Testing One ....Two

Thanks TROY

Wouldnt have learnt how to do ts if it wasnt for u! lol...thanks for the tips n ya time. So heres my first try at animating my cat! for andys game. Yes its jus a TRY hence the funky walk the cat has going on (lol) and the enviroment isnt done yet, and theres a minor problem with the cat but it shall all be ALL b FIXED!

FACE LIFT

Yes i know its not very clear, but this is the design of my board game so far, I inted to give it a facelift later, using photoshop and all. So far im thinking of printing my game on canvas instead of a board, this way it would "fit" more with the theme. I want the "board" to seem like a map of the prison, hence the design of the board.

SUCCESS...ummm so i seem to think!

WO HA! I devoted all my time this weekend to work on brads game, and i think i got it. After getting friends to criticize and play the game to i was able to discover some interesting things they thought, and also changed afew rules and ideas for the game and yes the layout of the board. I decided to theme my game. Like i said the name of the game is LIGHTS OUT and it will be set during the Medieval ages. While researching i came across this site
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middle-ages-torture.htm . which i thought was interesting but not very helpful. I was lucky enough to also discover that there is a prison exhibition near Pitchers and piano, so i intend to go there this week and mayb il be inspired by something. Il soon be posting pics on how my board currently looks like

Reflection

I just came out of Joolz SSP lecture, and i realized i need to get more focused. In a sense off "career direction". We were asked to list what we are doing to develop ourselves as a practitioner. While listening to what others where saying, i came to realize there is a lot i am not doing and i SHOULD be doing at this stage. So im writting this to remind myself (for futures sake) or help on of you, if you didnt attend the lecture, i would appreciate some other forms of examples, so please leave a comment. Thanks!

What are u doing to develop yourself??
- Improve 3d skills by making small random animations, which will further develop ur practical skills
- Start thinking of your "style" ...what will make u stand out from the person next to u
- Draw draw ...DRAW! and take advantage of the life drawing classes
- Join some sort of multimedia community...to see other peoples works and "expand ur mind" (one example i got today was www.deviant.com)
- Begin to network with other practitoners
- Follow up on our indusrty so you are aware of e.g. qualifications needed, latest changes and why, techniques etc. ( this could then help you narrow down on what area you wana specialize in) Yes im doing multimedia, Virtual enviroments to be specific but what REALLY REALLY REALLY gives me that BUZZ????
- Collaborate with people in other courses a.k.a networking, and we all know the benefits of that.

So there is my reminder list that i will look into term two perhaps and see my progress

Robot Hand

LIGHTS OUTTTTTTT

Believe it or NOT ...i've been in BOARDING school every since i stepped out of nursery! No my parents didnt abandon me, however, the were very busy. So my brothers and i were put into boarding school, and i never left since! well then i came to trent. So the term LIGHTS OUT is embedded in my head, thus this shall be the name of my game! Wether i choose to do a Prison Break themed game, or a Boarding game, the name shall still remain LIGHTS OUT!

So here's one concept of the game,

HOW WILL THE PLAYER START THE GAME??

Each player will either pick a card, telling them their route or way of escaping. or they could choose which route they want from a list provided. Though choosing could cause potential chaos, so, players could roll a die and according to the number they score, they'll pick according to the way the options are numbered.

OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME IS TO?

Go around the board collecting the items required to escape the prison. e.g spade, hammer, gun, bomb etc. Then once the player has collected everything they need they can then start to escape the prison. Collecting all the things means that there will be less chances of them getting caught! However the player can choose to escape if they feel like they dont need a specific item e.g night vision glasses. Nevertheless this then increases their chances of getting caught by the prison security, aka the board. So the point is to escape and without getting caught!!! So if the player doesnt have dog food and lands and on a point where dogs are doing a patrol, they shall be caught, unless they have something to distract the does with.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

WARDEN Pick up cards--- Will be avaliable for the player throughout the game, this will be a dirty cop who will be giving clues and hints/ or giving the prisoners a favour in return for a favour. E.g the warden can give you some sort of "camoflauge", by providing you with a uniform similar to his. Thus encouraging the players to proceed with their escape.

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

All the point on the board e.g "beware of dogs" or "watch the mines" signs.

OBSTACLES

I will put various obstactles to make the escape journey challenging. I'll include things such as

- Dogs

- Security gaurds

-Flood lights

- Mines

MEANS

There are so many ways possible to make the escape of the player aka the prisoner possible. The fact that there will be be daylight and night routes on the board, the player can decide which route to use to escape hence the night route will make the player less likely to be caught.

REWARDS

Players will get rewards from the DELIVERY pick up cards. This could include things like

-Money

-Food

and each item will recieve some sort of points. Once the player has recieved their "rewards" they will have a go at the spinner. This will be a seperate little round board, scaled 1 to 10 and whatever number the arrow lands on will be the number of points the player will recieve.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Bascially you will be able to tell the level you are at, from the number of items you have left to collect. So once all the items have been collected, you can then escape the prison! Or the the number of players that have been caught and sent back to maximum security prisons ( aka meaning they are out of the game) will indicate the level you are at till you win the game.

So these are my ideas so far, they are likely to change but that's it so far on Brads game, im still thinking of the layout of the game. Im worried that my game might last over 20mins but im yet to experiment and see how it goes.

Idea Idea

So im thinking of taking this style for my animated player for andys board game. I shall have a HUGE head, little fit and hands all floating around with NO body.

Clue DOE

So i've been thinking my board game (brad's) one, and ive always liked mystery/ dectective games.....so im thinking mine, will be along the same theme perhaps.

"The classic detective game! In Clue, players move from room to room in a mansion to solve the mystery of: who done it, with what, and where? Players are dealt character, weapon, and location cards after the top card from each card type is secretly placed in the confidential file in the middle of the board. Players must move to a room and then make an accusation against a character saying they did it in that room with a specific weapon. The player to the left must show one of any cards accused to the accuser if in that player's hand. Through deductive reasoning each player must figure out which character, weapon, and location are in the secret file. To do this, each player must uncover what cards are in other players hands by making more and more accusations. Once a player knows what cards the other players are holding they will know what cards are in the secret file. A great game for those who enjoy reasoning and thinking things out."

Info from www.boargamegeek.com

A Mummys Tale

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins18-a-mummys-tale.html

so im thinking of creating a mummy and animating it, for my board game. so here are two different styles used to create/build a mummy and animate is too.

Artist Poet & Writer

Jane Musoke-Nteyafas, is an beautiful African Artist and internationally recognized as a poet, visual artist, author and playwright. She is an inspiration to me and i decided to analyze her paintings. This piece by Jane is called Ishtar, and represents a strong, confident, beautiful, creative woman. I was hoping i would get lucky and manage to get intouch with her to hear her side of the story, on what was going on in her mind while she was painting and what she wanted the painting to say to her audience..however after relentlessly stalcking her on facebook, i have not yet heard from her. It would have be interesting to see the different interpretations we may have. Yes yours too.

However during an interview she was asked one question, this is what she had to say.

Jamati: What would you say is the main message that you try to send through your visual art?
Love yourself as you are. If you believe in God, trust that he did not make mistakes when he made you. There is this poisonous lie going around that people are not enough; not beautiful enough for example until they have changed themselves, you know, by lightening their skins, plastic surgery, starving themselves etc. It’s great to experiment with different looks, but when the basis of the change is based upon thinking you are not good enough or beautiful enough it’s misplaced. I have a poem called Not Good Enough based on that.

(from www.jamati.com)

I love the colours of this painting, bright and inviting, and the fact that the strokes are going round makes it seem like you can see her aura, very inviting, independent.

DELIVER ME!!!!!!!!!!!

So i'm thinking i should go with the ancient Egypt theme for my board game. Right after i decided this, i remembered that there was the movie Prince of Egypt. I love the visuals,as you saw above, the voice cast is amazing, it contains fabulous art work, the songs are powerful and moving and it is definitely one of my best animated movies.

Baby J

Textures...aka The Art Of Seeing

wool fabrics have a greater bulk than other textiles and retain air, which causes the product to retain heat. Its very ironic that i hate sheep, i think they are dirty animals but at the end of the day i wear colthes made out of wool. Considering the fact that, wool off a sheep
contains high level of grease as well as dirt, dead skin, sweat residue, and vegetable matter. So i thought it would be an interesting texture.














I love the rough texture of trees and some smell appealing to me. Ifeel like all the lines on them tell a story of some sort, they associate themselves with "age" just as the wrinkles on e.g my fathers face. Lastly, i love the curves and designs of this pillar. Its made of steel. Simple but yet captivatin to me.

Im obssessed over my niece, or babies should i say. They are so small, tender, soft, innocent. But what strikes me the most is how PERFECT they are.... Like my nieces skin is so pure/clear, soft, and has got no blemish what so ever. Just like silk.

DISCOVERING ANCIENT EGYPT

Todays seminar was all about brain storming on our potential boardgame ideas. So i was thinking...theres so much to explore while using Ancient egypt as the theme for my board game idea. As Andy would put it..It has the "Risk and Reward" factor.... My "players" will be able to roll a dice, get lost in mazes, get clues to find "treasure" or use maps to escape trapdoors etc.

pyramids, pharos, temple constructions, hieroglyphs,

Play the ancient game of the Pharaohs.
Board games were a favorite pastime in Egypt, and Senet was the most popular of these. It was played by two people, either on elaborate carved and inlayed boards like the one found in Tutankhamen’s tomb, or simply scratched into the earth. The oldest known representation of Senet is in a painting from the tomb of Hesy, from 2686 BC.

Many actual boards, with their counters and throw sticks (or “knucklebones”) have survived intact, but the rules of the game are not fully understood, there have been a number of attempts to reconstruct the game. The game board had thirty squares laid out in three rows of ten. Some of the squares had symbols on them and the path of the counters probably followed a reversed S across the board. The symbols represented ether good or bad fortune, and affected the play accordingly. The movement of the counters was decided by throwing four two-sided sticks or, in some cases, knuckle bones. Senet, means “passing” and had a religious significance – the aim of each player being to move their pieces around the board and avoiding hazards. Good luck was a blessing from the gods and the winner was the first to pass into the afterlife by getting all their pieces off the board. With colourful -graphics and fun sound effects this reconstructed version of Senet is not only a game of chance, a bit of skill and strategy is also required.

To help me further come up with the visual aspects of the game, i shall watch "The Mummy" and the "Mummy Returns"..................

I hope i make the right decision

So yes .....i have finally decided....VIRTUAL ENVIROMENTS it is!!!!!! yes i am not very strong in this area, but i intend to work work work work till i c some results! i figured i might aswell leave this university with a skill..as much as i wanted to do audio visual, i figured i would be able to attend the lectures and do my own work on the side, and thus devote all my time to the VE pathway

PASSION or LOGIC...

Summer is over back to work now...did my share of partying....! Dilemma dilemma im having a hard time choosing my pathway. Initially i thought i wanted to do Online Enviroments but now i cant seem to decide between Virtual Enviroments and Audio Visual. Im very interested in VE, however using 3d studio max was a challenge to me. AV was less complicated however i feel my creative potential was reflected the most in VE. AND another major thing to consider is employment. I inteed to go back home and work there, however the VE industry doesnt seem to exist. Should i take advantage of that and hope to be the person to make it big. OR jus play is safe and go ahead with AV to be on the "safe side".....Passion or logic? what would you choose.

Mint Interactive Games

http://ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

Flash GEEK has to COME OUT!

Bruno Bozzetto born in Milano , Italy , in 1938 created his first animated short "Tapum, the weapons' story" back in 1958 at the age of 20, (MMmmmmmh okay zia you got one year to make something happen!!!!!!). One of Bozzetto's most famous creations was a character known as "Mr Rossi". Bruno Bozzetto produced many animations screened all over the world, despite their simplicity he has received many awards including The Golden Bear Award for "Mr Tao" at the Berlin Film Festival and an Oscar Nomination for "Grasshoppers" in 1991.
Thanks to his keen interest in 2D animation technique he creates “Europe&Italy”, the very first of the many animations created with macromedia flash. Since 2000 he has been devoting his time to Flash animations for the web gaining great success. Do browse through his website is www.bozzetto.com. DAMN...IM INSPIRED!!!!!

?????

I love the 2d animation going on there, i'm just not sure where it was modeled, 3d studio max or flash? I would sure love to make such.

Ambitions hit the pinnacle

Lots of awe and respect to HMC INTERACTIVE a firm that creates engaging interactive multimedia projects. I'm too damn ambitious right now, to join the race. watch the vids to see what i'm talking about and check out their website. http://www.hmcinteractive.co.uk/hmc_work.php

I could not embed the work they have done however i came across some random ones on you tube.

Globalization, Digitalization,

who would have thought that human nature would have a major impact on design today.? how humans control the environment through tools, to how high heeled shoes affect the natural ways of walking. I recently came across an article by Dori Tunstall on Design Anthropology. She says

"Anthropology is engaged with issues of the global flows of people and goods, human rights and social justice, global feminism, technology adoption, the social effects of the environmental degradation, and local sustainability practices—all issues that have become important to designers."

However when it comes to the relationship with designers, Anthropologists look into "how to better communicate their insights to wider society". She says "The focus of design anthropology is on connecting the process of design to the meanings and functions designed artifacts have for people". For example, how developing technologies can lead to social So what specific issues does it address that relate to design???

H. Russell Bernard, the leading authority on anthropological research methods, describes four problem areas of anthropology:

1. The nature-nurture problem (ex. Is it biology or environment that causes humans to respond to something in a particular way?)
2. The evolution problem (ex. How do things expand and change over time?)
3. The internal-external problem (ex. What are the ways in which behaviors are influenced by values or environmental conditions?)
4. The social facts or emergent properties problem (ex. How are people influenced by social forces that emerge from the interaction of humans, but which transcend individuals?)

I like the fact that design anthropology can help a designer like me to feel more confident when it comes to understanding the aftermath of past, present and future global communication, artifacts, .

DIRECTOR GURU

For people in the advertising world, the name Lee Clow would immediately resonate with power and creativity.

Lee Clow is currently the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of TBWA/Worldwide for nearly 30 years now. He is sometimes referred to as "advertising's art director guru." Lee Clow has been responsible for some of the most creative advertising in the world today and every few years he just keeps outdoing himself as he believes advertising is not just a business, its an art and thus bases his work on the slogan,

"It's not what you want to say. It's what they want to hear."

Clow’s masterpiece has been described as, the greatest commercial of all time, the best commercial that almost didn’t air. This commercial sparked the Apple launch of the Macintosh back in 1984. Check it out and let me know what you think!!

The wait is over

I've had difficulties logging into my old account thus i decided to create a whole new blog.! Yes its been awhile since my last post but i do have several interesting things to share with you!