Thoughts on up-coming essay

what if I did an argumental essay about marshmallowes? I like marshmallowes...
can incorporate video, web-text etc... HYPERTEXT essay.
Should be fun.
Maybe talk about chocolate and student's study methods....simple and effective. Can even interview people....

Week 7 - Presentations

Today we had to hand in our projects.
It was fun while it lasted. I had a bit of a problem transfering the project into the FTP file but it all turned out ok in the end. (the .jpeg +.gif were in capital letters and had to be minimised - gosh technology is complicated)

In all, this project was interesting. I know that my project is not as glamorous and high-tech as most people's but in my defence, I have never used Dreamweaver or even thought about using any form of technological programs in any of my assignments. I guess I did learn a few skills and did manage to do an OK job of it.
The project is nothing great in comparison, but it is a start...

Week 6 -More Flash

We were told to work on our projects. And so we did.
I ahve most of mine done by now.
I have the images I want to use....and I've narrowed by 'place of interest' down to only our apartment as the U.V. would be too complicated to completely do and it took me AGES to simply do 3 pages on Dreamweaver (many thanks to Orli for helping me out too)

I still don't have any images for the cubic page (the images I have are too big apparently) so I plan on looking for some small images on the net (royalty free ones).
I still need to take images of the apartment for the index to link the rooms to a story-line in each room.
I decided to use a party theme and in different rooms, at different times, different things are happening.

Homework from week 5

Wow....there's alot here.









1. Explore http://www.turbulence.org and write about three of the artworks there. Discuss the interactive elements, how well they do or don’t work etc…




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http://www.takeo.org/nspace/ns022/ns022.htm MICHAEL TAKEO MAGRUDER's like Monolith[s] and {Transcription} both seem to be the most aesthetically pleasing to me. I like the changing characters in {Transcription} but it would ahve been cool to understand what they mean and if, as they changed, the image progressively changed as well.




Monolith[s] reminds me alot of one of the scripts in http://www.dhteumeuleu.com/. The simplicity of it makes it appealing: images which change and a text underneath it which explains it each of the images.




http://transition.turbulence.org/studios/horvath/boulevard/ Boulevard by Peter Horvath has a aesthetically pleasing narrative. The images look like still from a movie and seem to interconnect as the story is revealed. There is also a few (what appears to be) videos. As a whole it seems to work well as a linear narrative.




http://transition.turbulence.org/spotlight/Zeno/ This piece confuses me. I'm not sure if it's because I have zero-patience, but it seems to be taking forever. It would seem like all I have to do is watch... or do I click? I don't know (note to self: in project say what must be done onto images) I does have a point in turning 'public' space into a 'personal' space through the zoom though. Where is the boubdary between private and public spaces?




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2. Write about the process of creating your first interactive assignment. What works and what doesn’t? What kind of technologies/web techniques and gadgets etc… did you use and why? Heck just tell me everything.




3. Explore http://www.dynamicdrive.com or http://www.dhteumeuleu.com/ and write about how some of these technical tools could be used to creative interactive artworks.




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I've already talked about my process...a little bit. I've decided to use Dreamweaver as my Flash skills still seem to be below the average understandimg of it. I will use the dhteumeuleu.com scripts as they seem bearable to manipulate (I can change the images...that's all I know about it) I really like the book one as it is simple and to the point and still retains a story-like narrative (but in a visual form). Although alot of them are overwhelming and great to look at, only a few really take my fancy when thinking about a narrative structure: the fractal (I could not stop) and the diaporama (Infinte loop).




As said in my other blog entry, I will try to recreate the University Village and make a narrative from then on. I'm not sure if I want to use Profile cards to link all of the people together just yet. I want to explore my options. (see image above).

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4. Think and write about the interactive stories inherent in public places, such as malls and churches and grocery stores etc….give me some examples, and be creative with them!!!



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We interact with people every simgle day. If it's on a computer, in a grocery store or even just with a TV, there is always interaction. We might not always see it..eg: TV is interactive because of all of the people watching a same show and reacting differently to it. In a grocery store, imagine all of the people who pick up a can of tuna for example. Each of these people have a similar likeness because of the tuna but live completely different lives. What about in a local neighbourhood? Each person is interconnected in some way. The children may all go to school together, one mother may have had an affair with her friend's husband.

A bus stop is interesting because everyone waits for a bus to get to their destination, and for a few minutes (or half an hour depending on the bus timings) people have something in common.



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5. Write about exploring macromedia flash and other more dynamic software packages. What could you use it for? Where are the best resources? Write about the process of exploring the software and the difficulties of learning it.

6. While we are concentrating on interactive stories/artworks, the same concepts could be applied to a wide variety of content and in a wide variety of net based sites…..write about how they could be used in other situations.

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I hate technology in general. I understand how useful it is and how it has made the world a better place (or so we tell outselves) but it annoys me to the core. I get frustrated with a word document. And now I have been asked to explore programs. Although seeing a Flash document is fun, funky and amusing, I cannot use it to save my life. All of the buttons confuse me and, as being a perfectionist, not getting it right is frustrating. However, I think it would be fun to have a series of little flash projection around a gallery space.

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7. Look at movie websites…and review three of them for their interactive functionality.
8. Write about your ideas for your real space interactive project.
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I guess that Farenheit 9/11 (2004) can be an interactive film as it gathers a bunch of information from all over and speaks almost directly to the audience....then again, documentaries are supposed to do that.
Love Actually(2003) and Crash (2004) are two movies which count the lives of different people and who are all interconnected through one particular theme: love and violence.
Elephant (2003) too is a movie which has an interactive and non-linear ring to it: about the Colombine shooting, it recollects each person's actions during the day before and while the shooting is taking place.

I guess to have a real-life interactive project would be interesting. I guess that it could be performance based....let's say you could write something in a space and people could write their thoughts on it. Or, the statuesque like people who move when people give them money.

Week 5 - Flash

I was unable to make today's class as I was jacket-up on pain killers because of my ankle and fell asleep like a rock!
However, Victoria did give me the 411 on the class. Apparently, we were being taught how to use the Flash program and then people just did some work on their project.

There is also some homework to do....

I thought about my project again. I'm still a little bummed about my lack of computer skills. I really widh I could be like a wizz and make awesome web-pages and even computer games and the maze idea I had before. In my head it looks fantastic....argh! I hate being a perfectionist.

I tried my hand at Dreamweaver with the sheet that Jason gave us... I failed miserably at least twice. Then I got frustrated and wanted to hit my computer (poor thing is taking so much abuse lately).
I'm still not getting it. But, I did check out the websites we were given with the web-sources. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Strange how I find it a little easier to do then the actual linkage in Dreamweaver.

Flash is something I'd like to try out. But, I already have an animation program that I like....can't remember the name of it but it's fun. I did one of my Cultural projects with it. It took me ages but it was fun.

Project 1

Alright. So, my ideas have turned to dust. But, I do like my initial idea of the interconnectivity of my people on Facebook as well as of the people in the University Village. We all know each other, have friends in common, have had relationships with each other and share classes together. We're a regular Melrose's Place fpr students. We should actually put a video camera in our houses and film our lives. True, it would be boring for the most part, but at least it would be fun and funny.

Anyways, so I was thinking of recreating the U.V. I think if could be a good idea and fun to start off with. K.I.S.S!!!!