Week 8 - Web 2.0 and Beyond

The web has changed quite a bit since it first came into the picture back in the early 90’s.  Some of the things that I have really noticed is, the ability to purchase online.  Whether it is a book or your groceries, you can purchase many items from the comfort of your computer desk.  And another one that I have really noticed is social media, before you can send an e-mail to someone with an e-mail address but because of the demand to reach further places and higher speeds social media has really taken off.  You can have a flat out conversation with someone across the world and it almost is like you are talking with that person in the same room.  Something that I really did not know is that when the world made the transition from web 1.0 to 2.0, that it was really the social movement that really pushed that move forward.  This was something that I was not aware of but now it makes sense to me.  Now I am  able to see all the different social network outlets that are out there for people to use, also, observing the fact that the people that do use these social networks as a major mean of communication use them quite often.  Gaming has really become a popular tool for social media, before if you had a second controller for your game console and someone to play with, you were good.  Now, I can sit in my room and play my friends who are at their house playing the exact same game together.  For Online applications we now have online dictionaries, and thesauruses and other tools.  Before you needed to go to the store and buy these books in order to use them but now with a click you can use these tools on your computer screen.  And another example of online applications is school.  Before you needed to actually show up to a class in some building, now if you desire, you can choose to take online courses and receive an education from the comfort of your home.  An example of harnessing collective intelligence is when I go onto ESPN.com, it gives you stories, news and scores based on your favourite teams and players.  For user contribution, blogs have become quite important to the evolution of social media as now anybody can voice their opinion about whatever subject matter they feel they need to speak on.  Now on its way in full force is web 3.0, it probably won’t take long for this take the world by storm.  It will become important soon considering people may not want to take the time to search around for things they are not interested in.     

Week 12 - Farewell, fond friend

When I first got an idea of what I was going to be doing in this course, I got a little scared because a lot of this material was new to me, I thought that this technology would be difficult for me to comprehend.  After a while, once I started to get comfortable, and really take in the tutorials that we were presented in class that is when I felt I really started to pick up on how each program actually works.  I must say that this was an enjoyable experience for me to learn these new skills and be able to apply them into something creative and fun.  What really helped me in the course was the tutorials and being able to go back to them on my own time to try and grasp what I was not able to learn in class time.  As well, during the labs just for the fact that the instructors were there and willing to guide you through the process whenever someone needed help was a big factor in helping me get by.  What I think needs to be changed is in the labs where you have the students get into tutorial that is given to us earlier in the period.  The way this course changed me is that I learned that I’m quite capable of some great things if I work at it.  Also, I’m a little less intimidated by the new technology that we use.  I realize like almost anything else it will take a little bit of a learning curve in order to get it.  The most important lesson I’m leaving this course with is patience and hard work.  Previous to this course I had never done anything like this, so I really had to learn on the fly.  These two qualities help me get by considering that I had to take my time to learn the material first of all and I had to put in the time to put things together considering the time frame it usually takes for someone to put these projects together .

Week 10 - Show me your Flash

Assignment 2: Artist statement

November 3, 2010

For this assignment, I choose to go with a rabbit because of those “Travellers Insurance” commercials where the rabbit laughs at the rattle snake with the baby rattle.  So I knew I wanted to do something with a rabbit from the jump.  With the UFO, when I started my assignment and they were observing me creating the background, someone just suggested that a UFO would go perfect in that setting.  So I took the idea and ran with it.  Throughout the assignment I used a lot of different layers for the elements I had go into the project.  As well, I used a lot of classic tweening with my symbol/graphics to create the actual movement for my animation.  I also wanted to add a little element to the assignment where someone going through the movie had an opportunity to choose what they wanted to see, with my little joke inserted as well.  Coming from someone who did not have any prior experience with Flash and found a hard time grasping the concept of using the tools of the program, it was not that bad like I had originally thought it would be.  Once I understood what the purpose of each tool sand with a little practice I was able to run with Flash I using simple elements.  Overall, I enjoyed the experience of creating my movie, considering I had a hard time in the beginning of the Flash tutorials.

One of the things that i learned about Flash while doing this assignment is that to create something so short is very time consuming.  Also, the program is quite meticulous so if you make a mistake in putting the animation together everything will just get messed up.  From seeing the different kinds of projects that my colleagues had produced showed me that Flash is a very extensive program with a great range of options that someone is able to utilize.   

Week 7 - Motion!

The whole concept of my idea did not come from the web but actually from a commercial I was watching on television.  In an insurance commercial there is a bunny that is being approached by a rattle snake.  However, the rattle snake has a baby rattle and does not intimidate the bunny anymore.  So I wanted to make the bunny a winner in my flash project once again.  As well, as I was creating the background, someone suggested to me that I use a UFO.  I don’t know why, but they said it would be perfect for this background, so I took the idea and ran with it.  Throughout this project, I will be doing simple animations, so I will need to create many graphics with classic motion tweens.  Also, I will need to know how to make the animation play and stop at the end of certain frames.  Knowing how to skip to certain frames after choosing certain options will be necessary as well. 

Week 6 - your stuff and other stuff

Artist statement:

What inspired me to make my album cover this way is that I saw this picture with the office and the desk and that reminded me of the movie Scarface, more specifically Tony’s office.  Then I decided to use the office to create an album cover that would resemble me being some sort of important person.  I took pictures of myself and put my head at the top of business attire suits multiple time thus leading to the title of the album “1 4 All, All 4 1.”  Sometimes artists put a sticker of featuring artists or hit singles, so I put an imaginary list of artist that I would put on my album if I was a rapper.

1.  What I learned about doing this assignment is that Photoshop is a great tool if you know how to use it.  Looking back on this assignment now, I take into account that I did not utilize the tools that the program offers, therefore lacking my best work when putting this project together.

2. The one thing I do remember from the in class critiques is that someone mentioned that at the bottom right hand corner where I have record label logo, it was hard to make out because of the colors I chose.  I used those colors in the first place to go with the theme of the school colors.  However, I should have used different colors or a different font to make it more legible or I should have made that image bigger. 

This is a website that I got to a lot.  It's nba.com, right in the center you get a screen that displays the top four or five highlights and news stories nba.com for that particular day

What the future holds for phones and computers

Computers and cell phones have become essential items that people within our society use daily.  For most of us living in the Western world, it would be hard for us to imagine our lives if we did not have these devices.  With that being said, what does the future hold for these two devices?  Will computers eventually become obsolete because today’s cell phone can do all the things a computer can do?  Think about it for a second.  If you pick up a really good phone, you can perform all the actions a computer does, including talking and texting people.  Plus, your cell phone is much easier to carry around than your laptop around.  However, is it realistic to expect someone to look at such a small screen for hours on ends to get their work done?  Also, data and information is greatly reduced in order to fit on your phone screen.  I find that when I use the internet on my phone to check my e-mail or look at scores on the ESPN website, about the half the information is given to me.  Unlike a phone I am able to view the content on a computer without restrictions, due to the different codes written for phones and the screen size, making it very convenient to view while at home.  With some the features a phone may lack, the cell phone sure has come a long way considering what they used to look like and what they were capable of doing.  I drop my jaw in amazement every time I see Zack Morrison from Saved by the Bell pull out that “brick” they used to call a phone back in the early 90’s.  I even chuckle to myself when I think about the way my first phone looked like and what it was capable of doing, and it was only four years ago.  As well, computers keep improving seemingly by the day and it will be interesting to see what will happen to these two devices that are used so frequently.

C.R.A.P

Wu Tang Logo

Contrast-For this picture, they use basic contrast using a black background and then using a splash of white. 

Repetition-With the earthy green that is used in this picture for the structure in the background and in the Wu Tang logo, the picture receives an ancient kung fu feeling.  This is perfect for this picture, considering the Wu Tang use a lot of old martial arts movies as inspiration for the music they create.

Alignment-In terms of alignment, the Wu Tang logo is placed towards the left of the picture.  This choice of alignment works really well because people read from left to right as well, the logo stands out more because it looks bigger coming from the left.

Placement-The placement of the logo, with the ancient structure and martial artist in the background is well positioned.  The logo puts emphasise on the rap group, then using the martial artist (in his dojo maybe?) show people viewing this photo that the rap group prides itself by using the unique style of martial arts.

Allen Iverson Picture

Contrast-The contrast is harder to see in this photo, however, some of the uniforms that is worn by Iverson are black and white, which is a simple use of contrast.  As well, they use a lot of murky colours which makes the pink and yellow a little harder to see as well.  The picture is mostly brown which goes well with the bits of yellow they use.

Repetition-They display many pictures of Iverson, two of them in fact are exactly the same just placed in different place in the picture.  Another form of repetition they used in creating this picture is they repeat the spelling of Allen Iverson’s name throughout the picture.  Also the use of having pictures of Iverson in uniform is repeated.

Alignment-the way alignment is used if quite different.  At first they have pictures and Iverson’s name placed on the left and right sides of the photo, which is good it makes it easier to view and flows well.  However, they place another picture of Iverson in the center and place his name in the centre which is kind of hard to read because you have to look at the photo longer to find out where the beginning of name is.          

Placement-The placement of his name and photos is well positioned, having them on the left and right then placing one more photo in the centre.  However, the placement of his name in the centre in the style they have was not a good decision considering how it was placed and the fact you need to find the beginning of the name.

Michael Vick Picture

Contrast-In the photo they have a black background and Vick in the Eagles’ white uniform for a simple contrast.  Then they use a murky brown on the right side to color they Vick logo, which contrast the green used in throughout the photo

Repetition-The color green used heavily throughout the photo as it is one of the main colors for the Philadelphia Eagles team.  Also, the Eagles logo is repeated twice within the photo, plus the wings of the eagle on the helmet, further emphasizing the Eagles’ logo.

Alignment-The alignment of the Eagles logo and Vick logo is used well as it plays supplementary roles to the main focus in this photo which is Vick himself.

Placement-Having Vick placed in the center is a good position for the actual photo, then placing the two logos to the side of him is another good idea as it still lets people know what team he plays for.

NBA 2k11 front cover

Contrast-In this photo the only contrast used is the bit of black used in the title and the white that is seen throughout the cover.

Repetition-They display three different pictures of Jordan (With the two transparencies behind the solid photo) which makes it look like he moving on the cover.  Also the constant use of red and white goes well with the photo of Jordan that they used considering the uniform is white and red.

Alignment-The title of the game is centered but it is at the top of the page which is easy to read and identify.  The other elements they use in the cover a well placed such as; the game content rating, the game developer logo and the game’s costumer rating.  They also have Jordan’s name centered at the bottom in small letters, usually this would not be a good idea, however since there are not too many people that do not know who Jordan is.  Adding his name and out the way is not a bad idea in my opinion.

Placement-The title of the game is well placed in big letters in top of the cover.  Then the other logos are well placed doing a good job of not getting in the way of their main selling point which is Jordan.   Placing Mike in the center of the cover is good placement, this is a photo that everybody needs to see when they walk in the video game store and see the game on the shelf.  As this photo is the main selling point of the game.