KOYAANISQATSI documentary review!

«Koyaanisqatsi» means life out of balance. This documentary is a well photographed series of images captured of nature and man’s impact on the planet. The juxtaposition of the music with the scenic imagery causes confusion. The juxtaposition of the decaying cities and detonations/demolitions with the nature scenes of canyons, waterfalls, vast unsettled uncorrupted land. One of the most striking series of visuals is of the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project, derelict in fashion. Overpopulation and overcrowding and overstimulation is displayed. Traffic and rushing of people and cars are contrasted with images of natural serenity. The entire film is scored by Philip Glass, containing atmospheric bleeps and discordant melodies and rhythms. The music is awkward, to be completely honest, and gives off a strange and uncomfortable vibe throughout the movie. However, the documentary flows smoothly with majestic scenery and ambience and gorgeous emotion and portrayal. Koyaanisqatsi is strange, beautiful (the images, at least), shocking and (unfortunately to say) not enjoyable at moments. However, shining moments stick out, like when the beautiful skylines are shown. Also, the film seems to try too hard to be haunting, when it is truly confusing in its portrayal of “haunting.” The music is so jaded and dull and even creepy; something more melodic would contribute to the beauty of the video track. Even though the music is what makes the documentary “experimental,” it would be an overall better production if the music actually fit the mood of the differently emotional-charging videos.
The title accurately fits the entire documentary because it means a life out of balance. The videos are unbalanced, with most being strangely colorful. Even though the movie is considered a masterpiece and is listed as one of the great documentaries of all time, it barely seems interesting and catching to this audience.

Even though I have completely mixed feelings about this film, it is all for the viewer to decide

Seventh Blog Post

My next blog post will be about co-writing in music.

Many popular songs have been edited and fixed various times by co-writers. Co-writing helps songs be more spot-on and more polished. Co-writing also helps songs be more professional yet quickly written, so no time is wasted to go ahead into the recording studio. 

at 1:16 they start talking about how Kerli helped write a popular song sung by Demi Lovato, "Skyscraper"

Capture the Fall -- "Late Fall"

I made my Capture the Fall in my front yard and my two side yards. I used a flip camera to film overall 13 separate videoclips, each ranging from 5 to 14 seconds in length. I edited with iMovie, in which I used transitions such as dissolves. I found the music on ccmixter and I used the video stabilizer setting on YouTube.

Sixth Blog Post

This blog post will be about edits on explicit music.
A radio edit for a single typically is a truncated version of the song, and it sometimes means making the song "clean."
If a single is edited with a "clean edit," the original version must have been considered "explicit" or containing dirty lyrics.











The above sign is typically placed on the cover of the single that is "explicit" rated.
Albums and singles can display the Parental Advisory sign.
When the clean edits are made the sticker is gone. On iTunes, downloading an explicit song or album not only includes the Parental Advisory sticker on the cover, but also includes a red box marking explicit lyrics.

the explicit sign above a non-explicit song

however, if an iTunes song is edited from explicit to clean, a gray box will indicate clean

this label exists too, when an album or song (whether it be on iTunes or not) is edited from explicit to clean

Fifth Blog Post

Leaking is a major problem for some, and a stellar opportunity for others. Generally, the artist and their companies find that leaking is a problem, which reduces the want for customers to actually purchase the soon-to-be-realeased ablum. When an ablum is originally leaked, it is leaked in LQ typically first, and then a more quality version. The leaking process is...

The ablum leak is very stressful. It is also practically inevitable. Like the above chart says, the album will always find a way into the customers' hands. The leak is stressful because the artist and the companies have worked hard on keeping the album a secret to-be-revealed present to the fans.

Leaking is also unlawful. The copyrights to the music either belong to the companies or the artist, and therefore the leaker violates a legal right. 

Fourth Blog Post

This blog post will be all about music release. It is always an exciting process for the artist, but mainly the audience. Here is a rough chart of the TYPICAL details of release:

ANNOUNCEMENT >>>>> 1st SINGLE >>>>> 2nd SINGLE OR PROMOTIONAL SINGLES >>>>> CONTINUAL ANNOUNCEMENTS OF ALBUM >>>>> ALBUM RELEASE >>>>> RERELEASE (?)

The hype is usually centered around the pre-album released singles because it is revealing of the best of the album and what is sure to come with the album. High anticipation can result from an artist who is inconsistent with releases or has changed styles. Anticipation is always expected from fans and critics of a certain artist or genre. Universal anticipation arises from international music stars upcoming releases, such as Lady Gaga's or Beyoncé's.

Music rating is also an important aspect of release. Releases are subject to judgment of quality, style, lyrics, overall sound, tempo, originality, and any other musical aspect/component that the reviewer wishes to comment on. Criticism of music is sometimes directed toward artists "losing their style." Losing style means losing uniqueness and individuality in music. Critical acclaim of music represents continuous rave reviews by various critics. Universal acclaim means that there will only be a rare review displaying disapproval.

Taylor Swift's new album was highly anticipated based on two released singles that were almost polar opposite in terms of meaning.
The first single from "Red" was:

...and the second released single (which ended up not being on the album) was:

After Swift's album was released, mixed reviews arrived. Certain critics complimented the change of style, but some did not approve.

This is an example of album process and ratings.

Third Blog Post

For my third blog post, I decided to write about music production and quality.

Music production is a crucial detail of the overall sound of music. Production can be professional or amateur, in which case it is produced at home or by the artist. Music quality is also a very important aspect of the overall sound of music. Many songs are considered of "overproduced"quality, in which dramatic autotune or pitch correction is used and the sound is too perfectionist, which means it is too robotic and lacking emotion. "Raw" music is often considered superior and emotional. If the goal for a song is to be dancey and exciting, more production is usually preferred.