11.20.2006
A lesser man would be frightened
Okay. Yesterday afternoon, the family was cleaning up the house. As I was putting away a bunch of CDs, I ran across AGENTS OF FORTUNE by Blue Oyster Cult and thought - "I haven't listened to this in ages" - so I pulled it out and put it in the studio. Listening to it later (this is the remastered version with bonus tracks) I noted that the only text in the liner notes for the demo of "Don't Fear The Reaper" is :The no cowbell version. A hit either way. Later in the evening I looked at Tab-land, saw the COWBELL post, watched the video and, eureaka, got the reference. And thought it a bit odd that on the day I happened to pull this disc Tim posts a video referencing it.
So this morning I got up and while waiting for the shower, checked my email. A short note from Tim asking if I was familiar with UNDERSTANDING COMICS by Scott McCloud. As it happens, I'm very familiar with it and use it as a text book in my advanced sound design class. And Scott McCloud happens to be coming to CMU in December to talk about his new book MAKING COMICS, which I'm pretty excited about.
Then I got to work and opened my email to see this message waiting for me:
From: Scott McCloud
Date: November 20, 2006 10:14:08 AM EST
To: Joseph Pino
Subject: Re: CMU visit
Hi Joe --
So, does anyone else think Dr. McWeinery is stalking me or something?
PS. link above for anyone who wants to know about Mr. McCloud, who is as close to brilliant as a human can get while maintaining his humility and sense of humor.
So this morning I got up and while waiting for the shower, checked my email. A short note from Tim asking if I was familiar with UNDERSTANDING COMICS by Scott McCloud. As it happens, I'm very familiar with it and use it as a text book in my advanced sound design class. And Scott McCloud happens to be coming to CMU in December to talk about his new book MAKING COMICS, which I'm pretty excited about.
Then I got to work and opened my email to see this message waiting for me:
From: Scott McCloud
Date: November 20, 2006 10:14:08 AM EST
To: Joseph Pino
Subject: Re: CMU visit
Hi Joe --
So, does anyone else think Dr. McWeinery is stalking me or something?
PS. link above for anyone who wants to know about Mr. McCloud, who is as close to brilliant as a human can get while maintaining his humility and sense of humor.
# posted by The Noogerator @ 11:20 AM 
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I just looked at the times - Tim posted the MORE COWBELL vid and emailed me about McCloud within 15 of each other.
That Skype thing that I played dumb about. Well, me and some contac...er..friends at the NSA..er...Radio Shack have taken things a little further. So, Joe, could you take off the Bachman Turner Overdrive footsie pajamas and Loverboy bandana you have on at this moment.
Okay, so yes, you and Tim are connected on some powerful cosmic level. It's not necessarily the back-to-high-school hook-up I would have predicted, but we do live in a liberal age. HA! Just kidding. But many of us are liberal enough to accept this twist. I hope you guys are very happy together. (Okay...it IS weird.)
What I want to know is, what does Making Comics have to do with sound design?
What I want to know is, what does Making Comics have to do with sound design?
I had the same question as Kim! Does that mean we're connected too?
And I am reminded again that Eric took a picture of the exact sign I wanted to capture...
And Joe and I were thinking of the same nappy 'stache for his stalker for the strip generator...
And I am reminded again that Eric took a picture of the exact sign I wanted to capture...
And Joe and I were thinking of the same nappy 'stache for his stalker for the strip generator...
Understanding Comics is a book about the art of visual storytelling. While drama doesn't cartoon, it is really just a collection of "stage pictures" In fact, most scene designers I know storyboard the play as a matter of course.
The connection to sound design is a bit harder to define. I'm of a mind that sound design works by communicating ideas via sets of aural symbols, or iconic sounds, which shorthand information to the audience. A stupid expample might be A wolf howls in the distance = it's night and the atmosphere is tense or suspenseful. I argue to my classes that this is a learned language, both from previous experience in entertainment (film primarily) and how the sound designer "teaches" the audience in a given production. "It's continuing to rain outside, but once I tell you that in the first few minutes of the play, I can fade that out. You don't think the rain has stopped, you accept the fact that it's still there but you non longer hear it." Then the designer can bring it back when needed to, say, underscore a moment: after an arguement a roll of thunder in the distance; someone leaves the scene and as the lone character stands in silence the rain becomes audible again.
This is exactly how McCloud explains the way comic books work: this "learned language of icons" . Additionally, he spends a lot of time discussiing how comic books use frames, frame sizes and the space between the frames to designate time passage which again is analogous to how sound design works. Sound/music are primarily temporally based design elements unlike the visual designs (costumes, lighting, scenery) so it only exists in the moment - there is no persistance like a visual object. The way sound design can manipulate time via these icons is very much like the way McCloud suggests comic books work.
Finally, at the core of his book is this idea about a continuum from "real" to iconic and from representaion to abstraction which again resonates directly with sound design.
The bottom line is there is no other book that proposes these ideas in such a lucid and entertaining way, so rather than fight it, I just decided "the hell with a sound textbook I'd never reference --I'll use this". The students have been pretty responsive. I think part of it is that it is so unexpected and they buy so many dry useless books, this is a nice change of pace. And anytime you can get the students into lateral thinking and problem solving, it's a good thing.
There's a bigger answer than you wanted I'll wager. That would cost you roughly $200 if you were a student here-- I figure that's about the cost of one of my classes, based on the student's tuition, although the bulk of the tuition money has nothing to do with paying me. But it's a good figure to throw in their faces when they skip or sleep through a class. :-)
The connection to sound design is a bit harder to define. I'm of a mind that sound design works by communicating ideas via sets of aural symbols, or iconic sounds, which shorthand information to the audience. A stupid expample might be A wolf howls in the distance = it's night and the atmosphere is tense or suspenseful. I argue to my classes that this is a learned language, both from previous experience in entertainment (film primarily) and how the sound designer "teaches" the audience in a given production. "It's continuing to rain outside, but once I tell you that in the first few minutes of the play, I can fade that out. You don't think the rain has stopped, you accept the fact that it's still there but you non longer hear it." Then the designer can bring it back when needed to, say, underscore a moment: after an arguement a roll of thunder in the distance; someone leaves the scene and as the lone character stands in silence the rain becomes audible again.
This is exactly how McCloud explains the way comic books work: this "learned language of icons" . Additionally, he spends a lot of time discussiing how comic books use frames, frame sizes and the space between the frames to designate time passage which again is analogous to how sound design works. Sound/music are primarily temporally based design elements unlike the visual designs (costumes, lighting, scenery) so it only exists in the moment - there is no persistance like a visual object. The way sound design can manipulate time via these icons is very much like the way McCloud suggests comic books work.
Finally, at the core of his book is this idea about a continuum from "real" to iconic and from representaion to abstraction which again resonates directly with sound design.
The bottom line is there is no other book that proposes these ideas in such a lucid and entertaining way, so rather than fight it, I just decided "the hell with a sound textbook I'd never reference --I'll use this". The students have been pretty responsive. I think part of it is that it is so unexpected and they buy so many dry useless books, this is a nice change of pace. And anytime you can get the students into lateral thinking and problem solving, it's a good thing.
There's a bigger answer than you wanted I'll wager. That would cost you roughly $200 if you were a student here-- I figure that's about the cost of one of my classes, based on the student's tuition, although the bulk of the tuition money has nothing to do with paying me. But it's a good figure to throw in their faces when they skip or sleep through a class. :-)
I'm watching all of you right now from my control pod on my secret island in the SecondLife universe... Kim, turn off the Jerry Springer show right now.
More "synchronicity" as Mr Sting would say: read "Animals in Translation" recently. Book about animal behavior, autism, thinking in pictures and humane treatment by Temple Grandin, that some of our party might find interesting.
More "synchronicity" as Mr Sting would say: read "Animals in Translation" recently. Book about animal behavior, autism, thinking in pictures and humane treatment by Temple Grandin, that some of our party might find interesting.
Joe....I think the cost per credit at CMU is quite a bit more than your estimate. I did smoe sleuthing on the CMU website and found some data, even without using Tim's new technology.
Tuition for 2006-2007 academic year: $34,180
Per term: $17090
This usually covers 12 credit hours of classes. Below 12 credit hours, students are typically classified as part-time. So we divide that cost per term by 12 and get: $1424.17 per credit hour
Most courses are three credits, so we need to multiply that figure by three to get a cost per course: $4272.50
Oops....I see Joe has passed out here. Can someone please peel Joe up off of the floor?
Okay. As a comparison, let's look at WVU costs, which I am most familiar with. Annual out of state tuition is $13,990 for Theatre majors. Doing the same division to determine the per term course cost it some to $1749. This is for the out of state costs. In state students would pay $579 per three-credit course.
While I haven't done the investigation, I suspect IUP's costs for Theatre majors are just under the WVU costs.
Of course, WVU and IUP do not have Joe Pino teaching sound design. You get what you pay for and the CMU program is top level stuff.
Now Joe will go ask for that raise....
Tuition for 2006-2007 academic year: $34,180
Per term: $17090
This usually covers 12 credit hours of classes. Below 12 credit hours, students are typically classified as part-time. So we divide that cost per term by 12 and get: $1424.17 per credit hour
Most courses are three credits, so we need to multiply that figure by three to get a cost per course: $4272.50
Oops....I see Joe has passed out here. Can someone please peel Joe up off of the floor?
Okay. As a comparison, let's look at WVU costs, which I am most familiar with. Annual out of state tuition is $13,990 for Theatre majors. Doing the same division to determine the per term course cost it some to $1749. This is for the out of state costs. In state students would pay $579 per three-credit course.
While I haven't done the investigation, I suspect IUP's costs for Theatre majors are just under the WVU costs.
Of course, WVU and IUP do not have Joe Pino teaching sound design. You get what you pay for and the CMU program is top level stuff.
Now Joe will go ask for that raise....
Well, it looks like Joe is too late to get his pay raise. It seems that CMU prez Jared Cohon has claimed most of it with his $511,000 annual salary and benefits package.
You can check these details and other area college president salaries here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/20061120college_pay.pdf
You can check these details and other area college president salaries here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/20061120college_pay.pdf
actually, we do our classes by units and students typically carry about 56 units a semester. That works about to about $2746 per 9 unit course, which is about equal to a 3 credit course somewhere else.
I was actually dividing that figure by number of class meetings to get the cost per each individual class meeting , which comes out to about $100 per class or about $200 a week per class. And that lecture is about a two class lecture (or one week of sleeping in my classroom) thus the $200 figure.
We won't talk about raises okay? I can definitely tell you that the students' tuition has no relationship to teacher salaries except in an inverse fashion.
I was actually dividing that figure by number of class meetings to get the cost per each individual class meeting , which comes out to about $100 per class or about $200 a week per class. And that lecture is about a two class lecture (or one week of sleeping in my classroom) thus the $200 figure.
We won't talk about raises okay? I can definitely tell you that the students' tuition has no relationship to teacher salaries except in an inverse fashion.
I am now going to make my lovely daughter read all about these tuition numbers. And then I'm going to make her go to work tomorrow, and Friday, and Saturday...
I HATE thinking about numbers, esp. as they relate to tuition dollars. It keeps me awake at night.
I HATE thinking about numbers, esp. as they relate to tuition dollars. It keeps me awake at night.
Move Emily to NC. I'll pay her 3.85/hr to mow grass. After a year she'll be an in-state resident and can go to UNC for about 3000/year.
Joe, I think my prescience warrants an autographed copy of Msr McCloud's book. Either that, or I focus my "laser" on the GPS chip I implanted in your brain as you were eating the chicken skewers at Tabfest '06....
Okay, I'm late to the conversation (I'm having some withdrawl issues- I'm trying to cut down on my internet time "first admit that I have a problem")
Okay, so Joe, I agree so much with what you're saying- and you know what I think it relates to? (yeah, I'm going to embarrass myself) I think it's the same as the concept of "Universal Images" from French Mime. In the world of producing Shakespeare for modern audiences, it's all about chosing universal imagery- whether it's gesture or stage picture or sound.
In fact, it's one of the things that I run up against all the time with directors and actors who haven't the faintest idea of what power "frames" (to use a comics term) or "tableaus" (to use a pretentious term) have to an audience.
Many/most think that the key dynamic is what the actor is expressing through their superior schmacting- but just as much, if not more, can be communicated through imagery and sound that may or may not be easily decipherable by an audience.
It's all about the story telling and for me (like many, many others) comic books were the first medium of story telling that I really got excited about.
And to bring it all around- isn't that what Tabish did?
Okay, so Joe, I agree so much with what you're saying- and you know what I think it relates to? (yeah, I'm going to embarrass myself) I think it's the same as the concept of "Universal Images" from French Mime. In the world of producing Shakespeare for modern audiences, it's all about chosing universal imagery- whether it's gesture or stage picture or sound.
In fact, it's one of the things that I run up against all the time with directors and actors who haven't the faintest idea of what power "frames" (to use a comics term) or "tableaus" (to use a pretentious term) have to an audience.
Many/most think that the key dynamic is what the actor is expressing through their superior schmacting- but just as much, if not more, can be communicated through imagery and sound that may or may not be easily decipherable by an audience.
It's all about the story telling and for me (like many, many others) comic books were the first medium of story telling that I really got excited about.
And to bring it all around- isn't that what Tabish did?
If you're serious, I'll take the Understanding Comics book inscribed "To a guy who couldn't appreciate the Beckettesque nihilism of the Nancy, Family Circus and Henry comic strips, if his life depended on it."
You guys might be intersted in the other Temple Grandin book, "Thinking in Pictures".
You guys might be intersted in the other Temple Grandin book, "Thinking in Pictures".
you got it. McCloud is a big Nancy fan so I'm sure he'll be glad to explain it to you. in fact, he invented a pretty fun game called 5-card Nancy. it's on his website here.
One of my secret hobbies is the Disfunctional Family Circus, which involves cutting out the family circus panels from the daily paper and writing (usually crude and obsene) captions for them. Immature to be sure, but tons of fun. It's one of those things my surviors will find when I die and be shocked about. I'd post some examples for you all, but the Keane lawyers are swift and without mercy in their pursuit of DFC practicioners, esp. online.
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One of my secret hobbies is the Disfunctional Family Circus, which involves cutting out the family circus panels from the daily paper and writing (usually crude and obsene) captions for them. Immature to be sure, but tons of fun. It's one of those things my surviors will find when I die and be shocked about. I'd post some examples for you all, but the Keane lawyers are swift and without mercy in their pursuit of DFC practicioners, esp. online.
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