Artist Statement - Motion Graphics

If you have been keeping up with my blog over the past three months, (and if you’re the one person who reads this blog, you have) you know that this course has not been my strength. If you’ve seen my work, you’d probably say the same. My technological savvy is that of chimpanzee, so I was at a disadvantage right out of the gate. I know how to swipe on my iPhone and search the web on my MacBook, but after that it’s a little dicey.

Thankfully, this last project of the year for this course gave my a little more of a creative option. I think I possess skills in that category of an above average chimpanzee, so I decided to try and put that knowledge to use. I had always found myself laughing when I would watch those “5 second movies” where they take famous movies and condense them to only five seconds. As I knew this project was to be five seconds, I thought I would look into that. Sadly, most movies that people would know had already been done, except James Bond. I figured since there had been so many of those movies made (and they all had similar plots), that they wouldn’t be able to choose one. That’s when I decided to roll with that idea.

James Bond is extremely misogynistic, but they cover that up nicely by making him good looking, and having cool weapons. I figured I would highlight these features, as it would best characterize him in only 5 seconds. That’s why I had him shooting someone, then ordering a martini, slapping a girl, ended my a massive explosion. You can always count on every Bond movie having those qualities.

I’m a big fan of the movies, so that inspired me to go with this route. I wanted to try and somewhat mask my digital ineptitudes by adding an element of humor to the project. I feel like I was successful in doing that, which made me feel a lot more confident about handing in this assignment.

Week 10: Farewell but not Goodbye

It’s hard to believe that we’re at this point in the school year already. The biggest sign of this is I still have no idea how to execute the aspects of digital media (I kid, of course). I was intimidated by it at first, but the fact that the tutorials were easy to follow, it made it a lot more digestible. A pattern that I found in this entire semester has been the simplicity. It’s been a common theme for me all year. It makes it easy on me knowing I don’t have to try and be fancy and possibly do too much. I didn’t find a personal style really, and I doubt I’ll be exploring anything much further on the subject. It honestly interests me so little that I would be shocked if I used my spare time to get better at it.

I guess this course has changed me when it comes to how I feel about digital media as a whole. I still don’t care for it, but I at least have some insight into the world as a whole. I at least know a little bit more about that subject. If I needed to edit some photos if my life depended on it, I think I could keep myself alive.

The most important thing I have learned from this course is the basic knowledge that is needed to execute simple tasks. This is good for me for the future, because if I ever get some random job at some random place, and they need the “new kid” to work on some Photoshop projects, I could be an asset to that particular team. I think this will give me more confidence in the world of finding jobs, so that’s why I think that is the most important thing that I’ve taken away from the course.

After reading my initial post, I did gain some insight into the world of digital media, and how much work happens behind the scenes. I was pretty sure that I’d learn how important/how tough the work they do is. I also told myself that I wanted to know the basics, and I feel I’ve done just that. I’m proud of myself!

Thanks for the semester; it was certainly a different one for me!

Week 9: After Effects

As of this moment in time, I have a very good idea of what I will be completing for the assignment. I have chosen to try and summarize every single James Bond movie in 5 seconds. While this seem ridiculous as there have been so many James Bond movies, I think I have found some stills that represent them perfectly. I decided to do four stills; Bond slapping a girl, Bond shooting a guy, Bond ordering a martini and an explosion. When push comes to shove, those events usually happen in a James Bond movie. Another element to this take on the project is that all the images of Bond will be silhouettes. I chose to do this because there have been a multitude of different actors in the Bond series. This way it will be a more general representation of the series.

I also hope to create some sort of a comedic effect with what I’ve done. There have been a lot of movies summarized in 5 seconds (found on YouTube) that gave me the idea, considering our assignment has to be that long and they usually are pretty funny. While there’s nothing funny about a woman being slapped, it is a real representation of Bond’s misogynistic outlook on women. So, it wasn’t motion graphics pieces that inspired my project, but rather the idea of summarizing something in 5 seconds. Plus, I’m a fan of the James Bond series, so that will make it easier to be motivated to work on it.

Week 8: Storytelling and Transmedia

There was story that surfaced on Reddit feed this week, and it was a story of a state trooper in Georgia who was rushed to the scene of a car crash killing a middle aged man and woman. His task was to relay this information to their 4 children who were waiting at home for their parents. Oh yeah, this was on Halloween, and the kids were all dressed up in their costumes. Unable to bear the thought of crushing these kids and making them wait in the county jail for another guardian (their grandma, who lived 7 hours away), he took the kids out for dinner then a tour of the county post. People heard of what was happening, and they brought candy for the kids. Basically, this guy held off on the tragic news and preserved their Halloween.

This is a story that could be told on many different platforms. To start, this would be a great spoken story, told between groups of people. On Twitter, this could be presented in an enticing way for the reader. It could read, “State trooper saves Halloween for 4 children”. This title would encourage many to read on and see what happened (it would for me anyways). It could also be posted to Instagram where there could be a picture of the trooper, side by side of the smiling children. The post could read “ State Trooper in Georgia preserves Halloween for 4 children following the death of their parents in a car accident.” What’s good about this story is that it could help the perception of law enforcement officers in the eyes of the public, knowing that there are good cops out there. Billboards could have a picture of the trooper as well, recognizing him for his wonderful handling of a gruesome situation. So, through many platforms this story could be presented.

My experience with transmedia is what I could say is limited. I certainly subscribe to social media platforms and what not, so I have some experience seeing stories on different platforms. However, I do very much like the progression of transmedia. It’s always been a staple in society where billboards tell stories, but the progression of it with social media is really quite stunning. Other than watching the world news channels, it was very tough back in the day to acquire information on what was happening in the world around us as quick as we do now. As many studies and articles show, the emergence of social media has melted the minds of many young people to goo, but it certainly has its positives. Through transmedia, we’ve become more connected with the world around us, and that can’t be overlooked.

Digital Media from After Effects

https://vimeo.com/144552810

Week 7: Blogger's choice - The respect for the workers of the digital media world

When I was 16 years old, I went to the movies to see the movie Avatar. That movie was one of the most intriguing movies I had ever seen in my life. Not because of the story, but due to the digital media that was used in it. It was absolutely fascinating to see what had been done in with computers to create the movie. The fact that these characters came to life in a form that seemed so real was unbelievable.

This movie really opened my eyes to what can be done with computers and digital media. I had seen other movies that used digital media, of course, but none that seemed so real. Now that it’s 5 or 6 years old, I’m now thinking about what could be done to top that? Could they create humans through digital media that look like actual humans? Could there be a point where we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference? It’s a scary thought that has crossed my mind on many occasions since I’ve seen that movie.

In this course so far, I have learned that this sort of work isn’t easy; you have to be able to sit in front of a computer for a very long period of time and be extremely proficient with the software. I’ve certainly gained an appreciation for the people that create these sorts of things. I would have to dedicate the rest of my life to even think about coming close to being on the same level as those digital media professionals.

ghost

https://vimeo.com/143802387