Blog #6

VS

I'm quite a fan of animated television and movies, so it was a hard choice to pick two animated shows to compare and contrast. "South Park" is depicted in the first picture, during the superhero episode where all the kids dress up and "gain" super powers to fight evil around the city. This is one of my favorite episodes of this show in terms of writing. "One Piece" is depicted in the second picture. This picture is just a still of the characters from the beginning of the anime, showing Luffy's (in the straw hat) core pirate team. Obviously from looking at the two stills, the two series are animated completely different. However, both shows have essential elements to them that make the two stand out. "South Park" is more humor driven than "One Piece", so the show focuses less on the actual animation and more on the writing and content of the show. The slim-to-none shadowing in "South Park" is purposeful, though. The creators are most likely trying to take the attention from the animation and make the story and dialogue stand out more importantly. The way the characters are drawn gives the show a lighter mood, even when the scene is trying to be "serious". "One Piece" is heavily shadowed, trying to let the viewers "believe" the anime more. Shadows on each character gives a semblance of real life to the animated characters. Animes tend to pay close attention to detail with drawing, unlike "South Park", to set a more serious tone that lends to the story. Despite the differences in shadowing, both animated series use color to their advantage in some way. Characterizing always utilizes colors; Mysterion in the "South Park" episode is trying to be...mysterious, so he is shown in darker clothing and color. Meanwhile, Mint Berry Crunch is shown in ridiculous pinks and greens, making his character seem more pansy than the costume already does. Luffy in "One Piece" is dressed in a red shirt, with a yellow straw hat...bringing all the attention to Luffy (yellow) while making him seem even more courageous (red). With or without the use of shadow and color in an animated series makes all the difference; "South Park" and "One Piece" both use shadow and color in their own ways to steer the animations in the exact direction the creators want. The creators of both shows tweak these elements purposely to get the viewers attention consciously and subconsciously.

Blog #5

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Blog #4

Patrick Stump:
"Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)"
"Allie"

Listening Framework for "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)"

Listening Phase 1
Tempo: Medium
Source: Piano/Drum
Groove: Powerful, rock
Listening Phase 2
Instrumentation: Piano, claves, synth, drums, cymbals, claps
Structure/Organization: Intro / Choir Synth Vocals / Chorus / Piano Vocals / Choir Synth Vocals 2 / Chorus / Hook / Chorus / Outro
Emotional Architecture: Low emotion until cymbal crash then high, significantly raising once the choir joins the chorus
Listening Phase 3
Balance
-Height: Some base in the song, so lows get pretty low. Vocals get relatively high at certain points as well.
-Width: A little bit of width with the choir
-Depth: Claves under piano under choir under main vocals creates great depth


Listening Framework for "Allie"


Listening Phase 1
Tempo: medium
Source: drums
Groove: Funky, powerful, love song
Listening Phase 2
Instrumentation: drums, guitar, piano, cymbals, bass
Structure/Organization: Intro / Piano Vocals / Chorus / Piano Vocals 2 / Chorus / Guitar Solo / Hook / Chorus / Outro
Emotional Architecture: drops after intro; leads up to chorus; drops again; builds to chorus again; guitar solo and hook reach a peak; drop to chorus and drop out to outro
Listening Phase 3
Balance
-Height: Vocals get very high at one point; a little bass low sound
-Width: almost no play with channels
-Depth: drums under guitar and bass under vocals

 

While most people are used to the sounds of Patrick Stump coming from Fall Out Boy, Stump has decided to try the solo act. So far, he has only released an EP with a few tracks, and in a few days, he'll release his first solo album "Soul Punk". I took a song from his EP as well as his new album to give a feel of what Patrick is really about with "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" and "Allie". Lyrically, these songs are almost opposite. "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" discusses how you don't need to focus on the past; anyone can bloom at any time and do great things. "Allie" takes this idea and dumps it, questioning whether or not he personally is as good as he used to be for his lost love. Musically,  these songs are alike and different in many ways. The similarities are abundant considering the same artist: lead by drums, high vocals, multiple instrumentals. Patrick Stump is known to be at the higher end of the spectrum, and the piano rock-ish feel is present in both songs. Both songs also share a similar emotional architecture, dropping and building throughout the song until the climax closer to the end. Patrick Stump's style leaves both songs with a feeling the same groove: powerful, funky, and rockish. However, the songs do differ in many ways as well. "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" sounds like it is at a slightly higher tempo than "Allie"; "Allie" gets risky and takes the height to a completely new level that the first song doesn't touch. In terms of instrumentals, "Allie" decides to leave behind "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)"'s synths and claves for the classic setup with guitar and bass. When it comes down to it, "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" is a breakout song, while "Allie" is the love ballad. Stump (even though every instrument on his tracks are self-performed) manages to give both songs their own sound, which registers him as an amazing artist in my book.  Neither song ceases to keep the listener's attention; when you're listening to these two, you'll be snapping your fingers and bobbing your head in no time.