A Whole New World

     One of the craziest things I've learned about this week is definitely Camera Obscura. Abelardo Morell has taken a ton of shots in many different rooms showing off this crazy technology! The most unbelievable thing about this is that it has been around since before 500 BCE. I found a ton of pieces from her that really intrigued my interest. It's as if it adds a whole other life into the room. The ones with bright lights are the coolest because they look as if an imagination box has opened and poured all over the room! The fact many artists have used this before cameras and learned that this would work still amazes me to this day and I look forward to stumbling upon more work like this in the future!

Racism in Disney

     If you wanna find modern racism, look no further than Disney's movies. Now I'm the biggest fan of the Mouse House (Getting a tattoo of Mickey soon!) but I do realize how they create their characters. No characters in Disney movies are similar to each other and you can distinguish 'em all which shows just how good they are and also just how racist they can be. Many of their characters are stereotypes of several cultures and they use that to make up their cast. When your little, you would never know but as you begin to look back at childhood favorites, their are many moments and characters that show stereotypes, prejudice and racism. There's a video I watched in my Sociology class in High School that definitely goes into detail on what they do.

Broadway Magic!

     Technology in broadway has come a long way and it definitely adds to the immersion and storytelling. Many of the broadway plays I have seen recently have had some pretty cool stuff in it! It definitely adds that special effects found in movies and bring them right to the audience!

     Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark is the first one that comes to my mind when using special effects. Now there was absolutely no way to save a Spiderman broadway show cause think how bad that idea is, but they added some web slinging action as Spiderman would swing around the theatre right to the audience to add some immersion along with a Green Goblin battle. That seems awesome and it is... half the time when they do it right. Make sure to see this broadway show when they are on there A-Game or your gonna see some serious injuries.

     Newsies was another play that used a creative choreography through the use of what looked to be moving stairways and hallways to show all the action during their songs. It was a great musical and it was one that needed a lot more space than a stage which is why they made such great use of this giant prop.

   
     Chiddy Ciddy Bang Bang didn't really offer to much that I remember in technology except for one of the coolest things at the end! Right at the end of the last song they took that magical flying car and had it drive up into the audience making the effect that seemed as if it was flying. In a musical about a flying car they needed to back it up like this in such a cool fashion!

     Lion King was one that didn't use technology in the props, but in the characters themselves. Every actor and actresses heads were present throughout the whole musical, yet it did not take away from the immersion. They created very detailed costumes and masks placed on the top of their heads which was very clever because in a story about nothing but animals, you needed the performers to have their voice heard and not muffled in Disney World costumes. I think the way the outfits were decorated had become a milestone in broadway.

Now to get away from Disney musicals, the Phantom of the Opera was another one that definitely used the chandelier to add the the horror and suspense. In the theatre, a giant chandelier hangs above and looks like it's just apart of the place as a decoration but as the Phantom starts to cause terror, the chandelier begins to rock back and forth and starts to turn on and off repeatedly and even to the point where it almost drops on the audience. It's a freaky thing that if your not aware about it before you walk in you'll have no idea what to expect!

Robot Chicken-like Operas!

     I just recently watched a stop motion video on the Opera, Madama Butterfly, which has been recreated by Pjotr Sapegin. Now I haven't actually seen the Opera but I'm pretty sure this was loosely based on it, but the animation was really good! Of course it was a little odd throughout with many strange ways of acting out scenes such as when the girl has her daughter which she cracks her.... er.... glass stomach open and a.... fish comes out and immediately transforms into like a 3 year old girl... yeah that's what were dealing with here. Also at the end when the Lieutenant returns with his new family at the end and takes the daughter, watching the lady tear herself into pieces literally was a great way to show how she is feeling on the inside. It's definitely a trippy video, but I enjoyed it because I am a real sucker for stop motion videos!

Here's a link to the video and also along with it is my favorite stop motion video of all time! Definitely worth a look because it has such a powerful message and it's flat out adorable.

The Desert Queens

     During class, we watched a movie called "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,"and it was definitely an interesting one. It's about three guys who are showgirls that are traveling across Australia to perform at Tick's wife's resort. Of course it isn't as easy as it sounds as the trio get stranded in the middle of deserts, come across gangs, and tons of performances. The movie is definitely pretty strange when your first watching it, but as it goes on it had a lot of laughs and a pretty good story! I think the movie also tackles a controversial topic involving homosexuality and men cross dressing and I think the movie makes the viewers a little more aware of these situations and helps them accept it. The movie also did a great job tying into what we talk about in class involving the Baroque and Rococo era with the pizzazz and over the top costumes. Overall, the movie was definitely an enjoyable one and I definitely recommend checking it out!

Modern Opera Fun!

What I don't think many people realize is that how much Opera is really around us! It's in so many TV commercials and we don't even realize it! I think the greatest thing too is that they are hilarious and pretty smart. Looking around on YouTube I came across a couple that were pretty cool. The thing is the commercial itself may not focus around the Opera itself and more on the product, but it's just smartly used! These three were definitely my favorites!

What is Creativity?

     Creativity is hard to come by in this current generation. Growing up, we have been surrounded by technology that pretty much does the thinking for us. It can actually be seen in video games and movies which have been over-saturated by sequels, reboots or adaptations. Original is a hard name to earn, however, it seems like Dr. Raul Cuero has figured the answer to creativity. The way he stays creative is by changing the expectations by doing something that another person would not expect you to do. I think that concept is genius! The meaning of what he says is that we shouldn't stick to the same formula because others have tried it and it works. We should think outside the box and come up with our own things even if no one has ever heard or seen anything like it. You have no clue if a new idea will catch on unless you try it. When I have artist block and don't quite know what to work on, I will take what I learned from Dr. Cuero and do the unexpected. Think of the craziest things of my imagination and see what happens because you really don't know until you try.