Final Project

    In life there are many examples of a time when a person has been required to make a sacrifice to better them or someone else. In class we looked at a variety of topics ranging from Native Americans in Ceremony to a persons (E)dentity and also to film literature and analysis. One of the themes that stays constant and proves to be true is that sacrifices have to be made to make happiness possible. For anyone to be happy a sacrifice must be made, people can not simply expect to always get, receive, and take; at some point a person will have give, and in the action of giving the person will be able to better appreciate what they sacrificed in order to receive.

    During these units there were some that focus on Native Americans and there way of life. In the movie Reel Injun there was a guy they showed running across ice naked. As the man runs across the ice there's a person speaking over the frame saying that this man is not an actor because there was nothing fake about what he was doing, it was real emotion (Reel Injun). This shows how he is sacrificing his comfort and putting him self at risk in order to make a contribution and better the end product of the film. In Ceremony there are witches which are a symbol for evil and they talk about making these white people which will bring destruction and work for them. The witches gather in a giant festival of dark things when all witches bar one have shown what they have to show the last one remaining tells the rest a story, and as he tells the story it happens (Ceremony). This shows that when a sacrifice is made it dose not always have to be a sacrifice that you are making, it can be a sacrifice of others. In the movie Smoke Signals Victor and Thomas are riding a bus to go find the place where victors father so they can collect him and his things. While Victor and Thomas are riding the bus Thomas goes to the restroom to change his outfit, when they return they find two other men sitting in there seats. They choose to give up their seats to avoid making a scene and possibly getting kicked off the bus, in doing so they are able to sit at the back of the bus and sing there song to get back at the others on the bus. While studying PTS(D) we looked at its effect on a person, what it is, and what people who have it go through, an example of this is when we had Navy Seal Clay Takara come in and speak with us. Clay was suffering from the physical and emotional stress of being almost completely paralyzed when he was shot in the throat during combat. His sacrifice of time to recover and constantly pushing himself to do better is what helped him to being able to walk now and be able to still do his job. These are just a few examples of forms that sacrifice can come in.

    A person can sometimes make a sacrifice with out knowing it, or maybe they want to sacrifice to help but don't know where to start. While looking at Culture/Communication we looked at something called (E)dentity, the concept of who you are online. Some times people are different online where they don't have to deal with consequences of what they say, a person can change and become someone they are not (Edentity). People can sacrifice who they are and what they stand for when they go online and not be aware of the change, of what they sacrifice in order to be a different person if even just for a little while. While a person can sacrifice them selfs and be someone else, sometimes that is what we need, it can tie in with the idea of Social empathy from our media section. Social empathy is this idea that when culture is struggling to move to either elite or folk we get caught in this time where folk culture people have access to some elite culture which begins to merge the two together. While this gives more people access to art it means that everyone has to work harder to make a product good enough to be noticed in the sea of new found art. We then looked at a movie called Press Pause Play which showed us how people are able to use this art and this accessibility to connect with others they would never have met before. Ólafur Arnalds, an Icelandic musician, is able to make his music and connect with a man in Argentina to help with the videos to make a beautiful piece of art (Press Pause Play). While people are able to connect it sacrifices this idea of how special one thing that a person has made truly is, just do to the fact that when you make something then literally just after you release it someone else has released something else new as well . But that is not to say that the sacrifice of having a sea of new art is bad, so much new art and while not all of it is good there is so many people making wonderful art that never would have been able to before if we had left art to elite culture.

    Maybe sacrifice is not something we physically have to give up or change, Sacrifice can be emotional as well as physical. Craigslist Joe shows this as he is giving up his life as he knows it to go see just how kind other people can be.  One of these people is a woman named Fran, she has cancer and is a border but she has chosen to heal through the energy of the universe and seek help in cleaning some of her items out so she can begin to let go (Craigslist Joe). As he is taking his journey he meets so many wonderful and kind people who are willing to share part of there life with a stranger, give up time, money, and resources just to help another person out. We recently studied Visual literacy and effects in cinematography, how a movie is made and what in a movie makes it so powerful. People sometimes forget just how powerful time can be and just take it for granted, Producers, Editors, Directors, Actors, and everyone else that helps in making a movie gives up a large amount of time to make a good end product. Time is powerful, it can heal a wound, it can help a person make better choices, it can even help a person to get over the loss of another, and with all this power time holds cinematography helps to make it so the time spent making and watching films is as effective and moving as it can be. Seven Pounds is a perfect example of emotional sacrifice, physical sacrifice and the power that time holds. Will Smith is able to put so much emotion that when combined with skill of the editors and everyone else in the movie, you are fully attached to the character of Ben Thomas even though you already know he is going to die (Seven Pounds). The skill and time put into this movie makes the 123 minutes of viewing so touching you feel like you are actually watching someone die to help others have a better life. All of these aspects come together to show how much sacrifice goes on and how much people are willing to give to make a dream come true or just make some ones day a little better.

    Sacrifice can come in many form big and small but dose that dose not mean any is less important by nature than another. But what if people just stopped sacrificing, but thats what makes a sacrifice so beautiful and so important. A sacrifice means so much and holds beauty because it would be easy to to stop sacrificing, anyone can be selfish, so the struggle and down side to a sacrifice it what really brings it into light for all to see and marvel at its beauty. The beauty of a sacrifice is always changing which keeps people guessing at what form it will take next and this is what makes anyone appreciate what elegance is present in their life.

Seven Pounds Essay

    Throughout Seven Pounds There is an idea that for anything to be gained something must first be lost or you must struggle for it. There are examples of this in many forms from the obvious sacrifice of a life to have others get what they need. To sacrifice of happiness so others can be cared for or find joy in their life. All together the recurring theme of sacrifice presented in the movie brings together the idea that happiness comes at a price for everyone.

    Tim Thomas sacrifices his life in order to help people get what they need to become heathy so they can live their lives to the fullest. Ezra, who is portrayed as a beautiful person, is never aloud to enjoy all the beauty he is surrounded by till he receives a gift from Tim. When Emily is meeting Ezra and Tim's eyes are looking at her but it's not Tim seeing her (Seven Pounds). Gabriele Muccino shows just how much it means for Ezra to be able to see and fully enjoy the beauty around him. When Emily is talking to Ben Thomas and figuring out just who the man that gave his life for her really was, she is so crushed by the loss but at the same time trying to make the best of her situation and be happy she has a second chance against all odds. In this scene there is lots of light surrounding Emily and Ben as they go through old pictures of Tim (Seven Pounds). This is to show Emily's new hope in life and Ben's determination to show those his brother touched just who it was that had helped them. Tim gave part of his life piece by piece to start, one of which was giving bone marrow to the little boy and not the man at the hospital. When Tim is laying on the table after the procedure the doctor says he thinks Tim is crazy for choosing to give bone marrow due to how painful it is (Seven Pounds). Bone marrow transplants are said to be one of the most painful things a person can experience, during which you are not aloud anesthesia so by Tim having that operation done shows how much he is willing to sacrifice for others. For Tim to choose to go through all the pain he dose just so other people can have better lives shows just how little he values his own life and how much he wants to help others so in some way he can attempt to make up for his previous mistake.

Blog post #28

#28

        The music video stubborn love was a great example of showing mise-en-scene with how the girl wanting to find love in her life was at her lowest and when she was so weak and so exposed to the world she found love in her life. The scene was blurring and from her perspective to show a tear in her eye, then the back ground was very illuminated to show hope with a guy looking down on her. Then in the music video for The Best of Times there was a part when Sage Francis stepped out of a door and into a big open field. This shot shows how he was stuck worrying about events that were so small in his life and how he is now looking at the bigger picture and as a result able to see beyond his past and see the world around him in all its beauty. In addition the Swimming Pool video shot sequence showed his struggle with alcohol and addiction in his life by constantly showing bottles and the girl who was a symbol for temptation.