Review: 7th Dec - 18th Dec

Below is a review of the past 2 weeks.

7th - We started to make objects for our project, identifying sizes and what we needed to do.
8th - I worked on the final storyboard for the project.
10th - Worked on props and discussing the project.
11th - I was ill and could not make it in.

14th - Continued to make props for the set and started to think about the backdrop. I continued to work on the storyboard.
15th - Finished the storyboard and focused on helping to create props/characters.
17th - Finished creating all characters and the backdrop, discussed 'filming'.
18th - Added more detail to the backdrop, I also did some paperwork, with writing down minutes for the meetings, frame details and time breakdown, starting to identify sound and encountering some issues with the end scene. We also revised roles and are ready to start 'filming' in the new year.

Week Review: 30th Nov - 5th Dec

Monday

On Monday Angie wasn't in for the morning class, so we had someone else cover, and we were just practicing making plasticine models in preparation for starting the project.

Tuesday

This was Ewan's class, and we achieved giving people task's and going and doing them here, we wrote our final idea down and we were ready to start the project.

Thursday

In John's class our group started to identify exactly what would be needed and how we were going to make them. I drew a basic storyboard.

Friday

Everyone had created a presentation and this was the day we had to do our talks. My talk was on 'How to make a bowl of cereal.' and it went fairly well I thought.

Video/Music Podcast.

Here is my podcast which is a number of pictures combined with the song "Rocks and Daggers" from the album "Peaceful the World lays me down" by British folk band Noah & The Whale.

Types of Animation

Here are some types of animation.

Hand-drawn animation: Click.
- This is the common method used in old cartoons such as Loony Tunes and Tom and Jerry, plus the legendary Micky Mouse from Disney, you can clearly see from the clip that this has been hand drawn.

Cut-out animation: Click.
- South Park is a famous show which uses cut-out animation to give it such a unique image. It's quirky approach to the show is which has made it such a hit, and it is the perfect example to showcase this style of animation.

Model animation: Click.
- Clay animation is a method used by making plasticine models and then modifying them for each frame to make it run smoothly, it takes a lot of preparation, effort and talent to pull this off well. Wallace and Gromit from Aardman studios is a classic example of clay-mation (a common term to describe the method).

Computer animation: Click.
- Computer generated imagery is widely used today but it has only been used to its full extent for around 15 years, A Bug's Life and Toy Story are examples of some of the earliest films to use CGI at it's best, the whole feature film using the method.

Rotoscoping: Click.
- Rotoscoping is a method where an artists traces over live action, frame by frame. A good example of the method is used in the music video "Take on Me" by A-Ha.

The History of Animation

This is the historic evolution of animation, ranging from the Magic Lantern invented in the 19th century, all the way to CGI which was first used in 1973, but came to the forefront of the movie industry when it was used in the 1993 classic Jurassic Park, using CGI to create the dinosaurs, while in 1995, the first fully computer-generated feature film was created from Disney's Pixar studio's, which came into the shape of children's favourite Toy Story. Here are a list of animation methods and a link to an example.

The Magic Lantern - Link
A Thaumatrope - Link
A Zoetrope - Link
The Praxinoscope - Link
A Flip Book - Link
Stop Motion - Link
CGI - Link

Graphical Layout

Above: iGoogle
Below: BBC

I am going to look at two websites that allow you to play around with the layout of the page, for example the BBC website.

So obviously I am going to use BBC as one example and the other website I am going to use is iGoogle.

BBC
The BBC home page allows you to move around various widgets that are available on the site, you can click on the widget and move it into another section, you can click on edit and check different options, for example you change the News from just the UK to Worldwide news. You can also remove a widget or expand/minimise it.

Go to site

iGoogle
iGoogle works in a strikingly similar way to the BBC homepage. The format is identical in the form of being able to move a widget, edit a widget, change the widgets settings and being able to maximise/minimise the widget. iGoogle is also a community and you can share widgets.

Go to site

Comparison
The only difference between these two websites are the fact that iGoogle has share options while the BBC website has a much better appearance. I would personally choose the BBC website over the iGoogle site but in terms of relevance iGoogle is superior because of it's community aspect.

Text Formatting

Above: Tumblr
Below: Blogger

I am going to compare two websites that allow you to use text formatting.

The sites I am going to compare are Blogger and Tumblr, both Blogging websites that are very similar in terms of what you can do.

Blogger
Blogger is a blogging site that is used by everyone worldwide. It is easily accessible and contains features such as making the text Bold, Italics, choosing a different font, the size of the text, the
colour of the text, create hyperlinks, change the justification, use numbering/bullet points, quotations, while also having the ability to spell-check, import photos and videos and the option to remove any formatting.

Go to site

Tumblr
Like Blogger, Tumblr is a fellow blogging site that is multi-cultural, which has several features such as making text Bold, Italics, Strike-through, bullet points/numbering, outdent/indent, inserting images, link/unlink and spell-check.

Go to site

Comparison
I think that Blogger has more options available at the current time but there isn't a large advantage, Tumblr could very easily add these few features, while Tumblr has 2 features that Blogger doesn't (Strike-through) and indent/outdent. It is a close call but Blogger just wins.

HTML Code

We are going to be looking at HTML code today. We originally viewed the source for the Google homepage.

1. Google
   
2. NQ Access To Creative Industries Blog
   

Crossword

Punk Rock Crossword

Search Engines

Yahoo

Ask

Bing

Google

For our EPK project, we have to research using search engines, i'm going to show 4 search engines.

Google is the most popular and a huge brand worldwide. It is the easiest to use and has a very basic interface, which doesn't confuse people, you get what you want, with minimum fuss. Bing is the recently re-branded Live Search from Microsoft/Windows. Yahoo is a more expansive search engine, while Ask is a former Q & A, while it is now a more common search engine, however Google is almost unreachable and you will find that Google is used to search for other search engines!

INSANE IN THE BRAIN - Bounce

Our project is to create an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for the show:
INSANE IN THE BRAIN - BOUNCE.

Useful Links:
Tour Website - www.insanetour.co.uk
Event listing on the Macrobert website - www.macrobert.stir.ac.uk/MACROBERT/Index.html
Event listing at Sadler's Wells Theatre - www.sadlerswells.com/show/Insane-in-the-Brain-Bounce
Facebook Group Page - www.facebook.com/insanetour
Article from the London Evening Standard - www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/show-23382729-details/Bounce:InsaneInTheBrain/showReview.do?reviewid=23444566
Youtube videos

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptP5jqTBgd4
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10cUMFURqU

Article from The Independent - www.independant.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/preview-insane-in-the-brain-sadlers-wells-london-786672.html
Article from The Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/feb/29/theatre.musicals

What information will we need for our EPK?
We will need to gather a lot of resources for this EPK, including:

• Images
• Show Information
• Reviews
• Videos
• Dancers
• Tour dates
• Links
• History of the group/previous shows/experience
• Influences

Roles
Designer - David
Editor - Reece
Researcher/Sources - James

Everyone will help each other out with the project, these roles are just primary roles, they don't define that is what you will only do.

We will use i-photo to gather our images.

Video Sharing Websites

Above: Blip.TV
Below: Youtube

Tuesday 8/9/09
I am going to compare video-sharing websites today.

First example will be the ever-popular YouTube, which has set the high standard for today's video sharing market.


YouTube
YouTube was created in 2005 by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, who proceeded to become the first members of the YouTube management team and currently serve as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively.

Features:

• Video embedding: Users can insert a YouTube video into Facebook and MySpace accounts, blogs, or other Web sites where anyone can watch them.
• Public or private videos: Users can elect to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with friends and family upon upload.
• Subscriptions: Users are able to keep track of their favorite users' new videos.
• Record from Webcam: Users with a webcam and Flash software are able to instantly record video responses or normal videos onto the site rather than having to prerecord and then upload the video.
• TestTube: This is an area where YouTube engineers and developers conduct alpha testing for new features in development. Users are encouraged to participate in the development process and are welcome to evaluate the feature.

Blip.tv
Blip TV is an up and coming Video-sharing website that is currently in BETA mode, therefore it is not the final edition. The main aim of Blip.tv is to showcase independent shows to an audience, giving indie show creators the chance to show-off their skills.

The site has a useful dashboard feature, making it easy to find shows and to navigate your way around the website.

Comparison

Blip TV uses advertisements to generate revenue which is one disadvantage due to the fact that Youtube has no adverts on their website, meaning that users will find Blip TV slightly more annoying.

The fact that Blip TV also doesn't have many videos or major links is a disadvantage, however I get the feeling that Blip TV is aimed more at creating a community and allowing others to share their work and talk about their shared interests and comment on the work whereas Youtube is aimed at a more generable audience, a more marketable audience.

I would say that Youtube is a lot better than Blip.tv, but the fact is that Youtube are an established worldwide commercial success while Blip.tv are still in the beta stage, so it is hard to compare the two when there is such a difference in development.

Photo-Sharing

Diary of today
Today the class worked in iWeb, playing around with the program, trying to get used to the software's features. Reece, James and I were in a group and we created a website with a Homepage, an About me page, a Photo page and finally a Blog page. The program is fairly easy to used and soon enough we will have it mastered. I had to search Google for some images, and type in information for the website, while I also found out how to create my own hyperlinks. I also learned how to take a screenshot by using Drag.

Flickr
Flickr is a well-known specialist photo-sharing website. The homepage for Flickr is very easy to use as shown by the screenshots below:

Flickr features:
Upload - Upload from your desktop, send by email, or use your cameraphone.
Edit - Get rid of red eye, crop a photo, or get creative with fonts and effects!
Organize - Use collections, sets, and tags to organize your photos and videos.
Share - Use groups and privacy controls to share your photos and videos.
Maps - Share where your photos and videos were taken, and see photos and videos taken near you.
Make Stuff - Sexy cards, photo books, framed prints, Target pick up, DVDs, etc.
Keep in Touch - Get updates from family and friends.

So as you can see Flickr has many useful features for serious users, casual users, and those who just want to view or share photo's. I searched for "live music" and their engine returned 2,529,291 items! An amazing return for high resolution photo's. There is also the option to upload videos to the site.

Woophy
Woophy is another photo-sharing experience where the main feature is a large map that highlights how many photo's are from which part of the world, which is a different feature to that of Flickr's. However compared to Flickr, the navigation is slighty more difficult and less appealing. The site also has a news section and a forum dedicated to the members of the site, whereas Flickr only has photo comments as an option. Unlick Flickr, Woophy has no edit functions, meaning what you upload is final, and it also has no video option.

Conclusion
From looking at both websites, personally I prefer Flickr, it looks more proffesional, has more and better features, and is a lot easier to use. It also appears more of a community plus editing features to give it the upper hand.
Verdict:
Flickr - 9/10
Woophy - 7/10