If you haven’t seen this, you should

For anyone who does look at my blog, this is one of the funniest things I have ever seen…

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uYQWAdAbdfA

Out of class exersise – now this is dark… :o)

 

Little Red Riding Hood.

‘Family Comes First.’

Narrative: - 

- Click on sky – yellow, thus parallel universe where everything is reversed

- Click on trees – explains she’s in the woods, is a bit unstable having just killed parents

- Click on windmill – Has come from Grandmas house, didn’t want to leave any loose ends

- Click on Red’s eyes – Demon introduces self and warns wolf of what is to come in parallel world

- Click on wolf’s head – Plans to expose her for her crimes and save the village from demon she is possessed by – Dialogue “You can’t just go around murdering people, I’m a wolf but at least I’ve got standards”

- Click on Basket handle – Red hits wolf over the head with the basket to confuse him

- Click on Red’s body –  Decides to eat the wolf to dispose of witness, who had followed her to grandmas house

- Click on wolf’s body – Red removes liver of wolf

- Click on basket body – discover is full of body parts

Gulp…

It is now a week since I handed in my essay and project. I have gone through every emotion under the sun over it, from confusion to confidence and back to confusion; from blind panic to frantic research and back. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of dropping it all in the box and thinking s**t, can’t get it back now.

I feel reasonably confident about the next unit, especially having met up with my group, everyone seems quite engaged, especially Georgie, I am glad she is in my group. I don’t think I will really relax in to it until I hear back on how I did on the last one. I think it is just because it is my first stab ever at anything academic, I am not sure what is expected so can’t judge whether I have done it right or not. I bl**dy well hope that’s all it is, I can’t be doing with this sort of anxiety every 6 weeks!

I have started some research in to the next unit, narrative. I have tried to keep my research organised and concise and feel that after the last seminar, I have really grasped the basics, which is always a good place to start! I have been looking at similar projects on the web, for instance, I completely lost myself in Dreaming Methods last Friday. I really love the style of the graphics on that site. That is really the sort of thing I am aspiring to create over my time at uni. I am loving the hi-res guys work as well, especially the Donnie Darko site. Trying to navigate some of these sites however has taught me a lesson in usability, some of them although really pretty, are hard and frustrating to move around in. I have realised that there needs to be a good balance between graphic design and usability to create something that will really engage the viewer.

The brief for the next unit is to create a short interactive story based on a fairytale or folk story. We need to break down the basic structure of the narrative and then use that structure to create our own story. I am looking forward to it, I think it is a really interesting idea. My first thought for the base narrative was Rumpelstiltskin, mainly because the story has a good interactive element in trying to guess his name. I am meeting again with the group tomorrow so I am looking forward to hearing everyone else’s ideas. I will be doing some more research this afternoon so I can bring some more ideas to the meeting.

Anywho, I have to go to the dentist now, great, my absolute frickin favorite, sadists )

Here are the links to my favorite interactive story sites so far:

http://www.dreamingmethods.com/

 

http://archive.hi-res.net/

Nature and Technology – the final!

So, here I am, still avoiding giving my essay one last read before I hand it in later on today. Plus, I’ve just run out of Rizlas which is a bonus, going to get some more can be my last distraction before I get on with it ) Hey, I can’t put it off forever! I have spent the day reading, re-reading and adjusting it, and finishing the final touches to my gallery. I am really quite pleased with the latter, it looks good and all seems to work, I hope my code does not appear too sloppy to the trained eye however!

As for the essay, I think (hope to God more like) that it is OK, I have never had a great grasp of the English language but I have worked bloomin hard so I hope I have expressed my ideas well enough. The actual process of my research was particularly rubbish, but I can see that now and this is definitely an area I plan to improve on in the next unit, along with my note taking skills. That being said, I can now read Barthes without just seeing a page full of question marks, when I look back at my first week or so, this seems quite an achievement! I am looking forward to handing it all in so I can spend the rest of my week reading and consolidating what I have learned over the last 6 weeks. The next project sounds like a bit of a mission, so I need to prepare for that as well.

So, fingers and toes crossed that it is a pass, that is all I am hoping for at this stage, we’ll focus on the firsts later in the year. Let’s not run before we can walk yadda yadda ) That’s enough now, Rizlas then essay…

Nature and Technology project

These are the final images I chose for the project. I have really enjoyed this unit and the course so far and really improved my Photoshop skills, and as for my non existent Dreamweaver skills, well, at least they now exist in the most basic form imaginable!

I think I have done OK on this project so far. Mind you, haven’t finished the essay yet so could be tearing my hair out for the next few days. I did struggle with setting up the website but persevered and it’s nearly there (that’s why it’s now 2am, ouch) . All that code makes my eyes wobble but I guess I’ll get used to it. I have learnt a lot, especially from my theory lectures and I hope I will manage to express this with my gallery and essay. My research process has been a bit disorganised but I am hoping as I move through the course that my skills in that area will improve.

The first image in my gallery in entitled What is Real? It uses an image of the New Forest to connote the natural however the forest was planted by man so is it still natural? The inspiration came from trying to define the meanings of the words nature and technology. If we were to say that what was natural was that which was untouched by man, there would not be a lot left, as man has shaped and changed our environment for centuries through construction and farming.

This is the second image entitled In Our Hands. This is based around the discussions over climate change and how much we actually know about how much of the problem is down to human intervention. The concept is that we are continually told in the media that we hold the future of the planet in our hands, but do we know any more than a child when it comes to our environment and how to prevent climate change.

The third image is entitled The Workers. This image is based on the idea of cloning and how this will affect human reproduction in the future. The concept is around designer human beings, these have been specifically designed  as workers. There is a deliberate darkness to the image and I have used unnatural colours. The sky for instance is orange as this is the colour of the sky when there is an excess of artificial light.

The fourth image is entitled Embrace, this is based around the idea that despite all our technology, nature always wins in the end. The green line guides the eye through the image, I have used this colour and shape of line to connote a hospital heart monitor.

This is the final image, partially based on my first one day project. I liked the concept so decided to develop it further after reading Rolston. The concept is based around the fact that nature has been around much longer and can do much without the aid of man. All our technology needs us here to maintain it so nature would would take back the Earth if we weren’t around to do that. The image explores the concept of a post human world. 

Naturally, if anyone does feel like commenting on my work, please do, and those of you who do, thank you I appreciate it. I would welcome some feedback.

Cloning and the individual

So this is my latest idea, inspired by one of my keynote lectures, I did a little research in to articles on cloning, I find the whole concept wholly unnerving, suffice to say the image has turned out quite dark. However it appears that it’s not just me who is slightly unsure of this new technology. Granted, we would do well to experiment in this area as it could lead to massive advancements in medical science. I do believe that we should be very careful with the information we find through such investigations!

I have had to put together a written piece for this image which has been a bit of a challenge, I think I have done a reasonable job, we’ll find out tomorrow!