masterpiece essay

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Nick Almaguer

Per. 1

3/9/14

Masterpiece Essay

     I’m not sure what I am passionate about. I don’t know what I’m passionate about at this second, I may never know. So when thinking of a topic to focus on I was drawing blanks. I could’ve chose space since that is a big interest of mine. But I thought better of it. I didn’t chose space since if I had to do research on it as an assignment I would’ve wind up hating it. I also could’ve chose psychology; I’ll be majoring on it in college. But the same rules applied to it like space. So eventually long complex narratives in the form of movies and television along with film criticism is what I landed on. The reason for the choice is simple; I enjoy movies and good television. The film criticism part of it was not planned but became a part of it. The movie aspect really important the film criticism not much.

     At the start of researching my topic it was pretty simple on how I would approach it. Use the internet and only the internet. It’s pretty simple on what I should’ve been looking for. But finding good helpful resources isn’t that easy as it would seem. At times I didn’t know what I should be looking for. Eventually I got

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the hang of things and it came easy. Although when it comes to the using the internet as a full tool I don’t use it in that way. Which basically means I am not utilizing it as I should be? The reason for me not using it in a way of networking is for two reasons. One, I don’t necessarily know how to approach it. Two, if I do use it and something sprouts up from it I’ll probably won’t go forward with it. Not because I’m scared but because I’ll probably drop this whole research and stuff quickly. By that I mean when the school year is done.

     Triumph, a great victory or achievement and regret is to be disappointed over something that has happened or been done. In order for me to feel a sense of achievement I’ll need to do what I think needs to be done. Regret will only come if I feel that I have failed. Basically I’ll just need to continue to do what I’ve been doing. Which is watching movies and television shows and taking notes and also to try to find helpful resources. The resources will help me to get a better understanding on my topic. But failure is possible in this situation like in any other situation. Mainly because there has been many times during this process that I’ve been over this whole thing. In part due to the fact that when it comes to staying locked in on one topic it usually doesn’t work all that well for me. So failure and triumph are both in play but as long as I try and stay on track I should come out on the other side okay. We will see how this whole thing continues to

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Play out. I just have to convince myself that I should try to go all out on this project.

     When it comes to impressing others with my work I don’t really care. Most people have a set topic and are only focused on that. So when it comes to putting out stuff not much thought will go into it. When thought is put into it it’s probably pretty good. The good thoughts however aren’t put into it because when they happen work isn’t being done. I also don’t think people care about my topic and if they find it interesting in some way. I know I don’t care what other people’s projects are on. One reason is because I don’t find what other people are doing as really interesting. I really don’t know why that is but it will probably not change. The only persons topic that I do have interest in is Grant’s since he is focusing on also Austin’s since he is focusing on stand-up comedy. Other than those two I can’t really think of anything else. When it comes to impressing others with my work I’m not really doing that. Just because of the simple fact that I will most likely not continue this work beyond this school year. I maybe the only one thinking like this but I highly doubt it. I just can’t seem to change my viewpoint on this situation.

     Bringing my idea into reality, it seems to me that I’ve accomplished it in some way since I’ve been doing the work. The work being the stuff I’ve been posting

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since we stared this project. I don’t really have any ideas when it comes to expanding my horizon. Writing some reviews came up and trying to get them published came up also. But when it comes to the whole criticism part of this masterpiece I don’t want to do it. The main reason is because it just seems really boring. In this process I’ve been done many things. Including taking notes on things in notice on screen and learning on how they are done and what goes into it. Whether it is lighting, contrast, framing, mis-en-scene, camera angles and the setting. I even learned some technical stuff which includes cross cutting, dubbing, voiceovers and many other things. But when the process of reviewing a film comes up I hate the idea. I have been to sites to see how it is done and thought on how I would approach it however it doesn’t seem to spark that much interest. Even if the reviews cam from npr or even Roger Ebert it really didn’t make a difference. I hate the idea because if I were to do it my love for movies would slowly begin to die. I wouldn’t enjoy watching a show or movie like I do now. I guess I am not trying to make anything become reality when it comes to film criticism. So I don’t know which other thing can become reality. The whole reality thing seems like it won’t happen which I am okay with.

     Networking, I would say I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure who I would exactly need in my network. I guess just people in general that find what I am

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doing interesting. But like I said before I am not sure if there are people that find what I am doing interesting in any way. The expert part to it is that I could possibly reach out to certain people. But rather, I have just compiled a group of directors whose movies I enjoy a lot. And when it comes to these directors I have just watched their movies and took notes. And tried to pay close attention to try to notice a technique that I have learned about. But past this I am not sure what I should be doing.

     The masterpiece project isn’t what I would call it. Not because it isn’t a masterpiece but because it won’t be perfect. And unlike other people I find that things that are imperfect can be better. I’ll just continue on with my imperfect project. And along the way I will see what comes of it.

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Bibliography

       http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/moviessnow/cl-turan-sg,0,478868.storygallery#axzz2tbU5Wzo6

       http://www.npr.org/people/2101621/kenneth-turan

       b.com/features/main/http://thescriptla1457-structure-of-pulp-fiction-method-in-the-madness

http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/basic-terms.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_criticism

http://m.chronicle.com/article/The-Death-of-Film-Criticism/64352/

http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms6.html

http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/Quentin_Tarantino's_Trademarks#Camera_Angles_and_Shots

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/pulp-fiction-1994

http://m.imgur.com/a/cpLno