It's been quite a while since I made a post! What happened during this long gap? Nothing much really. Except I watched Frozen. So I guess everything. But you know the best part about a great movie? What comes from the fans afterwards.
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For something "new" to come along, the idea had to be taken from somewhere else. Whether it be a song, movie, innovational advancements, or whatever, the idea came from another source.
"Original" songs take melodies or something else from songs that are already made, remix them, and claim them as their own. This type of thing also happends in movies. The same type of movies will usually have the same plot line. Take, for example, Disney princess movies. A girl does something to rebel her normal life, meets a boy, falls in love, a complication arrises that separates them, they meet again, and they all live happily ever after. Sound familiar? That's because that plot has been used in most, if not all, of the disney princess movies, or even just fairytales in general. For something to actually be original is nearly impossible since so many little things and tampered with to create that "original" idea. This is not a bad thing, though. It causes for people to be able to move forward in technologies and innovations. The idea of remixing is what pushes mankind forward in life. (http://everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/) -Post by Kathleen So the other day I saw another movie centered on the famous Wing Chun master, Ip Man (played by Dennis To), called "The Legend is Born: Ip Man". It struck me how Man's dedication and passion from a young age allowed him to soar in skill above all his other peers, eventually spreading Wing Chun all around the world as well as teaching Bruce Lee.
There will always be things in my life that I will not be able to figure out or deal with by myself. What do I do when these situations come up? It's simple really. All I have to do is ASK OTHER PEOPLE. It's good to get another person's viewpoint if you are stuck on something and can't figure it out. Now I know that many of us (including myself, of course) don't really like to associate with people, but you don't have to talk to everyone about it. I have one person who I go to for everything. (I trust this person with my life). Cinderella's animal friends saw that she will most likely not be able to attend the ball even though her stepmother said she could since she was practically buried in chores. Because of this, the animals took initiative and made her a dress for the ball while she does her chores. She didn't ask them to do this, but they saw that she needed their help. Teamwork goes both ways, so if you notice that someone needs help with something, offer a hand and reach out to others. If you help others, there will be more people there that are willing to help you when you need it. -Post by Kathleen
So how does one become successful, in any kind of industry or life? I like to ask myself this question often, and I've been met with answers, saying that success is being happy doing what you love. While my romantic side adores that answer, my more structured logical side demands more. What would really be nice is steps to success. While horribly unrealistic, a step-by-step approach to life appeals to my logical side much more than a simple open-ended phrase. In order to find a kind of system to life, though, we must try and observe others who have become successful. A company that I think of when I imagine success, is of course, Pixar! Currently a part of The Walt Disney Company, Pixar has produced some of the greatest animated films of all times, including the Toy Story trilogy, Monster's Inc., The Incredibles, Up, and Brave. To create this amazing award-winning films, Pixar has created 22 rules of storytelling, which were then put into picture form by Dino Ignacio with certain scenes from their movies, which will surely help anyone in creating stories, in innovation, or better yet, create a system of success in life. Systems and steps can help you everywhere, from finishing a school project to winning a basketball game. The same applies to you! People admire effort, and in many cases, it is better to have tried your best and failed then to not have tried at all. To win big, you have to try to win first.
In the Disney film Mulan, the Huns have invaded Han China, so the emperor calls for one male from each family to go to war. Mulan's father is the only male in her family, but he is very old and not as strong as he used to be. As soon as Mulan learns that her father has to, once again, go to war, she becomes anxious and worried about hime, and decides to disguise herself as a man so she can take her father's place in the war. When her family learns of this, they become really worried about her, and her father prays to their ancestors to watch over and protect Mulan. In this culture, she is considered lesser than the other soldiers because she is not a man. Mulan has to work somewhat harder than the other soldiers since they have had at least some kind of training in their past, while she hasn't. Even though she knows it will be difficult, she doesn't give up. Instead she keeps going, has endurance, and even comes out to be better than the other soldiers. In a way, Mulan is similar to Hank, a former college basketball player, and completely different from our society today. Hank was in the middle of a basketball game when he fell and blacked out a couple of seconds. The doctor told him that he had a heart condition. Instead of giving up on basketball, he decided he would fight it and not let it slow him down. In our society, it seems as though whenever any obstacles come our way we give up before even trying to overcome them. Can you imagine how many things could have been improved in this society if we don't give up as much as we do? -Post by Kathleen
The other day while perusing along the avenues of the internet, I happened to discover these remarkable pieces of art, created by Disney Video Visual Development Artist, Katia Oloy. What made these paintings so different than any other Disney princess artwork was the moment that they were drawn in, the climax of their story. There is nothing that captivates an audience more than a good climax, and I would have to say that Disney did a spectacular job with each of these Disney classics, with Katia Oloy doing just a phenomenal job in bringing these scenes to life in a different art form. Here we have Snow White, just as she eats the poison apple given by the evil queen. Note that the background consists of dark blacks and browns, contrasted by the primary colors of blue, red, and yellow on Snow White, bringing her into attention. I personally love the way she seems to be floating, showing the supernatural nature of the apple that was given to her, and the dream-like state she will soon fall into as a result.
The best villian EVER was in Othello by Shakespeare. Iago pretends to be everyone's friend to get the information he needs in order to use and manipulate it to anger others. He thinks up an elaborate plan that is executed and destroys many relationships. This characteristic is also seen in the villians in nearly every Disney movie. They all pretend to do something but in actuality what they are doing is all a part of a plan to get what they want. Look at Dr. Facilier, a.k.a. The Shadow Man, from the movie The Princess and the Frog. He takes advantage of Lawrence's dire want to become a prince, and transforms him to look like Prince Naveen using a voodoo talisman, causing Prince Naveen turn into a frog. The Shadow Man only cares about money, so his plan was to have Lawrence, who looks like Prince Naveen, to propose to and marry Charlotte, daughter of a really rich man named Big Daddy, so he can kill Big Daddy and split the riches between himself and Lawrence. Have you ever had someone in your life who was a disguised evil? I know I have. I saw this saying on Facebook and I figured I might as well share with you even though you've probably already seen it: "Don't fear the enemy that attacks you, but the fake friend that hugs you." -Post by Kathleen
Is there a word for that envious yet empowered feeling you can get from an EPIC movie or book? You know, the kind of story that makes you want to live in that world. Come on, I wasn't he only one who was totally bummed OUT that I could not hop into my closet and pop out the other end in Narnia, right? And who else was mind blown by Inception? I am so amazed by these utterly unoriginal ideas, by the sheer variety of other peoples imaginative powers. Taking original ideas and making them into a new, unforgettable unoriginal ideas is then super awesome isn't it? A poorly envisioned and executed re-make is always a let down. But a well made re-mix is its own type of unoriginal creation. After all, everything we know is a remix of many things. New style trends are recycled, modified from there older versions but still are inherently the same. Similar story plots are written with different characters and settings. People are constantly re-imaging old movies making them into new ones. A couple of my all time favorite re-mixes of classic movies (classic to me) today are Man of Steel and Snow White and the Huntsman. My favorite princess growing up was Snow White. Repeated viewings on VCR can do that to a susceptible young toddler. I think it had to do with the black hair and singing. I was a sucker for a good song back then, still am today. The new movie sort of opened my eyes to the beauty of a timeless story. The more serious and less girly Snow White was a very interesting story twist. Actually the whole mood of the movie was much darker than the original story was which was a cool contrast. I loved it. Man of Steel relocated the story of Superman to the 21st century. Many elements stayed the same yet the new setting really made the adventure more relate able. I loved how this movie actually gave a more detailed 'history' of Superman's home planet and family. I love the older movies just as much as the newer ones. It's just that the re-mix was capable of giving me that same feeling of longing, which is something I appreciate and hate bitterly because it isn't real. I can only wonder and dream, which is fine by me. ~ Tina
mood music, give it a listen. seriously.Naturally, a large group of people is extremely chaotic. Just go to any sort of concert or high school dance *cough* *homecoming*, and you can see the insanity that bringing so many people creates. It is when this insanity is organized, though, that the most magical things happen. In my 5th grade, there was a period of time in which the 5th graders and 4th graders came together as one large group with the sole purpose of playing capture the flag on the full soccer field. Even after we split up into teams, how is it that about 40 kids managed to form a relatively organized game without any extreme difficulties? The key was division of roles. Any successful military or business organization can tell you that controlling large groups of people would be near impossible if they didn't break them up into sections, be it smaller squads or teams. And so that's what we did, divided up our team into 3 essential roles, with of course smaller subdivisions as the game developed: the attackers, the defenders, and border control. The OffenseThis was our front line: the fastest, wittiest, and most fearless players. If we were Spartans, these would be our 300. Now their job was to undertake the journey across the border to take the enemy's flag and bring it back. Now, considering we were playing on a full soccer field, this was HARD. However, the most difficult part of this role was having to keep attacking, keep moving in hopes of catching their defense unawares. In this way, the offense could be considered as entrepreneurs starting out a business or a project of some sort. They're the ones that pitch ideas and then try to sell them to potential investors in hopes of obtaining huge success at equally high risk. Another thing they might do is attract people to their project so that it gains more support. The most important part of being the offense is never giving up. The DefenseThese guys would no doubt be the backbone of the entire team or project. Their job was to protect the flag from attackers, so they need to be on constant alert. The few times they do see action, they become the hounds that you never want to encounter, forcing you back with ferocity that seemingly comes from nowhere. In a business, the defense would be the people in charge of planning and scheduling, the seemingly trivial work but is in reality the most important of all. They would make sure everyone is running smoothly and doing what they're supposed to. Other tasks they might have are managing a website of some sort, or other social media websites. Border ControlWhile many would consider this role as just a sub-category of the defenders, there's an important reason why I have placed this as its own separate role (other than the amount of times I've won in Capture the Flag). The border control would be the most versatile of all the groups, being near offense but also playing a defensive role. Their job is to psych out the enemy offense into thinking they're trying to get their flag, but in reality they're actually there in order to make sure the enemy doesn't cross the border easily. This could is easily one of the most fun jobs, as nearly anyone can take this role and simply toy around with other people. In a business, these are your jack-of-all trades. They're there because they have many skills that can be used. They round out the different groups of people on a team and eliminate any glaring weaknesses. One day they could be helping creating spreadsheets, the next day they could be shooting a promotional video. Yet another day they could be just driving people around or making coffee. Their job is to make sure everyone else's job is running smoothly and nobody is overwhelmed. Now of course, by no means does a team consist solely of these three categories. In fact, you may not with to define a team by these terms at all! After all, these are concepts created from the minds of 5th graders playing capture the flag. However, the greatest ideas often come from the most simple of concepts, and you can't get more simple than elementary schoolchildren. It is my hope that this brief explanation of some team concepts, you can develop your own ideas of how a team should function, and what roles people might take.
-Kevin |