Chapter 8 - Cinema

Forrest Gump (1994)

Comedy - Drama

Forrest Gump is a narrative, which is a fictional movie that tells a story. Forrest Gump is a slower person than most, but never thought of himself as slow. Forrest Gump is played by Tom Hanks. This is about Forrest Gump's life growing up as a young boy and all the accomplishments he has done.  He is very inspiring to everyone he meets, but the one person he cares for the most is his childhood love Jenny. 

This stood out for me because I have always loved this movie. If it ever playing, no matter what I may be doing, I have to stop and watch it. Just makes you smile. A few lines from the movie are very memorable, where someone who might not have seen the movie has heard of the line from the movie.

"Run, Forrest, Run!"

"I love you Jen-Nay"

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

"Stupid is as stupid does."

"That's all I have to say about that."

The Restaurant Bubba Gump Shirmp is from the movie as well.

The clip I posted is from the running scene from the movie and is told from Forrest Gump's point of view to random people that sit down next to him on a bench. In this scene you can see the different camera angles and lighting that adds effects to the movie. The clip starts out with head shots of Forrest and Jenny and you can clearly see a rock hit Forrest's head. Instead of watching Forrest fall to the ground it shows you his feet and the braces on his legs to portray that he feel even though you don't actually see it happen. They show Forrest running from the back and then keep going back and forth between the kids chasing him and himself running. Then it zooms in on his legs and braces to show it in slow motion which I feel brings you to the point where you know something is going to happen. Meraculously his braces break off and he begins running perfectly fine. Then back up to Forrest's face to show how happy and shocked he is to see himself running without the help of his leg braces. He out ran the boys on the bikes and ran into a large field as the camera zoomed out to show the amazing hurdle that Forrest just overcame.

Chapter 7 - Theatre

Footloose - The Dance Musical

I chose Footloose as my theatre performance because when I was younger I saw it live. I had never seen the movie before but after watching the performance I immediately went and saw the movie. I really enjoyed the musical and dance aspect of the play. You could tell everyone, actors and the audience, were all having a great time. This performance has some comedy involved along with a representation as a MELODRAMA. These performances are prmarily with situation and plot. This particular play has real life situations. For example: This is about a family who lost their kids in a horrible car accident after a dance. The town then says dancing is evil and makes it illegal. When a new teen comes to town he pushes the town to understand that there is nothing wrong with dancing.

Chapter 6 - Literature

"All or Nothing" by Lang Leav

This poem stood out to me because it stems from my favorite saying, "If you can't love me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best." 

If you love someone for what you see it won't last because appearances change.

If you love someone for what you have heard, talk is cheap.

If you love someone for their heart and mind, it is great but what about the flaws??

Everyone has them and when you can look past them, then you have true love.

This is a dramatic poem. Dramatic poems usually involve life or conflicts and emotions. 

There is a bit of rhyming but not a lot and not exact rhymes, sometimes assonance is used.

Chapter 5 - Music

Alan Jackson - Sissy's Song

This song was originally written for a funeral for a friend of the family of Alan Jackson's that passed away. Once it was heard everyone pushed Alan to record it for the world to hear. I chose this song because on March 7th, 2015 my grandmother unexpectedly passed away. This will be one of the songs that will be played at the funeral service on March 13th, 2015. This song really gets to me every time I hear it. 

As far as the music itself goes, it is part of the country genre. This song consists of an acoustic guitar and the vocal talents of Alan Jackson. The tempo is a very slow and at times Moderate. The Harmony between Mr. Jackson's soothing voice and sweet strums of the guitar have such a soft feeling. There are very noticeable times of the song dynamics. If I were to look at the sheet music for this song I would definitely see crescendos and decrescendos. I believe that the texture to this song is Homophony, because there is a main melody that the song revolves around but at times there are different lines playing that compliment each other and then eventually come back to the same melody again.

Chapter 4 - Architecture

Click here to see original image

Architect -Unknown. May have been designed by Bonanno Pisano and Guglielmo of Innsbruck

"Leaning Tower of Pisa"

     This peice of remarkable architecture is located in Pisa, Italy. I chose this peice because I am Itailan and I love learning about the history and culture from Italy any chance I get. I have always wanted to visit this place and take a picture of me trying to hold it up. 

     This tower is 191 1/2 feet tall and has an estimated weight of about 14,500 tons. It was built in the 11th century and was not intended to be a leaning tower. This was to be a cathedral bell tower and the architect didn't account for the base of the tower being built on a dense section of clay causing the leaning. Until 1990 the tower leaned at a 10 degree angle, and now has an angle of 5.5. That is a huge difference. From start to finish, the leaning tower of Pisa took over 800 years to be constructed- probably the longest construction time in the world! If not for the tower's lean it would not be a historic landmark that everyone knows and loves today. This is an example of how a simple mistake can change everything and what makes our world so unique and beautiful.
     As far as the architecture goes it has intricate carvings, columns, archs, and arcades. A lot of repitition adds to this buildings beauty going completely around it. Proportion at one time might have been then but as I explained has had some issues with the soil underneath. The architect did not account for his context, or environment. Which was a mistake at the time but turned out to be a great way for us to always remember his peice.

Sculpture Post - Chapter 3

Click here to see original picture

"Agora"

Artist: Magdalena Abakanowicz

This is a peice of 106 nine foot tall torso and leg sculptures walking in all different directions made from cast iron. The name Agora comes from the Greek meaning "meeting place." Growing up Magdalena was obsessed with the image of crowds. She states, "I suspected that under the human skull, instincts and emotions overpower the intellect without us being aware of it.” This is why I feel she did not include any heads with her sculptures. The fact that she used cast iron was thought out I believe. Knowing these would be outside and get wet and rust leaves a bit of rust color on the ground by the feet. This could be interpreted as a shadow.

For me this sculpture speaks to me because I have seen it first hand. It is one thing to see a photograph, but a completely different thing to stand right next to the nine foot tall sculptures. I saw them from far away and remember running over to see them and could not stop taking pictures. I was using my sight, my touch, and even my smell while I was examining them. 

Picture Post - Chapter 2

Click here to see original picture

"The Dream of Reason Brings Forth Monsters"

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes

This is a piece with a person asleep. Surrounding him are everyday animals such as owls and types of cats. Owls are a symbol for wisdom and cats very sneaky creatures. Dreams can be beautiful things but if not controlled with reason as Goya depicts here, it can bring darkness and "monsters." 

Goya explained for the description of his piece that, "Imagination, if not restrained by reason, brings forth monsters, but combined with reason is the mother of the arts and the source of wonders." This quote when I read it really jumped out at me. I feel imagination is one of the greatest powers a human being can have but if you don't give yourself boundaries it can quickly get out of hand and bring you trouble. As you look deeper into the picture you will notice the animals get darker and the owls standing for wisdom and knowledge are now changing into dark figures and eventually into bats. Bats, for me, are a symbol of evil, or demon-like creatures. 

Goya is obviously very talented. He constructed this piece of art with freehand lines and etching. He focused most detail on just a few of the creatures giving them a dramatic feel, while the others were not as time consuming. The burst of light and dark effects with this piece are very influential representing good and evil. As imagination starting out pure and harmless (good) but without boundaries or reason to go with it you see the dark figures (evil).