. Granted at times, they are the only thing to look at, thus being the only way to 'read' the tale of Asterios Polyp. Reading this felt like a fresh breath of air opposed to reading a story through a white page with black text.

Book Recomendations

After this course, here's a list of books I want to read in the very near future.

The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
To Kill a Mockingbird
Where the Wild Things Are
Tale of Despereaux
The Count of Monte Cristo
Tekkonkinkreet / Black & White

The Bicycle Thieves

I've chosen this film to recommend due to it straying from the norm in storytelling. The film is can be seen as a coming of age film. Neorealism was considered the golden age of Italian cinema, and for good reason; Italian Neorealism is a film movement that was a game changer in film. Instead of the everyday happy movie, these films challenged the viewers thinking. Not every film was happy, and more importantly, was so real it could be mistaken as canon if they weren't filmed so elegantly. Everything from the sets to the actors were as natural as possible, the actors being nonprofessional actors in most cases, and the sets being on location. A Neorealism film I’ve watched was Ladri di biciclette, known as The Bicycle Thief. One thing that I found out from the film’s title, the translation isn’t literal, the actual title is plural, which is a spoiler for the film. I think at it’s core, the movie is simple, surprisingly simple for today's films, but the way it was executed was unlike most films I’ve seen. I think the underlying story of the film covered the son’s journey of coming of age. If one sees the father as the main character, it’s a simple film, but if the son is the star, it becomes deep as how the whole world is sheltered from him, from being told to go away when crimes are made, to being hit for doing nothing. The ending has the son in tears, because that’s when the father’s shield is completely shattered, and the son sees him for what he is, and gets a taste of the real world. The acting of the film was phenomenal, I wasn’t watching a film, I was watching some guy with a camera follow these series of events showing me what happened. My personal reaction to the film was well received, if not above the norm, until the ending. The ending was sad, and felt very unsatisfying at first; it felt like a cut, instead of an ending, but, it made me think about the film. After thinking about it, it makes sense, and makes it more emotional of a piece.

Trump

When i look at I look at an image of Donald Trump like this, I think of the time when all the media nonsense was nonexistent. When I see this image, I simply think of a corporate head, someone that calls the shots and isn't afraid to crack a few heads to get his business ahead and keep it well. Before the media explosion with Trump running for president, I only knew him for his smart business decisions, like bankrupting his companies to get further ahead, cheating the system to most, but, not being in the wrong when it comes to a technical standpoint. When I see this picture, I think of him like when I thought of him now, not a man hungry for attention.

write a dream

Sometimes, in my dreams I'm there standing on a large rock formation, looking out to the surrounding ocean, seemingly endless in depth, yet there is a beach that appears only when you tire of swimming and need to rest. Jumping into the water reveals the brilliant colors of the coral reef below, something only a painter could create, especially color wise, blues that are bluer than blue, reds more vibrant than the finest Chinese ornaments , and crisp purples that would suck your soul away. Fish would swim around and tickle your toes, nibble maybe, but never bite. Eventually in this paradise, it comes to an end when you grow tired, when you dose off, you die, and return to the real world.

Reading from a critical position

With the short story I've read, when thinking about identifying versus relating, it sparked questions I never thought of before. I've always thought of the two words as basically one of the same, at least on the broadest sense of the words. While reading Even the Queen, with the intent on writing this passage about identity, I kept thinking 'yeah, I could say that I identify with the main character.' As time went on and I was able to meditate about it, I do not identify with the lead, instead, I relate. I've always thought about identifying as something that cannot be completely true, due to past experiences being unpredictable and the like.

One thing that struck me odd about the story, was the representation of women. There was only one man in the story, who had a very minor part in the overarching story. Even though the man's part was minor, it was well established that men were the rulers of the land and women had little place in the world. The feeling I got from the story was, even though there were hardly any men, that the men were behind a one way glass, looking in on the action, but never revealing themselves; always in control.

While I cannot say I identify with anyone living under those same restrictions, I can relate. As a person, I feel very few people can identify with those in this story because of the conditions being radicalized to the extremes. I feel this story comes from a place of relate-ability and the author wrote it from a place of heart, but I doubt even the author can identify with the lead 100%.

True Grit: Story verse

Before reading True Grit, I had my preconceived ideas about how the story was laid out, and how the characters interact with each other. With True Grit, and it's two movie adaptations, one could question what the true version is, myself included. The story verse was not altered in either adaptation of the book, but, for some reason, the byproducts were complete opposites. When it comes to story verse, I believe the author can only make the story, at one point they have to hand it off to the community, which is why there are clear differences in the two films. Neither is wrong, and there being such differences only celebrates how Charles Portis crafted a fine story verse which doesn't collapse upon itself when the characters are portrayed in drastically different ways.

Influence

After the class discussion about what influence actually consists of, and discussing how the Grand Budapest Hotel has a great deal of influential power, my view of influence has been changed. Before, I used to view influence as importance, not viewing it something that will happen, instead, it was something that has happened. I'd view films like Tron, Star wars, Pearl Harbor, etc, as the forerunners of technology; they set new goals and prerequisites when looking at current films due to having to best the older films with the latest and greatest. While I still view them as influential, I see it as a different form of influence due to them being long ago. Now, it seems like everyone has their minds aimed at the future, and because of that, everyone is trying to envision what the next hot thing is. Some say it's virtual reality, others, who aren't thinking about technology, and more are thinking about state of mind, are thinking about The Grand Budapest Hotel, in terms of film. When I saw the film, it was marvelous the way it was told, color and composition wise, each shot wasn't a wasted canvas like many other films before it. This film, to me, feels like it'll be cemented in the visual hierarchy of the great bench mark films such as Bladerunner. Sci-Fi films have copied Bladerunner to the point that all Sci-Fi looks the same to a certain degree, but, it's because the source was so great artistically. I feel like The Grand Budapest Hotel might have this same effect on shots and colors, since it was eye candy from start to finish.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel written by Jane Austen and probably one of the most well known books ever written. Based in regency England, it is a love story about Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy coming to the drawn out realization that they love each other while surviving amongst Elizabeth’s family and general society. Some readers might not be fans of this genre or the style of writing from this period, but it is a classic nonetheless because of its successful plotline. Austen creates characters - especially Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth - who draw readers in and don’t let go until the last page because of their chemistry and the long drawn out suspense of whether they'll be together or not. The downfall of Pride and Prejudice is that its themes might only cater to those who enjoy romantic or dramatic novels. Some readers might feel like it takes awhile for plotlines to unravel, impatient people might be frustrated with this type of book because of its point of view. Even though the book is slow, most people will appreciate this story for its plot-line, while Elizabeth and Darcy’s story is drawn out, it comes to be worth it in the end for a happy ending. Readers can also appreciate the historical context, you learn about the customs of the time while unraveling the story. This book has humor, sadness, history and love - which proves to be a good mix for creating what is now a literary classic. I would recommend this book to people mainly because it's one of the classics, especially if they were fans of period pieces or liked love stories.

Origins

My name is Michael Volpa and I come from a small town in south jersey called Newfield. I was raised as the younger of two siblings, the older being a sister. My parents were divorced since I was two years old. My fathers lineage mostly consists of Italian lineage, having his grandfather coming over on the boat. My mothers lineage is full Ukrainian.

My main influences come from video games as well as film. At the age of three my uncle gave me a Super Nintendo which I played nonstop, because of this Mario has influenced me tremdousy and was somewhat of a role model for some time. Getting older and having the knowledge of the men behind Mario and other large companies have allowed me recognize Sakari, the man behind smash brothers, miamoto, the man behind Zelda Mario and other large Nintendo names, and iwata, the now deceased president of Nintendo. From film the largest influence would have to be Miyazaki due to how touching his pieces are, he's taught me through his work to never stop at the surface ands to keep going as to add multiple layers of meaning and story to each piece of work I do.

My ideology on life is that nothing is certain, everything is beautiful, and at every corner an adventure is ready to take off. At one point in my life, i was very fond of science and finding out what things were and how they worked. Because of this, I feel like many things we know, we don't know everything about, like I need to sleep, but why. I used to be very pecismistialy but having gotten into art, and seeing the true nature of things has given me a new look on things, even an abandoned building has a breath to it that one could never recreate no matter now hard they try.