Comedy of Errors

The Drayton Hall Theater was much nicer than I thought it was going to be. The stage was a proscenium style and along either side of the theater there were steps that lead down to each row. It reminded me of a smaller version of my home theater the Peace Center in Greenville. The sound system was really great! The music that they played came out clear and the characters were easy to hear. The opening set looked like it was in the streets of an old town. In the middle of the stage sat what looked like a puppet show stage. Here is where the actors showed what happened before the begining of the play. The set changed only slightly throughout. It had a cage looking thing on stage left where this homeless "muse" type guy sat, some 2 buildings that characters could act through the windows or on a balcony and doors that accessed the stage. Later on a disco ball was lowered which I thought was fun!

The play was written by William Shakespeare and his original language is used. But looking at the costumes I'd say it looked like it was supposed to be set in the seventies instead of the Renaissance period that it was written in. Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616. I found it itneresting that on the USC Theater website they say that "It is widely believed that Shakespeare based the story on the work Menaechmi by the Roman playwright Plautus (254 BC - 184 BC)."

In the Comedy of Errors, two sets of twins, one set named Dromio and the other named Antipholus are separated after their boat cracked in half at a very young age. One set ends up in Syracuse and the other in Ephesus. Dromio and Antipholus of Syracuse travel to Ephesus and are confused when things start happening that they didn't do. Such as, Antipholus's wife, Adriana, locking him out of the house when she believed he was inside because it was his identical twin from Syracuse. And one recieving a chain (clap) that he has not paid for. All sorts of other mixups and mishalfs happen untill two of the twins are jailed for being insane and they magically escape (because the other set wasn't ever locked up). The head Nun ends up helping the town of Ephesus figure out that the two are twin brothers, and in a strange twist reveals that she is their mother, Emilia, and is reunited with their father Egeon.

Assignment # 8

1. Describe the difference between opera, light opera, and musical theater
Opera is an elevated style of musical theater, with works such as Mozart and requires highly trained voices. Light opera is less demanding with spoken words and less trained voices. Musical theater is like a commoner's version of opera. It is light and fun, but can still contain true musical talent.

2. How long does it take for someone to have a fully trained operatic voice?
It can take a very long time to develop their voice, often times it is developed from childhood on. Peak performance is usually obtained after age 30. It requires extreme control of breath and vocal cords.

3. Choose an Opera by Puccini? Describe and interpret.
Manon Lescaut is Puccini's first greatest Opera. It was written in the 1880's and it is set in four places-Amiens, Paris, Le Havre, New Orleans and consists of four acts. In the first act, when Manon arrives Des Grieux falls in love with her at first sight as she exits the coach. Des Grieux wants to meet up with Manon later after she visits the convent. Geronte is also in love with Manon, and plans to obduct her later.  Edmund  overhears and reports back to Des Grieux. Des Grieux declairs his love to Manon and asks her to go to Paris with him, she agrees. Geronte and Lescaut follow their carrage to Paris. In act II- Manon has left Des Grieux, when Geronte shows up to admire Manon she is swooned. Chevalier soon takes her into his arms and Geronte walks in on them. Manon mocks Geronte's age with a mirror. Geronte promises revenge and leaves. Lescaut then enters and warns the couple. Manon must gather her jewlery first, then she is taken to jail for theft. In act III on the street Le Havre, Des Grieux and Lescaut wait for dawn. They wish to save Manon before she is deported to America. As Manon is being put onto the ship to America Des Grieux begs to join her, and the capitan agrees. In act IV, now in New Orleans Manon is ailing and scared. She is scared because she thinks Des Grieux has left her, he returns but she dies in his arms.
My interpretation of this Opera is that it is similar to many operas, a story of love, lost love and sadness. It is about the life of a beautiful woman that is loved by more than one man. This shows that in life, if a woman is loved by one she will probably be loved by many more. Although Des Grieux loves her the most she rejects his love at one point. In the end his love is all Manon wants and she dies waiting for it. It is a very sad story, similar to many told in its time.

Assignment # 7

1. Describe the difference between a thrust stage and proscenium stage.
A thrust stage has a very large area that protrudes into the audience on three sides and gives them a closer view of the actors. Proscenium stages have a large arch that frames the stage. Proscenium means "infront of the scenery" in latin.

2. What is the fly gallery?

The fly gallery is the very tall area above the stage where the lights back drops, ropes and pulleys are housed. It extendeds several stories tall.

3. How does a scrim work?

A scrim is a very thin fabric drop that can be lit to add stage effects. If it is illuminated blue behind the scene it can give the illusion that the stage extends on forever. It can make the stage look dreamy or foggy. It can be used to show shadows as well.

Phantom of the Opera

Describe -
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical set in the Paris Opera House in 1870. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is about the relationship between Christine, Raul and the Phantom. Christine was adopted by Madame Geri and grew up in the Opera House where she was coached by a secret "angel of music"-who was the phantom. He fell in love with her and revealed himself to her. But his love soon overtakes him and makes him act in violent ways such as killing people. The characters sang almost all of the movie long. Their dialogue is expressed in song. The phantom reveals himself at a Masquerade ball and demands that the next opera be Don Juan. Here he terrifies Christine, and she rips off his mask- revealing his scared hideous face to everyone. He takes her down into the underground lair below the Opera House where there is a lake and Raul follows them. Here, the Phantom makes Christine chose himself or Raul. She kisses the phantom and tells him that his soul is scared, not his face. He frees them both and she and Raul leave the Opera House as it burns. She and Raul stay together until her death and the phantom makes one last mysterious appearance at her grave- a rose with a black ribbon and the ring.

Analyze-
The Phantom of the Opera shows the elements and principles of design. The use of color is especially important- the Phantom's color was black, and red represented drama. Like when the Phantom entered the Masquerade wearing a red suit. Harmony is also very important, the costumes were all very intricate and yet they flow together into a scene. The lines of the stage and in the underground lake lead the viewers to the focus of the camera. The shape of the phantom's mask was very important as well. It was crafted so that it fit perfectly onto his face, it was white which could've represented innocence or uncontrollable things because the Phantom wore it to cover a malformity that was not his fault.

Interpret-
The meaning of this movie is like many-love. Operas are usually about love. The Phantom loved Christine, Christine loved the phantom's voice, but loved Raul. It seems like a sticky love triangle to me. I would say that the musical has a social meaning about the effects of love. Love can bind us and set us free. In the end Christine was set free by loving the Phantom enough to be kind to him and he let her go be with the one she loved the most. We also learned that even the most passionate, brilliant humans can remain undiscovered because of physical appearance. This musical stresses the importance of the power of looks. In the end Christine reveals that she is not bothered by the Phantom's face, but by his soul. But his face is the reason that he acts the way he does.

Evaluate-
I really enjoyed this musical. I would like to see it on Broadway. The songs were amazing as well as the singers. I could understand how those not used to seeing Broadway shows could dislike the constant singing. But, I feel that it adds beauty to something that could just be said in words. It takes some maturity to be open to the idea of "musicals" because they are not realistic at all and you have to see their artistic appeal.

The BIG Apple

Dancers follow the beat of the music and use "quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, slow". The dancers rhythm must also flow together for the dance to look good!
The Big Apple is a very interesting looking building. It was originally called the House of Peace Synagogue. The worshipers soon outgrew this building and it was turned into and African American juke joint. Here, the "big apple dance" was made and soon traveled to NYC in the form of white USC students. After it was closed other commercial groups took over until Historic Houses of Columbia bought it and now you can rent it for special occasions. Its architectural features consist of a stained glass dome, a balcony, wood floors and a pediment above the front door.

The shag has thick roots in the south, especially South Carolina. It came about in the 1930's in clubs in Myrtle Beach. It is a mix of dances like the jitterbug and lindy hop swing. The shag is danced to songs like "Carolina Girls," and "I love beach music." It is danced from the waist down, unlike many other dances. In this dance the men always lead and the women always follow. It has become a favorite past time of many southerners. I had a shag lesson and really loved it!

Who Shot Rock and Roll?

At the exhibit- Who Shot Rock and Roll, I found one photograph to be especially captivating.
This photograph was of Janis Joplin singing at a concert. I took a picture of it, I'm not sure if I was supposed to, but here is that photograph-

Description

The picture was taken in 1968 by David Gahr. He and The Staley-Wise Gallery in New York are the owners. It's is in black and white and approximately 6 x 8 inches. It was done in a gelatin silver print. According to Wikipedia the process is "the photographic process used with currently available black-and-white films and printing papers. A suspension of silver salts in gelatin is coated onto a support such as glass, flexible plastic or film, baryta paper, or resin-coated paper. These light-sensitive materials are stable under normal keeping conditions and are able to be exposed and processed even many years after their manufacture."

A lot of the photographs in the museum were done in the type of printing, which seams to be related to their time period they were shot.

Analyzing

I feel that this photograph expresses the overwhelming power of music. In the photograph Janis Joplin is singing. Her hand is outstretched as if she is feeling that note all the way to the ends of her fingertips.  I assume she is on a stage because there is a bright light to the left of her left hand. She is wearing some kind of bustiere, which also leads me to believe she is in concert. She is also wearing a lot of bracelets and rings. I think this photograph reveals that Janis Joplin was overwhelmed by her gift of music. She is so passionate in the picture and yet her hair looks kind of greasy, like she didn't care much about her looks. There wasn't a lot of information on the plaque next to the photograph, so the interpretation was left to the viewer.

Relate
This photograph shows Janis Joplin being consumed by her music. Two years later, in 1970 Janis Joplin overdosed on heroin in her hotel room. The photograph lets us see up close and personal just how much Joplin's music influenced her actions, and overtook her body, in the same way that heroin did two years later.

Assignment # 6

I danced for 15 years before I came to college. I would ask myself the question "why do I dance" in the nerve racking seconds before I entered the stage. And most times when I was exiting the stage I got my answer. The feeling of expressing yourself purely with motion is pretty exhilarating. It's fun, it's can be emotional, it is expression!

The Baroque period of dance, in Europe, is tied to music and theatre in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is typically danced to baroque music. Very elaborate clothes are worn and head dresses. It looks as if the dancer is stepping across the floor with various hand movements. To me, it looks like the king may have had baroque dancers come and entertain him in his home.

Bollywood is an interesting form of dance that has recently intrigued Americans. It is an Indian dance marked by interesting moves to Indian music. Intricate hand motions mainly with the thumb pressed to the palm. Also, sexy hip movements are involved. It looks somewhat tribal and ritualistic.

The video is an interpretation of Bollywood.

Assignment # 5

Jazz music has no definate roots. I took a Jazz and American Pop music class last semester and found that there were lots of places that Jazz came from. One of the major developments in Jazz was when slaves were freed and moved into cities in the north. They were then allowed to be themselves and enjoy making music. Some jazz has roots in other places such as New Orleans. It is unique to Americans because it was written by Americans and is completely original to the United States.

In Peter and the Wolf:
Peter is represented by the strings. The duck is an oboe the wolf is and the bird is a flute. The grandfather is a bassoon, and the hunters are the woodwinds.

Classical music
Bach and Beethoven are examples of classical music. To me classical music sounds soothing and like something that people would dance to in lines at a fancy banquet. It reminds me of the movie the Pride and Predudice.

Film Art Event

I saw Tiny Furniture at the Nickelodeon Theatre.
In the establishing shot of the film, Aura the main character is in a large city. The time is in the 21st century and she seems to have an artsy style of clothing. Aura appears to be in some sort of slump by the way she dresses and her lack of interest in her weight and hairstyle. She doesn't wear any/much make-up at all. She is moving in with her sister and mother. This set the stage for my experience as a person who possibly will change/grow throughout the movie. The movie has a comical side as well as we watch her trying to become this person she wants to be.
Special camera angles I noticed throughout the film were ones similar to that of the angle on the poster shown above. A view from the ground. Her mother, a photographer, is usually the one capturing angles like this because she photographs tiny furniture as a career.
The film was an hour and forty minutes long. Honestly, I didn't really get anything out of it. It is about Aura, a 22 year old woman who moved back home after college and got a degree in film making. She has a few very strange youtube videos but that is the extent of her film career. It seemed to me that the meaning of the film was a woman reverting back to her childhood life/fantasies after being away at college. It looked to me like a "mid-mid life crisis" the one that can be experienced after not knowing what to do when you get your degree. One of the final scenes in the movie I found extremely disturbing. Aura and this man that she worked with have sex in a tube at night in the middle of a road while high on marijuana. It was hard to watch and I felt like this was not something she was striving for during the movie.
The roles of the characters were played very well. Each of them were quirky in their own way. They were very convincing. The music fit the movie really well. It sounded like the sound track from Little Miss Sunshine to me. The music was by teddy banks. I feel it supported the theme of the movie. The genre of the film was a coming-of-age mixed with documentary filming styles. 

As I mentioned before the film's message was unclear to me. In total I would say the message is about how difficult one may find it to move on after graduating from college. And losing your way and returning to old, childish tendencies.

Assignment # 4 Architecture

The McKissick Museum on campus has ionic columns. It also has a dome roof which resembles a hill, one of the most important architectural elements of importance. The style of this building is very obviously Greek revival. You can tell by its columns and the statues above them. However it has no cornice but it does appear to be a post and lintel structure. 

Assignment # 3 Aesthetics

My feet carry me farther and farther away from my warm bed on school mornings. I step outside to the chill of winter and push my hands farther into my pockets. The music in my head phones is up beat and I begin my dance to class. As I walk across the bridge wind kisses my face with its icy lips. Up and down the stairs I go, climbing the mountain to my destination... more knowledge. The naked trees wave saying "good morning" as I walk by. Up more and more stairs, I am nearing the summit. The air smells crisp and fresh, my breathing patterns have now sped up. The reddish brown bricks beneath my feet almost look like an optical illusion and my bed seems too far away to turn around. More stairs I climb. I open the door to my first class and find my seat. I still miss my warm sheets, but it will be a while before I visit them again.

Nessum Dorma by Pavarotti
My first thought, as many others was wow! this guy obviously cares a lot about what he is singing about. I started with a music note because it was what I was hearing then throughout the song I used different swirls/lines to represent the lines of the music and the curves in his voice. At one point he got extremely loud and that is why I drew mountains.

An Establishing Shot is usually the first shot of a movie. It shows where you are, what time period and what is going on. It is very important for the viewers because without it we would not know what is going on for a while.

Assignment #2

The Four Domains of CreativityThe four domains of creativity are fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. Fluency is when things flow for example when a painting has similar brush strokes across it it appears to flow. Flexibility is being malleable, or able to change. Originality, I would say is the most important of these domains. The ability to create something that has come from your own brain is originality. You could re-do the Mona Lisa using dominoes and it would be original instead of just copying each brush stroke. Elaboration is when there is more to the artwork than originally meets the eye.

The Feldman Method of Art Criticism
The Feldman Method forces art observers to view art in a different way rather than just "I like it, I don't like it." There are four steps to the method: describe, analyze, interpret, and judge/evaluate. The first, describe, makes the observer look at the basics of the piece. You can ask the questions- Who is the artist, what is the medium, how big is it, and what are the characteristics? The second step is to analyze the piece. To analyze you can use the elements and principals of design. Interpreting pieces can be difficult but some helpful questions are: what does it mean, does it create a metaphor, does it have an alternate meaning, or does it have a social meaning? Last, we are allowed to judge the piece, and say weather we like it or not.

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is one of my favorite pieces, but I can criticize it by using the Feldman Method. Describe- The painting is made up of mostly blues and it is night time, the artist is Van Gogh, its size is 29 in × 36¼ in and the medium is oil on canvas. Analyze- The painting shows many elements and principals: color, texture, line, space and movement, balance, proportion... Interpret- This painting to me shows some sort of darker figure growing toward the town, Van Gogh painted it while in an asylum so there are obviously some dark things going through his mind. Judge- As I said before this is one of my personal favorites, I love the impressionistic style and the way that the sky swirls around.

Biographical Statement

§  Have you ever made art? What kind of art do you like?

§  Have you ever made a drawing? A painting? A sculpture?

§  When was the last time you went to a museum? Gallery? Artist studio?

§  Have you ever been to a play? Opera? Art Film? Do you dance?

§  Under what conditions do you learn the most?

§  Why are you taking this class?

§  Has any of the arts ever moved you in any way? How?

§  What inspires you?

§  What is art?

§  Do you consider movies art? Music? Video games? Comics? Television?

§  Who decided what is good art? How do they know?

§  When you debate music or movies with your friends, what critical elements or standards do you hold them to?

§  What was the best movie of last year?

§  What is an “Art Film”?

§  What CD or MP3 is in your player?

I have made art. I took three high school courses for art, one of them was AP Design class, which I made a 3 on AP my portfolio, and got college credit for it! :) I enjoy many different types of art: drawing, painting, charcoals... So that answers the question about have I ever made a painting, as far as sculpture goes I have made a hand, a pot and a small dish from clay. Sculpture was probably my least favorite aspect of visual art, not because I don't think it is beautiful, but because it was too difficult for me! (Or i don't have the patience) But that left me with a new appreciation for sculpture(ers)

The last time I went to a museum was in October, I worked at a Halloween event in the Edventure Children's museum. Before that I went to many museums in Washington D.C. in the spring of last year. When in Greenville, my home, I visit the Galleries/ Art studios regularly. I have been to many plays. I prefer musicals (I have seen 3: Rent, Wicked and Spring Awakening) However, I have not seen an opera. I'm sure I've seen a few art films at some point or another.

I LOVE TO DANCE. I danced at a studio for 15 years before college. I learn the best when I'm doing. Kinesthetic is my learning pattern. Secondly I have to see it. Auditory is only good for memorizing my favorite song lyrics. I'm taking this class because it is required by my major, but that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward/excited about it. The arts have definitely moved me. I feel moved by something artistic almost everyday. Seeing the effort/ true feelings of artists makes me feel connected to them and it takes a strong person to let you into their head, maybe by painting or song or movement.

I get inspiration from many things, the mountains are probably most inspiring to me. I'll steal Andy Warhol's definition: "Art is what you can get away with." Art can be anything. It just takes one person to think it is art. Movies, video games, comics and television can all be art. Certainly they consider artistic approaches to make all of those things. And someone at one point probably drew out a blue print for each of those: therefore, art. For personal use the buyer decides what is good art. Art can be defined in principals, laws, rules and such but really it all depends on who is buying it/ paying to see it.

When debating movies I typically focus on the actors/actresses and main plot, if I like them or not. For music its about the singer and the type of music. Maybe not the best, but the most artistic movie I saw last year was The Black Swan. It was crazy. I'm not really sure what an "art film" is. I would guess that it is when the director focuses more on the artistic elements of a movie, like the scenes and angles. I would consider Little Miss Sunshine art film. I'm currently listening to a CD by Guster, a band that is not really well known but my brothers and I enjoy.