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.

IRE Homework Task - Personal Influences - A Person

To be honest there have been a lot of people that have influenced me throughout my whole life, including the people who have helped me a lot as well as members of my family.

First of all there's my mum. Recently she has had to look after a lot of people from recovering from illnesses and operations, such as my nan, my mum's friend Pauline, and an elderly friend of the family. She has got to be one of the most kind, caring and selfless people I have ever met, and I always enjoy the time I spend with her.

I wouldn't say I looked up to dad, but he has helped me so much throughout my entire life, especially with helping me get through school and college so far. I honestly don't think I would have achieved nearly as much in my life if it wasn't for dad. He has also taught me a lot of valuable life skills, and I feel, although sometimes wrongly, I can talk to him about anything.

I'd say my sister, Becky, has been one of my biggest influences and role models throughout my whole life. We have loads of fun together, and I really cherish the memories I have of spending time with her. She is a very happy, bubbly and fun person to be around who can really cheer me up when I see her. She has often helped me when I'm feeling down and we do get on extremely well most of the time, even though she can be moody sometimes.

 I am also very proud of what she has achieved in her life, she is an excellent performing arts student and has had many performing jobs, such as being part of 2009's Alton Towers Scarefest and performing with her performing arts college at the Royal Albert Hall! This proves a huge ambition in her, which will help her to achieve even more huge things in the future.

Another person I'd say I look up to, and although I've always worried that this may sound a bit cheesy and inappropriate, but one of the lecturers at college, Mark. I just remember when I started college how welcome and at ease he made me feel at college and how friendly he was towards all the students, including myself. I also like how he seemed to get on well with EVERYONE and had a great sense of humour, but still had time for the students and would listen to any worries they might have had and would always reassure them. I actually found myself feeling that there were a lot of qualities in his personality I wished I had myself!

IRE Homework Task - David Smith - Questions to Students

For this task I will have to choose 6 questions from a list of 44 from David Smith's Questions to Students, written about 1953 and answer each question with 100 words or so.

3. Are you a balanced person with many interests and diversions?

I feel I am a balanced person who enjoys many different things. I feel it's important to have many different interests, because I feel they help you to become a much more interesting person and you'll have much more to say about yourself to people who want to get to know you. I think having many interests and diversions helps you to feel a lot better about yourself as a person. I'd say that my interests include games, films, music, TV and activities I enjoy doing in my spare time include drawing, writing, holidays and going to the gym and I enjoy sports such as swimming, volleyball and ice skating.

10. Do you think art can be something it was before? Can you challenge the ancients?

I feel it's very important for art to be inspired by old and ancient history, in many different forms, such as film, media, music and architecture, because I feel that if we lost touch of ancient history in art the art world would be less diverse and interesting, and also doesn't give us the chance to improve on the mistakes made in the old days. There is a lot we can learn from the old days and a lot we can take inspiration from. However, it is important that if we do make art inspired by the past that we make it feel real and nostalgic and not dated.

11. Have you examined the echoes of childhood and first learning, which may have once given you the solutions? Are any of these expectancies still operating on your choices?

I'll try to answer this question as to the best I can and to try and understand it best. I do feel I have changed a lot since I was a child. However, I do still feel very curious about the world and about my peers and how they think, something I've always been interested in. I feel that the world is a positive place and get very upset with the slightest injustice or lack of logic in people or technology. I love discovering new things and I feel I am adventurous. So I do feel that some traits have stayed with me since my childhood.

17. Do you think your work should hold within tradition?

I feel that creativity is one of the most important qualities a person can have, and I feel that if people kept to tradition, nothing would change and life could be quite boring. However, it is not a bad thing to be inspired by art, or people, and use that to help develop your work or ideas, and if you need to, you can use guidelines, but I feel that it is important to not let the world conform or suppress you as a person, people should have their own ideas and opinions.

35. Are you afraid to work from your own experience without leaning on the crutches of subject and the rational?

I'm not afraid at all to work from my own experience. In fact, I feel that art is a great way to express one's innermost feelings, whether that be what makes them happy, sad, angry etc. as well as using life experiences to help influence art. It also helps the public relate to the artist through art. In fact, I would find it extremely difficult to work on a project if I couldn't express myself or my interests through the project, because I feel I wouldn't enjoy projects as much if I didn't express my feelings through them.

43. Do you ever feel that you don't know where to go in your work, that the challenge is beyond immediate solution?

Sometimes I do feel I need some time to think about what to do in my work before I attempt or continue the work, and sometimes I can get stuck with my work, and I can feel unsure of how to solve the problem straightaway. I feel that it is also important to take frequent breaks in your work not only to relax yourself, but to reflect on your work, how you've found the challenge, and what you can do. I don't like being rushed with my work. I recall a line in the film Toy Story 2 that I can relate to, which says "you can't rush art!"

RLJ 25/10/12 (2 months until Xmas, last day before half term!!!!!!!)

This morning we had to present our PowerPoint presentations we created yesterday to the class. Felt happy with my presentation, even though I knew I hadn't finished everything for this module that was required of me yet at this point, which Neil did point out, but I do feel I need to speak up when I'm unsure of anything and ask for help when these situations occur.

After the PowerPoints were presented, and because it's DEADLY DEADLINE DAY, it was time to finish stuff off! I have now rendered 3 images of my enclosure today, as well as improving our RLJ blogs, which for me, I had to put references into appropriate places in the blog, as well as talk about my influences outside of college, such as the paragraph about Avengers which helped me in one of the debates.

One thing I've felt today, maybe because of Neil's criticism, and what other students have said, I've noticed that I feel I am quite good at writing about things, especially in these blogs and in my spare time as well, and I was thinking that, after this course, it could be a possible thing to go into to improve on for maybe a possible career path.

MY RENDERS! I put these off until now because I do not feel confident in rendering, but it's actually one of the easiest things to do in Maya!

24/10/12

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svfjfsjlfv (which translates to I AM REALLY TIRED AND I WISH IT WAS HALF TERM!)

Today and tomorrow we will have to finish off any work we feel like we need improving on. I started by trying to open the previous save files for my Penguin Pool project, because today I WANTED to rig and animate my penguin. However, the texturing of the penguin I had done at home in the week, which I used the unwrapping technique for, a technique that I learned on my previous course, had gone all funny when I opened the unwrapped penguin file at college. The unwrap of the penguin had gone all over the place, so this freaked me out a little, and this made me feel like it was unsafe to start rigging and animating so I left it.

My penguin UV Mapping

What my textured penguin looked like BEFORE I brought it to college.

What my textured penguin looked like when I brought it to college. I've had this problem before, so it didn't shock me as much as it has before.

Instead, I continued on texturing my enclosure, using the lovely ice textures I found in my spare time. I eventually managed to finish texturing the enclosure by the end of the morning, however, texturing the enclosure was more frustrating than I thought it would be, because after a certain point with my texturing (after combining the slide with the rest of the model) some of the textures just kept on disappearing when I went to Planar map the textures. I did manage to complete the texturing though, so I managed to get through it all.

I then had a bit of spare time in the morning, so I just did a little bit of spare 3D practice, so I thought it would be good to model SPONGEBOB!! I didn't get terribly too far with it though, but I felt it was good practice of the extrude and edge loop tools in Maya.

After lunch, Neil gave me some feedback for my blog, saying that I needed to put more references to research and talk more about things that inspire me to do with the course. He also said that it does get a little bit too personal in some areas for a college journal, and said that there was one point, which to be honest I couldn't remember typing up at all, that I mentioned what I had for lunch! Other than this, I don't think he had too many problems with my RLJ, and I think that if I put in more references in my journal and talk about my influences outside of college, it will improve my journal writing greatly and hopefully improve my grade.

This afternoon I also started to create a PowerPoint presentation on this module, Understanding New Media, which will include all the little projects I have done in this module, what I have learned from this module and also about the project I think I was most successful in, which in my case, is the Penguin Pool. I finished the PowerPoint this evening, ready to present for tomorrow, which I feel really pleased with and I feel that it will explain well what I have been doing over the past 6 weeks.

RLJ 23/10/12

Today at college we had to show our PowerPoint presentations to the class, which I worked on last night to perfect it as much as possible before today. I did complete it the weekend before last, but there was a lot of text on some of my slides before today, so I had to narrow it down a bit before I presented my presentation to the class. Each student was given a specific different art form or movement to study and make a PowerPoint presentation which should last for around 4-5 minutes each, so that all the students can present something.

My presentation was about Op Art, an art movement which was in force around the mid 20th Century that experimented with making optical illusions in art. I did find researching Op Art very fascinating, and genuinely interesting, which is what I was initially worried about when I was given Op Art to research.

I was 3rd to present my presentation on Op Art, which I feel went reasonably well, especially considering I find it quite difficult to present things in front of people and talk about them for a specific amount of time. My presentation included a brief introduction to what Op Art is, about the history of Op Art and the Op Art movement, some of the most influential Op Artists, such as Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley, and some pieces of Op Art I personally like, especially one that links to a website where you can create music with Op Art!

I was very pleasantly surprised with how supportive all the other students in the class were towards each other, because the class applauded after every presentation, including mine, despite the fact I nearly forgot to eject my memory stick from the hard drive! I was also glad that I managed to finally learn everybody's names, apart from the New Media students, which I have already learned the names of.

Websites I used for research for my PowerPoint presentation on Op Art include:

http://www.op-art.co.uk/

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/o/opart.html

http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/op_art.htm

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-op-art.htm

http://www.masterworksfineart.com/inventory/vasarely/vasarely.php

http://tonematrix.audiotool.com/

RLJ 18/10/12

This Thursday was quite an unusual Thursday, as we were only in for the morning, because the second years had got 1 to 1 tutorials with Neil this afternoon.

This morning I just did what I thought I'd be doing, which is working on my penguin enclosure and building a penguin in Maya. At the end of this morning I was really surprised with myself, about how calmly I was working, and how unstressful (don't know if that's a word or not, but explains how I found the work) I found working on the Penguin brief today. I was also surprised with how much I got done today as well, because I managed to pretty much finish modelling the enclosure AND the penguin this morning, so I feel I've done really well this morning, and I'm really pleased with my progress. I think I'm going to try and texture everything this weekend, ready to rig and animate the penguin on Wednesday. I had to be reminded how to copy over half of my penguin model so he's a whole penguin, by a process known as 'Mirror Geometery' under the 'Mesh' menu. I found that there was also a few minor issues with Maya today as well when making my enclosure. I sometimes found it hard to insert edge loops, as well as merging and bridging the platforms of my enclosure. However, I've enjoyed building the 'fun element' of my enclosure, which is a penguin slide!

How far I got with my enclosure today, which I was very pleasantly surprised with how far I got today.

How far I got with modelling my penguin today.

This afternoon after lunch (during lunch I spoke to someone who had brought a heavy bag to college containing two hundred comic books in it! That's crazy!) I decided to meet Lisa, my support, to talk about things that have been bothering me, and my progress at college from when I started college in the Interactive media years! She said that, despite struggles this week, that I have managed to overcome them and have done very well to do so, and was pleased that, during lunch, I just walked around the top floor of the Broad Eye Building where my friends from the Rome Trip work, and I will try to socialise a bit more with them if I can either next week or over half term. She also mentioned that I have coped with things a lot better than when I first started going to college, which, after speaking to Lisa today, I am now starting to realise myself what she means by this.

I feel this week started out to be quite tough, but I am pleased with how I have managed to get through it and that everything turned out to go quite well in the end.

RLJ 17/10/12

Because I was feeling worried about a lot of things this morning, and I was feeling nervous about today at college, first thing this morning seemed a nightmare. We were told we had to do another student debate, which I really didn't enjoy last time we had to do a student debate, so the surprise of this really got me upset, along with the other things that I was upset about before this morning and last night. I also thought we were just continuing with our penguin enclosures and stuff today as well, which was already stressing me out enough, because of all I have to do for it. I had to leave the room for a while, as it did take me a while to calm down, but when I got back into the classroom I actually found the research for this debate quite easy to find, which was about "Outsourcing," which is basically when a major company hires a smaller company to do a job for them for cheaper prices. Our argument was for why Outsourcing is a good idea, so I researched into the countries involved with Outsourcing.

Websites I used to research outsourcing include:

Pros & Cons of Global Outsourcing of Jobs | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6586144_pros-cons-global-outsourcing-jobs.html#ixzz29Y1rwgiC

http://www.3drenderingindia.net/

I felt the actual debate went much better than last time. Even though I'm not the best at speaking clearly, I felt I spoke a lot more clearly and confidently, and had a lot more to talk about than in the previous student debates. Neil said that he was very pleased as well with how I got the social contexts of Outsourcing across in my argument, and my other classmates and Linda even said I had done well, and managed to cope with everything eventually.

After lunch I started to continue with my penguin enclosure in Maya for a bit, but 10 minutes later Neil wanted to talk to me outside the classroom because he could tell that I've found this half term quite difficult, in terms of work, socialising, and even things at home. I really appreciated this chat with Neil, and I feel I got a lot out of it, and I felt it gave me the chance to tell Neil how I've been feeling about a lot of things too.

Neil reassured me that I am doing well with my work and my RLJ, and also gave me constructive advice about my work, saying that it would be good if I started looking in books that could inspire me with my work (Neil knew I like Disney stuff, which I was surprised about, so he recommended some books, including Infinity and Beyond, which I have seen in the college library). He also mentioned referencing in my RLJ, such as inserting Youtube videos and website links into my RLJ too. Neil also mentioned that I will need to accept that I will need to respect other student's opinions as well, which I feel I do already, but maybe some people might think I don't. We talked about what I'd be doing after half term at college, which is making an interactive museum display, and mentioning that it would be good if, over half term, I visited a museum to see what kinds of things are there.

He also said, to help me, that it is important that I looked at the module handbooks, just so I know what to expect in the lessons, and that it is quite a huge difference in the intensity of the course from BTEC courses to Degree courses.

Another issue I've been having is that I sometimes struggle to know where to go or who to hang out with in my college breaks, and Neil did surprisingly give me some advice about this, his advice being to see what the people I knew from the Rome trip were doing at lunch, because the majority of them have their classes on the top floor of the Broad Eye Building, just one floor above us, and said that he's sure they wouldn't mind me just turning up outside their classroom on lunch breaks, something I was worried about doing, if I chose to go up there and see what my friends from the Rome trip were doing. This did make me feel a lot better about seeing the people from the Rome trip at college breaks, and I might go up there just to see what's happening tomorrow. One of the students, Alex, did say that if I did want to meet him or any of my other friends from the Rome Trip, that I'd be more than welcome to join them up there.

After the chat there wasn't really much time to do much more work, so I just typed everything up on my journal. Tough day, but turned out to go very well in the end.

RLJ 16/10/12

Felt very sleepy in this afternoon's lesson, today was just one of those days where I'm just tired from when I wake up to when I go to sleep. HALF TERM NEEDS TO HURRY UP!

In this afternoon's lesson, to start off with we discussed influences, and Neil showed us a lot of his influences from a wide variety of categories, such as non fiction text, fiction text, TV, film, places, buildings, people, music, even in dance! This did make me think quite a lot, because I feel I do have many different influences in a lot of different areas. Neil also handed out this student questionaire written by David Smith (I think that was his name) in 1953.

Also discussed ILPs as well as going through what is expected of us next week with our PowerPoints. I started and finished my PowerPoint I need to present to the class on Op Art this weekend.

Still feel bothered about a couple of things regarding college that wasn't much of a problem last year. I'm still finding it hard to make friends with the Foundation Degree students, and I feel that it's going to be hard to now because everyone now seems in a comfortable circle of friends. I do have friends in college that aren't in the classes I'm in but I only really see them by chance. I really wish there was more consistency in who I spend time with during my breaks at college, and I hope I'll still be able to get further help with this, and I feel I would enjoy and look forward to coming to college a lot more if I did have more consistency with friendships, because right now, I only really see the people I consider friends from other courses by chance.

RLJ 11/10/12 (Mum's Birthday!)

Because today was my mum's birthday, and we're sure to celebrate, I was hoping that today's lesson wouldn't be too challenging, even though we were gong to start a new design brief in designing an enclosure suitable for penguins, which will include us researching into penguin enclosures, environments and buildings made in 3D, and 3D animated penguins and other characters, which we'll have to use to design the enclosure, build it in Maya, and build and animate a penguin to go into the enclosure. And we have to do all this in 2 weeks! It's going to be tough, and a lot of work to be crammed into finishing before the end of October.

When I first got the brief, I started to think of a clear plan in my head of how I would manage my time in my project, because I was also thinking a lot about other commitments in my life, as well as other things. At first I was happy with this plan, because I didn't think that I would have too much to do at any one time but Neil did mention that I didn't leave any time for potential errors in this project, so I thought I would try to adjust my original plan slightly, and, after thinking about it, I feel that there are some things in my original plan I could try to adjust. I don't really want to spend too much time modelling my penguin, so I should be able to finish that next week.

As I was starting to research, I thought of a lot of things that I could use in the research at home, and I was thinking throughout that I would have preferred to do the research and development sketches at home, ready to build in Maya at college for next week. I actually thought of quite a few characters that could help me build my penguin though, and found a few good examples of enclosures for penguins, as well as researched into the penguin's natural habitat, the requirements for these fussy penguins to live in, such as they all need to live near water, and some species are adapted to colder climates, whereas others will live in warmer and more rocky areas. All species of penguin live in the southern hemisphere too.

Several sources that helped me with my research include:

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/family-vacations-in-missouri4.htm

http://antarctica.kulgun.net/Animals/Penguins/HVzoo.jpg

http://penguins.neaq.org/2011/10/faq-where-do-penguins-sleep-at-night.html

File:Beijing Zoo penguin.JPG

http://nothingbutpenguins.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/London-Zoo-Penguin-Pool-Beach1.jpg

These websites all had decent enclosures I liked, that I thought could inspire my enclosure design.

http://www.penguins-world.com/penguin-habitat.html

This website discussed penguin habitats and living requirements, which really helped me to understand what kinds of things I need to include in my penguin pool in order for the penguins to live, such as water.

http://www.penguinstones.com/images/penguin.jpg

squidoo.com

topwalls.net

http://www.ask-gratitude.com/images/happy-feet-1.jpg

redmondpie.com

space.angrybirds.com

juliustamala.wordpress.com

These websites included penguin characters that I could take inspiration from.

I also gained primary research from the following places:

Wii Fit Plus (Penguin Game)

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (Waterpark scene)

Madagascar (Penguin scene, "smile and wave, boys")

and also for inspiration for waterslides to make it fun for the little penguins:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/blizzard-beach/attractions/

http://www.caravan-butlins.com/whatson.html

Seeing as I associate penguins with living in the cold, I want to design an enclosure best suited to the species of penguin that like to live in the cold, so I researched icy habitats, as seen in the film Happy Feet. However, as I felt a bit rushed to think of ideas today, I'm not 100% happy with my sketches of my enclosure designs so far. I also wanted to try and add an element of fun and creativity to my enclosure design, so I would like to try and include something natural that the penguins can play with, such as a slide or something along those lines. Maybe even a sledge made out of ice, because penguins can also be associated with Christmas, but that may not be very practical.

As I have said, I'm not terribly pleased with my sketches yet, as I've felt that I have been rushed for ideas, and a lot of information has been given out about what is expected of us in this brief today, and I would have felt a lot better if I had a bit more time to think of enclosure ideas, and I think this would produce better ideas. I have also noticed something significant about myself today. I have noticed that I tend to do things in my own way, rather than in the ways other people want me to do things. This shows to me that I am very much my own person and maybe quite free spirited.

RLJ 10/10/12

In today's lesson we were all trying to finish off and/or improve any of the small projects we have been doing over the past few weeks . Since I felt that my plane and animation from last week needed the most finishing off and improving, I decided to mainly work on them today, to try and finish them off and hand them in before 3pm today.


All I really had to do for my plane this morning was make and attach the wheels. Sounds simple, but was actually really tricky, even though I did try and find a source image of the plane wheels for reference. The middle wheels were the most difficult, and didn't really look right, but I felt it would be best to just leave it for now. It was only to show how good I am at 3D modelling and what areas I need improving on. I'm pleased with the overall plane though, and have enjoyed making it.

This afternoon I improved my 3D animation of the tennis match, which I wasn't happy with when I last left it. I was so pleased with how much more I had done to it this afternoon. I had not only finished the entire animation, but I managed to texture the ghosts as well as the stage and ball as well, by just basically using the planar mapping technique, but I now feel so much better and so much happier about my 3D animation.

Very good and productive day.

RLJ 9/10/12

Today's lesson started later than usual, so this afternoon's lesson wasn't too hard.

Today we had to review over what we have learned about the RLJs, and fill out a short and simple quiz sheet about them, such as what is a reflective learning journal, what you write in there, what is reflective writing etc. The class gave out quite a lot of good answers, and a lot of relevant points were made, such as the D.A.T.A cycle (Describe, analyse, theorise, act) helps with reflective writing, how we need to keep the journals relevant to our learning, and that we should update them regularly.

We then had to work in groups (I was with the first year New Media students) to comment and judge on other students previous RLJs, and say what we thought about the content (writing, images structure) write down a way to improve it, write down good things about it and say how it would influence our current RLJs. To be honest this drove me mad, because at this point I felt I was the only one doing what I was supposed to be doing. One guy kept the RLJ we were supposed to be looking at to himself pretty much, without really discussing what was in the journal, another was doing nothing but drawing, and another was watching/distracting/talking to the guy who spent all his time drawing, so it was very difficult to actually discuss what we were supposed to be doing as a group. At the end, the journal we were given to look through was quite poor, lacked any images explaining what it is he was writing about, and we noticed that he hadn't updated his RLJ as regularly as he's supposed to.

Afterwards we were asked as a group to grade the journal on our table, as well as the ones the other groups in the class were looking at, and then discussed with the rest of the class.

Afterwards, we briefly spoke about the PowerPoint presentations we will need to present to the rest of the class soon, in two weeks, and advice that could potentially help us in creating and presenting the PowerPoint, such as planning, practicing, keeping it simple, as we won't have long to present these presentations, only about 4-5 minutes, breaking it down and not getting too stressed about it. All very good things to remember when doing these presentations, or really, any work.

I think after today I have learned a lot more about keeping on track with my RLJ, as well as things that we are and are not supposed to write in them, and I feel myself from working in that group that I have learned how to be more assertive and I've learned I need to try and improve my leadership skills, and these are skills I want to work on. I also felt I was very patient with the group I was in, because at times, because they were mostly messing around, and this did really annoy me. I still want to try and make some close friends at college, whether they're people from my course/classes or not, and whether I know them or not, because I feel if I did have some close friends who I could see during my college breaks, I would be a lot happier at college. Jane, my support, was also a very big help today in helping me keep calm and coping with today's lesson.

RLJ 4/10/12

After yesterday I was still feeling a bit down and doubting my own ability a bit. To start with we were still continuing with our animations (not happy with mine, looks like a disaster)

Today Neil wanted us to make a 747 plane in Maya from an plan image displaying what it should look like from the front, the top, and the side. We had to separate these plan images in Photoshop and alter the scale of  these images so that they're all a good size to create a 3D plan blueprint for the plane. To do this, Neil went through how to import these images into Maya and then showed us a better way to make the model using the plan images, by creating a box that was size equivalent to our images.

Plan images we needed to edit in Photoshop before applying them for textures for our image boxes in Maya.

Learned how to reverse the normals in Maya, which basically means you can see the model from the inside out. We then had to attach this to a layer, similar to Photoshop, and make the layer a Reference type layer, so we don't keep on clicking on the box when modelling the actual plane from these source images.

An early development image for the plane in Maya, which shows a reversed textured image box, so that it's easier for me to know what I'm building in Maya. 

We continued to build the plane for the rest of the day, which I did really enjoy doing, and I am really pleased with the progress I have made today.

How far I got by the end of the day with my plane. I feel really pleased with how much I've got done today, and feel really pleased with my progress, feeling much better than yesterday.

However, one thing that's worrying me in particular is how well I'm getting on with the people on my course, because I feel I probably don't interact with them as much as they interact with each other, even though I feel that there are a few that I feel I get on with quite well. I've also been thinking about the possibility of meeting up with people I know in college from other courses during my breaks at college, because I've been very lonely during all my college breaks this week, which to be honest has affected my mood both in and outside of college. I spoke to Lisa, my support about this, and she  gave me advice in if I wanted to meet up with some of my other friends in college from other courses, I should try and message them over Facebook or something like that, asking if they did want to meet up during college breaks. I feel this is good advice, but I feel I would need some extra help in knowing what to say, and also finding the confidence in asking them to meet up during college breaks. I feel that gaining the confidence to ask people if they wanted to meet up during college breaks would be something I would really like to work towards, and also feeling sure myself that these people I want to meet up with also want to meet up with me during college breaks.

RLJ 2/10/12

In this afternoon's lecture we had to learn about essays, which we were warned would be quite boring and may be quite stressful, but I didn't find it too stressful at all. Yes, it is very hard to make essays exciting, but what was said today makes sense to me, and most of it was stuff I already knew from my previous course, as we had to write a few essays on the first year of my old college course (I wrote an essay about Dory from Finding Nemo on my last course, and had to describe in the essay what made her such a likeable character).

We reflected on different styles of writing, and what they involve, including essays, case studies (or, as I wrote in my notes, "cake studies"), evaluations and the RLJs, and discussed how essays are a lot less personal and tend to be written in the 3rd person, the opposite applies for the other styles of writing.

In the middle of the lesson we had to split into teams for this quick quiz which we needed to identify the artists of different artworks that they have created. I was teamed up with a very friendly woman who has got a teenage daughter who's going on a school trip to Barcelona, but couldn't really remember her name. We got on very well, which is good, because I still don't know what to think of the other first years on my New Media course yet, and if I'd consider them as friends.

After break, I shared some Haribo Goldbears with the class, and Neil then went on to teach us about referencing, something I have done before with essays as well as other projects that involve researching, but is quite difficult to get used to, knowing from my previous experiences, but Neil did try to make it as clear as he could. Jane, my support, also mentioned that there is a Harvard Referencing guide in our student planners.

After the lesson I spoke with Jane, until my bus came, and reflected on the lesson and how I was coping and how I feel I was coping. Jane seems to think I’m getting on a lot better with the New Media students than I think I am, and that she thinks I’m doing very well in the lessons she supports me in. We also briefly spoke about how difficult I found it last week, as well as her son had managed to sell his motorbike for £300! Also, between us, we couldn’t remember the names of any of the art or photography students, but we will try to next week.