I feel that I do not purposely go out to improve my practitioner development day by day, I think that it happens in everyday activities and it happens without me even realising it. One prime example of this is when I’m listening to music on my ipod, and even more when I’m downloading new music on the computer. I feel that this is useful in many ways, because when I create a project, say for university, which requires a soundtrack I usually manage to think of a perfect fitting soundtrack to add to it, from my music collection. Therefore, I feel that it is important to keep up to date with music as it can always come in useful, most importantly to develop skills. For example, my one shot video required a song which dragged on to portray awkwardness, the song Zorba the Greek immediately popped into my head. I had this ion my music collection, and I had originally discovered the song from a television advert.
Therefore Watching TV is also a useful way of developing practitioner skills. Television adverts express many different methods of getting a message across to an audience, and this is very useful for a Multimedia student like myself. Many adverts nowadays are animated and as of recent many cars companies have expressed their cars in extravagant ways using animation. The methods used are often useful to use in my own independent projects, as their ideas seem to be fresh and new and very useful.
One other method of developing skills is actually making products. On a couple of occasions, I have been asked to create a website for two different organisations. This is a form of independent learning because I had to create a website for the first time all by myself without the help of teachers, tutors and other pupils. I used the internet to develop my skills on creating the websites; online flash tutorials helped me in many ways. This method was probably the most beneficial for me as it helped me create the perfect animations for the websites I created. All the animations I found were free, and accessible to all, which also made life a lot easier.
One final example of independent study is when my younger brother requires help from me with his ICT A-Level work. This has happened many times when he asks me questions that I do not have the answer to, mainly when using flash. However we both try to solve the problem, mainly with trial and error when using flash, or many times we have looked on the online tutorials. This is not independent learning as in the sense of me working on my own, but I feel that it easily fits into the category of me developing my practitioner skills.
Thursday
Personal Identity
I have begun to start thinking about Personal Identity for my up and coming Identities Project, before i started thinking about the statement in detail i looked up the meaning, this is how Wikipedia described it:
"personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person, that which makes him or her unique. It persists: though a person may change in socially important aspects, such as religious belief, these modifications happen through one single identity."
Wikipedia the goes on to describe:
"The question regarding personal identity has addressed the conditions under which a person at one time is the same person at another time, known as personal continuity. This sort of analysis of personal identity provides a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the identity of the person over time. In the modern philosphy of mind, this concept of personal identity is sometimes referred to as the diachronic problem of personal identity. The synchronic problem is grounded in the question of what features or traits characterize a given person at one time."
I would find it very difficult to describe my personal identity without a great deal of thought. The aspects of me which makes me unnique from every other human being would be my looks, as in my features and my personality. However i do not feel that i am unique through the way that i dress or my interests because there are many other people in the world who will dress in the same clothes as me and have the same taste in music as me etc.
"personal identity refers to the essence of a self-conscious person, that which makes him or her unique. It persists: though a person may change in socially important aspects, such as religious belief, these modifications happen through one single identity."
Wikipedia the goes on to describe:
"The question regarding personal identity has addressed the conditions under which a person at one time is the same person at another time, known as personal continuity. This sort of analysis of personal identity provides a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the identity of the person over time. In the modern philosphy of mind, this concept of personal identity is sometimes referred to as the diachronic problem of personal identity. The synchronic problem is grounded in the question of what features or traits characterize a given person at one time."
I would find it very difficult to describe my personal identity without a great deal of thought. The aspects of me which makes me unnique from every other human being would be my looks, as in my features and my personality. However i do not feel that i am unique through the way that i dress or my interests because there are many other people in the world who will dress in the same clothes as me and have the same taste in music as me etc.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Since starting my course in multimedia and moving into halls of residence i have found that i am watching films much more regurlarly than when i was at home. This is probably down to the fact that i would rather watch sports at home using SKYtv whereas i do not have that luxary here in Nottingham. I have also found that i am watching more and more animated films, as i feel it is useful to watch these as they have a great relevance with the course.
I have watched animated films since i was very young, the early Disney films such as Lion King, Jungle Book and Robin Hood. I feel that these animation are the best of all time and i find that they will be hard to beat. Other animation blockbusters i have watched that i feel didnt cut it have been Lilo and Stitch, Toy Story 2, The Lion King 2, Walle, Flushed Away the list goes on. I feel that the more modern style of animation has allowed the films look amazingly true to life however i dont feel that they quite reach the standars of the classics that i mentioned earlier. However recently i went to the cinema to see Madagascar: Escampe 2 Africa, the sequel to the first Magagascar movie. I found that this film is the closest that has come to the so called classics of the earlier Disney Films. The film is created by Dreamworks and includes many big movie stars for voiceover, such as Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen. I found that this was one of the funniest films that i have watched over the last couple of years and is definatly the funniest and most entertaining animated films since my childhood. This modern film diferentiates from the older classic films because it is computer animated, whereas the the likes of The Lion King is drawn animation. This reduces the quality of the films but i feel the drawn animations need more of a stimulating storylinebecause they do not have the graphics and special effects to back it all up if it fails.
I have watched animated films since i was very young, the early Disney films such as Lion King, Jungle Book and Robin Hood. I feel that these animation are the best of all time and i find that they will be hard to beat. Other animation blockbusters i have watched that i feel didnt cut it have been Lilo and Stitch, Toy Story 2, The Lion King 2, Walle, Flushed Away the list goes on. I feel that the more modern style of animation has allowed the films look amazingly true to life however i dont feel that they quite reach the standars of the classics that i mentioned earlier. However recently i went to the cinema to see Madagascar: Escampe 2 Africa, the sequel to the first Magagascar movie. I found that this film is the closest that has come to the so called classics of the earlier Disney Films. The film is created by Dreamworks and includes many big movie stars for voiceover, such as Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen. I found that this was one of the funniest films that i have watched over the last couple of years and is definatly the funniest and most entertaining animated films since my childhood. This modern film diferentiates from the older classic films because it is computer animated, whereas the the likes of The Lion King is drawn animation. This reduces the quality of the films but i feel the drawn animations need more of a stimulating storylinebecause they do not have the graphics and special effects to back it all up if it fails.
Madagascar 2 has a unique stle of character features, unlike all other animated films the animals have dramatically squared off features all over their bodies but mainly in the faces of the animals. This is a unique feature to the Madagascar animals that seperates the graphics from any other modern day animated film. Another point that makes the film different from any other is the contrast in relationships throughout the film. It is quite strange in real life to think that a Lion, Hippo, Zebra and Giraffe would stick around together in one small group, however Madagascar has made this possible. This would be impossible in real life as the Lion is the predetor and the Zebra is the pery, however this is one of the strongest relationships in the film. Not only this but Madagascar allows the food chain to be reversed, for example the lion who is supposed to be king of the jungle seems to be in least command, he is dragged along on the whole trip by the zebra who should be below Alex the lion. Also the penguins who should be near the bottom of the food chain seem to have the greatest command, not only over the other animals but also over the humans that feature in the film. The comedy in the film is cleverly formulated to be highly ammusing to both adults and children I would recomend all ages to watch this film even if you did not enjoy the first one.
Christmas Work
http://n0220956.deviantart.com/art/What-Drink-Are-You-109549648
During the christmas period my brother asked me for some help with his Applied ICT A-Level coursework. This involved him creating a website for the local pub at which he works on a part time basis. The website was to be made in flash and he had an idea about a page for the websitewhich would involve a short questionnaire, at which would determine what kind of drink you were. He was having major problems with this because he did not fully understand how to use movie clips correctly. therefore above is the link to the section of the website i helped him create. All the link shows is the single movie clip on one of the pages it is not the full website, as i did not help him with any other sections apart from linking all the pages up.
During the christmas period my brother asked me for some help with his Applied ICT A-Level coursework. This involved him creating a website for the local pub at which he works on a part time basis. The website was to be made in flash and he had an idea about a page for the websitewhich would involve a short questionnaire, at which would determine what kind of drink you were. He was having major problems with this because he did not fully understand how to use movie clips correctly. therefore above is the link to the section of the website i helped him create. All the link shows is the single movie clip on one of the pages it is not the full website, as i did not help him with any other sections apart from linking all the pages up.
Monday
Punch-Drunk Love
Having been suggested by Roma Patel to watch the film Punch-Drunk Love during one of the complimenting colours lectures, I had chance to watch it over the Christmas period. In addition, the fact that Adam Sandler is one of my favourite actors now gave me the drive to watch it as he is the main character in the film. Right from the start of the film I noticed that the film could be based around colours because the title screen is clearly expressing the contrasting colours of red and blue on a colour spectrum.
Immediately when the two main characters meet (Adam Sandler and Emily Watson) we notice that they have the same colour contrast on their clothing. Sandler has a blue suit on which he remains wearing throughout the film and Watson has a bright red dress on. The producer always makes this contrast clear by the was he positions the characters face to face at each side of the screen. The coloured clothing could have many different meanings although I believe that the blue suit is expressing the personality of Adam Sandler’s Character, this personality is warm and friendly most of the time although a cold violent angry side of his personality is regularly expressed to show the issues that he has with himself and his family. In a complete contrast, Emily Watson’s character is warm and friendly ass the time, this is expressed through the bright red clothing that she regularly wears throughout the film. There is also the contrast of their personalities, which becomes insignificant as they fall in love throughout the film.
Finally, the film has small animations, which regularly get thrown in to skip through to different other scenes. These animations also contain the two contrasting colours of red and blue, this shows that the contrast of colours and personalities are one of the main themes throughout the film.
Immediately when the two main characters meet (Adam Sandler and Emily Watson) we notice that they have the same colour contrast on their clothing. Sandler has a blue suit on which he remains wearing throughout the film and Watson has a bright red dress on. The producer always makes this contrast clear by the was he positions the characters face to face at each side of the screen. The coloured clothing could have many different meanings although I believe that the blue suit is expressing the personality of Adam Sandler’s Character, this personality is warm and friendly most of the time although a cold violent angry side of his personality is regularly expressed to show the issues that he has with himself and his family. In a complete contrast, Emily Watson’s character is warm and friendly ass the time, this is expressed through the bright red clothing that she regularly wears throughout the film. There is also the contrast of their personalities, which becomes insignificant as they fall in love throughout the film.
Finally, the film has small animations, which regularly get thrown in to skip through to different other scenes. These animations also contain the two contrasting colours of red and blue, this shows that the contrast of colours and personalities are one of the main themes throughout the film.
Narrative Project
http://n0220956.deviantart.com/art/Wembley-106035451
The link above shows the finished results of my interactive narrative project. This was created using macromedia flash, and it called Wembley. The basic idea behind the project is to take the user on a journey where they have to make their own personal decisions to achieve certain outcomes. There are two possible outcomes at which the users can achieve, either a win or lose, there are two of each of the win and the lose outcomes in total. The theme of the interactive narrative is of course football, I chose this theme because it is of particular interest to me, I also thought about actually playing the game myself and realised that it is completely based on decisions and actions. These real life decisions and actions determine if a tackle is completed perfectly, or a foul is committed, these reflect on whether the decision is a win or a lose.
The interactive narrative includes images, animation, sound and text. The images I used for my interactive narrative are what I managed to find on Google, these images had to be of the specific player in the same or a similar shirt. As I was half was through completing the project it was pointed out to me the risk of copyright. However I made changes to the shirts and the logos using Photoshop, and I was told that this would not be too much of a problem as the brief did not include publishing the narrative, it was only to present it. I created all the animations myself, all of the animations are very basic and suite each frame perfectly for the theme. The sound I used for the interactive narrative reflect the mood of the outcome, if the player wins the game there are cheers, if the player loses the game boo’s can be heard. There is also the sound effect of a football being kicked, this sound plays whenever a link is clicked on, this adds a more realistic element to the game. The text is the most important part of the narrative as this explains the choices, which determines the user’s decisions. The user interaction is one of the most important elements of the flash narrative, this is because the user has to make the decisions, therefore it is important for the narrative to be simple, and clear to use, I feel that I have managed to achieve this on a reasonable scale.
During planning and creating the interactive flash narrative, I spent most of my time in the computer room with other multimedia students. One of the members of my seminar group asked me if I knew why his links were not working correctly, I noticed that he was not using instance names and therefore his problem was easily revolved. I was also helped by one of my classmates at finding specific sound clips for my narrative, which was very helpful. Although this was not group work many of my group had time to help one another and work together on the project.
Overall I feel that I have created a good flash narrative, I feel that it is entertaining for all types of people even if they are not interested in football. I feel that I could have spent a lot more time on the narrative, if we had of had more time to do it in. We had around a week to plan and complete the project so in some places it is slightly rushed, although overall I am happy with my interactive narrative.
The link above shows the finished results of my interactive narrative project. This was created using macromedia flash, and it called Wembley. The basic idea behind the project is to take the user on a journey where they have to make their own personal decisions to achieve certain outcomes. There are two possible outcomes at which the users can achieve, either a win or lose, there are two of each of the win and the lose outcomes in total. The theme of the interactive narrative is of course football, I chose this theme because it is of particular interest to me, I also thought about actually playing the game myself and realised that it is completely based on decisions and actions. These real life decisions and actions determine if a tackle is completed perfectly, or a foul is committed, these reflect on whether the decision is a win or a lose.
The interactive narrative includes images, animation, sound and text. The images I used for my interactive narrative are what I managed to find on Google, these images had to be of the specific player in the same or a similar shirt. As I was half was through completing the project it was pointed out to me the risk of copyright. However I made changes to the shirts and the logos using Photoshop, and I was told that this would not be too much of a problem as the brief did not include publishing the narrative, it was only to present it. I created all the animations myself, all of the animations are very basic and suite each frame perfectly for the theme. The sound I used for the interactive narrative reflect the mood of the outcome, if the player wins the game there are cheers, if the player loses the game boo’s can be heard. There is also the sound effect of a football being kicked, this sound plays whenever a link is clicked on, this adds a more realistic element to the game. The text is the most important part of the narrative as this explains the choices, which determines the user’s decisions. The user interaction is one of the most important elements of the flash narrative, this is because the user has to make the decisions, therefore it is important for the narrative to be simple, and clear to use, I feel that I have managed to achieve this on a reasonable scale.
During planning and creating the interactive flash narrative, I spent most of my time in the computer room with other multimedia students. One of the members of my seminar group asked me if I knew why his links were not working correctly, I noticed that he was not using instance names and therefore his problem was easily revolved. I was also helped by one of my classmates at finding specific sound clips for my narrative, which was very helpful. Although this was not group work many of my group had time to help one another and work together on the project.
Overall I feel that I have created a good flash narrative, I feel that it is entertaining for all types of people even if they are not interested in football. I feel that I could have spent a lot more time on the narrative, if we had of had more time to do it in. We had around a week to plan and complete the project so in some places it is slightly rushed, although overall I am happy with my interactive narrative.
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