I Hate This Album

I Hate This Album

For my review I want to look at Kid Cudi’s second studio album Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager. First off I want to note that normally I enjoy Kid Cudi, and I think his unique approach to rapping allows his music to really stand on its own, but this album was the exception. I felt very mislead, after hearing the first single Erase me featuring Kanye West, I was intrigued enough to continue listening to the entire album, I was very disappointed. The entire album felt very rushed. After initial success of his most popular album, Man on the Moon, Kid Cudi was brought to instant fame. Often what I think happens is when an artist becomes suddenly famous they are pressured into making and releasing music as quickly as possible, so that they can stay at the height of the popularity. This is exactly what Kid Cudi did. Every song on the album had a very emotional sense to it, by that I mean he sounded like a combination of crying and whining in each of his songs. The one upside to this album is it is Cudi being Cudi; he is experimenting with new sounds and rhythms, which will eventually lead to great success because he does have the talent and work ethic to become a staple in popular music. If I could give one piece of advice to Kid Cudi it would be: take your time, and make sure you have something that you are confident with, and are not just releasing it to stay relevant. Overall this is just a small hiccup in a great career, and I cannot wait to see what Kid Cudi has in store for us next.

This album would be a 5/10

Bio-Pic idea

Who would I choose to write a bio-pic about?

Bio-Pic Me

My Grandfather, Jerry Hackman

When it comes to a biopic I could not think of a better person to write about then my grandfather. Born in 1926 my grandfather has pretty much seen it all. Before being drafted to the navy during World War Two he had the opportunity to letter on The Ohio State University Track team, but decided drinking with his friends at his fraternity was a better idea. He was stationed in the pacific for most of his time during the war, when it was time to go home he had the opportunity to go through Thailand, which he refused because he thought island hopping would be faster. The boys who went to Thailand had the time of their lives and still managed to beat him back to the states. After he got home he helped build a large portion of the homes on the east side of Columbus with his father. After that he took up a job at Borden Company where he worked his way up to head marketing chief. He is a father to five. His children include a professional writer, a multi-millionaire, and a professor a Georgia Tech. Throughout his life he has had many ups and downs, when Borden closed its doors he was left without a job, but he bounced back and started up in the industrial real estate business, and today with he has helped his son Michael become one of the largest industrial real estate giants in the country. He is a proud Jew who has been going to the same Synagogue his whole life. There is not a single person that has spent time with my grandpa that has not eventually been able to call him a friend. A prime example of this is his golf group has an age difference of almost forty years. He is a fried to all.

Your life the screenplay

Your life the screenplay

Fade in, camera shows man looking out of a door then pans across face to show obvious distress. Man checks his phone to look at weather.

MIKE

I don’t need my umbrella

Casually strolls out door, the sun actually seems to get brighter as he comes out of his dorm. It is quite the nice day slightly cloudy, not very cold, but a jacket is required. Mike spots the dreads of one of his friends and hollers to him.

MIKE

Mark, what’s up man?

Mark

It’s going to rain man

MIKE

I like my chances; I got to go to class text me later?

The walk to the RTV building was nothing special a few gusts of wind but nothing to get worked up about, class is short and not important. He is back to the beginning although this time he is staring outside the RTV building.

MIKE

Fuck (he mumbles to himself)

The sky is ominous and cracks of thunder fill the air, he picks his pace up. He manages to reach the top of Richland before all hell breaks loose it is a tremendous downpour. He now is scrambling back to his dorm. By the time he gets there he is soaking wet. He sits down on his chair and slowly begins the tedious process of removing his soaked cloths once he put fresh ones on he decides to call it a day. He climbs in bed.

MIKE

Should have brought and umbrella

It is only 4:15

What is this sorcery?

What is this sorcery?

I really like the idea of interactive storytelling games; I think it offers a unique perspective on a traditionally non-interactive genre. My idea would be quite simple; the premise of the game is the main character is charged with returning a prince from one end of the game to the other. The setting would be medieval Europe. I find that people really enjoy knights and kings and anything that goes along with a medieval concept. I would also like to add a sort of fantasy concept to the story by that I mean there would be some use of magic and there would also be a few mystical creatures involved, with Game of Thrones being as big as it is people will really dive in for this sort of game.

The gamer first gets to decide if he or she wants to be a male or female character once that is chosen some back story will be provided and that is he or she is a disgraced knight in an English kingdom and has one chance of redemption he or she has to battle his or her way through difficult wilderness to rescue the prince of the kingdom who had been captured after a battle in Germany. Getting to the prince will be the easy part because no one will have any idea who you are, but once you have broken into the German castle and rescued the prince that is when all hell breaks loose. Through the use of whatever tools and tricks you learned while on your way will be needed to get back to your homeland.

On the way one must learn skills that will be useful to help rescue the prince, these skills can include archery, swordsmanship and sorcery. It is also important to complete side missions, these missions would be like helping a local farmer fight some local raiders who are stealing his or her crop and in return this farmer would let you stay the night on your way back with the prince.

There would also be a free play mode once one has completed the main objective this mode would include a multitude of things ranging from raiding villages to become the ultimate bad guy or quite the opposite by completing tasks that the king has entrusted you with to become a famous knight. Throughout the game there will be a helpful narration that will lead you back on path if one is getting lost.

How does it feel to be a rolling stone?

Chance the Rapper

Acid Rap

5/5

Along with Kendrick Lamar, Chicago native Chance the Rapper had one of the best rap albums of the year. Acid Rap is his first breakout album. To understand Acid Rap one must take a look at Chance himself he grew up in very tough neighborhood in Chicago, but is not a product of his environment. Like Kendrick he is writing about what he has seen and what friends have participated in. Chance has made it common knowledge that when he writes his music he is on LSD, which is often said to open people’s minds to their inner selves.

He does not rap about being a drug dealing gangster as many popular artists do in this day an age, but more of his personal thoughts and feelings towards society while on LSD.  What makes Chance unique is his use of voice inflections in his songs and he always presents a new perspective on current issues.

In his song Paranoia he talks about the lack of attention towards the inner cities from the media and the government, with lyrics like, “where the fuck is Matt Laurer at somebody get Katie Couric in here.” It is clear that he is upset at current situations and how they are being handled and through his music he hopes to change that.

No amount of praise can do Chance justice I strongly recommend listening to this album to fully understand his contribution to music.

That Movie Rocked

Tragic Entertainment

SCRIPT COVERAGE

Title: Goodfellas                                                Setting: Brooklyn, New York

Author: Martin Scorsese                         Period: 1955-1980

Producer:                                                            Elements Attached:

Submitted by:                                                Submitted to:

Read by: Michael Herwald                        Genre: Crime:

Coverage Date: 4-16-14                                    Submission date:

	Excellent	Very Good	Good	So-So	Not Good
Plot		X
Characters	X
Dialogue		X
Structure		X
Commercial Appeal		X

Log Line: A young man fulfils his life long dream, but then has to betray all that he loves to save the one’s he loves.

Summary: Set in 1950s mob heavy New York we follow young Henry Hill from boyhood to manhood as he tries to fulfill his life long dream of becoming a mobster. The story starts out showing how young Henry becomes acquainted with mobsters who in turn introduce him to a life of crime, money, and women. Henry goes through many tribulations that test his character and morals. There is never a dull moment. The screenplay contains one of the best plot twists in modern movie history. Goodfellas is the downward spiral of Henry Hill’s life.

Comments:  Movies that have to do with the mafia will always have a place in the cinematic world. People love to see the mob world romanticized and in movie form because it allows everyone to experience the “fast” life without actually committing a crime.

The story is absolutely solid. The objectives and plot are made clear right from the beginning and are very easy to follow. Henry the protagonist is a very likeable character and the audience will have no trouble commiserating with him. The script keeps one on edge up until the climax where the reader is left flabbergasted by the plot twist. After reading I cannot help but to feel like I want more to read.

One of the strongest parts of the script is the development of all the side characters, for instance the character Stacks the reader only meets him once but through a few short scenes the reader feels like he or she really knows this character and is actually upset when he is later killed.

This is a very different movie from The Godfather, which I think will help it in the end. It has a much faster pace and has a much more loose feeling to it. But the same audience who enjoyed The Godfather will also enjoy this script.

What is very unique about this movie is the antagonists are people we are rooting for up until the very end. Henry is faced with a choice, either is family or his lifestyle and he chooses family which in turns ruins his lifestyle and that is all he ever wanted to be.

Overall, the current draft of the script has reached max potential and is ready to be transformed into a movie. 

TV 2 Game

The show I would pick would be The Sopranos

For those who are not aware of The Sopranos, the show follows a New Jersey crime boss in his everyday life.

Design a free game for the Internet that will draw people to the series:

I think a fun and easy game for the Internet would be creating your very own gangster. One could start at the bottom and work himself or herself up to the very top of the organization, but not able to become the boss. Becoming the boss would be a later version of a game or a new game entirely.

Design a stand-alone game for Nintendo that spins off from the series:

Here is where the real fun can start. After playing the last game one would have worked himself or herself up to second in command. This new game would be the story of the second in command person not happy with being second in command so he or she leaves The Soprano gang and starts his or her own. The game would encompass many missions from recruiting people to his or her gang to fighting with The Sopranos for dominance of North Jersey.

Design a simple game for the TV Show’s Website that would be a fun way for people to remember the show:

A simple way to have people remember the show would be to create a simple game for them to play on the website. My game would be something as simple as the player is trying to pickup money from people and return it to the boss, but there is a time limit, and one receives high scores for the more money he or she delivers to the boss.

A more detailed look at idea #2

I want to take a closer look at the technology and aesthetics used for this game. I would want it to be and Xbox or Playstation game; those two consoles have the best graphics and game play. I would model the game very similarly to the latest Grand Theft Auto game. For those who have not played GTA5 it is a very visually intense game, which totally immerses the gamer into the world of Grand Theft Auto.

The mechanics of the game will be quite simple. The player is allowed to roam around the city and sort of free play if he or she chooses, but one cannot advance in the game with out completing certain missions first. For instance one cannot have an AK-47 in free play unless he or she completes the mission with the Ukrainians to set up an illegal arms trade. Basically the more missions the player does the better free play becomes.

The Story

All your life you wanted to work for The Soprano family in the previous game that got you hooked to the series you got to do just that. You had the time of your life cracking skulls and collecting money. You do such a good job, and through a series of unfortunate events you work your way up to second in command under Mr. Soprano himself. After a few years of earning Mr. Soprano a great deal of money Mr. Soprano has a heart attack and dies. You are passed up for promotion to become head of the family, instead that position goes to Mr. Soprano’s son, who you think is worthless, but you cannot question majority rule of the captains. Upset with this decision you decide to leave The Soprano crew and start your very own rival gang. This is where the game picks up, you are just starting to build your crew. The beginning missions will focus on recruiting people to join you. As the game progresses your crew gets bigger and bigger till finally you are forced to deal with The Sopranos this final conflict will be the last and hardest mission. The last mission will be to kill all of the 7 heavily guarded captains of The Soprano crew without dying. Each captain will make you use a skill previously learned in earlier parts of the game. Once the game is beaten there will be an option for free play where you can roam free and create chaos just like in a Grand Theft Auto game. 

Up, Up, and Away?

Superheroes

1.     Superman-strength, laser vision, flying

2.     Flash-speed

3.     Batman-intelligence and super rich

4.     Hulk-super strength and very large

5.     Wolverine-claws of death

6.     Spider-man, spider-esc and can shoot web from hands

7.     Iron Man, super rich and smart

8.     Storm, can change weather

9.     Green Lantern, ring that can move/create anything

10. Daredevil, blind, but has heightened other senses

If I had to choose which superpower I would rather have for the rest of my life either the ability to fly or be invisible I would hands down choose the ability to be invisible. The pros of being invisible are almost endless, but to name a few: you could rob banks (if that was one’s thing); infiltrate crime organizations to bring them down, and the amount of silly shenanigans one could pull off like being a ghost and scaring people. The only con that I see is while one is invisible and listening to music on a busy highway, a truck doesn’t see him or her because he or she is invisible then the car hits him or her and then one would be dead. Flying is overrated. The only advantage that flying has to be invisible is that one could fly to their specific beach island instead of flying on a plane, but if one was invisible one wouldn’t be paying for travel expenses anyways. The major con of flying is landing. In the movies they make landing look very easy but in actuality one would probably end up dead on the pavement the first time one tried to land. That is why being invisible is much better than flying. 

Your Harmatia is Showing

Story Idea

There is this drug dealer who started selling pot because he wanted to smoke for free. It turns out a lot of people liked his product and this drug dealer started to make a name for him/herself. Through a series of fortunate events this drug dealer was able to make a few good connections, so he could expand his business. This drug dealer got greedy and was no longer fine with being small time, so he put his trust into some questionable people. At first it worked well and he or she had success, but these questionable people failed and this drug dealer ended up dead.

Harmatia

What I want the audience to see and what they will see is that this drug dealer is a trusting person. The audience will see examples of this before he or she even becomes a drug dealer. The audience will understand that this drug dealer is too trusting and will probably be able to infer that this overcompensation of trust will lead to some trouble to the road. This drug dealer wants to see the good in people, so much so that it enables him or her to see a person’s true character. I want the audience to be screaming at this drug dealer (in their head of course) to not trust a certain person because it is so obvious that he or she is not a person to be trusted.

Peripetieia

What the audience will see is the consistent downfall of this drug dealer. The audience will see in the beginning happiness and by the end I want the audience to see the destruction and despair of this drug dealer caused by his or her actions. I think sad ending make for a better movie usually. I want the audience to know that the path the drug dealer is on is going to lead to his or her death and that there is nothing the audience can do to stop it.

Anagorisis

Towards the very end the audience will see that the drug dealer has recognized his or her tragic flaw of trusting too much, but it will be too late. Even though the drug dealer will understand his or her tragic flaw he or she will accept that it is too late, and as much as the audience wants the drug dealer to change the drug dealer wont change. At the end I want the audience to feel sad because there was nothing that they could do to save this drug dealer from destruction. 

Zombies, Run! 2

My hypothesis on my such apps like this work is because people want to be healthy, but need a way to do it that can fit in with the scheduale of a working man or woman, and also something that is fun and keeps the person coming back, and that is what Zombies, Run 2 does.

One of the most important aspects of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to exercise. Two major complaints that people have when it comes to physical activity are that it is boring and there is no time to do it. But what if I where to tell you that there is an app that makes exercise fun, and the best part is that one can incorporate it in to their normal day, and not have to make any time to exercise because the exercise is overlapping a person’s average routine.

My app would be sort of an exercise alarm clock. A person would plug into the app their height and weight and how much weight he or she is trying to lose. The app would then create a list of activities, the amount of activities depends on the person’s weight loss goal. For example if a person is trying to lose a pound a week, the app would go off every hour during the time the person is up, and what the person would see on their phone is a simple message like “Take the trash out” ,“Walk around the block”, or if someone works at an office, “Go get a drink of water” and “Walk to lunch.”

Combining simple activities with a person’s everyday routine provides a healthy and easy way to lose weight. 

Script vs Film

Michael Herwald

Script vs Film

            Reservoir Dogs, directed by Quentin Tarantino is about an armed robbery gone wrong. I would consider this one of Tarantino’s better movies, and an instant classic in my book. I first saw the movie when I was in 7^th grade, and other than the violence I did not find it very entertaining, but when tasked with the assignment to re-watch the movie and compare it to its screenplay, I fell in love. What Tarantino is able to accomplish on the screen is truly unique and it makes him one of the most acclaimed writers/directors of our time. With that being said I first want to analyze the movie before it is in film, so I will take a look at the screenplay for Reservoir Dogs.

            One necessary part, perhaps the most important one, for achieving cinematic gold is to have a well though out and decisive screenplay. A screenplay is not like anything I have read before it is too dialogue based for a book and too bland with character description to be a play. When comparing a screenplay to a film I notice to key difference, one is in emotion and the other is visual appearance.

            Everyone has at least heard of the Twilight movies, and how one of the biggest complaints is that Kristin Stewart (the lead female) lacks emotion while she acts, unfortunately this leads to a crappy movie and horrible Internet memes. A screenplay does not convey any emotion directly like a film does that is mostly the job of the actors portraying the characters within the screenplay. How come some movies, with talented actors, are better than other movies, with talented actors? The reason is directly correlated with how well the screenplay is written and developed. An actors job is to read the script, but if the script is poorly written then there is not much even a good actor can do, in fact with a bad scripts the acting can seem phony and not sincere.

            The biggest difference between a screenplay and a film is one does not see what is happening in front of them while reading. Especially with Reservoir Dogs there is a lack of character description within the screenplay, which can be good because one does not want that to get in the way of the story. This is part of the reason Tarantino is so good because he writes and directs his own movies, so he already has an idea of what he wants his characters to look like and who his actors will be.

            What I have learned is a screenplay is not supposed to be this amazing work of art, it is supposed to be the anchor to a story. A screenplay is the steppingstone for the movie, and one cannot coexist without each other. It is the foundation to a work of art.

            As a side note I find it very interesting the varying levels of change between movies from screenplay to film.  I would most likely note that as director’s discretion, for example if he sees something that needs changing while filming there is no need to change the screenplay. 

Instructions:

Write two fifty-word mini-sagas. The origins of the saga comes from Icelandic prose dating back to the 12th century when locals would recount their warrior battles. Today, a saga is referred to as a modern heroic narrative.
Your mini-saga should have 50 words. No more, no less. The stories must have a beginning, middle and end. They must be interesting, and they may not be autobiographical. Engage the reader. Here are two example 

My sagas

Jazz, the oldest of three joined the army at 18. He was never good at following orders, till they shipped him to Iraq. His blind devotion to his commander kept him alive. When he got back he worked at a McDonalds where he was fired because he can’t follow orders.  

The day Joey was murdered was a very beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. He remembered his mom saying never trust a stranger, but this one had candy. They found his body in a field next to an abandoned parking lot. 

My ideas for an Audio Doc.

Idea Number 1

My first idea falls under the category of food, but not actually eating anything. I want to focus on food etiquette more specifically on the idea of double dipping. My audience is everyone because everyone eats and everyone at some point in time has double dipped and I think it would be quite interesting to hear people’s different reactions to this food taboo.

I would most likely start of reminding my audience about the infamous Seinfeld scene where George double dips, and Jerry starts to yell and say what a terrible thing it is. This is when I would insert other people’s stories on their particular situations that involve double dipping. I then think it would be humorous to end on how people try and get themselves out of such an awkward situation.

Idea Number 2

My second idea involves the cold weather. Not everyone is born in a state that has winter or even gets cold. What is freezing in Los Angeles is most likely shorts and t-shirt weather in Alaska. I think it would be cool to interview people who where born in a so-called warm state, but that are now living in a so-called cold state. I would interview them about how they are adjusting and if there is really noticeable difference in climate.

I would probably keep the interview process to about two people, one from a warm state and one from a cold state that is now living in Ohio. I think Ohio is the perfect state to do this in because it can be cold and hot and really all over the place.

I would like to find out how the weather affects these people’s everyday lives and if it makes a noticeable impact on something like grades.

Idea Number 3

What does it take to be a hero? For my third idea I would want to interview people that live their life truly for others. To make it a more unique takes I would avoid the obvious people such as soldiers and nurses, but I would focus on people such as teachers or maintenance workers. People who may not know that they are sacrificing their lives for others, but they are.

I think this would provide a unique perspective on people who might think they are average and really have no idea on what kind of impact they have on strangers.

Idea Number 4

My idea number four might not be so unique, but I still find it very interesting, and that would be the classic question of, if one could have a superpower what would it be? I would try and take it a step further and ask, how would you help other people with this superpower? Everyone wants something that will make him or her special, but if they are unwilling to use it to help others then maybe they are not ready for being special.

It would be cool to hear how other people feel about this and if their superpower choice would actually make a difference.

Idea Number 5

For my fifth idea I would want to interview people who where just trying to help someone but it did not go their way and the person trying to help ended up getting in trouble or hurt. This is relatable because everyone has tried to help someone and it has ended up backfiring.

It would be interesting to see the varying level of trouble the initial help cause and how he or she recovered, if they recovered from the situation. And in the later part of the audio doc I would interview the person that was being helped and see if retrospectively they appreciate the help or not. 

My hypothesis on why such apps like Zombies, Run! (http://www.sixtostart.com) is an effective one is quite simple. It works because it embodies something people crave and that is instruction. We may not want to admit it but when there is someone telling one what to do it is more likely to get done. Combine this with exercise and the ever healthy american population will jump all over it.

My idea would be for people to eat healthier. According to CBS eating healthy is a privilege for the rich (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-healthy-eating-a-privilege-of-the-rich/) my idea would be to make an app that a person could plug in what they want to eat and the app would spit out healthier suggestions. For example if someone wanted fried chicken, instead of deep frying it in canola oil or some other sort of fatty oil the app would suggest something like omega