Creative Consumption
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Week 1
World of Warcraft
Last night I had played World of Warcraft it was an incredibly refreshing feeling to me as I've had a stressful week of work. Playing in physical terms was like a breath of fresh air and I was at my computer for something I actually wanted to do for once instead of typing an essay's worth of words only for it to get lost and not remembered along with the rest of my assignments. Last night I had gone on the heroic raid to the most recently released one and got the final boss down to 36% so on top of feeling refreshed when I play, I also feel a huge sense of accomplishment, happiness, and extremely proud. By also giving me a time to sit and relax, it also gave me beautiful scenery and graphics to look at which has greatly influenced my creativity and sparked me into wanting to draw for the day.
Shang Chi
Today, I watched the movie Shang Chi, a marvel movie released in 2021. Movies like this contain a lot of why I got into design in the first place. To put it the most simply I can, I just want to make "cool" stuff. For me, this movie contains some of the most well choreographed action in a marvel movie. There are a few reasons for this, but one of the bigger reasons is that the action flows together really well. It feels as though every action flows into the next and that there's a clear flow for not only the characters but the camera. Fast but precise. I think that is a very apt description for most of what I find "cool" about the media I consume. I like things that are deliberate but quick, but also smooth so as to not create lines of motion that are too jagged. Hopefully I can take some of the concepts of quick snappy motion with smooth transitional lines between motions.
La La Land
One thing that I often creatively consume is music. I usually play my own playlists on shuffle, and recently, I resonated with a particular song, City of Stars from La La Land. It's a lovely song, but it also makes me feel somewhat sad. It has caused me to ponder various things I've dealt with lately and all the things I've lost or left behind. Although these kinds of feelings don't typically motivate me to be creative, these saddening and sorrowful feelings may cause my ideas to be more emotionally derived. I may be more motivated to create things that help me process and/or cope with these emotions.
Week 2
We watched Repetition by Max Cooper.
Student A
In class today we watched a short video which had a lot of visuals that I would classify as "infinite." These visuals seem to be meant to be perceived as unending, literally. I've seen a concept like this in music that's meant to also be perceived as unending. Just like in that place, I am filled with a great sense of unease. I don't know what to call it, but something about the uncertainty provided about the where, when, and how are very unsettling. Perhaps it's just the natural human fear of the unknown. I feel as though this could apply to anything that is repeated enough times, like that one principle I hear of a lot: "Too much of anything is unhealthy."
Student B
After watching Max Cooper's, "Repetition," It left me with a sense of surrealism. The consistent patterns made it pretty hard to focus on a single object or point, but it only added to the experience. Watching the countless windmills, traffic lights, and winding roads was incredibly satisfying to the eye, and it makes me wonder how I can use repetition to create a pleasing viewing experience for anyone who sees my work in the future.
Student C
After watching the Repetition video, I had mixed feelings about it. On the surface, these clips and visuals of repeated things such as roads, skyscrapers, and other structures were mesmerizing and interesting. However, it also made me feel kind of sick because of how repetitive and unrealistic they were. It's cool to see these unique visuals, but in many of them I didn't like how they went on forever, something that I often dislike thinking about or seeing.
Week 3
Student A
I took a trip to [a state] for family weekend at [a college]. We got there by driving and I listened to a lot of music, worked on some designs for my playlist, and tried new games out. We stopped at a hotel on the way for the night, so we could finish the drive in the morning. At the hotel, I noticed a lot of design aspects that I liked about the hotel room. For example: placements of light switches and thermostats, arrangement of furniture, and my favorite, the knob for the shower was closer to the entry instead of underneath the shower head! Once we got to our hotel for the weekend in Utah, I noticed lots of design aspects I didn’t like. This included: The placement of the toilet being an inch from the shower, placement of the bed making it so you only get one side table, and doors swinging inward to small spaces! So overall, I consumed lots of music, random games, and had more attention to designs.
Student B
I forced my family into rewatching The Thing (1982) with me a few days ago, which is probably my favorite movie. It is a classic, and I always find something new each time I watch it. It's one of those movies that spawn a million theories, who was assimilated first? Who was really human at the end? It's just so clever. The dog scene is probably my favorite, which sounds morbid, but I have my reasons. It's very memorable, and every time I see people watch it the first time, they never suspect it. Therefore, it creates very genuine disgust and fear. Additionally, The Thing has spawned popular media like Among Us. It is a very influential movie. It's a source of inspiration for me, but I'm not sure how I'd put anything to paper.
Student C
I decided to take a look at some episodes of the Pokemon anime that aired back in the late 90s. Something I find interesting about this show and the games is how they use color to communicate what kind of creature you're looking at. All of the main creatures, called Pokemon, usually have an element of some sort that they are associated with. It's usually a pretty safe bet to assume that you can guess that element based on what color the pokemon is. Fire is red, water is blue, grass green, etc. What I'm wondering from this show is how many of these colors were already associated with those elements before this series became popularized. I know that colors tend to have associations placed with them in the real world as well, on advertisements, stores, restaurants, etc. Is it possible at this point to create new associations for well established colors in this day and age? Otherwise I hope to dig a little deeper to better acquaint myself with how these colors are associated.
Week 4
Student A
Today I read a new BOOK from the warrior cats series, I have loved that series ever since I was in 8th grade when my sister convinced me to read it, ever since reading that series I have noticed that my creativity has spiked to a whole other level, I am able to make whole worlds in my head with nothing but a pen and some paper, and I truly do thank for sister for introducing me to that series!
Student B
I started a new show called Shrinking. It definitely has an impact on my emotions, and could possibly influence how I think about certain things. The show talks a lot about grief, and it walks you through the different stages in a less "in-your-face" way. I think for me right now, it is nice to see a show that can be serious but also not typical. The show follows a therapist whose wife passes away, and how he deals with it. This obviously affects his work and causes him to go off the regular path (and he honestly violates a lot of codes...) but it is interesting seeing a therapist portrayed to handle things in a different way! It is sort of a reminder that life is short and there is not always one way to go about things (even though as a therapist you should follow the rules set, because they are definitely there for a reason...)! Overall, I think the show influences this idea that sometimes breaking boundaries can create growth.
Student C
This week, I did not do any creative consumption. I've been feeling unwell due to my overwhelming workload, so I haven't had time to engage in something creative. This influences my ideas because there is a lack of inspiration from not consuming anything creative or new. By being extremely burnt out and overwhelmed, I haven't been able to express my creativity as much. This can be harmful to my creativity and ideas in general, since I have a lack of motivation and a lack of inspiration
Colin's Note: This is OK. Self awareness is important to establishing a creative practice.
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