Exclamation marks are in vogue today! It's Friday!
Here's the deal. No one is really excited about Mississippi State. Sure, they lost a close game to Auburn 3-2. But honestly, that game seems more like an absolute fluke than anything.
Some thoughts:
LSU is beat up physically from Auburn.
Will there be a letdown against a "lesser" team? Or will they stay pumped up?
Jarret Lee? A strong finish?
Charles Scott, a beast? 200+ yards?
My prediction: LSU 31, Ole Miss 10.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Profile Start!
We need to start brainstorming for our profiles, at least in general ways. List 3 people, places, people in places that you'd consider for your profile. Remember, it has to be someone you're unfamiliar with. No uncles, no best friends, no grandmothers, no boyfriends/lady friends.
What I'm considering (since I have to do this assignment as well):
Lolo Jones
Gamblers inside the riverboat casino at 4 am
The guy who feeds Mike the Tiger
Now, one of the best ways to start thinking about the profile is to think about what you're interested in or what you'd like to find out about. Try to stay within the Baton Rouge area. Try to pick the most interesting person or place you can think of.
From my list of 3, I'd probably lean towards the gamblers because it offers interesting people in an interesting setting--double whammy! Lolo Jones might be hard to wrangle an interview with. The guy who feeds Mike? Meh, I'm not too excited about that.
What I'm considering (since I have to do this assignment as well):
Lolo Jones
Gamblers inside the riverboat casino at 4 am
The guy who feeds Mike the Tiger
Now, one of the best ways to start thinking about the profile is to think about what you're interested in or what you'd like to find out about. Try to stay within the Baton Rouge area. Try to pick the most interesting person or place you can think of.
From my list of 3, I'd probably lean towards the gamblers because it offers interesting people in an interesting setting--double whammy! Lolo Jones might be hard to wrangle an interview with. The guy who feeds Mike? Meh, I'm not too excited about that.
Friday, September 19, 2008
AuBURN Baby Burn.
Last week Auburn beat Mississippi State by a phenomenal baseball score of 3-2. Last year we beat them on a big-time Les Miles gamble at the end of the game. Will there be fireworks this year, or a defensive slug-fest? Will Auburn's new, highly touted offensive coordinator bring his charged up spread offense up to speed finally? Will we see some Jordan Jefferson in this game? Will anyone risk physical harm and pick Auburn to win?
My score: LSU 17, Auburn 14.
My score: LSU 17, Auburn 14.
Friday, September 12, 2008
North Texas vs. LSU
Honestly, I know nothing about North Texas, and I'm not sure it matters much. They've been disrupted by Ike; I think they've been staying in New Orleans for the past few days.
Our players have missed what, one practice? Do you think they'll be ready to SMASH a weak team? I do.
Wait, I'm going to check on ESPN right now and see if I can dig some dirt on North Texas... Well, ESPN hasn't posted any news article about No. Tex. in over a year. That can't bode well, can it?
LSU 49, No. Texas 3
Our players have missed what, one practice? Do you think they'll be ready to SMASH a weak team? I do.
Wait, I'm going to check on ESPN right now and see if I can dig some dirt on North Texas... Well, ESPN hasn't posted any news article about No. Tex. in over a year. That can't bode well, can it?
LSU 49, No. Texas 3
Class Cancelled...Again
So here's the deal. This sets us back. Again. Now, since the University deems conditions unsafe enough to cancel classes this afternoon, I can't in good faith require you to drop off your journals and copies of my essay at my office. So we'll do that on Monday. Damn.
What we would've done in class is this:
Performed dialogues.
Watched different scenes from Bullitt, the classic Steve McQueen detective film.
Written scene cards based on the clips to record how Frank Bullitt is portrayed.
Written scene cards for real scenes from our memories about our person.
Tried to arrange them to create a possible portrait.
I want you to start thinking about your portrait in terms of scenes. What scenes can you create from your memory about your person to create a full and interesting portrait? You have to start thinking like a screenwriter except for a few differences. First, you have much less time and space to create your portrait, so you have no room for unnecessary details. Your portrait is a short film, at best. But, you don't have the limits that a screenwriter has. Where the screenwriter only can write playable action (what can be shown externally on the screen), you can include your own reflections, opinions, biases, internal debates, psychoanalyses, authorial voice...
But, for now, I want you to start thinking about choosing scenes and episodes to include in your portrait. I also want you to think about how and why you would choose one episode over another. Just as choosing a good subject for the portrait is incredibly important, so is choosing good scenes/episodes to create the structure of the portrait.
So you're going to create scene cards. Of course, first you're going to have choose what scenes you're going to use.
To make your scene cards you first need cards. Index cards work fine, or you can rip a piece of paper into quarters. Whichever. Each card needs to look like this before you start:
-----------------
Setting:
Action:
Characterization:
Specific Incidents/Recurring Activities:
Significance:
-----------------
I'm going to fill out a scene card for my essay right here as an example.
-----------------
Setting: Tram, charcoal chicken store, dorm
Action: We go purchase a charcoal chicken, return and eat it.
Characterization: Australian, male, student... (is that it? jeez)
Incidents/activities: paying for both, woodchipping of fries, restraint in not eating fries on ride home, not talking
Significance: Relentlessness? Compulsive? Single-minded? Insists on paying = control?
-----------------
This is, as I'm sure you know, the opening scene of my portrait. Now, I didn't do scene cards before writing it, which seems obvious now because the scene looks pretty weak. I mean, where is the characterization? In this opening episode Jarrod consists of a name, a mouth, and a hand. I couldn't get this image out of my head where I started to write, so I just started with it. As it is right now, I don't think the scene is working too well, as we'll discuss later. But I think I can get use what I see as the significance to connect this scene with other ones to create Jarrod as the relentless, compulsive guy I knew. It can still fit in somewhere. So I won't throw it away just yet.
But do you get the point of this? I want you to consider your portrait in scenes and plan out what each one would include. Just jot down enough so that YOU know what's happening in each scene. Most of the work in this exercise is going to be internal. Now you may have trouble identifying significance or recurring activities when you start out, and that's fine. Those are things you will probably have an easier time determining once you've got a half-dozen scene cards started.
Once I wrote the french fry scene I had no idea how it fit, but this is a rough draft, so I left it in. Now I can see how it'll work with some re-writing. I'm trying to sort out the pieces after I've written them. You guys are going to try to sort the pieces before you write them. That sounds easier in some ways, doesn't it? A stitch in time and all that jazz.
So, finally, here's the assignment:
Write at least 6 scene cards, based on your real-life experiences with the person. The more the better, obviously. Start looking for patterns in significance, in recurring activities, in possible narrative arcs, etc. You're making the bones of your portrait. Soon you'll assemble them into a skeleton. Then flesh it out.
Bring your 6+ scene cards to class on Monday.
Bring your notebook.
Bring your copy of my draft.
Guess the football score if you desire. Try to upset the champ so far: me.
What we would've done in class is this:
Performed dialogues.
Watched different scenes from Bullitt, the classic Steve McQueen detective film.
Written scene cards based on the clips to record how Frank Bullitt is portrayed.
Written scene cards for real scenes from our memories about our person.
Tried to arrange them to create a possible portrait.
I want you to start thinking about your portrait in terms of scenes. What scenes can you create from your memory about your person to create a full and interesting portrait? You have to start thinking like a screenwriter except for a few differences. First, you have much less time and space to create your portrait, so you have no room for unnecessary details. Your portrait is a short film, at best. But, you don't have the limits that a screenwriter has. Where the screenwriter only can write playable action (what can be shown externally on the screen), you can include your own reflections, opinions, biases, internal debates, psychoanalyses, authorial voice...
But, for now, I want you to start thinking about choosing scenes and episodes to include in your portrait. I also want you to think about how and why you would choose one episode over another. Just as choosing a good subject for the portrait is incredibly important, so is choosing good scenes/episodes to create the structure of the portrait.
So you're going to create scene cards. Of course, first you're going to have choose what scenes you're going to use.
To make your scene cards you first need cards. Index cards work fine, or you can rip a piece of paper into quarters. Whichever. Each card needs to look like this before you start:
-----------------
Setting:
Action:
Characterization:
Specific Incidents/Recurring Activities:
Significance:
-----------------
I'm going to fill out a scene card for my essay right here as an example.
-----------------
Setting: Tram, charcoal chicken store, dorm
Action: We go purchase a charcoal chicken, return and eat it.
Characterization: Australian, male, student... (is that it? jeez)
Incidents/activities: paying for both, woodchipping of fries, restraint in not eating fries on ride home, not talking
Significance: Relentlessness? Compulsive? Single-minded? Insists on paying = control?
-----------------
This is, as I'm sure you know, the opening scene of my portrait. Now, I didn't do scene cards before writing it, which seems obvious now because the scene looks pretty weak. I mean, where is the characterization? In this opening episode Jarrod consists of a name, a mouth, and a hand. I couldn't get this image out of my head where I started to write, so I just started with it. As it is right now, I don't think the scene is working too well, as we'll discuss later. But I think I can get use what I see as the significance to connect this scene with other ones to create Jarrod as the relentless, compulsive guy I knew. It can still fit in somewhere. So I won't throw it away just yet.
But do you get the point of this? I want you to consider your portrait in scenes and plan out what each one would include. Just jot down enough so that YOU know what's happening in each scene. Most of the work in this exercise is going to be internal. Now you may have trouble identifying significance or recurring activities when you start out, and that's fine. Those are things you will probably have an easier time determining once you've got a half-dozen scene cards started.
Once I wrote the french fry scene I had no idea how it fit, but this is a rough draft, so I left it in. Now I can see how it'll work with some re-writing. I'm trying to sort out the pieces after I've written them. You guys are going to try to sort the pieces before you write them. That sounds easier in some ways, doesn't it? A stitch in time and all that jazz.
So, finally, here's the assignment:
Write at least 6 scene cards, based on your real-life experiences with the person. The more the better, obviously. Start looking for patterns in significance, in recurring activities, in possible narrative arcs, etc. You're making the bones of your portrait. Soon you'll assemble them into a skeleton. Then flesh it out.
Bring your 6+ scene cards to class on Monday.
Bring your notebook.
Bring your copy of my draft.
Guess the football score if you desire. Try to upset the champ so far: me.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Short and Sweet
For Friday, we have a short blog assignment...
And here it is:
Create a dialogue between you and your person in which each person says at least 7 things. The dialogue should be centered around a conflict you have with your person. I can't specify more than that since the conflicts will be varied. If you've chosen a person with whom you don't have any conflict, now might be the time to pick someone new.
If you want a line of dialogue delivered a certain way, add a parenthetical. E.g. Pete (angrily): You ate all my JuJu Fruits, you wanker!
The kicker is that you're going to perform these in class, so really try to capture your person's voice in their lines.
And here it is:
Create a dialogue between you and your person in which each person says at least 7 things. The dialogue should be centered around a conflict you have with your person. I can't specify more than that since the conflicts will be varied. If you've chosen a person with whom you don't have any conflict, now might be the time to pick someone new.
If you want a line of dialogue delivered a certain way, add a parenthetical. E.g. Pete (angrily): You ate all my JuJu Fruits, you wanker!
The kicker is that you're going to perform these in class, so really try to capture your person's voice in their lines.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Blog Assignment for 9-10
Write a visual portrait of your person. Imagine you're a painter and you're going to pose your person for a portrait. Where do you put them? What props, specific details are there? What are they wearing? Pose? Facial expression? What style is it painted in? Van Gogh? Rembrant? De Kooning? Bacon?
You really have to understand the subject to paint a good portrait. Do it with words, using only external description. Don't say she's sad, say she's looking down at her feet away from the viewer. Visual clues!
Here's the address of the hip-hop portraits we saw today: http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/paintings.html
You really have to understand the subject to paint a good portrait. Do it with words, using only external description. Don't say she's sad, say she's looking down at her feet away from the viewer. Visual clues!
Here's the address of the hip-hop portraits we saw today: http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/paintings.html
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