My Personal Manfesto

Here are 10 Points that I have developed that help me find my creativity and how I look at things.

1.  Be Yourself.- To be a creative person, first you have to be yourself, and then your creativity will follow.

2.  Don't Be Ashamed.-  Most times, people are afraid to express themselves how they would like in the thought of being ashamed of themselves.

3. TALK!-  Making connections is the best way to share ideas.

4.  Creative Intelligence.-  With your connections, making a collective intelligence will make the final work much more unique and original.

5.  Research.-  The best way to find out about techniques and concepts is to research.  By doing research, you may find something that catches your attention and inspires you to do something.

6.  Be Well-Rounded.-  Being a well rounded person will also help your creativity.  You can apply different techniques  that will help you make a trans-media product

7.  Take Breaks.- Often times, taking breaks will aid you in your creativity.  If you run into a slump,  take a break. Then after, come back to it and you will have a new view of things.

8.  Work on Your Weaknesses.-  If you only concentrate on your strengths, you will only be able to do one thing.  You must recognize your weaknesses and work to make that proficient.

9.  Failing is Inevitable.-  You must fail to succeed. No one is perfect and you must not let a failed attempt be the end of your creativity.

10.  Think "Weird".-  Create an original one-off product with your creativity.  No one wants to be stuck in the norm, so you must "step out of the box."

"Karimanifesto"

Karim Rashad is a creative design specialist/artist. You can see his work at www.karimrashid.com. He has a manifesto called "Karimanifesto.  It is a list of 50 points that regard life and design.  I have read 10 of his points and there is one that stands out to me. He states that "normal is not good."  I appreciate this point, because as i desire to be a very creative person in all aspects of arts and media. The norm is not popular. People want original, unique, one-of-a-kind products.  Sure, you could possibly have your work noticed if you proceed on "normal" terms with your creativity, but you will always be over-shadowed by the unique things.  Would you rather look at a picture of a campfire, or a campfire with arms and legs fighting elephants and Charlie Sheen!!! Okay, maybe not to that extent, but the bottom line is that people want to be fascinated with your work, and they also want to not be able to compare your work with somone else's.  Creativity come from yourself, not to re-create something that is "normal."  Karim Rashad does a fantastic job with creating unique art.  You can defiantly tell he strives off of creativity.  Before I even surfed around his sight, just the background and layout of his website was not "normal."

Hero/Villain Critique

The first Hero/Villain I will critique is Joe Battaglia.  Unfortunately he only has his Villain posted on his wall and not the Hero.  I really liked his animation. It was different from most of the rest. His Villain "Blendinator" blends fruit.  The animation. although, did not show much weight distribution.  His photo on the other hand is also very unique.  It seems that if he concentrated on making his character very square which depicts a evil mood. He also paid close attention to shadows. He shaded very well to let the viewer think he is big and leave a big shadow.

The second Hero/Villain I should have critiqued is Jordan Bond's. She also, does not have her Hero/Villain posted.

The last Hero/Villain is Cameron Brown.  Cameron has his picture of his super hero posted,but no animation.  Even thought he did not have the animation posted, i liked his picture.  His picture defiantly shows a super hero with his muscles, roundish face, and cape.  It seems that he also paid attention to detail during the shadows but to make him feel big and successful, with his raised hand and mug full of beer.  I also liked the brightness of his color choices that also help him to depict a super hero you might see on TV or magazines.

Hero/Villain Project

                                                                  Hero: Eric Williams

Villain: Mucko

FREAK FACTOR

I have recently read a manifesto on www.changethis.com called FREAK OUT.  It is written by David Rendall, and during the article, Rendall explains that it is okay to be a "freak" and it could help you be a well rounded person.  He explains this in a number of points, and also explains how to actively engage each point correctly.  There are 3 points that caught my attention the most. The first being point #4 "Forget It: Don't Try To Fix Your Weaknesses." Rendall believes that fixing your weakness only hinder you in the long run.  The process is slow, painful, distracting, and it doesn't actually work. I feel like these are valid points.  Usually when someone realizes their weaknesses, they tend to let them bring down their self esteem.  This obviously can harm a person's confidence in the long run and often makes them scared to express themselves in the same manner they have before.  I feel like the best way to fix your weakness is trying again, not figuring out how you should deal with it.  To some degree, I think you should not completely forget about your weaknesses, because it will still always be your weakness as much as you try to forget it. The second point that was interesting to me was point #5 "Foundation: Build On Your Strengths." Rendall states that your strengths are "patterns of your passions and your proficiency."  I agree to this, but not fully.  I think you should continue to build on your strengths but not forget about your weaknesses.  If you build on your foundations, you will obviously be very good at what you like, but at the same time you will have no other skills if you only concentrate on the strengths. He does point out that building a foundation will be a success. I think that it could bring success but it will not help you be a well rounded person. The last point that i found interesting was point #6 "Focus: You Can't Do Both."  I am confused if this manifesto was created to better yourself, or I am just thinking completely opposite of Rendall.  I feel like this point is not well said.  I feel like to be a well rounded person you need to be sufficient in all aspects.  I think that if you are a determined person, you can and will continue to build on your strengths and also recognize your weaknesses: RECOGNIZE your weaknesses, not weep over them OR forget about them!  I have many weaknesses myself.  In a creative wise, i guess that you could say that I am proud to stand behind my work.  I am worried that people will judge me on my work.  I consider my music/audio  knowledge my strength.  I spent countless hours researching and working with tools, instruments, and programs that involve music or audio recording.  I spent a lot of time building my foundation.  Other then my weakness of showing my work, my other weakness is animation.  I will be the first one to tell you that animation is not my forte.  While reading the syllabus on the first day of class, i was dreading that assignment.  As we began working with the animation in lab, I realized that i was the worst at animation.  I wish that I would be better at animation and I consider that one of my media related weakness.

"Collapsus"

Although this is an audio-blog assignment, I have yet to understand how to create an audio blog unfortunately.  Collapses is a new game that incorporates trans-media techniques. There is variety of techniques that were used to make the game. I liked the game because if was different, and it seems to be a type of gaming that  people can look forward too in the future.  I suggest that you experience the game here www.collapsus.com.  The game keeps your interest because it uses concrete facts that people can attach themselves too, and also it uses a variety of media techniques to keep your attention.  I can easily say that there is nothing really like it available  today.  The class (MDIA 203) is a good example of using trans media techniques in your creative work.  I have learned a lot taking this class, even though i thought i new it all coming into the first session. I was wrong, but the class helped me with my creative side.  I liked working with groups and sharing a collective intelligence to make our trans-media projects.  During the last few projects, I used different techniques and thought differently towards my projects while using my creativity to create a better project. Since I am an Audio Production major, i felt like the audio assignments were the most interesting, but after working on the other projects, I can see that knowing at least a little bit about most things will help you be successful in the media business.  The business uses collective intelligence, and working with groups for different projects made me a more creative person, and i could easily say that if there were no groups in this class, then our work would turn out significantly worse. This class defiantly helped me look at media in a different perspective instead of just audio, audio, audio!

Video Game Presentation

For my Video Game assignment, my group chose to make an Role Playing Game that would incorporate skill and thinking.  The presentation went well and it seemed like we had a good response.  Although the good response there are a few things i feel like we could have explained better. During the storyline slide, i feel like we could have told the storyline more efficient and slower so our class could understand the entire storyline which was our main concentration.  Since it is an RPG, the storyline drives the game over all things.  Other then that, i feel like we could have described the gameplay and better.  We did not mention it was a game of skill, another thing that compels the game. I feel like if we could have better explained the amount of skill needed and some actual skill related events that would happen in the game.  I think the mechanics part of our presentation was good.  When created the mechanics, we focused on using some of the gaming world's most used mechanics.  As we compared our mechanics to "Call of Duty" I feel that our class could understand the mechanics better since "Call of Duty" is very reputable game. I also feel like the rules of the game needed to be explained in further detail. The rules in games are usually vague and broadly explained. It is hard to explain rules, especially if there are many rules.  Some games apply rules that are only applied when certain things happen.  Also, rules are what help drive the game, and when pitching, the rules need to be clear so it will not mislead the audience. The other detail of video games that is hard to discuss is objectives.  Objectives are much like rules in their difficulty to explain. In a complex game, there are many objectives that the player or players will have to face to complete the game.  If these objectives are not clear, it could be the breaking point for when buying a game.  Also just like rules, objectives can come at various times and in different complexity and detail.  I feel that when pitching objectives, you must give examples of objective the player will have to complete and also give a detailed explanation of the different varieties of objectives you can look to complete.

Contrasting the Video Assignement

In the First Video "Toy Train, we concentrated more on space and rhythm. The visual rhythm could be seen in the actors' attire. We used the same colored shirts, which were green, to tie in a relationship between Tommy and his mother. We also used a variety of shots that were close ups on both Tommy and his mother that were also similar.  We decided to use these similar shots to portray their contrasting feelings and to help with the films visual rhythm.  For the space, were focused on using flat space for the most of the video to let the audience focus on the characters and their emotions. We also used contrast. The father (me) was wearing a white shirt for a difference in color rather than the mother and Tommy's green shirt.  The affinity was tied into the visual rhythm where Tommy and his mother were both men for comedic purposes, and again, they were wearing close attire.

For the second video, "Tony Pepperoni,"we focused on line and shape and movement.  We used line and shape in various shots to display Tony (Yui Chen) and his mother at different angles.  We used high elevated shots when Tony is on the ground to show his little power. In contrast we showed the mother's high power and strength by making the shots at a lower angle.  For movement, we used a variety of scenes to show different angles of the movement. We also used the text and subtext.  The subtext came into play when Tony Pepperoni was walking to his room and slams the door. You can tell that Tony is angry without any words being said through his movement.  For the text, you can understand the feelings of the characters during the voice overs.

Super Powers - Exodus

www.thisamericanlife.org - super powers

After listening to the piece on "This Is American Life", it amazes me how creative people are as they make superheros and villains.  Personally, I dont not have a high creativity in character design, but it did make me think what super-human powers i would want to possess if i were a super human.  Up above, I have posted a picture of the Marvel super human Exodus.  I have researched that Exodus possess the power of telepathy.  If I were a super human, I would want to be Exodus.  Many people want to be the popular super heros, but I tried to delve in to find one that is not so popular, but still has powers that I wish to  have.  Telepathy is a very powerful thing. It allows you to come into contact with another persons thought without and verbal communication.  In many occasions, telepathy would make life interesting.  I feel that with this power you can realize your real friends over people who actually think you are weird.  This would obviously be very helpful in a social way of life, not to mention that it would give you an edge over your classmates in college by coming into contact while your teacher is making a test!  Along with Exodus's telepathically powers, he can also control another persons mind.  With this power, life would be much easier if you controlled the minds of everyone you came into contact with.  Essentially you would be able to TAKE OVER THE WORLD without one violent act or incident!   

Toy Train

Tony Pepperoni