Wednesday 25 February 2015
Friday 30 January 2015
Peer Review
After watching everyone's final projects on Wednesday, we were asked to review an animation of our choice. I have decided to review the animation "The Circle of Life" by Caitlin, Lois and Caroline. The girls unfortunately couldn't get the music or sounds to play on their video on the day and were understandably saddened by this. However, they tackled this issue and overcame it. They had the music playing through their phone as their animation was shown on screen. Although background noise could be heard on their sound clip, it was barely noticeable.
On the opening sequence, a popular song could be heard; this was 'Send me on my way' by Rusted Root. I love this song and it made me excited for the animation to start. After the title sequence we saw the first and main character of the animation. It was a baby crawling across the floor of the screen and out of shot, a little boy then returned playing football and I could see straight away what the animation would entail. We saw the boy going through all stages of his life, meeting his wife, having a baby, growing old and passing away. It then showed his son and prompted the circle of his life too.
My only critique of the animation is that although the story is clear, the contemporary issue doesn't seem to be. However, it is clear that a lot of planning, time and effort went into this animation and I think it paid off as it stuck in my head.
The animation is available to watch here: http://k33nlbk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-circle-of-life.html
Thursday 29 January 2015
Self Evaluation
Our group was made up of two people, Emily and myself. We didn't have specific roles because we decided that it would be best for us to work together as neither of us felt we excelled in any particular role within the project as we both admitted that neither of us are particularly creative people. We started working with clay straight away which was a mistake as we should have tried other options such as paper or toys like other people in our class did. We also decided to film our animation using an application called Stop Motion Studio as we both agreed we found it was better suited to us as opposed to Zu3D.
Here is the app: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/stop-motion-studio/id441651297?mt=8
Our set was pretty basic. We wanted to concentrate more on the seasons changing so we figured that if we kept our background the same, the weather would be the focal point. A problem we encountered with our set was that it wasn't as wide as the camera shot so a background was visible behind our set. After presenting our animation, we were tackled on this and I explained the issue. However, one of my peers pointed out that they liked the fact the background was visible outside of our set and that they would have believed that it was purposely done.
The conflict involved in our animation was the issue of homelessness. We felt that this is a big issue in Wales, especially in Swansea. We did some research on this and found some evidence to back up this idea. These are some graphs I found on http://www.poverty.org.uk.
Towards the end of our animation, we aimed to show there was some resolution to this conflict. We wanted to show that although we can't fully resolve the issue of homelessness, we can show others some compassion and even the smallest of kind gestures matter. I am a firm believer in helping those less fortunate and have often provided food and drinks for the homeless people of Swansea and they have always been extremely thankful.
Although sound effects are a great way of conveying action, we didn't provide any sound effects as we didn't feel that it worked well with our animation in particular. We did however use background music. Initially we used a song by Bastille called 'Things we lost in the fire'. Although this is an emotional song, we didn't think that it worked very well with our animation. Eventually we decided that an instrumental song would be best suited to us because we figured that if there are no lyrics, people will concentrate on the animation itself rather than the song that's playing in the background. However, we still wanted the background music to convey emotion so we went with an instrumental version of the song 'Somewhere only we know' by the band Keane. I think this music worked really well with our animation and I'm very happy with the outcome.
Things to avoid when completing this assignment include:
Some tips when completing this assignment are:
References
Palmer, G. (2012). Homelessness. Available: http://www.poverty.org.uk . Last accessed 28/01/2015.
Here is the app: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/stop-motion-studio/id441651297?mt=8
Our concept was a story of a homeless man. We would show him sleeping rough throughout the year. We decided that we would show this by having the seasons of the year change. This is where our title "Four Seasons" came from. As the final scene is played, it is raining and a stranger walks up to our homeless character and offers him shelter under him umbrella. The contemporary issue we are trying to portray is obviously homelessness and the moral of our story is that we should all try to help each other out in times of need and even the smallest of kind gestures matter.
There are two characters in our animation; one being the homeless man and one being the kind stranger. The homeless man was easy to handle has he was flat on the floor and didn't move throughout the animation however, the kind stranger had to walk onto the set which was rather difficult to get him to stand up but I realised that if I put bigger shoes on his feet he would stand with ease and he did. Another problem that we encountered was that we made the figures and decided to start filming the next day. This proved to be challenging because although the characters were easy to mould, by the time we got around to filming they had hardened which made them fall apart when we tried moving them.
Our set was pretty basic. We wanted to concentrate more on the seasons changing so we figured that if we kept our background the same, the weather would be the focal point. A problem we encountered with our set was that it wasn't as wide as the camera shot so a background was visible behind our set. After presenting our animation, we were tackled on this and I explained the issue. However, one of my peers pointed out that they liked the fact the background was visible outside of our set and that they would have believed that it was purposely done.
The conflict involved in our animation was the issue of homelessness. We felt that this is a big issue in Wales, especially in Swansea. We did some research on this and found some evidence to back up this idea. These are some graphs I found on http://www.poverty.org.uk.
(Palmer, G. 2012)
(Palmer, G. 2012)
Towards the end of our animation, we aimed to show there was some resolution to this conflict. We wanted to show that although we can't fully resolve the issue of homelessness, we can show others some compassion and even the smallest of kind gestures matter. I am a firm believer in helping those less fortunate and have often provided food and drinks for the homeless people of Swansea and they have always been extremely thankful.
Although sound effects are a great way of conveying action, we didn't provide any sound effects as we didn't feel that it worked well with our animation in particular. We did however use background music. Initially we used a song by Bastille called 'Things we lost in the fire'. Although this is an emotional song, we didn't think that it worked very well with our animation. Eventually we decided that an instrumental song would be best suited to us because we figured that if there are no lyrics, people will concentrate on the animation itself rather than the song that's playing in the background. However, we still wanted the background music to convey emotion so we went with an instrumental version of the song 'Somewhere only we know' by the band Keane. I think this music worked really well with our animation and I'm very happy with the outcome.
Things to avoid when completing this assignment include:
- Bad time keeping. I think that Emily and I definitely underestimated how time consuming this project would be and we ended up getting very stressed out as we were running out of time but luckily we completed it in time.
- Checking up with what your peers are doing. I think that this kind of project should be different from your peers and I found that when I heard what other people were doing, I thought about changing up what we were doing but it's important to stick with your own instincts and ideas.
- Taking pictures at different times of the day. Lighting was a big issue for a lot of our peers. Some people took pictures in the daytime, took a break then went on to take some more pictures but by the time they got around to this, the sun had gone down which gave the pictures a darkness that wasn't there beforehand. This made the animations flow with less ease.
Some tips when completing this assignment are:
- Take a break when needed. This is extremely important in my opinion. It is a very stressful project so if you feel like you need to take some time out for a lunch or tv break, do it. You'll end up burning out otherwise and your end project will not be as good as it could have been.
- Patience. You need patience with this project. Don't expect to get it done within one day, or in one sitting. It will take time and a lot of effort (and mistakes).
- If using a smart phone to take pictures, use earphones to take the pictures. Emily and I were having trouble with the phone moving position with each shot we took due to us touching the screen to take the picture. I came up with the idea of using the button on the earphones to take each shot, that way the phone could stay in the same position throughout our animation. It worked great!
- Using a tripod is a good idea. Hardly anyone has a steady enough hand to hold a camera in place throughout the process of creating an animation so buying or making a tripod is the best idea. We built ours using books and clay to hold the phone in place.
- Using a lamp close to the set. If you can't take pictures at the same time everyday (and even if you can, the weather is unpredictable), using a lamp or light close to your set when taking pictures is helpful as you'll get the same lighting throughout your shots. this is a picture of how we provided our lighting.
References
Palmer, G. (2012). Homelessness. Available: http://www.poverty.org.uk . Last accessed 28/01/2015.
Tuesday 27 January 2015
"Sound effects play an important role in conveying action. Music helps express emotion." - Michael Geisler
To test out this opinion, I decided to watch a scene from two different films. First was "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1", an action film that was released in 2014. I watched a scene which was full of weapons, planes and tanks shooting at the main character. It was nowhere near as exciting although I could still work out what was going on. Next, I watched another favourite of mine "The Fault in Our Stars" which is a romantic drama. I watched a scene which has upset me in the past and instantly noticed how important the music was in this scene. Although I knew what was going on, I did not feel as emotional about this scene as I usually did. I watched both scenes from both films again, with the sound on and noticed an extreme difference. I definitely agree with Michael Geisler's quote.
To test out this opinion, I decided to watch a scene from two different films. First was "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1", an action film that was released in 2014. I watched a scene which was full of weapons, planes and tanks shooting at the main character. It was nowhere near as exciting although I could still work out what was going on. Next, I watched another favourite of mine "The Fault in Our Stars" which is a romantic drama. I watched a scene which has upset me in the past and instantly noticed how important the music was in this scene. Although I knew what was going on, I did not feel as emotional about this scene as I usually did. I watched both scenes from both films again, with the sound on and noticed an extreme difference. I definitely agree with Michael Geisler's quote.
Monday 26 January 2015
The impact of an ICT rich learning environment
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
- Arthur C. Clarke
There's no denying how useful ICT is within a learning environment and there are many reasons for this. The main reason being the fact that we are all becoming reliant on technology, with computer skills being an incredibly valuable proficiency to possess. ICT knowledge is required in most lines of work these days so it is useful to know how to use a computer and it's programmes. It is also useful to know how to effectively use ICT in preparation for A levels and higher education due to the amount of work that needs to be created through ICT equipment, devices and programmes. It is also important to know how to use these things to gain access and effectively use the internet. Not everyone has the same access to equipment and resources so it is beneficial for schools to provide their students with ICT as it gives them all the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and experience with this important technology and offers everyone the same chances.
It is recognised that every individual has their own preferred learning style. Learning styles are seven groups of different ways that people tend to learn to their best ability (Advanogy.com, 2005). I believe that it is important to venture and learn through and with technology as this type of learning could benefit certain students as opposed to them sitting in class and copying down what their teacher is saying. Some people learn more effectively when they are having fun and actively getting involved in their lesson and ICT is an opportunity to do this.
A downside of ICT rich learning environments is that they tend to be costly on the education system. Using technology as a way or method of teaching is still relatively new and therefore costs quite a lot of money and some could argue that this money could be better spent. Another critique of an ICT rich learning environment is that although ICT skills are improving, they could hinder the students literacy and numeracy skills.
To conclude, I believe that ICT rich learning environments are a great idea and way of learning due to the new skills and experiences students can pick up which could be of use in later life as well as the present. However, I think that traditional learning is still important as we always need to improve on basic skills such as numeracy, literacy and simple skills such as handwriting which can't be done through a computer screen.
Advanogy.com. (2005). Overview of Learning Styles. Available: http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/. Last accessed 25/01/2015.
Rouse, M (2005). ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies). Available: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/ICT-information-and-communications-technology-or-technologies. Last accessed 25/01/2015.
- Arthur C. Clarke
ICT
stands for Information and Communications technology. It is an umbrella term for technological devices such as computers, mobile phones, televisions, etc (Rouse, M. 2005). ICT is becoming more and more important and involved in education settings as our education system is developing.
There's no denying how useful ICT is within a learning environment and there are many reasons for this. The main reason being the fact that we are all becoming reliant on technology, with computer skills being an incredibly valuable proficiency to possess. ICT knowledge is required in most lines of work these days so it is useful to know how to use a computer and it's programmes. It is also useful to know how to effectively use ICT in preparation for A levels and higher education due to the amount of work that needs to be created through ICT equipment, devices and programmes. It is also important to know how to use these things to gain access and effectively use the internet. Not everyone has the same access to equipment and resources so it is beneficial for schools to provide their students with ICT as it gives them all the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and experience with this important technology and offers everyone the same chances.
It is recognised that every individual has their own preferred learning style. Learning styles are seven groups of different ways that people tend to learn to their best ability (Advanogy.com, 2005). I believe that it is important to venture and learn through and with technology as this type of learning could benefit certain students as opposed to them sitting in class and copying down what their teacher is saying. Some people learn more effectively when they are having fun and actively getting involved in their lesson and ICT is an opportunity to do this.
A downside of ICT rich learning environments is that they tend to be costly on the education system. Using technology as a way or method of teaching is still relatively new and therefore costs quite a lot of money and some could argue that this money could be better spent. Another critique of an ICT rich learning environment is that although ICT skills are improving, they could hinder the students literacy and numeracy skills.
To conclude, I believe that ICT rich learning environments are a great idea and way of learning due to the new skills and experiences students can pick up which could be of use in later life as well as the present. However, I think that traditional learning is still important as we always need to improve on basic skills such as numeracy, literacy and simple skills such as handwriting which can't be done through a computer screen.
Advanogy.com. (2005). Overview of Learning Styles. Available: http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/. Last accessed 25/01/2015.
Rouse, M (2005). ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies). Available: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/ICT-information-and-communications-technology-or-technologies. Last accessed 25/01/2015.
Wednesday 7 January 2015
First draft of our stop-motion animation
We decided to run through our claymation to see how it worked and this was the outcome. We picked up on many mistakes which is visible in this short video such as props moving when we didn't want them to, my leg coming into the shot and the length of the video was too short. We used these mistakes to improve our final project.
I will point out what we decided to change in my evaluation post.
I will point out what we decided to change in my evaluation post.
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