My ideal environment to create in

It may seem cliche that my ideal place to create would be on a beach, but my reasoning is deeper than it appears! First of all, I love to create when I'm in a busy environment. I'm always inspired by the people and atmosphere around me. I like to sit quietly and take in everything around me like what other people are talking about, what people are doing etc. And there is nowhere better for people watching than a beach. Nowhere.
I'm also extremely inspired by the ocean. I can't really describe it, but something about being near water  inspires me. I'm never happier then when I'm on a beach. Maybe its because my zodiac sign is cancer- I'm a crab. I like the heat, the sand and the water.

Working alone, or working in a group?

I think that working alone and working in a group are equally challenging. Finding which one works better for you really depends on the type of personality you have. I tend to be more of an introvert so working alone doesn't bother me at all. I like to be in control of everything, but I'm not a control freak (I swear). When working alone you don't have to worry about pleasing anyone else, and when you don't have to please anyone else you don't have to worry about letting anyone else down but yourself. You also don't have to worry about other group members not pulling their weight.
Now this is not to say that working in a group doesn't have its advantages. It surely does. Group work, especially when working in a big project, makes the task a lot easier. You can divide up the work among the members so you're not trying to do everything yourself. You also have a bigger variety of ideas and knowledge to draw from. Learning how to work in a group is an important life lesson. You won't be successful in anything in life if you don't know how to compromise.

Id, Ego, Superego

If our blogs were the id section of Sigmund Freud's theory of the psyche, then they would definitely be a lot less "polished". Freud classifies the id as the area that contains basic human needs and impulses. The id does not worry about anything other than instant gratification. For the most part, the id is something that humans try to suppress. If our blogs were made up of strictly the id part of us, then they would be a lot more impulsive, without much thought for the repercussions of what we might be writing. They would simply be an example of whatever we were thinking in the moment. Tumblr is more like the id. Its full of basic human needs. You don't have to search very hard on Tumblr to find something to do with food or sex.
 The ego however, represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions. If our blogs were made up of the ego part of us, they would still be about fulfilling what you need, however the content would be a little more polite. Those basic human impulses would be a little more managed.

Martha Graham- my reaction

Due to my incredibly artistic semester I've been exposed to a lot of new artists. My appreciation for art of all types has really exploded. Up until this year I've only really been exposed to the "old masters" of art, and I had almost no idea about artists in the 20th and 21st centuries. There are so many ground breaking artists who have done amazing things in the last 100 years. In class we learned about Martha Graham and her work with modern dance. I have to say I was a little skeptical at first. Her dances have a lot going on. Because I was so confused by her work, I went out of my way to expose myself to more of it. I decided to look at her work with a more open mind. Okay first of all, the sheer athleticism of her dancers is amazing. That is something to be admired at in itself. But the way she really captures emotion through movement is beautiful. It may seem a bit confusing at first but when you actually think about why she chose choreographed each movement, it seems to all make sense. Take this clip for example;

This dance is called Lamentation. I'll admit that I had to look up what lamentation meant.  To lament is a passionate expression of grief. Knowing that definition, you can absolutely see thats why Martha is trying to express through her dancing. Its chilling.

I admire her for breaking the norm of what dance is expected to be. Her vision has changed dance forever. 

POV/Duration Assignment - We Don't Belong In The Wild

I am extremely pleased with the way my video We Don't Belong In The Wild turned out! In the beginning, I was extremely intimidated by this project. I think my group really struggled with trying to narrow down one idea. We definitely didn't lack creativity, ideas were flowing, but trying to figure out what one would really work for us took longer than any of us expected.

Narrowing down an idea was really the only part we struggled with however. We had really similar ideas when it came to filming. Despite my being away for a large portion of this project (thank goodness for my amazing and understanding group members) on the day of filming things went pretty smoothly. Shout out to Rachel Leers, who is a natural at filming and editing, and Jessie our oh so cooperative wolf. I've never been a fan of filming videos but after this project I've completely changed my mind. I really enjoyed it and would definitely do it again. I'm not much of a techy, so the editing part does't appeal to me. But I loved being in front of the camera. The thing I loved most was coordinating props and costumes and scoping out settings. I would love to do this more (hmmm... possible career idea?) I love focusing on the small details. I think having an eye for detail is the key to success in anything in life, especially in the creative process.

As for content, I think we really did a great job. Our video was our own twist on a classic fairy tale. I think our attention to detail was great. Rachel's editing was spot on. Her use of the hazy filter was was perfect for the dreamy fairy tale feel. As for costumes and props, they helped give our video timelessness. After all, aren't fair tales timeless? Instead of focusing on duration as "a set amount of time", we focused on  the aspect of "how long something lasts". We wanted to make our video feel timeless and classic.

In the future, I would like to practice more of the editing side of things. I think I've always kind of avoided editing because I never thought I would be good at it. But I want to make a conscious effort to try it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KrfgpGJLgk

STRESSSS

I'm so out of inspiration. I have so much work to do but I just can't come up with any ideas for any of it. This is one of the most frustrating feelings ever. Sometimes lack of inspiration is perceived as laziness, but its not. I'm just stuck in a rut. Summer could not come fast enough...