RLJ Evaluation 2012 (written April 2014)

It has been really nice to revisit the first few journal entries of the Foundation Degree. Not only has it reminded me about my thoughts and feelings during this time, but it also makes me think about how much I have improved my work, confidence and work ethic.

I can't really remember everything that was going on during this time, but I knew I did find it stressful, and I feel that this was definitely apparent in my journal. Overall, I was really expressive in this journal, which I do feel is a good thing, as it helps others know how I was feeling as well as myself. Before the Foundation Degree I was used to writing about my experiences and reflecting on them on my previous BTEC course, so I feel that I didn't find the reflective learning journal too much of a challenge. In fact, during this time, as I wrote before the October half term in this journal, I was considering going into creative writing as a possible career choice! This was also made apparent by how stressful I was finding the course at this time, despite initially feeling quite optimistic about the course when it started.

It was also good to look back on my previous work, and to realise my improvement of my work during the Foundation Degree. However, I do feel that looking at my work in this journal, the end results were probably a lot better than I thought it was at the time. I do feel that it was made apparent that I didn't have that much confidence, which I feel is a great shame, because I feel I would have enjoyed the first few months of the Foundation Degree much more if I was more confident. I remember I was often comparing myself with the other students on the Foundation Degree, who all seemed to grasp what to do much easier than I did, especially in September when we were working on several small projects in one day, which I found intimidating. The work was also much more fast paced than I was used to, which I also found difficult to get used to. Also, I feel that some of the students on the Foundation Degree were quite difficult for me to get on with, but looking back it wasn't anything to do with me, it was just what they were like. In some projects I had to work with them or show them my work, and I feel that all of these things did affect my confidence, and I do wish that I had more confidence to find other people I knew to spend time with around Stafford College, even though some of them did say I could spend time with them during breaks at college. I do feel I should have definitely done this, as this would have made me much happier at college.

I also feel that the course itself was a lot to get used to, and was a much higher level of work than I was really expecting! I was especially nervous about the student debates, where we had to argue about relevant subjects to our course, and being made to do this, especially when the opinions I needed to discuss didn't reflect how I really felt, did make me feel uncomfortable and I remember not speaking very clearly and confidently either. This was especially difficult when some of the stronger characters on the course would point out the timid way I talked, which was quite difficult to take, but I don't think any of them understood how I was feeling about the new course, and all the changes that had happened since my BTEC, and this was especially hard with having Autism as well.

IRE Homework Task - Analysing Visual Images

In this task I must find six images, 3 of which are chosen by Neil, and the other 3 are of my own choosing, but must be relevant to my course (so for instance, I could choose anything which has 3D computer graphics, such as a film poster or artwork for a video game) and write a 200-400 word analysis for each one, stating what I think of it and how it makes me feel, as well as maybe estimate its purpose.

Ok, before I start writing about the images chosen by Neil, he's attached these images onto a Publisher file. Since I am now working from my Macbook Pro, I cannot open Publisher files! However, I've done a bit of searching around the internet, and found this nifty website that will allow me to convert the Publisher file into a pdf file, which I then should be able to open on my Macbook Pro! The website is pdfonline.com/convert-pdf , which I then just followed the instructions on this website, and it then sends the pdf file to your email address!

Also, I remember in the IRE module that in one week we had to look at and analyse images and  say what we thought was the meaning behind the artwork, and I think that this task will be very similar to that, and we will have to write about similar things to the things we wrote in that lesson about the different artworks, so I will use the notes and handouts I obtained from that lesson as reference, so I know what to write about.

However, I remember finding the task in the lesson that will be similar to this quite difficult, as I felt I didn't quite understand the true meanings behind the images used in the lesson

Ok I best get started. These are the three images from Neil's selection that I am going to write about.

The first image I've chosen from Neil's list of images is an image of some eggs sitting in an egg box  carving out letters that spell the word "future." The artist who made this piece of art, which I think is craft, as he has used everyday items, such as a standard egg box and has carved letters in eggs (I'm not sure that these are actual eggs, they could possibly made from clay) to spell the word "future" in a form of craft. This is probably a form of modern art, as I remember visiting a modern art gallery on my trip to Rome, and in this gallery, they made art out of the most peculiar things, and some of it was also quite basic, and they still decided that these things were some form of "art," so this image reminds me of some things from that gallery.

I think the intentions and meanings of this form of craft is to indicate and represents the beginning of animal life, which starts with an egg, and obviously new life indicates the future of our world, which is why the word "future" is carved using these eggs. 

Or maybe, in the future, the artist might want to eat some eggs, and wanted to express this by using different eggs and an egg box to spell out the word "future," meaning that he will want to eat eggs in the future.

Now I've had that thought, I could put the two ideas I've just had together to add another potential meaning to this image. Chickens lay eggs. People eat eggs. the word "future" carved in these eggs could mean that the future of the chicken's eggs is being stored into egg boxes and consumed by humans, giving the egg box more meaning. Or, of course, all my current theories could be wrong.

The second image I've chosen from Neil's selection of images is an artist's image of a white Nike trainer shoe being splashed in paint. Presumably this has been made in a digital format, such as Photoshop, intelligently using a colour scheme of yellow, blue and deep orange to add colour to the shoe. Or, what would have been more fascinating, is if the artist actually did splash a real plain, white trainer with real  colourful paint, but I'm not sure the same, neat effect would be obtained. It would look very messy, and not nearly as sophisticated as the final image. However, I do especially like how the Nike tick symbol logo has already been coloured before that part of the shoe is splashed in paint.

I think that this looks like a advertisement or sponsor by Nike for the internet browser Firefox, as this image uses similar colours to Firefox logo. I feel that the use of the white shoe represents a blank canvas or something ordinary, and that the artist is trying to get a message across to the audience to feel like they should try something new, change their normal ways, and stand out from the crowd, thus trying this internet browser, Firefox.

the third and final image I'm choosing from Neil's selection of images sees an artist using an existing image to create an alternate message on the same topic or subject in a very clever way. This has been made in a poster format, possibly digital, as I did copy the image from Neil's list of images and it is slightly blurry, which means that the image has used pixels, and has been converted into digital format. The original image in question is the logo for popular worldwide brand Coca Cola, and the artist is sending a controversial, yet truthful message about one of the ingredients in Coca Cola. I am aware that Coca Cola originally featured the drug cocaine as one of its ingredients, and the slogan, which isn't very clear, below the logo states "it's the real thing," which stresses that cocaine was a main ingredient in Coca Cola, so the artist is trying to say that the consumers of Coca Cola are actually drinking cocaine. This also indicates the origins of the brand's name, "coca" being the first 4 letters of cocaine, and "cola" being the actual drink, and cola is what other brands refer to their own version of the drink. Also, the slang abbreviation for both "Coca Cola" and "Cocaine" is known as "Coke," thus the word coke has two separate meanings. The word "enjoy" above the word "cocaine" indicates the drink's popularity amongst its consumers.

Now these are the three images I have chosen that are relevant to my course that I am going to write about.

The first image of my own independent choosing is a promotional film poster advertising the film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, made before the film was released, using a digital format and rendered images of the characters that have been made in a 3D modelling format. This is to make the audience aware that this film will be in the cinemas soon at the time of publishing the poster.

This is relevant to my studies because part of my course includes 3D animation and creating CGI content for films, such as this 3D animated film, made by Dreamworks.

In the poster, they also have to give hints of the film's plot, it being that the four main characters, Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, the animals in the cannon, are still trying to make it back to their home, Central Zoo in New York City. However, to get there, they have to join a circus, hence the circus animals in the background on the right of the poster, the location of the poster, a circus ring, and, of course, the colourful cannon. They are also wearing certain clothes you would expect circus acts to wear, such as Alex the Lion's hat, and the seal in the background's collar.

They also have the slogan at the top of the poster, "They Have One Shot to Get Back Home" which is clever because it describes the main plot of the film, and the word "shot" indicating being shot out of a cannon, which is what we can see the four main characters, the ones trying to get back to their home, inside the cannon, about to be shot out of it, as the penguin furthest away from the front is lighting the fuse of the cannon.

This poster is also appealing to it's younger target audience, with its bright colours and lighting, and the characters that feature on the poster with their comical and cartoony appearances, facial expressions and body language.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=37870409

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/nov/07/halo-4-review

The second image I've chosen myself to analyse is the front cover box art for the recently released and hotly anticipated game Halo 4 for the Xbox 360, developed by 343 Industries and produced by Microsoft Studios. This image is relevant to my studies because, basically, it's a game, and my field of study includes creating the contents of games. Similar to the Madagascar 3 poster, this image has been made digitally using renders of certain aspects of the game's contents, such as main characters, settings etc. to promote the game and make it look appealing to the target audience.

The image's purpose is to set the mood and setting of the game, showing the genre and structure of the game well, as well as show what the game's all about, all to appeal to a target audience, which is also indicated by the age rating certificate, 16+, in the bottom left hand corner of the poster, something which is required by law to include on any front cover of a game or film cover. Looking at this image, I'd say that the target audience would be mainly young adult males who love sci fi/action stories, and have quite a bit of gaming knowledge and experience, and also because this is an ongoing game in a series, an interest in the Halo series would help too.

Personally, I feel that this is a great, yet subtle example of box art. I especially love the scenery and definitely especially the lighting coming from the top of the image. They also include the mysterious main character, Master Chief, as a key element on the cover, which I feel is essential, because it instantly indicates that the game will mainly be about him, and not use a different character, which makes the game's ideas much more clear, without giving too much away, which is what you want to achieve for a front cover image for a game.

http://screencrush.com/early-movie-concept-art-wreck-it-ralph/

The final image I've chosen to analyse shows a process of concept images for a character design of the main character from Disney's latest movie, Wreck it Ralph. The concept artist has used here a variety of different media, from drawings to digital paintings, to get the final design just right for the character.

This is relevant to my studies because part of design development is to create early concept images and keep on doing so until you have a perfect design that you want to carry further in the design development process.

This process exists to show the design development and experimentation of the artist, and expresses many different ideas used in the designs, but still keeping them in a fairly similar theme. Also, this process gives the artist something to work from to create something much better than the original concept. However, as you can see, the first and last designs are extremely different, the first being more of an ugly looking monster, to the last, a large human character, with huge arms, hands and feet. However, the character designer has tried many different designs to try and reflect Wreck it Ralph's personality, character and purpose, and you can see similar traits in all of the designs, such as destructive and big and bulky but quite lost and searching for identity. Also, similar colours have been used in his early monster designs to his clothes in his human designs, mostly using different shades of red for his design, which perfectly fit certain traits of the character, such as aggression, strength, power and danger.

IRE Homework Task - Personal Influences - A Work of dance

My sister, Becky, is probably one of the most influential people in my life, and her main life long passion is dancing. She has attended dance classes pretty much all her life and is currently on her 3rd year of study at her Performing Arts College, the Centre Performing Arts College (PAC)

I have seen her in numerous dances and productions she has featured in, and has always had significant roles in every production she features in. Whenever I see her perform I always feel so proud of her, like she's just performing for me, but I know the reason she performs is because she loves performing, and is very good at it too! She achieved the top 10 highest GCSE Performing Arts grades in her year, and she has performed in many different huge venues, such as Alton Towers and the Royal Albert Hall!

She has always been amazing when I've seen her perform, and I know she puts a lot of practice, effort and hard work in all of her performances. Some of the most memorable shows I have seen her perform in include several of the local pantomimes, when I was a lot younger, a local production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (she played the Ghost of Christmas Present, and was very good at playing this character, as she could express her bubbly, fun, happy character through her role), the 2009 Alton Towers Scarefest, where she dressed up everyday as one of the three Trick or Treat witches, and the occasional zombie too - which also gave me an insight as to how zombie makeup works, especially on the teeth! I have also seen her in two productions she's performed in with The Centre PAC college, where she has had to learn and even choreograph dances and musical numbers. One short dance that she was in a main role that I can distinctly remember is a short performance called "Nursery Crimes," where she is reading a storybook full of nursery rhymes and children's characters who all seem happy and friendly at first, but soon become evil, which was really good.

She has also been working as a bluecoat in Pontins at Southport over this summer, which involved organising and taking part in activities with the children on holiday, dressing up as the different characters of the park, playing music for evening discos, bingo calling and putting on performances for the guests staying at the park. She really enjoyed this experience, and gained a lot of positive experience from working at Pontins, and also made a lot of friends from the other bluecoats and park guests.

She has done so well with her performing career so far and achieved so much, and I hope that I'll be able to do as well in my future profession, whatever that may be, as she has done with her performing.

IRE Homework Task - Personal Influences - A dramatic art (film, play, TV)

I love watching all sorts of TV shows and Films. Although now I'm older, I'd say I enjoy films more than TV, but when I was younger, there were a lot of TV shows and cartoons I watched that have heavily influenced my personal taste.

Probably like most children, I adored cartoons when I was younger, and I still do now. I especially loved watching these cartoons first thing on a Saturday morning, as well as the occasional time when I was able to watch cartoons at my grandparents's houses, because they had Sky TV and our household didn't (even though neither of my Grandads were ever too happy about letting me watch cartoons at their house. They preferred to watch sport and other stuff.) I especially loved watching Japanese style anime cartoons when I was younger, such as Pokemon, Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh. I'd say these were my top 3 favourite cartoons growing up, and I remember buying loads of merchandise from each of these shows, such as plush toys, trading cards, action figures and DVDs. I also get excited today when I occasionally see old merchandise from these shows from when I was younger, because it brings back a feeling of nostalgia, as well as when I see old toys and other merchandise that I own when I occasionally look around the house. I also get excited today when I get the chance to watch these shows from when I was younger, and often try to find clips or even episodes of these shows on YouTube or on other websites. Other cartoons I used to love watching when growing up and still get excited about today include The Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants, Fairly Odd Parents and Phineas and Ferb, and also own several DVDs of these shows and I also get excited when I see these shows on TV.

A lot of my favourite films happen to be films made by Disney. I love loads of animated classic Disney films that I watched when growing up such as Hercules, Tarzan, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Toy Story and the Lion King, and I find all of these so influential to me in so many ways, and have inspired the person I am today and what I like to do and also inspires my current interests today!

IRE Homework Task - Personal Influences - A Place

One of my favourite holidays ever was when I got the chance to go to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida with my family. Theme parks are one of my favourite genres of places to visit, and I must say my visits to the theme parks at Walt Disney World were easily the most excited I've ever been in a theme park. We were lucky enough to stay for a fortnight, and managed to visit all of the Disney World theme parks and water parks!

This holiday included some of the happiest and most precious memories I've ever had, including meeting several Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Frozone, and lesser known characters such as Lilo and Stitch, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, and Terk from Tarzan. I got my photos with all of them, and Terk gave a pretty huge hug! Frozone got me and my sister to do a superhero pose for our photo,

I also visited so many fun attractions, some of my favourites being Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, Test Track, the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and Big Thunder Mountain! These are not only some of my favourite rides and attractions at Walt Disney World, but some of my favourite rides and attractions in the whole wide world!

The parades, shows and firework displays are all so spectacular and breathtaking, and were easily some of the highlights of visiting the parks. The late evening Magic Kingdom, Epcot Illuminations and Fantasmic were all definitely the best and most magical firework displays I've ever seen and probably ever will see.

There was also so many awesome places to eat, and so many choices of restaurants, all with different varieties of food. My favourites were Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe, they were both just so extravagant and spectacular inside, and the food in there was of a substantial quality. I'd say the only thing I didn't like about a lot of the restaurants at Walt Disney World was the fact that you had to make a reservation at most places, so it was hard to find a place just for a quick bite to eat. Thankfully, there were some decent places to eat that provided quick and easy food, such as Pizza Planet, which also had an amusement arcade in the restaurant!

The weather was also lovely for the time of year we went (March/April), brilliant weather for the theme parks! I also bought a special fan that squirted cool water because it was quite hot, and even got a bit sunburned in the water parks! Speaking of the water parks, both are so much fun. I loved the Lazy River and Wave Pool in Typhoon Lagoon, and the Family Waterslide at Blizzard Beach. One unfortunate thing that did happen at Blizzard Beach was that I cut my little toe, and because the water park is based on a beach setting, I got sand in the cut, so it was pretty painful. I had to be took to the medical room in the water park, who gave me a plaster for my toe and then had to buy some special shoes I could wear underwater that I still have and still fit me today, so I can use them whenever I want!

I also got to play a game that hadn't been released in Europe at the time, that I was really looking forward to, more than any other game I've ever wanted - Super Smash Bros. Brawl! So really, with all of this, it was easily one of the best holiday I've had in my life so far! I'd love to go again! I enjoyed it so much, and feel that it is such an inspirational place which makes so many people happy and so many people aspire to go to. I aspire to go again as many times as I can in my lifetime and to take my future children there on holiday as many times as they wish to.

IRE Homework Task - Personal Influences - A possession

I feel lucky in the fact that I have been able to experience owning many possessions, so it is really hard to just choose one.

I suppose I should look more at what I tend to enjoy doing in my spare time. I'd say I spend a lot of time on a computer of some sort, so a more recent possession I've acquired that I'd say influences me is my new Macbook Pro which I've only had for about a week now at the time of writing. That as well as the home computer. I can also be very creative on a computer, and also enjoy doing so, whether that be creating a 3D model in  Maya, creating posters or even pieces of writing/text. I also love browsing the internet, frequently visiting websites such as Facebook, to keep in touch with friends and see their thoughts and how they are doing with their lives and YouTube, to watch videos of interest, whether they be humorous, However, I wouldn't consider this to be a main influential possession.

I'd say that my main possessions that inspire me are some of the things that interest me most, video games, music and fashion. I do own a lot of clothes, and like to dress well, and can very independently choose my own personal style of fashion, and I do enjoy shopping for and choosing my own clothes but again, I wouldn't say my clothes wouldn't be my main influential possession.

I have always loved playing video games since I got my first ever games console one Christmas, a Game Boy Color, and since then I have owned many different games consoles, including a PS2, PS3, PSP, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, and most recently, and possibly one of my favourite of all these consoles, my Nintendo 3DS. I do especially love Nintendo games, I love their bright, colourful worlds and characters, and have really enjoyed playing these games on the Nintendo consoles growing up. I'd say my favourite Nintendo games have been the Super Mario, Pokemon, and Super Smash Bros. games. I also especially love, probably even more than these games, the Sonic the Hedgehog and Kingdom Hearts games.

I have also always loved listening to music, and I feel that Apple's iPod Touch (I wish I had an iPhone, but they are so expensive) is a wonderful invention and I hardly ever leave the home without it. I love how I can have all my favourite songs with me at all times. I'd say my iPod Touch and my Nintendo 3DS are my most influential possessions, because I hardly ever leave he house without them.

IRE Homework Task - Personal Influences - A significant event

A most significant event I can think of that has really helped me with my independence, self confidence, self belief and my outlook on life and friendship would have to be my trip to Rome with college, which happened in February 2012.

I don't really know where to start with talking about Rome. I just loved it. I loved the whole experience. Ok, the ways where it has influenced and developed me as a person are, first of all, it was the first time I went on "holiday" (I know it wasn't technically a holiday, but still, it felt like one) without my parents, and it was the first time I have been in another country without my parents, so that was a huge thing about the whole Rome experience already, even though I did find it a little tough at first.

Also, a lot of people went on the Rome Trip, most I hadn't met before, because they were from different courses. For starters, I didn't even know two of the five people that I shared a room with (the five including myself) before the Rome trip, and I certainly met a lot of other people on the trip who all seemed to like me a lot. Some of them still go to college but are studying an Art Foundation Diploma, and to be honest, before their course ends at the end of this year I would like to get to know the people that were on the Rome trip that are studying this course this year a bit better, at least so that they'll remember and think of me as a good friend when they leave.

This trip, along with meeting all these new people, also taught me a lot about friendship and did improve my confidence quite a lot. I think since then I have noticed that people genuinely like me, although with some people that is still hard for me to notice. I did also have a great time with my friends that I did already know who made the trip so memorable and so much fun. I also received many compliments from my current friends, the tutors and the people I had met on the trip, who all said what a nice, brave, good hearted, friendly and strong character I was, and these compliments have stayed with me since the trip.