Blog Reflection

In the semester before attending this course, I had very strict definitions and guidelines imprinted in my mind for how to evaluate what constitutes ‘art’ and ‘technology’ respectively. I never saw the two as relatable beyond being able to use one as a tool to create the other as a product. By default, I was a person that would focus on what differentiated the two subjects – one is (usually) devised and defined by its electrical components; the other is most commonly seen as a creative process that either highlights the power of imagination or as a means to address/challenge political and social issues – rather than noticing their shared similarities. This is how society conditions us to view them, as the two are always under separate categories in the educational spectrum. ‘Fine Arts’ and the ‘Sciences’ promote a limited view (or particular perspective) of the subjects they are attempting to define. If you associate more as being a creative mind, you are considered ‘artsy’. If your talent lies in logistics, you must be a nerd or an engineer.

This class, above all else, revealed to me my own personal biases and the rather ambiguous method I subconsciously use to judge what is considered ‘art’. I realized fairly early on that I was having a hard time wrapping my head around some of the artistic pursuits we covered in the lectures. Is networking art? It’s a fine example of technology, but is using the internet to open and close a door simultaneously (in response to another door’s movement) actually an art form? In the sense that it is creative, one could argue the artistic value in it, but my mindset saw it as simply another quirky way to use technology.

Having grown up as a digital native, the division between technologies and art were clear. Technology (which I have a natural affinity to) was any tool (electrical or otherwise) that served a specific purpose. Art was a creative outlet in which individuals could explore various mediums and share with the world either aspects of themselves or messages they wished the public to notice. Now that there has been a semester’s worth of ideas and discussions circulating through my brain, I find it harder to distinguish any notable difference between the two categories. How is building technology not creative? That alarm clock on my desk is an art form, not simply because of the function it performs but because its design was an intentional aesthetic decision by its manufacturers. Every form of art ever - whether it be the Red Rogues or those McDonald’s pony figurines currently displayed on my shelf - required technology to enable its existence. The two go hand in hand; one frankly cannot exist without the other, for their premises, at their core, are nearly the exact same thing. They are all creative inventions with their own unique purpose.

My technological portrait (this blog) was largely influenced by that mindset. At first, my indecisiveness led me to post about anything that might have been going on that particular day that seemed to have relevance. Reading back on those entries, they were very thoughtful and applicable with the course themes, even if I was not 100% certain that they were at the time. As I had predicted in the first few posts, my subjects were largely based on a specific threshold of ideas – all projects personally related to myself: Red Rogues and school projects, mainly, showcasing the work I had been doing for other classes that related to the arts and technology theme. As I discovered and mentioned above, I came to the realization that anything could really be spun to be a harmonization of the arts and technology, so mostly everything I did this semester was technically relevant to the project. Perhaps that is the main reason why this blog consists mostly of my own material, though to be honest when I find nifty projects created by others, I am not hardwired to think “Oh, this would be great for the blog!” The first time that epiphany struck me was with the Game of Thrones post… which is certainly a most recent and last minute endeavour after an entire semester of opportunity.

           

Overall, this course was an enjoyable experience and I definitely recommend keeping the technological portrait as part of the curriculum. It is a fun way of expressing yourself while relating to the course themes (the best way to learn is through application and experience, after all). My initial worry when I heard about the project was that I wouldn’t be updating it enough. I do think that 20 (perhaps one more after this entry, we will find out) is a decent number, considering the demands of the semester altogether.

Thanks for the great semester! It’s been a lot of fun!

Vanessa Hood

Game of Thrones Theme - Violin Cover

I absolutely love the Game of Thrones intro. The video is the most incredible effort I have ever seen for television series, and it's so well done! The theme song has a tendency of playing on loop in my brain for hours because it is just soooo good (and very catchy and memorable, too).

Here is the original, for those few that have not actually seen it yet:

The main reason why I have brought this topic up is that I recently came across an amazing violin cover of the theme song. I have always been a fan of the violin and have always wanted to learn how to play the instrument (the sounds it produces is gorgeous, after all), so any original/cover that is particularly well made gets automatic kudos for me. This guy here is a true professional at work:

As Game of Thrones has grown increasingly popular and into the mainstream, it is unsurprising that parodies galore are cropping up in unexpected places. One of my personal favourites has to be The Simpsons intro spoof, which has Springfield developing in a similar style to that of the fantasy world epic crafted by George R.R. Martin. Unfortunately I cannot embed the best quality video I have seen of this intro (all the Youtube uploads were taken down) but I can at least link you to the page here: http://io9.com/5890410/watch-the-simpsons-game-of-thrones-intro

Also, there is nothing better than popular culture mash-ups, and that's what you'll get with this fan-made Game of Thrones intro given the My Little Pony treatment:

This post feels like one of the first entries I've made in awhile that does not focus so much on what I personally create, but rather showcases my appreciation for what other members of society can do in creating an artistic masterpiece. I guess that is a good thing, since I shouldn't always be so self-absorbed.

Have a great night all! Hope you enjoyed a video-centric entry. :)

I Wish...

... that I was an artist. Or perhaps I should clarify, a visual artist, as I am fully aware that writing is considered an art form in its own right. I was never particularly amazing with my drawings when I was younger, and thanks to my being exceptionally self-conscious during my childhood, I lacked the motivation to improve. After all, the best way to hide mediocre artwork was to never create any in the first place.

That easily explains why my drawings look like they have been done by a third grader.

Why am I prefacing this post with slight self-deprecation towards my ability to draw? Simple. I am about to show examples, yay!

Around a month ago I mentioned that I had to pitch another game idea for my Game Strategy and Design class. I gave you all the scoop in advance with a pre-screening of the pitch 'Escape the Biebs!', and now I'm about to do it again. I have been working on the storyline images that will serve as an introduction to the game - why I am the artist for this, I cannot fathom - and considering the time constraints and balancing with other classes... they're not too bad. They could be better (for starters, I could get off my lazy butt and shade them if I had the time, to make them more glossy), but they'll serve their purpose in the limited time we have to put it together.

Here are a couple of examples, to show you what I mean:

 

Perhaps I'm not being too fair on myself by judging these. If I had a lot more time available, they'd be much higher quality than they are. I guess they're already 'high quality' compared to most of the other groups in the class, though, since most of them don't even have a developed storyline (or images to accompany them)! I still have a lot more to get through... hoping to maximize the weekend to the fullest for this project and the remainder for my other classes.

Nearly done the school year, all! Best of luck with your future endeavours!

Social Media: To What Connectivity Do I Indulge?

Last night's presentations were either exclusively about a social media platform (Facebook, Second Life, the history of social media as a whole) or on technologies as a way of interconnectivity to interact on these aforementioned platforms (through such means as a cell phone - though it went much further where they discussed the impact of cell phones on everyday life). It was interesting hearing my classmates' experiences and it inspired me to make a blog entry to comment on my own personal experience with social media.

My social media experience began with Myspace in 2004. I enjoyed being able to construct my own page (Myspace was a very customizable platform, probably being a major reason why it was so popular at the time) and had joined pretty much because my brother had and his interactions with other people intrigued me. He primarily used it as a source to find music and was on everyday listening to previews of upcoming albums and the like. As soon as I joined, I lost interest in it immediately. I did not want to disclose any information about myself (I was 13 at the time, so that was a good mindset to have in hindsight) and once the novelty of editing an internet page wore off I had no desire to continue running it.

It was a very abrupt and short-lived experience. :p

Fast-forward to March 2007. A friend that I had just been getting really well acquainted with that year (you might have heard of her... Skye Braham :D) asked me to join Facebook because she had just signed up and didn't have many friends on her list yet (she wanted to try out the system with someone; understandable). It was March break at the time so we dawdled around, drawing 'graffiti' on each other's walls (the option was removed a long time ago, but it was possible at one point to draw on a small template rather than just text the person). It was fun, but we didn't really care about it too much. Facebook did not see much activity from me between 2007 - 2009; didn't feel there was much point to, since I saw mostly everyone I was friends with in person everyday. Graduating high school changed that for me. It soon gained a purpose because suddenly everyone was going off in different directions and it became the only way to communicate with most of them. 2009 - 2010 still did not see me using Facebook too much, however, because most friendships had grown distant and I spent most of my free time hanging out with Skye. That time period is still one of my all-time favourites and I wouldn't trade it for the world. When I moved out to Victoria (I had lived in Nova Scotia for five years prior), it became more a necessity to keep in contact with my east coast buddies. I had still never owned a cell phone so the internet/email was the only way to talk to me.

Nowadays, from the later half of 2011 to present day, the experience and usage has again shifted. I was quite literally forced to get a cell phone by my parents in August 2011, who both reasoned that:
1) If there was any emergency, they could inform me immediately;
2) I'm growing up and should have one already because I'll need it for future jobs/whatever;
3) All of my friends have one so I could text them while I'm on the go, wouldn't that be convenient?

I never wanted a cell phone. I found it annoying that other people would disrupt my conversation with them just so that they could check it every time it vibrated (and then give more attention to that conversation rather than with the one they were currently having in person) and anyone who owns one generally grows a dependency to it and brings it everywhere with them (they cannot just remain disconnected). I didn't want to be like that, so I would always refuse (there was also the fact that I'd have to pay for it, which I did not want to do) the pressure in getting one. I still wish I didn't have it but it's been the only way to communicate with certain people because they don't have the time to get online. I mostly use it to occasionally text with Skye. No one ever calls me and I generally do not call anyone either because it would charge them long distance. I sometimes forget it in my room and do not particularly care if I'm parted with it. I do not use any of its functions except for texting; I do not go on the internet or listen to music or play games or any of the other bells and whistles I presume it does. I save that for when I am at home and on the computer. I do not need to be connected to that level everywhere I go.

My Facebook experience did not change too much from the inclusion of the phone - I still only message the same couple of people on Facebook and might post a monumental landmark in my life if anything significant happens. Recently, as Skye is a marketing student, she has been discovering and exploring the powers of social media as an advertising tool for Red Rogues. That has certainly got me inspired and interested, so the shift in personal usage is bound to change again when I have further progressed in writing the novel!

On a random note, I've never played Second Life but it seems like it would be fun to explore and view everyone's creative inputs there. I am a traditional 'gamer' and any MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) I lose interest in relatively quickly, but it would be a fun jaunt to fiddle around with it at some point.

Social media, is it a major part of my life? If Skype counts, the answer is a MAJOR yes, as Skye and I are constantly brainstorming and collaborating our ideas on there. If not, I do believe that I could easily disconnect myself from the Facebook juggernaut. It does not run my life, and it is not a necessity to my well being.

I Have Been...

... very naughty concerning how and when I update this. I completely neglected you when Skye came out to visit! I do apologize; I had not seen her since the summer and when you have a limited time to hang out with your best friend... certain things take a higher priority over others. Whoooops.

I do, however, regret nothing.

Nothing at all. :)

In order to incorporate a technological aspect into this entry (besides the simple skill incorporating that image above, of course), I'm going to briefly discuss a fun form of communication that Skye and I have recently been dawdling in.

On the Nintendo 3DS, there is a free software application called Swapnote that allows you to write/draw on the bottom screen and then send those messages to your friends either locally (wirelessly) or over the internet. You can also add photos (which can also be taken by the 3DS' built in camera), voice recordings, stationary backgrounds, and draw in 3D! [Which is an interesting mechanic, to have certain sections popping out of the screen.] Skye and I primarily took advantage of this application to send silly Red Rogues parodies to each other, but now that she's back in Nova Scotia I am also sending over some friendship quips (love all the way from Victoria, naturally) and the obligatory heartfelt messages of woe over having to say farewell. 

Swapnote I would say is the successor to Nintendo's own Pictochat, which lacked the wireless capabilities but still was designed around the same premise of doodling messages with friends. It's actually one of my favourite applications on the 3DS right now - in regards to how much use it gets, I would say it is currently the most accessed on my system. With a hectic schedule I don't have much time to play full fledged games at the moment, but I can always spare a few minutes to doodle with a friend!

Unfortunately I have to head back to reality now and focus on what I would like to call the infamous 'March Landslide' - otherwise known as that time period where absolutely EVERYTHING is due and is assigned at the exact same time. I had managed to buffer the last 11 days by doing all my work for it back in February, but having enjoyed that break I am now back to square one, no longer ahead in my classes. It was nice while it lasted, and worth all the effort it took to provide that 'free time' (as much as one could have while working on three different group projects simultaneously) for her visit. 

Love you and miss you, Skye. We will meet again... hopefully someday soon!

Hope everyone's Monday is going well so far! 

My Best Friend

... is over here, all the way from Nova Scotia! She arrived on March 7th and will remain with me until the evening of March 18th. Best times ever so far, and many great times ahead! :D

Haven't posted here in awhile so I thought I would share some of my good fortune. Not necessarily anything technological or anything, but this IS Skye I'm talking about, whom I did the interview with, sooooo... <3

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Game Pitch #2

Tomorrow I have to present a new game pitch to the class, and this time around I decided that I would make it much simpler and more nonsensical than my first attempt (ala Under Siege). I wanted to go a completely different route with this new game that (if chosen) should be a lot of fun to make. I decided to give you all a sneak peek of the idea first, before my class gets to hear about it!

Have some super secret copy-pasta!

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Tentative Title: 'Escape the Biebs!'

Story/Premise: Meet Doug. Doug is a fifteen year old boy with what his mother calls an ‘unhealthy’ video game obsession. “You should be spending less time playing video games and more time outside exploring the world and getting exercise! Video games are useless time wasters. You know what you learn from video games? Nothing!” Poor Doug gets kicked out of the house for a day to gain some perspective on what he’s been missing out on while he has let his brain “rot” playing games. Dejected, he wanders about town to look for something to do.

All of a sudden…

An impromptu Justin Bieber concert springs up behind him! Gross! Hating the prepubescent pop star as much as his own acne, Doug turns to leave and faces a crowd of rabid fan girls bearing down upon him. Shit! Will Doug manage to navigate through the impossible crowd of excited fan girls and escape the Bieber concert, or will his ears be forced to endure the worst singing (in his opinion) that his generation has ever created?

Short Term Goal(s): Avoid the crowds and survive!

Long Term Goal(s): Make it home without having your ears bleed!

Gameplay: The gameplay will function almost identically to Mario Party 5’s penguin mini-game, with some added bonuses and tweaks.

 

Levels – There will be multiple levels to signify the perilous journey Doug has to take in order to make it back home. Some potential locations could include: Downtown, Town Park, Waterfront, Sewers, Interior of Store [eg. Wal-Mart], and Residential Street. Work-in-progress: Each level will have a set timer counting down (60 seconds, 120 seconds, 180 seconds, etc) and Doug will complete the level when it reaches 0. The mob of fan girls will increase in density the longer Doug survives, and they will also get faster in speed (which realistically could be explained by their fear of missing Bieber sing).

It’s game over if Doug gets pushed to (the side of the screen that corresponds with) the concert!

Power-Ups – Doug’s obsession of video games actually comes in handy. With his knowledge of games, he is able to use items from various franchises to make his escape easier. Some potential ‘power-ups’ could include:

Invincibility Star (from Mario; picking this up will give Doug invisibility frames to plough through the fan girls and knock them out)

Smart Bombs (from Star Fox; blows up all fan girls within the vicinity of its blast when set)

Ocarina (from Zelda; plays ‘Reverted Song of Time’ to slow down the speed of the fan girls, might also affect the time counter)

Bumper (from Super Smash Bros.; any fan girl that runs into it will bounce out of the way)

Star Rod (from Kirby; fires out stars that will dissipate any fan girl that comes in contact with them)

… and perhaps more from there, or tweaks to the current set.

Controls: Control Doug with the arrow keys to move around the level to avoid the fan girls that will push him back towards the concert. When you have picked up an item, push the ‘Shift’ key to use it. A second player (Doug’s friend Bill) can be moved with the ASDW keys; the F key will use the item picked up.

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Completely ridiculous - told you! Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek!