Designing my own toy & Looking at illusions

Todays lesson started off with Steve showing the class some classic optical illusions. To give us some inspiration for when it came to designing my construction toy.

Some of these illusions were very hard to get our heads around and some were impossible to replicate in real life. Some of the illusions we looked at included the; penrose triangle, Blivet and the impossible cube. We came to the conclusion that most of these illusions had a lot to do with angles and the positioning of the shapes and this was the reason why the shapes could not be replicated.

Later on in the lesson Steve introduced us to our next project, this project was about creating our own construction toy. Steve showed us some very famous toys from that past to give us an idea on what we could make for our toy. I decided to use shapes that could connect to one another through the use of magnets. We only had time to briefly thing about our idea but I was certain that was the way I was going to go when making my toy. 

Audio Production PT3

There are many different skills that I want to improve on and discover when working on my project. My chosen project is to produce a 60 second news report with a musical indent when working on this I hope to improve on using the equipment to a high standard. This includes the type of equipment I will be using and the distance away from the person talking, these are all very important things when it comes to using audio. I also hope to improve on using programs to edit my recorded audio, because this would help me in other areas in media, especially moving image.  

My project is going to be based on news that is relevant at the time of recording, to find out this I will have to go on a news website to find out some information on the news story. To make sure the audience can here me properly I will have to make sure that the equipment that I am using to record sounds clear and is not dominated by any sound in the background. When it comes to my musical indent I will have to ensure that the sound that is being recorded fits with the story that I am covering. I do not plan to have more than one character speaking in my piece, I will be the person speaking about the chosen topic. 

Dumb ways to die and Mac Vs PC Focus Group

Dumb ways to die
The 'Dumb ways to die' ad campaign began in November 2012 the campaign was started by a company called, 'Melbourne Metro Trains' and was made to spread awareness about being safe around trains. 

Instead of Melbourne going for a boring and depressing advertisement they decided to chose a more different approach. This ended up in the advert being more happy and colourful, it also included its own song that ended up hitting the charts. The advert spread the message to a lot of people, and because of its unique style children could watch the advert as well and understand what it is trying to get across. I think this was a very smart move by the company because children are more likely to not be careful around trains and injure themselves so having the advert changed from a gloomy style would have helped the children understand a whole lot more. There is barley any text in the whole advert this is so they song that is playing in the background can be focused on. The song had a narrative to it and talked about what not to do around trains.

An app was also made at a later date, this again telling the audience to be careful around trains. After every few games the player would have to promise that they would be sensible around trains. Toys and posters were also made about the character in the advert, the characters featured are the face of the campaign now because they are so memorable.

The campaign ended up doing its job, metro train noticed a 21% decrease in accidents and deaths around trains. This campaign ended up being very successful and is still talked about today.

'Mac Vs PC' Focus Group

A focus group is a group that has a discussion about a certain product or item. In our focus group we discussed and advert that was called, 'Mac VS PC'. We generated 5 questions that were based around the ad, most of the questions were very linear though. I thought that the advert was very plain and didn't really show off why the mac product was better than a PC. It only stated it, I mentioned this in our discussion very briefly. We do focus groups because it allows everyone to voice their opinions on something to others and maybe change other peoples opinions on that certain thing.

The questions we used for our discussion were:

1.  Do you use a mac or a pc?

2.  Do you find that the comedy in the ads makes the product look more appealing?

3. What have you learnt about macs or pc’s after watching the ads?

4. What are you more likely to buy?

5. Do the adverts change your opinion about what you prefer?

Week 4

This was my last full lesson to finish off my project, I added the finishing touches to my work and made sure that everything flowed smoothly. I added text to my 'How a steam engine works' animation so that it was clear what was happening in the animation. I also added a bit more colour to all of my animations so that it would look more appealing. 

The finished animation can be seen here

Wireframes

Homepage:

After looking at some website for inspiration we were set the task to create Wireframes for our websites. We had to create a 3 desktop wireframes and a smart phone wireframes, this meant we had to be very careful on how we layout our desktop wireframes because there was a chance that it wouldn't work and fit on a smart phone.

For my webpage design I decided to go down the simplistic look, because this is quite a popular theme when it comes to web design and it also shows the audience that the company take promoting their product very seriously and would probably take the product more seriously. I included a lot of images in my webpage, I did this because the audience needs to see the product and the product being used as much as possible before they decide to purchase it, due to the them not being able to actually use it / pick it up. I also decided to use the traditional top nav on my wireframes because people know how to use it properly and it fits well with the rest of my webpage.

My Wireframes can be seen below:

Product page:

Again for my product page I looked at other websites for inspiration to see what worked and what didn't.

It was very obvious that I had to include lots of different photos showcasing the object and include a detailed description on the product. Also giving the customer an options was used quite a lot in other websites so I decided to add a choice of the colour of the pen and the amount of pens that they would like to purchase. I also had to make sure that there was a big buy now button on the product page so it was easy for the customer to buy the pen. 

When it came to my my phone design I had to make a swipe feature for my pictures so that they could all be seen at a high quality. I also had to spread things out so that it wasn't too easy to click on another option by accident.

My Wireframes can be seen below: 

Inspiring Websites

Beats

This webpage has quite a neat top nav that is easy to operate and is simple. This is something that I would love to replicate in my work because of how simple and nice it looks. The CTA button with the image behind it is a style that quite a lot of sites use, I think that it works quite well and it is another thing that I could use on my website to make it look more appealing.

Ringly

This page is sell rings, this can be quite a hard thing to do due to people actually wanting to see the rings gloss, reflection ect. However this site does very well at trying to get around this issue by having high quality images of the product that all use light to their advantage. The backgrounds behind the rings are very simple and don't clash with each other, they also fit with the whole colour theme of the website. I would have to make sure that the colour theme for my website fits with the products colour and that the background for my images should not clash with the product its self.

JooJoobs

I like the grid look this website has if I am to use all 4 of my images of my product then I think I would display them in a grid like way because it looks very organised and something that wouldn't turn people away. This website also uses backgrounds to its images that match with the products making it look very appealing.

University Trip

On Friday, we went to the University of Gloucester to look at the sort of things Uni's do and the sorts of things they cover. I thought that the trip was very interesting and it gave me a good idea of the sort of things that would go on at Uni and what I could expect if I were to go to the specific Uni. 

I thought that it was very interesting with the amount of equipment they had at their disposal and the amount of possibility each different course had. I looked at the; animation, theory and film making workshop, I found these to be very cool, expect for the theory were I found it quite boring and felt like more of a bonding session than anythings else. However the animation workshop was very fun because we actually got to do something that we had never covered before and we had a good feel for what we would be doing if we took that subject. The film making workshop was also very cool, we got to use the equipment that other studios would use in the real world of business and learn how to use them. 

I found this to be the most enjoyable workshop. I am still not sure about going to Uni, I like how the day gave us a feel for what we could expect from one but I'm not really sure if it is for me. 

Claymation

For this lesson I was not present however I have looked back at some of my colleges blogs to find out what was covered in the lesson.

Claymation is where a object is made out of clay and is taken a photo of each time it moves to create the illusion that it is moving by itself and is alive.

Examples of the use of claymation:

Morph

Morph was originally created for the TV progress, 'SMart' this show was about creating this and being artistic. Morph was in some of the episodes for the program for short one minute snippets. Morph was created by Aardman Animations who have worked on other popular claymation's including; 'Wallace and Gromit' and 'Pirates'. Two very successful claymations. Morph is about a little plasticine model who came to life when no there was no one around (Quite a childlike theme) this created the illusion that Morph was magical. The little shorts would consist of Morph doing different things. Morph would also interact with items that were not made out of clay, this really added to the artistic desk vibe. I use to watch Morph when I was a child and I use to really enjoy it, it's one of the things that I can remember watching when I was growing up so it differently had a big impact on me because I enjoyed it so much. 

Darkness Light Darkness by Jan Scankmajer

This mini film showed a single hand being formed into an entire human using clay. The whole film gives of quite a creeply little vibe and lives you feeling unsettled. The mini film starts with a single hand that finds other body parts through out the film, each time the body part finds another body part we are given a small segment or introduction on how the body part is found. This add suspence in some places where we hear banging on the door and the whole room shakes, leaves the audience wondering who is on the other side of the door. It was a very creative idea and I like the concept I thought that the setting fit well with this as well. The claymation was superbly done and when the hands formed the other body parts it looked very smooth and realistic. 

Interactive Animation Lesson 1 & 2 & 3

Lesson 1:

We were told what we had to achieve from Steve. This included creating our own miniature animation that was interactive and worked on a android device. 

It had to include 4 scenes the first scene was the hub where the audience could navigate to scene to scene at will. This had to include buttons so that when clicked would preform these actions. The second scene had to show the audience how popcorn pops, and a little description on how it does this. The third and forth scene followed the same type of rule but instead of showing how popcorn popped, they had to show how popcorn is formed and how a train makes steam.

In my first lesson I managed to get the first scene fully cleared and most of the second scene cleared. The animation was finished on the second scene and all of the buttons on the first scene worked correctly. I just had to find out how to set it up so it transitioned to the next scene when clicked on.

Lesson 2:

In this lesson we carried on with our interactive animations, for this lesson I decided to finalize my scene two animation and start my third animation. I got quite far in completing my animation, but Steve decided that we should do something in favor of the holiday season so we looked at different types of skills that were used in the videos that Steve had showed us.

Lesson 3:

This lesson I had a chance to finish off my third animation and add text to all of my scenes. The animation turned out quite well and with the text to the side explaining what was happening I thought that it got the point across very clearly. This was the case with the other animation I had done on scene two also.

PopCorn

So far I have complete 3 out of the 4 parts to my interactive animation.

The 1st scene consists of 3 buttons that take you to the other scenes when clicked on.

The 2nd scene consists of a simple animation of a Kernal turning into a piece of popcorn. With some text to the side explaining how popcorn is formed

The 3rd scene consists of another animation about how popcorn is made with text to the side to give the audience more information on the procedure. 

The 4th scene I have yet to start, but I have plans to finish at the end of the next lesson. This scene will consist of a a small animation of a train producing steam a some text on how the steam train does this!

Colour Theory

Monochromatic 

Monochromatic colours usually are all one colour and are close to each other on the spectrum.

Analogous

Analogous colours consist of colours that are next to each other on the spectrum for example blue, green and light green. Colours like this are used to act pleasing to the eye.

Complementary

These usually consist of colours that are opposite to each other on the colour circle for example red and green. Complementary colours are usually used to stand out and are used at high contrasts to add to this effect.

Tirad

A Triadic colour scheme uses colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. They tend to be quite vibrant. Triad colour schemes are carefully balanced and should always include one colour that should dominate the other two.

Communication Theories

Hypodermic needle theory is where the audience is given some information, there are two types of audience, one side is called, 'Passive Audience' this is where they accept the information they have been given and do not question it. The other is called an, 'Active Audience' these people challenge the information that they are told and are not easily influenced by what they are given. 

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs consists of five stages, physiological is the bottom stage this is basically the stage that focuses on the basics human needs. Safety is the next stage, this stage looks at the safety. Love and belonging is the next stage this looks at how people treat others. Esteem is the second highest stage this stage is about how the people feel and how achievements change their attitudes. The highest stage is called, self-actualisation this focuses on peoples emotions.

Uses of Gratification Theory

There are 4 main areas around the uses of gratification theory; Entertainment and Diversion, Personal Identity, Information and surveillance and Personal relationships. Uses of gratification theory is all about how people use media and what they use it for. All of these areas mean something:

Entertainment and Diversion is used to take people out of reality, so that they can feel better or can entertain themselves. Examples of this could be; TV, Cinemas or Books this is because all of these types of media Entertain people and take them feel different.

Personal Identity is where a piece of media shows things about you.  This can be used to bond with others due to them sharing a lot of their information or it can be used to show yourself to others for job reasons. Examples of this can be; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram and blogs.

Information and Surveillance this is used in the media to get information to other people. This can be through facts, important information and knowledge. By allowing others to see the content on the media they gain a wider perspective on the world and the things around them examples of this can be, documentaries, books and advertisements.

Personal Relationships this is all about getting to know others. Types of media that allow people to communicate and strengthen their relationships. This is similar to Personal Identity due to them both resulting in communication, examples of this can be, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat.

Moods

Stressed: Logic

Happy: Kendrick Lamar

Sad: Chance the Rapper

Buttons

One of our lessons with Steve was all about buttons and about how to emplent them into our pieces of work. We were shown how to do it by Steve and were also give a step by step guide just in case we had forgotten what we had to do. I thought that it was a very cool new technique, however it was a technique was very hard to learn, I remember having to refer back to the guide many times and if I were asked to make one now I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do it all perfectly. 

At the start of the lesson Steve brought in a pop corn maker showing us how pop corn pops. He also brought in a mini train showing us how steam is made. This would be key for our lessons soon to come.

After he had shown us the demonstration on how to make a button. We were left to make our own. I decided to make a button in the shape of a bomb, in which when hovered over it would shake and when clicked on it would turn into a 'BANG' icon. I thought what I had made was very interesting and I'm sure if I was given more time I could have made an even better button that did a whole lot more things.