OTR.com

I listened to The Adventures of Charlie Chan on otr.com because I thought it would interest me. I started listening to a few others before and none of them really sparked my interest but I do like mysteries and crime so that is why I chose this specific link. It was a little difficult for me to get into and follow but I definitely attempted. The detective was portrayed by Ed Begley who was much more intellectual when it came to solving crime, instead of relying on pure force. At about this same time, Sherlock Holmes came to be one of the most famous detective's of all time. Besides the mere information of the story, it did spark me as interesting that at the beginning they added advertising that seemed more like propaganda. Advertising for war bonds was mentioned, which only makes sense considering it was around the time of World War I against Japan.

Flip books

Kimberly: I like how it started by saying hello. It welcomed the person into the visual story. I also liked how the owl stretched out into a car. I think it transitioned really well. Unfortunately, the middle somewhat lost me. At the end however, I did like how the cigarette exploded into a flower. The part that really intrigued me was how the animal transformed from an owl into a fish and how an animal belonging in the sky ends up in the water.

Sabrina: Her flip book was extremely creative and very well drawn. I loved it because it was colorful, therefore catching my attention, and involved everything I love such as water and music.

Lauren: She did a very good job as incorporating color and fun throughout the book. I really like how she included her name into the story and how she personifies the graffiti can. It makes the book more enjoyable and fun.

Christopher: I like how it ended the same way it started similar to mine. It was very well drawn and colorful, which really catches the eye.

James: I really like how his flip book switches well from character to character and how he really uses his sources. By that I mean he uses the whole page to his advantage. It was drawn very well.

Michelle: It was very creative, colorful, and well drawn. I also like how it just seems to keep going.

Nakota: It was very colorful and drawn creatively. It was a real story that was easy to follow and full of many landscapes.

Megan: It was a little hard to follow and seemed a little short but it was a good story. It could have been better with color.

Juan: It was very colorful and consistent making it enjoyable to see but it was a little hard to read at times.

Erin: Her flip book was very creative and well drawn. The sequence change was extremely well done.

Brian: It was very colorful, creative, and involved music which makes it even more enjoyable for me to look at.

Cody: It was very well drawn and has a good sequence change. I really like how it flips through twice.

Maria: I liked how colorful it was and it was extremely well drawn. There was a really good sequence change that allowed me to follow the story easily.

Television

I asked my grandmother and grandfather about their first experiences with television as a part of an assignment. They both answered along the lines of amazing. They each said that it was incredible watching moving pictures in the comfort of their own homes. My grandmother said most things on were geared towards women, especially mothers, because they were the ones staying home and taking care of the children. Many shows were learning based, such as Mr. Rogers, which helped her significantly while she was working around the house. This meant that the kids were her occupied by an educational show while she did her duties as a housewife. My grandfather said that the screens of the first televisions were only about 6 inches making it very difficult to see. Disregarding the difficulty of vision, everyone was amazed by the invention of the television.

The Great Train Robbery

Directed by Edwin S Porter, "The Great Train Robbery", a simple story purely about the accounts of a robbery on a train, was filmed in November 1903 at Edison's New York studio. His studio was at Essex County Park in New Jersey, and the movie was also filmed along the Lackawanna railroad and then released in December 1903. It is considered to be one of the first significant early US narrative films. It was greatly influenced by the British film "Daring Daylight Robbery" (1903) and it introduced many new cinematic techniques such as cross cutting, camera movement, location shooting, and more to American audiences. It is easy for one to tell that the techniques are new because of the quality unto which the cuts were made. For example, the transition between scenes at time 8:56 is not very smooth.However, at the time at which the movie took place, the new techniques seemed truly amazing and later transformed to be used in every movie out today.

MUTO

The whole piece created by BLU is a brilliant flow of creativity along the canvas of various locations. The human body is created then destroyed and broken up into structural shapes, similar to the way the body was designed originally in the piece. BLU's version of art is ambiguous meaning it holds a double meaning. Viewers can interpret the meanings for themselves because everyone sees art differently. I myself do not see two meanings per say but I do see emphasis on the human body generating more and geometrical shapes. It is stretched throughout different locations that BLU uses as his canvas. The music creating the soundtrack for the piece flows right along with the wall art as well.

The Origin of Jazz

Jazz has no real definition. It is a unique blend of swing, blues, improvisation, and rhythm. The musical style referred to as jazz originated at the beginning of the 20th century by African American's living in the Southern United States. It came about mail due to African unity. By 1808 almost half a million Africans had been brought to America through the Atlantic Slave Trade. The way to unite them all, especially throughout the slave infested South, was through music. They incorporated African dances to drums and a call and response pattern yet, without the harmony. The violin and piano, among other various instruments, were later added into the mix. As a matter of fact, the instruments used in marching bands became the basic instruments of jazz. Jazz is still highly popular today among the city of New Orleans in Louisiana. Many of the early jazz performers and musicians played in venues throughout the city. The continual playing of jazz music throughout the ages has brought forth various types of music such as funk, soul, latin jazz, smooth jazz, punk, and more.

 References:

 Burns, Ken, and Geoffrey C. Ward. 2000. Jazz—A History of America's Music. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Also: The Jazz Film Project, Inc.

 Collier, James Lincoln. The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History (Dell Publishing Co., 1978) 

Hersch, Charles (2009). Subversive Sounds: Race and the Birth of Jazz in New Orleans. University of Chicago Press