DSDN 142 Project 3 (27/5/2011)

This is my final video for project 3. I feel that there are still certain areas that could of been improved on such as having the camera not shake as much, however I stil feel that the end result of my video is still a pleasing result and succsesfully displaying a loop function.

DSDN 142 Project 3 (26/5/2011)

This is my storyboard for my final film for project 3.

References-
Song reference- Examslam- Rushjet
website reference- 8bc.org

DSDN Project 3 (24/5/2011)

After talking to my tutors and showing my video, we decided some changes were in order. The first change was the music. The mario theme song wasn't really fitting into the video so I searched for a sound I felt had that that poppy element and fitted into the video. In the end I found a song called "Examslam" by Rushjet 1 on a website called "8bc.org". I felt that this particular song was working well with my video because it had a good build up feeling that matches the build up the lego men do to the robot.

The second change was to my use of text "Boom!!" This had to change because words were not allowed to be used for this particular project. I searched up some symbols that would be suitable to represent the death of the alien. In the end I decided that a skull head would accurately represent the death of my alien character because a skull is commonly used to show the death of many living life forms such as people and animals.

Song used off 8bc.org- "Examslam" by Rushjet 1


Image used to show the death of my alien.-

DSDN project 3 (23/5/2011)

I started doing my description on how my stop motion video relates to a loop function. Areas I talked about with my description included what my video is about, how it relates to a loop function and how the lego men are a successful metaphor for my video. This is what I will be explaining in my description before the hand in date (27/5/2011).

DSDN project 3 (21/5/2011)-

After a full day of taking photos, I ended up with a total of 600 photos and a video length of 55 seconds. The video has what I discussed earlier and has two lego men looping the same actions as each other again and again to show a loop function. The main objective they’re trying to achieve is to build a robot that will fight the alien that threatens to invade the lego world.

DSDN project 3 (20/5/2011)-

During this tutorial, I went down to take photos for my final stop motion video. I ended up deciding that the background scenery was lacking for the film so I decided to make some lego towers. I felt this would help to make the background look like it suited the scene more than just a plain white background.

Below are some photos to show what the scene will look like and what view the final video will show.

DSDN project 3 (18/5/2011)-

After looking at my draft video, I decided that I should play and record my own music rather than using another artists song, because of copyright issues. I began to do some research into a song that I thought would suit this video. In the end I found one on YouTube that I felt matches my video. The song is the Super Mario Bro theme song and I found a way to be able to play it on guitar. I began to practice a part of the song I found would suit the video and began to record it once I felt I had the part good enough to play long enough for a successful stop motion video. Below is a link I found on Youtube that gave me the idea on how to play the song on guitar and the video on how to play it is also attached.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq8y5NlxJjw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPHKBSjgHek&feature=related

“Artist: Nintendo. Song: Super Mario Bros Theme Song.”

DSDN project 3 (15/5/2011)-

I took some practice shots for a sample film for my tutors to see where I am taking my stop motion idea and whether it is heading along the right track. The film is only 18 seconds, but I am hoping that the final film will be a lot longer if possible. The sample film is displaying my two lego men repeating the same looping action again and again to show the repetition of a looping action and how its slowly building up to its end climax with the same action again and again.

DSDN project 3 (14/5/2011)-

I started to take some test shots of where I wanted everything to be set out (lighting, camera angles etc) and have attached some photos on where I want the lights to sit so that the shadows can be seen and what kind of view I will take the photos at for the stop motion film. 

DSDN project 3 (8/5/2011)-

Cost/Equipment plan-

The cost of my materials was not too expensive. I had most of my materials already such as the lego pieces and the digital camera. When doing my test shots the camera was sitting stable on the foam pad I brought (this was my only cost).

Materials used for project 3-

—  Digital Camera- have.

—  Foam board for the film (will be where the camera sits and where the lego men do all the actions)

—  Lego pieces- Obtain at home and possibly buy more pieces if need be.

DSDN project 3 Timeline(8/5/2011)-

I sketched out a time plan that I will be following when doing my stop motion video. The video itself is not hard to create but is a little time consuming. However it is still achievable to do in the time frame given for this project, as long as I actually do stick to the plan and take photos.

—  14/5/2011- Begin test shots with lego peices at te aro and gathering the bits needed to start the film and what the layout will look like.

—  15/5/2011- Begin to start photo shooting and starting with them on nero-vision.

—  17/5/2011- prepare if asked to present progress and continue with photos for the film.

—   20/5/2011- Continue with photos for film (including 21^st and 22^nd)

—  23/5/2011- Begin to write up the 200-300 word description on my film (due 27^th May).

—  24/5/2011- Aim to have most of the photos completed and just touching up on the film.

—  26/5/2011- have description ready to hand in.

—  28/5/2011- touch up on film if need be and check everything is in order to present my film.

   —  31/5/2011- final presentation and exhibition start.

My top 3 ideas for DSDN project 3 (7/5/2011)-

After discussing my ideas for project 3 with my tutors, we came to the conclusion that a stop motion would have the best overall effect and would stand out well.

I began to focus on looking at my top 3 ideas for stop motion and decided that my best idea for the stop motion film is the idea of having lego men performing the same action of building a robot again and again until the robot is completely built and ready to fight an alien. This is because a loop function is when a particular action is repeated again and again until it has reached its goal and having lego men repeating the same action of building a robot again and again until the robot is built represents the repeating cycle of a loop function. I went with this idea over the other two because it’s a lot more fun to make than a house or bridge and is something that you wouldn’t mind watching again and again because it’s fun to watch and is interesting.

I have attached a YouTube link that helped give me the idea on using lego people to display a loop and how this piece of coding language operates. For example there’s a scene on the video where a lego worm comes out of the ground (at 16 seconds) and continuously repeats the same diving action again and again to create numbers. This is displaying the loop function because it’s constantly repeating the same action to achieve its purpose- To dive to the ground to create numbers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qsWFFuYZYI

Below is a final diagram of my final 3 ideas on doing a Stop motion film for Project 3.

DSDN Project 3 (6/5/2011)

To make sure that my idea on the loop function was correct, I researched some coding examples on open processing and tried to alter them to see if my idea on a loop function is correct.

Below are a couple of links that relate to my research into loop functions. The first link is to the original piece of code showing a loop function which I tried to alter. The second link is my alteration to the loop exemplar I found in the first link. I altered it by having it still looping around and around again, but changed it so that when one of these functions is clicked on it stops. However it’s not just that one loop clicked that stops. All the loops stop as well. This is so that when one loop is clicked on, then all the loop functions are affected as well. This is to display that when you affect one of these clones, then you affect all of them. 

http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=10592

http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=29181

DSDN project 3 (4/5/2011)-

After some thinking, I decided that I was going to use a "Loop" function as my programming language for project 3.

To me a loop function is a clone of a piece of program when one of these clones is affected, then all of them are affected. The loop function continues to operate the same action again and again until it has reached its goal it is trying to achieve.

DSDN project 3 (3/5/2011)-

After getting the brief for our third project "The exhibition" I began to review some of my coding in the last project for and see what programming language I know the best and can describe well.

Coding language I chose as an option for project 3- 


If/else- states that if it is not that particular option, then it is the other choice that is selected.

Loop- A clone of a programming language and if one of these clones is affected, then all the clones are effected.

Variable-  An area where all the information is stored.

Brainstorm on possible ideas for Project 3-


Below is a brainstorm on some of the possible ideas I have on what I could use to present my
choice of coding language. Ideas included Stop motion film and Photography.

Finals for project 2

Open Proccessing account link to final transformation-

http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=27355

DSDN 142 classrooom link to final transformation-

http://www.openprocessing.org/classrooms/?classroomID=561

Storyboard final-


This is a final sketch on what my storyboard is and what my final design looks like.

Final files for Project 2 and what my transformation means

The links to my finals are listed above (top is the link to processing and top link is to the classroom link). Once again my transformation is an earthquake line getting bigger in an out of control way and represents my idea of transformation (how something changes into something bigger than its previous form).

Why an earthquake to represent transformation?
The reason I chose to use an earthquake line is because an earthquake can start off as one little line and slowly evolve into a large amount of wild and sinister lines that can strike feelings of fear into others, creating a transformation that represents something nefarious.

Why use the colors red and black?
The colors I used are red and black and keep changing between each other. I chose these two colors because they're both dark colors that represent darkness and terror, helping to set up a scary and daunting theme to my transformation.

Why use the sound I have?
My sound for my processing creation is a sound I created on the piano. The sound is a creepy and horrific sound to suit the earthquake lines I was creating. By using a sound thats daunting and terrifying at the same time it helps to give my transformation a sense of life and movement. I made the sound keep playing even after you have clicked the mouse to stop creating the line because it sets up the idea that the earthquake hasn't stopped. It can still strike again and the next transformation it undergoes may be bigger than the last.

What interaction I used with the mouse?
For my interaction with the mouse, I decided to make it so that the user has to click the mouse to get the earthquake line started and can click again to stop the lines growing. I chose to use this method as my interaction for this project because when they first look at the image it looks like an ordinary plain image. Then when they see that they have to click on it to get the lines going it comes up unexpectedly with the lines and sound, making it a suitable interaction for my idea on earthquake transformation. Even though the lines may follow the mouse, it still comes out in a random length, just like when an earthquake hits and the lines appear in the ground (they all come out in different lengths,direction etc).

DSDN 142 Final progress (15/4/2011)

While doing my touch ups before the Friday presentation, I managed to manipulate the sound so that it plays when the mouse is clicked. At the moment I am contimplating whether to keep the sound going even after the user has clicked the mouse again to keep the idea of terror and shock around.

Project 2 progress (14/4/2011)

For finishing up my project 2 for DSDN 142, i finally managed to get the colours to change from red to black. I chose these colours because they suit the daunting and horrific mood that I want to get across and I believed that a brighter colour such as green and blue wouldn't really match my idea.

When it came to adding my sound (the sound I recorded on the piano) I had a look at the online tutorial help and managed to work with their code on how to add sound to your image. At the moment, I have the sound playing the minute that the image appears on the screen so that it immediatly thrusts you into that feeling that it's not safe and that something sinister is about to happen. Whether I keep to this idea or not is uncertain and I will be trying out more methods.

What I am aiming to present tommorow for the 4-40 presentations is my idea of transformation (something changing form thats different from its starting point) and how my project relates to transformation. My earthquake lines represent transformation because the earthquake line started off as a small point that gradually gets bigger and out of control, causing a feeling of terror and uncertainty. I will be explaining some of my ideas on how I got to my end result ad what are some of the coding I used did.

 (My final idea for project 2)

Project 2 progress (12/4/2011)

While working on my earthquake idea, I decided to use New Zealand to portray a place affected by earthquakes to help display my theme of earthquakes and the transformation it can execute. However this was not really living up to the theme of transformation so I decided to try out a new approach- colour. Earthquake colours are colours that represent pure terror and shock. (eg black and red) and I was helped given the idea of using colour to portay my theme in the transformation of an earthquake and the terror it brings.


Once again to show where my idea on transformation is, to me its about something changing and becoming bigger than its previous form (whether its a good or bad transformation) and my earthquake crack lines will display this because it's representing the idea of the earthquake transforming into a wild ammount of out of control crack lines that inflict terror on those who are in its way. The colours that will display this in my earthquake lines will be mainly red and black. I chose these colours because they represent a dark and horrific feeling rather than something bright like green.

 (Where I was origonally heading using New Zealand)

Project 2 progress (11/4/2011)

While working on my 142 assigment, I started to create my sound through the use of the piano. After experimenting with different notes played, I think that I've finally come up with one that matches the transformation in the power of the earthquake. This sound I hope to upload by this coming Tuesday to present to my studio.

 (Progress so far on my earthquake idea)

Project 2 (5/4/2011)

These are the sketches I drew up while creating my earthquake cracklines and how it changed into a more random set of cracks than a structured one.

My first sketch is about my progress trying to label out the points I could have my lines heading too, while moving the mouse.

My second sketch is based on what I origonally wanted my eathquake cracklines to look like.

My third sketch is a storyboard closer result on what my current cracklines are looking like and am pleased with the way it's going.

My next step is to make my sound and ensure my final result functions well, but also looks presentable.

Progress on project 2 (5/4/2011)

After trying many different ideas for a starting point, I managed to make a break through with my code. After managing to get the uneven cracks on my screen, i started to look at my earthquake lines in a different way to what my origonal drawings were.

My origonal drawings were structured and had a limited form to it. This began to change when I achieved getting my cracks. I decided to keep my cracks going out in random ammounts because a earthquake line is never precise and never flows in a continuos direction(or in one straight foward line). I felt that this change in structure on how I have my earthquake lines is making it look a lot more realistic, while still keeping to my idea of earthquake transformation.

To me personally, transformation is about something (an object, person etc) evolving and becoming something more different than its previous starting form. The earthquake lines I have created display this idea of transformation because it starts off as a particualr point, but when you first click and move the mouse, it quickly begins to unravel and become a long, uneven line of cracks and thus transforming from a small little dot where it started, to a long dangerous looking trail.

 (This is where I am at the moment with my project and will be developing it up further)

Working on project 2 (4/4/2011)

After spending a few days on my 2nd project for DSDN 142, i've been finding the earthquake idea a VERY challenging one.. However a bit of progress has come through. I have succsesfully managed to get the lines or rectangles (depending on how I make the earthquake) to follow the mouse or appear whenever I click on the mouse. For my second idea (just as a backup plan) I have used water ripples that will change colours whenever its clicked on and have it play different sounds, depending on which ripple is clicked on.

Project 2 Images(31/3/2011)

These are the images that I got my ideas off for project 2.

Ideas for project 2 (31/3/2011)

For my storyboard ideas I decided to use ideas from the earth such as earthquakes and water drops.

For my first concept I decided to use water ripples. The interaction method i'm looking using for this storyboard is that everytime the user clicks the mouse, then a water ripple will appear and expand off the page with smaller ripples following behind. The sound I have decided to use will be a soft piano sound on the outside and lighter sounds on the outside. I believe that this storyboard realtes to the idea of transformation because each water ripple gives off a different ammount of energy and this represents the transformation of energy each water ripple gives off.

For my second concept, I used the idea of earthquakes. The interaction method I am looking to use for this storyboard is the idea of using the mouse to move and draw each earthquake line. The sound idea i am looking at using is the piano, to give a slower tone and faster tone each time the mosue moves faster and slower.The earthquake represents the transformation of the ammount of power the earhquake generates.

Below to the left are my two sketches for my earthquake idea and water ripple idea.

Investigating the topic "Transformation" (28/3/2011)

/3/2011)To me personally, transformation is about something (an object, person etc) evolving and becoming something more different (whether it be for better or worse) than its previous starting form. An example of transformation I found on Open Proccessing was when a spiral began to spin round and round and get bigger, making the centre point grow smaller and look as if its dissaparing. An interesting transformation I found was by "Lluís Hernández". Lluis Herna'ndez made a spiral that grew bigger each time it extended out to the edge of the box, showing a clear transformation in the length of her spiral. When observing the code, there was a bit of new Java terminology that I wasn't really familar with, such as "case" and "break", but after doing a bit of research in "reference" I think i've found out what each peice im unsure about means and have put down in my own words what each peice im unsure about means.

"Float"- acts as a place for where oneparticular point goes too.

"Boolean"-acts as a true/false statement.

"PopMatrix"-pushes out the shape of the object.

"programming the bigger picture"

After reading "Programming the bigger picture" a key concept I found in Proccesing is that it has a lot of the basic little things we forgot how to do (e.g. logic, trigonometry etc). I've never really had any real coding experience so it's still a new experience to be using Proccesing, but I feel i've managed to get some of the basic things down-packed such as shapes. In terms of design it has definatly made me think of how to create images in such a new enviroment and with a limited ammount of knowledge (I was still unsure how to use Processing at the time)

Reflection on Project 1 (continued)

A long term goal I have is to create a design that inspires others to get involved in their creative side to life and make them see what the world of design has to offer.

Reflection on Project 1

After completing my first project for DSDN 142, I have learnt to create simple shapes such as circles,quads etc, use colour and some of the many other basic functions used in Proccessing.

What helped me learn and become motivated is being inspired by those around me who had created wonderful peices of art (both inside and outside of the classroom).


For my next project, a goal I am determined to achieve is to step outside my comfort zone and push my abilities to the limit and create a design that is something I can reflect on and be happy with it and hopefully create an image that is inspirational to others. I plan to achieve this goal by setting aside some time each day (hour minimum) and get stuck in what proccessing has to offer and achieve my dream of creating something wonderful.

A goal I would like to achieve is

DSDN 142 Final Wallpapers

These are the links to my wallpapers. These wallpapers were influenced under the work of Lazlo Moholys use of basic shapes and structure.

http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=24533
 
http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=24501

http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=24506

http://www.openprocessing.org/visuals/?visualID=24513

To the left side is the final layout of my wallpaper and how it sits.

My Design Influences

 When I was creating my wallpapers, I was influenced by the artist Lazlo Maholy. Lazlo Maholy used basic shapes and use the placement of these shapes to create an effective and impressive looking image. The images created were inspiring to me because it amazed me he could make something so simple and basic look so impressive. These are my wallpapers that were influenced by Lazlo Maholy.