Flying into the Jaws of the Final Days

Note...

It has been a while since my last entry... I suppose with some class changes and the collection of assignments, it got a tad on the I-forget side... ah, well.


Web and Graphic Design

With the passing of my first assignment (as in, I passed the assignment with an A+, it didn't die), we moved on to learning about the wonderful world of Wix (which did some things I am not happy with), and we thus began our plans to plan a website for Assignment 2.
After a lot of freaking out over just how I'm supposed to make this thing, specifically, what THEME would represent myself, I realised that there would be no specific theme.
So I revised.
What did I come up with..? Well, since it was October, I figured... Halloween?
Yes, Halloween!! So I began with a blank template, formed a very basic set-out, which I then used as a guide in Photoshop! >:3
I built the elements around that... graveyard style!!
The final design? Well... take a gander!

Of course, these are the mock-ups, which I used in the proposal for this website... the link to the real deal can be found here!!
http://www.tarripup.wix.com/tarripup


Drawing

Apart from show and tell, where we showed some of our work progress regarding our BMA projects (of which I am not part of, so... I was told to bring something of my own), I presented a nice quick little redesign of my character, Splash.

Apart from the usual drawing classes, some of which pieces seemed to have come out quite nicely, while others just did not work, last week class was cancelled, due to assignments.
So... I did other stuff, and then came in for the next class:


Preproduction

A lot has been happening here.
Since my last entry, we have been playing with a program called Storyboard Pro, basically, to get used to it. Software, in my experience, is usually not that difficult to figure out... a bit of play, you figure which each button function is and does, which command destroys the world or unleashes laser eye dolphins... it's really not that hard.
We played with eyes... and mouths... of which I enjoyed doing by playing with Storyboard Pro's brushes...

My beautiful children~
...I may have gotten a little carried away with that last one, to be honest!! ^^;;

But I have no regrets!! >:D

The problem I have with my animatic, which is currently... well I have saved out a movie file. The issue? I voiced both of the characters.
So what, you might ask? Well... a mother and a 4 year old child... and I cringe at my own vocals... ^^;;
At least I can hand that in tomorrow... as long as I gather a couple more things for hard copy hand-ins.
Print of the scene I did, that sorta thing.

Laaaaame~ :P


Mandarin

After dropping Practical Film, which I believe is the best thing I could have done, time-wise, I picked up a Chinese Language class. Yes, I am dabbling in some Chinese!!
The tones are easy to grasp, however the pronunciations can be a little challenging.
On top of that, memorising the characters can be something of a challenge, as well - I do have a few memorised, however in terms of putting a fully-fledged Chinese sentence together..? Needs a bit more work... ^^;
Ah well, zai jian!


Ko's World

Of course, this is one of the big reasons I dropped the film paper. By putting my time into Kim's production, of which she requested I animate a little flower fairy, I put on the old Maya gloves and got my hands fairy dirty.
Get it? Fairy? :P
I modeled, rigged, bound and weighted the fairy, as well as take some photos of flower petals and leaves for the textures.
Yes, everything you see in the leafy and flowery goodness is purely all sourced by myself! :D
I animated, and then rendered out the fairy... it was a little tricky, since given the film clip I had to work with, I had to go by eye... but I think it came out quite well. :3
I shall leave ye with some image sequences of said designs, starting with the sketch~

 

Perfect~

Paper and Glue

Bunch of things seem to be underway, however I have realised there could be cause for concern on a few fronts.
Hooray!! :D


Web and Graphic Design

Our Website Design proposal had to be done. Lucky for me, I did not know anything about handing in a draft the previous week since the week before I was away with that migraine (which I destroyed. The casualty count was within acceptable parameters).
To be fair, I was more concerned about my other projects. After all, some of them had somewhat of a wildcard. By the time it came time to do the proposal, I wasn't too confident - I had the information from the resources, however, I had also missed a class, and goodness knows what important information I had missed.
That was my concern, anyway.
For the initial lesson, we learned a bit of HTML coding. Well... everyone else learned. I ended up taking over David's position and started teaching everyone HTML coding.
It feels good to be the king. :P
I did review some of my old coding, however. There were many things I had learned about HTML in the past in which I had not touched in years, so it was like an old friend... sorta.
Anyhoo, back to my proposal. As I said, I wasn't sure what I was doing, but nonetheless, I did it.
Pics came out looking alright too:

 The Pup Gallery Site on a Mac

 The Gallery Site, seen on a handheld device, such as an iPhone.

The marks were given that same day... I was kind of worried, to be honest, but my final mark was 19/20.
So... I believe my math works that assignment out to 95%... which I think is an A+, so I can be happy with that. :P


Drawing

This was more focused on the third evaluation, which was drawing animals. And let me tell you, animals do not really like to co-operate when you are trying to draw them!! xD
I drew some fawns, a wallaby, and my favourite piece of the lot was a turtle - since the turtle started off staying very still, I was able to capture it's form before it started to swim around. By then, it was just a matter of following it, and applying other aspects, such as patterns, to the drawing I already had done so far.
These were shown in the class the following week.
The turtle rocked.

 One shell of a turtle.

Preproduction

Aside from handing in and getting back marks for my Director's Manifesto (which ended up having a grave error in it, however still was a pass), the last lesson involved going over Scenecronize, a web program which Kevin had already described to us. I guess he wanted the others who were missing that day to learn about it, and he wanted us to practice with it.
To be honest, it was quite boring... probably in the sense that my mind was wandering constantly with my own preproduction issues on hand. I'm not saying I didn't want to learn Scenecronize, in fact, I'm pretty sure I have it sussed out.
I went through a Matrix script and completely arranged it all under the stripboard menu, so... yeah.
I guess I felt like we spent too long on it, when other preproduction techniques were currently plaguing me.


Practical Filming

Aside from four lots of people coming in to talk about what they do, and what they are looking for in a TVC (television commercial), there has also been progress on the Music Video front.
Well... progress in some areas, potential delays in others.
I suppose I should start with what is chugging along so far.

I obtained a number of neutral-expression masks from Spotlight, as well as some brushes, and some PVA glue. Hoarding the newspapers of which are never read, they were torn into pieces and given PURPOSE.
That is, I did have to save my newspapers when my flatmate threw them out, omg that could have been a disaster, luckily I discovered this before recycle day.
Anyway, I began by using vaseline as a separator - after all, I was going to paper mache on top of the masks, but the masks were only to serve as a base shape, so I needed to make sure that once I had done the layers, I could remove them again.
I suppose a photo collection might help explain the process visually.

Step 1: Gather Masks

Step 2: Try on Masks

Step 3: Slather Masks with Vaseline

Step 4: Take Photo of Essentials

Step 5: Mummy Faces

And from there, I have applied a couple more layers. Well, sorta. Depends on class times, etc. xD
But that is coming along quite nicely, to say the least. There have been some workstation issues (since I have to share the table with my gamer flatmate), but it seems to be going well.

And now, the issues...

The thing I quickly began to realise is that my shooting schedule is dependent on the availability of the singer and her band. So far, communication via Facebook, which is our only means of communication at this point, have been somewhat delayed. Planning therefore is somewhat in the air, and this has left me with a very real concern that the project will not move ahead fast enough and be finished on time.
In addition, she has some surgery. She has told me she may need a week recovery, which causes delays as well. She informed me just prior that it was postponed and that we could get moving with it during the coming week, but unless I get the necessary information I asked for regarding her and her band's availability, I cannot make plans to book equipment or the green screen room, and even then that might not be coincidental, which is absolutely necessary.
I have replied to her last message with what I need from her, that is, all available times, explaining that I would still need to make bookings, and that one available time on her band's part may not suit in case equipment or the room is booked (thus, why I asked for as many available times as possible).
The problem is, at this point, I can only see this week potentially full of planning, and feel the chances of getting filming planned and booked and out of the way (because I am still pending on crucial information on her part, which is vital for planning), before her unavailability this coming Friday (and by extension, the week of recovery to follow), that it does not look promising.

I have to request an extension on this, I cannot wait to be sure what is what.

And thus, yay~


Also in other news... 

I am not feeling so great. Flatmate is the sickest she has ever been, and I'm starting to feel worn and run-down.
The last thing I really need at this point is to get sick... decent sleep is my goal at this point, HOWEVER some drunken yahoos in the area have been waking up the neighbourhood with music TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW, AT INSANE TIMES.
First night, it was just after 2am. Left me throughout the day exhausted and unfocused.
The very next night, just after 4am, so as I write this, I am basically in Zombie Mode.
I swear to god, I can't afford this crap... I want to cry.
Probably doesn't help that I am also going through another one of my phases... it's probably all hormonal or something. Hooray~
I seriously want to cry.

A Bunch of I Wasn't There and the Manifestario Sensation

The week started off in the not-fun kind of way, with a migraine of which can be enjoyed by all ages. This caused me to miss a few classes, so goodness knows where I am supposed to be at, really... but I should make sure I don't stress out or anything. Stressing out will just make it all worse, so here it is:

A BUNCH OF PAPERS AND THEIR WEEKLY UPDATES

Number 1: Web and Graphic Design

...I did not attend this class due to the migraine. I had asked one of my classmates for an update on what we were doing, being told we were making buttons. For class or homework, the answer was both, which is somewhat confusing.
I have decided to wait and see what is going on - I have every confidence that I can easily make up ground in this paper.


Number 2: Drawing

...I also did not attend this class due to the migraine. So... short post is short.
I shall have to consult my handbook, however... I am certain there is a class critique coming up soon, which means I need to address that soon, perhaps this week.
Given assignments and being behind, I could make a start on Wednesday... the last thing I really want is to fall behind further than I need to, no matter the ground I can make up for.


Number 3: Preproduction

Sensing a trend? Yeah, I did not attend this class either. I have, however, been working on my Director's Manifesto, which is due tomorrow. So far, I have a scene or two for a storyboard, a mood board, a quick concept of the masks, and I have pretty much written out all I feel may be necessary.
 

 

The Initial Mask Concepts

The only thing missing is location scouting photos - I can only assume they must be relative to the project, making the photos I took for the original exercise obsolete.
The location needed is a hallway leading to a front door, of which I have that date with destiny today at around 12 noon. If all goes well, I may have a hand-in-able manifesto in which may only need tweaking.

 Current Mood Board

Number 4: Practical Filming

Gotcha! I was well by this class, so I attended. You should see the look on your face!!! xD
We played with the toy cameras, and by toys, I mean don't drop them or Chris will cry. We explored types of shots, from Long Shots to Close-Ups, and had fun playing the differing roles of Assistant Director, Camera-person/Director, Sound Monkey and Clackerbug (terms may vary depending on reality).
Head space was plentiful, of which needs to be curbed with a head space culling of sorts.
In addition, I inquired into Kimberley's potential assistance with my music video - she seems keen on the idea, but Postman Pat has to look into it - hopefully I can enslave, er... enlist her help, she seems to want to take part in a music video project... also she is great for keeping the sane away.
And then Corey was shooting for a SIT com, in which our fake attention was turned into real attention because all that was discussed in "class" was a whole heap of crap that everyone could appreciate, and we learned about the magical kingdom of Bunterland, of which are inhabited by bunts. They are a bunter-gatherer people of which invented vigente, and there was something about nuclear annihilation and the survival of specific file types and the Bunter People, and that Game of Thrones shall influence the way society was.
Booze. Wenches. Wars. Incest. Dragons.
Since I am missing a sister, I can only cry that I cannot partake of this new old world order.


Genderbending

Off-topic, I played with some song files last night, and turned some female singers into male singers, and male singers into female singers.
I found it both amusing and entertaining.
Perhaps I can utilise this in the future for when I have need of female voices but only have my sweet angelic vocals to play with~

Well, that's me for the week.
Later, peeps and poopettes!!
~Tarri

Life's a Pitch

Migraines...

I was hoping my migraine would be done by now, however I woke up several times during the night with it still haunting me, and it is still quite comfortable in the inner-most parts of my head.
Can't blame it, really... there is a lot of empty space to run wild and free up there... anyway.
Exposure to the computer is a huge source of food for it. I couldn't write this thing sooner because of it, and since I still have it, I'm going to try to be short and sweet before it becomes agonising again.
Apologies if I miss out anything, or if it isn't of expected length.


Web and Graphic Design

We went over various key points when it comes to a web design proposal. This included things such as covering everything that may come after the job is done, such as modification, and also things such as costs, timeframes, disclaimers, etc.
We also were made aware of something called a Brand Bible, basically, the law of the land regarding logos and headings, and even site colours and designs, etc., regarding specific companies and businesses.
Example being, the McDonald's logo is always a yellow M on a red backdrop, and never any other colour.

We also discussed a decent format for writing a website proposal, and we were to come up with ideas for our own sites.
While I do have some initial ideas drawn and written down, I have been prevented from going much further at this point, and I may or may not be a bit behind.


Drawing

For this session, we drew our model as she lay upon the platform, staring at the mirror, and in addition, drew her reflection. For my piece, I emphasised the lines on both the drawing of the model and the drawing of her reflection, making it appear that she were lying with a twin sister, or at least a sister.


Preproduction

We were introduced to something called Scenecronized, a cloud-based program in which looks to serve as a basis for ease of scene creation in the script, and from there, creates a list of items and locations of which is required in the shoot. The scenes could also be rearranged into an order as such that it made it more efficient in terms of daylight, actor-on-set efficiency, and shot location... such a clever little program.

We also had to show what we had so far for our music videos - however, some of us did not have a song yet, so we did not have anything to show.
What I did do, however, was start on a Mood Board for Connor's Lords of Cynder - I had no confirmation on whether or not I had the song, just that he really liked my idea. My first pitch had fallen through, and I was hoping my second pitch (his) would be picked.
It was not, and I did not discover this until Friday. After that, my hopes were running on my final pitch with Ruth, for her song Not Your Fool.


Video Production

Due to dizzy spells, which were accompanied with headaches and nausea (which were only aggravated by staring at a screen, which is, pretty much what my life is all about), I had to miss class. There was no telling if I would even make it without fainting - and even if I did, I wouldn't have been able to do much, since, y'know, computers and such.
From what I learned from Patrick though in response to my apology, it was basically covering the episode that happened last Monday.
Monday's episode? Well, a proposed change in approach caused some rather inappropriate Facebook conduct - all which happened while I was in Web and Graphic Design - from the initial email, to the hubbub on Facebook.
Funny what can transpire within the single session of a single class...


The Last Pitch

I'll make this a separate little heading, since while this falls under VP and PP, happened on a NC day (Video Production, Preproduction, No Class, respectively, because acronyms).
Thankfully I felt better than the day before, which helped, since pitching isn't my most favourite thing in the world.
I met Ruth in the student lounge and pitched my idea there. Like my pitch for Connor, it would involve both some acting and footage of her band playing.
Her song, Not Your Fool, has this kind of funk-retro-ish feel to it, so with the band playing, I am reminded of video showing a band from the 80s and such, with lights and moving shapes in the background. I proposed that for this, her band could play in front of the greenscreen, and I could put the shapes and lights into the music video in post. Given my experience with Maya, a 3D program, a bit of animation could work quite well here.
With the acting segments, which would be slotted at various parts of the song (which will be dictated mostly by the lyrics), it will continue to show her singing, but also contain masks as a theme. Her song sings about changing faces, so the donning and removal of masks seemed to hit me immediately when I first listened to her song.
There would also be a male actor, and he will be the one to wear the different masks, showing he has different faces, and the song goes as if to say she can now see the real face - towards the end, in one shot, she will remove the mask from his face, showing his real face, and the idea is that she may fling it away.
I was supposed to draw up storyboards and construct a new moodboard for this over the weekend, but... migraine. Not really something I'd like to use as a reason for not getting the work done, but if I can't stare at a computer screen for a prolonged period of time without agonising pain in my head and eye, then... I guess taking care of myself is a top priority. At the very least, I have a direction in which to go in, and I can try to get in a little bit of time here and there - just not with a long session.
Those dizzy spells and whatnot could have been the precursor to this migraine... I feel so lucky.

That said, I should get off this thing, my head is starting to throb with pain again.
I'll try get more up regarding visuals by next blog entry.

Tarri out.

Here Come the Musos

Another week, another blog. I actually am doing a one-a-week - amazing.
Don't get used to it. I'll probably forget all about these things once the other assignments really start to pick up, because I'm just that onto it. :P


Drawing

Drawing is a bit of a strange one this semester. I may have already mentioned it in my last blog - it begins at 11, lunchbreak from 12-1, then the second half of Drawing from 1 to 2. This brings issues that I have Preproduction at 1, meaning either an hour of Drawing must be dropped, or an hour of Preproduction. Peter asked me if I believed it really possible to maintain doing half a Drawing class, concerned over whether or not I would be able to achieve the full workload. At this time, I have no choice. For now, I can still do what drawing I can in the first half, and I can potentially finish off any drawings in the lunchtime. But I may have to revisit this, or even potentially swap which classes I partially sacrifice. Drawing is 2 hours, while Preproduction is 4 hours.
In terms of class attendance, I would lose half of Drawing, as opposed to a quarter of Preproduction. That said, Drawing is a full-year paper, so by comparison, I would be losing a quarter overall, since Drawing had no clashes last semester.
Probably not best to think about it too much. Clashes are a pain in the lower cheeks.

In terms of drawing, I seemed to have an off day. My first drawing (in my opinion) was only half-good, in terms that I believe I drew Peter well enough, proportion-wise... however Jemma's proportions were not so great. In terms of posing, and re-adjusting the linework, it may have been due to her shifting, distorting various sections of the body on the paper, but then that was just a passing thought - my second drawing was turning out even more poorly... I truly was having an off day.
My third was the best out of the entire batch, however size and proportions seemed to fail me there as well.


Practical Filming

Once upon a time, there were a bunch of wonderful students who were summoned in early BY THE EVIL PATRICK nah just kidding, I was awake.
The goal of the day, on Tuesday, which isn't even Practical Filming day (so evil) was to meet the Musos, a group of all but forgotten students that live underground, deep below the Downtown Campus of SIT.
Such horrors can only be imagined at, the the depths of the Earth.
My preeeccciioooousss.

I took notes of a number of things that each muso had to say about themselves, right up until Drawing class (clash, yay!! :D), of which I took my leave. I got most of the musos' details on wonderful refill paper, which will probably be lost in my bag forever.

Goodness knows what we did on Thursday. Oh, right... we Skyped with some dude about interactive commercials and a music video he had worked on, and we also had to get into groups and in five minutes create a proposal of sorts for a nursery rhyme at Eurovision.
I got Mary Had a Little Lamb, naturally.
I never got to pitch my idea - Patrick did call out to the class when he thought we would be finished, and apparently only... I think it was Kate, had not said hers. I had also said I hadn't said mine either, twice, but no one seemed to pay attention. So we all listened to Kate's and went on break, so I figured... fine.

Now... I've listened to all of the files for the music videos. Some are so beautifully done. There are others that... I have no idea what they are supposed to be. One of them had instruments and sounded like a groaning unintelligible old hermit making noises.
I made notes for a bunch of the songs alongside their artist's name, however about half of the songs had no artist, meaning I cannot attribute them to anyone.
Also, some of the songs had the affectionately named "01 Track 1" and such, so... nice work, guys! At least some of them were listed under a particular muso's name, meaning at least I could attribute some of the songs to an artist.
I've had some ideas while listening to the songs, a lot of them made me think of snow, for some reason. Connor's songs (at least one of them, God bless his Satan-like voice which I am not really particularly fond of) made me think of burning cities, darkness, and a wasteland of ash.
A number of other songs made me picture moving through various-paced skies.
I won't detail all the notes I have made, however, these are just some of the ones that seemed to stick out.
A bunch of them also made me think of a forest, there was a couple of songs in particular of which their instruments made me think of something a little before modern times, despite having some modern influence.

I wonder... are we coming in tomorrow at 10am, like Tuesday? I'm not sure...


Preproduction

We went over some of the previous year's Director's Manifest regarding... well, the Director's Manifest. I have to say, Brandon Dunn Done a good job (say that fast ten times), and for mine, I have basically imitated the skeleton of his manifest in terms of headings - as for the rest, there isn't anything to fill it with - yet.
We went over storyboards (of which I am TOTALLY unfamiliar with (PSYCHE)), and started on Mood Boards. In terms of Mood Boards, I don't have much... I just slapped some forest photos together for now, and included a render from my animation from last year, showing a fairyfly.
As of this blog, I still haven't worked much on Mood Boards - I feel I need to get the rest of my stuff together from what I have and compile a better understanding of what my options are, first, which I hope to at least get some done today (regarding ideas for various music tracks in Practical Filming).
The towards-the-end of class was very sluggish, since I didn't have anything there of which to properly work with. Imagine my surprise when 4 o'clock rolled around, I got excited because I could leave and find more material to work with (I had hoped, I hadn't listened to any of the music files yet), only to be reminded that class finished at 5 o'clock.
HOORAY!! :D


Web and Graphic Design

Got myself a visual diary, and we went over things such as buttons. We also discussed the various websites we researched, compiling a list of things regarding what makes a good website.
I totes knew that was the point of the exercise, I rock.
We also researched various graphics regarding social media links. Fun times, really.
From there, I have since made notes of points regarding websites - well, right up to where the list goes off the page, since my computer doesn't have Powerpoint, and opened the list in Preview.

Also, got my visual diary back from last year's Digital Illustration. I was so happy, I love that visual diary, and it has stuff in it which is interesting and useful


Also...

In light of reading a webcomic called Housepets!, I have drawn myself as a pet fan character~
Apparently as a dog, I would be a pomeranian. Thanks, Kim. Thanks, Batteries. Thanks, Tash. I don't know WHAT I would do without you all...

 Tarri (me) the Pomeranian... with floppy ears!! :D

So it begins (again)

Thus begins...

...my first entry of Semester 2. What wondrous treasures await?
Oh, yeah... assignments.
Nevermind.


First, a Recap.

Semester 1 is dead. Let us all rejoice.
Here is a very brief summary of where it is all at:

Research: I have no idea if I passed or not yet. Freaking out.
Media Culture: Passed. Sweet candy kitty children.
Drawing: Passed first assessment with A-. Second top marks in the whole class.
Video Edit: Dunno, Patrick hasn't given them yet. Making us sweat.

And there we have it.
Now let's get this out of the way, I am hungry.


Web and Graphic Design

David was missing, had Rachel instead. I'm sure she was worried that she would have to deal with me in some manner.
Had to research some websites and make notes. Not sure if I have enough, I only have eight, I think...
I believe they need to be put into a powerpoint pres... Powerpoint is something my computermatron has not.
So I will have to enter that information in tomorrow at around lunchtime, most like.


Preproduction

The assignments for this paper seem relatively straight-forward. The inclusion of storyboards and an animatic means I have less to worry about in terms of learning how-to and just doing it.
Anne punched me in the arm when she read my text because Kimberley and I keep referring to her as "Crackers".
She hates that name.
It will probably be a very painful semester.

I wasn't sure if it was necessary to go out and scout for a location, since we have not yet gotten all the relevant information for Practical Filming, yet. I still went out the next day and walked all the way to Thomson's Bush, made some notes (written and mental), and took as many photos as I could (in terms of memory limitations on my camera).


Practical Filming

Another semester with Patrick is quite terrifying. This horror was confirmed when one of the music videos he showed us was Rugga Joe. That video already has left me with traumatic scars, and now my soul shall never be saved~
Other than that, we went through the paper specifications for the semester.
We also have musos coming in on Tuesday, which I will be able to come in for before Drawing.


Drawing

No one told me we were going to the Museum.
I was left behind, not knowing what was going on, lost and alone.
Revenge is for soon~


In other news...

Kimberley and I had discussed what pokemon we would be last semester.
I would be a pachirisu. She would be a purrloin.
We both agreed that Patrick would be a Mr. Mime.
Such terror~ :P

Mr. Gillies

 

This post has charts and a pony.

Let's Begin

It's been a bit of a ride this semester, and with the end of it in sight, I am glad the most difficult part of the year is coming to a close. One might point out that the second semester should be the more difficult of the two, however in my case, with Media Culture and Research behind me, all that will be left are some less-stressful times - that is to say, the pressing issue of passing the last two papers needed to get my degree.
Of course, I still have to find out my results, and the final two submissions for those two papers comes this week - my Semiotics presentation for Media Culture tomorrow, and my Self-Evaluation for Research due at the end of the week.


Research

With the 3 Minute Thesis done and dusted, of which I feel I did okay, presenting-wise, all that is left to do is my Self-Evaluation. It will be relatively simple enough, though I am sure I have enough to talk about in that.
The slide for my 3 Minute Thesis was represented showing (mainly) the categories and their charted trends (with pie (chart kind of pie (which isn't as good as apple kind of pie (now I'm hungry for apple pie (and now to end this collection of parentheses))))), and showing in smaller details the sub-results (the separate categories, and their trends for each technique).

The fun observations, for all those hungry for trivia, is that the Welhelm Scream was used 5 times over the course of 20 episodes, and there was one sexual allusion technique, regarding mayonnaise.
And the final numbers in the corner, with 3,466 techniques observed overall.
And yes, I drew a pony-me in the other corner, presenting the findings for all to see~


Media Culture

I won't deny that essays are not my forte. In fact, they really aren't. Probably my best talent is creative writing, this being implied by the fact that I wrote a story of which someone else admitted they would never, EVER read. And yet, somehow, my style of writing had enchanted them to want to read more. And when I started writing a novel a while back, and had one of my friend's elderly aunt read it, she wanted to know when the next chapter would be written. So maybe creative writing is a flair of mine.
That can't really be said for essay writing - there is no unbound horizon there, and the rules of how to write and what not are tighter than a virgin dust mite. Grappling these concepts is not really something I get, and in fact, it's an area in which I will be in most danger of failing, and thus, the areas of this year which have been my main focus.
Creativity is my game.
That said, my essay for Media Culture on the Mass Culture of Frozen did not get me the mark I was hoping for, despite doing my best to follow the proper etiquette. Since my first assignment for Media Culture got a high grade, however, all that should be needed in the last assignment is a low percentage - and I plan to get a passing mark.
That said, I can't say for sure. But I will cry if I don't pass.


Drawing

Drawing continues to go as it does, and last week saw not only the appearance of our model, Jemma, but also her dog, Spud. It did not take long for Spud to seem to take a liking to me, and proceeded to fall asleep on my foot - and she is a BIG dog.
Anyway, the task of drawing Jemma and Spud in monumental fashion was the soup of the day, and my first attempt was quite poor. My second attempt was suddenly the best in the class, so it seemed, so... I went from bottom to top, boy am I a quick study! The next piece was also exceptionally well done, and it shall go towards my end of semester submission, which is due this week - no set day, so it must be the end of the week... or is it on Thursday, during class?
I do believe I will bring my folder with my selection on Thursday, just in case.
Also, I must make a selection of which digital drawing to submit. Peter has seen all three of my pieces, however suggests just one, so I am left to decide which one.


Video Edit

With the last of my blogs for Video Edit due in the morning, I feel I should give special mention.
That is to say, WHY TOMORROW? I mean, we still have an assignment due on Thursday, wouldn't it make sense to hand it in at the end of the week, so that we can also talk about the assignment in our blogs?
Oh well, that's my thought. Though it is a pretty valid one, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows it.
Maybe Patrick is scared. Yeah, that's it. Scared of having to read through our blogs over the break... it's a real shame, I haven't got a scary picture to put in here at this time.
Anyhoo, it probably can't beat that scarring-for-life scene from Rugga Joe. I will have nightmares tonight.
I'm not entirely sure what to cover... we went over some colour correcting techniques last Friday, in which we tinkered with two lots of video from two of our fellow classmates.
My jealousy rose as I was reminded I never got to play in the ball pit.
We used various key points in the parade, to attempt to make each primary colour spectrum (red, green, blue) line up and look the same as each other. This usually helped the colouring overall, bringing out the white (as white is a combination of all three primary colours, at full value (255).
Some where a little tricky, however, and I would be inclined to believe that even if you matched the light patterns across the parade, it isn't entirely reliable in the final stages - however, it does give a good stepping stone at least, if not a good final, if not near-final, result.

In terms of the showreel, it has yet to be started. As I had mentioned in my last post, I am taking care of the various assignments left over, and after the presentation for Media Culture tomorrow, then the showreel assignment is basically the last workhorse for the semester.
I have gathered all of the BTS data from the resource drive, so I have plenty of footage to chose from - however I will need to make sure I don't spend too long on footage selection.
Another thing I need to keep in mind is software compatibility - the Mac Lab's computers have a more up to date version of Premiere Pro, whereas my computer here at home has version CS5.1. This means that any work I do at SIT will mean I can only work on at SIT - my Premiere Pro will not recognise the newer file version. Given that I will have more time outside of Video Edit class to work on it, and also given that there is no guarantee I will have access to any labs (due to other classes), I need to work on the bulk of the edit at home - this way, I have a guaranteed workstation at any time outside of my own classes.
The final stages of the showreel will need to be done in the Mac Lab, as my version does not have the loudness meter.
The happy thing about this, however, is that the Premiere Pro version at SIT WILL open my CS5.1 version, giving me a lot more time to work on it than I would have otherwise.
 
So... that is the plan.
And it is an amazing plan.
Gaze in awe of my amazing plan. Shed a tear. For it is perfect.

And then my house catches fire.

Current Stats

Tarri RAM freed up

Well, I'm still alive, so I suppose that is something. With all the major major assignments consuming every aspect of my life, updating this thing once again fell to the wayside... I guess I should have knew this would happen, after all, time is precious. Yes, I do realise this counts towards marks too, however, whatever amount of time this might take to write out on a weekly basis could ultimately cause problems with stuff like my research, or essays, or anything else which consumes too much time where I may feel a blog would simply sap what precious time I have.

...okay, I also forgot about this thing. But who can blame me? My brain for the past five weeks has been all on my research project. I mean, it's 75% of the paper, so it's a make or break deal.
Even with my written exam for Video Edit, my brains wasn't soaking up the necessary information like it normally would, all because research was constantly flowing through my mind.
As it is, even though I feel relieved and the pressure is finally off, I still feel incredibly drained. I am delicate, and need rest. Can I really attempt the rest of these assessments?
DO I EVEN HAVE THE STRENGTH??

 
That said on the subject, I still managed to get a B+ for that exam. Huh.


Research

Guess I should start here. With time mostly going to planning and data collection, as well as report structuring (and emerging worries whenever the schedule got pushed back further and further, whether it was due to discrepancies in the method, or in the terminologies of the techniques I researched, or things such as other assignments cropping up and forcing time out of my planned schedule, creating a bit of a mess), Research seemed to have moments of sure-fire status, and issues-arising.
In the end, I had to cut down my content analysis from the entire Season 4 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic to 20 episodes. Rachel said half the season, which is 13 episodes, but I am half dutch and three-eighths croatian.
That makes me seven-eighths stubborn, challenge accepted.
But I got the data collection done. Some episodes of collecting humour-related data varied on each episode - the more humour techniques present, the longer an episode took to analyse.
And then I tallied up the numbers. If memory serves, in the 20 episodes I studied, I think it was 3,466 humour techniques observed. Some may be missing, as I am only human - so I can say that this was at the very least.
Each technique recognised (using techniques from Berger, Buijzen and Valkenburg, and Juckel), was employed, including the techniques I myself introduced ("Fourth Wall", "Visual Cue/Reaction", "Absent Mind/Realisation", and "Utterance, Laughter, Curse").
Each technique fell under the categories Language, Logic, Identity, and Action/Nonverbal.
The results are listed below:

This showed that the majority of techniques employed in Friendship is Magic are Action and Nonverbal, while Language techniques, Logic techniques, and Identity Techniques, all occurred at a similar rate as each other.
The separate categories themselves are displayed in charts with greater detail, however those can be found in my report.
Some notable things to mention in my findings, however, just as fun trivia:

1. Parody techniques included parodies from DC and Marvel, Indiana Jones, various advertisements, movies, etc.

2. The Welhelm Scream was identified on five separate occasions during the study.

3. One sexual joke was identified in an episode in which Weird Al Yankovic was a guest voice actor.

Fun, fun stuff. And now that the due date for the report is gone, that is one huge load off my shoulders, and I have not felt as relaxed as I had in a long time... despite the fact I still have five more assessments to worry about in the next 11 days.
I feel relieved, and cruisey.
Currently, preparations for the 3 Minute Thesis has top priority, which is due in a couple of days.
The self-evaluation following after.


Media Culture

On top of the Research Report being due last Friday, our second assessment for Media Culture was also due that same day. Surprisingly, I somehow managed to make a good start, and keep a good momentum going, with the essay - this is quite something, since essay writing is not my forte, and it generally takes me days to even make a start.
Yet I wrote 999 words on the first night. That was a surprise, but hell, I'll take it.
I managed to get the essay pumped out rather fast, which leaves me in disbelief... maybe I'm getting the hang of writing essays? Or maybe I just knew what to write at the time? Perhaps that same fire that had been ignited, driving me to get my research done, was also existent in terms of this essay?
Whatever the case, it drove me right through two papers in which elements exist of which I struggle at the best of times. I don't know how it happened, but I'm not complaining.
I pumped out that Frozen essay like no one's business.

Next up is the final assessment - the presentation.
Mine will be on semiotics in some of my own work - I have elected my graphic novel, Dreamspace/Splash, of which apparently (according to Kim) terrifies Karl in the manner that it seems to attract small children.
I wonder what would happen if we put him in a room with no exits, and filled with kindergarteners... another project for another day, perhaps.
The presentation is the second assignment to worry about this week, after preparations for the 3 Minute Thesis for Research.


Drawing

Drawing is the same-old, same-old. Although we did have Jemma back as our model - and she recognised me immediately. Apparently there is one in every class, and I just happen to be that one.
In a good way, that is. :P
In one of the weeks we tried other things in the drawing studio (downstairs) where we messed with inks and paints and whatnot. It was great, however maybe I should have dabbled in fingerpainting, to prove what a big kid I am now. :P
I still have yet to ask Peter about some of my digital drawings, as to whether or not they can count towards assessment submission next week. I guess that is something I should do once I am done here.


Video Edit

Patrick's class.
Not important.


...just kidding. Sorta. :P
Well... it's true!! Research and Media Culture are the bigwigs. And while I do take all my papers seriously, with a hunger to pass ALL papers, the two major ones are the most pressing. Probably, like I said before, how I still had research flooding through my head while trying to study for a Video Edit exam.
I have to say, I did mess up though. During the Interview assessment, I wanted to make sure I had everything covered... and I thought I did. Perhaps it is no surprise though, the entire time I was editing that interview, all I was thinking about was how badly I needed to get it out of the way, like some trivial task, because that very time I was editing was already designated as the time I would be collecting my data for research. It wasn't like I could bump the data collection back, either. It had to be that weekend. And since I was only thinking of research, the checking of safe levels on parade completely gave my mind the slip - I had even gone over the checklist, as tattered as it was (research-focused mind, you sneaky little bastard), so... that was a royal botch-up.
I did correct that issue in seconds when Patrick brought it up, though - it wasn't a major fix at all.
But it might be a good idea to get the new version out to Anne, if I can find her soon. I'll just ask Kreepy Kimberly.

The only thing I guess I have to worry about, not counting the blogs, is the showreel. I should be fine with it - after all, with the Research Report done and dusted, that frees up a LOT of mental capacity, and I mean a LOT.
Given that the 3 Minute Thesis for Research is this week, and the final presentation for Media Culture is next Monday, the showreel will be one of the last things to worry about. However, the next few assignments before it should be relatively easy, so I guess I could start on it as early as this weekend.
That reminds me. I will need to bring my black external to class tomorrow, so I can get all of the footage for the showreel.
What else... I guess nothing else right now?

Tarri out.

Scary Presentations, The Research Emergence, and the Optical Bazooka

The Presentation Scare

I know, I know... presentations. Both them and speeches have never been a fantastically confidence trip, and it is the one academic thing I fail worse at than essays.
And you thought essays were a struggle for me.
In terms of finding information, I found some. Initially, it became quite confusing, where I think a lot of sites end up trying to make themselves sound smarter by using something that doesn't at least adhere to some form of basic explanation. Basically, I knew more about what a digital video container was before I began researching than when I was in the middle of said research, which ended up casting some doubts.
I mean it was relatively simple enough, and then you start questioning it, and beginning to believe that it is far more complicated than it really is.
I guess that is my fault, I tend to do that a lot - if it is something I understand and can grasp, I obviously have it wrong because it isn't "difficult enough" for it to be academic level.
It's something I really have to work on.

It probably didn't help I left most of the images at home (since I did a bunch of looking-up at home, but do not own powerpoint (with the exception of the myriad of powerpoints in which to feed my hungry, hungry machines)), leaving only a single image I could shove unceremoniously into my slideshow.
It also didn't help that classes seemed to be in effect every time I needed to use the relative computers... which further meant I had to finish off my presentation before class (this was in terms of imagery, mainly, and entering references, in which I had to enter manually - I had the amazing idea of typing my references out prior, and sending them via my student email, of which I would access at SIT. And the copy and paste would not work for some reason, of which I have no idea why, meaning I had to type them out manually a second time...) :/
And then the presentations... oh boy. If you know what I am like during presentations, then congrats, you can skip the next part. If not, then let me tell you a tale, my child, and... screw it, you're getting the nutshell version.
I end up on the spot, I freeze up, my brain goes into shut down. Any and all practice I might have done (as I have done with any and ALL speeches and presentations I have ever done since I was 11 years old) goes flying out the window, and my content becomes jumbled and I forget important details.
I begin to heat up rapidly, leading to a potential faint. Which is why it is always a good idea to sit down.
I know I have been told numerous times that after years of practice you get better at it, but I know that is not entirely true. Perhaps for some, but not I.
It's like having a particular car that only has so much power, and you try to drive it up a steep hill, but it never gets to the top, just not enough power. Then saying that after three years of trying, surely the car can make it to the top - nope, because the car has never had that kind of power, and no matter how many times you try to drive it to the top of that hill, it will never make it.
I guess I'll never really be good at being put on the spot and cruising through.
Which is why my grade was not as much of a shock as it was more expected. Okay, I was shocked - shocked after adding up the points to find I was close to getting a C-, which for me is unheard of in terms of such things as presentations.

Since then, we have moved onto colour correction. It's quite neat, and very useful. I did find that the longer I stared at something, my eyes would adjust - even before Patrick mentioned it. I had made it look good, looked away, and when I looked back again it looked a tad bluer than I remembered.
Oh well. What's wrong with being a smurf?


It's Been 3,000 Years...

Or at least, close enough. Points if you get the reference for the heading of this section.
Research has been more difficult than it probably should be. I would think I have something, but it's not good, or good enough, or doesn't make sense, or fragmented... it's not exactly the inspiring thing when you can't seem to grapple how or what you are doing.
By what I mean the direction, not the subject. But it also wasn't very confidence-inspiring to have to ask everyone else for help in understanding several processes and approaches, rather than the figure who one would believe would be able to set you in the right direction, who instead tells you to read, read, read. Read what? If I just read, I could conceivably read things that won't have any relevance, and thus, be a waste of precious time. I tried to reason this, however it is like my words fall on deaf ears, or I am overrun with interruption, and quite worrying, assumption, which then is followed by a kind of argument of sorts, of which never contributes to my advancement.
If it weren't for Sarah, Bex, and Michael, I would still probably be floundering about, not knowing how to understand what kind of processes I need to grapple... so now I actually understand everything much better than I did before, thanks to those guys, and I can actually see the end of the race for once and in which directions I must take to get there.
I am so grateful to them. If not for them, I would be lost, and failing this paper at a spectacular rate.
I have a lot of work to do - of which I have already began picking up. I have found a number of potential leads, some of which have already led me to very promising sources, even one source I wasn't expecting which has a paragraph which explains exactly what I need in my literature review regarding comedy.
There is still a ways to go, but I am building up my additional lists quite nicely.
Sadly however, this new research direction will likely require me to discard a good chunk of the reading I have done thus far this year... however given the situation I was in, and due to needing access to specific content, I had to.
I needed something I felt would be easier, otherwise I simply would not have enough time.


Sleepless Nights and Voodoo Dolls

The 48 Hour Film Festival was on again this year, and while I had planned to take part in it last year, family tragedy prevented me from doing just that.
However, I was determined to make good on last year and compete this year, no exceptions. And having the old gang back together was enough of a drawcard as it was to begin with - god I missed those guys. The second I saw Bex during break from Drawing Class, she didn't even see me coming. I know she doesn't really like being hugged, but I couldn't help it, I was just so happy to see her again, I almost strangled the life out of her.
And seeing Laura again on the night before it started brought similar results - luckily, she was not holding her cake at the time, or there would have been murder and mourning - murder of me, mourning of the cake.
And then James later during the Last Supper (before the 48 began (which really if you think about it could be like an Easter story (if you think about it, we all ate at this supper, then we all went and died with the animation making, and then on 48 Monday, we rose from the dead (not as a miracle though, we're just cursed to have to go to class and do assignments (and thus comes to the end of all these embedding parentheses))))).
For once, it wasn't Race Against the Clock... THANK SWEET CANDYBOO.
James, Lee, and myself got to work on the script, while the others began on the character, who was a female, then a male, then a female again, from what I understand.
During the scriptwriting, various ideas for things were discussed, and I tended to sketch them down, of which was then rushed to the others so they could create them. James and I decided on one ending for the animation, while Lee was insistent on another. After bringing Sarah's opinion to the table, it was a draw, so it meant... actually I can't remember what it meant. It ended up being their ending and not ours, but I just didn't get the ending at first. I had to make Lee tell me what she was thinking in order for me to grasp it.
Maybe I was just tired. It was like 2 or 3 in the morning, but I eventually semi-got it.
So at this point James and I were onto the storyboards, which worked out to relatively half the storyboards each, so... no definitive winner there.
I'll just have to try harder next time. :P
At this point, however, I had to be sent off with Sarah for some sleep. Both she and I were going to stay at her place, since (I believe) we both don't seem to do so well sleep-wise in a room next to a room full of yapping people. Last time I did this competition, I probably got a grand total of 20 minutes quality sleep, rather than say, 2-4 hours sleep.
The next day was full of background painting and props. Jesse had taken my lamppost design and tried to get it right, we almost got it. But then I took the final design into Photoshop and created the pieces as such they could be compiled separately so they could be animated in Toon Boom, which I did myself the following day.
There was a lot of work (and good food!) to be done and had, and I guess after only about 3 hours sleep from that first night, my mind was more of a haze.
I just remember painting backgrounds and a prop or two, and then moving onto animation - landing me with the turn-around shot where I had to draw in some animation manually - this ended up being futile however, since it was about 11pm and I was already crashing.
I was sent for sleep, and not to return until breakfast time, to have a full night sleep so that when I woke I could attack the animation with extreme efficiency - which I did, and thensome. Once the scene was knocked out and rendered, I attacked three other scenes and had them rendered... I believe it was three? It was at least that, anyway.
The last scene had some difficulty, where Photoshop seemed to be doing something weird to the assets, so there was some messing around there. The background for the last shot also needed editing, as it would be impossible to do what the characters needed to do with a Photoshop file constructed in the manner it was, which also took time (and with time running out!)
At this point it was difficult to do what I needed to do... I think I remember NOW how I changed the opacity of objects in Toon Booms, however at the time I was in a mad panic and Harmony was different from the Toon Booms I remembered... however I got the almost-finished scene done and rendered.
At this point we were trying to render the entire thing, and it was like a tease... there was freaking out, there was nail-biting.
I left the room in a moment of insane spaztacticles.
And the rendering finished with a minute left until the deadline, and submitted with literally seconds to spare.
I estimate 5. Others say it was closer to 10.
Oh man did I sleep that night...
...only to find that no one else from animation bothered to show up for Media Culture the next morning.
I could have slept in... ._.