Say What You Need to Say

I am actually very excited about this essay. First of all, I absolutely love John Mayer and I get to analyze one of his songs. Second of all, I love analyzing things; it is one of my better talents, or at least something I really enjoy. I chose to analyze John Mayer's song "Say." This song is used in his original music video and in the movie "The Bucket List". In the original music video, John is standing alone in some type of dark warehouse. Strictly listening to the lyrics would make you think that John has just written some type of "anthem" to encourage everyone to "say what they need to say," which would be a logical observation because he repeats that statement numerous times throughout the song. I think differently after watching his music video. In my essay I want to elaborate on what the setting of the music video, his facial expressions, the transitions of the camera, and a few other details express to me. I'm sure everyone has seen the heart-warming, tear-jerking, hilarious movie "The Bucket List." The song "Say" is used in the trailer of that movie. The way the song and the plot of this movie work together changes the interpretation of the song. The movie is about two men who meet in a hospital on their death beds. They are both given a certain amount of days that they have left to live. They create a list of things to do before they "kick the bucket"-the bucket list. The song gives the idea in the movie of "do everything you can while you are still alive," which is perfect for this movie.

The Great Gatsby

"The Great Gatsby" soundtrack consisted of a variety of jazzy music with hip-hop twists. "The Great Gatsby" is one of my absolute favorite movies. I strongly think a reason I adore this movie so much is because of the interesting music the producers added to the scenes. The hip-hop aspect appeals immensely to a large number of society today; my generation especially, and I believe that was the audience they were shooting for, anyway. The songs included in a movie affect the viewers' mood during each part of the movie. The producers can control the way they want you to interpret each part of the movie by changing up the music. I think the producers did an amazing job in this movie with that. Some of the songs, for example: "Young and Beautiful", contribute to the depressing, intense, and almost creepy parts of the movie. The song is so slow that it gives the viewer time to think about what is happening in the scene, and stresses the importance and intense feeling the scene is attempting to get across. The hip-hop sound to it makes it a lot more interesting to viewers my age. The jazz sound to it also adds so much to the mood of the movie. Since the movie is actually set in the 1920s, the hip-hop music added to the jazz music succeeds in accomplishing everything you would want to in a viewing; it suggests the time period of the story, suggests the time period of the current viewers, and controls the mood of each scene. The party scenes all have extremely upbeat and fun music to suggest the exciting mood of the party; but, they have a subtle, creepy suggestion of heartache. You can see with your eyes how exciting and amusing the parties are, but the certain creepy parts of the song propose a hidden sadness, and everyone who has seen the movie knows the grief behind Gatsby's thoughts, so the songs the producers utilized were perfect.

My writing process for my essay began with choosing a commercial that I could relate to so that I knew more about the subject it may be trying to get across. I chose a commercial on dentistry because my grandfather was a dentist and my mother is a dental hygienist. Needless to say, I hear plenty about the subject at home. I chose specifically a commercial on Crest toothpaste because that is the toothpaste I use today. It was interesting comparing the toothpaste advertisements back then, and now. As I pointed out in one of my earlier blogs, the hardest part of writing for me is getting started. It was a lot easier for me to begin because of the mandatory blogs and drafts. I also pointed out in my older blog that once I begin writing, I somehow enjoy it and do not stop until I finish. That is definitely what happened with this paper. I watched the commercial multiple times so that I knew it backwards and forwards. I took notes on it every time to make sure I noticed every detail. This could count as using heuristics, which is a method I never would have thought of using before I was taught about it in this class. It helped so much because with every idea I wrote down about the commercial, I could think about the implications that existed in those ideas. That helped so much when I was trying to find things to elaborate on in my paper. I never thought about actually applying the “paraphrase X3” method. I think I subconsciously used it, though. I would write a paragraph, then completely rewrite it using different words that strengthened it. I also cannot stress enough how helpful the workshops were. Reading other students’ work helped me to think what could be helped in my own paper. Also, the notes I received criticizing and praising my paper were so helpful and I will use every suggestion in completing my final draft. I can honestly say I am already enjoying this class more than any high school English class I have ever taken!