First of all I had a lot of favorites today, including Ryan, the homemade makeout location one and The Forgotten Ones. Let's talk about each one at a time.
The Forgotten Ones
I like this one for a couple of reasons, for one it took place in Buffalo, New York! A place in New York that is not the Big Apple and that's in Upstate! (For some reason I've been getting happy every time I've noticed any location in Upstate or Central New York get mentioned in the news or in class. It makes me happy that the area isn't ignored over by the city and i can be like "I've been there kind of!!") But to tell you the truth poverty in the upper part of New York is kind of common and crappy as of late. It's mostly because of the crappy economy (in which your best shots for employment are either working as a nurse, a teacher, a salesman or in retail/fast food are your best options for employment if you want to stay in the area), the New York State taxes that are added on on top of the usual taxes and that everything in general at home is super expensive. Getting an apartment can be expensive along with the heating bills. Winter 6 months out of the year at a place that just last winter during February where the average high temperature was like 10 degrees and where Lake Effect Snow made Buffalo, New York into a city covered in snow from November up until probably late to mid April.
<---Actual photo that i took outside of my Dad's house window near Route 11 on November 19th, 2014 in the morning while waiting for Jefferson Community College to call off classes. I remembered that skipped my 9am class due to it being barely visible outside and then heard from the morning news around 10am that classes were cancelled for that day.
(Here's a link to some of the photos of last winter to give ya'll an even better picture from other parts of the state including Buffalo.)
http://abc7ny.com/weather/photos-and-videos-incredible-snow-in-buffalo/401651/#gallery-27
Heating is expensive and food is too... Milk is $3.64 in NY and now compare that to the Indiana milk which is $1.99. BE GRATEFUL IT'S CHEAP HERE. Anyways, I have known people in my area of which i've grown up in that have gone through a bit of poverty due to everything there being so expensive on top of trying to pay bills and afford a place to live. So seeing these people being photographed and be given some human decency after all of the things they have probably been through gives me the warm fuzzies inside. It also got me excited for going back to good old Jefferson County for some Thanksgiving dinner and a chance to see whether the snow from this October stuck around or not up there. Though as much as it sucks right now up there, i am still proud to say that I'm a New Yorker and that someone was able to give some of the lower class up there some recognition and a nice family portrait. These people have been through a lot considering that they are living in poverty and are still living over there going through life day by day. And they were not seen as a project to Milton, they were seen as neighbors and friends. They were seen as people. It makes me wonder whether Milton Rogovin is still alive or not. It would have been very interesting to sit down and meet with him and his wife and chat about photography.
Ryan
Ryan was an interesting film, both in content and in the art style. At first it kind of looked like something that someone would make out of Source Filmmaker with a couple of modified Half Life 2 models or even something out of an early PC or PS2 game...but then knowing that this was when 3D animated movies were just getting off the ground, the art style never really bothered me in fact it expanded upon the story i think. I like the way that they used the CGI as a 3D representation of people who have been effected by past events and emotions. These moments would look like glitches at first, but really did justice of showing how people are molded and shaped (literally) by their experiences. When looking at Ryan, you can tell from what the film set up as it's visual style that Ryan was a man who fell from grace. With barely a face and body left, you can tell that something effected him greatly.
I also think the CGI added onto the story being told because the story was about Ryan making a huge milestone in animation history and then falling from grace as his emotions and addictions took over him. The current animation milestone at the time this film was being made was computer animation, so i would see how the filmmaker paralleled those two things together somehow. I also liked how when he was asked to give up alcohol, suddenly spikes just popped out of his head as if he had become very offended by that and turned very dangerous. Same thing can be said when he was looking back at all of his past accomplishments you could see some of his face returning. I very much enjoyed this film for what it was and for what lessons and story it had to offer.
Places to Make Love on Campus
Where is this prayer room and does anyone know where i can buy a black light for cheap?
I'm curious what i'll find.
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