We discussed a number of projects and how certain ones seemed more compatible rather than others. There was this one which seemed particularly interesting: Taking a picture of somehting and retracing the life of each element in that picture. For example, with a picture of a wooden cabin we would retrace the cabin to wood, then to the actual tree, then its growth, then the person who planted it etc...
It got me thinking about my own project. I have a strange fascination with mazes. In a nutshell, I think they're awesome! And what I would have loved to create was a virtual maze where u need to find your way out but through that process going through a set of question like: What is your favourite colour? Who would you rather be stuck in an elevator with? etc. And, as you scavanger your way out of the maze a story text pops out at the finish line with all of the elements you would have chosen through your journey in the maze.
I looked for some sites to help me create a maze but they all crashed and burned miserably. Also, my technical skills are minimal on a mobile phone let alone a computer program. So, I might need to scratch that idea and find some other inspirational things to work with.
We also touched on Photoshop during class.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Ideas for Project 1
I was browsing through Facebook (yes, I am addicted and sad) and found a wheel of friends. All of these people are interconnected in some way which makes the process fascinating and complex. This made me realize about the Uni Village's networking system. We all live in the same place, go to the same uni and all have a history - however big or small - with each other or not. I think I'd like to do a web-site type thing with profiles for each unit and see who is connected to another person, has a class with someone else, have similar friends outside of the village etc. It could be quite interesting and non-linear.
I would use pictures of people, maybe even have a little flash animation going on with a few people, but I'd imagine it would be mostly text-based as there are so many of us.
I would use pictures of people, maybe even have a little flash animation going on with a few people, but I'd imagine it would be mostly text-based as there are so many of us.
Week 3 - Dreamweaver, piece of shite
We had to creative a narrative using dreamweaver with the story-lines we did the previous week. I got really frustrated with the computer as I was not understanding anything. Gosh do I hate technology. My attempt to create a web-page failed miserably, but luckily I have a friend who is willing to help me out with it. Man, do I wish I were more computer savvy.
We also touched on our assignment due in week 7. Do we need to use Dreamweaver???
Monday, August 6, 2007
week 2 - exercise 1
Pick an object, word, action
Locket
Comb
Hand shake
Public toilet taps (sink) → a sink in a public girl’s bathroom!
Computer room chair
Dollar bill
Keyboard
A sneeze
A gameboy
A bench at the coffee cellar
Associations
Itchy
150 km/h speed
Contacted muscles
Epidemic – contagious SNEEZE
Different sounds
Allergies
soapy
Smell of alcohol, cigarettes
Gossip
Usually dirty
Crowded (around the mirror) Public Girl’s bathroom sink
Porcelain basin
Cold water
Immobile
Hard/cold to touch
PUBLIC GIRL’S BATHROOM SINK : Cleaning lady/Soapy/Cold water/Gossip/Drain
1) Soapy
Sinks are soapy after being used a lot and not being cleaned, can be gross, bad tasting, slimy feel to fingers.
- The sink in the girl’s bathroom in the university library is often soapy. Girls are in a rush and often grab soap but it falls short of the sink and the water flow can’t reach it. It’s a pinkish colour and feels slimy. It leaves a ‘lavatory’ smell in the room.
2) Gossip spot
-In the bars or nightclubs, girls go to the bathroom in flocks to gossip. They usually hang around the sink where the mirrors are. They redo their makeup and make sure the girls they are with are feeling alright and having a good time.
3) Cold water
Sinks generally flow out cold water. If clean, you can drink it, wash your face, dab water onto clothing when dirty, and do laundry.
- I remember feeling ill one day and I rushed to the bathroom to dab some cold water on my face to cool me down and wake me up. The texture of the water on my face was refreshing and pleasing.
4) Drain
People lose things down drains all the time. Girls especially: earrings, necklaces, contact lenses, rings, a gold tooth (!?!??) etc.
- Drains are filthy with gunk and bacteria. However there are thousands of little treasures in the rough spots.
Extension: a plumber unblocking the drain and finds hundreds of dollars worth of possessions.
5) Cleaning lady
Sinks need to be cleaned on a daily basis, especially public ones. Imagine all of the disgusting materials left in the bathrooms: gunk, needles, hair, makeup, wet towels, etc.
Select a new association
1) Being in a rush
2) Broken heart? Emotional Injury? (seeing girl crying or yelling)
3) Pregnancy
4) Findings
5) Life of a….cleaning lady? Druggie?
1) We are often in a rush. We seem to have no time on our hands to do all of the things we want to do. We rush through the grocery store and buy things which are convenient rather than healthy. As a result, our body is under enormous amounts of stress and we die prematurely.
2) Having an emotional injury is as painful - if not more painful – than a physical one. Emotional injury is a permanent scar which needs to be dealt with by family, friends and partners. Sometimes it can lead to madness and special psychiatric attention is needed.
3) Being pregnant can be both a curse and blessing. So many young girls fall pregnant and need to leave school, and/or give up their initial dreams for new ones. Pregnancy can feel like an imprisonment to some girls.
4) Finding a buried or lost treasure is one of the most exhilarating feelings a person can have. A child who has lost their teddy. Eventually as the child grows older they get bored of the cuddly toy but still keep it hidden away in a safe spot. My cuddly toys are in my childhood treasure box.
5) Needles are horrible inventions. Druggies use them, share them and leave them around. I remember walking in the streets of San Francisco and my dad found a bag of used needles on the street. He was disgusted and carried them for about two blocks until he found a rubbish bin to dispose of them…
A new association
Grocery: There are so many brands of different products in a single grocery store. Twenty-six different bottles for milk on a single shelf…However, I love riding around in a shopping cart with my friends pushing me and having cart races up and down the aisles.
Psychiatric Ward: There is an eerie feeling which always comes upon you when you walk into a psychiatric ward – running or abandoned. It reminds me of scary movies all the time with a serial killer ghost which is out to get you.
Imprisonment: Visiting South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s cell. It was one of the most pivotal moments of my life.
Buried: in the sand, burying my friend and making sand castles and waterskiing.
San Francisco: When we are 50, a bunch of my friends and I are going to road trip around the US on Harley Davidson’s.
Locket
Comb
Hand shake
Public toilet taps (sink) → a sink in a public girl’s bathroom!
Computer room chair
Dollar bill
Keyboard
A sneeze
A gameboy
A bench at the coffee cellar
Associations
Itchy
150 km/h speed
Contacted muscles
Epidemic – contagious SNEEZE
Different sounds
Allergies
soapy
Smell of alcohol, cigarettes
Gossip
Usually dirty
Crowded (around the mirror) Public Girl’s bathroom sink
Porcelain basin
Cold water
Immobile
Hard/cold to touch
PUBLIC GIRL’S BATHROOM SINK : Cleaning lady/Soapy/Cold water/Gossip/Drain
1) Soapy
Sinks are soapy after being used a lot and not being cleaned, can be gross, bad tasting, slimy feel to fingers.
- The sink in the girl’s bathroom in the university library is often soapy. Girls are in a rush and often grab soap but it falls short of the sink and the water flow can’t reach it. It’s a pinkish colour and feels slimy. It leaves a ‘lavatory’ smell in the room.
2) Gossip spot
-In the bars or nightclubs, girls go to the bathroom in flocks to gossip. They usually hang around the sink where the mirrors are. They redo their makeup and make sure the girls they are with are feeling alright and having a good time.
3) Cold water
Sinks generally flow out cold water. If clean, you can drink it, wash your face, dab water onto clothing when dirty, and do laundry.
- I remember feeling ill one day and I rushed to the bathroom to dab some cold water on my face to cool me down and wake me up. The texture of the water on my face was refreshing and pleasing.
4) Drain
People lose things down drains all the time. Girls especially: earrings, necklaces, contact lenses, rings, a gold tooth (!?!??) etc.
- Drains are filthy with gunk and bacteria. However there are thousands of little treasures in the rough spots.
Extension: a plumber unblocking the drain and finds hundreds of dollars worth of possessions.
5) Cleaning lady
Sinks need to be cleaned on a daily basis, especially public ones. Imagine all of the disgusting materials left in the bathrooms: gunk, needles, hair, makeup, wet towels, etc.
Select a new association
1) Being in a rush
2) Broken heart? Emotional Injury? (seeing girl crying or yelling)
3) Pregnancy
4) Findings
5) Life of a….cleaning lady? Druggie?
1) We are often in a rush. We seem to have no time on our hands to do all of the things we want to do. We rush through the grocery store and buy things which are convenient rather than healthy. As a result, our body is under enormous amounts of stress and we die prematurely.
2) Having an emotional injury is as painful - if not more painful – than a physical one. Emotional injury is a permanent scar which needs to be dealt with by family, friends and partners. Sometimes it can lead to madness and special psychiatric attention is needed.
3) Being pregnant can be both a curse and blessing. So many young girls fall pregnant and need to leave school, and/or give up their initial dreams for new ones. Pregnancy can feel like an imprisonment to some girls.
4) Finding a buried or lost treasure is one of the most exhilarating feelings a person can have. A child who has lost their teddy. Eventually as the child grows older they get bored of the cuddly toy but still keep it hidden away in a safe spot. My cuddly toys are in my childhood treasure box.
5) Needles are horrible inventions. Druggies use them, share them and leave them around. I remember walking in the streets of San Francisco and my dad found a bag of used needles on the street. He was disgusted and carried them for about two blocks until he found a rubbish bin to dispose of them…
A new association
Grocery: There are so many brands of different products in a single grocery store. Twenty-six different bottles for milk on a single shelf…However, I love riding around in a shopping cart with my friends pushing me and having cart races up and down the aisles.
Psychiatric Ward: There is an eerie feeling which always comes upon you when you walk into a psychiatric ward – running or abandoned. It reminds me of scary movies all the time with a serial killer ghost which is out to get you.
Imprisonment: Visiting South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s cell. It was one of the most pivotal moments of my life.
Buried: in the sand, burying my friend and making sand castles and waterskiing.
San Francisco: When we are 50, a bunch of my friends and I are going to road trip around the US on Harley Davidson’s.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
two ideas for possible interactive stories/narratives and two net based venues where those or other stories could go..
I thought alot about what on earth could be considered a form of interactivity...It actually took me an entire week to figure it out... (*shame*)
Two possible stories/narratives:
1) The 'pay it forward' concept - the movie with Kevin Spacey - was uses by a lady in the US (she later went on Oprah which is where I heard the story in the first place). She made it a task to do a good deed for a complete stranger and ask them to pass that deed on to another person but she would also get feedback from these people who were involved.
2) now that I mention it, I guess that talk shows are a form of interactivity because of the stories being told by the guests.
3) hotel or shop guest books. people write down what they thought about the place - some have great stories to tell and it is all set in a realxed environment (a hotel) during a specific time frame (let's say august or december when it's the holiday season)
Two net-based narratives:
1) Online quizzes about your friends. like http://www02.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070805051600-479567 a quizz about my friend to see if I know him as well as I think I do. It's a pretty sneaky thing and quite intersting. And you can create your own quizzes and send them to your friends.
2) online video games? forums? Oh right, we said that already...
3) I don't know....I hate technology - it raddles my fragile little mind!
Two possible stories/narratives:
1) The 'pay it forward' concept - the movie with Kevin Spacey - was uses by a lady in the US (she later went on Oprah which is where I heard the story in the first place). She made it a task to do a good deed for a complete stranger and ask them to pass that deed on to another person but she would also get feedback from these people who were involved.
2) now that I mention it, I guess that talk shows are a form of interactivity because of the stories being told by the guests.
3) hotel or shop guest books. people write down what they thought about the place - some have great stories to tell and it is all set in a realxed environment (a hotel) during a specific time frame (let's say august or december when it's the holiday season)
Two net-based narratives:
1) Online quizzes about your friends. like http://www02.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070805051600-479567 a quizz about my friend to see if I know him as well as I think I do. It's a pretty sneaky thing and quite intersting. And you can create your own quizzes and send them to your friends.
2) online video games? forums? Oh right, we said that already...
3) I don't know....I hate technology - it raddles my fragile little mind!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Lonelygirl 15
I watched a bunch of the YouTube 'episodes' about Lonelygirl15. Although my favourite one was 'Boy Problems..' if I hadn't been told that it was all a scam I would have believed this experiment to be authentic. It is quite ingenius to have come up with such an amazing concept and simply put it out there. In some respects it really opened up my eyes about how we perceive the internet as a 'bible' and almost agree with everything it tells us.
The interactivity between Lonelygirl 15 and her boyfriend over the internet was an interesting, childish and extremely public. It was a great form of interactivity on the net despite how public is was.
I read a few of the forums too. There was one comment which particularly intersted me: it was suggested to make the 'min-series' into a DVD box-set. In some respects it is a great idea - taking the series genre to the next level, however the lack of interactivity with the audience through forums would dismember the charm of the entire process that is Lonelygirl15.
It is incredible though how a simple project grew to an enormous proportion of gullibility and recognition to all of the viewers it absorded.
The interactivity between Lonelygirl 15 and her boyfriend over the internet was an interesting, childish and extremely public. It was a great form of interactivity on the net despite how public is was.
I read a few of the forums too. There was one comment which particularly intersted me: it was suggested to make the 'min-series' into a DVD box-set. In some respects it is a great idea - taking the series genre to the next level, however the lack of interactivity with the audience through forums would dismember the charm of the entire process that is Lonelygirl15.
It is incredible though how a simple project grew to an enormous proportion of gullibility and recognition to all of the viewers it absorded.
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