9B: Collapsus Review

Here is the link to Collapsus, the trans-media experience.

Collapsus

And here is my audio response.

9A: Video Game Presentation Critique (The Good, The Bad, The Terrible, And the Hilarious.)

While I feel that our video game presentation went over well, I do think that there were a few things that didn't come across too well.  The first thing that didn't come across that well is how we expressed our delimiter in terms of gameplay.  I feel that we didn't really give a good indication how the trinkets would work as a delimiter itself in order to balance some of the gameplay.  The trinkets themselves were kind of difficult to describe, but what we should have really focused on was how much they affect gameplay.  I think the best way to describe the trinkets would have been to describe how the trinkets improved as you increased your luck attribute.

The next thing that I think we struggled to explain was the concept of our attributes.  Albeit, it is difficult to describe some these attributes when all six of them were synonyms of each other, but we could have done a bit better job describing how they affect you in game.  For example, we could have described a bit more in detail how karma could affect conversations with other people.  

With all of this being said, I do feel that the most difficult thing to discuss to the class is how to explain the rules of the game.  The rules are how all of the internal organization of the game provides context and structure for the game, such as how we utilized the attributes in combination with the trinkets in order to create a certain amount of depth for the game.  Trying to fully explain how the rules all mesh together in order to make the game can be difficult because in a lot of ways we are still developing the rules as we think of them.  I do feel that in a lot of ways, certain rules are set as ground work for the rest of the game while other rules are implemented as time progress' in order balance certain subjects of the game.  In a lot of ways, I do feel that making a game more of a continual process rather than something that is completely planned, down to the last detail.  Much like all media, we still have changes that we make while we make games, and trying to get all of the rules together is difficult to do when you are just starting.  

8B: Critiques of Other Character Animation

John Esterkamp/Pete Fumosa Hero/Villain Animation:

(Unfortunately, I'm having issues getting their animations to come over to my page, so I'm posting the link to their blog post itself.)

JT/Pete's Animations

The first thing that I would like to talk about is how both Mr. Doctor and Larry the Lawyer contrasted with each other so well.  Right from the get go, you see that Mr. Doctor and Larry the Lawyer are going to the best of enemies, (and by that I mean they hate each other with a passion).  This extreme contrast comes in most apparently with the heavy use of color that both JT and Pete apply to expert effect.  With the two characters, we see that they both employ red and blue hues in order to display their hero (blue) and their villain (red).  The use of blue and red may be a bit overused in terms of color alignment, it still manages to let us know more about the story of these characters through the use of contrasting colors

Likewise, the saturation of the colors also manages to contrast with each other.  The dark red of Larry the Lawyer presents a bold defiance to Mr. Doctor's light, majestic blue.  Within each picture, we also see a nice use of brightness, which shows Larry the Lawyer in a darker setting in order to display his more villainous persona while Mr. Doctor was shown in a brighter setting, which gave him more of a heroic persona.

Over all, I felt that Mr. Doctor and Larry the Lawyer were very good concepts.  The whole judge vs. corrupt lawyer was extremely unique, and it really added a breath of fresh air to the rest of the super powered pantheon that was presented in the class.

Craig Browne/Ryan Priestle Hero/Villian Animation:

While I do feel that the animation for hero was a bit short, I did like the two characters that were made.  I felt that there was a good use of Tension and Release within each character animation.  With the hero's animation, we see an old man who is about to be attacked by street thugs, which creates tension as we await to see what happens next.  This is promptly released when the thug falls from the sky and the hero steps in to save the elder.  Likewise, in the villain's animation, we see the villain approaching the armored car, and this creates a bit of tension as we wait to see what he's going to do.  This tension is released when the villain blows up the car and gets the cash from inside, which actually releases that tension pretty humorously.

From here, I would like to make note that Ryan and Craig did a really good job with the movements of the characters.  The most notable of these movements is parallel movement in the villain's animation, which is showcased as he moves across the screen in a simple manner, just a left to right movement.  The hero animation is a bit more complicated than that, and as such it uses overlapping movements in order to get all of the action in.  The best example would be when the two thugs are running away when the hero arrives to save the elder.  Finally, the arrival of the hero in his animation shows a bit of "weight" in his landing.  If you'll notice, the hero squashes a little bit when he lands and then stretches back out, which shows us that the animators did a good job with the landing animation.  That weight gave a bit more realism to the scene, which let it all come together quite nicely in the end.

Dylan Brown does not have his animation posted at the time of this post.  

8A: Superhero Powers, AWAY!!!! (This American Life)

The Link to This American Life

This American Life

My Audio Link

10A: Freak Factor (Or How I Came to Love These Articles)

Again, here is the link to my topic so that we can all see it.

Freak Factor

#2: What's My Problem?
Now, the first of these topics that I want to cover is point number two, or "What's My Problem?"  The reason why I want to focus on this one first is because this passage displays a lot of insight into what we call weaknesses and what they actually are: clues that lead to our true strengths.  For the author of the article, his independent and outspoken nature, which were things that people in society deemed weaknesses, actually helped him land a job working as a consultant, which favors people of these dispositions.  It's not that the weaknesses brought him down to this, but instead, it's that the weaknesses lead him to his career.

In a way, I feel that this might be how we all found out where we want to go with our lives.  The idea is that you spend time learning about what your "weaknesses" are in stages from our toddler days all the way up to our years in high school.  From there, we assess our "weaknesses"and determine how to go forth into the world from there.  Our weaknesses aren't a disadvantage, they're a way of guidance, and we all need to learn where and how to go about doing things as we grow and learn.

#3: Flawless: There's Nothing Wrong With You
This passage was an interesting one for me to read; partially due to the chart that the author provides on the page of this passage, and partially due to the examples that author used to describe some of these weaknesses.  Reading through the chart, I can find a few things that fit with my personality.  I seem to have strengths such as being reflective, responsible, and humble.  How did I come upon these conclusions you ask?  I looked at what the weaknesses were, which included things such as being shy and boring, which I do feel are kind of adequate in telling me who I am.

The next half of the passage showed a multitude of people taking their perceived weaknesses and disadvantages and using them in a way that benefitted them.  The disorganization point actually reminded me a few other articles that I've read, as it mentioned how Alexander Fleming and Albert Einstein came across their discoveries.  Later, the author discussed how several business owners were able to get started even though they had dyslexia, which shows how we will use what our weaknesses as inspiration or a drive for completing our goals.  Lastly, and the one that I felt a little uplifted by, was the addiction section, which described how a former drug addict changed his addiction and wound up creating a better life for himself.  This one is big because it shows what people can do by finding ways to alter their weaknesses in order to gain strengths.

#6: Focus: You Can't Do Both
The last passage that I wanted to cover was #6 because I feel that the example used in the passage was very interesting and relevant.  It showed that the best way to really maximize your output was to just focus on the strengths that you have.  The Wal-Mart/Target/K-Mart example really showed what it means to have focus and what can happen if we overwhelm ourselves in an attempt to appease everyone.  I do feel at times that I've been trying to strike a balance, but this section has lead me to look more for my personal strengths rather than my over-all well-roundedness.

The last thing from this passage that I wanted to cover upon was a small bullet point in #6, which is the point about strengths and weaknesses being linked.  Logically, this makes sense, as we wouldn't have any strengths if we didn't have any weaknesses.  What I find interesting is the fact that the article states that fixing a weakness can diminish a strength, which actually makes a lot of sense.  Our weaknesses are what make our strengths, and trying to fix or eliminate those weaknesses can lead to our strengths suffering.  It's best to focus on strengths rather than try to fix a weakness.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
In conclusion, I want to review what I feel are my own personal strengths and weaknesses when it comes to my creative side.  What I have found out about myself is that I tend to augment other ideas well.  I can usually add things to another's creative idea and I tend to act as a good assistant for people who can get their creativity out.  In a lot of ways, I tend to infuse my ideas with others in order to get the best possible idea out of the whole process.

What I've noticed about my weaknesses is that I tend to have a lot of confidence issues when it comes time to show my work.  In a lot of ways, I feel that I'm not bringing out the best of what I have, which tends to bring a lot of doubt on what I'm doing.  I've noticed that this has affected the work that I do, as it feels like I'm not doing as well as I was hoping in the end.  This is something that I may need to look at as time goes on, as it could help me understand how to create and augment other creative ideas in the future.

Trash Compactor and The Mogul (Our Hero and Our Villain)

This is the hero that my partner, Logan Boucher, and I created for our animation projects.

The Trash Compactor:

The animation for our hero:

The Mogul:  

The animation for our villain:  

7A: Joke Videos and their Inevitable Analysis.

The first thing that I want to talk about both of our videos is that they tend to utilize a fair amount of space, most notable in how the frames are set up.  In the case of "Big Blonde Woman," the camera was set up to focus on a lot of close ups for facial reactions and for wide shots in order to establish the shot.  The wide shots help to create deep space in the environment.  The big difference between the two is that "Blondes and Puppets" tended to have more medium shots than "Big Blonde Woman."

One point that the two videos diverge on is the use of text and subtext between the two videos.  In "Big Blonde Woman," the way that the story is being told, through the use of a narrator as he tells a joke to his friends, presents the information in a more textual way, although a narration itself will usually present the story in some kind of subtextual way due to it's first person narration.  "Blondes and Puppets," on the other hand, presents it's information in a bit more subtext.

Another thing that is different between the two videos is that "Big Blonde Woman," tends to utilize more  rhythm while "Blondes and Puppets" tends to use more movement.  With "Big Blonde Woman," we find that a lot of the quick cuts between each shot created a very rhythmic shot style that lent itself to it's comedic nature.  "Blondes and Puppets" tended to use more character movements, such as the puppet  trying to get the other character's attentions and the use of an offscreen walk out in order to transition from a close shot of the girl to her in the ventriloquist's face.

Lastly, I want to cover the way that information is passed in both films.  In "Big Blonde Woman," that information is passed didactically, due to the fact that the story is being told from the point of a narrator, rather than being shown in a third person style.  "Blondes and Puppets" tends to stick with a third person story telling mechanic, which lets some of the information in the film be passed actively.  One such example of this active interpretation is that we see the blonde girl get angrier as the film moves on, which allows us to interpret how frustrated she is with the jokes.