One of the artists we talked about this semester was a woman by the name of Cassandra C. Jones, who makes stop-motion videos by using every-day, common pictures of things such as the sun, the moon, birds, and landscapes. It’s pretty neat how she collects these images online and manages to make something unique out of them. I think it really shows that anyone with imagination and motivation can find artistic materials and make a piece of art out of them. One of the videos we saw was of geese flying, which turns out to only have used 11 images and yet looks very complex/looks like the birds are actually flying. It’s amazing that that was possible with a mere 11 photographs. Another video that we saw on display involved pictures of the moon in its different stages. Although each picture was in a very different location, the moon seemed to slowly move in exactly the right way from start to finish (from the wax to the wane of the moon.) Before this semester, I didn’t really know much about stop motion, and now that we’ve gotten to see some of the works done by stop-motion artists, I find that I really enjoy it. I like imagining all the work that goes into animating each piece. And I feel like seeing a stop-motion video once isn’t enough;  you see something new the next time you watch it. For instance, I would say that the first time through the “Wax and Wane” video of the moon, I just wanted to six and enjoy it and look at the pictures. I think it wasn’t until the second time through that I started to think more on what it might mean, what it might be saying. (Perhaps something about how some things always stay the same wherever you are.)  I think there was both beauty and meaning to be found. And I like that something that looks so complicated (and perhaps is indeed complicated) starts from something so simple as some basic snapshots. I think that shows that Cassandra C Jones has real talent.

-Katie

Now that I’m a senior, I’m starting to think about where I want to go after college. I think all seniors are facing this dilemma of what to do next, where to go, and how to get there. And I don’t have all the answers, and I think I’m just about as uncertain as everyone else. So I’ve started to think about what I wanted when I first started college, my parents have reminded me about what my dreams were before I started at the university. And I’m surprised to find my thoughts have gone from dreams of travelling, of doing great things like working for Disney with my CS degree, to only worrying “Will I have a job at all?” It would probably be easy to settle for whatever will be given to me. What I’ve always desired is security. But perhaps even more so I’ve always desired happiness. Once I finally get this freedom, I want to do great things, and use all that I’ve been given. But without real world experience… I don’t have the confidence I wish I had. I don’t know what it’s like yet. So what I have to go on right now is what I have learned and what I enjoy – and I hope that those things will help me find out where to go next. Picking up the “Interactive Media” minor has been one of the best things at college, and it’s given me a bit of direction. And so I’m grateful for this class and all I’ve learned. Because it’s all been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed it.

And I think that’s the difference I’ve felt over the past year or so; finding out what’s right for me. Now I just have to go out and find the life that makes me happy, the one I’m not going to regret, the one I’m going to be proud of. A snap, right?

-Katie

So I read an article tonight about the search engine called Bing, and how they’ve created a beta version of something they call “Streetside”, which sounds like it is the equivalent of Google’s “Street View”.  I find myself hesitant to accept a new search engine’s map views… I’ve become so accustomed to using Google that I’m skeptical of using any other search engines. Isn’t Google the most powerful search engine out there now? Maybe not, but I’m thinking it probably is.  What I should be thinking is that there is some healthy competition for Google, and that maybe it will be good for the economy if more companies step up to the challenge of trying to make an equal/superior product.  But I think maybe I’m not so open to change. Like something we talked about in communications – if you find something on the Internet that works well, you’re going to keep coming back to that site. You’re familiar with it, it’s easy to use, and you know you’ll be able to get what you’re looking for.

On the other hand, it sounds like while Bing’s product of Streetside isn’t yet as good as Google Street View, it’s still got potential. And the maps look a lot richer, like the article below shows. So I should be more open to it; maybe it’s the same as dealing with art – I have to remember to be open to all different kinds, that each piece is different and unique. And having different versions can be a good thing.

Perhaps I’m starting a rant here – but I will just say that, I’m okay with “choices”, as long as I’m not forced to just one. For instance, at the place where I work, it’s only possible to use the “Bing” search engine. And it is not as powerful as Google and doesn’t do what I want it to. Maybe I just haven’t been patient enough. But the fact that it is the default search engine for our company – I wonder if there’s some kind of deal going on between companies. And that perhaps sort of connects with my last entry about Bing, that they are trying to make more money by getting other companies to choose them exclusively. I don’t like that

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/03/cnet.bing.maps.microsoft/index.html

-Katie

Today we all presented our final projects in class. Once again, I was really amazed how great all the projects were! Everyone did some really cool stuff, they are all very talented And I liked how everyone did something different and yet it related to the topics covered in class this semester. I would say that shows we learned a lot, since the final projects ranged from misinformation to story telling to stop-motion animation, and used a variety of mediums, from Photoshop to Dreamweaver to Flash to video. The class really did  it all. I especially liked that the projects conveyed some sort of meaning. I know that was something I struggled with; by doing interviews what I was expecting wasn’t really what I got. Although I had expected the interviews would determine how the message or story would form. Perhaps if I had done it again I would have done it differently, so I would have gotten more of what I wanted, and would have been able to shape my project a little more.  I realized that my perception of my family and what I think are good memories are only really part of it. I don’t often think of family from other family members perspectives. So in that sense it was kinda neat to hear what was meaningful and left an impression on other family members.

For instance, I remember one year there were a bunch of family pets brought to my grandparents house, including a cat – which was scared by the dog – and peed on the baby. And so there was a bit of chaos going on. Other people in my family don’t even remember that story. I was also surprised that when I asked my grandparents to tell family stories, they told ones that were 30 years old. Not the stuff that I would think of, or am old enough to remember. But the stories of them as young parents with their children. I wonder if one day I will be the same way. Right now I tend to think I forget a lot of stuff, I may not remember anything by the time I get to be that age

So I guess I wish there was more than I could have done… or at least that I would have had more insight as to where to take my project. It was tough to incorporate all the elements I wanted/had, and for that matter I think it wasn’t as cohesive as I might wish. But I have til Friday to submit the final thing – so maybe I have a small chance to really pull it together.

-Katie

So! It’s hard coming up with new ideas to talk about. But I’ll mention something I heard about in one of my other classes dealing with the media. As of next year, people are going to have to start paying to watch tv on Hulu.com rather than getting to view stuff for free. The television/cable companies are losing money because now it’s easy to watch episodes on your computer for free instead of catching it on television. It also seems like the television and music companies are coming down harder on youtube.com as well – it used to be possible to view movies and music on their site for free, and now those videos are being taken down. I think that the entertainment companies believe that by limiting people’s ability to view movies/music/tv shows, that people will go back to paying for the content instead. In a similar vein, some websites are “choosing” which search engine they want to be searched for on, and have that company pay them for the rights. So one day you may hope to search for the New York Times via the Google search engine, and you won’t be able to find it because they have made Bing their official search engine.

All these ideas seem like moderately good ones to gain some of the money that’s being lost, however I don’t think they are truly going to work. And I think it’s because the Internet is just too big; there is no way you could stop all content from being given out to people. And we may have talked about this in class before, about whether or not this sort of thing is ethical – like is it right to copy/share music without paying? It might not be right, but there’s no way you could arrest everyone who has illegal copies of music or television or movies… I would imagine that would mean most of the population would be in trouble. And in the same vein you can’t stop people from watching movies or tv online; okay so the major broadcasting companies take down their free videos – you’re still going to be able to find those videos online. It’s all a matter of knowing where to look.

Here’s an article that talks a little bit about Hulu and the introduction of subscribing for viewing content:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04hulu.html?ref=technology

-Katie

So this week the class got split into two groups; one group presented their current in-progress final projects, while the others remained in the computer lab to continue working. I was with the group of presenters, and basically we all stood up and showed the others what we had and then they gave us comments on the project. It was good I think; for one we got to see what other people were doing, and how they were making the project their own. There’s really so many possibilities with this final project, and people really got creative. But even better than that was getting help/advice/feedback from other students. Especially since I am not an art major, hearing what other people had to say was really just what I needed. I designed my project with the requirements in mind, and yet I built it like a programmer instead of an artist. So the components are there but there’s so much more than I can do with it. I’ve learned that its not just about what the project is; it’s about telling a story, it’s about expressing some sort of feeling or emotion or idea. And while that means I’ve still got a lot to do now… I’m grateful for this bit of direction and insight. And I think I can use this knowledge in the future… I’m really fascinated with the idea of function versus aesthetics in designing media. Yeah it has to work but are you also getting your message across to the viewer/user? So! I’m learning And I’m grateful for all the help. I think the critiquing really has helped everyone who has presented so far, and I’m hoping it’s just as valuable for the next group. Everyone sees things differently, and it’s cool to get a new perspective on your work.

-Katie

So last week we got to sit down and see everyone’s final video products for our class, and they were all really great. I know our group had been feeling like we would never have enough time to finish this kind of project, especially with so much to learn along the way. I wonder if the other groups felt similarly. But in the end I think it was all worth it, and the hard work paid off. Not only that, but it was exciting to get to learn how to use all these different pieces of equipment for making movies. Up til now I’ve pretty much stayed away from video cameras or any projects involving video; I considered it a daunting task and that I didn’t have the skills to be able to do that sort of thing. And yet, lots of fans make cheesy “fan videos” of their favorites movies/shows/etc and that made me think that it can’t be as hard as it seems. In all honesty though, it was still comforting to have people in my team with some experience in this sort of thing I think I should not have been so worried; there are so many tools and resources out there to help you make a video. You don’t have to be a famous movie director to be able to make a movie. You just need some motivation and enthusiasm, and you’re well on your way. Money probably doesn’t hurt either (one of the guys at the computer lab mentioned to me just how much money a program like FinalCut Pro for movie editing costs, and it is no small chunk of change.)

to be continued…

-Katie

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about audience in both my ART307 course and my COMM408 course. I suppose in each of the classes, the audience matters, and for different reasons. For instance, in the article we read at the beginning of the semester in ART307 about people who would alter images, mainly to remove something they no longer wanted to be shown – I would think that the audience there would be the person who wished for the alteration in the first place. They were the ones who wanted the change, for whatever personal reason. (For example, there was one picture with a groom’s parents and the bride, and the mother decided to take out the bride from the picture after the bride left her son. She no longer wanted to be reminded of this person she disliked.) Also, I suppose this blog is another example – I created it really only thinking about the professor seeing it, but I suppose others could read it as well (which is fine ). But in that case I would feel embarrassed to write my thoughts on these subjects; I haven’t studied them for many years or anything, I only know what I learn in class, and I’m sure there are many people much more knowledgeable on the subject matter we cover. But I also enjoy getting to be the audience in class – we get to see all these really neat works of art in different media forms (many of which I’ve never seen before.) And I enjoy learning about the meanings behind the art (for example, when we saw the speaker Paul Luchan give his presentation on his stop-motion animation, he pointed out significances in his work I never would have guessed at.)

And I guess, like in art, in our communications class where we are designing websites, we again need to design with meaning for our audiences. By knowing, for instance, that our community center website is going to be viewed by parents, we can guess that they might be interested in enlisting their children in a childcare program at the community center. Thus we can mold our design to fit the needs of the user. Although I suppose in both art and the Internet it’s impossible to know who all your audience members might be. And maybe that’s the beauty of it. By interacting with the media, the audience defines the meaning and significance – and hopefully it’s good!

-Katie

For our current art project, we are making Flash projects in which we have three sets of photos displayed to show some sort of journey. It can be a map or tell a story; there are really a lot of possibilities. And the pictures can either be taken from the Internet or taken by our own cameras. So I tried to think of some sort of journey I wanted to share, something I enjoyed. And I came up with an idea.

When I was little my grandparents always showed me old movies, and typically they were old musicals. I really loved them, and I guess I have my whole life. They’re something special about them. They are often extravagant with large singing and dancing numbers and sweeping painted backdrops and colorful costumes. And yet, for all that, they typically follow a general pattern for their story line.

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love and tries to get girl. Boy gets girl.

Okay So not all of them are like this. But I found a lot of examples where this happened! And found a lot of really neat old pictures of some of the greatest old musicals. So I took them and used Photoshop to create new images from those. And from there I’m making my Flash animation, which will hopefully do a slide show of the “musical story journey” upon clicking a “Start Button”. I also thought it would be fun to add states to all the images – so for instance when you hover over them they pop up with the title of the musical and perhaps a song/movie quote. Making it more interactive. It sounded simple, I tried to keep it simple, but yesterday I definitely saw there’s a lot that goes into it! We need ActionScript to make our buttons listen and wait for a user to click them, or hover over them. But I’m enjoying the challenge, and I think the finished project is going to be really fun

So here’s a photo or two from the project! (These are the unedited ones; I’ll save those for after I’m done!)

-Katie

Yesterday in class we talked about stop-motion animation, which “use simple and/or found materials to create simulations of real situations” (this coming from our Project 3 handout.) I also looked for other definitions of stop-motion animation, and came up with “Stop motion animation is the cinematic process by which an armatured, poseable puppet is brought to life on screen by making up the figure’s motion into increments and filming one frame of film per increment.” (http://www.pharosproductions.com/aosma/aosma_intro.html). It seems like really neat stuff, but I can’t help thinking about how much time and effort must go in to even making a very short stop-motion animation film. It must take a lot of patience to set everything up and take shots one frame at a time.

We also looked at a number of stop-motion videos, from the work of Eat Pes to Jan Svankmajer. Both of these artists had pretty amazing work. Jan Svankmajer’s “Meat Love” seemed to be the very best one of all – perhaps our professor had saved the best video for last! I really liked it, it not only told a story but also gave life-like characteristics to two normally inanimate objects (two pieces of meat.) Of course in real life two slabs of meat would never actual dance with one another and fall in love, but the video somehow made the absurd cute and something that the viewer could relate to. I think that shows the success of the film, that people can relate to it and it evokes feelings in the viewer.

-Katie