Earthquake!

I couldn't ask anyone in my family about this because they knew nothing about it.

This major earthquake happened in 1971 around the San Fernando area in California. It took only 60 seconds to take the lives of 65 men, women, children, and injure more than 2000 people. Another 49 died where the hospitals collapsed. It is so crazy that in less than a minute, so much damage can happen. What if the earthquake lasted 30 minutes? Can you imagine the major damage that can arise? 

Three years later, Earthquake was produced using the actual events that happened in 1971 as part of it's plot. 

Earthquake used Sensurround in the movie theatre to give the audiences the sensation that the earthquake is really happening right then and there. That would scare the bejeezus out of me. And of course from this movie, a park attraction was created at Universal Studios. What a ride that would have been.

Mother Nature can really do some damage when unexpected. 

For damage pictures from the earthquake...

http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/search.cgi?search_mode=exact&selection=San+Fernando+Earthquake,+February+1971|San+Fernando|Earthquake|1971

(http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1971_02_09.php)

Georges Melies

George Melies was a French filmmaker quite known for his special effects. The film, A Trip to the Moon or also known as Le voyage dans la Lune was made in 1902 and was one of Melies' most famous film. He used the stop trick effect or actually accidentally invented this effect. This stop trick effect is when an object or person is filmed on camera then the camera would stop filming and that object or person would move to another position or off the screen. This would create the illusion that that object or person has magically moved or disappeared. Melies was very creative with creating special effects for his films. He even hand painted colors in his films and multiple exposures. He was one of the very first few to use these techniques. If he didn't, where would films be today? Would special effects be the same? Would science fiction films be what it is today?


The Vanishing Lady 1896

Abel Gance's Napoleon

Napolean is an epic silent French film written and produced by Abel Gance in 1927. The plot of this film is based on Napoleon Bonaparte's life. But that is not why this film is important. Gance's use of technology to produce/direct/edit this film was ahead of his time. He used a technique called "Polyvision" which is now known as Cinerama. Basically, Gance used a triptych sequence projected onto a screen, this was the early version of what we now know as widescreen.


Just amazing that this is where widescreen/Cinerama first started.


(IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018192/)


Kevin Brownlow discussing Abel Gance

The Great Crash

The crash of the stock market in 1929 or any year is something I don't think about or do I want to. You'd think I should know what happened as this is my country and economy blah blah blah. I don't like to think about money =(


Anyways, wealth was a big thing during the roaring twenties. People had lots of it and was using it excessively. So why did the market crash? The market prices were increasing like crazy and everyone thought everyone else could handle the high prices, but boy were they wrong. People could not handle the high prices so there was a dramatic drop in the market so that caused the prices of the stocks to go way down. Major money was being lost during this time. This caused a chain reaction to everything else happening in the country. Properties were losing their values as real estates weren't doing well. The chain reaction led up to the Great Depression that lasted for decades.

"The mask which the actor wears is apt to become his face" ~ Plato

Why does Black Face exist? Around the early-1800's, black people at the time didn't have any rights or say so they were ridiculed and poked at for fun by the white Americans in minstrel shows as a form of entertainment. These white Americans would paint their faces black to imitate the blacks and would make a performance out of it. 


Blacks even painted their faces black to be able to be apart of this era's entertainment!! Amazing how people thought and acted during that time period. Because of this form of entertainment, racism and stereotypes for every single race/ethnic group exist today and people think it is okay, but is it? 

All that Jazz!

When you hear the word "Jazz", what do you think of?

My mind automatically thinks of the deep double bass, the seductive saxophone, the arrogant trumpet, the confidant piano, and the crisp drum set. Together, these instruments create amazing music that have so much emotion and history. 

Where did jazz even come from?!

Lets jump back in time to just right after the Civil War. Slaves were still in existence and working in the fields. To get their mind off the work, sun, and life, the slaves would sing. These songs they would sing were called "Blues" which originated from Africa. Blues is a combination of mood and structure from the African and American music. As time went by, these work songs from Africa were passed around and slowly changed. These changes through time and culture created what we know as jazz. Examples of jazz can be heard from great players like Louis Armstrong,  Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and many many more. 

This acid jazz piece is by Miles Davis called "Mystery." 

MYSTERY- MILES DAVIS 1992
Uploaded by GLITTER-GLITTER. - See the latest featured music videos.

Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly has been on my must watch list for a while. After Santiago showing a scene from the opera in class, I definitely have to go get a recording of that opera and watch it.

I've always been fascinated by music/singing. Of course I can't sing, but I just love to close my eyes and hear anyone sing (hopefully someone that can carry a pitch). Singing opera style is amazing. It takes so much talent to be able to carry such pitches and difficult notes and act at the same time! Even though operas can be long, I love them. So far I've only been able to see one awesome opera called Lucia di Lammermoor. It's really good! 

This short stop motion animation is so awesome and amazing! Kudos to the artist for being able to make this creative version of the opera, Madama Butterfly. The artist told the whole story in less than 11 minutes versus 2-3 hours! This animation is captivating with the details and symbolism. The part where she gave birth and the end were my favorite parts... so much emotions and creativity!


Here's another version of Madama Butterfly