WDIGTS

I'm still in the beginning phases of this concept, but I have a very clear and organized vision. Everything seems extremely straightforward; this, however, will be a very tedious endeavor. I am currently still working out details for topics in my three main areas of education [Video, Photography, Graphic Design]. It's hard to cover everything that I think someone would need to know, without getting too strung up on details. I want this to be organized in a way that is simply organized, but gets into heavy details for those who want them. A lot of this learning can go out of order, and I am keeping that in mind, when coming up with the final order of how these topics should be listed.

The hardest part seems to be some technical aspects of the site. I really want to combine a blog style site with a normal website, but I'm really not sure how to organize it. The main content isn't what I'm worried about. I'm most challenged by the overall layout.

I renewed the domain that I will be using.

I've got a few ideas for some things to drive traffic to the site. One has to do with keeping content free. The other has to do with giving valuable things away for free. More on that later..

Type in Motion 2

Well, I was actually going to choose another video. But, I stumbled upon this video afterward, and it can't be ignored. One of my favorite things to do is animate to music and sound. This music had some very interesting effects, and it's an animator's job to express different sounds, visually.

Some things could be better, but I really admire the way this animator stuck to good composition. There was good positive and negative balance, and the letterforms were interestingly played with. The motion had a good vibe; it had a good combination of fluid and jarring motion, to go with the music. Everything looked very controlled. One important aspect, that I always look at in video, is that if I were to take a still frame at any point where the text held for a second [not in the middle of a transition], it would make a good static design. It is easy, in video, to forget good composition [in animation AND cinematography]. Keeping the quality of a photographer or graphic designer -- even when in motion -- is what separates the best from everyone else.

Type in Motion 1

The reason I chose the opening sequence for Panic Room is because of its simplicity [of the idea]. Technically, this is an extremely complex feat: motion tracking, reflections, texturing, lighting, etc.. The idea, however, is to make text look like it's a part of a scene. Now, this is not a new idea. We've seen practical effects, where people actually create type in a scene out of food or written in a newspaper or license plate. This is unique because the text is not made to look like it is a part of an object in a scene. The text is an entity of its own. The scale is also something that I like. Generally, with this sort of typography in movies, there is a sense of believability. [I could believe that a license plate could have that on it. Or, I could believe that the tag on the shirt said that.] But, the scale of the text, when combined with the wide establishing shots, makes for something that we could never see in real life: suspended massive typography that perfectly melts into the scene as if it is there. Generally, in video, we stay away from serif fonts that have little baby serifs. They used a font with little serifs, but it seems to work because the text is so big. [And, because it is intended for a huge screen.] From the reflections on windows to panning perfectly with the shot this text really sells the idea of it being a part of the scene, and has made its mark on opening film sequences, forever.

Photo from Che Men's Magazine - Complements of adverbox

I chose a men's magazine ad for analysis.

Surface Meaning:

Most of the image is filled by a woman. The woman is wearing a green top, carrying a purse, wearing a white skirt with tabs that have numbers on them with red text that says "My number". The woman seems Caucasian, and has brown hair. It seems that she is walking toward some sort of train station. At the bottom of the image is a logo in red and white with "Men's Magazine" written under it. To the left of the logo, white text reads: "Let us keep dreaming of a better world." A gradient darkens the top of the image.

Advertiser's Intended Meaning

"Let us keep dreaming of a better world" implies that if women were more like objects and their numbers were more easily accessible, the world would be better. The gradient, darkening the top of the image, is not a polarizer (which is commonly used to darken bright skies). The gradient also darkens the top of the girl, leading the viewer's eye to the bottom of the image. The brightest part is where the audience's eye automatically is drawn. The brightest part of this image is the girl's butt, and the red text, on her butt, emphasizes that it is the focal point of the image. This ad is clearly not being serious. They are playing on a stereotype of men. Part of what makes it successful is the fact that the ad is not attempting to be taken seriously. It is an ad for men, making fun of men.

Cultural / Ideological Meaning

The image's focus is on the girl's butt. The camera isn't just focused or angled toward the girl's butt, it was taken at the level of the girl's butt, rather than her face. Also, the girl's face is not even shown, implying that she -- as a person -- is not as important as her assets. Showing bits of her butt and a lot of leg further objectifies women. The girl is wearing a small purse and a bracelet, as if she is going out. [Middle class and upper class men usually pick up girls that are going out, rather than the girl with the big purse who has a life.] This image is full of hair, skin, and butt and asks the audience to keep dreaming of a better world. It's obviously intended for men. Arguably, the only people who would understand this ad are a class of people who would see an ad with tabs like the one that the girl's skirt is made out of. So, this might be a middle and lower class ad. (Maybe the higher class wouldn't know so much about these tabs?)

Favorite Ad Campaign

My favorite ad campaign is Apple's Apple and Itunes campaign. Visually, they stick with the simple aesthetic that drives all of their marketing campaigns. They keep a simple aesthetic, but the effects are actually very complex. The color and contrast [lights and darks] are always well balanced. Every little detail is accounted for, and controlled with precision.

They started with a one color background with a dancer silhoetted. The iPod, in the videos, as well as the headphones and headphone cables were silhoetted as white [good branding].

Technologic

Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Hey Mama

Feel Good Inc.

Jerk It Out

Later, they took things to the next level with gradients, shapes, patterns, and textures [that move to the beat of the music and that are coordinated with the dancers' movements]. The animation eases in and out, and it all looks very controlled. These are, by far, my favorite commercials in this campaign.

Shut Up and Let Me Go

Wolf Train

Mi Swing Es Tropical

They even decided to pair up with artists, featuring their songs. They didn't focus on the ipod, as much, in these videos.

Work That

Viva La Vida

This ad campaign, for their products, has made a universal connotation of music to their brand. To the group of creatives responsible for these videos - if they are one group - my hat is off to you.

How do you learn?

In school, intelligence is measured in one way. For the most part, teaching is geared toward one to two types of learning styles, and children who do not learn in the same way that is being taught are classified by grades as being less intelligent. I wonder what would happen if we looked at all of the different aspects of intelligence and appreciated people's non-traditional intelligence, as well as creating environments in schools that weren't just geared toward one type of learning style.

Learning styles describe the discrepancy between the way people learn. For instance, I might learn more efficiently by seeing a diagram of how something works, while my friend might learn more efficiently by aurally hearing how it works, while a mutual friend of ours may find it easier to read about it in a text. These are all legitimate ways of learning, but for the most part, students usually don't have all of the options when they are learning in school. They learn the way the teacher chooses to teach, and are, by grade, classified in terms of intelligence.

I don't feel that my learning style was really catered to, growing up. So, I will need to work on how I intake information and learn most effectively to increase the rate at which I learn during educational experiences that don't suite my learning style. Based on two learning style tests that I took, I am very clearly a kinesthetic learner. This means that to intake information, I use all of my senses, and I learn best with things like field trips, laboratories, examples of principles, real life examples, hands-on approaches, trial and error, and solutions to problems. I am the type of learner that remembers "real" things that happen, so I can easily remember facts or theories when they are applied to real life. To improve my learning experience, I can take note of examples, or relate what I'm learning to real life situations. I can use pictures to illustrate ideas, which will help me visually remember things. I can also talk to other people like me about what I'm studying to help solidify information.

I think that this is a very important lesson for me, specifically because I am interested in education and sharing knowledge. Knowing how other people can potentially learn will help me make sure that none of my students are left behind because of something that I missed while teaching. I really appreciate what I consider to be good teaching, but that might just actually mean that I really appreciate learning geared towards the way that I learn best from someone with a similar learning style. I hope to use what I've learned about learning styles to help myself learn more efficiently as well as help create the best learning environment for my students.


To take the tests for yourself, follow the links below:

http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

My Favorite Animation

Even after learning the basics of animation, my favorite animation (3D) is still Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. In fact, learning how animation works makes me appreciate it so much more. The art of every single shot looks tasteful. It’s like putting all of the best choreography, camera work, art, models, and coloring into one movie and having – instead of one – multiple “best parts” of the movie. Usually, I can figure out – in a movie or show – what an artist could do to achieve certain effects, but there are still some things in this movie baffle me.

In particular, there is one fight scene that is one of my favorite animations of all time:

One thing that this clip really shows is how much you can do to add to a normal action scene with camera movement. If you tried to imagine this scene from a distance, it would seem nothing like the final result. Some animations don’t take advantage of the unlimited camera movement in a 3d world.

Another thing that this clip uses is time remapping. To me, related to the original Disney principles, time remapping is like the squash and stretch and exaggeration applied to time. Actually, if you look at a line or graph editor of time, that is precisely what you are doing: bending, squashing, and stretching a line representing time. The time remapping mixed with the smooth camera shots, combined, make a great effect.

One thing that I’m learning more and more as I animate is that it is hard to fully take advantage of the 3d space for cinematography while also maintaining taste. My initial inclination is always to try something crazy, thinking that it will look just like my vision. But it never is, and watching a scene like this makes me really appreciate a few things:

1. The decision of how close and far away shots should be for which parts. It is very easy to miss some of the action and disorient an audience when whipping a camera around in circles and flying around a room. But, the shots are framed in ways that you can tell what is happening as well as get up close shots of parts that are happening. The shots are framed so well, in fact, that almost every 15 seconds, you could go through and take a still frame of the animation and use it as a still picture. (The cinematographer follows the rule of thirds well in most shots and breaks it well in others.)

2. The decision of what movement is appropriate for what shots. There are a number of ways that you can move a camera to get different effects. The camera movement enhances every part of what they are trying to convey to their audience. Fast turns and zooms give the idea that a camera man is having a hard time keeping up with the action. Shaking the camera gives the idea that there is a physical camera shaking because of the power of something hitting the ground or a wall.

3. The cuts. After all is said and done, having five or six cameras swirling around a fight scene, how do you decide when to cut what and where to cut? Some are timed with the beat, and others are timed with an action. The practice of a successful cut in an action sequence is to cut in the middle of an action so the audience is focused on the action and doesn’t notice the camera changing. That is the aim, to change shots without distracting the eye of the audience. They do a phenomenal job with cutting in this scene.

I’d like to say just one more thing about these three things combined in animation. Now that there is more control with cameras in 3d environments, Disney’s principles to exaggerate life in animation can be transferred to a camera for shots to give the same effect. For instance, instead of making a hand bigger for a punch, an artist could use a wide angle lens and get up close to the hand as it passes. This has been done very well in 2d Japanese animations; however, they have to emulate a wide angle or fish-eye lens instead of using a “real” fake fish-eye, like in a 3d program. Another thing, which I mentioned already, is the shake of the camera. The shakiness of the camera mixed with time remapping can make a powerless scene very dramatic and powerful. Last, the scene with the girl landing on the wall, while going into slow motion, is one of my favorite shots. She squashes to the wall, while complying with her realistic body and rig, and there is not a whole lot going on because she is just on the wall in slow motion hardly moving. But then the camera moves back quickly to see the flowers go up in the air in front of the camera. It is almost as if the power of her landing on the wall is not shown through her landing on the wall, but through the camera and the flowers in slow motion and fast camera movements. This prime example of what I am talking about.