Evaulation of Blog and Final Product

My online diary was a collection of different pieces like art, media and new technologies which interested me but I wanted to also look into other sections which had been under scrutiny for its problems and public reactions. The art work which I chose for my visual diary were ones which I had seen before and interested me but also a mix of ones which had been taught during are lectures. Coincidentally they were binary opposites of each other; my own personal art was a modern mix of pop art and expressive pieces such as Roy Lichtenstein’s “Comic Book” pieces in comparison to the detailed and renaissance pieces such as “Venus and Mars” painted by Alessandro Botticelli which showed more personal emotion and relationships between characters (unlike Pop Art which was just expressive pieces with (seen further away but actually small dots) of block colour surrounded by thick black dividing lines).

I looked into new pieces of technology which had come out recently and tied to see how they will affect the future of media and its platforms. For example, one of my blogs looked at the introduction of 3D across film, television and recently with Nintendo’s newest console, the 3DS, gaming. The introduction of 3D was first seen in cinema as test pieces in 1922 and we further adapted into mainstream cinema with the “golden era of 3D” in 1952. Audiences were amazed with the films technique of how it made the people and props around them “come to life”. In the 2010, the popularity boomed again when more and more of the films were inserted in the mainstream market. The pinnacle of the popularity was the release of James Cameron’s “Avatar” with its amazing fight scenes, landscape and people. People were amazed how the film created this “Utopian pleasure” were people could escape into this “blue” world were the landscapes and people were all fascinating. This however created problems and some people became so immersed that it created a tear-back- the “Avatar syndrome” were people believed that they were so much in the world that their brains ceased functioning properly and they committed suicide. This was very much the problem in the 1990’s with the release of “The Matrix” when people were so immersed in “The Matrix” that they thought they could do anything. This was dubbed as the “Matrix Psychosis”. However the popularity increased further and more and more films were released in 3D. In 2011 they finally were able to create the technology to allow televisions to show 3D films and programs allowing the experience to “be brought into people’s homes”. This came with its own problems however as the televisions were expensive, there isn’t very many channels and programs to use the 3D experience to its fullest capabilities. My blog post however, didn’t really go into detail about the problems which were relative to 3D and focused too much on what the future for gaming and television was with this technology now readily available which could be a criticism as I didn’t look at both sides of the spectrum in detail.

My photography within the blog was limited and a little boring. Most of the pictures were taken around campus and the local Bradford area without going further out to get pictures of either landscapes or ones which had an interesting view . The pictures were mostly architectural (such as the pictures of Bradford and the University) and didn’t really follow the artist or modern look which the rest of my blog tried to envisage. However some of the photos do show some form of art, with some landscapes that were taken on a train ride, some images of technology (such as the photos of the Bradford Media Museum) and some just had a naturalist and public look (like the town centre and the green around the University)
My blog could have used a variety of different platforms of my own work. My blog focused a lot on drawn and Photoshop/ GIMP created images and I didn’t go into depth with practising with video graphics, filming or relations to gaming such as a Flash game etc. Although the Photo-shopped images were adapted to show colour – which is important in art as colour can relay information, emotion and an ambience of a picture. The emotion of an image is important as it can give someone an idea of how the subjects within the paintings are feeling but can also give a look on the relationship of the two. In John Burgess’ “Ways of Seeing” he explains how the “faces of paintings become messages” meaning that the face and emotion it shows can relay a “message” to the viewer of the painting in different ways depending on the person’s own feelings and evaluation.

Although I did try to focus my blog on new media pieces but also pieces I enjoyed and previously knew, some didn’t flow as well as others. My presentation and blogs were slightly random and could have been better organised to allow the blog to flow better from one to another. For example, the blogs about some of the artist research could have been grouped together at the start instead of being once every few posts. The post of Da Vinci and his work is a good example of this as although I did link the research I did with some of my own studies of his work, I could have linked that to another artist instead of going onto a newer piece of video or one of my own images.

My final product which I created was a intermix of the two things which I enjoy, art and comic book styling pieces. I tried to mimic a Roy Lichtenstein approach with the characters with simplistic facial features and use of the speech bubbles and action text to show the movement and interaction of the characters but I combined it with the block colouring and black lines of a simple comic book. For an added element, I based my comic around an issue which has become more and more predominate which is the problem with domestic violence. Domestic violence has become one of the most campaigned problem in media adverts as well as problems such as child abuse, poverty and other variations of aid. The use of this adds to another platform of new media issues allowing my final piece to incorporate three different aspects to create one product to have a mix of older art (Pop Art) and newer media aspects (Domestic Violence campaign such as endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk)

Overall my blog was a good mix of picture, video and new media technology posts which in turn allowed me to experiment and create my own new pieces of artwork and drawings to further my creative ability in some subjects. In the future however I may need to look into more video based blogs of my own creation. If I experimented with short films or title graphics next time, I could use my Photoshop and GIMP skills to create new and visual appealing pieces of work. Also I would need to be able to link more of work to different theories to show how the public react to them and show that even when new technologies come in and change what was seen as “the norm”, it can still be relative to things of today.


The Final Piece

Here is my final media piece. Its a small comic strip about an issue which is most common and pronounced now - domestic violence. I tried to use a look which is relative to today's clothing and colouring (either pastel colours and not a lot of print) like Lichtenstein used in his comic books with the well dressed woman in expensive clothing. Here I used simple colours in the clothing to just how simplistic the look is of people's clothing today in comparison to the 50's. The comic strip has a mixture of pop-art styles intermixed with comic book styling of  comics today. 

As I put in my previous posts, I had trouble with the colouring of the images. If you look at some of the panels, there is a white fuzzy outline which goes around the edging of where the Quick Selection Tool was placed causing gaps in the colour. If I was to do this again, I would use a drawing tablet to colour the specific bits instead of just relying on the QST. (My tablet broke just before creating this so I was unable to do this)

Overall I'm pleases with the way the piece turned out as I think I mimicked Lichtenstein's concept but added my own twist to it. I like the story and how it was set out but next time I might add a history of before and what happened to her and why she is in a abusive relationship with this man. Exploring the backstory however can be added later which I will probably continue on this blog. 

Its been a good experience to do a piece like this instead of having to use things like After Effects and physical drawings and the idea of using Photoshop and drawn images to create a final piece is something which I may follow in the future and practise more to get better. Hopefully by the time I pass, I can make a industry quality (or near enough) comic strip which I can then progress into other parts of my media work.

The Media Product:
Note: Originally there was supposed to the a 6th panel. But due to it not following the story properly and having problems drawing and colouring, it was cut for the final piece.

Problems with Final Piece


This is a screen-shot of the production of my final piece. I thought this would show the problems that I encountered while creating the strip. To add colour to the specific sections of the piece, I selected them using the "Quick Selection Tool" (like I practised with my other pieces of work earlier) but I encountered a problem. The selection tool would cover over each of the motion lines that I had drawn onto the fist when they touched the background. To help remedy this problem, I have to scale the brush of the Quick Selection down and trace over the lines to prevent them from being painted over. This was time consuming and the end result wasn't perfect.
Hopefully next time I do something like this, it should take less time and come out a lot better.

Idea for Media Product - The beginning stages.


Above is a line drawing of my story and how its set out. The story follows the idea of domestic violence with a man attacking a woman and leaving her on the floor, hurt. This story can relate a lot to times now as many women are attacked by the (as they see it) the "stronger" gender. So like in Lichtenstein 50's paintings, I have tried to do an issue which is like the time and try to make the clothing more 21st Century (less prints and more pastel colourings for women, bright colours for the men.) 

Hopefully I can add colour to the image and give it the final look of a comic/ Lichtenstein piece of artwork.

My Idea for the Media Project.

My idea for the final piece uses the style and comic design of Roy Lichtenstein's painting but this time I have added my own story and design with the panel placement. Below was a quick sketch of my overall idea. Although this is rough and only a first draft, I will probably change the story to something which is relative to my own life. In the panels below it was originally intended to be two men fighting over a woman but after talking and designing, the men would look to alike and the story would be boring. I talked to my friend Charlie and he gave me and idea of domestic violence and  a man attacking a woman. This was interesting as it was the opposite of what Lichtenstein's paintings showed - beautiful women with handsome men to a handsome man attacking a down- trodden woman.
This idea is interesting but I will probably keep the design below in my final piece.


THE STORYBOARD - 1ST DRAFT

The 3D Revolution

Since the first release of 3D films in  1915 they have steadily become more and more attractive to audiences with its peak in the 2000's. The ability of seeing a film in a cinema and having that element of things coming at you and you being able to passively interact was the biggest attraction which added both suspense and creates emotion for the viewer (like if something jumps out people will physically jump or like in Wall-E the scene moved through the landscape giving the feeling of largeness and making people feel like they are a "small fish in an ocean".

The film was usually the main output for 3D experimental films and practises but lately to has spread across many platforms such as television and even gaming. 3D TV was first released into mainstream marketing in March 2010 when TV with full 3D capabilities became a popular and well selling idea. People could then stream professional and fun 3D Films and TV right into their own living room without the hassle of going to the cinema. This allowed the whole family to enjoy its benefits of popular films and programmes.


Nintendo also joined this revolution earlier this year with the release of their hand held system the 3DS. This was the first in hand-held gaming technology which allowed the player to experience 3D atmospheres and landscapes with this small screen. Games had a new element from the old 2D display that they used to show. A new feature was the AU capability (Augmented Reality) which allowed people to use the outside world and cards to create a whole new experience with the gaming. With the camera equipped to the handheld also, you can create an edit 3D photos and later on in the summer, 3D film.



So if this is the revolution for 3D when is the revolution or the release of 4D going to come?
Or is this the limitations of out technology today?

My Photography - (2)

More photos (conitnued from last post)