Copyright Experience

I've never really been afraid of breaking copyright laws online because I have always in favor of free torrent sharing; until recently. Since I got my first computer I've been downloading torrents saving money like the vast majority of americans do as I accumulated over 6,000 songs. It never really concerned me to buy artists albums since I've always had the mentality that "I go to the support artists at shows and buying merchandise". Recently however for my practicum project I have developed a different mentality towards pirating. I think it is wrong. I spent several hours on every song making sure every note was how I wanted it to be and honestly I can't even begin to imagine the work that professionals do before commercially releasing records. The first action I took after I began creating music was signing up for an itunes account. Believe it or not it took me 6 years to sign up for an account, but now I've already started buying albums. Proud to say my first album bought was the shins; I just had too. But copyrighting is serious and it is getting out of hand in america. Just a couple months ago of my friends who lives in the same apartment complex got an email from warner brothers for illegally downloading your highness. The letter threatened to shut down their internet if downloaded again as well as prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law. Copyrighting is an important aspect of the music and film industry that has constantly been abused. Luckily action is being taken over the last couple years when mass media sharing websites such as limewire and megaupload have been shit down. In all buy music, respect the artist.

and respect me by checking out my songs... soundcloud whaddup!

http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=ben+roif

History of the Internet

Reflecting of this course I realized just now that I missed the very first blog assignment. I came into the class a couple weeks late and it must have slipped my mind. Seeing this video for the first time after the semester rather than in the beginning  gave me a very different reaction than I imagine I would of had in the first week. I've come along way since the beginning of the semester. I had no idea the complexities of the internet and how it all came together in only the past 50 years. I find it really interesting how the internet is such a global necessity and but only months ago I assumed America was behind all of it by itself. It's amazing how little I knew and how much I have taken from this class looking back on it. The internet is pivotal in daily life and I'm surprised this class isn't mandatory outside of the com arts major. For people, especially college students, that depend on computers, the internet, and social media sites everyone should have to understand what exactly they are using. It was also really interesting getting a time-elapsed version of how the digital age took of in America and around the world so quickly. I wonder where the internet will be in the next 50 years.

Practicum Post: Wikipedia Mashup Page

I have had a lot of fun doing this project. My main focus through out the semester has been my work on my mix-tape Lil Peppa. I've never posted on wikipedia before and what better to than on the mashup page as a little tribute to what I have done. I do a sort of commentary addition under the "remix" category in the mash up post. I was confused why such a broad category would be a sub-section to a specific type of remix but whatever.

My addition...
"All mashups are remixes yes, but not vice-versa. Mashups are a category of remixes but only on the most basic level. Remixes can combine songs but it in addition they add other original layering to make the song more of a transformative work. An example of a popular remix artists that primarily remixes single songs but also mashes songs are The White Pandas. The chicago-based duo has emerged as one of the biggest upcoming DJ's. Their latest full length mash "Pandamonium" has received over 1 million downloads."


I don't really like the idea of posting on wikipedia especially with all the privacy settings I lose because of it. Since I am not registered to Wiki my addresses and IP number are stored as public records. Regardless of how I feel about posting I do think it does conclude this project well, sharing a glimpse of what I have been researching and spending the bulk of my time doing this semester. 

Practicum Post: Editing Problems

Wow, editing is hard. Until recently I have only touched the surface of the potential final cut pro has to offer. Fresh off of intro to film 355 I falsely assumed I had a great grasp of the editing software. Although I have done serveral shorts this semester that I am proud of, I always feel that the production aspect of them could be greater. For the past couple of weeks I have taken to my own devices to get a greater understanding of the software I have been working with for close to 8 months already. I've spent hours already trying to make sense of what I can controll and slowly it is all coming together. It is amazing what you can learn from youtube videos. Getting into the film industry is hard and it is nice to see so many "professionals" putting out very in-depth tutorials on youtube for exposure purposes. I have learned a lot from this one particular user on youtube "reelcleverdotcom". It took me awhile before speaking up on these youtube walls to ask for a more personalized help when certain problems arised "reelcleverdotcom" was actually helpful and after waiting two days to respond we had a brief but informative conversation on how specifically I can work on my color correction problem. I have never learned or tried to color correct a shot in final cut before. As you can see on the screen shot I took from a video project I'm working on a lot goes into color correcting a shot. The tools in final cut allows the user to control every aspect of the shots color. You can work with the color wheel where you can pinpoint with a brush any color in the frame and change it to your desired color. Under the color wheel there are the basic options of saturation, bulking or thinning the mids (skin tones), blacks and whites in the shot. The small view finder (all the way to right)  constantly updates in real time when corrections are made but it is difficult to tell what looks right. "Reelcleverdotocm" was really helpful for this and taught be the very basics of the histogram and waveform that allows me to see what blacks are true black, if the skin color matches everywhere, and so on. A lot of this process of trial and error learning took many hours longer than it would have been with an instructor or anyone I could talk to in person. I realized hours after I went in indivually and corrected each shot of my short film I am working on that the shots don't allign with each other well. Meaning when I quick edit shots together it doesn't look right; each shot had a different exposure and I corrected the skin differently so it all looked off. I took my problems to the IMC in vilas where I learned the rest of what I know on final cut pro. I learned how to use view finder (picture below) which enables me to see multiple shots at the same time to make editing a lot easier. I can now base color corrected shots off of previous ones and edits are more cohesive now. It has been a lot of fun using this program, let me know if anyone needs help with it!

Practicum Post: We Found Love (In Chipotle)

I've had an ongoing joke for awhile now with my friends about my infatuation for chipotle. That plus listening to house music in unhealthy amounts gets you a We Found Love In Chipotle music video. I've spent a lot a time conceptually thinking of how to write and shot it, even though the idea seems so basic. It's amazing how much you can create your own by remixing others works. Out of all the videos I've seen remix I think its safe to say me and my friends were the first to do it. Being able to shoot was the biggest struggle in the making of the video. After getting kicked out of chipotle 3 out of our first 4 times we soon realized we had to have our filming schedule tailored around whenever the manager wasn't there. The shooting was the easiest though it was the editing and putting the video together that really made it hard. I've worked the entire semester with programs like final cut and even though it has substantially gotten easier, it's still a strenuous long process each time. It was hard for me to match up the lip-syncing with the lyrics while maintaining the concept of the video. The concept of the video was simple enough; that he really did fall in love at chipotle. And not with a person... well you gotta watch to find out.

I told you guys about this during my presentation. I had in my powerpoint the teaser for the music but now I am glad to say its finally finished. If you guys have sometime to check it out follow the link after the jump. Make this go viral!

It's on my website and I also linked it to my youtube account.

http://benroif.wordpress.com/

Memes

Memes "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." To be honest I tried for a as long as possible to not feed into the meme'ing culture. I was wrong about them, for a little at least. As much as I wanted to make videos one after another this semester it's not that easy. I had to make filming scehdules that was condusive to my friends scehdules which turned out to be a lot harder than expected. In between shoots I had a lot of free time on my hands. In order to keep my fanbase, my roommates, happy from my website I would religiously update it with memes I made for each of them. Each one of my roommates got his own picture and title. Meme's are arbitrary pictures and names that can easily be replicated by anyone. For my roommates I came up with "Bad Man Harry" and "Big Boned Aco" going from left to right respectively.

I had a lot of fun with these. It was an easy way to have (make) fun of my roommates with being expempt from retalliation, since after all it is for a school project. But by now I have come full circle and am sick of them already. It was fun for awhile but the meme'ing culture has gotten out of control. I can't be on facebook or reading any one of my numerous blogs I follow with out seeing these memes. Even on facebook there is a meme group which admittingly has gad some funny posts, has gotten out of hand as well. Here's one I found recently on the group... hope this doesn't apply to my finals coming up. 

In all meme's are harmless. All though irritating the majority of the time, memes are not that bad. I asked this question during my presentation in class but am still curious since I did not get that much feed back. 

Are people sick of memes by now? did you ever personally buy into them?

Any feed back would be great. feel free to email me guys, look foward to hearing responses.

Music Video: Practicum Post

I hope by now at least some people have been onto my website, benroif.wordpress.com, to get a more in-depth look into what I have been up to this semester. Unfortunately last week during my presentation my now "viral" We Found Love in Chipotle video couldn't load. But believe it or not my latest videos that I put up on Youtube have gotten me a lot of buzz around my close network of friends in school. In just over a week and a half my video views have gotten me well over 400. Although that doesn't sound like much it gave me enough to stir to get me my latest filming debut i would like to share with you guys. Starting over the weekend I began filming a music video for a milwaukee based rap group called 3rd dimension. These guys are good. They also have a lot more exposure than me. The group's first mix-tape released on Datpiff in early january has already accumulated over 25,000 downloads. You can view and download their music for free on Datpiff following this link (http://www.datpiff.com/3rd-Dimension-Enough-Isnt-Enough-mixtape.307449.html). Anyways since last week I have been introduced to the guys and we already have begun putting the video together. Over the semester I have remixed and mashed songs and videos but not it finally feels good to make something really my own. Although technically since I am making an adaptation of a song into video it's not entirely original but I think I deserve more credit than calling my work transformative. I thought a lot after my presentation last week when some one brought up my work as transformative rather then original and personally I feel as if that discredits the work I have put in to my projects. Although the worked I have sampled is transformative I have used these medias in ways that I do believe my work is original.

The picture above is from the first day of filming. So far I like these guys a lot more than any project I've done with my friends because 3rd dimension is serious with their work and willing to cooperate. Almost every scene I do with my friends they yell and prolong. I think this is a great opportunity and hopefully by the end of the week I will have some concrete footage to put on the blog. Till then!

Blog 7: Computerized Devices!

For this last post I wasn't planning on having much to report; last night I only watched a movie. But during the 2 hours of watching the film The High Cost of Living (2 hours I wish I could have back) I realized actually just how much computerized objects I have to use even when I'm not really doing anything. I watch movies through my xbox where I can log onto my netflix account and stream movies straight to my TV. The one downside to watching movies this way is that I don't have my own netflix or xbox live accounts both are requirements in watching. I have been able to use my roommates accounts for both which has been my loop pole all semester. However I learned last night accounts can't be simultaneously logged in and when my roommate decided to watch a movie in his own room I got kicked off of streaming. With less than 30 minutes left in the movie I was anxious to find a way to finish the movie. Naturally when faced with adversaries like such, I default to facebook. After spending another hour on other various media site I decided to find a solution to finishing my movie. An ehow helped me set up my wireless TV that enabled me to stream netflix straight from my TV without using the xbox as a medium.

And of course who can watch a movie these days with out being on their phone. I got an Iphone this past week so for the majority of the movie I was playing with it, frivolously downloading any free app I could find.

Computerized objects were the entire source of my entertainment for my sunday night. With out computerized objects I would not have been able to start, procrastinate, and finish my movie last night. Even nights where it doesn't seem like I am doing much I still am constantly using and consuming information almost entirely from computerized objects.

Remix Production Questions

Hey guys really briefly I wanna give you a heads up on my questions so you can think about it going into class today.

1) I take pride in the music I have made but exposure is hard. Aside from linking my posts to Facebook what other ways of networking can I use to spread my work?

2) Are people sick of theses memes already? Did you ever buy into them?

Hoping to get good feedback in class see you guys then!

Beats by Ben

I've always loved music. But when I tried translating that into music of my own on garage band in the past, time and time again, I ended with nothing. I knew I needed something else but I didn't know what. Turns out all I needed was to be introduced to a program called logic pro. Logic is apples more professional studio of garage band. It offers hundreds of more samples and has enhanced features that are a lot easier to navigate through. I spent a lot of time over the last couple of months working with my friend Warren sampling, reworking, and creating our own music through logic. We've spent these past months working on a project soon to be released called Little Peppa. It's a mix-tape exclusively of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lil Wayne's music and thus far I am extremely happy with how its turning out. I'll admit, going into this music project I was very ignorant on the challenges of mashing music. It's not as simple as taking the words of a song matched to a beat of another; It's a long strenuous project. A lot of it is willing to take a chance and mostly if not everything is not willing to compromise. Mash-ups sound decent relatively fast but what separates good from great is layering. I learned a lot from working with everything and it definitely been a huge part of my life since. I've been downloading endless discography's from otis redding to Billy Joel trying to find the next perfect sample. But until I find it, I'd like to share with you guys a couple of my favorite tracks I've created recently.

http://soundcloud.com/ben-roif/the-otherside-of-a-milli

The first one is a combination of the Other Side by the RHCP and A Milli by Weezy. This one I like a lot I hope you guys check it out. Notice the high hats coming in and out of the beat... took a while on that.

http://soundcloud.com/ben-roif/snow-stuntin-remixed-by-ben

This other one, if not obvious by the title, samples Snow by RHCP and Stuntin Like My Daddy by Weezy F. A little slower easy to feel out beat. I hope the chorus switch back to Snow doesn't sound forced. Let me know what you think!


Me in "the lab"

Remix Production

Admittedly, I haven't been on top of blog posts this semester. Instead I created, though neglected to share until now, my own website. Called The Element of Style, My website is a mass collection of  the work I've done for the class this semester. I spent a lot of time diversifying what I created from an original We found love (in chipotle) to occasionally making memes of my roommates when I was bored. Originally started for class purposes only, I'm now looking forward to continuing my blog into the summer. I've created a small following from my friends on Langdon and am weirdly grateful for this assignment. As an aspiring film maker exposer is key. With the help of my friends (and fans) I have built a moderate following of the works I have been putting out. From the album I made remixing the works of lil wayne with the red hot chili peppers and even, although not proud to say it, the call me maybe video I made this project has opened up a lot of possibilities for me. I even got my first filming job working for Hillel, called Israelity TV, just couple weeks ago after showing off what I've made in the past few months. The next few posts I'll take specifically about each type of media I've remixed.. hope you guys like it!

The Element of Style... http://benroif.wordpress.com/

Hulu vs Youtube

I've never been a fan of Hulu. But to be fair until this assignment I've never really been on it. I've always been against the idea of commercials on what I see on the internet, that's what TV is for. The obvious reality however is that commercials are everywhere online especially on youtube. After giving Hulu a shot I'm actually surprised to report I really liked it. Yes the minute advertising seemingly every couple of minutes did get frustrating but I really didn't mind it. I watched a new Hulu original series about a conscious rap group I listen to Das Racist. What immediately stood out to me was the HD quality of video. Very rarely do HD quality videos find its way on Youtube. Hulu has a vast array of TV shows and movies online for free but the main difference, and why Youtube is ultimately better, is that it lacks original content. Anyone can post on Youtube and anything at any point can go viral; I like that a lot. Hulu does have an option Hulu Plus that for 8 dollars a month viewers can stream unlimited commercial free shows and movies. Another selling point in Hulu Plus is its extensive movies from the Criterion Collection. However to me I like youtube more because it is more interactive. Every video people can comment on and like which promotes a greater community than anything you can do on Hulu.

Oh and I recommend this Hulu episode a lot... peep it!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/350585/a-day-in-the-life-das-racist

Googling Myself

My top hit on Google when I search my name is my Facebook profile page. In bold caps it reads Ben Roif is on Facebook, friend him. I clicked the link and Facebook allows me to view my profile, even though I was already logged onto my account at the time, as if I was someone else who didn’t know me. I was taken back about how accessible my account was, my online life was, to the anyone just one Google search away. I’ve never, until this search, thought about changing my privacy settings I just wrongly assumed only my friends had access to all my pictures and comments. As I’m on my profile as someone that’s logged out Facebook has a side bar to the right of my profile and Facebook ask me if I would like to change my privacy settings. I immediately switched to an option that no one from Google could search my name and have Facebook related items come up. As connected as I am on my social media sites I still am at a point where I don’t want to fully be accessible to anyone.

Besides what I saw on Facebook not a lot surprised me. Under my social media sites were all my past high school sports stats rosters and videos, all things I expected.

I guess the one thing that surprised me was how unique my name was. It seemed by looking through the first few pages of my Google search that I was the only one name Ben Roif searchable on Google.

Chatroulette

I tried chatroulette with as open of a mind as I possibly could after hearing rumor after rumor about the pervert's who stalk the site. I've only been on this site once or twice a few years back when the site started but even back than I only used it for group entertainment never to actually meet anyone. My previous times on the site ended with an over abundance of private parts with no one actually having any interest in meeting people other than the chance of having some sexual relief/gain. I tried coming in with a different mentality this time around and although it was a class assingment I thought I might actually meet some people worth getting to know. And it started off like that; this time was different at least at first. There was a lot of older gentleman eager to start conversations with me even without having my video feed showing. I met a pretty cool guy from denmark and we chatted for a few minutes until he starting asking, barely begging to see a live video feed of me. I understand his request. It's more than reasonable to want to see the face of who your talking to but I the whole idea of the website of me and with a simple press of the "next" button our conversation ended. As much as I tried to engage as many people who weren't flashing me or touching themselves in conversation the overall stigma I've gotten from the website enabled me to actually talk to somone long enough to actually get to know them. It's unfortunate I succombed to my preconcived notions of the website because in theory chatroulette is a very intriquiging concept. The idea of clicking a button and getting a chance to video with a random person around the world is fascinating but to me it wasn't worth sorting through all the seedy people first to get there. Overall the experience was enough to not have me going back anytime soon. Although the idea of the website is in good spirit, the reality of it and how its been widely used is a shame.

Introduction: Ben Roif

Hey what's up everyone getting a little of a late start on this whole introduction post but after serval attempts at trying to be able to post on this blog I finally figured it out. better late than never right? Anyways I'm Ben, a sophomore from Westchester, New York, just 20 minutes north of the city. Right now I'm a Com Arts major on the film with the plan in double majoring in Econ as well. I'm really excited to be in this class. Using the internet and being on social media sites consumes the majority of my day to day life. There's a lot I feel I can learn from this class because as much as I am online, I realize I don't really understand much about it at all. See you guys in class!