Remix Your Own Music Video

link to video: here

You're the Teacher

Link to the video: here

LLLLLLLLLLLET'S PLAY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3CV_2lyGi0

“Let’s Plays”, at least to me, are some of the funniest videos I watch on the internet. Why are these types of videos so successful? It is really because you just have a really funny person or group of really funny people playing a game in a way that is very entertaining.  In the end, it really is not so much about the gameplay; it is more about the commentary. Some Let’s Plays have such great commentary that you may not even really need the visual aspect. Most of the time, the visual aspect of the gameplay itself helps a lot, though. Whatever these people are doing, they have me hooked. I have been watching Achievement Hunter videos since before they even did Let’s Plays and I have been watching Yogscast for about a year now. My greatest hope is that this continues to be a popular type of video.

Peace it Together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK4g2In88sw

In this mood, I am trying to create a mood of peaceful nature and isolation. This is attempted by showing marine animals in an aquatic setting. The isolation is accomplished by the absence of any animals in the final shot.

So Wait, What Changed?

For this project, I played Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 4 from the Halo franchise of games. There is a huge time gap between these two games. Halo: Combat Evolved was released in 2001, while Halo 4 was released in 2012. While these games are two in the same series, they are actually very different. Not just in terms of graphics, but in terms of gameplay as well.

            To start, one key difference between these two games is that Halo 4 has the added armor ability feature. Armor abilities are essentially power-ups to your character that can be activated for a certain period of time before needing to recharge. These abilities include a jetpack, an energy shield, and a holographic decoy. Halo: Combat Evolved does not have armor abilities, but does have “overshield” and invisibility power-ups that can be found in some places in the game. These power-ups, though, must be found during gameplay and activate only once, which is as soon as the player walks through the physical power-up. These differences really affect the dynamics of the games.

            Also, one of the largest differences between the two games is the ability to sprint. Halo 4 allows for sprinting, while the other game does not. This truly has a great impact on overall gameplay. Movement is much slower when not sprinting, therefore making Halo: Combat Evolved somewhat slower-paced than Halo 4. Sprinting was not really a popular gameplay mechanic at the time of Halo: Combat Evolved’s release, so it makes sense for it not to be featured. Transitioning from playing shooters where sprinting is a given to one where you no longer can sprint is a bit of a shock, and it definitely takes some getting used to.

            While those differences are somewhat prevalent, it is time to break into what makes this series great.  What is the main thing going on in either game? The player is shooting aliens. That does not seem like the most original concept in the world. What really grips the player is the story behind why they are shooting at these aliens. At the beginning of Halo: Combat Evolved, it is not really known what is going on. The player later learns that these aliens are trying to essentially destroy the human race. The reason for this is unclear until the next game in the series, Halo 2, in which much of the story of the aliens is revealed. There are just plot twists and turns everywhere, and they keep the games interesting.

            Another thing that draws players back to Halo series time and time again is definitely the protagonist in the main series. Master Chief, John-117, Reclaimer, whatever one may refer to him as, is one of the most iconic characters in all of gaming culture. Why do people seem to like the Chief so much? It has a lot to do with the fact that he is a rather silent character. He has little of his own dialogue in most games in the series, giving the player the opportunity to sort of build their own narrative and increase their immersion in the game. This makes for a unique gameplay experience that is completely linear, yet still allows the player to have some of their own unique experiences.

            Some may disagree with me on this, but the series that is probably the most similar to Halo in terms of the self-narrative aspect is Call of Duty. In many of the games, the player plays a character that is silent the majority of the time. While the player is not necessarily the big hero in Call of Duty, the narrative aspect is similar. The character played does not speak much, so there is a lot of opportunity for players to build up their own narrative.

            With all of that being said, the Halo series is my favorite franchise of all time. It may be something that has lost its luster over the years for some, but it still shines brightly in my mind. The unique storytelling aspect of the game is something that all can appreciate. All of the players out there should be waiting on their next opportunity to go behind the mask of Master Chief. 

Hey! It's a Podcast!

Link to the podcast:

https://soundcloud.com/ln1020/hey-its-a-podcast-mdia-1020

Review Mania

So here are a few movie reviews. The most difficult part of this was making accounts for all of these things.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/1068183/reviews/

http://www.metacritic.com/user/luken1020

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/reviews-668

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/fast--and--furious-6/54333/reviews#main-column (I should be the first review on this one as of 4/11/14)

http://www.amazon.com/review/R25XQD5GLEBO6B/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=630529142X

Shootout Workout

Prison Escape Scene

PRISON HALLWAY – NIGHT 

JEROME closes a door, but leaves it slightly open as he slips into the closet. He looks around at the objects in the room. It is difficult for him to see, due to the low light. Jerome rummages through the junk to eventually find a broom and an external hard drive with a rough exterior. 

JEROME 

(whispers) 

Perfect. 

Jerome slowly sneaks over to the door and quietly closes it. He sits on the floor with his back against the door. Jerome sands the end of the broom stick. He does this as quietly as possible. Jerome hesitates. 

JEROME 

(inside his head) 

Have to be careful. Don’t want the guards hearing what I’m doing in here. 

Jerome more gingerly sands the broom stick. No noise can be heard other than the faint sound of the sanding.  

Some time passes, and Jerome hears footsteps outside of the closet. Outside, GUARD 1 is 

sauntering by. Jerome slouches near the hinge of the doorway. The guard appears to hear the shuffling and more quickly dashes toward the closet. The guard slowly opens the door. 

GUARD 1 

Randy? You in here? 

Guard 1 looks left and right. All he sees is some janitorial junk. 

GUARD 1 

(questioningly) 

Huh. 

Guard 1 slowly closes the door. Jerome more quietly slides back to the middle of the door.  

JEROME 

(inside his head) 

That was too god damn close. 

Jerome continues sanding the broom stick. 

More time passes. The broom stick is now pointed. He snaps off the bristled end with relative ease and with virtually no noise. Jerome hesitantly places the hard drive back in the pile of junk. He listens intently for any footsteps. Nothing is heard. Jerome props the door open and peers out the small gap. He looks left and right. No one is in sight. 

Jerome slowly opens the door and quickly stands up against the wall to the right outside of the closet. He tiptoes his way down the hallway. He thinks he hears a guard and stops to listen. Nothing is heard, so he continues to tiptoe.  

Jerome eventually arrives at the open door of the warden’s office. It is completely dark on the inside. Jerome looks left and right, then slips into the office.  

Jerome flops onto the floor. He crawls behind the warden’s desk. 

JEROME 

(inside his head) 

Have to find that security override device. If I ever want to get out of this hell hole, I will             definitely need it.  

From behind the desk, Jerome uses the little bit of light coming from outside of the room the pick out silhouettes of objects on the desk. He gingerly picks up small box-shaped object. Jerome examines the object with his hand. 

JEROME 

(inside his head) 

Just another hard drive. Why is everyone in this place just leaving their hard drives                     around everywhere? Guess I know where to go if I’m looking for some data storage. 

Jerome feels around for objects on the desk. He feels that he is knocking something off, so he dexterously reaches around the corner of the desk to catch the falling object. 

JEROME 

(inside his head) 

God damn it. I need to be more careful. 

Jerome reaches onto the table again. This time, his hand passes over a small circular object. He attempts to pick up the object with his thumb and index finger, but the objects presses downward instead. 

Suddenly, all of the lights in the prison are on. A loud ALARM sound is heard. 

In another room down the hallway and past the janitor’s closet, GUARD 2 is standing straight up in the middle of the room as the lights come on and the alarm goes off. 

GUARD 2 

What the hell? 

Jerome is on the floor of the warden’s office. 

JEROME 

Shit. 

Jerome bolts back up into a standing position. He hurriedly rummages through all of the junk in the office. 

Guard 2 sprints toward the central hallway. 

Jerome continues tossing objects aside in the warden’s office. 

JEROME 

(quickly) 

Come on come on come on! 

Guard 2 runs into a central corridor with about ten other guards, including the HEAD GUARD. He stops. 

GUARD 2 

What the hell is going on out here? 

HEAD GUARD 

Someone set off the alarm in the warden’s office. Get there now! 

All of the guards start to rush down the hallway toward the warden’s office. 

Jerome rummages through the junk a bit more, and finally finds a device with a TNT-style plunger.  

JEROME 

Finally! 

The guards are still rushing toward the warden’s office. 

Jerome pushes the plunger down on the device. A pulse that knocks him back a bit is released. 

All of the lights in the prison shut off. The alarm stops. In the darkness, the guards all manage to trip and fall all over each other. 

Jerome is in the dark again. Only the distant moans on the fallen guards can be heard. 

JEROME 

Now to get the hell outta dodge. 

Jerome, with his broom stick, charges out the doorway of the warden’s office. Just outside of the doorway in the hallway is RANDY, the janitor. Jerome stops and stares at Randy for a few seconds. Randy sees that his broom has been horribly disfigured. 

RANDY 

My broom! How dare you; my mother sent me that! 

JEROME 

Uh… Sorry… 

Jerome, with his broom stick at hand, sprints at the wooden door across the hall from the warden’s office. He forcefully jabs the broom spear at the door, effectively breaking it in half. A window with no bars on the outside is shown.  

JEROME 

I’m getting the hell out of here. 

Jerome runs toward the window and dives through it, landing on the ground outside. He slowly stands up, then runs off in the distance. 

Opening 4

This opening was a bit different than the past two. I really liked this, though. I had the opportunity to play an interesting game while listening to one of the best albums of all time. One of the greats of the movie industry spoke in one of the videos watched. In another video, I saw just how much preparation there can be in making a music video. Also, I could watched a video about the sound design of one of my favorite games of all time. This was truly some intriguing material.

To start, I played Machinarium while listening to Nirvana's Nevermind. Why did I choose Nevermind? Of the top 50 albums of all time, Nevermind was the closest to my preferred genre. I also already knew and liked a few songs from the album beforehand, though I had never listened to it in full previously. Anyway, the album was excellent company to playing Machinarium. It is a puzzle game, and it was moderately challenging. I really had to wrack my brain to figure out the last part of the demo. It was a rather short demo, as I ended up still having most of Nevermind to listen to once I finished Machinarium.

Later on, I watched the Walter Murch video on Hollywood sound design. Though I am not planning to go into anything specifically audio-related, what Murch had to say really left an impact on me. Breaking down the audio tracks in the scene from Apocolypse Now immensely opened my eyes to how complex sound can be in movies. When everything is put together in a perfect fashion, one will become involved with a film. With something that is near perfect, the audience may be great appreciators of a film, but not necessarily participants.

Another video I watched was the TED Talks on "How to Engineer a Viral Music Video". Hearing what Sadowsky had to say about making the video for "This Too Shall Pass" almost blew my mind. The people making this video spent weeks upon weeks trying to perfect this crazy Rube Goldberg machine that worked in sync with the music. I have never really thought of music videos as taking that long to make. A lot of music videos, though, do not take that long to produce, since not every music video involves some insane contraption. Regardless, I cannot even imagine what the preparation and shooting of that video was like.

I watched a few other videos that did not really have much of an impact on me, but finally I arrived at "Sound Design and Music of a Video Game: Halo: Reach". I have spent countless hours of my life playing Halo: Reach and I am always willing to see a little bit more behind the scenes stuff. Probably the most interesting thing that was said about the sound design was that they had to make the sounds "sound like Halo." This made total sense to me. Sure, not every game in the Halo franchise has the same sound effects for guns, grenades, and such, but I will admit that they all have a certain similar "feel" to them. That is probably a lot of the reason the Halo series remains so strong today.

Overall, this was a much different experience for an opening than I am used to.  So much of what I had the opportunity to do interested me deeply. Never have I thought that I would be watching a video about one of my favorite ever video games for educational purposes. I guess this just shows that I am on the right track.

Gaga for the Saga

Bobby and the Monster

I.                 Set Up

a.      Recess at an elementary school

                                                    i.     Kids outside playing in groups (7-8-year olds)

                                                  ii.     Show activities of various groups

                                                iii.     Smaller group including a young boy named Bobby

1.     See that Bobby (aged 7) is a somewhat quiet kid at school

2.     Gets picked on and bullied by one larger kid (aged 8) in the group

3.     Another kid tries to defend Bobby

b.     Kids go home

c.      Bobby arrives at home

d.     Introduced to his parents

                                                    i.     They are awful people, yelling all the time

                                                  ii.     Mother beats the father (aged 29)

                                                iii.     Father is a complete pussy (aged 31)

e.      Bobby’s typical at-home life

                                                    i.     Spends most of his time in his bedroom

                                                  ii.     Comes out once for dinner, practically silent the whole time

                                                iii.     Returns to his bedroom

II.               Inciting Incident

a.      Bobby is trying to go to sleep

                                                    i.     Starts to hear a voice in his head

                                                  ii.     Cannot make out what the voice is saying

                                                iii.     Voice leaves quickly, so he ignores it

b.     Return to school the following day

                                                    i.     One kid mentions that he is afraid that there is a monster in his closet

                                                  ii.     Bobby wonders why this child is so fearful

c.      Bobby returns home

                                                    i.     Another night spent in fear of his mother

d.     Bobby goes to bed again

                                                    i.     Voice is more prevalent this time and stays around longer

                                                  ii.     Bobby pays attention, but still can’t make out the words

                                                iii.     Voice starts to irritate him

III.             Desis (Part 1)

a.      Return to school, on the playground

                                                    i.     Bobby finds the kid who talked about monsters under his bed

                                                  ii.     Bobby asks this kid if he has ever seen or heard the monster

1.     Kid responds “no”

2.     Bobby thinks this is odd, and it frightens him a bit

                                                iii.     The bully comes by, beats up Bobby, and calls Bobby names

b.     Bobby returns home again

                                                    i.     Bobby tries to speak with his mother about the voice in his head

1.     His mother ignores him at first

2.     He continues to try talking to his mother

3.     Mother yells at Bobby and he runs off

                                                  ii.     Bobby tries to speak with his father about the voice

1.     Father assures him that there is nothing in his head to be afraid of

2.     Father says that there are more real things to fear, and looks at the mother

c.      Bobby goes to bed, yet again

                                                    i.     The voice returns and is now completely clear

                                                  ii.     The voice tells him to strike back

1.     “The large one must be silenced”

2.     “Set him in stone”

                                                iii.     Bobby is unable to respond to the voice, he can only hear it

d.     Bobby wakes up

                                                    i.     Exits his home           

                                                  ii.     Finds a large rock behind his house

1.     Still small enough to be portable

2.     Puts this rock in his backpack

                                                iii.     Bobby goes to the bus, and rides onto school with an evil look on his face

e.      Return to the playground

                                                    i.     Bobby minds his own business and talk to the “defender” kid

                                                  ii.     The large bully comes by

1.     He attempts to mess with Bobby’s head

2.     “Defender” tries to make the bully shut up

3.     Bully ignores defender, and knocks Bobby to the ground

a.      Bully walks away

4.     Bobby hears the voice again say “Set him in stone”

5.     Bobby stands back up

                                                iii.     Bobby reaches into his backpack

1.     Pulls out the rock

2.     Walk up to behind the bully

3.     Bobby shouts at the bully

4.     Bobby whacks the bully across the mouth with the rock

a.      Bully is bleeding profusely

b.     Teeth are scattered across the bloody ground

                                                iv.     A teacher finally notices the commotion

1.     She yells at Bobby

2.     Detains Bobby

IV.            Peripeteia

a.      Inside the principal’s office

                                                    i.     Bobby is sitting across from the principal

                                                  ii.     Bobby’s parents arrive

                                                iii.     Principal tells the parents what Bobby has done

                                                iv.     Mother yells at Bobby, father remains quiet

                                                  v.     Principal says that Bobby will be suspended for 10 days

                                                vi.     Mother blows up about this being outrageous

1.     Says that Bobby is “just a kid”

2.     Principal insists that the incident is a serious matter and that this is a necessary punishment

3.     Mother tells Bobby that he will not be leaving his room for a long time

V.              Desis (Part 2)

a.      Bobby is in his bedroom

                                                    i.     Sits on his bed, doing not much of anything

                                                  ii.     The voice returns again

1.     Says “Success” repetitively

                                                iii.     Billy tries to talk to the voice

1.     Billy asks who the voice is

2.     It responds “I am you, Billy”

3.     Billy attempts to deny this

a.      Calls the voice “nothing but a monster”

b.     It responds “I am not the monster, you will see who the real monster is”

                                                iv.     Mother calls for dinner

b.     At the dinner table

                                                    i.     Bobby asks his parents if monsters are real

                                                  ii.     Parents insist that monsters are not real

                                                iii.     Bobby says he thinks there is a monster in his head

1.     Talks about the voice

                                                iv.     Mother becomes fed up with the nonsense

1.     Scream at Bobby

2.     Sends Bobby to his bedroom

                                                  v.     Bobby goes to his bedroom

                                                vi.     Father says to mother that he wants to talk to Bobby on his own

1.     Mother says “don’t you dare!”

2.     Father stands up and steps toward Bobby’s room.

3.     Mother rushes over to the father and punches him in the eye

4.     Father pauses in pain for a second, then proceeds into Bobby’s room

a.      Bobby heard everything

5.     A rather large knife is shown on the dining room table as Bobby’s mother proceeds to the kitchen

c.      Inside Bobby’s bedroom

                                                    i.     Bobby sits on his bed, pouting

                                                  ii.     Father sits down with Bobby

                                                iii.     Father asks why he hit the bully with the rock

1.     Asks if the monster told him to

2.     Bobby says yes

a.      The monster said to “set him in stone”

b.     So he took a rock, and whacked the bully with it

3.     Father tell Bobby that he should not do things like that

a.      Bobby assure it will not happen again

4.     Father and Bobby share a little smile together

                                                iv.     Father leaves room

d.     Parents’ bedroom

                                                    i.     Father and Mother lying in bed

                                                  ii.     Father says to mother he is concerned about Bobby

                                                iii.     Mother asks why

                                                iv.     Father explains how Bobby said the “monster” told him to hit the bully

                                                  v.     Mother claims that Father’s concern is ridiculous

1.     “There is nothing wrong with our son!”

2.     Quietly “yells” obscenities at the Father, calling him worthless and such

                                                vi.     Father says no more

                                              vii.     The two go to sleep

e.      Back inside Bobby’s bedroom

                                                    i.     The voice has returns

1.     Says it will not be leaving any time soon

                                                  ii.     Bobby asks the monster why it is telling him to do horrible things

                                                iii.     Voice claims it is only for Bobby’s benefit

                                                iv.     Says that there is only one more move to make

1.     Says Bobby must “strike back” again

a.      Bobby asks who

b.     Voice says “The Caregiver”

c.      Bobby says “Daddy?”

d.     Voice says no, your mother

e.      Bobby makes sense of the this

                                                                                                                i.     Flashes back on moments of his mother abusing himself and his father

                                                  v.     Bobby agrees to this final move

                                                vi.     Bobby exits his bedroom

f.      Various parts of the house

                                                    i.     Bobby steps outside of his bedroom

                                                  ii.     He sneaks into the dining room

1.     Obtains the knife that was left on the table during the earlier fight

2.     Bobby swings the knife through the air a bit

                                                iii.     Bobby proceeds to his parents’ bedroom

1.     Mother is not there

2.     Bobby hears a toilet flush

                                                iv.     Bobby sneaks over to the bathroom door

VI.            Climax

a.      Bobby stands outside of the bathroom door while waiting for his mother to exit

                                                    i.     Various cuts between inside and outside of the bathroom are made

1.     The monster tells him what to do

a.      “The life of the wife is ended by the knife” (shout out to Family Guy)

b.     Take your blade and silence the strife

c.      A blade in the gut will bring her to her knees

d.     Do not give in to any of her pleas

e.      Finish her off with a jab in the heart

f.      Then you and your father may have a new start

2.     The knife is behind his back

                                                  ii.     Door finally cracks open

                                                iii.     Bobby says “Mommy,”

                                                iv.     Mother replies “Bobby! Why are you awake? And why aren’t you in your room?”

                                                  v.     Bobby pauses slightly

1.     Replies “I’m just helping Daddy.”

                                                vi.     Mother is puzzled

1.     Says “How?”

                                              vii.     Bobby pauses again

1.     “With this!”

2.     Bobby takes out the knife

                                            viii.     Before his mother can even say anything, Bobby stabs his mother in the stomach

1.     She lets out screams of agony and comes to the floor

2.     Father awakens

3.     Bobby stabs his mother in the heart

4.     She lets out even more screams

b.     Father enters

                                                    i.     Screams “Bobby! What have you done?!”

                                                  ii.     Bobby replies “I have freed you, Daddy.”

                                                iii.     The voice continues in Bobby’s head,

1.     Keeps saying “success”

2.     Does not seem to be going away

                                                iv.     Father asks if the monster told him to do this

                                                  v.     Bobby replies “yes”

1.     The voice still is not stopping

2.     Bobby admits that the voices will not stop

                                                vi.     Father screams desperately “Don’t listen Bobby! Don’t listen to the monster!”

                                              vii.     Bobby says “Make it stop! Make it stop!”

                                            viii.     Father does not know what to do

                                                ix.     Bobby screams in horror

                                                  x.     Bobby picks up the knife

                                                xi.     Father screams “Bobby! No!”

                                              xii.     Bobby takes his own life with the knife.

VII.          Lucis/Denouement

a.      Bobby’s father stands alone

                                                    i.     He is astonished by what has happened

                                                  ii.     He stands in silence for a while

b.     Father kneels down next to his wife

                                                    i.     Peers into her lifeless eyes

                                                  ii.     Says “Good riddance, you bitch.”

c.      Father moves over to Bobby

                                                    i.     Hugs Bobby’s corpse

                                                  ii.     Says “The monster is gone Bobby. You can rest now”

d.     Camera dollies upward on the scene

e.      [end]

And now, a scene from the screenplay.

Bobby and the Monster (Principal’s Office Scene) (Scene IV.a)

PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE – EARLY AFTERNOON

BOBBY sits in a child-sized chair, looks at the floor, and pouts. He buries his cheeks with his fists. PRINCIPAL sits behind his desk across from Bobby. The principal is silently glaring at him. Bobby is shown sitting when the door opens behind him. MR. BRINDLEY and MRS. BRINDLEY enter the room.

PRINCIPAL

Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Brindley. Please have a seat.

Both parents sit down in chairs either side of Bobby.

MRS. BRINDLEY

What is the meaning of all of this?

PRINCIPAL

Bobby acted up in a rather… violent fashion today.

MRS. BRINDLEY

(Slightly angrily)       

And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Principal sighs exasperatedly

PRINCIPAL

Bobby… used a large rock to strike one of his classmates

Mr. and Mrs. Brindley look extremely shocked.

MRS. BRINDLEY

(yelling)         

He did what?!

PRINCIPAL

Bobby, with the help of a large rock, struck one of his classmates in the mouth. Bobby has somewhat seriously injured this child. He is missing most of his teeth now. We had to send him to the hospital.

MRS. BRINDLEY

(yelling)         

Bobby! What in God’s name were you thinking?!

Bobby remains silent and buries his face deeper into his hands.

MRS. BRINDLEY (CONT’D)

Why would you ever do such a horrible thing?!

PRINCIPAL

Mr. and Mrs. Brindley, I am sure you are already aware of the severity of the situation. We are going to have to suspend Bobby for at least ten days.

MRS. BRINDLEY

You can’t be serious. He’s only young. He’s just a kid. He doesn’t know any better.

PRINCIPAL

I’m sorry, Mrs. Brindley, but I have to do this. The situation is much more serious than you appear to think. There is no other way.

MRS. BRINDLEY

(angrily)         

Don’t play games with me, smart guy. I know what he did. So I suppose he must pay for what he has done.

Mrs. Brindley looks at Bobby.

MRS. BRINDLEY (CONT’D)

And don’t think that you will just be able to do whatever you want to at home. You will be punished there as well. Besides for dinner, you will not be seeing the outside of your bedroom for a long time.

PRINCIPAL

I am glad that you understand the situation, Mrs. Brindley. Please take Bobby home and we will notify you if we decide to shorten his suspension.

Both parents and Bobby stand up.

MRS. BRINDLEY

Alright, thank you, Principal Wallace.

MR. BRINDLEY

Thank you, Principal Wallace.

Mrs. Brindley looks at Mr. Brindley

MRS. BRINDLEY

(quietly)         

Shut up.

Mr. Brindley opens the door. Bobby, Mr. Brindley, and Mrs. Brindley leave the Principal’s office.