Second Week Of Uni October 13, 2009
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Well my second week of uni have been manic, mad and taken very bit of life out of me !, however in the past 5 days i have manage to design and produce my online portfolio, which would have taken about a couple of months and hopefully shall up uploaded to the internet tomorrow or thursday. In reflection I am happy with what I have been able to do with the thanks of friends to help me out when I was in trouble.
Yet this portfolio has some what delayed me in starting my first, second year project by a couple of days. So lets get down to business and i’ll explain what this project involves:
(I have just spent the past half hour trying to find the brief for this project on Mybu with no success)
As I can’t find the project brief I shall explain what mybu is.
Mybu is Bournemouth University online virtual learning environment, and this is what it SHOULD BLOODY DO !!!!!:
- helps develop independent learning (DOES IT HELL, you can’t find a anything your looking for)
- provides access to flexible, student-centred resources (THIS IS A LOAD OF RUBBISH, the user interface/navigation is the worst I have ever had to use)
- supports communication and collaboration (ERRR NO !, I would only agree if you could find the things you need)
- supports student and academic communities of interest (HAHA SURE !!! if you ask any student in Bournemouth University, I can pretty much granite that they will have something to complain about it)
So there you are Mybu explained in a nut shell what it should do and what it DOES do !
You can tell I have had one of those weeks already.
My next post will be about my project that I have been assigned to do, if I can find the brief on Mybu
First Week At Uni October 7, 2009
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Well my first week at uni has been busy, no surprise there to be honest. I knew once I got back that starting the second year at Bournemouth Uni would be a bigger step up from my pretty relaxed first year. However always love the challenge trying to get through a tough situation !!!!
Last friday I had a talk about work placement that I would be doing towards the end of my second year. The lectures were painting a pretty bleak picture about it all due to the way the economy is at the moment. But over the summer I was suppose to be doing some work experience for a advertising website company, but due to personal medical reasons I was unfortunantly unable to do it. So during this work placement lecture, I thought I would drop them an email to see if the offer was still open, and within that day got the email back confriming that it was very much still open to my delight.
So in the next nine days I have to create my online portfolio and CV to take to them up in London.
Three words come to mind at this point: God Help Me !!!!
End of The Summer Project & Looking Forward To The Future September 16, 2009
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Ok over the summer I have royally neglected my blog, however I would like to say I have had a great 4 months of relaxation, while doing various imagery jobs for people. However one will definitely need to brush up on HTML/XHTML coding.
Looking back on the Summer project I hadn’t posted many post up about the progress of the project. but looking back on the Summer Project, I personally felt that the six-week experience, had allowed me to achieve new skills within my course and the other related courses. I had the opportunity to learn how a script is produced and how it is then passed over to TV production to make idea into reality through various types of equipment. As a result this had helped in my communication skills to develop. Along side this my knowledge broadened with Adobe Photoshop CS3, which had helped improve my authorship skills and gain a higher level compared to the start of the project. However in any project, there were weaknesses, which provide the prospect for improvement in the future. The only two main things that I would have improved would have been time management and how we utilize our project to the audience.
Ultimately the Summer Project had allowed me to form newfound friendships with my group members and hopefully have the opportunity to work with them again in the future.
Now looking forward to the future, I can say that this next year will be more of a challenge for me and will test what I have in the way of creative skills.
Here is a breif outline of what I will be doing in this year.
- Professional Studies
To develop a critical understanding of the role of the producer as a collaborative media manager in a 360 degree cross platform environment. You will gain an understanding of the legal and ethical contexts in which the media operate and experience the commissioning process first hand.
- Media Theory Options
Students choose to specialise, focusing on two specific themes in media theory over two 6 week periods. This encourages students to reflect on the implications of such theories for their production work.
- Production 2
For this unit you will be asked to come up with a concept for an interactive media artefact, pitch the idea to your audience, and then manage and create the media artefact. You learn how to work individually as well as within a production team and then evaluate the work you have done in a reflective manner with reference to appropriate media theories.
- Research Methods
You will be introduced to different approaches to media research methods and techniques. This unit prepares you for your dissertation in Year 3.
- Interactive Media Project
You will work on a group project set to a brief. Topics covered include web accessibility, server-side (PHP) programming, media encoding & delivery, software master classes, pitching and presentation skills, and managing a team.
- Professional Work Placement – 4 weeks minimum
Everyone is expected to undertake a four-week minimum placement in the summer between Years 2 and 3. The placement offers you the opportunity to put to use the skills you have learned in an industry context and make useful contacts within the industry. Recent placement companies include: BBC Interactive TV, Sony Music, EMAP performance, and Sky Television.
from Bournemouth University Website
So I can gladly say that I will definitely have my work cut out, but will enjoy doing it at the same time !!!!!!!!!
Bib
http://onlineservices.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses/Course.aspx?course=30&school=MS&level=ug&code=BAIMP&mode=ft&page=course_content
Two Weeks Into The Summer Project May 1, 2009
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It has been two weeks since I returned to uni and started the summer project, which I had my doubt about, however over these past two weeks I can gladly say that I am happy to be working along a highly passionate and confident group. We have all been coming up with fun and wonderful ideas about how we are going to do the project and which issue that affects people in the today’s society.
Channel 4 each year approaches Bournemouth University with a he brief that is pasted on to the students, who are in Television Production, Script Writing and Interactive Media Production. This year the brief that has been given to us, states that we have to:
C4: BATTLEFRONT
In your groups of Script Writers, Interactive Media Producers and TV Production students, create and complete a 360 degree piece, consisting of a website, moving image work and mobile phone content.
Nominated for a prestigious international digital Emmy award, Battlefront is Channel 4’s online campaign central for 14 – 24 year olds. Download the campaigners handbook via battlefront.co.uk and you’ll find everything you need to know about creating an innovative campaign and spreading the word on a variety of platforms.
About your idea: we’re particularly looking for ideas that raise awareness about an issue in an innovative way. International or global concerns are particularly welcomed. You can originate your own campaign idea, or team up with an existing organisation.
The virtual presence and moving image piece must be designed as one cohesive project from the outset. Ask yourselves, ‘how does the content on each format interrelate and complement the overall piece?’
The project must feature a campaign film, maximum 3 minutes, in any form: doc, drama or something else entirely. The film must be embedded in the site.
You can produce other segments of video for the website – up to two minutes in total, in as many separate movies as you like. Create up to one minute of work that can be viewed on a mobile phone. Remember, the three platforms must relate and refer to each other.
How can you create a buzz around your campaign? Can users create or add their own material, join in discussions etc? Can you make use of existing online tools, such as Twitter, Flickr, YouTube or MySpace?
Channel four is looking for something edgy, possibly humorous, contemporary, creative and refreshing. It doesn’t have to be ‘worthy’. Challenging work, original ideas, alternative voices and approaches, an inspiring take on contemporary social and cultural issues are all welcomed. We want you to ‘challenge people to see the world differently’.
Think about the kind of output this channel produces. In it’s own words: ‘Channel 4 is different. It takes creative risks that others avoid. It offers fresh perspectives for a diverse society.’ Representatives of Channel 4 will come to the presentations.
Bournemouth University, C4 Battlefront Brief, 2009
I can say that the next 5 weeks are going to be eventful but also fun, with the people I’m working along with. At this stage in production my group have an idea nailed but can not release information about it as yet, but soon will be announcing what we will be doing.
The Start Of The Summer Project 09 April 21, 2009
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I cannot believe how fast the past five weeks have gone over the Easter break, but finally have come to the start of the Summer Project, here at Bournemouth and now into my second day. Yesturday I can say it was an eventful day, starting with my car getting clamped in the morning before heading up to uni, but manage to resolve that little problem.
As this Summer Project would be a group based project across three degrees, which are Television Production, Script Writing and my course Interactive Media Production. I couldn’t help but reflect on the Narrative Project, which i did over the Christmas period in a group just from my course, which had it’s ups and downs, in the way of communication between people within the group and attendance of people due to medical reasons, which made organising and putting together the project harder than anticipated. Hence why i have had a few doubt over the Easter period with this forth coming project. Yet the Narrative Project was a worth while experience to how group work can be.
If you wish to read further into how the Narrative Project went please follow this link http://will89.wordpress.com/category/narrative-project-0809/
However yesturday when put into the groups, for the Summer Project and seeing who I would be working with, I can say that good chunk of those doubts I had, have now gone and I am happy to be working with a passionate and confidant group of people and I believe that over the next 6 weeks we will be able to produce a very high level piece of work.
An End To Another Unit & Evaluation March 13, 2009
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These past couple weeks have been a challenge and half, but now it is all finally over and i can gladly say that i believe that i have created a good piece of quality work. To end this unit I would to take the opportunity to make an evaluation about my project.
Looking back on my research that I conducted before creating my animation, I said I wanted to create an animation that didn’t have any reference to violence’s and shoot’em ups blood killing content, which we can find mostly in computer games influenced by TV, film and current events in today’s society.
This is why I decided to venture down the route of creating an animation, aimed at a young audience, predominantly children, but also having the power to reach out to older audiences. In order to achieve this goal, I based my animation around an animal and incorporating the aspects of comedy and how I could create it around the idea of “A day in the life of……”, which is commonly used to help people write autobiographies, recount parts of their life. This idea and the inspiration from the animation “Simon’s Cat”, which I mention in my research, lead me to create my animation “A Doggy Day”. Taking some inspiration from the techniques from the creator of “Simon’s Cat”, Simon Tofield, I took the approach of incorporating the aspect of ‘Black & White’ for my style, for the animation. By using this style of visualization, it gave my animation a level of simplicity, however there was part of me that didn’t agree that there shouldn’t be any colour within the animation. This is where I took further inspiration from the film ‘Sin City’ adapted from the comic books. With ‘Sin City, it is predominantly black and white throughout the film, however the film uses elements of striking colour, for instance bright red to signify blood and bright blue for eyes of some of the characters and lastly the biggest use of colour, yellow for the skin of the character Yellow Bastard.
I decided to take this idea and incorporate into the my animation on a smaller scale, for example I applied colour to the dogs collar, bone and ball, also parts of scenery within the animation, for instance the Sun, the plant pot on the window, the hand and lastly the hole in the garden where the dog buries it’s bone, in order to make the audience feel a little more interested with the animation. If I took the approach of making all black and white I would have feared that my target audience would probably loose interest, as young audiences in today’s society expect a high level of bright colours to grab their interest. A good example of this is the animation Pokémon, which uses a wide and various range of vibrant colours.
Looking back on my research and what I said in my conclusion about how I intended to create my animation based around a day in a life of a dog, with a level of interactivity so that the audience will be able to interact with the dog in various situations and decisions. I feel that I have manage to for fill that goal to a high level and evidence to show that I have can be seen in my animation as the audience can do some of the following below:
· Waking the dog up by clicking on the window so the plant pot smashes.
· Choosing where dog can go, i.e. Kitchen/Living Room.
· Having to find away to get the pie down, with the dog’s bone and ball.
· Sending the dog out of the living room before it does its business.
· Finding a place to bury the dog’s bone.
I have only mentioned a few possible interactive parts for the audience to experience within the animation, but all parts that have an interactive aspect to them does affect on how the narrative progress.
To sum up this evaluation about my animation, I feel that I have managed to produce a good quality interactive animation that successfully targets the audience age to range I set myself at the beginning of this project. However this doesn’t go without saying that this project has been challenging from the word start and over coming my biggest problem, which was transferring over 2000 frames of animation into the right place in Flash, frame by frame, in order to make my animation work. I feel that I have learnt and gain new skills throughout this project and having a better understanding of how Flash works and hopefully in the future will be able to put these new found skills into work.
This will be my last post for the next 5 weeks over the Easter period. When I return to university I will be starting on my Summer Project, which I looking forward to very much.
Storyboards For Animation Project March 3, 2009
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Here are the storyboards that I have create for my animation project. These storyboards shows the rough basics of our project and how the narrative of the animation will turns out. Each shot shows a visualisation with a description of how the narrative is progressing. So here are the storyboards for my project called A Doggy Day:
A Doggy Day Project © 2009
Audience Unit: One Day Project ! February 23, 2009
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As always in all the units there are ‘One Day Projects” we have to do, which has its pro’s and cons, the con being that it gets in the way of my project, which I would be doing at the time, and usually I would see it being a waste of time. However in some cases i.e. in my ‘Image’ project and this unit ‘Audience’, it has proven to be helpful in the way that I incorprate the work from the one day project, into my main project for the unit that I am doing at the time, which equals to being the pro about the whole idea of doing these one day project. (basically these mini projects give us a kick in the back side to start on the main project).
For the ‘Audience Unit One Day Project’, we were set this brief:
“Develop a character/style sheet for a key ‘character’ in your proposed animation idea. Work onto paper if possible, unless your creation relies specifically on digital visualisation techniques.”
One Day Project for ‘Audience Unit’ set by Bournemouth University 2009
Once we had completed the character development, we had to give a informal presentation to our groups and course lecturers explaining our idea.
Here is my character development of my idea: A Doggy Day
A Doggy Day Project © 2009
Audience Unit Research For Animation Project February 16, 2009
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Right here is my research for my animaiton project. We were ask to choose four different animations of our choosing which we felt appeal to four distinctly different audience groups, and to explain and justify our choices for choosing them.
So here are my four animations that I choose to research:
Tom & Jerry
Target Audience: 4 – Upwards
Tom and Jerry is a children’s cartoon series about a mouse and cat, living in the same house, however for filling a traditional stereotype of “cat and mouse”, audience gets to view an ongoing rivalry between the two, which consists of numerous of comically chases and confrontations. Usually the format of each episode consists of Tom trying to catch Jerry some way but endlessly failing, due to the cleverness of Jerry’s plans.
The target audience for Tom and Jerry is aimed towards a young audience, mostly children from the ages of 4 and upward. As there tends to be no dialogue within the cartoon, it provides an advantage for attracting a children audience, as they don’t have to listen to any dialogue to make sense of what is occurring in the cartoon.
The added advantage of this cartoon is that it has the power to grab the attention of an older audience, by playing on its humorous mayhem and comically accidents. This can make the older audience relate to personal experiences in reality of their own pets, getting up to no good.
Family Guy
Target Audience: 18 – 30 years old
Family Guy is an American animation that portrays the comically semi-dysfunctional Griffin family, which consists of Peter the farther “the so called breadwinner”, Lois the mother and house wife of the family, Meg the teenaged daughter who is portrayed as the unpopular member of the family due to Peter making jokes about her, Chris the stereotypically unintelligent teenaged son, Stewie the high intelligent baby who plans to conquer the world also having a personal vendetta to kill Lois all the time and Brain the talking dog who acts like a human being but still having the all qualities of an every day dog.
Family Guy is aimed towards the older teenaged and young adult audiences, with its array of comedy and intertextuality/parodies of different media texts within the episodes and also dealing with a number of stereotypes. Yet again this animation, like many others have the ability to make the audience relate to this animation and compare it to their everyday lives.
Simon’s Cat
Target Audience: 12 – Upwards
Simon’s Cat is a few short animated episodes, animated simply in black and white 2D, about a stereotypical household cat, which tries to achieve to pestered it’s owner called Simon into feed him, through various comical mishaps and annoyances like any other cat in today society.
This animation has the potential, just like Tom & Jerry to captivate a larger audience age range, through it’s very comically mishaps in the cat’s plans, than it’s originally target audience from 12 and upwards and also using the aspect of relating to today’s society.
Honda: The Dream Comes True
Target Audience: 20 – upwards
The animation, Honda: The Dream Comes True, is about a short story, portraying background life of Soichiro Honda through array of colourful montages and landscapes, repairing bicycles at his home, however, come night time Soichiro retreats in to his study and draws various designs and falls asleep in the process, where the audience get to experience Soichiro Honda’s dream about creating his design on a bigger scale within his fantasy world, and waking up to be enlighten that his dreams become reality in founding the Honda Company.
As this animation film is based around dreams and fantasy, it achieves by appealing to almost all audience age ranges, as is touches on the fact that everyone dreams and everyone can relate to the animation film. The reason why this animation can captivate a large audience, as it allows the audience to use their imagination, through it’s diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to empower their own dreams and also due to the fact that this short story can to perceived as being true from coming from nothing to becoming everything.
Conclusion
When conducting my research into various animations, I found that most animation found on the internet for example, were mostly to do with violence’s, shoot’em ups, blood and killing. From my own analysis there seems to be this niche market in audiences, in today’s society demanding violence’s and killing. This could be pointed at current events occurring around the world, that are influencing the audiences to response in this way.
However, shown from my research there are some beautiful, comical and inspiring pieces of animation work out there, which audience can enjoy, be entertained by and relate to, that appeals to more larger audiences, that haven’t fallen into this growing stereotypical audience, as mentioned above.
From this research, it has inspired me create an animation, aimed for a young audience, predominantly children, but also having the power to reach out to older audiences. I intend to create an interactive animation based around a day in a life of a dog. The audience will be able to interact with the dog in various situations and decisions. To keep the audience interested in my animation I intend to approach this animation with the idea of simplicity, with an added comical factor, inspired by Tom & Jerry and Simon’s Cat.
The Start Of A New Unit: Audience Unit ! February 2, 2009
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At last I have finally reached the third unit of my first year here at Bournemouth Uni, which is the Audience Unit, based mainly around flash animation for us interactive media production people.
The Breif for this unit states as follows:
1. Research ‘animation in relation to audience’ and identify four different animation examples which you feel appeal to four distinctly different audience groups . Write 100 to 150 word on each example to explain and justify your choices, and obtain images or clips to illustrate your examples.
2. Based on your research findings, storyboard and create a short Flash animation of your own which would appeal to one of your selected audience groups. Use ActionScript to explore interactivity, and the ways that giving control to the users can affect the narrative. Also feature the use of sound/music). Explain your choice and solution, including how it relates to a particular user group.
During the lectures and your research you will discover that there are also many different animation media and techniques (chalk, oil on glass, paper cut-out, cel-layers, plasticine, puppetry etc). However for the purposes of this project your chosen solution must be achievable using Flash software. Your solution may be either a complete short idea or a partially storyboarded larger idea, but in either case you must use movement and sound to showcase your solution.
Aim for a user experience of between 1 and 2 minutes.
3. Use Flash to create a website which contains your research images and text, your storyboard, essay assignment and the completed Flash animation.
Bournemouth University Audience Unit Brief 2009
When I first got this brief a week and a half ago (apologies for my lack of posting on this blog due to medical reasons), I realised that I got a hell of amount of work to get through within 4 and a bit weeks and it also doesnt help that I will have to write an essay on top of this work load as well. The lectures have been nice an not told what the essay title is for this unit is yet and probably spring it on us next week, me thinks. not looking forward to that !!!
But on a positive note with this unit, I’ll get the chance to learn lot about animations and their workings and how the audience work within today’s media society.
My next post, which will be posted later on today or tomorrow will be about my research into four different animations of my choice.
