In our game design presentation I would have liked to go more in depth about how we were going to incorporate The television show but still keep our own elements in it. I wanted to explain that we did not want to make the video game exactly like the television show, as most video games based off television shows and movies are. In order to sell it and make it more appealing to consumers I believed that tying it to the show would ensure it turn a profit and introduce a whole new genre to the world of MMORPG.
I think one of our strong points was getting across that it was different than anyone else's idea because it was a zombie MMORPG game. There is not a mainstream MMORPG humans vs zombies game out so I think designing one was very beneficial to those who played WOW and other MMORPG games.
I think the mechanics of the game was the hardest for me to discuss because I am not very familiar with the video game world. Yeah there was one summer where I could beat any guy at UFC and Sol Calibur, unfortunately, that is about the extent of it. Also trying to explain to someone how to play an MMORPG is difficult because there is no guided perpection its more of a free for all you learn as you play the game. In my opinion, merely explaining how to play is harder than actually just picking up the controller and learning yourself.
I found that number four really stood about to me for overcoming weaknesses, especially the ones I find myself having to face on a daily basis. I actually find it very counterproductive to fix a weakness. It takes a lot of soul searching and a great deal of patience. Even if you put forth the effort to try and fix everything wrong with you, which is impossible, just when you think you have completely broken yourself and gotten rid of that so called weakness, it creeps back up again and nuzzles its way back into your life. Why waste all that valuable time trying to fix your weaknesses when you could be focusing on your strengths and learning ways to improve those and actually make some significant progress. Besides if we didn’t have weaknesses then how would we know what our strengths are? To go along with what i am saying number five fits perfectly we have to build on our strengths and not fret and agonize over our weaknesses. Focusing on the negative side of things all the time will only bring you down and if you only think about your weaknesses and stop developing and working on your strengths they just might become your new found weaknesses. Take me for example I am a HUGE procrastinator, I wait until the last minute to do everything, including these blog entries. I cannot even think about writing a paper until the next before it is due. Most people see this as a weakness, and think that I'm just lazy and I don't want to do my work. This might be somewhat true because I do have my lazy moments, but I do not see this as a weakness. Why you ask? Simple, I thrive under pressure! I believe this is one of my biggest strengths, when I know that I have a deadline and I HAVE to meet it, that is when I do my best work. I know that this will take me far in my career and give me an edge over many people. The media world of last minute decisions and deadline, and I know because of my so called "weakness" that I will be able to meet every single one of them. The last one that i really want to try and relate to my creative life is number nine putting your quirks to work. I am going to place myself in situation that will utilize my strengths and avoid situations that showcase my flaws. I need to surround myself with people that can help build on my strengths and give me a chance to accommodate and recognize the "freak" in them.
After watching Collapsus I was really surprised, especially being a media major, that I have never been exposed to anything like that before. I was very intrigued that it used all different forms of media to spread the awareness about peak oil. I think that if more campaigns used this type of interactive media to get their message across it would benefit them in a lot of ways. Not only would people be more aware of the issues but they would almost get a first hand experience of how people are affected by it. I think this type of media would open up a whole new world and more producers and media professionals will utilize it in the figure. However i felt that this particular trans media project that I watched dropped the ball on the whole interactive part of the whole project, it was not exactly fun and most of the time i had no idea what i was supposed to do. There was one "game" if you would even call it that, where I guess I was supposed to tip the chair over, but I could not for the life of my figure out how to do it. The other parts were almost too simple and too easy and did not really add anything special to the storyline. Do not get me wrong I don't want this small critique to take away from the overall project itself because I feel like it was very well made and by just fixing the interactive portion of it would make it tens time better.
Looking back at the work i have done over the quarter i would have never in a million years thought that I could have accomplished so much in such a small amount of time. Ten weeks may seem like a long time, but having to create five big media project on top of keeping up with this blog was a major challenge for me. Sitting here now I am proud that i was able to see it through to the end. I really felt that this whole process has helped me tap into who I am as a creative person.
Yuxi's hero design was one of my favorites in the class. I especially liked the overall concept and narrative behind her character. I believe this helped give it some sort of purpose and demonstrated a better understanding of why she designed the character the way she did. Her design was very unique and captured the heavenly essence that she was wanted to portray. Her character had very delicate movements and moved at a slow and steady pace. In her animation she used parallel movements with both the characters arms, and also her hair, which moves as her character moves, almost as if there is wind going through it. In contrast, the villain used a squash and stretch movement through the frame. The affinity of both characters is that they both use intricate lines to illustrate their overall visual elements. Looking at Yuxi's character, I really think she did an excellent job of utilizing the concept of visual rhythm. Her characters moves with such grace and elegance, you really get a mother nature feel when you see the animation. The cloths and fabrics she chose to drape around her also added even more visual elements to the character. This ensures that your eyes move from her face all the way to her feet and down to where her dress flows, giving you and overall idea of what this character represents. Looking at this character subjectively, my personal representation of it, is she is some type of goddess, who symbolizes pure qualities and depicts the idea of heaven and the idea of an all powerful being.
MIKE RHOA
I thought Mike's character design was pretty hilarious. I enjoyed the story behind both the hero and the villain. I especially like it because I have had class with both of the professors they based the characters off of. It was really funny to see them in superhero and villain form. The character based on Dr. Cooper had a very good use of shadows around his face to symbolize that he was the darker, and more evil one. Compared to Eric Williams who's face is very bright and cheerful. The shape of the hero is very round, just as the example used in class, the Sultan from the Disney movie Aladdin. The shape of the villain is triangular, just as Jafar was, going off the same example. This illustrates an obvious contrast between each character. Mike also did a good job of drawing a shadow under Eric Williams, this depicts that he is a lot bigger and more powerful than his counterpart.
MATT TOLEDO
Matt's character, like Yuxi's, was also very intricate. I really liked his character as well, and thought he did a really good job of showing contrast and affinity between characters. Matt's hero used a split complementary color schemes which I think worked very well with the colors in the background. He used yellow and blue hues to represent the character visually. In contrast, Ryan used a monochromatic color scheme of brown hues for his character. I think this worked really well because it gave you a clear interpretation that he was the villain. Ryan giving the character a background was a very good idea because it added to the evil and sinister elements of the villain himself. The background being dark and dreary gives it an evil look. I feel that the subtext Ryan's drawingportrays that the villain has taken over the city and made it this way. Matt's superhero had a lot more brightness which also added to the illustration of his character being represented as the all mighty hero.
check out the “First Act” of the This American Life episode about Superpowers here
teleportation
go anywhere i wanted at a moments notice
travel anywhere in the world
never be late for anything
never have to worry about missing friends or family
visit them all the time
visit my best friend in utah
get more sleep
teleport to class in a second, literally
if i forgot something i could have it within seconds
when i get older i worry that i wont be able to see my family for months or even years at a time, i worry about missing out on important events in the lives of the people i love, with teleportation i would never again have to worry about that
when i was little i used to pretend i could teleport i would stand in the corner of the room and then run downstairs as fast as a could and stand in the exact corner of the room below thus teleporting myself through the floor
Superhero with Teleportation powers
RAVEN- TEEN TITANS
has the ability to teleport amoung other things
I am drawm to her because not only can she do the one thing i have always wanted to be able to do even when i was a kid, but she also is an empath and has the ability to share feelings (such as happiness or sadnesss) that are being experienced by that of another being
For the video joke assignment, my group chose the joke about the little boy playing with a train and cursing, and his mother’s reaction to it. We decided to do two completely different styles for each video. Since we could not have any synchronized sound we decided to do a throwback to the silent film era. We used a sepia tone to give it an old fashioned feel and to add to the visual rhythm we sped up the clips to make it look like a genuine silent film. We also used lines to showcase the different visual elements. When the mother is in the kitchen we used actual lines by placing me behind the counter tops so your eyes first start on the little boy, who falls into the rule of thirds, and then your eyes are led to me cooking in the kitchen.
In contrast to the second film which was done in normal sleep, and normal colors. Taking the same joke and applying it to another film that had a completely different look was a bit challenging. We decided to go with a little girl instead of a boy, and have her toys have voiceovers and have the little girl act as the mother figure. In this film we used virtual lines through the eyes of the little girl to depict which toy she was talking to. Similarly, we used CU shots when showing each of the toys and their individual voice overs; this ensured that you knew who was talking at what time. In the second film there was a scene where the little girl was waiting for her Barbie to get out of time out, to a five year old five minutes can feel like five hours. Therefore, when editing this clip I showed numerous pictures of the clock and used the ticking to illustrate time passing very slowly. This editing technique added tension to the scene and then when the little girl delivers her line and decided Barbie’s timeout is over the tension is released.
This is a scene from one of my favorite movies, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy. The cinematographer for this movie was Thomas E. Ackerman, who has also done Beetlejuice, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and Jumanji, to name a few. In this scene Ron is telling his news team about his new found love for Veronica Corningstone. This first shot is a XWS which depicts the offices of the newsroom and you can see Ron and his news team conversing in his office. The next scene is a WS of the team and shows the audience they are in Ron's office. In the next shot Ackerman uses virtual lines to show a dialogue between him and Champ Kind. Champ is wearing a large cowboy hat which makes him have a very square shaped head, and Ron's head is more round. This demonstrates an obvious difference between the characters and their viewpoints about the current conversation. During the next scene Champ is the only character not standing up, I think Ackerman did this to show that he doesnt have as much interest in Ron's speal about his love life as the other two characters who are listening intently. Hence why the other characters have similar shaped heads as Ron. This next shot is a CU 2S and Ackerman once again uses virtual lines to illustrate that Brick is intrigued with the story that Brain Fantana is telling about how he was once in love. Also you notice that Brian never looks at Brick and isn't concerned that he is even in the room. The colors used for both Ron and Brain are cooler colors, and the colors for Brick and Champ are warmer colors. I think they did this to depict that Brian and Ron and on the same page about love, but Champ doesn't really care what Ron has to say, and Brick is just off in this own world. In this next scene with Veronica and her camera man, Veronica is wearing warmer neutral colors and her camera man is wearing a cooler blue color. This shows that Veronica is the more important character in this scene, and has authority over her crew members.
I was drawn to the original image because of the way it used line and shape to guide my eyes through the picture. This image is medium shot because Sally Man wanted the audience to view the figure from just above the waist and up. Sally Man also used the rule of thirds to direct my eyes through the image. First if you notice in the upper left corner their our faint lines that direct your eyes right to the hand and then following the rule, they move them right to the hand in the foreground, and because of the way the light is casted on one side the hand and arm my eyes move down the arm and see the shows of the figure in the background.
I chose to re-frame the image and make it a close up shot because looking at it subjectively my personal representation is that the hand is illustrating strength and is the most important element of the entire piece. I also wanted to focus on the visual rhythm that Sally Man used. He created movement through the frame by offsetting the image to the right of the frame and showcasing the affinity of linear lines in the foreground and the contrast of curvilinear and linear lines in the background. I think re-framing it this way showcased how a simple black and white image can have so many contrasting elements to it. Both images depicted use of dark shadows which also added contrast against affinity of the white shadows. I think Sally Man framed this image the way it is because he wanted to use the background space as a way to guide your eyes through the image, just as we read a book, from left to right. When you zoom in on the hand you lose the background and your eye doesn't move through the image as smoothly.
After reading Seth Godin’s “Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself”, I was shocked to discover how much I agreed with him. It was like he took everything I felt and thought about our education system and put it right on the paper for me to read. I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do when I was growing up. I have a few ideas, but I knew one thing for sure I would never EVER in a million years need to learn how to do calculus or trigonometry or need to ramble off every factor of a number to any employer. I hated all that crap, I was never good at math and I knew whatever I was going to do would not involve anything like that. I did not understand why I had to take these pointless classes. Why couldn't I take classes based off my interests or what I was good at? I know one thing for sure, I would have done a heck of a lot better in school! Seth Godin talks about seven ways to reinvent ourselves. He gives us seven layers to follow to begin to reinvent ourselves. One of the layers he mentions his called “Acknowledging the Lizard.” He explains that the lizard brain is that prehistoric brainstem that everyone still struggles to listen to. You know that part of your brain that urges you not to do something in fear of being humiliated and laughed at. I can definitely tell you from my experience that I have listened to it one too many times in my life. I have probably missed out on some pretty cool opportunities and experiences because of it. Godin tells us we must ignore this part of our brain and take a risk on something. Forget all that crap we were taught in high school about being compliant and merely existing to punch a clock someday. Throw it all out the window because times are changing and your new ideas just might be exactly what this world needs.
Another layer that Godin talks about is “Learn.” He explains that this pillar is the key to the other six, if you don’t change the way you learn the other things won’t exactly make sense. He tells us how school used to be around for the sole purpose of merely learning a trade. Seriously who wants to go to school in the same town for four years, and then work at the same job in the same town for the rest of their lives? I know I most definitely do not! I want to get out of Ohio and see what the rest of the world has to offer. I want to continue learning and experiences new things even after I graduate. I want to fail and I want to succeed. I want to be challenged and be confronted with obstacles. I don’t want to settle for anything less than what I know I am capable of. So in the words of Seth Godin, let’s all throw out what we think we know, and learn what we need to learn!
I have found that being able to express how I feel about certain things and practicing ignoring my “lizard brain” has been quite difficult for me since I started this whole process. I want others to read my blog and feel inspired and say wow she has a lot of insight on these ideas and concepts. However, thinking like that only adds pressure for me and then instantly I have a writer’s block. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to write half the time. I know what I’m trying to say, but the thought that I must impress inhibits me from expressing myself the way I want to. Looks like I need to start ignoring the prehistoric part of my brain, and practice what I preach!
I feel like my entire life I have been in a waiting room. Kindergarten through sixth grade I was learning the basic necessities to prepare me for middle school and waiting for the day I could walk the halls with the “big kids”. Middle school teachers were throwing standardized tests in my face while I waited for high school. High school teachers were shoving useless information down my throat, and always jabbering on about the ACT and how important it was while I waited for for acceptance letter to college. College…well college is a little different. Sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for college to be over so I can start my life. Figure out if I was meant to change the world someday or merely just exist. Then there are other times where I feel like my life is starting now, this very second the things I’m writing and the words I’m reading are shaping me into the person I am supposed to be. Having the opportunity to make this blog and do these exercise has opened my eyes to a lot of new ideas and inspirations. As Seth Godin was explaining in his seventh and final layer it all began to make sense to me. Some classes are simply there to teach you the material so you can pass the class and raise your gpa. However other classes, like this one, were not designed to just teach us the basic concepts. These exercises were intended to challenge us to think differently, and then and only then can we start creating and inspiring people to do the same.
Usher is one of the biggest names in hip hop. To date, Usher has sold over 45 million albums worldwide. In 2008, He was ranked as the 21st most successful Hot 100 Singles Artist of all-time by Billboard magazine. Needless to say a lot of bands are going to want to cover his songs.
I don’t know about the rest of you but I love cover songs. I will actually go on youtube and search for covers of my favorite songs. My favorite cover songs are crunk goes punk, basically taking rap and hip hop songs and remaking them into alternative rock and punk songs. The song I decided to compare and contrast was, Love in this club originally by Usher, and covered by the band The Summer Set. Both songs are a completely different music genre. Usher’s version is a rap and hip hop song, something you would actually hear in a club. The Summer Set’s rendition is a lot different. I would say it’s more alternative pop-rock. The lyrics are the same, with a few minor repeats of the chorus in the cover song. The speed of the cover song is a lot faster and more upbeat. The original is upbeat but since it’s hip hop it has a smoother pace and is a lot slower. The organization of the two songs is very diverse. The original song starts off fast and gets slower, it is ordered and flows smoothly there aren’t any instrumentation surprises. However, the cover song starts off slow and gets a lot faster. It is more chaotic and leaves you on your toes about what instruments they are going to use next. Both songs keep the same rhythm they just use different instruments. The original song uses a drum kit during the entire song to produce a slower tempo. However, during the chorus the tempo increases and becomes faster. This is similar to the cover song, during the chorus the tempo also picks up and is a little bit faster. The cover also uses a drum kit but the tempo is much faster throughout the whole song. Both Usher and The Summer Set’s songs are very didactic. The lyrics and the song conveys a sexual message, but you don’t have to actively listen either song to understand that. The contrast of the Summer Set’s interpretation is very intense and in your face. As a matter of face, that is how almost all of their songs our. They really aim to get you on your feet and rock out right along with them. As compared to Usher’s song, the affinity of the song really doesn’t have much intensity to it. It’s more laid back and doesn’t make you want to jump out of your seat right away. One of those songs that you just don’t know how to dance too, it’s too slow for the club, and too fast for a slow dance.
Out of both of these songs, I like the Summer Set’s version better. This is partially because I love alternative rock and always will. I only like hip hop and rap songs when I’m out at a party trying to shake what my mama gave me. The lyrics make more sense as a hip hop song, but there is just something about the way the Summer Set sings them that makes it more catchy and original.
In Jonathon Flaun's first story he describes a red wolf named Mumom who was raised in captivity. After a life in captivity he is finally released into the wild. However because he was in captivity for so long he forgot how to howl. Flaun's story focuses on Mumon's journey to find his howl. Mumom thinks that he can just find it one day and run to it, but sadly he is mistaken. On his journey he comes across a deer and a raven and they help him realize that he can't just go out looking for his howl, he has to sacrifice everything in order to find it again. As Flaun describes the process may feel like death, it may unsettle us and it terrify us. However that is just the price we must pay to find our own howl.
Mitch Ditkoff talks about the idea of Innovation. He questions what causes innovations to come about and challenged us to figure out where we find the inspiration to create new ideas. He lists 14 ways to come up with breakthrough ideas.
One of his suggestions was Tolerate Ambiguity, i think this is a good suggestion. As a matter of fact this is exactly how I come up with all my good ideas. I believe that your first idea is not going to be your best. You have to start off with a lot of really bad ones, and work your way to finding a good one. Ditkoff explains that Thomas Edison failed 800 times before coming up with the idea for the light bulb. I believe this is just what people must do, they should not be afraid to fail, they should learn what doesnt work so they can figure out what does. Another suggestion Ditkoff had was Notice and Challenge Existing Patterns and Trends, this is definitely a good suggestion. He explains how breakthrough thinkers often find that million dollar idea by reconfiguring their old ones in new ways. I believe I could use this technique in the future if I am trying to come up with a concept for a television show. I am obviously going to have a lot of crappy ideas, but if I take a crappy idea and improve upon it and give it a different twist, there is a good chance it may be extremely successful. A third suggestion that i thought was a very good suggestion was number ten, Hangout With Diverse Groups of People. You never know where or who you are going to get inspiration from, but chances are you are not going to get it doing the same thing with the same people everyday. You have to expand your horizons and explore different cultures and ideals. I believe I could try this in my everyday life. I find myself doing the same things with the same people everyday and I realize after reading this that I need to expand upon my group of friends and enter a new circle for a change.
In suggestion 12, Look for Happy Accidents, it asks What “failed experiment” or unexpected outcome might be interesting for you to reconsider?
Who else might you invite to participate in this effort?
One big thing came to mind, Last year when applying to get into the School of Media Arts and Studies I needed a portfolio piece. I really wanted to make a sports promo video of OU's sports teams but instead I ended up sending in some stuff I did in high school. That was still good work but I would have loved the opportunity to create something that I've been itching to do since I saw that Blues hockey video so many years ago. I think now that I have access to equipment I should really considering making it. I would invite fellow Media Arts and Studies majors to participate, and I think with the combined effort we could make something great!
I honestly have no idea what kind of creative person I am. I have never really stopped to think or analyze myself in that way. All i can really tell you is that I like to create videos with the thought in mind that people are going to watch it and get enjoyment out of it. I want to create videos that are going to inspire people. By looking at me you would have never expect that I grew up going to hockey games, and absolutely loved it. I know it sounds silly but this opening video, from the St. Louis Blues game two years ago, is the video that inspired my career choice. I just remember sitting in the ScottTrade Center watching this video and saying to myself, I would love to make something like that one day and have it be seen by thousands of people. This video was designed to pump up the crowd and make them excited for the game to start. It starts off slow with grey tones and intense music that builds a lot of tension, then the tension is released when the video changes to color and the energetic papa roach song comes on. Starting the video off in black and white and then changing it to color adds contrast and affinity to the video.
Growing up I always knew what I didn't want. I didn't want to work in the medical field, because I hate hospitals and doctors offices, and I didn't want a 9-5 desk job. This didn't leave me with much to choose from. At least not until I discovered the world of the media industry. I loved movies and television growing up, but I never in a million years thought I would make a career out of it.
I am a lot different from other media majors, I don't draw my inspiration from epic movies, and amazing movie directors. I am inspired by comedic movies, and TV shows. Things that entertain people and make them happy.
Seth Macfarlane is a huge inspiration of mine. He is the creator of Family Guy, in my opinion one of the best animated shows on television since Looney Tunes. He uses the show to express social problems and current events in a comedic way. He isn't afraid to offend anyone, and nothing to him is ever off limits.
Family guy uses a lot of subtext to get their message across. In this clip, peter returns home after being injected with the "gay gene." Obviously we all know that all gay people don't go around singing everything wearing purple scarfs but the subtext is just using humor to point out the stereotype that all gay people act the same.
I chose my major because I took an Advanced Broadcast Journalism class in high school and loved it. I was never more passionate about anything before I took this class. In the class I was able to experience many new things and learned a lot about the media world. I decided if I had this passion about something, maybe I could turn it into a career, which is what I plan on doing.
