Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Artsy Things

Okay. This is my third time writing this because my laptop is being a butt so let's hope it actually works this time!
I never got the memo about writing an intro, so I'll do that now. (better late than never) My name is Alora; my pen name is Alora Nichole. I'm double majoring in English Writing and Theatre Performance. The reason I have a typewriter pictured is not just because I'm a writing major. It's also because I actually have an Underwood number 5 and it actually works. I have written a couple short stories on it. I like reading, turtles, and the color blue. The reason I took Intro to DMA rather than Intro to Theatre was because I was told I already knew everything in Intro to Theatre. My boyfriend is a DMA major (he's in LA right now with the program there) and he recommended this. It was also something I was really interested in, seeing as I would like to go into film with my acting career.
Enough about me. My two favorite music videos that were shown in class were "Easy Way Out" by Gotye and "The Rifle's Spiral" by The Shins. I'll begin with "Easy Way Out." This video blows my mind. There are layers upon layers of detail in this video and every time I watch it I discover something new. My favorite part is to the right. As a writer, there have been MANY instances where I have wanted to do this. When I saw this part for the first time, there were tears in my eyes, I was laughing so hard. Every time I imagined doing this, I have pictured blood spurting from my head, just like that. Even though this part wasn't about writers block, it captured the essence of writers block. This video was simply amazing and told the story very well. It was a mixture of a lot of art styles that created something beautiful.
"The Rifle's Spiral" was something entirely different. If I had to choose, though, this one would be my favorite. I connected very well to this story. At first, even though I didn't quite understand it, I related to it, somehow. I realize that doesn't quite make sense. Anyway, as I began to understand the video, I made the connections as to why I related. First of all, the three men reminded me of the three fates from greek mythology. It was as if the girl was fighting against the fate that was being forced upon her. Fate says "as you grow older, you'll lose your beauty and innocence" the girl shook her head and told them differently.
She conspired against the fates and won. She had to create some very crafty maneuvers to do so but she got there eventually (you have to be crafty when dealing with the fates!). I think one of the reasons the men reminded me of the fates was when the string was pulled from the man's missing eye. Eyes and lack-there-of were symbolic of the fates, So was string. The fates used sting and then cut it with a pair of shears (just like in the video). In greek mythology, when this happened, the person died. Death is a fate that cannot be avoided. I found that very symbolic in the video. Of course, the men could have nothing to do with the fates. It could just be my overactive imagination.
Alright! Time for the interview. As I read this, there were many times where I thought, "Oh my gosh. I AM Joel Trussell!" This, of course, is not true. But I related to him. Probably more than I should have. In the beginning, where he was described alone in a room with the only light being his computer, I realized that this described me on most days. And when he said he had nobody to bounce ideas off of .... well, let's just say my friends got sick of my stories pretty quickly and now nobody wants to listen to them. And when he was describing his struggles as an artist ... I realized that this would be my life. I don't want to have to go through that! I am, of course, a writer and not an animator. But the journey to success will probably be the same. Joel Trussell had at least the beginning of a happy ending. But would I ever get there?

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