Era Loves Stars @phoenixera - Tumblr Blog

This is why I love AE! When you have things like these on the wall, it's hard not to! XD #ILoveAE

Authenticity. In the market of the modern world, each genre of music has its own real, authentic brand. Producers, singers, and songwriters strive to keep their brand as pure and true as possible. Biggie, one of the great rappers of the 1990s once said, “How real can your music be if you wake up...

phoenixera

First of all, I love how you have interlaced the two concepts from different prompts and combined them!

Secondly, I understand that you feel that if people feel something is art. I support your opinion. However, don't you think that art is always supposed to have a message that can be sent across to the public in general?

It's a simple though to ponder over :)

phoenixera42-blog

neostarman

(Note: This is a response to both parts, but I can only reblog one post at a time.)

It’s important to make note of the overlay of a cover - things that aren’t a part of the actual image, like text color and font - and you did that well. In addition to the seriousness (or lack thereof) of Tupac’s and Biggie’s covers respectively, the text emphasizes whatever message is to be made in the article. I also like how you emphasize the importance of the message itself in art. After all, that was indeed the point Hobson was trying to make; even though art can be entertaining, the audience ignored the message that Jay Z was trying to convey with his performance.

phoenixera

Thank you for you comment! I feel that the layout of the cover speaks as much as the images and thus decided to focus on those.

As for the art related blog post, I was just hoping that the reader would get my interpretation of the quote so I am glad that you did!

In All Seriousness

The two covers of the VIBE magazine reflect the musical and personal characteristics of Tupac and Biggie significantly through the use of different orientation of text and the cover pictures. The font display on both the covers is extremely distinctive. While’s Tupac’s cover is bold with his name as the most prominent part of the textual representation of the cover, Biggie’s name features after the title of the article in a much smaller font. This shows that Tupac’s story has a much stronger message and affect on his life than Biggie’s. This, also, directly reflects their music as Tupac’s music has a stronger and bolder message related to societal issues in contrast to Biggie’s easy-going fun music with a message. Similarly, Tupac’s cover is more serious than Biggie’s. Only one side of Tupac’s face is visible, representing the fact that there is a side of him that we do not know about. The light on his face in contrast to the dark background adds to the serious nature of the cover. In comparison to Tupac’s picture, Biggie’s picture is more laid back and presents him with his lady in a luxurious car depicting that the article about him is not very serious and is more likely about his life’s luxuries instead of the struggles. The colors on Tupac’s cover are in darker tones and color combinations and even the white font color used on the cover emphasizes the dark tones of the around it. In contrast to this kind of display, Biggie’s cover has a much brighter mix of color tones and eccentric ladder-like font display. This makes his story appear more enjoyable that Tupac’s serious statement. The difference in the visual effects in the two covers portrays the difference in their stories and their personalities.

#biggie #tupac

All dressed up for my first interview! :D I think it went well :)

We managed a weird selfie in the dark xD beat-boxing championship! Fun night :')

First football game! With the GC family :') #gt18

#gt18

phoenixera42-blog

Analysis of Opening Scene of Smooth Criminal

In the opening sequence of smooth criminal, the play between blue and white lights and dark alley background sets a tenebrous scene while depicting Michael Jackson as the central subject of the music video by making him appear important, bold and superhuman. The sequence opens as a long shot (still-camera) of a blue-lit corner alley corner, shrouded by an over-bearing shadow of a man. Fairytale-like music plays in the background giving a divine perspective of the shadow. While camera stays still, the shadow moves forward, reducing in size. In the next few seconds, we see Michael Jackson running around the corner, in a white suit, as the tempo of the music increases. The still camera creates an illusion of him running towards the audience. His blue shirt complements the blue-lit walls while his stark white suit provides a strong contrast with the dark alley and dim lighting, giving him a central role. As he turns around the second corner, the camera is focused in a close shot of faces of three ethnically different children staring at Jackson with awe and curiosity. The second establishing shot (taken from behind MJ), consists of a green door, possibly depicting an entrance to a different world/society. When MJ opens the door, bright white light engulfs his entirety and his previously stark white suit appears like a dark silhouette against it; again making him a central figure. Another camera/scene shift shows the trio being blinded by light while MJ stands against it, steadily, when the camera focuses on him. He, therefore, comes across as super-human. The last shot of the scene is a close-up of his face where he tips his hat, confidently, and goes through the doorway. Afterwards, we see back-to-back shots of the trio in shock and descending light from the doorway. Finally, the door shuts depicting the blockage of the outside world and MJ’s bold ascend into another. MJ’s prodigal depiction serves as a perfect setting for his role as a super-natural gang leader whom no force can stop (even army men with guns!).

davidmedrano22

I really liked that you used a gif to support your argument. After reading this blog and a few others I realize that Michael Jackson has a tendency to wear bright clothes in his videos. Do you think there are any reasons besides to make him stand out?Enjoyed the blog post!

phoenixera

Thank you so much for the support!

As for the white clothes, as a passionate MJ fan, I can tell you that the scene created by him wearing white clothes and being covered by white light was actually replicated in quite a few of his videos and his live shows. It was considered one of his signature moves.

As to why... that actually made me think. Considering Griffin's article, MJ had a childhood where he received negative attention. I have always felt that as a result, he has always presented himself as a strong, central (sometimes even super-human!) personality in his videos in general.

Thus adding bright clothes and lights in contrast to a dark background as a part of mise-en-scene in most of the videos serves this purpose.

These are my thoughts about it!

ksmith383

Blog Post #1

The opening sequence of Bad uses the setting to set up the story and mood for the video through colors, camera angles, and conversations with other actors. The black and white color scheme in the beginning gives viewers the feeling of being out of place due to colored videos having been around at that time. This harmonizes with the Darrel’s feelings after the thirty second mark, feeling out of place with his old friends. The lack of color also give you almost a feeling of sadness or anticipation, both of which Darrel feels on the bus ride back home after all of his classmates have gotten off. The camera angles show you what’s going on. They show you different angles of the school in the beginning, showing off how big and prestigious it is. By doing this, they are indirectly saying that Darrel is getting a great education. The scene of all of the kids running down the stairs lets you know that school has just been released for a break, meaning everyone gets to go home. For Darrel, that meant going back to his old friends and home. The director, showing the conversation between Darrel and the other student, shows you that he’s happy that someone is proud of what he’s trying to do. This explains why he’s so disappointed that his friends weren’t too impressed with his schooling. If you bring all of these elements from the first thirty seconds together, you realize Darrel is proud of his education and is worried to go back home, afraid of what his friends with think of him.

phoenixera

I just realized that I had been taking an extremely negative opinion on this video, only focusing on the negative aspects of it! By simply focusing on the disparity between the classes and contrasting background, I didn't really focus on the facial expressions of the subject i.e. MJ. Considering facial expressions and physical reactions are also an important part of mise-en-scene, I now realize how important his reaction to going back home was.

You are right! The black and white filter and side camera angles really do serve as a shock and sets the base for the story line!

Great post!