1950-1971

1950 through 1971 was a very difficult time for people all over the world.  This is a time period when the Cold War was just getting into effect, a time where people were feeling tense and anxious. A couple of decades laden with war, political and military uncertainty, propaganda, and economic hardships.  From the time the film “Singing in the Rain” premiered to the revision of the song in the movie “Clockwork Orange” the world suffered through the Korean War, The Vietnam War, the Berlin Crisis (in which Berlin split and the Berlin Wall was built) , and the Cuban Missile Crisis. These number of major political events that took place during that time shaped the society into the cold, harsh critic who only could have envisioned that twisted version of “Singing in the Rain”.

Earthquake

My mother was born in the 1960’s and recalls the most memorable part of the movie Earthquake was the theme park attraction ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL that was created based on the film. The ride,  Earthquake:  The Big One”, would show you a bit of the movie, then tourists would board the ride and experience a special effects simulated earthquake.   The ride was open from 1990 to 2007 when it closed to be replaced by “Disaster!…A major motion picture ride…Staring You!” which uses many of the same effects as “Earthquake:  The Big One” did. 

Abel Gance and Georges Melies

Georges Melies and Abel Gance were very similar men in many ways. To start with they were both Frenchmen,  both born in Paris in fact, both men of the 1800’s just 27 year apart, but most importantly they were both innovators in the production of film. Gance was known for his experimental  practices that involved manipulation of the camera to create special effects. Melies preferred more performance style special effects using and manipulating the cinematography,  such as the stop trick. Melies was known as the first ever “Cinemagician." While Gance experimented with filming in sound and color, Melies was hand painting his film to personally add color.  Both men were breakthrough artist in the art of film.

Madama Butterfly Adaptaion

I found it extremely interesting how they adapted the opera into clay animation. It’s almost like an opera for kids, minus the sex scene (which, I must point out, was extremely graphic for clay animation).  The fish baby was a unique interpretation  of a child whos father is out to see. And even as clay doll you can feel how upset Madama Butterfly is when she is left waiting for her man, and when her son is torn from her to go live with the perfect “barbie” family. She is left so sad it tears her apart, literally.  But the butterfly ensures that she will always live on. 

Blackface performers, the origin of "jazz", and the causes of the stock market crash of 1929

Jazz.
The origin of the word jazz is of great interest to many and while highly researched, remains unknown. However, it's clear that the meaning of this slang term has changed over time. The first documented case of the word was in regard to baseball, printed in the LA Times in 1912, used with negative connotations. Over time jazz became known as a positive thing to mean enthusiasm or pep. Some believe the word came from an old slang term "jasm"meaning spirit, energy, or vigor. Jazz's first documented use to describe a genre of music was in the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1915.

Blackface Performers.
In an age where only white men where privileged enough to be on stage... How can you create a vibrant and diverse cast? Why not just paint the actors faces! Well that's exactly what they did in the 1800's, here in America and in Europe as well. Performers would used burnt cork, shoe polish and even greasepaint to darken their skin. In the early 1900's many well know actors such as Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, and Shirley Temple, played blackface roles. The tradition died down around the mid 1900's due to new respect for race and racism.

Stock Market Crash.
Prior to the crash wealth and luxury were predominant in the US. The Roaring 20's where put to a sudden halt on October 29, 1929, "Black Tuesday." It all started with a theory that "now was the time to buy stocks!". Millions of Americans started borrowing money to invest in stocks, about 8.5 billion dollars had been loaned out, more than the entire money supply in circulation during that time. Stock prices continued to soar and Americans continued to invest. When the market finally hit its peak on October 24th and began its downward trend, Americans began to panic and panic selling ensued. And following in suit the market crashed.

Art and Technology- wait and see.

I'm really looking foward to this class. Don't like to have to many expectations, that way reality can never fall short. No offense, just a time tested practice. I love starting new class though and I am very excited. Pesonally I hope to be able to incorporate my love of the ocean into some of my projects. I'll just have to wait and see... Time will tell.