Sophia Demitrio

My final thoughts on this course:     Overall, I really enjoyed this course and love how Professor Echeverry pushed each student out of their comfort zones. A room full of majors like biology, psychology, marine science, political science, etc. and our professor had us putting on fashion shows. I also liked how we were assigned many group projects. This allowed us all to collaborate and bring each other's creative sides out. My favorite assignment was the Interstellar project. That was my favorite movie we watched by far, and creating that video was a lot of fun too. I liked using this class as an escape from the more boring and exhausting science courses I am used to. I loved having Professor Echeverry as a teacher: he always kept things real and interesting and opened my eyes to a lot of things I would have never even thought about before. His assignments were always different and creative, and in turn required us to be different and creative as students. Thank you for takin...

  WALL-E      Creating our final project was a great way to end the semester. We chose the classic movie WALL-E. I love this movie and its message. We found a corresponding text that is about how the earth in WALL-E could eventually be our reality. We also researched AI, climate change, and garbology to compile a PDF of how WALL-E relates to our lives today. We were able to construct an actual cardboard WALL-E, and his middle opens up to an actual plant inside. We also covered the back of the poster with old newspaper and magazines to give it that trash type look, since our earth in WALL-E is covered in trash. I really enjoyed creating this with my group and think it has a message that everyone should listen to. 

      Wow this brought me out of comfort zone more than any assignment we have done yet this year! Or more than any assignment I have ever done before period. BUT it was so much fun!!! My group and I went to the thrift store together to compile some pieces together to create three cohesive outfits. When Grace said she had wigs that resembled those in the movie, we were all sold on wearing them with our outfits. The central idea of our fashion was the use of plastic bags and recycling. I took an old pair of ripped jeans and attached plastic bags in the holes of them. One of the plastic bags says, "reduce reuse recycle" so I positioned that so that you can read it on my jeans. We also tied plastic bags around the belt looks like a belt, and attached them to our hooped earrings. I also thrifted a mesh orange undershirt that I layered with a high mock neck top. This top was obviously inspire by Leeloo. The orange was always incorporated in her looks, so we each made sure our ...

 Fashion in the Fifth Element     Given our assignment to create a unique fashion show based on the fashion of the film, I decided to take strategic notes on different styles we see in The Fifth Element.  First of all, Ruby Rhod has the most iconic cheetah outfit ever. I love the feminine look on a man, which was kinda ahead of its time. His outfits are all extreme statements which I love. The futuristic cheetah look he's giving here is everything.  I absolutely love the stewardess looks in the movie. The adorable hat with the cute bob and bangs. The sleek yet sexy look it portrays. Now Leeloo's fashion is iconic as well. The bright orange is always incorporated into her looks. The same bob with bangs as the stewardess.  I like the high-neck look, and I own a lot of high neck tops as is, so I am thinking of incorporating this element into my own fashion piece when we do the fashion show. We'll see!

 Creating our movie for the Interstellar project was quite an interesting process. We brainstormed some ideas, and got together to film some clips for the video. Basically, our world was completely submerged in water as a result of a climate crisis, and the government withheld information from the public as to how serious it really was. Our mission as time travelers was to travel back to 2022 to release the information. We filmed some clips on campus of us "time traveling back" and some clips of us using a computer to release the information (very dramatically). It was fun for us to do this part. Then, I edited the clips together using iMovie and added a few articles we created about the after-effects of us releasing this info. I always enjoyed editing videos so this part was enjoyable for me. Overall, the whole project encouraged us to be super creative and make a whole storyline. It was a very unique experience which I really enjoyed. 

       This is literally one of the most brilliant movies I have ever watched in my life. I am obsessed. I have been listening to the piano soundtrack and watching Tik Toks of it ever since I finished it. It is AMAZING. Not only is the cast incredible, but the story, every element of this film has left me speechless. At the end, I was SOBBING. Matthew  McConaughey is probably one of my favorite male actors, so I loved seeing him in this movie. I adored his relationship with Murphy and it reminded me of my relationship with my dad, which just made the whole movie even sadder. It was just amazing wow. A part that stood out to me was when Cooper was finally able to receive the video messages and he sees Murph all grown up. McConaughey's acting in that scene is unreal. It literally gave me chills. As far as the ending, I guess it was essentially a happy ending but it was just so sad. I'm glad they were reunited, but it broke my heart. The easter eggs throughout the ...

       Christian Dior was an extremely impactful French designer who came to rise after the World War II. I chose Christian Dior to research because I have to do a presentation for my French class on an influential person in French culture, so I wanted to explore my options and start to analyze Dior and his life. Something I found very interesting about Dior is how controversial of a designer he was. When his styles started to gain major popularity, it was right after World War II when resources across the board were limited. Dior's designs required an excess of fabric, so a lot of people did not like him and thought he was selfish and inconsiderate. This, however, did not slow his rise to fame.      I wanted to specifically take into consideration Christian Dior's "New Look" collection of 1947: his debut solo launch. This collection specifically intrigued me because it was essentially the start of the huge fashion empire that Dior began. His focus wit...

     For this assignment, my group and I had to interview another player on a video game. My classmate Grace asked her friend if we could use his game Destiny. So we went over and we were able to communicate with a stranger through the headpiece. It was really a cool experience and the dude we were talking to was super cool and helpful. Here are some things we asked and his responses: Why did you choose that avatar? -Friends told him to start playing as a stronger characters - Warlock has a lot of abilities and has a lot of possibilities. “I can kill but I can also survive.” Are you similar to your avatar? - Does not resemble his character - His character is female and an “awoken” which is mystical character Are you more social in the game or real life? -“The anonymity of being online helps me to be more social” - A lot more talkative online What motivated the design choice of armor? - Wanted something bulky - “Going for a sentinel” design - Chose clothing that looked lik...

  Ready Player One - 2045 - Virtual reality  - Dirty, trashy surroundings - The oasis - License plate Parseval - Challenge to find 3 coins of the game creator - What if we went backwards fast – he races backwards and wins the first key - He and artemis look into the next clue – a creator who hates his own creation  - They find out that Halliday took Ogdon’s wife on a date – they go to the club he built in oasis right            after that  - IOI is after Wade after he reveals his name online - He meets artemis or Samantha in real life - They try to find the remaining keys  - Go to movie theater where he went on a date and saw the shining  - IOI kills aunt Alice - Sam has to work for IOI - Everyone trying to find the last key  - Wade wins and finds it – closes oasis tues and thurs so everyone can live in the real world I LOVED this movie!!! It was so brilliantly done. First of all, it is ey...

Second Life Research      Second Life is a virtual online world in which you can create your own avatar and interact with other users. In 2003, it was created by the Linden Lab. This virtual reality has a main focus of creating a social environment rather than gaming with the purpose of winning. There is actually no objective to the game, just a way for "residents" as the users are called in Second Life to interact with others playing in the game. Essentially, you can live a completely different life in an online world. Second Life was one of the first of its kind.      It is interesting to research the pioneer of all virtual reality games. Today, there are thousands of different games just like Second Life where you can go online and live a different life. Personally, I grew up playing games like Movie Star Planet, Poptropica, Stardoll, and so many more. Now, virtual reality has taken leaps technology-wise, to the extent of a virtual reality headset basica...

 Ghost in the Shell - a hacker called the puppet master - “Hacking into ghost” - Police are onto the hacker  - his wife and kids were a simulation - cyborgs - major is cyber enhanced to be a perfect soldier - major is questioning her origin if she really has a ghost (soul) - wants to know what’s inside her head - puppet master hacked into a cyborg, and they killed his human body  - project 2501 - she goes to find the puppet master  - The puppet master says he has installed programs into specific ghosts to try  - He wants to merge with her to create a new and unique entity - “your effort to remain what you are limits you” - AI - Create a new being - a combination of the puppet master and major  - Master robot criminal  Overall, I did not enjoy this film. It was confusing, and left me with unanswered questions. I did not think it was entertaining, and it was hard to follow. I almost wish we watched the live action versio...

 STAR TREK      After watching Star Trek, I very much enjoyed analyzing how Star Trek impacted our future. To start off, I grew up watching Star Wars, and I have never seen Star Trek. So it was super interesting to watch this movie instead. I know Professor Echeverry hates Star Wars which I think is really funny. I really enjoyed the movie and I especially loved the star studded cast it featured. The creativity and action incorporated into the film was absolutely brilliant. The various advanced technology is impossible to overlook. So, when forming our presentation we decided to mainly focus on technology in Star Trek vs. technology today.      I did a lot of research on technology then and now. I found how Star Trek technology, including p hasers, telepresence, ear receiver, tv screens, replicator, ship doors, etc. All of these technologies are seen today in different ways. It was super interesting to see how ahead of its time the Star Trek movies are...

      When writing my overall conclusion after The Matrix debate, I used the Cartesian method to compose an introduction, thesis, antithesis, synthesis, and conclusion. What I liked about writing a piece using this method most was simply the fact that I had not written like this before. Something I love about this class is how it pushes me out of my comfort zone; it is more obvious in more creative assignments, but even when it comes to a writing piece, I am still challenged in new ways which I appreciate. Another aspect of this writing method that I can appreciate is genuinely understanding the counterargument to your argument. It is one thing to address a counterargument, but with the Cartesian method, you actually have to fully sympathize with the opposing side in order to write a whole section about it. In this particular assignment, I was already feeling torn between taking the blue pill or the red pill. After the in class debate and writing this paper, I was left fe...

 Red Pill vs. Blue Pill       After much debate between taking the red pill versus taking the blue pill, I can conclude that I would personally take the red pill. Although I see the pros and cons of each pill, if it was brought to my attention that there was a whole truth behind all the lies I was being fed, I would never be able to simply ignore that information. I would need to know the truth. Although it presents more of a risk, I could not take the blue pill and continue living my simulated life happily: I would always wonder what the red pill would show me and regret not taking the opportunity to learn. It is normal to question reality, society, the government, etc. but if given the option to know the truth and know that we could at least attempt to do something about it, what does it say about us if we do not take it and continue to live in ignorance? 

 The Matrix: My Synopsis      Watching the Matrix was extremely eye-opening to me. This movie is considered a classic, yet somehow I had never seen it before this class. The long black trench coats and blacked out sunglasses are an iconic look from the movie. In the beginning, I was very confused about what was happening. It was very ominous: how those outside the Matrix were trying to communicate with Neo inside the Matrix. From the beginning, I thought Morpheus was very suspicious and did not trust him. When he presented Neo with the option of the red or blue pill, I thought to myself that I probably would have chosen the blue pill. The idea of everything you know changing in a second is a scary thought. The idea of what makes you happy no longer being real is also quite intimidating. I give Neo a lot of credit for choosing the red pill. As the film went on, a few concepts stood out to me. The way that the humans were incubated and are being fed the remains of othe...

 AI notes: - in a futuristic society where all ice caps have melted, human resources run low - robots are created to do human tasks  - idea proposed of creating a robot who can love - like the love of a child for his mother - the couple's child is in a coma - Monica is in denial of this, cannot accept the idea of her son not coming back  - to help this, the husband buys a boy robot who is capable of love.  - Monica is faced with the question of does she really want this - once she codes him he will love her forever, cannot be returned and if she decides she does not want him he will have to be terminated  - at first she is mad, but david starts to grow on her - monica decides to keep david and programs him  - david loves his mom so much from tht point on - Suddenly to the family's surprise, martin awakes from his coma. David feels threatened  - monica reads pinocchio to the boys - david is fascinated by the idea of the fairy granting pinnochio's wish t...

 Phillip K. Dick Research      Phillip K. Dick was an extremely influential figure in science fiction history. As an author, he has written many critically acclaimed novels, the most well-known being "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which inspired the 1982 film, Blade Runner. Dick speaks of a unique religious experience he had in which he encountered God, or a god-like being, which sparked his creativity in writing science fiction.      Dick lectured an essay in 1977 entitled, "If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." He explained his idea of parallel universes, and how there are multiple different realities. However, Phillip K. Dick not only believed that this was true but that he was living back and forth between two different realities. He struggled a lot with his mental health and things that he saw, claiming to have numerous paranormal experiences that contributed to this.      Dick's vision of VALIS ( V...

We decided to incorporate the 3-D feature of a head to resemble that of Rachael, representative of many of the themes we intend to discuss in the presentation. On one side of the head lies images of a piano, spider, and a photograph of Tyrell’s niece and her mother, all indicative of the memories implanted in Rachael. The eye on the left side of the face is that of the artificial owl, a nod to the multicultural symbol of an owl tied to knowledge. This is juxtaposed by a hand-illustrated model of a human brain, below which resides the blue eye of Roy as seen in his last moments, delivering his most “human” quote. Our presentation aimed to elaborate on the notion of human vs artificial intelligence, and highlight the gray area between the two (hence the black and white color scheme of our pictures); how it may be an impossible discernment.  After presenting to the class and having other groups display their projects, I think we realized a need for greater dimensionality in the design...

 Blade Runner - Taking place in 2019 (made in 1980s) - Replicants – robots almost identical to humans - They are declared illegal – the blade runners are ordered to kill any replicant upon trespassing - Super advanced technology portrayed - Replicates have been found – slaughtering people and trying to break into Tyrell - Roy Batty – a replicant  - Differentiating between robot and human – Yuring test - Replicants do not know they are replicants – “she is beginning to suspect” - Implant memories in replicants - Roy wants to know about his creation – he has figured out he is a replicant - Rachel crying – is she a replicant if she has emotion? - She says here’s a picture with my mother and talks about her childhood memories – but decker says they are implanted - JF Sebastian – genetic designer - He finds Pris on the street and lets her in - Decker analyzing Rachel’s photo that she left at his apartment – trying to find the woman in the back of the p...

2001: A Space Odyssey  - Beginning shows a desolate planet - inhabited by monkeys  - monolith – monkeys are fascinated by this foreign object  - monkey playing with bones  - monkeys are very humanlike - fast-forward - humans with advanced technology in space – spaceship, futuristic clothing - voice and facial recognition – foreshadowing technology … now something so common that our phones have this feature - picturephone – facetime - film was made during cold war – Russian  - food trays - iconic soundtrack - not one person of color - US – discussing an epidemic  - Something buried 4 million years ago - Was it put there on purpose or not? - Land on moon to find the same monolith from the beginning of the film  - HAL – artificial intelligence. Controls the spaceship. Claims to be foolproof, but that foreshadows the opposite - Hibernating humans  - Hel – Hal (metropolis)  - Hal – IBM (international busines...