Storyboard Imitation for The Lion King

 

Within these five shots of this particular scene of The Lion King, the director is very aware of the rules of filming. The camera never crosses the 180 degree line, keeping both of the characters, Scar and Simba, on their original sides (Simba on the left and scar on the right). The scene starts with an extreme wide shot of the gorge where the stampede takes place. When Scar and Simba are introduced, the shot is still very wide, and the line of action is established between the two of them when Simba climbs up on the rock to face Scar. The camera zooms in on the two of them, and there is some movement during the scene, but the line that was established at the beginning of the shot is never broken or changed. The rule of thirds is also carefully observed in this scene. Both Simba and Scar sit directly in the cross hairs of the thirds. With Simba sitting up on the rock, he is at eye level with Scar. Because if this, they are both in the top two crosshairs of the thirds, and their faces are the first two things that the viewer’s eye is drawn to. Even in the one shot where Simba is the only character in the frame, his face and legs are all within the rule of thirds. The camera doesn’t move enough during this scene to have to worry about the rule of thirty. The only real movement is like a zoom or a pan, nit really any cutting. The director definitely kept things simple in a very effective manner. The scene isn’t very complex, but it’s been one of my favorites in the movie. Throughout the whole movie the director is very good about how these scenes are shot. That’s at least part of the reason why I feel that this movie is so sucessful~

Song Deconstruction

Silly Love Songs: Wings

Silly Love Songs: The Replicants

 

While the lyrics in the cover of Silly Love Songs are exactly the same, it’s the melody that varies greatly. In the Wing version, the melody is very light and happy, yet in The Replicants version, the song takes on a very dark and hypnotic melody that sounds very far from the original. The rhythms in the two versions are also a little different. Wings version has an irregular rhythm, fluctuating often and not following much of a pattern (as seen in the emotional structure section of my listening analysis).  The Replicants version is irregular in the sense that it isn’t always regular or irregular. It starts off regularly, rising and falling in what seems to be a pattern, but near the end of the song, roughly the last two or three minutes, the rhythm is completely irregular and chaotic. This is similar in the songs intensity, as that also doesn’t stay consistent. Some parts will be very loud and intense, while others fall into being more quiet and hypnotic. Wings keep their version at about the same intensity throughout, a nice, even, easy to listen to intensity. Both songs keep a rather low pitch, but The Replicants is only slightly lower. Wings version has a very simple timbre, another thing that keeps it easy to listen to. It’s smooth and a little flat in that sense. The Replicants start in that manner, being smooth and easy to listen to, but by the end of the song the complexity is amped up and the listener can feel a little lost in all the complex textures.

Silly Love Songs when done by Wings is a very light-hearted, up-beat song about…love of course!  It has a nice, up-beat, moderato speed that keeps the listener in a good mood throughout the song. It keeps it optimistic and happy. When the song is performed by The Replicants however, the speed is andante, almost adagio. It’s much more hypnotic and almost creepy in nature. It definitely does not leave the listener in the same mood as the original version.

These songs are so drastically different; it’s really hard for me to say which one that I like better. That’s like asking if I like Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO more or The Ballad of Mona Lisa by Panic! At The Disco. The genres are just too drastically different for me to be able to pick one of them. I actively listen to both versions of these songs and I love them both, I think it really just depends on the kind of mood that I’m in~

Sound Design

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3nuq07vq0

This particular scene in The Lion King is one that displays a great amount of tension and drama. It’s the big turning point of the story and the musical score reflects this perfectly. It displays basic listening modes as well as the Gestalt Principles and Illusion. The opening of the scene is very casual. There is absolutely no background music, only the natural sounds of the African Savannah. Crickets are buzzing, and they occasional bird can be heard in the distance. This compares to later in the scene, where it’s more semantic. When Simba’s father cries out in pain, he does so in a way that is a mixture of an animalistic roar and a human yell. Gestalt’s Principle of figure and ground is also used in this scene; the idea of seeing (or in this case hearing) the tree in the forest. With all the music and all the thunderous hoof beats, Simba’s and Mufasa’s voices can always be heard. They’re never over powered by the music or the sounds. Illusion is also used for the wildebeests. In the herd there are thousands of animals are rushing at once and it sounds like a great thunderous roar, when really, it’s just one or two on loop.

"Finding Your Howl"

http://changethis.com/manifesto/51.01.YourHowl/pdf/51.01.YourHowl.pdf

After sharing the story of Mumon, Flaum tells a story of his own personal experience when he was in fifth grade. One of his classmates wrote the best story in the class, a repetitive story about the captivity of a tiger at the zoo. The tiger tried and tried to escape, but every time he managed to get out, he was placed in another cage in another zoo. At the time, Flaum hated the kid for his brilliant story. However, looking back on it, he realizes that it’s an eerily accurate look into how life is for us all. 

One of my favorite quotes of all time was said by Marco Tempest during a TED interview where he was displaying some new tricks with iPhones. He discusses how the tricks that he’s doing is magic, even though some people wouldn’t agree with that. But he makes the point that what he’s doing is art. He says that “art is the greatest deception of all. Art is a deception that creates real emotion. A lie that creates a truth. And when you give yourself over to that deception, it becomes magic”. This connects to another point that he made during his interview. He says how all people, whether it’s big or small, tell lies. It’s an unavoidable fact of life. But it’s how we tell these lies that matters. If we look as art and magic as lies, it’d be safe to say that these are ‘good lies’. Lies that don’t hurt, but rather inspire. This whole concept is something that I’ve found inspiring in my own life. I draw all the time and am constantly looking for new artistic ways to express myself. When I think about it though, is what I’m doing just a form of deception? A lie that I’m telling everyone who views it? Even if this is true, and I’m lying to people with my false reality, I think that’s okay. Just as Marco says, the emotions are real and I believe that to be the most important thing with art. Even looking beyond traditional handmade art, take music for example. Nearly every song tells some kind of story. And this story might not always be true. Even if it’s based off true events, things may be distorted for entertainment or personal reasons. The same applies with movies. That’s why it’s ‘based’ off a true story, not a true story. As an audience, we’re lied to. But that’s okay because we expect it. We expect to be entertained and we expect a good, amusing lie. This is basically the same for any type of media in our culture. Books, video games, music, movies, even the internet. Let’s take Facebook for example. Nearly everyone uses it to connect to people, post basically anything, and even play games. Yeah, we’re talking to real people, but are our means of doing so real? It’s lacking the face to face means of communication. Does this make it a lie? Possibly.  Certainly aspects of it are, but it’s hard to say if it all is. However I’d say that it is safe to say that humans as a whole crave these kinds of lies. We have for thousands of years, and we’ll continue to and the Media business will only grow and grow (or at least safely stay where it is). I’m studying to be a video game designer for my career. I feel pretty confident about this choice because (not only is 3D modeling something that I absolutely love to do) I know that the market and job department is stable. A lie that people can interact with. And they go nuts over it! Video games have been evolving and evolving rapidly since they were first developed. A revolutionary art form, one that borders on magic.