Sara's Media Studies Blog

Green River and the Origin of Grunge an introduction  Grunge is a nonconforming subgenre of rock that originated in the late 80s and really blossomed during the 90s - the movement formed in the Pacific Northwest, especially in Seattle, Washington. Grunge music made mainstream success during that time, especially releases by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. Ironically, many bands that are considered to be grunge absolutely hated the term and refused to associate with it.    The invention of grunge is widely credited to guitarist/vocalist Mark Arm and Green River (Although Marilyn Manson has claimed he was the first to use it to describe the genre:  "Marilyn Manson says he invented grunge: 'You're welcome'" ). Formed in 1984 by Mark Arm, Steve Turner, Alex Vincent, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, Green River were trailblazers of the grunge genre. Unfortunately, they didn't last long due to conflict of interes...

I'm definitely a fan of Marvel, so of course I was entertained by  Avengers: Endgame  - in my opinion it was well-made, the story wasn't too bad, and I think some parts of the film served as a fitting conclusion to the Avengers  films. One thing I did like was how Iron Man's story ended. Tony Stark is probably one of my favorite Marvel heroes, and I think it was fitting that he was the one to wield the Infinity Stones at the end. I wish we'd seen more of his life with his family, though. However, I didn't enjoy  Endgame  nearly as much as I thought I would. It didn't live up to the standard created by some of the great Marvel films before it, and I think that at some parts it relied too much on humor and had a lot of holes in the plot. I expected the film to be a bit darker, considering it's about the aftermath of half the universe's population being wiped out.  Not that I didn't enjoy the film, I did - I just think that it could have bee...

I thoroughly enjoyed the blockbuster unit we did in class - I'd seen Stephen Spielberg's  Jaws  many times before, but for me this film never gets old.  Jaws  is definitely a classic, and the film's storyline is executed beautifully. One of my favorite scenes in  Jaws  is the "get out of the water" scene - I really love the vertigo effect used in this scene. I think this is one of the most iconic and well-known use of this camera effect. It enhances this scene really well (it also looks really cool). I think that the animatronic shark not working properly worked out great for the film's outcome because of the constant feeling of suspense throughout  Jaws  - not seeing the shark made it so much more scary and unpredictable. I think now filmmakers rely too much on CGI effects that they forget how effective and believable practical effects can be - in my opinion, the difficulties that come with practical visual effects make the film that...

I loved that we got to play Detroit: Become Human in class - I'm super into story-based games like this, and don't get to play them often because I haven't got a PS4. Some of my favorite games are a lot like Detroit  ( The Last of Us, Uncharted, Heavy Rain) ; they're all sort of cinematically influenced. The visuals are absolutely stunning - I like games that aren't as realistic, too, but the graphics in Detroit  are next level. However, the thing I loved most about Detroit: Become Human  wasn't the striking graphics but how much your choices matter in the storyline. I've never played a game with as varying outcomes as Detroit - unlike Telltale's Walking Dead  games, where your decisions have no effect on the ultimate outcome, Detroit  makes you choose between difficult decisions, and if you make one with a bad outcome, it makes you feel guilt. A few decisions can have an impact on the whole atmosphere of the storyline, and the three main characters ...

Many newer video games coming out are heavily influenced by cinema - story-based games are becoming more popular, and are more realistic compared to games from the past. For example, in  Detroit: Become Human , during both gameplay and cutscenes, a large variety of different camera angles are used, rather than just one continuous angle, making the game look like a movie. The difference between cinematically influenced video games and films is the gameplay itself - in the game, you play through the story as the character, whether it's through decision-making like Detroit  or more action-based like The Last of Us , rather than just watch it unfold on screen.

Story is one of the main things that draws me into games - being an avid reader, I lean towards games with heavy emphasis on story rather than ones without. I love getting lost in a good story, whether it's delivered through film, literature or video games. I enjoy choice-based video games, like Detroit: Become   Human  because of how immersive they are - making the player's choices actually matter for how the game ends allows the player to feel more emotionally invested in the game. Players become emotionally attached to characters and are aware of the decisions they're making in-game, making sure they make the right ones. It's also entertaining and interesting to see how many different outcomes you can get.