IOCT Masters - The Journey

Research In Practice 02

2009-03-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

Planning : Before i progress on to starting this project i need to ascertain its varability. After discussing with experts in the area i have taken a step back to test viabilkity.

Criteria:

Caravan, wide angle lens, sound array, ability tyo spatially define sounds, ability to map visuals to sound space, create compelling visyals, parking space for caravan.

Problems:

Sourcing wide angle lens - went all over dmu to little avail: Clephan, Andy + Jez at Portland, Queens.
Sound positioning above and beyond this projects capabilities. Mappings, locators, phase comparisons all way too advanced.

Solution:

Create new project!

HIV Documentary At Guildhall

2009-03-25T02:29:00.000-07:00

My documentary n HIV and how it affects lives is to be shown today at The Guildhall, Leicester. The DVD is being launched by Philip Parkinson, Chair of NHS Leicester City and Leicester Partnership.

Four local HIV+ people bravely share their experiences of the realities of living with the virus. They share how they felt when they were first diagnosed, how treatments have developed over the years and the stigma and challenges they face.

One thing is clear, they all feel that living with HIV is not the end, they are all very much alive and kicking.

Research In Practice 01

2009-03-24T05:07:00.001-07:00

My initial concept for RIP and Perf Tech involved a performer entering an enclosed, dark space. They would sit and any sounds they made would spatially be replicated in a visual form ahead of them on a wide angle screen. In effect like Kandinsky's colour as sound. I have spoken to Sean Clarke ( Cuttlefish ) 19/03/09 and Paul Jones ( Sound Tech ) 16/03/09. Both advised me on what problems i may encounter and how i could possibly overcome these. This was the initial exploration into feasibility.

Paul advised me that the audio interpretation in 3d space was extremly hard. He referred me to klipp av. Article written by Olafsson. This documents audiovisual events capturing. A time difference would need to be built in and perhaps ultra sonic sound microphones.

Jitter: frequency amplitude and cv.jit librar were discussed.

Paul also saw another issue - percussive, sharp attacks would work while overlapping, longer sounds would be impossible to differentiate.

A possible solution to simplify the project would be to work on a 2d slice, x/y axis, where the player remains on thias axis. 2d axis, fft analysis in jitter for sound extraction, sound locator to map on this plain, use co-ordinates to map spatially to visuals, visual fx using cv.jit.

Sean confirmed the spatial audio difficulty level. He recommended max/msp/jitter also and cv.jit library and also to work in a 2d axis. In addition to the above Sean suggested working on a more simplified concept.

IOCT Stab In The Eye

2009-03-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

Heres test footage of working out how to impale someone in the eye with a shard of wood. Shot and edited in five minutes. Featuring the acting talents of Russ and Paul. The trick here is to get the edits tight and from the right angle.

Zombie Undead + IOCT

2009-02-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Weather permitting its IOCT zombie day on Saturday and Sunday. After Viraj and Joe help last time Viray returns as runner. Hes joined by Russ on sound, Moo doubling continuity and a zombie role, and Sid taking some stills while perhaps making an appearance as Urban Zombie. Andy is Stair Zombie who is kicked, you guessed it, down some stairs. On the zombie front we have Kieran, Paul, Jen and Tommy shuffling around in their Sunday worst.

Hope to have some pictures, courtesy of Sid, up next week, censor lowing of course.

Post To Multiple Twitter Accounts From One Account

2009-02-03T08:04:00.001-08:00

This has been something that's bugged me since i started to use Twitter. I have my own account, ReallyFine, and a seperate account, ZombieUndead, for my feature film. I havent used this second account yet but wanted to post tweets when filming and then link these to the Zombie Undead blog. Problem with this was that some personal entries may be Zombie Undead related and i couldn't face going into ReallyFine, Tweeting, copying the text, logging out, logging in as ZombieUndead, then pasting the Tweet.

After a spot of googling i found MATT. Multiple account twitter tweeter allows you to use multiple accounts from one place. Simple but brilliant. You log in to one account, add accounts to it then use check boxes to select which accounts to post to. Simple, easy and damn fine.

Carsonified blogged the creation of the software process on video. Check it all out here. Also worth a look is an article explaining what they did.

Morrissey Zombie

2009-01-21T06:31:00.001-08:00

Heres the outstanding Joe as Morrissey Zombie. Being a serious Smiths fan i just had to get Mozza in the film somewhere. Even sacrificed my Meat Is Murder long sleeve tee. Now THATS dedication.

Deadlines

2008-12-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.", Douglas Adams.

From the great man himself. The majority of my courses are this term which means this Xmas and New Year are a work fest. For next years intake - do 3 of your four modules each term max. Doing this myself and its pushing it - 4 a term would be hell.

90% done reverse engineering - 5,000 words.
80% Research Methods - 1500 words.
30% CWNM - 1500 words
40% CDMD - 1000 words

I'm getting there - and those deadlines are looming. Amazing what you do when you should be working isnt it?

Research Methods

2008-11-26T05:40:00.001-08:00

All four of us met up and decided on a question. see wiki. all going away to get 5 papers re this area.

Phil's Facebook

2008-11-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Spent a while working on Phil's character. Set up a Facebook account for him today. Felt a bit secretive doing this - starting an online presence for a fictional charceter seems to make me feel a bit subversive. Feels like a spy game. In fact this would be a great idea for a ARG.

Well the account is set up! 12:10 AM Going to add interests - music, book, film etc are pertinant to Phil. 1:20 AM This is awesome. I am creating a person. Method acting my way through social media.

Join groups

3:25 AM Feel i am entering a Philliop K. Dick novel. Don't know whether I am Phil or Phil is me. The boundary is getting too blurred as is my vision. Too tired and loosing my grip. Time for bed.

Short And Shorter

2008-11-12T01:38:00.000-08:00

Todays first 5 minute exercise was to write about a chosen postcard. Dont have the picture here but ...

The shadowed veil weighed heavy, pushing through the layers of my mind. A fleeting ghost, shimmering with density of rock but gossamer to the touch. Deeper and deeper it sank and its ripples arced out leaving traces in every nook and cranny. Everwhere I searched, everywhere I looked it was there and gone. The smell leaked into my consciousness.

Something I releant was that i need not to hear people talking when I write! The theme today was adaptation so the next excercise was after counting the number of words above ( 60 ) to write the same piece but with half the number of words :

The shadowed veil weighed heavy. A fleeting shimmer,dense as rock but gossamer to the touch. Deeper it sank, rippling out. I searched, it was gone. The smell remained.

After this Sue asked us to find the adjectives in our piece ( describing word ) and remove all but one. With Sues help, !, I found my two and removed fleeting. My resoning behind this was that it was superflous. A shimmer is generally fleeting. I kept shadowed as this emphasised the hiden nature of veil. The piece was about a child that has died whether by accident of suicide. The narrator is trying to keep an image of them but this is slipping away. All that remains is the haunting meloncoly of the childs scent.

Sue asked whether i would expand this piece. I said i would - into a multi-media work with overlaid images and sounds : a childs laugh, 'asleep' refrain by The Smiths.

Work of of fiction in which each chapter uses only one vowel

2008-11-11T03:01:00.000-08:00

Eunoia is the shortest word in English containing all five vowels - and it means "beautiful thinking". It is also the title of Canadian poet Christian Bok's book of fiction in which each chapter uses only one vowel.

I thought the constraints of the form made the prose strangely compelling. Necessity is the mother of invention is it not? ( although the problem is self created in this case ) Whether i could read a whole book of it is another matter.

Research Methods

2008-11-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

More suggested questions. With me and Tom batting some ideas around - ( need to get these from Tom )

Feel we are making this harder than it is.

Creative Criticism

2008-11-04T03:05:00.000-08:00

Our exercise this week is to upload to the DMU Blackboard a piece of creative writing which we would like some feedback on. I admit I did this with some trepidation - it's hard receiving a critique. At the back of my mind there's a demon that may well take things personally. I need to banish this and separate my self esteem from the writing. I think the trick is to get the balance right, needing to understand valid criticism and learning from it while discarding criticism which you feel is

Be interesting to see any posts i get back. Also be interesting to see how the criticism is worded compared to the vitriol that the 'real' online world can spew up ;-). One of the hardest aspects of posting on the intrenet is that unlike the transliterate many people do not interact with appropriateness.

Phil Delany

2008-11-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

Biog for Phil for the fictional online presence:

Looked at Elliot Grove and Robert Mckee's works on character development.

Name : Phil Delaney
Traits: Stubborn, loyal, explosive temper, quiet,
Description: Height 5.8", Weight - 10 stone, thin face with lank black hair. Wears jeans/combat with trainers and jackets. Average looking

Left Canada aged 2, as father posted to Germany. Arrived in England June 1988. Schooled in Hitchin where he struggled both academically and socially. Suspended in 1990 but returned and completed studies at Longthorn 6th Form 1995 obtaining above average grades with very high grades in History and Geography. English mother, Brenda Thorn, born in Corby and Irish/Canadian father Brendon Delaney. Mother died 2000. Currently living with friends in Leicester, England. Has had 2 long term relationships but is currently single. Recently reunited with father after tracking him down through the internet. Soon after his father passed away. Works as a GIS researcher with Leicester Council

How old is he - 31
Where was he born - Ottawa, Canada, 20/02/1977
Where did he go to school - Reading High, Longthorn Sixth Form.
What did they excel at? - History and Geography
What does there father do - security guard
What is his fondest childhood memory - seaside trips with his mother to Skegness
What is one thing he dislikes about himself - his similarities to his father : short temper and fear of commitment
What one act is he most ashamed of - not making peace with his father before his death
What is he most afraid of - having children
Musical likes - Coldplay, Muse, Razorlight
Musical dislikes - RnB
What annoys him - Facebook, Morrissey, Christmas
Siblings - No
Hobbies - local history. LARRP

Make Love Not Warcraft

2008-11-02T04:34:00.001-08:00

Awesome use of Machinima : South Park Make Love Not Warcraft. Great narrative, great script.

RM Discussion

2008-10-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

Initial group discussion for our Research Methods proposal. Should ethics impact on new media creativity - do religious or moral beliefs impact on creativity. Should the author lead the reader - to what extent should the narrative be decided by the author. Can there be true collaboration - is collaboration democratic.

After these posits it was discussed that each of these was too wide. Adding New Media or a specific media e.g. film would limit this. Second Life, EMail; was mentioned.

Before next week we need to think of these suggestions and create new ones. Also determine which mode of research we each want to use : case studies etc.

Also discussed what was a reflective document is and in what language this should be coached. Need to speak to Sophie.

Online Presence Creation

2008-10-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Aim: To create an online presence for a fictional character from my feature film Zombie Undead.

Questions:

1 What is an online presence?
2 What applications create this presence?
3 Which applications would this character use for his demographic?

I answered these questions through researching on the web and also asking people what they thought the components of an online presence were.

Answers:

1 A footprint of an individual which may encompass home and work life both of which, by the nature of the presence, become public. The footprint can include : blogs, social networks, video diaries, websites, social bookmarks, aggregators, comment posts, forum posts, photo sharing, social messaging.

2 Blogger, Facebook/MySpace, Seesmic, any web space provider, Delicious, Retaggr, blogs/Delicious/Flickr, specific subject forum, Flickr, Twitter.

3 A blogging, social networking, social bookmarking and photo sharing appear to be the most used methods of constructing an online presence. As my remit is to create such a presence then I need to use several of these. As social networking by definition involves raising your online profile as high as you can then it makes sense also to use the most successful of these applications. Also demographics are important. I wouldn't use Bebo as this is for younger people. Also MySpace is often for a younger demographic or musicians. Both of which he is not.

An interesting part of this for me was the comment posts. Posting comments on others blogs would add an interesting aspect to the presence. Only having a blog, joining social networks etc would limit the realism. Most of us while blogging also comment on others posts if the blog is of sufficient relevance to us. It is this swarming of social connections that would raise the bar on this project. Also that is how I hope to get entangled with the 'real' social presence online. If i only create blogs, Facebook profiles and the like there will be no interaction with others as, obviously, the fictional character has no friends. Barry Wellman's concept of 'networked individualism'

Note to self : as character dies in the film, why not have posts about him missing online? Have his avatar die in Second Life?

Problems:

1 To construct a digital footprint which reflects the fictional characters personality and profile but with all the nuances, inconsistencies and contradictions inherent in a real human presence. Drunken posts at 3 AM? Rants about Facebook pokes that get no response? Again an interesting point is to see if the character can get any Facebook friends - do people accept friend requests even if they don't know this person?

2 Time need to create real media e.g. photos

3 Obtaining permission from actor to use likeness.

4 Need to create multiple emails so can post comments?

5 Time constraints - this could be a VERY large piece!

6 How do i record it?

Note to self : character uses mobile in film. On release could have him send a Twitter message when he is trapped.

Note to self : Need to create email address for character in Hotmail.

iStories

2008-10-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

Started researching tools to create part of my possible CWNM project. First in the list is iStories. This is a tool for digital storytelling which was developed through work on 'Inanimate Alice'. http://www.inanimatealice.com. I downloaded this and went through the tutorial. Using iStories you build up 'pages' of text, images and audio. Movement forward through pages can be either user controlled or timed. A simple interface draws you in quickly and you can create works quickly and easily. I think however that this simplicity is also its drawback. For example font choice is limited. However I realise this was designed for those with no programming skill and is a great tool for, example, schools.

One of my project ideas involves adapting a story for the web abd would need objects appearing on the page at intervals along with sound and also fade ins and outs. However much I criticise Flash I think for me it would be a better choice.

After thinking my project over I am opting for the online presence creation over the multi-media short story adaptation. I think the former is something that hasn't been done before and the latter something I could do as a seperate side project for myself.

Flickr

2008-10-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

OK - just registered with Flickr. First annoyance - having to register with Yahoo which i'd always avoided because of i) the mess that is Yahoo groups and ii) the invasiveness. You HAVE to give DOB and postcode. Apparently giving my DOB will enable Yahoo to give me a better experience. Do they really think we buy this? How naive do they think we are? Making DOB and postcode compulsory is so web 1.0 ;-).

Now i'm in. Seems one of the tricks with Flickr is to go in with a theme, idea, project in mind. Thinking today about the project which will need some WWII photos. So I entered 'World War Two'. Got some great results - 27, 643 of them. Like any search facility you sometimes have to be more specific 'World War Two Cars' narrowed it down to 1,133. Each picture is tagged by the 'author'. What was interesting was that many of these tags seemed to have no obvious relevance to the pictures. Hidden meanings below the surface. I believe tags can be added by people to pictures which are not their own as well which would further add hidden depths.

'This picture also belongs to' feature reminded me of the 'Customers who brought this also brought this in Amazon'. The friendship network idea goes to the root of what makes a friend. Why are we friends with someone - partly because we share the same or similar values or interests. This is a great feature and very helpful for finding photos whih have a similar theme, style, emotion etc.

'1930's car' followed by '1930's car man and woman' found only 4 pictures but the first image was spot on - Found_005 by thenimmo. Another interesting one was Johnny and Josephine Road to Ward CO 8_3_1940.

Other interesting features were the comments section and the Creative Commons. The former again extends on the meaning with each reader constructing their own narrative of meaning, which in turn may influence others who can then comment or tag. The Creative Commons is an awesome concept and something I heartily agree with.

For both picture finding and on;line presence I think Flickr is a strong possibility.

Web Imaging Sites

2008-10-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

The photo imaging sites need to be :

1 - High quality
2 - Free to use : Creative Commons
3 - Free to adapt
4 - Have tags to facilitate search.

Ones I have found
29/10/08 - Flickr - very good. Shall research this more. Delicious.
02/11/08 - Photobucket, ImageShack - search terrible. '1940's car' bought up all car pictures. Webshots - non-period photos. '1940's car' resulted in lots of modern pictures of old cars. Snapfish.

Flickr

2008-10-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

As part of Sue Thomas' lecture she talked about Flickr and, by extension, other web 2.0 applications. I'm still having problems seeing the worth in these applications. Are they not just extensions of peoples ego's? Do we need to know what you are doing every second of the day however mind numbingly dull? I mentioned this in a tutorial with Sue and we talked briefly on this issue. Sue was saying, I believe, that it was the patterns and swarms within the linking in these applications that can create meaning. In Flickr it is the comments, the linking, the tagging which construct new meaning over and above the picture, text, audio itself.

The trick. I believe, is not to think in terms of structure or organisation - what goes where and why, but to dip in pull something out and see what comes with it. I feel a leap of faith is needed. So here I go. I shall register with Flikr and see what may.

CWNM Project

2008-10-27T05:55:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of ideas for my CWNM project. Both pitches i have made will need to use web 2.0 applications:

The first is a multi-media adaptation of a short story. This would require researching multi-media authoring tools and also image depositories on the web for source images. Adapt 'Last Photograph' short. 'Asleep refrain, images fade in, b+w to colour.

The second idea is creating an online presence for a character in my feature film Zombie Undead. Necessitates researching social networks. Random ideas : Facebook posts asking where he is after terrorist attack in film. Messages go out on Twitter, from parents etc, Wiki for missing persons - see Hurricane Katrina - wikispaces.com, Phil's last message.

Interesting if i choose this option as it involves many applications i dont really like!

Over the next few weeks i shall be listing these tools and my notes of what, why, where and how.

New Media Symposium 22 Oct 2008

2008-10-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

An interesting day especially the discussion of Sara Lloyd's Book Publishers Manifesto. I can't help but feel that certain publishers, companies and areas of the media are missing the point with talk of e-book readers - and this was mentioned in the discussion. I cannot see myself ever buying an e reader. Books are not like music. While you may need hundreds of songs to listen on the go in one day i doubt many people would need access to more than a few books. The only way you would is for academic or research purposes. If that's the case then there is a device which can already provide this service and extra functions in the form of access to the web. It's called a laptop.

Butterflies - Tweaked

2008-10-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

Slightly tweaked version. Added a couple of lines from the story and also moved the ink blot/blood stain to a lower level as before the edge of the pattern under it was sowing as a straight line.

Briefly debated adding red to the blood. Not an overt crimson but a darker, grimier dried blood. However i couldn't work out how to do this. Shall work this out for another project.

Loved this exercise - how to use montage to create a mood piece. As part of the process next time i shall try and take some photos myself for use in another project using this style.

Butterflies

2008-10-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

The brief : No writing to do this week, but a challenge to find or make an image, video or sound to accompany the following short memoir. Post just the material, no text or explanation, in this thread. Let's see how you can manage without words!

Source: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/But.shtml#2

My image is shown left. I constructed this in photoshop. First time i had ever created something like this - an image to create meaning. Did it as an experiment to use a different creative tool and whether I could create something more New Media ish than plain text. I used Photoshop to set the layout and construct the form. Have to say it was a joy to use and fairly quickly i created a basic backdrop. The images were from open source Cd's. I chose the door to represent closed thinking and decay. The paper layers add depth to the image and add a feeling of symbols and signs - perhaps as signifiers of hidden feelings. Experimented with the eye dropper tool to remove background colors, then tweaked opacity. Think it works, creating an atmosphere. I'm pleased with this!

Left 4 Dead

2008-10-21T02:26:00.000-07:00

Making of Left 4 Dead presentation by Gabe Newell given at E3 2008. From a film makers point of view it is really interesting to see how much effort they have put into making the game look and feel like a film. Gabe talks about colour correction, vignetting and lighting. Further to this he talks of the Left 4 Dead director. This unseen puppet master of the program adapts the narrative and experience depending on the players skill. From a creative writing point of view this is a fantastic concept. The story develops depending on skill right from the number of zombies to the cinematic rewards. For example at a low level a gas station encounter is fairly restrained with the pay off being zombie death and player advancment. At a higher skill level the player is rewarded with a massive petrol explosion.

Flow

2008-10-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Flow exemplifies when you are 'on a roll'. When there is quiet in the house, when no interruptions are going to happen, and you have time to relax. Generally after 9 PM when kids asleep.

Parts of Flow familiar to me are - loss of self-consciousness, distorted sense of time, effortless, personal control, focus, rewarding. I often experience Flow on a film set. When i am directing goals are very clear. In my head i have shot the film and know which shots i have to get. I know which shots bookend the shot we are taking. I know what transition on the edges of cuts i need whether it be motion, colour, sound or emotion. I also know which shots can be binned if time is pressing while still getting coverage of the scene.

This process is not dependant on shot or chronological order. If shots are out of order from the shot list for the day i can scan along mentally to track where i am chronologically. Imagine a tape loop that can be scanned back and forth

I have strong concentration and focus on my Flow as film sets can be pretty distracting places. I argue as well that directing is creative writing as you are amending, cutting, repositioning, re-scripting on the fly.

Creative writing wise i really need to develop my concentration and focus. I also seem to try things too adventurous sometimes.

Blogging = Masturbation?

2008-10-20T04:57:00.000-07:00

Found this quote in net magazine:

"Blogging is like masturbating into a mirror while you videotape yourself so you can watch it later while you masturbate" Lewis Black, comedian and author.

Dreamer, Maker, Critic

2008-10-20T02:31:00.000-07:00

Dreamer - I can be alone or in a crowd. Solitude is not necessary in fact sometimes this can distract. I need to be at a point whereby i am listening but not hearing. The listening can be to a person in real life, the sea, a film. This seems to lull me into a sense whereby i'm not consiously trying to dream hence the dreams feel free to emerge. EDIT - just got to the description of Flow in the workbook. Part of Flow is my Dreamer state - loss of self-consciousness, distorted sense of time, effortless. The othere traits of Flow - conecntration, balance, control, reward come under the Maker for me - in addition to the above two.

Maker - This changes depending on the medium. With scripts I create individual scenes to get a sense of character. Then I plot ahead creating the bare bones of the story. With stories I just write, then enter the Critic stage almost simultanously. Initial ideas are alays on pen and paper. All this is in solitude with NO DISTRACTIONS. Very hard as i have young children. Coffee is a must.

Critic - I actually enjoy the critic stage especially with scripts. With these I follow the maxim of enter a scene late and leave early. I get a perverse sense of joy at this mutilation, knowing, however, that it makes the work tighter. Initial changes are pencil on the script itself, which i then print and check against the revisions. With stories i edit as soon as i reach a sentance i dont like. Very much a rolling process. Then i go back and toighten things upo. With any prose i read the dialogue outload myself or, ideally, with actors.

Ubiquity

2008-10-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Of serious worth is the release of the Ubiquity prototype from the Mozilla Labs. Ubiquity

Lets you map and insert maps anywhere; translate on-page; search amazon, google, wikipedia, yahoo, youtube, etc.; digg and twitter; lookup and insert yelp review; get the weather; syntax highlight any code you find; and a lot more. Ubiquity “command list” to see them all.

To me it appears to be a way to connect the disparate information of user generated content which has exploded since web 2.0. Can this be a mind map made physical enabling you to plough your way through the avalanche of junk which threatens to suffocate you in all its banality/superflousness/time wasting?

Further to this it allows you to:

Find and install new commands to extend your browser’s vocabulary through a simple subscription mechanism

Its extendable! And what's more its Open Source! This needs some looking at.

Toyota Prius Script Ideas

2008-10-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Brainstorming, sorry, thought showering some script ideas today for our Creative Digital Media Design project. The concept we've agreed on involves a wireframe model of the Prius which we revolve and then crash zoom into reveling a heart for the engine, leaves coming out of the exhaust etc. The end shot should have the car becoming 'real' with a skin added to the model.

Script One:

You wanted performance.
You wanted lower low emissions.
You wanted power.
You wanted fuel economy.

The New Toyota Prius. Whatever you want.

Script Two:

Revolutionary performance.
Revolutionary emissions.
Revolutionary fuel economy.

Simply - The Green Revolution
or
The Green Revolution. The New Toyota Prius.

Tag Lines:

A car with a conscience.
A car you can enjoy with a conscience.
A revolution in motoring.
Live your life. Live the Toyota Prius.
The future is here. The Toyota Prius.
A quiet revolution.
Shifting expectations.
Ecological. Economical. Efficient.

Trans-Literacy Tools

2008-10-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

Spent most of today going through the tools in the workbook. Registering, playing, learning. First impressions, how they work, how can i use them.

Facebook - what can i say. Intensely annoying yet incredibly powerful. Can connect with other like minded people across the globe but we use it to tell people what we had for breakfast. It's value for me is in how you use it. Great for events and happenings, smart mobs and protests. I use it for my feature film group Zombie Undead.

Blogger - Well here we are. I use it for my movie and for a journal of my time at DMU. I equate my use to that of Facebook. Non-personal and creative. This Web 2.0 business is great to a point but there is very little interest to me reading someones diary unless there is some create insight or knowledge to be gained. Search i guess is the key. As with Facebook its how you use it that creates value.

Twitter - take the worst feature of Facebook, 'What are you doing right now' and make it into an application. Surely no sane minded person could have thought this would work? But it did and it does. Used this briefly a while back with the question 'Filming zombie film in Leicester. Need toilet location for xx/xx/08'. The responses i got all wanted a location fee but i got answers from people i didnt know. My network was widened. Twitter is a concept which i initially detested, see Facebook, but am gradually understanding and coming round to.

It would be very naive academically or personally to write off these tools as they do have great value. I just have to find that value and take a leap of faith.

Advert With 2D Animation

2008-10-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

Initial discussions in the group centered on which product we were to advertise, which tools to use, and what we were trying to achieve. Product suggestions were iPhone/Pod, HnM, IOCT, green cars, biking to work and Oxfam. After much discussion we agreed on the green car. Its topical, has built in 'brand' awareness and can be sexed up. Much of the discussion involved what we should concentrate on - what we were trying to achieve. The design was paramount with technicalities not a priority. If we had a technically sophisticated advert but the implementation, research and design were secondary then we failed the brief.

After initial discussions amongst the group we agreed to advertise a green car. Lifestyle and concept were the buzz words. The next session involved thrashing out ideas around the concept. Any idea was discussed, hopefully in a non-judgmental way. After pooling ideas we trimmed down the ones which were not practicable either in terms of time or skill. We cant compete with multi-million pound adverts after all.

A schedule has been decided and roles assigned. My task for the next meeting was to write a script.

La Kitchen Kroonde

2008-10-17T11:42:00.001-07:00

Began researching a possible project today. Both myself and Paul are contemplating using La Kitchen's Kroonde to gather data from the environment. The Kroonde is a system for receiving data from any 0-5 volt sensor (pressure, sound, acceleration, magnetic field strength, light ). This data is then sent via a small wireless transmitter to a central processor on the unit. This data is then converted to either MIDI or OSC using UDP over 10 BaseT Ethernet.

After a long discussion with Dr Bret Battey, Senior Lecturer of Music Technology and Innovation, we came away with a greater understanding of whether we could utilise his machine ( we could ), and how to go about it. Bret also provided details of other similar systems and also software to manipulate the data at the Mac/PC.

On return to the IOCT lab we set about the machine. An initial problem is that the Kroonde is no longer manufactured and also has a fairly limited manual. This slowed us down. Before we ventured into Max/MSP/Jitter we booted Isadora and played with the interface for a while. You can do some groovy things with this. After a while we got back to the point and set up La Kroonde.

Now. The problem we hav is getting Isadora to pick up the signal from La Kroonde. Time to get reasearching ...

One things for sure - when we get this thing working we're gonna create a user guide for linking Isadora to UDP signals. A nice and simple guide ;-)

Continue This Story

2008-10-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Continue this story :

Wrapped in dreams, I lay on the night in question tranquilly sleeping, but gradually roused to a perception that discordant sounds disturbed the serenity of my slumber. Loth to stir, I still dozed on, the sounds, however, becoming, as it seemed, more determined to make themselves heard; and I awoke to the consciousness that they proceeded from a belt of adjacent jungle, and resembled the noise that would be produced by some person felling timber.

Shutting my ears to the disturbance, I made no sign, until, with an expression of impatience,......

My response:

I reached to the bedside, grabbed my MP3 player and plugged myself in. As the sounds of Sepultura drilled into my skull the ceiling fan trudged its lazy arc. 24 hours. 24 hours then I’d be out of here and back in L.A. Air con and a cool beer.

I sank slightly into the soaked bed, the linen clinging to me like a shower curtain. Sweat dribbled from my body, pooling on my upper lip, under my adam’s apple, in my belly button. A beeping jars my attention, then the music stops - battery dead. No way.

24 hours. Air con and a cool beer.

100 Words About ...

2008-10-10T05:35:00.000-07:00

100 Words about :
The New World Conglomerate announced today that any representation of cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates is banned, with publication carrying a minimum of 2 years imprisonment. As a result of recent events any images of fish are deemed too inflammatory for public viewing. The ban extends but is not exclusive to web, print, film, photo, hand drawing, computer image, hologram, or tattoo. Be aware this ban takes effect as of as of 12 PM Greenwich Mean Time today. The site owner will need to remove this image by this deadline. Rumours suggesting The Vatican will still hold representations in its library are un-confirmed.

Violet : PKD

2008-10-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last lecture Sue gave us the remit to write on 'violet' ( she doesn't like to lead us much;-) ). I'm not sure why but this sparked off an idea.

"The data-stream shuffled minutely in his arteries. Mewing and bawling its life erupting once again as another iteration took place sending waves of nausea/ecstasy into his brain. Brendon Quail's veins pumped and gorged. He closed his eyes awaiting the clarity that would take him to the next level as the Violet : PKD kicked in."

What i wanted to do was write an extract from a possible short story in the sub-genre of science fiction constructed, I believe, by Philip K. Dick. As a note i'd like to add that this is only an exercise to write in the genre and not an attempt to emulate. Thinking about it the inspiration sprung to mind as many of the concepts in these kind of stories ( Jeff Noon, William Gibson and Max Barry included ) fit into the trans-literacy approach of the CWNM - emerging technologies and possible their possible extrapolations into something new.

To start this exercise I re-visited some of Dicks works as research to ascertain themes and threads that run through his work and and developed by other authors. Here's what i found :

drug use
questioned reality
short form
visionary predictions
blended juxtapositions of the normal and the extra-normal
an unreliable narrator
mental illness
fictional worlds inhabited by 'non-science fiction' characters
proliferation of 'distinct new ideas'

Dick creates worlds predicated on our own which is advanced in some way. Indeed Dick himself states that science fiction must contain this dislocation between our known world and the world created, by a conceptual idea which transforms the world with events that have not happened but could happen in the 'real' world.

Bibliography:

Harvard system of referencing included for my reference.
Author, Initials/first name., Year. Title of book. Edition. (only include this if not the first edition) Place: Publisher.

Dick, P.K., 1972, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. 1997. Great Britain. Voyager
Dick, P.K., 1972, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said. 1996. Great Britain. Voyager
Dick, P.K., 1972, Beyond Lies the Wub. Great Britain. Voyager.

Ok, i got a bit side tracked there but i leaned something. Spending time researching a genre or author is fine. But not when it stops you from writing!

Why Creative Writing and New Media?

2008-10-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

What excites me about the course?

The freedom. The chance to explore my literary creativity within environments in which I haven't created before.

What worries me about the course?

Vocalising my work. Lack of ability to create consistently

Which specific problems do i think i will encounter?

Lack of time. Lack of vision.

What steps would i take to deal with these problems?

Organise better. Write free form at moments of block to push my way through.

List the people i know who can help support me.

Teresa Lewis, Martyn Quinn, Neill Phillips.
Do i expect my personal situation to be changed by the course and how?

As one of my outcomes is to be a feature length script then yes i hope my situation will be changed as this goes into production. Also I believe the course will help me become more prolific and open up other avenues.

List 3 creative objectives to achieve by end of the course.

Feature length script, online collaborative project, trans-literacy project.

The Blog

2008-10-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

Set up after first Research Methods lecture - to record the adventure.

First Short Story

2008-10-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

A box containing an assortment of objects was placed in front of us. Our first writing exercise! Sue Thomas left the room, and asked us to write for 15 minutes something relating to the box and/or its contents. Here are the words what i wrote :

"The time it took for the girl with the skates to become Roller Girl was not a short one. A transition of sorts of comparable magnitude and length had occurred in her life previously but she didn't like to talk about it. So I won't.

The skates had belonged to who we don't know. The girl had belonged to no-one and was adamant she never would. Maybe this is why the bond between her and the wheels became so strong. A symbol of freedom, an ability to roll. To roll away from Glen Galla and his damn obsession with army style stencils. There was no way he was going to tag these eight wheeled babies. Free wheeling, thats what she was."

Kinda felt like more text when i was writting but hey.