Friday, March 11, 2011
Week 9, Assignment A - Reflections on Gaming presentation
We presented our idea for a game in class the other day: MechWars, a tactical, first-person robot combat game. Obviously, some of our points may not have come across as well as they could have through a hastily made PowerPoint presentation and a relatively short explanation. I'll attempt here to strengthen our presentation.
First, I don't believe that the idea of just how much customization would be available to the player was really stressed enough. The extent to which a player's mech-unit could be altered to fit their particular aesthetic tastes or play-style was intended to be a wide extreme. We actually spent quite a while discussing exactly how this would be achievable through in-game options and menus, so I feel like we could have spent more time on it during the actual presentation, though I figure it seemed like an afterthought to some of the others in the group, rather than a main focus.
Second, I think the concept of the number of available game modes--and how they would function--could have been described better. It kind of ended-up sounding like just another first-person shooter, Call of Duty knock-off, which is exactly what we were trying to avoid when conceptualizing. We wanted to introduce a wide variety of game modes from which the player could choose to play when accessing the online-multiplayer capabilities of the game; to allow for some rather interesting match-ups. I feel like it could have come across better if we hadn't used the same names so prevalent in other games: such as Deathmatch, King of the Hill, and Capture the Flag--and instead came up with something more original.
When it comes to describing games, there's four major points to hit on: Goals, Mechanics, Objectives, and Rules. I believe that the most difficult of those to describe would be Mechanics, for a number of reasons. Oftentimes, a game's mechanics will be the most complex part of the game--at least, in a non-casual setting. The controls, for one, are usually going to grow more and more complex in direct relation to the growth of the game. In our game, the player is piloting a giant robot. This would pretty much ensure a complex control scheme, or maybe a steep learning curve: easy to pick up and difficult to master. As the technology through with games can run increases, one will pretty-much find that the number of actions that the player-controlled character can perform will also increase. Despite this growth, the Goals and Rules of a game generally stay at around the same complexity, such as, "Kill the enemies," or, "Plant the bomb in their base within five minutes."
First, I don't believe that the idea of just how much customization would be available to the player was really stressed enough. The extent to which a player's mech-unit could be altered to fit their particular aesthetic tastes or play-style was intended to be a wide extreme. We actually spent quite a while discussing exactly how this would be achievable through in-game options and menus, so I feel like we could have spent more time on it during the actual presentation, though I figure it seemed like an afterthought to some of the others in the group, rather than a main focus.
Second, I think the concept of the number of available game modes--and how they would function--could have been described better. It kind of ended-up sounding like just another first-person shooter, Call of Duty knock-off, which is exactly what we were trying to avoid when conceptualizing. We wanted to introduce a wide variety of game modes from which the player could choose to play when accessing the online-multiplayer capabilities of the game; to allow for some rather interesting match-ups. I feel like it could have come across better if we hadn't used the same names so prevalent in other games: such as Deathmatch, King of the Hill, and Capture the Flag--and instead came up with something more original.
When it comes to describing games, there's four major points to hit on: Goals, Mechanics, Objectives, and Rules. I believe that the most difficult of those to describe would be Mechanics, for a number of reasons. Oftentimes, a game's mechanics will be the most complex part of the game--at least, in a non-casual setting. The controls, for one, are usually going to grow more and more complex in direct relation to the growth of the game. In our game, the player is piloting a giant robot. This would pretty much ensure a complex control scheme, or maybe a steep learning curve: easy to pick up and difficult to master. As the technology through with games can run increases, one will pretty-much find that the number of actions that the player-controlled character can perform will also increase. Despite this growth, the Goals and Rules of a game generally stay at around the same complexity, such as, "Kill the enemies," or, "Plant the bomb in their base within five minutes."
Week 8, Assignment B - Written Reflection on the Hero/Villain assignment
Here's my heroine, Lucina:
And here's my partner's villian, Fulton:
I don't have the video files for the animation anymore, so I unfortunately cannot post those. Luckily, most people saw them in class.
I'm supposed to provide critiques for the designs of:
At this point in time, Joe doesn't appear to have posted anything to his blog other than his character's names: Disco Dave and The Man. I can't picture what they look like at all, as my memory doesn't quite stretch that far back, so I'll simply assume that they're awesome based off of their names.
James has pictures uploaded of "Mr. Moneybag$" and "The Tax Man"--his team's hero and villian--but no video. I do, however, remember the animations for these from class, as they were pretty well done. There was an interesting sense of weight conveyed through the size of the characters, as well as the props they used to beat each other with. The affinity between both characters--considering that they both fight with a stick, both are rather burly, and both are related to money--is countered by the contrast of their conflicting morals and ambitions. All in all, it was a rather interesting piece.
It appears as though JT has also not uploaded anything related to this assignment. Lucky me.
I don't have the video files for the animation anymore, so I unfortunately cannot post those. Luckily, most people saw them in class.
I'm supposed to provide critiques for the designs of:
At this point in time, Joe doesn't appear to have posted anything to his blog other than his character's names: Disco Dave and The Man. I can't picture what they look like at all, as my memory doesn't quite stretch that far back, so I'll simply assume that they're awesome based off of their names.
James has pictures uploaded of "Mr. Moneybag$" and "The Tax Man"--his team's hero and villian--but no video. I do, however, remember the animations for these from class, as they were pretty well done. There was an interesting sense of weight conveyed through the size of the characters, as well as the props they used to beat each other with. The affinity between both characters--considering that they both fight with a stick, both are rather burly, and both are related to money--is countered by the contrast of their conflicting morals and ambitions. All in all, it was a rather interesting piece.
It appears as though JT has also not uploaded anything related to this assignment. Lucky me.
Week 7 - Written Reflection on the Video Joke Assignment
Our first video joke took more of a mature theme, with references to "spicing things up in bed", and the like. This was done in an attempt to appeal to our intended, college-age audience. As for visual effects, there is a utilization of movement, seen in the character's passing of gas over time--with his squirming and the scrunching of his face being representative of the obvious chaos in his bowels. Also, his movements as he prepares his meal, as well as during its disposal when he is finished, indicate the innate secrecy of his actions.
There is also a clear example of tension and release in the video. The period of time during which the character is simply laying in bed, blindfolded and haphazardly passing gas, building tension as the audience wonders what consequences of his flatulence are to be. This tension is released when his girlfriend returns and removes the blindfold, revealing the camera crew and the punch-line.
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The second video played with the concept of lines. For one, the character is featured walking the same diagonal path in multiple areas--not necessarily connected, but linked through the presence of the familiar linearity of his route and the angle from which he is shot. His striped shirt creates an affinity with the prevalent, straight lines throughout the video, such as door-frames and tables. Often, the straight lines are used to direct your attention towards the character, through their contrast with the more curvilinear shapes. Examples of curvilinear objects used are: the table from which he orders his beans and the bowls in which the beans come; these lines are made out to represent the more dubious aspects of the video.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Week 5, Assignment A - Reimagining Visual Framing
xI was drawn to the original image mostly because I found it rather striking. It gives off a sort of strange, twisted effect--especially with the affinity of the mostly monochromatic parts and how they contrast with the little red on the faces.
I believe that the artist framed the image as he did to better express the sense of depth in the image. The various depth cues--such as the people in the background appearing smaller and smaller as the lines of perspective approach a vanishing point--add to the overall effect of the image. Also, the shot types of the image are interesting. As a whole, it's a Three-Shot, but it's comprised of a Close-Up, a Wide-Shot, and an Extra-Wide-Shot.
My decision to zoom-in where I did when reframeing the image was based off of my desire to see if it would still have the same effect, or a similar one, without the close-up shot. The zoomed-in image lacks a lot of the depth and sense of space that the original contains; instead of being an obvious "deep-space" image, it comes off as much flatter--almost "limited space", but not quite--with one figure standing in the front, and the other slightly receded.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Week 3, Assignment A- "Cover Songs"
Here's a song that I really like. It's "Ievan Polkka", or "Eva's Polka", by Finnish composer Eino Kettunen, as performed by the Finnish quartet, Loituma.
Here's another version of it, a cover/remix. This is a remix by the Swedish producer and singer-songwriter Basshunter.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Here's another version of it, a cover/remix. This is a remix by the Swedish producer and singer-songwriter Basshunter.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Music Project
Here's my music project. My partner for this was Peter Hauptman.
Click here to listen on Podsnack!
Download Presentation or view on Google Docs
Click here to listen on Podsnack!
Download Presentation or view on Google Docs
Monday, January 24, 2011
Soundscape Project
My partner for this assignment was Sam Kreps. Here's our soundscape/image:
Friday, January 21, 2011
Week 2- "Finding Your Howl"
Podcasting an audio response to another article: Finding Your Howl, by Johnathan Flaum. Click post title to listen in, :D
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Week 1, Assignment B- "Ways to get Ideas"
Mitch Ditkoff's article, 14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas, contains, obviously enough, just that: fourteen basic methods which one can use to aid their own creative process. Some of the insights--and explanatory metaphors--that are made, offer true, yet simple, bits of wisdom pertaining to both creativity in general and the practice of idea-generation.
Allow me to include a brief discussion of three of the techniques discussed within the article, three which I found personally rather interesting.
The first means of getting ideas that is given is also perhaps one of the easiest to do, as well as one of the most simplistic: "follow your fascination." Basically, you can just go ahead with something you find interesting--something that draws your mind towards it--and work from there. I like to think of this as an extremely valid piece of advice. No matter what it is that you're trying to create, having a personal fondness for it makes the process of creating it all the more worthwhile and successful. Focusing on things you already consider interesting as examples gives the idea itself much more of an emotional grounding, and prior knowledge of these fascinating subjects can prove irrefutably useful when it comes to filling in the details. As far as attempting to implement this method into my own Creative Life, it's something that I can definitely see myself trying to do more of. Oftentimes, the unfamiliarity of a project setting proves, to me, to be a major inspirational turn-off, so I think that taking a more personal approach would be nothing but beneficial.
Another easy, very valid suggestion is just to "take a break." Sometimes, after working on a project for an extended period of time, I'll end up finding myself so bogged down and overwhelmed that I can't get anything done at all. Stopping to relax and forget about things for a bit, if only every once in while, can provide an excellent means of refreshing oneself, to the point where an idea will often happen rather quickly when returning to the task at hand. Plus, I've noticed that while I'm not wholly concentrating on something--while taking a break, for instance--is when I have a tendency to get the best ideas for it.
The last piece of idea-generating advice from this article that I would like to mention is to "notice and challenge existing patterns and trends." The author states that having the ability to reconfigure trends into something else--be it something similar, or entirely new--is one of the most useful assets to a creative mind. I have to agree wholeheartedly. To do nothing more than recreate what's already successful is the first step towards turning a project into utter garbage; instead, opt to modify it to the point where your work comes out as original. This is definitely something that I can strive to do with my own ideas. For example: with a little more research into what's currently popular, I can gain insight into what to use as a basis, and work in bits of my own creative flair until my piece presents a direct challenge--or opposition, if you will--to the existing market. People like to see something new, and if everyone is monopolizing off of what's already successful, it presents the best opportunity to make a radical change.
Each technique in the article gives a task to practice what was described. I'm going to respond to one of these, for method number three: "Tolerate Ambiguity."
The question asks, "What new idea of yours is bubbling on the brink of breakthrough? In what ways can you stay with it, even if something in you is impatient for a breakthrough?"
For me, at least, I've been working on putting together a story for a number of years now, and have tried multiple times to find the best way to tell it--where to start from, what kind of writing style to use, how best to offer descriptions of character and setting, etc.--to no avail. I've certainly been impatient for a breakthrough recently, and have been rather disappointed on the lack of success in my efforts. To curb my inherent frustration, I've been trying to express myself through other outlets, and have found that to be the best way of keeping my drive to complete the work. By utilizing other types of media, such as a Visual Novel type computer game, instead of basic written form, I've discovered that I can get the story across a little easier. Another thing could be to try to express it through the perspective of a different character, and see which comes across as better to me.
All in all, I found this to be a very enlightening article, and would assuredly like to try out the techniques given.
Allow me to include a brief discussion of three of the techniques discussed within the article, three which I found personally rather interesting.
The first means of getting ideas that is given is also perhaps one of the easiest to do, as well as one of the most simplistic: "follow your fascination." Basically, you can just go ahead with something you find interesting--something that draws your mind towards it--and work from there. I like to think of this as an extremely valid piece of advice. No matter what it is that you're trying to create, having a personal fondness for it makes the process of creating it all the more worthwhile and successful. Focusing on things you already consider interesting as examples gives the idea itself much more of an emotional grounding, and prior knowledge of these fascinating subjects can prove irrefutably useful when it comes to filling in the details. As far as attempting to implement this method into my own Creative Life, it's something that I can definitely see myself trying to do more of. Oftentimes, the unfamiliarity of a project setting proves, to me, to be a major inspirational turn-off, so I think that taking a more personal approach would be nothing but beneficial.
Another easy, very valid suggestion is just to "take a break." Sometimes, after working on a project for an extended period of time, I'll end up finding myself so bogged down and overwhelmed that I can't get anything done at all. Stopping to relax and forget about things for a bit, if only every once in while, can provide an excellent means of refreshing oneself, to the point where an idea will often happen rather quickly when returning to the task at hand. Plus, I've noticed that while I'm not wholly concentrating on something--while taking a break, for instance--is when I have a tendency to get the best ideas for it.
The last piece of idea-generating advice from this article that I would like to mention is to "notice and challenge existing patterns and trends." The author states that having the ability to reconfigure trends into something else--be it something similar, or entirely new--is one of the most useful assets to a creative mind. I have to agree wholeheartedly. To do nothing more than recreate what's already successful is the first step towards turning a project into utter garbage; instead, opt to modify it to the point where your work comes out as original. This is definitely something that I can strive to do with my own ideas. For example: with a little more research into what's currently popular, I can gain insight into what to use as a basis, and work in bits of my own creative flair until my piece presents a direct challenge--or opposition, if you will--to the existing market. People like to see something new, and if everyone is monopolizing off of what's already successful, it presents the best opportunity to make a radical change.
Each technique in the article gives a task to practice what was described. I'm going to respond to one of these, for method number three: "Tolerate Ambiguity."
The question asks, "What new idea of yours is bubbling on the brink of breakthrough? In what ways can you stay with it, even if something in you is impatient for a breakthrough?"
For me, at least, I've been working on putting together a story for a number of years now, and have tried multiple times to find the best way to tell it--where to start from, what kind of writing style to use, how best to offer descriptions of character and setting, etc.--to no avail. I've certainly been impatient for a breakthrough recently, and have been rather disappointed on the lack of success in my efforts. To curb my inherent frustration, I've been trying to express myself through other outlets, and have found that to be the best way of keeping my drive to complete the work. By utilizing other types of media, such as a Visual Novel type computer game, instead of basic written form, I've discovered that I can get the story across a little easier. Another thing could be to try to express it through the perspective of a different character, and see which comes across as better to me.
All in all, I found this to be a very enlightening article, and would assuredly like to try out the techniques given.
Week 1, Assignment A- "Who Influences you as a Creative Person?"
As far as artists that inspire my own creativity go, there's one in particular that keeps coming back to me. Her works in the field of music cover any genre imaginable; her popularity is international. You don't have to be an audio major to appreciate the success story of this 16-year-old Japanese singer, Miku Hatsune.
This first clip is a music video made for one of her songs, the aptly titled "Melody.exe". Obviously, the video is made using 3D computer animation and effects, setting the song to the character singing on-screen. What you may not have guessed, however, is that the singer herself is also a computer program--a totally synthesized voice, known as a VOCALOID. Miku Hatsune is the perfect idol: her voice covers a range that no one else can match; she'll sing anything written for her without question; her stage personality is always incredibly human and believable, adapting to any situation.
She just lacks two things that most other singers happen to have: a physical body, and a creative drive of her own.
Listening to one of her songs (or watching a music video made for her), one might think, "Wow, this is really catchy--this girl's got talent!" without realizing the irony in the fact that Miku doesn't actually exist in the way that they've imagined her. Textually, Miku's a talented, young singer--standing at 5'3" tall, 92.4 pounds, with long, teal pig-tails, and a beautiful voice--but the underlying subtext is that she's only a character. Her talent is, in reality, the combined talent of the programmers and designers at Crypton Future Media who created her and synthesized her voice, the programmers at Yamaha who designed the Vocaloid 2 which runs her, and the aspiring song-writers who use Vocaloid to express their own idea.
Miku Hatsune is perhaps best described as a musical instrument rather than a singer or a diva, but a diva is what she's become. Her popularity stands as testament to the growing influence of technology in the world; even if there's no one actually doing the singing, beautifully composed music can still be enjoyed. People with ideas and musical talent, but lacking vocal talent and the ability to hire a professional, can still finalize their work to share with the world.
For me, being primarily interested in 3D models and animation (as well as character design), it's a highly motivational factor to know that an artificially created character can achieve success even on real-world music charts. Without the artists and design teams who've worked on her, Miku would be nothing more than a voice without a face to attribute the music to. Without programs such as Miku Miku Dance, made for creating animated videos--such as the one seen above--for VOCALOIDs, the music would be nearly as well loved. Despite confinement to a digital realm, Miku's been humanized. While the objective truth is that she's a computer program, the degree to which she exists as a human being is up for subjective discussion.
Is Miku nothing further than a collection of data, or does she exist as something more? Some may say that her discography is simply a collaborative work of many, often unnamed, individuals, but where would the fandom be without the charming personality spearheading it? Before you answer these questions, I implore you to watch one last clip.
Like most other artists, Miku Hatsune holds concerts of her own: hologram concerts. It's these events that I find most inspirational. It really says a lot to me as an aspiring animator to see people flock to a performance in droves, knowing that the lead singer herself is a product of modern technology. Seeing Miku and the band on-stage creates a sort of Contrast/Affinity-relationship. Obviously, she's a little different from the other two band members who appear--providing the drums and guitar in the songs--and, as such, contrasts with them greatly. The thing is, when shown in full, life-size, 3D hologram form like this, Miku develops a very strong human attribute. In spite of the difference between the singer and her band-mates and audience, she still comes off as human, same as them.
This first clip is a music video made for one of her songs, the aptly titled "Melody.exe". Obviously, the video is made using 3D computer animation and effects, setting the song to the character singing on-screen. What you may not have guessed, however, is that the singer herself is also a computer program--a totally synthesized voice, known as a VOCALOID. Miku Hatsune is the perfect idol: her voice covers a range that no one else can match; she'll sing anything written for her without question; her stage personality is always incredibly human and believable, adapting to any situation.
She just lacks two things that most other singers happen to have: a physical body, and a creative drive of her own.
Listening to one of her songs (or watching a music video made for her), one might think, "Wow, this is really catchy--this girl's got talent!" without realizing the irony in the fact that Miku doesn't actually exist in the way that they've imagined her. Textually, Miku's a talented, young singer--standing at 5'3" tall, 92.4 pounds, with long, teal pig-tails, and a beautiful voice--but the underlying subtext is that she's only a character. Her talent is, in reality, the combined talent of the programmers and designers at Crypton Future Media who created her and synthesized her voice, the programmers at Yamaha who designed the Vocaloid 2 which runs her, and the aspiring song-writers who use Vocaloid to express their own idea.
Miku Hatsune is perhaps best described as a musical instrument rather than a singer or a diva, but a diva is what she's become. Her popularity stands as testament to the growing influence of technology in the world; even if there's no one actually doing the singing, beautifully composed music can still be enjoyed. People with ideas and musical talent, but lacking vocal talent and the ability to hire a professional, can still finalize their work to share with the world.
For me, being primarily interested in 3D models and animation (as well as character design), it's a highly motivational factor to know that an artificially created character can achieve success even on real-world music charts. Without the artists and design teams who've worked on her, Miku would be nothing more than a voice without a face to attribute the music to. Without programs such as Miku Miku Dance, made for creating animated videos--such as the one seen above--for VOCALOIDs, the music would be nearly as well loved. Despite confinement to a digital realm, Miku's been humanized. While the objective truth is that she's a computer program, the degree to which she exists as a human being is up for subjective discussion.
Is Miku nothing further than a collection of data, or does she exist as something more? Some may say that her discography is simply a collaborative work of many, often unnamed, individuals, but where would the fandom be without the charming personality spearheading it? Before you answer these questions, I implore you to watch one last clip.
Like most other artists, Miku Hatsune holds concerts of her own: hologram concerts. It's these events that I find most inspirational. It really says a lot to me as an aspiring animator to see people flock to a performance in droves, knowing that the lead singer herself is a product of modern technology. Seeing Miku and the band on-stage creates a sort of Contrast/Affinity-relationship. Obviously, she's a little different from the other two band members who appear--providing the drums and guitar in the songs--and, as such, contrasts with them greatly. The thing is, when shown in full, life-size, 3D hologram form like this, Miku develops a very strong human attribute. In spite of the difference between the singer and her band-mates and audience, she still comes off as human, same as them.
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