You're Not Promised Tomorrow (My Rant about Life and College)

Before college, I was a loser. My friends are going to look at this post and tell me the complete opposite, but they have not known me my entire life. When posting my first blog post onto the Intro to DMA blogger website, I came in feeling like hot stuff. Four months have passed on and now it is only apparent to me how much stuff I was not aware of. And with these past ninety-seven days, I am confident enough to believe that it is true.....I was a loser.
This summer was spent at a workplace called, "Tippecanoe River State Park." The hours were reasonable, staff was crazy yet lovable, and most of all some money was filled in my bank account/wallet. Our boss told us to bring a book to work because on most days, nothing huge would happen at the park. As a gate attendant and social media addict, I played on my phone almost for the entire eight-hour shift. Sure there were times where paperwork and nature came to my attention, but being a gatekeeper was not exactly the biggest position in life. During shifts, all the sitting around made me wonder if in twenty years, my passion would become my career and I would end up becoming one of those single forty-year-olds with a crooked back and lost future. I was honestly...depressed.
Then college at Huntington University came around the corner and my God has it been the best experience of my life. By, "best experience" I do not mean an enjoyable or melancholic one, but an experience that has taught me about what comes next after what we think is the end of our lives. HU gave me new friends that have come and gone, professors who have either been too realistic or awesome and a woman who brightens up my day every time I even glance at her. If this is what my life has come to be...it's safe to say that I have nothing to complain about. I'M TYPING ON A MAC BOOK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. But these gifts will not always be present in my life, however.
As a film production major, learning about cinematography, writing, set coordination, and movies, in general, has given me an idea about why my interest became an interest. But the biggest factor about life that I still can not master goes to people. Being the college students we are, we all get this enjoyment and connection when someone else admits to not starting a paper the day before it's due since we have done exactly the same. One day you will be laughing with someone until your face turns purple and the next week that person acts like you don't exist. College has taught me how we are human beings, not human doings. About time right?
What I am trying to say is that you're not promised tomorrow. God gifts you with life and life offers you another chance to seize the day. Set aside time for your loved ones, make room to improve on your personal development, give God all the glory and praise, initiate your homework, and look back on previous days to learn from your mistakes. Before we even blink, time will be out of our reach. When something bad happens to you, turn around and kick in the face to gather the good out of every situation. Improvement in our blood, we just give up on it too easily. Thank you, if you made it this far on my rant about life. I am a weirdo after all. For the person reading this, I wish you nothing but luck in life. It takes over twenty muscles to smile, but only a true feeling to keep things natural. (:

Rank: CSG

Used To (Vigja Games)

For some odd reason, a passion dissipates over the years. When we're still young at heart, kids find the craziest or most creative things enjoyable. In my case, I was the one kid who did literally nothing other children considered. When my friends were watching Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network shows...my parents had me observe the classic cartoons on Boomerang. At lunch, my friends would dig into their Kid Cuisines, while on the other end of the table, I was munching down on chicken nuggets. And when other peers would play their Playstations and Xbox 360s, in my room, countless hours were spent on my Gamecube and Wii.

Believe it or not, I was a hardcore gamer at a time in my life! Okay, take a moment to catch your breath but it's true. Growing up in a Christian home, my family was very heedful when it came to video games. Microsoft's console had many violent games ranging from Halo, Gears of War, and Call of Duty. So that was an immediate no-go for los padres. Sony's console gaming library consisted of much magical games, like The Elder Scrolls, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy. Therefore, my parents thought that would turn me into a satanist. So! My mother and father decided to go for good ol' Nintendo and allowed only two hours of play time a day. (Little did they know, I would stay up late and turn down the volume >8D ) Over the years when my parents got a divorce however, my dad left the house and my mother became more lenient. Let's just say hours of racing in Mario Kart: Double Dash turned into days of shooting zombies in Resident Evil 4. Gaming was pretty much my life honestly.

But now....I haven't even touched a controller since freshman year of high school. An epiphany struck me when my grades were going down the drain. At that point in my life, education and film became my life. So now when people ask me, "Do you play video games, Connor??" It becomes one of those, "I used to" answers. How we transtition through life stuns me at some times.

Sideways (Just wine about it)

"I'm so insignificant, I can't even kill myself." There are comedies and then there are comedies that share a relation to their evil cousin, dramas. Put both of these genres together and you create a........wait for it.........drama comedy! Alexander Payne is a film director and writer who knows what these types of films desperately need, a loser. Every protagonist in his movies is one over the rainbow or searching for something that can not be found. Only with Sideways, there are two characters.
Miles Raymond (played by Paul Giamatti) is a man obsessed with the presence of wine and has tried to get his book published for the past few years. Jack Cole (played by Thomas Haden Church) is an actor wanting to spend one last week with his friend before he gets married. Only Miles wants to actually spend time with Jack, while Jack tries to accomplish one thing, get laid. So there you go, enough information to explain how they are both crazy. Why watch a movie like that? For many people, including myself, we have all been there at some point in our lives. Wondering if we will be successful or meek, blissful or depressed, or stay awake one more day. Seeing two guys through that process, it has the personality of a wake-up call.
The film has a lot of heart. From all the wine of course, but also when the movie goes out of its way to remind us that life is an unexpected journey. For that reason, I believe that every college student should watch this film. Even if you do not agree with the filmmaking behind dramas and comedies, give this movie a chance. It will make you either cry or laugh just like your entire existence.

Rank: A-

Whiplash (Simmons isn't J.K.ing)

Wow. You know those movies that remind us of why our passion is our passion? Whether expression is based on artistry, discussing philosophy, saving a patient from cardiac arrest, or in this movie's case, musical talent, we always forget where the love for what we are interested in comes from. Whiplash sets the bar very, very high when it comes to striving for this achievement.
Our protagonist, Andrew Neiman, (played by Miles Teller) plays a 19 year-old college student who is striving to become the next Buddy Rich. He sees jazz instructor, Terence Fletcher, (played by J.K. Simmons) as the gateway to forming him into a true drummer. Halfway through his sit in on Fletcher's jazz ensemble practice, Andrew soon realizes the ways of the conductor's teaching. These teachings begin to take a toll on Teller's character as he breaks off his relationship with a girl just so that Fletcher can make his fingers bleed some more. This is the point where the film begins to show what true perseverance looks like. Staying up all night to master something, giving your all to impress the experienced, cutting out all of your free time,  and making sacrifices will simply not cut it. If you want the part, play for it.
The relationship between the two is breath taking. J.K. Simmons at one point throws a chair at Teller's character (which was not scripted). There are certain times where I could smell the sweat coming off of the musicians including Andrew Neiman. If a movie can build suspense based on whether the protagonist will strike the cymbal at the right time or not, you know that the film has done itself justice.

Rank: A

Here It Goes Again (Music Video)

Last class, we talked about music videos. This type of digital media is nothing but pure enjoyment for me. The first group that comes to mind is Ok Go. Not only does their music want you to feel all of the feels, but their promotions for the music are outstanding. When one studio does their best, Ok Go goes above and beyond with their creativity and sets the bar at a whole new level. 

The best example I can think of has to be their single, "Here It Goes Again." I know what you're thinking, "Treadmills?" Yes, treadmills! This music video doesn't have some deep or dark meaning behind it (Sorry Leeper). It is nothing but a fast-driven, original, and simple idea. In no ways does the work qualify as a professional effort. But there's something about four guys making a homemade music video that strikes my fancy. You can only imagine how much work went into this production simply from their crazy routine on the workout devices. We can only appreciate all of the efforts for what they put into this. It reminds us on how you don't need a whole film set to make something great. All you really need is a good song and idea.  

Music: It Can Make or Break A Film

Music. Whether you love it or not, music is everywhere. Personally, the art form is one of the many things that keeps me going as a person. But over the years, I have noticed how much it develops into other subjects experienced by people every day. In this case, the area is film or any kind of digital media.
A film that is well developed, planned, shot, and acted out can be nothing short of amazing. But if you have the perfect music to go along the scene created by the team behind the camera, you will create a masterpiece. The biggest example that comes to mind is my favorite TV show, Breaking Bad. The story is perfect, cinematography is lovely, and actors, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul bring their A game every single episode. However, if it wasn't for the music picked out by creators and editors in post-production, the whole setting would be completely different. There is a scene in season one where Jesse slings dope to his local customers that proves my point exactly. I would show you the video, but apparently, Blogger won't let me UPLOAD THE VIDEO TO THE BLOG POST. So if you want to check it out here's the title: Breaking Bad - Jesse Selling Meth Montage.
The next time you watch a film or any kind of digital media, notice the music behind the scene. Look at how it either compliments or destroys what the creators were going for. It just might make the whole experience more appreciative.

Geri's Game: Quiz #2

Call me unoriginal, but you have no idea how much this short film means to me. My eyes lit up just like Geri's in the picture above when our IDMA professor played the Pixar creation. As a child, this was always one of my favorite things to watch, yet I didn't even understand what it was about. Why was Geri getting up so much during the game? Where did the other man, looking exactly like him, come from? He was so mean! I found out watching it a couple years later that is was simply just an old man playing a game by himself because he was lonely. As discussed in class, this little movie was a major contribution on human animation modeling. Company founder Andrew Stanton stated, "Be wrong as fast as you can."Based on their past shorts and films before, this picture truly shows what Stanton was talking about. Because they experimented with other subjects before humans, they learned with failure then kicked butt afterward. We can relate with Geri in the film as well because don't lie, you have played a game by yourself and enjoyed it.
This film is significant to me for the reasons of wanting to be like him when I am older. Not necessarily playing chess by myself in the autumn season, but being an old guy with a sense of childlike wonders.

Tank! (Cowboy Bebop)

I use to be a huge anime freak. Every day, the internet would be my main source of watching the shows my parents didn't approve of and every chance given to me was one spent with Japanese cartoons. Out of the whole genre what stood out to me were the intros and theme songs for these shows. To my surprise, there is one that stands out from all of them, which is Tank! from Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop captures the presence of a great show by giving exactly what the viewer expects to see. Being a show in the absolute prime of lukewarm style, the introduction preps us for what is about to come.  Its whole setting has the style of a James Bond opening only more fast paced. By James Bond, I am talking about silhouettes, guns, people in action, and best of all music.

The music in this opening is nothing less than superb. Yoko Kanno, the series music composer, captures the feeling of swagger and high power with an entire orchestra behind a bluesy acoustic guitar while giving a jazz vibe in the process! This compliments the show and makes the overall feeling one to remember. Sean Connery eat your heart out.

To Pimp a Butterfly

Don't question that title for one second because I have something to ask you. When was the last time you sat down with yourself and realized how privileged you are? As a white eighteen-year-old male, I'm probably not entitled to even ask that question. Kendrick Lamar's third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, was met with critical acclaim in 2015. It is inventive with new techniques, original with the use of actual instruments, and a poem to how society acts in every day and way.

The songs on this masterpiece differ from sound effects on the first single "King Kunta" and the ever popular track that only made radio play, "Alright." While these are catchy creations, some have more meaning behind the earbuds. "For Free" is a spoken word upbeat jazz letter to a couple who are arguing because her man can't afford anything for her but Kendrick himself. Institutionalized talks about being captivated in your mental capacity while the following track "These Walls" gives us the imagery of how he takes out his stress with cheesy beats and guitar licks from the 90's. You can't help but feel the groove and truth. "The Blacker the Berry" is a spontaneous message telling us how people are killed for suspicion rather than reason and how Lamar is the biggest hypocrite of 2015. "i" gives us this guitar riff that makes you feel joy and the lyrics, "i love myself" reminds us how awesome we are as human beings. Everyone is different and no one else is you, so why shouldn't you love yourself?

Kendrick's message flows through your mind as you listen to the whole 78 minutes and the production of each song swims deep into your brain. It makes you want to dance, cry, and remind to think twice before looking at the color of someone's skin. Some people wouldn't buy this album simply because it is from a rap artist. To that I say, this is not rap, it is music.

Rank: A

The Hedgehog in the Fog

Animation isn't my major. Therefore, what do I know about the contents and significance of The Hedgehog in the Fog? This movie can surely bring a feeling of adventure but it also gives an idea of how the process of animation can be so challenging. As Professor Leeper told us, the fog in this film is extraordinary for its time. Surely the technique is well known these days, so taking that into consideration, you can only have an amount of respect for the makers behind the picture. Film production students like myself could learn from these animations that are ahead of their time. The overall story gives off vibes and chills when watching. We never know if the owl's intentions are to either hurt or follow the hedgehog. At one point the hedgehog even calls him a weirdo! (This made our entire class burst out with laughter.) Our main character is relatable because every single person has experienced a journey similar to the hedgehogs. We have gone out of our way to travel a long distance to see a friend, while no one can understand why we go to such a length to do so. They may even say we are the weirdos.

Zootopia (Animation is only going forward)

A bunny walks into a police station and gets the job as a police officer....wait what? Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) plays a rabbit with big dreams and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) portrays a sly yet selfish fox. Sooner or later, they team up and start to solve the mystery that will give Judy her true position in the force. This animated movie goes very deep. Never in a Disney film have I seen them go to such realistic measures and plotlines involving animals. Let's be honest, the idea of a crime story where the prey creatures start to re-evolve into their true selves again may seem a little far-fetched for the audience this movie is created for. However, the genius behind these films is that they can put an unrealistic characteristic and realistic idea together and make it work. It works because it is simply relatable. Any person, working for the police, could probably tell you how hard this feature hits the nail on the head when it comes to struggling for your dream. Along the way, you accept new ideas and ways of life as well. It's almost too crazy how much we can feel for Judy and her situation even though to other people, she's something we adore as a pet.
Zootopia is the best example of how much animated movies are progressing. While there have been many successful similar movies in the past, it's safe to say that film companies aren't running out of ideas. Who knew a bunny and fox could have such a promising impact?

Rank: A

10 Cloverfield Lane (Scary John Goodman)

How do you make a good alien movie involving almost no aliens for 95% of the movie? You put a woman trying to escape from New Orleans, a man with nothing to lose, and a crazy conspiracy theorist in an underground bunker together. The catch is the suspense throughout the film, however. John Goodman's performance is unlike his voice role as Sully in Monsters Inc. and even the role of Walter in The Big Lebowski. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Michelle) and John Gallagher Jr. (Emmett) also bring out their darkest, most critical, and deepest personalities involving the characters who they portray. They get so suspenseful that Goodman's role makes the audience scared over a board game because of his delivery. The movie also gives off some sequences of creative vibes. The three crack a few jokes and the film team even set up and entire musical montage that convinces us everything is looking up and everyone is getting along. The ending is really what challenges the movie's feeling. Without even showing the aliens too much, it keeps us rooting for our characters when they are put into the toughest situation. This gives the viewer of the movie an opportunity to let their imagination run and think about what would have happened in an alternate ending.
10 Cloverfield Lane's setting give us goosebumps, the production value is amazingly put to the test, and of course John Goodman gives us his freakiest portrayal of a crazy doomsday individual. I raise my glass to the team behind an original and frightening idea.

Rank: A-

How quickly do we judge someone or something?

Missing the train can always lead to a downfall. But, who knew it could lead to a life lesson? The short film portrays a lady who goes through a series of misfortunes. The worst of these is missing her transportation. Afterward, her lunch is being eaten by someone else. In this case, it just happens to be a homeless man. She sits down with the unknown citizen and starts to share the salad and have a cup of tea. Upon leaving and returning, it's revealed that she was sitting in the wrong spot the entire time and shared the salad with him.

This idea for a film can confuse some people. Some, may not even see the true meaning behind it. To be honest, it took me a couple seconds to figure out what exactly had happened. The movie shows how, as Americans, we can be so ignorant concerning personal needs. Imagine the character, without a home, was dressed as a normal citizen. The woman probably would have questioned it since the meal was a salad, but she most likely would have double checked around the area. We are quick to judge in this day and age. So quickly that it's hard to remind ourselves of our equality as human beings. She probably could have made a new friend if not for her segregation. 

Pleasantville (Don't judge a book by it's color)

We all wonder why those TV shows were black and white as kids right? Pleasantville takes that idea and sets the bar to three hundred. The whole idea of this movie is to show how ideas and morals from our known way of life can influence another part of the world. Gary Ross, director and writer of this film, exploits many stereotype characters that make us rethink if we act the same way as them. All that's missing is the black and white. In fact, compared to our daily lives, it almost makes the setting of this movie look like a utopia. However, we eventually see this paradise become full of color when one of our protagonists, Jennifer, (played by Reese Witherspoon) gives the fundamental characters ideas from the real world. Most of these ideas, as we can see do not make all of the folks from Pleasantville happy. David (played by Tobey Maguire) eventually convinces everyone to show who they are and to be proud of it. David helps his Pleasantville mother, Betty, (played by Joan Allen) to get through the phase of becoming her new self. In this situation, it inolves her transforming into a full colored human being rather than a black and white TV character. Ross' direction and experimentation is also a part to make note of. Some of the shots in this movie make me consider if I even know what I'm doing when it comes to film making.

As a full length feature film, Pleasantville tackles new ideas involving post and pre-production. The effects are amazing, acting is nothing short of professional, and story is one that will be as timeless as it is original. 

Rank: A

ConnorGates

Hey friends! My name is Connor Gates and I'm from Knox, Indiana. You can find it in the north-west near South Bend and Mishawaka. This year, I will be studying film production as a freshman at Huntington University. I graduated from Knox High School this June as well. Not only am I excited to learn more about my passion, but coming to a completely different town gets my blood rushing. A camera has always intrigued me for some reason. The whole concept of recording a video or taking pictures through a prism, behind the lens, gets the creative juices flowing for me. In the future, I hope to become a successful director and writer.

My biggest hobbies are pretty obvious by now. So let's get into my minor accomplishments. Throughout my high school career, I was on honor roll and became the manager for the ladies softball team. My school was full of friendly faces, huge opportunities, and not to mention lots of challenges. Huntington has grasped my attention with all of those aspects, so it would have been a major mistake not to come here for my next four years. Other interests include: watching TV shows, surfing the internet, making new friends, playing guitar, and finding the good out of any situation. 

Despite all those enjoyable things, I also have a strong relationship with God. He has guided me in all portions of life and will do nothing different for the remainder of my time. I wish everyone good luck in this class and year!