Final Project

The Forgotten from Shannon Cavanagh on Vimeo.

Our class trip was not my first trip to the museum of moving images, however whenever you go its always enjoyable.  My tour guide was very good about getting us through a lot of the interactive activities.  He was even good about making none interactive activities have something to do in them.  In the costume display, he had us create back stories for characters based off their costumes, something I enjoyed.  Within the museum, I enjoyed most of the exhibits.  I like the fact that they give merchandizing its own exhibit, something that can be such a huge part of a films cultural influence but not always part of the initial process (unless the movie is based off the items or games already available).  My favorite activities were the ones that have to do with sound, particularly the Foley and soundtrack activities.  I thought it was amazing that as a large group, we all came to a very quick decision over what score is the best.  To me, it shows that the score is something that that truly resonates with people, and we would probably choose similar ones in our own lives.  I also really enjoyed the Foley activity where we put the sound effects into the movie home alone, and slightly different sound all fit with the visuals, but make a huge difference for the comedic impact.  The differences in sounds were actually quite subtle, but in the end the choices were so obvious that it would have changed the quality of a scene if another is used.  Over all a very enjoyable trip and I can't wait to go again.

Editing

Today in television, you can’t get far into your channel surfing with out finding a show about a superhero.   And just like the comic books they are based on, it won’t take long until you see a fight sequence.  In this particular fight sequence, the main characters from Arrow (the Arrow, Oliver Queen) and the Flash (the flash, Barry Allen) are fighting each other.  What makes it different from other fight sequences is that not just the classic punching and kicking, the Flash is incredibly fast making the way the shots are going to be set up and edited different that the classic fight sequence. 

            The editing definitely contributed to the feel of this piece.  Firstly the music being played is at a very fast tempo, adding to the pace of the fight.  The sounds also add to the feel of the movement, Because the Flash is supposed to be moving at such a rapid pace, the sounds add to that feeling of movement, especially when you don’t see the character, you just see the light.  While most of the time the editing is seamless, allowing you to follow where the characters are moving, the editing becomes quite obvious while they are hitting each other, using the slowness to jump from one characters point of view to the other.  While there are fast cuts and longer shots through out the entire sequence, they follow a very specific order.  Each shot leads into the next one.  When you see the Arrow shooting his bow and pulling himself up the building followed by the flash following him and then having him fall, each shot is linear and would not work in another order.  Editing played a huge role in this sequence and would definitely not have been possible to do filming straight through.

(I mainly focused on the actual fight itself, ignoring the other characters reaction shots)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRgRve8Cg8

Interview Project

Sound walk.

My favorite part of fall is that people stop going to the beach.  As soon as the crowds are gone, it become the perfect place to bring my dogs to the beach and let them run free.  The classic soundmarks are the waves crashing onto the shore and crashing into  the jetties.  The fall lets go of some of the other soundmarks, children shouting, people chatting, excessive splashing.  The only slashing I hear comes from my dogs running in and out of the water.  There's also birds chirping in fear of my when my dogs chase them, an uanessacry fear.  I hear my dogs panting, signaling their need for water. As I walk I can hear my breath, my feet molding Into the sand.  I hear the water in my water bottle swish back and forth with each step.  I hear a couple having a conversation, pausing to say hello and pet the dogs as they pass by.  I hear the distant sound of a truck driving on the sand, I hear my dogs sprinting after me as we run towards the parking lot to avoid getting g a fine, I hear the couple I spoke to laughing, realizing we are running from the workers,  I hear my doffs claws hitting the cement as we reach the parking lot,  keys clammoring as I fumble for the unlock button, and finally I hear us all panting as we all sit in the car getting to ready to head home after what was a soothing evening, minus the run.

define a space

Shannon Cavanagh: define a space from Shannon Cavanagh on Vimeo.

From a very young age I was glued I front of the television.  Not in a "mom and dad are busy sit here and watch" but in a " I need to know what is happening with these characters I love" kind of way.  This carried over with movies and literature. I would stay up reading a book a night, heartbroken when the story came to an end.  The love of the characters help create a love of psychology and deep curiosity of human nature.

My goals are to tell story's that are deeply entangled with the emotions of people.  Comedy, tragedy, I want to create characters that people see themselves in and also see people they are not used to.  I want to examine the full range of emotions, disorders, and everything in between.  I want my work to examine people and every day lives, both the mundane and extraordinary.  

When it comes to content I've tended to watch, I've always been drawn to fast paced shows with quirky characters, Gilmore Girls being my all time favorite.  Whether this is because I get bored easily and need a rapid fire pace to keep me interested or I just like it more I'm not sure.  But I do know this has been true since I was young.  I recently found out that my favorite show at age 4 was Ally McBeal, a show my mother tells me that is fast paced and has quirky characters.

If I had to delve deeper into thinking about what I would want to do in television, my long term goals would be to be a Tina Fey or a Mindy Kahling, creating content that I could take part in, having control, and making people laugh.  But at the end of the day, I would grateful to be apart of any part of the story telling process.