Overall, I feel very satisfied with the course. What I enjoyed most about it was the fact that everything we learned was just so darn applicable. I mean, even when we moved onto learning how to use a new program, I continued to use my skills in the other programs to produce other stuff. The fact that I was able to do this and even learn more about the program kinda shows that the course was successful, in my opinion.
I felt that ample time was given to complete the projects; however, there was a point in time where everything from every other course was due during the same day/week, and that cut down the work time we had for some of the projects. It wasn't too much of an issue though.
I thought that while the tutorials were all very detailed and helpful, there were some things that could have been even more detailed. For example, I felt that there could have been a little more training in flash, explaining the most basic of basics. It took me a very long time to figure out about breaking apart and combining graphics which proved to be a very frustrating experience. Simple things like, I believe, should be touched on. Again, overall, I thought everything was taught quite well.
Although I was initially not even considering Digital Media in the future, I have completely re-vamped my thinking. Playing around with flash has become very fun for me, and I can't wait to get my hands on after-effects. I think that I may very well go further into this specialization, and more info on this can be found on my previous blog.
The greatest thing I learned from this course was just how simple it is to use all of these problems. Honestly, anybody could learn how to do it. In fact, for the most part, it's not using the program that's the most difficult; it's finding out what you want to do and how you're going to achieve it that's difficult. The programs themselves are just the tools used to let your ideas come to life.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Future in Digital Media?
Last lecture, we had an introduction to the intermediate Digital Media class, and I mus say, I'm fairly interested. While I am a writer at heart, I feel that I won't exactly be racking in the cash with just this skill. As a result, I think that having an outlet for my writing would be advantageous so I have a secondary skill as well as a backup to do my own independent work. Digital Media seems like a good course for this, as I'd be able tell my stories through a visual medium rather than through just words on a page. Two things that I'm looking forward to (assuming I get in the class) is using after effects as well the MTV station ID project. The style of the MTV station IDs are in my "style", and so I feel like I would have a ton of fun making it. With after effects, I think I will finally be able to create some of the stories that have been sitting around in my brain doing nothing. Learning how to use stop motion would also be fun; in fact, I'm notorious for keeping everything that I get and so I have a large box of childhood toys in my room. I think I can finally put them to some good use...
Overall, I'm just really excited to get started in my second year. I'm very eager to finally produce things of my own. While this year did allow us to produce a lot of things, I felt very restricted by what we could do in terms of copyright infringement.
Overall, I'm just really excited to get started in my second year. I'm very eager to finally produce things of my own. While this year did allow us to produce a lot of things, I felt very restricted by what we could do in terms of copyright infringement.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Web 2.0 Characteristics
1) Dynamic Content: A good example of this would be any forum website. The content that you get from these sites are all generated by the user, and they can be easily changed, edited and replied to within seconds. These forums show how information on the web is no longer just static information, but rather, a gathering of information that can be added to by millions of other people.
2) User Contribution: On the website Newgrounds, people can upload their work and have it rated + critiqued. By allowing people to rate these things, people can begin to find out what works and what doesn't work in their piece.
3)Social Media: As of now, Facebook is one of the best examples for Social media. Through it, people can connect with each other all over the world. Your personal information can be sent to anybody with your permission, and links from other websites can be posted on Facebook, allowing even more connection.
4) Online Applications: Software like the Zoho Writer word processor is an application that downloads itself upon visiting the website. This allows the user to view the content of the page without having to download something beforehand, increasing it's availability to users.
5) Harnessing Collective intelligence: tagging is an extremely useful thing, as it allows websites such as youtube and newgrounds to use it's "recommended videos" feature. Not only does tagging allow people to find things they're interested in easily, it also allows the computer to "learn" what you like and dislike. If you tend to search "cheese" a lot, then in the recommended videos section, clips with the tag "cheese" in it will be provided.
2) User Contribution: On the website Newgrounds, people can upload their work and have it rated + critiqued. By allowing people to rate these things, people can begin to find out what works and what doesn't work in their piece.
3)Social Media: As of now, Facebook is one of the best examples for Social media. Through it, people can connect with each other all over the world. Your personal information can be sent to anybody with your permission, and links from other websites can be posted on Facebook, allowing even more connection.
4) Online Applications: Software like the Zoho Writer word processor is an application that downloads itself upon visiting the website. This allows the user to view the content of the page without having to download something beforehand, increasing it's availability to users.
5) Harnessing Collective intelligence: tagging is an extremely useful thing, as it allows websites such as youtube and newgrounds to use it's "recommended videos" feature. Not only does tagging allow people to find things they're interested in easily, it also allows the computer to "learn" what you like and dislike. If you tend to search "cheese" a lot, then in the recommended videos section, clips with the tag "cheese" in it will be provided.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Flash Animation + feedback
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/518171
Overall, I was pretty happy with my animation. I learned a lot in terms of what works and what doesn't work in a cartoon. Movement and sound are major components to any cartoon, and after watching some of the other projects, I feel like I could have put a little more motion into my characters. I though the facial expressions and sound were perfect however. There are two clicks that can heard in the audio and I was unable to find the source and delete them. In the original sound file, these clicks are not heard so there was nothing I could do. Although re-recording was an option, because the script was improvised, I felt that by doing so I would not come out with the same result.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my animation. I learned a lot in terms of what works and what doesn't work in a cartoon. Movement and sound are major components to any cartoon, and after watching some of the other projects, I feel like I could have put a little more motion into my characters. I though the facial expressions and sound were perfect however. There are two clicks that can heard in the audio and I was unable to find the source and delete them. In the original sound file, these clicks are not heard so there was nothing I could do. Although re-recording was an option, because the script was improvised, I felt that by doing so I would not come out with the same result.
Animation Idea
So as the weeks went by, I actually decided to completely overhaul my idea for my animation. I scrapped the whole parody thing and instead went for a original concept. It's still going to be a comedic animation, except the whole concept is different. I plan on making a short with no solid plot or main idea. It's just going to be a random, loosely organized sketch. The reason behind this is because I plan on the script being improvised. I'm going make the voice-overs first, and then I'm going to base the animation on the audio.
My project is really just going to be an experimentation. I'm going to tinker with lip-syncing (which will be a painstaking but satisfying task) and facial expressions. My main goal, however, is to figure out what works and doesn't work in terms of comedy in animations. Obviously, because it's a cartoon I can get away with a lot of things. However, my sense of humour tends to be subtle and disjointed so I'll be looking forward to seeing how that plays out in the cartoon.
Overall, I think I'll be content with how things turn out even if it is an utter failure. After all, I'm really just experimenting with this project.
My project is really just going to be an experimentation. I'm going to tinker with lip-syncing (which will be a painstaking but satisfying task) and facial expressions. My main goal, however, is to figure out what works and doesn't work in terms of comedy in animations. Obviously, because it's a cartoon I can get away with a lot of things. However, my sense of humour tends to be subtle and disjointed so I'll be looking forward to seeing how that plays out in the cartoon.
Overall, I think I'll be content with how things turn out even if it is an utter failure. After all, I'm really just experimenting with this project.
Digital Media and Music
Digital media has had a profound impact on the music industry. All popular music today must be accompanied by some kind of music video, it's a standard now. Generally, these music videos help to set the tone of the song and they can make or break the artist. This is both a positive and a negative. It's good because it allows music to become an even more complex art form, combining two different elements together. Personally, I think the negative aspects far outweigh the positives.
While it's great that music has become such a great art-form, what has happened is that music is now judged more heavily based on the performer rather than the actual song. For example, a great looking artist with terrible skills could become much more successful than a talented artist who does not look as great on camera. Because of this, it's not difficult to find horrible artist that top the charts in this day and age. In a sense, because of digital media's influence, the music industry is now heavily based upon superficial aspects; in other words, looks are, for the most part, more important than actual talent. It's unfortunate that this is the reality of things in the music industry.
While digital media has allowed music to evolve, at the same time, it has allowed the standard of the music itself to fall. It's unlikely that anything will change in the future, as technology grows and digital media becomes much more influential. But who knows, things can change in a heartbeat and maybe music will yet again evolve into something even more complex; not just involving visual and audio components, but other factors as well.
While it's great that music has become such a great art-form, what has happened is that music is now judged more heavily based on the performer rather than the actual song. For example, a great looking artist with terrible skills could become much more successful than a talented artist who does not look as great on camera. Because of this, it's not difficult to find horrible artist that top the charts in this day and age. In a sense, because of digital media's influence, the music industry is now heavily based upon superficial aspects; in other words, looks are, for the most part, more important than actual talent. It's unfortunate that this is the reality of things in the music industry.
While digital media has allowed music to evolve, at the same time, it has allowed the standard of the music itself to fall. It's unlikely that anything will change in the future, as technology grows and digital media becomes much more influential. But who knows, things can change in a heartbeat and maybe music will yet again evolve into something even more complex; not just involving visual and audio components, but other factors as well.
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