Photoblitz
Blog post: The Speedy Photography
Assignments Total= 12 stars
1. Multiply Yourself: 5 stars
- Blog Post: How I Procrastinate
2. Photo It Like Peanut Butter: 3 stars
- Blog Post: Brewing Passion Ice Tea
3. 4 Lines, 5 Dots, 1 Curve: 4 stars
- Blog Post: Minimalistic Ice Cream
Daily Creates
9/23/14: Make an un-cropped road sign
- Blog Post: “Falling” Rocks
9/25/14 What is playing on 106 fm on your radio?
- Blog Post: 106 in Fredericksburg
Live tweeting
I live tweeted Season 2 Episode 8 on Thursday night!
The Wire
Season 2 Episode 6: All Prologue
Before I mention some of the visuals that stood out to me, I just want to reflect briefly on the plot of the episode. 1. Omar is the best. I love how he never curses, and I think that says a lot about him. I also loved that he knew that Aries is the Greek God of War. Nicky seems like he’s going down the dark path, but i’m hoping he has a good reason for it since as the Greeks mentioned, he is very smart. It was also symbolic having Aries the Greek God of War mentioned since it appears that the Greeks are going to up their game. Lastly, I am very proud that D’Angelo officially separated himself from Avon, however, I am sad to see him go (since he got murdered and all), but it honestly was not a surprise at this point.
Now for the visuals. Despite my dislike for Ziggy, it was very cool to see his hundred dollar bill up in flames and slowly burn away. I thought that really symbolized not only Ziggy’s carelessness with money but also Stringer’s decline in the drug business.
I also visually liked the scene where the Greeks went to talk to Cheese about Ziggy’s debt. The part of the scene that was interesting and was nicely filmed in my opinion was the part when we see Nicky sitting in the car waiting for the Greeks. We see how curious he is to know what is happening outside, and so he moves into the light where we and therefore potentially Cheese’s crew can see him. However, once the Greeks pull out their guns, he back away into the shadows withing the car and we can no longer see him, and therefore Cheese’s crew can potentially no longer see him. I liked how the lighting with the light and shadow shows how Nicky is curious in doing shady business but then he has no interest in the violence that tends to accompany such business.
The last scene that visually stood out to me was the stare down between D’Angelo and Avon in the hallway of the prison. I love how the camera zoomed out from Avon, showing a physical distancing from Avon and how it zoomed in to D’Angelo’s face to show that he isn’t afraid of Avon and that he is not going to change his mind. Neither of them waved, and so I think it’s great to see someone actually challenge Avon for once, even though it meant D’Angelo’s death.
Season 2 Episode 7: Backwash
The fact that the funeral home has the option for having roses in the shape of a gun is just astounding. This scene made me sad since Bodie decided he wanted D’Angelo to have flowers in the shape of the towers, when D really wanted to get out of the game. Now even after death, he continues to be in it.
Speaking of D’Angelo’s death, I noticed that Stringer and D’angelo’s baby mama were wearing the same color at the wake. I’m not sure if that was intentional but I think it’s important because it shows that they are loyal to each other, which juxtaposes how D’angelo wasn’t loyal to the Barksdale organization since he wanted out. At the funeral as well, Stringer is clearly the top person in the Barksdale organization, and that he very well probably had something to do with D’s murder. He isn’t as grief struck as the rest of the funeral attendees, which to be honest is not very surprising.
One scene that was intriguing visually was where Frank is talking with with Bruce in his office about the port’s budget. In this scene both of their faces have shadow of the blinds striping across their faces. I’m not entirely sure why this was a necessary element, but the only reasoning I can come up with is that they are both wearing veils, in that they are both hiding things. Bruce ma be hiding funding somewhere and Frank is hiding the fact he if he wanted he could get the money for some of the projects he wants on the port himself through the Greek’s organization.
I like the symbolism behind Nicky living in his parent’s basement. Whenever he goes down there, he is clearly too big for the space and it’s obvious he really needs to move out. It could be a metaphor for his job at the docks. He’s outgrowing it, and so he’s turning to work that isn’t quite as “straight,” such as stealing and drug dealing. I’m still hoping that once he gets away from the port area if and when he moves out, he’ll be able to be free from the whole shady environment. In this way he kind of resembles a less frighten Wallace. If he could just get out and be able to be stable on his own, he wouldn’t be interested in doing illegal deals.
Season 2 Episode 8: Duck and Cover
This is the episode I live tweeted so just as it was weird to see an episode without visual, it was just as weird to see an episode without audio. How I tried to follow the plot was through body language. I really tried to focus on the characters’ emotions and facial expressions. I noticed that clothing also helped to reinforce certain characters’ personalities in this episode. Ziggy always has funky clothing to match his odd and wacky personality. Beadie is well tailored just like her suits, and she means business, but in a friendly kind of way. Bunk in his sweatpants is a chill guy basically all the time, unless he’s wearing his big coat, then he’s doing some intense detective work. Bodie has been wearing nicer clothing that has been of lighter tones, to symbolize he’s moved up in the ranks. Finally, in the last scene the Sobatkas are both in blue shirts and the Greeks are both in brown shirts, and that symbolizes that they are both very loyal to their respective groups.
The cinematographers make it easy for the audience to know what the writers want you to know. They zoom in on the specific people on the bulletin boards, they pan over the specific crate number, and they show you the telephone numbers that are tapped on the wire. They also film some of the scenes in such a way to make it feel like you could be there. For example, they put the camera right next to Bodie’s crew and focus out on the opposing gang as if we are are supposed to be on Bodie’s side. The camera also tends to be zoomed out to give us the bigger picture and what the scene looks like to the public, but then cuts into the personal conversations between Nicky and Ziggy, McNulty and Kima, and then McNulty and Bunk. It’s nice to get both of those perspectives because it allows the audience to remember that there’s a whole world out there that isn’t being shown in the plot.
Comments (Since I haven’t been putting the ones i’ve done in my weekly summaries…I thought I would this week.)
http://www.maggiestough.net/ds106/photoblitz-feat-snarky-commentary/#comment-10327
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127152976@N07/15144738498/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/126549632@N08/15149843249/#comment72157647554084820
http://www.brittanyns.com/assignments/visual/all-out-photoblitz/#comment-137
http://www.c-mitchell21.com/assignments/red-stands-out-right/#comment-193
http://www.brittanyns.com/assignments/visual/keep-your-eye-on-the-ball/#comment-154
http://www.c-mitchell21.com/assignments/wombats-can-sing-kind-of/#comment-201
http://www.amywallaceumw.com/assignments/photoblitz/#comment-155
