Week 12 - Digital media reflections

Reflecting back on digital media I realize how much I learned from this course. Coming in to RTA I didn't realize we had a digital media class and was unsure of what to expect from the course. However I found that I have learned many principles of design and aspects of the web I hadn't previously know.
The lectures proved very informative and I learned many new theories which helped me in my assignment. Lori was a very good lecturer whose enthusiasm aided my consciousness so early in the morning. The lectures were in general pretty good, however there were a few that seemed irrelevant towards coarse material or redundant since we had the information already. In the labs the tutorials were really well put together and taught us all we needed to know to effectively complete our assignments. I also like sharing our works and hearing other people critique them.
Perhaps more focus in the lectures, and better online posting. Before the test it was frustrating not to have the complete notes available. Even being in class and knowing they would not be complete online afterwards I found them to be a poor resource for studying and should either be fully available or not at all. As for the labs I found the sections before we got on the machines dragged on occasionally. I see the value of having our full attention to start the class however i think it would be helpful to get on the computers and run through the tutorials sooner.
This course has taught me a lot about computers and specific software as well as principles of design to make compelling media. I now appreciate the amount of work that goes into digital media. I also realize the importance of digital media in all facets of the industry and how the design principles can be applied everywhere.
The most important skill that I will take away from this course are the principles of design and how to apply them to my work and how to identify them in other works. These principles are used everywhere and will be helpful in all the work I do in RTA and in the future.

Week 11 - The Web

As a student who has grown up with the Internet it is difficult to imagine what life was like without it. We have come to a point where we depend on the tools it enables us to do, especially in school where we use it as a valuable resource. Although our generation can take it for granted the Internet was not always available and evolved into the state it is now in.
The web has developed from its humble beginnings to a tool our society relies heavily on. Getting on the web is simpler than ever. It as simple as signing up for a blog...similar to this one. A large number of people have social network pages such as facebook and Myspace, people play games across the Internet, connect through their phones, pay bills and use the Internet to research, as well as many more countless activities. Getting a web page is very simple and with programs such as dreamweaver it is increasingly easier to create well designed simple pages.
Programs like dreamweaver make it easy to create nice simple websites however throughout our tutorials we were asked to view the source code for specific websites and it is amazing how complex some sites are and the amount of time and money companies spend in order to have professional high quality sites.
The Internet continues to expand and new uses and applications are designed everyday. Accessibility and connection speed are also increasing making file sizes larger. Mobile browsing is also increasing in popularity allowing us to browse anywhere and keeping us connected more of the day. The possibilities are continually growing and are quite exciting for the future of the Internet.

Week 10 - Characteristics of Web 2.0

Characteristic #1: Dynamic Content
The ability to view content on multiple platforms. NHL mobile is an example of dynamic content because it can be viewed and interacted with on multiple platforms such as a cell phone, pda, or other online devices.

Characteristic #2: User Contribution
User contribution means that users can enter content or values into a site. What this means is users can add content or in the case of values contribute ratings and opinions to aid others. An example of this is the Toronto Ultimate Club website (tuc.org) were users can share photos and contribute opinions and ideas on the forums.

Characteristic #3: Social Media
Social media are sites that facilitate social networking communication and sharing. Most allow users to create an online personality and join groups and friend networks. The most popular site for this is Facebook (facebook.com). Facebook allows people to create an online profile where they can share pictures and video and connect with people all over the world.

Characteristic #4: Online Applications
Online applications are applications that run through the web rather than having to install them onto your own computer. An example of this is online banking where users can sign up and access the application to pay there bills and manage their accounts.

Characteristic #5: Harnessing Collective Intelligence
Harnessing collective intelligence is the idea that by using user input such as tagging, folksonomies, and crowdsourcing. This can be used to make searching easier as well as help advertisers. An example of this is the website itag.com which allows users to tag photos to make searching through them easier.

Week 9 - Flash Assignment

Artist Statement:
The concept for my flash assignment came to me when I was looking through the sound library in the computer lab. Having heard some of the guitar sound effects I decided to base my flash assignment around a guitar. I also wanted to include classic rock and psychedelic themes. My goal was to create an enjoyable video that highlights the guitar while including bright colours. The target audiences for this movie are classic rock fans who enjoy guitar based music from the psychedelic period.
In order to achieve this goal I used flash and fireworks. Fireworks was used to create all the base images. This was accomplished using the vector tools for the most part. In flash tweening was used to create most of the effects. Multiple layers were used to create dimension and add depth to the movie.
Many challenges were encountered during the creation of the flash movie. One problem which I anticipated was creating animation for the hands to play the guitar. The one that caused the biggest problem was when the hand has to grab the fret board. In order to overcome this problem I had to use trial and error until the desired effect was attained. Even after this I was still not fully happy with how that aspect turned out. I also encountered a problem with the music. When the button to replay the song is selected the music would not start. In order to solve this problem I had to edit the music into two separate layers, one of which began where the movie reverts back to when prompted. The creation of buttons also presented problems in the actionscript; however this was mostly due to error on my behalf and was solved by reviewing how to do it properly helped solve this problem.
This assignment challenged me to learn how to use a program that I had no experience with. Throughout the process I learned how to create flash animations as well as use interactive functions in a compelling way. The functions learned were basic tweening, layering, animating and interactive buttons. I was really happy with the final product that came out of this assignment. I believe I met my goals and objectives and created a compelling guitar movie.

Analysis:
I was very happy with how my flash assignment. I spent a very long time producing the animation and I think the final project reflects the work I put in. This assignment was a real joy to do and is why I was willing to spend so much time working on it. Throughout the assignment I was challenged to acquire a basic knowledge of how Flash works and what can be done with it with a better understanding. After viewing my peers work I was very impressed with the level of creativity in our lab. There were ideas and concepts for this project that I would never have thought of and it speaks volumes for the diverse group of students RTA hosts. It was also very impressive to see some of the techniques other students used that I had not thought to incorporate into my own flash animation.

Week 8 - Album covers

When we consider album covers there are a select few albums we think of. The first ones that come to my mind are Sgt. Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. However album covers did not always exist. Alex Stenweiss invented them in 1938 and they immediately became popular. Now album Art is highly important and is still influenced by Alex's work.
This is an example of one of Alex's Album covers. It features simple lines and colours.This is an Album cover for Feist's album The Reminder. There are some distinct similarities between the two albums. To start there is a prominent dark figure in the center. It also features coloured lines originating from the dark figure. Finally it has all the text in the upper area of the cover.
Sources: http://alexsteinweiss.com/as_index.html
http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/feist.jpg

Week 7 - Animation examples

I am now in the process of drawing the guitar in Fireworks that will be featured in my Flash animation.
I really enjoyed all the examples of animation that were show in class during week five. The different examples showed how animation has evolved and how it is currently used in the media.
My favorite example from class was the A-ha video for their song Take on Me. I went home that evening and went to youtube to show some friends. However I thought i selected the correct video but instead I got a parody that used the same animation but recorded different lyrics. I really enjoyed this adaptation and thought it was very creative. Here is the video.
Another example of animation that I really like is the stop animation music video by The White Stripes for their song Fell in Love with a Girl. The video features Lego which is shot frame by frame in order to create the appearance of motion. I enjoyed this video because it is creative and original (and I loved Lego when i was younger). We also see design principles at work in this video with the colour selection that is typical of the bands style. Here is the video.
The final animation that I really like is the higher budget computer animated Pixar short Presto. This animation exhibits much higher production value than the other examples and has a larger production staff. This video uses Pixar's classic animation style that has become possible with the use of computer graphics. Here is the video.
These are three examples of animations that are all of good quality despite the differing levels of staff and budget size. What this demonstrates is that money doesn't always give you a better product (although I;m sure most animators wouldn't mind a little more).

Week 6 - Flash Ideas

The Idea for my flash assignment spawned during a digital media class. During one of our classes i finished one of the tutorials a few minutes early and was looking through the iTunes library for sound effects when I came across some guitar sound effects and the idea was born to have a guitar in my assignment. One of the sound effects was a guitar being tuned so I decided to attempt to incorporate that into my animation. The next part I wanted to include in my animation was a psychedelic inspired "trip" since i enjoy listening to that type of music.
Examples that influenced the appearance I hope to achieve are my own electric guitar which i will try and replicate in fireworks. For the hands playing the guitar I want to use floating "Mickey Mouse" like hands that have that cartoon feel. As for the psychedelic trip section I did a google search with the parameters "psychedelic flowers" and got inspiration from the shapes and colours that came up. For interactivity I intend to use simple buttons to guide users through the experience similar to the examples viewed in class.
In order to accomplish this i will need to acquire a better understanding of flash. There will be lots of tweening in my animation so a good understanding of that concept will be integral to the success of my assignment. Music will play a large role in my project since the focus is on the guitar, therefore i will need to search for an appropriate song that is in line with my theme. I will need to acquire better technical skills in flash in the coming weeks in order to achieve my goal.

Week 5 - Poster Assignment

Artists Statement:

The concept for my poster is to showcase the University of Toronto Ultimate team more commonly known as Torontula in their quest at the Canadian University Ultimate Championships in Edmonton, Alberta. I was striving to keep it simplistic and clean so as to be read and understood quickly. The goal was to communicate the sport of ultimate and Torontula’s trip to Edmonton. The target audience for this piece is university students who are interested in sports but have a limited knowledge of ultimate.

To achieve this goal I edited the poster together using the fireworks software by Adobe. First I needed to ensure that the use of the logo was alright. The captains of the team granted me permission to use the logo for the project. Having acquired the permission to use the logo I scanned the logo off my shorts to use for the background. I also used the lasso tool to cut out the two players.

One of the challenges that was anticipated was attempting to use the magic wand to cut out the players which is difficult due to the background of grass, which contains large numbers of colours creating difficulties for the wand tool. In order to deal with this problem I used the lasso tool to cut them out. However this then lead to another problem, because some of the outlying pixels at the border of the images had green areas which stood out against the background. To alleviate this problem I used the smudge tool and the samples the background colour and manually changed some of the pixels so it would blend better. One problem that was not anticipated was during the scanning process, it was difficult to manage the fabric and during the scan it would come out wavy. While this problem is quite trivial it took time to resolve, which I finally did by placing a notepad behind the shorts and stretching them slightly to get the flat surface that was needed.

Throughout this process I learned how the magic wand tool can be used and situations where it is not as effective such as when the background has numerous colours. I feel the poster addresses its goal because it communicates the team and the tournament details clearly. I believe it successfully addresses the target audience because it uses bright colours and the pictures are of students. Throughout the creation of this project I was challenged to use a new program and produce a poster that appeals to an audience and shows good design aspects.

Analysis:

This assignment first and foremost taught me how to use computer software to manipulate and put together a clean piece. Throughout the tutorials I learned various techniques in Fireworks which were implemented into the production of the poster. I also learned how to implement design techniques, colour choice and font technique. Also i learned to appreciate the amount of work and time that it takes to create posters even simple ones take a lot of effort and thought. The in-class critique mostly focused on the placement of the word in the top corner and how it is not placed equidistantly from the side as it is to the top. It was also suggested that the placement of the players could be changed so that the player catching the disc would be on the left side and the word "Torontula" beside them. I think these critiques show that outside opinions are vital to a good piece of work because you can see other perspective on your piece that you may not have noticed on your own

Week 4 - Typography

Again staying with the movie poster theme I will examine the typography in movie posters.
First I will look at a poster from the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. The typography used in this poster is quite effective at encapsulating the feeling of the films. The font conjures up images of sea charts and maps and several of the frilly bits cross much like swords which are featured in the film. The smaller sub title font is a sans-serif font like arial however the main title is probably a custom serif font.The second poster is for this summers comedy Tropic Thunder. The lettering in this poster is quite prominent and a main focal point of the poster. The main title is quite rigid and portrays the military plots in the film. The font also has an effect as if it is coming out of the page at you. This helps it jut out an emphasis its strength in the poster. The inside of the letters is filled with a metallic design that also strengthens the position of the letters. The typography in this poster is used to fortify the themes of the film and to this end they are highly effective.
The final poster is for another comedy that was released this summer, Pineapple Express. The Fonts used in this poster are simple sans-serif fonts that portray a less simple mindedness of the characters in the film. It is also intriguing that the words Pineapple and Express are different thicknesses which places emphasis on express and draws attention to the title. The title also has a design that features a dirty worn look much like the characters in the film. The typography in this poster is simpler than the others and in that sense is less connected, although it does not directly detract from the poster it is not doing as much as other fonts do.
References: http://blog.ugo.com/images/uploads/PineappleExpress.jpg
http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/05/23/tropic-thunder-poster.jpg
http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/onlinetexts/potc/images/1poster2.jpg

Week 3 - Colour

This week in digital media lecture we learned all about colour. Some of the key ideas where different systems, terminology, and ways to match colours together. We looked at several different examples of the use of colour both well and not so well.
When I begin to think of colour I immediately think back to elementary school art class and mixing paints. This was the basis for my knowledge on colour, which was the colour wheel and primary colours. However now I have learned the importance of colour and making the proper colour choices in all media I create.
We first learned the basic terminology that is used to describe the colours we use. First hue which is another word for colour, therefore a hue is the colour being described. Next is saturation which describes how bright or how pale the colour being described is. There are then two terms which describe the colour: tint and shade. Tint is used to describe when you add white to a colour and shade is when you add black to a colour.
The colour wheel which most people are familiar with was also demonstrated however I did learn new systems to match colours using the colour wheel. As most people learn as children colours across from each other on the colour wheel match well together. The new systems I learned where the triad, analogous and monocromatic. Each used to match colours well and create different looks.
These principles will greatly help anyone creating media that uses colour as they an easily find colours that math well. There was a really good website example shown in class that can e used in class to find the right colours and their respective hexadecimal number The site is: http://www.colorsontheweb.com/colorwizard.asp

Week 2 - CRAP Principles in Film posters

CRAP Principles in Film posters
Film posters are designed to catch the eye and attract viewers. They must draw interest for the film and communicate information such as key actors and most importantly the opening date the film will be in theatres. As a way of evaluating these poster I will examine their effectiveness using the CRAP principles.




http://myfos.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/the-best-movie-posters-of-2007/
This poster for the film 300 is quite effective in its use of the CRAP principles.
Starting with contrast, there are several examples. The largest example is the light area on the left contrasting with the darker area that is the cliff. This focuses our attention on the two sides, one depicting action from the film, and the other side displaying the information they are trying to convey. There is also contrast in the Font Colour, text and size. The different colours of the text draw attention to different information. The title being the biggest in size is where the focus draws.
Repetition is also a key factor in this poster. The main area of repetition is the red text. The title, the catch phrase "Prepare for glory" and the release date are all the same colour which connects them all together. This makes it easy with a quick glance to catch all the important information since the repetition draws the eye to these three aspects of the poster.
The alignment of this poster does not play an integral role in this poster however it is still present as the white text is all aligned on the left side making it look organized and appealing to the eye as there is a clear line on the left side of the poster.
Finally proximity plays an important role. All of the information is located on one half of the page. This makes it very easy to find the correct information and creates good space throughout the entire page since they are grouped in a small area.

http://videogum.com/img/thumbnails/photos/batman_poster.jpg

In this poster for the film The Dark Knight the use of contrast is most evident with the red Bat sign against the the blueish building. This technique immediately draws our eyes towards the Bat sign as it becomes the focal point of the poster.
Repetition is less prominent in this poster, however the use of white font is repeated allowing us to connect the information all together and make it easy to locate.
The whole alignment of the poster is aligned to the centre which usually does not work, however this poster manages to use it effectively. Since the large building runs vertically on the whole page it is much more appealing to have the text of the whole poster aligned in the centre creating good visual space along the side of the page.
Again the proximity of the information on the page is grouped at the bottom making it much easier to locate.

http://eu.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-19409/Star_Wars.html

In this poster from the original release of Star Wars there is distinct contrast between the characters in the forefront which are light and the darker images in the background, which moves the focal point towards the two character that are lighter. There is also contrast between the image and the text on the bottom as well as contrasting texts in the bottom creating visual appeal especially towards the title.

However repetition does not play a large role in this poster.

Alignment also is not a key aspect of this poster although the text at the top of the poster is aligned with this light that is rising from the characters.

Proximity, is important in this poster because the information is grouped together allowing for easy access. Also the character groupings establish a narrative especially because of the use of light and dark to highlight the characters morale standing.

http://thecia.com.au/reviews/h/images/hot-fuzz-poster-1.jpg

The main area of contrast in this poster for the film Hot Fuzz is the sizing of the letters for the title. This draws our attention to the centre of the page and to the title. The costumes of the characters also contrast with the background allowing them to stick out as focal points.

There is very little repetition in this poster unless we consider the fact that there are two characters repetition although that would probably be stretching it.

As for alignment the two characters create two vertical lines on the page with the text aligned in the space created in between the two. What this does is centres everything and creates unity among the characters and the information of the posters.

As for proximity there is a cluster in the centre that has the title, the starring cast and a promotion stating past projects. This puts all the information that will attract viewers in one area central on the page.

All of these posters demonstrate the CRAP principles in one way or another to attract viewers attentions to one key point of there posters.

Week 1 - First day in RTA

To me digital media was essentially media based through the web and computing. Based on the first lecture this was almost true. Digital media was presented as ones and zeros. It is apparent why students of RTA should be taking digital media courses, because traditional media outlets must embrace digital forums such as web based media in order to advertise and reach a large audience becoming increasingly devoted to the Internet.

It is very exciting to be in this program because it presents an excellent opportunity to learn areas of media I'm interested in as well as other areas i had not previously considered. Digital media was one of which i had not thought all that much about the summer before coming to RTA, however after the first day in lecture and in lab it has become more interesting and appealing. Hopefully this experience will continue as we explore the other areas of media.

While not my first day of University it is my first day at RTA. I previously attended McMaster University in Hamilton. I was taking Theater & Film, however wanted to produce media rather that simply study it so the decision was made to transfer to RTA. It also presents has the benefit of living at home which will save money...especially on food.