Creative Media CIU

Cassie Roles Bachelor Of Animation 2nd Year First Trimester SAE Qantm Creative Media Institute- Brisbane

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CIU211: Critical Reflection – “Cards For Humanity”

As a team of three people- two animation students, one game student and one audio student- Levi, Nathaniel, Rachel and I, we were able to successfully create a 2D board game that can be downloaded online and played live with friends and family. This games concept involves using post-modernism to allow players to interpret the real meaning behind the game in their own terms; whether is a comment on society itself, or as a whole, or how the mainstream way of comedy has taken a more of a darker turn as opposed to how comedy used to be with harmless pranks. Our game (Cards for Humanity) challenges the stereotypical categorizing in everyone’s head of what is considered to be “good” and what is “bad” in today’s society. Like for example; letting someone who might need shelter, into your own hose isn’t considered or thought to be a bad thing, however what if that person is actually a murderer?  Questions like these are a constant in or game, and forces a connection between the two, as well as challenging the player’s moral compass.

Throughout this project, we had to consider what colours would match the stereotypes we wanted to portray during the game. We as a team researched the colours that would reflect and portray our society’s norm of what we think of as “good” colours are- pastels, bright colours and innocent looking pictures.  Which is a stark contrast to the inspired and original game “Cards Against Humanity’s” plain black and white, we as a team have opted for these bright colours not only because of the above reason but also because of the underlying message that the world is not always portrayed as black and white. Another major thing that was researched to help portray the post-modernism and stereotypes of today was the questions that would complement the cards and to help give off the “innocent” appeal- as well as the mysterious special cards that can be won at the end to the person/group that was least offensive. 

However, when we as a team were brainstorming this we originally weren’t going to have a special card, or even cards that were ‘light’ colours. But we all agreed that having plain ‘white’ cards didn’t portray or express our message clear enough, and we felt that not having a “special card” didn’t motivate or inspire people to try the game- so special cards was made. The idea behind the “special card” in Cards for Humanity was to give players the hope and the motivation to try to be the least offensive player during the game- while knowing that something can be won at the end. After the game is won by someone and they get the special card and see what written on the card; most would be disappointed that it’s just a card with “Good Job” or “You did it!” But in this society people expect to get something more material- an object- not a card. The message behind this being, most ‘nice’ or ‘good’ people wouldn’t expect anything in return but gratitude.

A large part of the stereotypes in society and the categorizing in everyone’s head of what’s “good” and “bad” is the humanities moral compass. A document about a teacher asking his students about a scenario and how they would react, was the basis on the questions that we wanted to add into our cards; since our goal was to make players really think about what they would do in that situation. However there were a lot of challenges when it came to making these questions as well as the cards, design and colours. One of the few major challenges our team encountered when realising these ideas was how we were going to distribute them to public, how many we were going to make, making sure that each question and answer was unique, the decision on whether we were going to make a game or display them on a social media platform with a link to the flash game online. We as a team had many ideas and suggestions, but none seemed to portray or were suitable.

Cards For Humanity Logo – Design by Nathaniel Howard

After our group finally came to a decision on how we were going to display the cards and what social media platform we were going to use, our next thing we had to think about was how we were going to display it, what colours to use and the content to put on the website. We as a team decided to have the background as a gradient- to represent the fine line, or the “gray area” between right and wrong- and how they seamlessly blend into each other. The same concept was used with the title that was in our presentation as well as the website- the bold text mixed with the cursive “for” that is in the title helps to give off the innocent but serious impression. Website aside, we also researched different ways of playing with someone’s moral compass or just questions that challenges the stereotypical categorizing in everyone’s head.  Just researching “Moral compass” came up with nothing. So we changed our search and looked into “moral compass questions/quiz/examples”. 

After looking into other examples, this inspired our group to come up with questions of our own that were challenging yet interesting. The questions that were added to the cards are crucial to the project’s success in the end; however the end result had many limitations. One example of this was originally each of us was going to create 50 unique cards each. In the end the scope was too large, and our communication was lacking a bit. Although in the end we were successfully able to create a card game that meets our goals we did have problems with team communication and issues with who was going to do what part of the project. What I could have done differently to improve my performance and contribution would be to become more active as a group member and try to find other ways to communicate, as well as setting up a task sheet so there is less confusion in the future. How I will approach similar situations in the future is to plan early in advance, research more thoroughly and set clear goals early.

During this project, our overall product in the end we had several things to think about in terms of questions that could challenge the stereotypical categorizing in everyone’s head, post-modernism and post-structuralism. It was both easy and hard to look for resources to help, as our knowledge from before this project was lacking compared to how the world and humanities views and opinions are today- Especially about moral compass and what is right or wrong. Once we familiarised ourselves with this, we knew the right ways to research this, and because of this became easier to look in depth about our chosen concepts. During this project, I learnt how the world as well as humanity views certain topics, and how they would answer them in this game. Our project was successful, however there was many concepts and research that we could have done to make our message clearer, such as more context behind why we chose certain colours or made the flash game. Before this project, I personally didn’t know how society would view or react to these questions and answers.

 After presenting the project to the class and reflecting on the feedback that we as a team have received, majority of the class said that our overall mark should be between the HD and Distinction range. Another thing that a lot of peers had mentioned was that the overall presentation was engaging, has a playful twist, extensive research, everything was set out well and that the interactive aspect was the key to how captivating it was. The successfulness of this project was the interesting take that we had on the project as well as good insight into the subconscious morals of the players. However what could be improved from the feedback are the questions that were brought up could use more prompting to help increase the impact.

  References

Barnwell, P. (2017). Schools Are Failing To Develop Students With Moral Identities. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/07/students-broken-moral-compasses/492866/

Chat, F., Stuff, C., Chat, G., & questions. (2017). Moral compass questions | Bub Hub. Bubhub.com.au. Retrieved from https://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?550557-Moral-compass-questions

Chat, F., Stuff, C., Chat, G., & questions. (2017). Moral compass questions | Bub Hub. Bubhub.com.au. Retrieved from https://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?550557-Moral-compass-questionsral-compass-questions

Color Theory - Tips and Inspiration By Canva. (2017). Design School. Retrieved from https://designschool.canva.com/color-theory/

Critical Theory, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism: Their Sociological Relevance | Annual Review of Sociology. (2017). Annualreviews.org. Retrieved from http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.so.17.080191.000541

DENNETT ON WIESELTIER V. PINKER IN THE NEW REPUBLIC | Edge.org. (2017). Edge.org. Retrieved from https://www.edge.org/conversation/daniel_c_dennett-dennett-on-wieseltier-v-pinker-in-the-new-republic

Matthews, D., & →, V. (2017). Post-Modern Absurdities: Chomsky, Post-Structuralism and Science. Critical Legal Thinking. Retrieved from http://criticallegalthinking.com/2014/01/03/post-modern-absurdities-chomsky-post-structuralism-science/

The bold, bright truth about color theory. (2017). 99designs Blog. Retrieved from https://99designs.com.au/blog/tips/the-7-step-guide-to-understanding-color-theory/

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CIU211- Gender, Sexuality & Media

In CIU211 this trimester, this weeks tutorial topic is about Gender, Sexuality & Media and this week is my turn to present. My chosen argument for this topic is based around gender identity and sexuality in media. More specifically animation- within anime series and how certain characters are portrayed don’t fit in with the social norm and stereotypes that we are used to seeing.

To start off with:

In the media that we are exposed to today, most stereotypical female characters, are portrayed as innocent with gentle features- typically paired with long hair, round eyes and an effeminate and idealistic body figure.

This also applies to the males in anime or most cartoons. Except they are portrayed as the opposite to stereotypical females: broad shoulders, sharp eyes, muscles, sharp body figure and taller compared to the females. 

To help portray that anime and cartoon characters aren’t always shown as a stereotype there are a few exceptions that break that stereotype such as these characters:

The characters shown above are a mix of both male, female and neither. However in these animes, the characters shown above are portrayed as a different gender, and contradict what the stereotypical male and female look like in cartoons and animes.  

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CIU210 Semiotic Analysis AV Essay

Cassie Roles  CIU210 Semiotic Analysis AV Essay

In this semiotic essay, I will be doing an analysis on the 4-5 minute scene in the animated movie "Mulan" directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook using the semiotic method as described by Stokes (2009, p. 71). What is semiotics? Semiotics is literally the study of symbols and signs. Everything that has been created, has some sort of symbolism and or meaning- which can mean more than one thing at a time. Whether its color, sound, a certain element or a movement there is always a symbol. The animated film "Mulan" is a movie that has many variations of symbols.  The story that is portrayed during the movie is based around a legendary female warrior- Mulan- that lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), who impersonates a  man to replace her injured father in the Chinese army.

To portray this, the directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook has shown many obstacles that Mulan must overcome in the patriarchal regime she lives under. Throughout the first half of the film, it is depicted that Mulan struggles to bring honour and respect to her family under a male influenced society, while simultaneously coming to terms on protecting her injured father from going to war once again. To study the entire movie will result in a much larger essay, therefore this analysis  will only be studying the first 37-41 minutes during the beginning of the film. This scene depicts when Mulan has run away from home disguised as a man, has joined the army and is training with the rest of the new recruits.

The symbols that are most important to note in this scene feature around color palettes, music choice, how hard work and determination pay off and also how a woman can strive to become just as good as a man in the army. Toward the beginning of this scene, when Ping (Mulan) is being trained for the army, the main color palette is diluted colors featuring, washed out yellows, greens and blues, which and gives the feeling of weak but neutral.  However the most predominant color portrayed is yellow, which in color psychology yellow can mean being critical, challenging, judgemental, overly analytical, impatient and impulsive. Within this scene, this color symbolises the idea that the trials and training are a challenge to the main character (Mulan). Another thing to take in, is that when the scene continues the color changes to a more diluted green, then a mix between purple/blue/indigo, then finally a sky blue, which symbolises how Ping (Mulan) and the rest of the recruits are feeling,  as Li Shang teaches them throughout the harsh training. This also in combination with the music, which is depicted as dramatic, serious and give the illusion of the path ahead being almost 'impossible' for the main character.

However, this changes when Ping (Mulan) overcomes the biggest challenge, being the first to climb the almost impossible pillar to reach the arrow, the colors during the scene become brighter whilst the music intensifies. Although things are still have a washed out and diluted look and feel, the symbolism, color and sound portrays hope and determination.  A reviewer describes the movie " And the film's conclusion is as genuine and as heartfelt as any adaptation of this story. The mountain scene contains some of the best animation I have seen from Disney, and the rousing score from maestro Jerry Goldsmith accompanies the action superbly." (King_Opossom, 2000) This shows that the movie's animation helps to contribute to the symbolism.

Further into the scene, after Ping (Mulan) retrieves the arrow from atop the pillar, it is portrayed that the main character now has hope in trying to accomplish the training while simultaneously posing as a man. Examples of this is shown by the colors becoming lighter in the background, the main character (Mulan) becoming more energetic,  and the music intensifying and becoming more uplifting. In color psychology, yellow also means optimism, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, fun and confidence.

Further into the scene, after Ping (Mulan) retrieves the arrow from atop the pillar, it is portrayed that the main character now has hope in trying to accomplish the training while simultaneously posing as a man. Examples of this is shown by the colors becoming lighter in the background, the main character (Mulan) becoming more energetic,  and the music intensifying and becoming more uplifting. In color psychology, yellow also means optimism, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, fun and confidence.

Backing up a little bit before Ping (Mulan) overcomes the greatest challenge that Li Shang made at the beginning of the training, during the musical number "I'll Make A Man Out Of You", the audience is prepared to have a change of tempo during the song. This expectation instead is a slowed down and more drawn out rhythm to give a sense of budding and suspense, whilst having an underlying message of 'I have not given up yet.' This is portrayed by the dark and abysmal color palette, which helps evoke a feeling of helplessness, despair and melancholy.  

However, during this scene half way through this changes when the main character (Mulan), slowly scales the pole and the color plate changes to a more warm and lighter spectrum. During this scene, it is portrayed that Mulan is a strong feminine character despite the patriarchal regime that she lives under day by day. A reviewer states that "Mulan sticks out in my mind for this reason. For once, we have a strong female lead, or at the least, stronger than most of them. She isn't counted among the Disney "princesses" line-up. She doesn't want for herself, and she seeks to look deeper within herself to discover her inner being." (Skeletors_Hood , 2004, p1) this proves that Mulan's strong personality and is not the atypical Disney princess, which is portrayed and known to the viewers.

What happens in the next scene is indeed helps guide the viewer to the bigger ending.  As Mulan, scales the pole, she finally overcomes the challenge and sits atop the pole and throws the arrow downwards toward Li Shang- signifying that she has overcome what the men couldn't do. Throughout the scene, we know that scaling the pole and proving yourself worthy to be in the army and stand among the ranks was always in the background and serving as a constant reminder.

This brings us to the final point, how Mulan was able to overcome the tough training despite both the patriarchal regime as well as the idea that masculinity is defined by power, strength and activity.  One of the most important symbols that is portrayed is the sudden change in dynamic and attitude Mulan has towards the training as well as the sudden changes bright colour palettes shown. The way they show this is by the bright and primary colours that were chosen as well as the slow and drawn out music build up. The audiences expectation is a more colourful and fast paced ending, but instead the music is more drawn out to finish with a more dramatic appeal. Throughout the last part of the scene, the focal point is the characters and the simplistic but effective background.

 In conclusion, symbols are used in everything, colour, sound and the display of movement within any piece of media that represents something important in a story. For example, in the animated film "Mulan" directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, has a variety of symbols, however the first 37-41 minutes of the movie has many symbols. These symbols are portrayed and reflected in the colour of the scenes, the colour of little things such as the characters design, the size of elements in the scene and even the subtle and dramatic music changes throughout. The points that are within this essay clarify the semiotics of how they represent and stereotype women in a patriarchal regime.

Sources:

(2016). The Rewatch 1: Critical Analysis of Mulan. Once Upon A Time. Retrieved from https://writingthemagic.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/the-rewatch-1-critical-analysis-of-mulan/comment-page-1/

(2016). Retrieved from https://moodle-sae-au.axis.navitas.com/pluginfile.php/165105/mod_resource/content/2/Stokes%202003%20Semiotics.pdf

Feminist and Queer Analysis of Disney's Mulan. (2016). Feminist and Queer Analysis of Disney's Mulan. Retrieved from http://mulananalysis.weebly.com/

Mulan Reviews & Ratings - IMDb. (2016). IMDb. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120762/reviews?start=0

The Color Green. (2016). Empowered By Color. Retrieved from http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-green.html

The Color Yellow. (2016). Empowered By Color. Retrieved from http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-yellow.html

(Images 1-21) Mulan- I'll make a man out of you (with lyrics) (HD). (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 11 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10KGEAcRy-c 

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Social media & Your Career- CIU111

The online lecture this week was focused on Social media & Your Career and outlines how to advertise your work through social media. Throughout this lecture, it doesn’t specify if certain social media platforms are better than others, however it does explain how to sell your work professionally and promote yourself online.

As a student who wants to enter the creative field, I have several active social media accounts, however I use most of these for pleasure than for professionalism- except for my LinkedIn account. However, I have seen fellow creatives create art and promote themselves to help get their name known on the internet. Before I started this Degree, I did a Diploma in Interactive Digital Design and Media (IDM), and during my Diploma we had to establish a presence online (I chose LinkedIn). 

Personally I have given some thought into creating a professional social media account solely to upload my 3D models I create, since during this Diploma is wasn’t for my creations, but more so to get my foot in the door. But getting back to what I was saying about other creatives creating art. Throughout my social media journeys, I have seen some artists not have any luck trying to create a presence for themselves nor have any luck in promoting themselves. So this leads me to ask: Why do some artists fail at advertising in social media? Whats the correct way to go about promoting yourself correctly and efficiently? 

To answer these questions I researched social media and art to get an insight into what followers look for when following an artists. I found a site explaining 10 reasons why some online artists fail at advertising their work on social media. As I began reading, I realized that most of these things are clear and straight forward, but however for newer artists I can see that these are very easy to miss. Things that are worth mentioning are having a proper filled out profile and contact list, not spamming your followers with unnecessary posts about nothing, not acknowledging your followers and negative interactions.

As a apprentice creative, I found that one of the most important things when it comes to advertising and promoting yourself on social media is to have a proper objective, as well as share other peoples work, having a proper profile and contact list, no negative behavior or spam. 

Sources: Top 10 Reasons Why Artists Fail with Social Media. (2011). Art Competition, Online Art Contest, Online Art Exhibits, Art Shows. Retrieved from https://www.lightspacetime.com/top-10-reasons-why-artists-fail-with-social-media/

Image One: www.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/288/288146/social-media-image.jpg Image Two: http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m65qie9sAg1rzycqso1_500.gif

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Inclusive Design – CIU111

The online lecture this week was focused on inclusive design within the creative industry and what it means. Within the lecture it also outlines points that should be considered within your designs to gain a wider and more diverse audience. One of the major things in today's modern culture that should be considered when designing anything is: race, gender and sexuality.

As someone who designs her own characters and stories, I already had a general idea what should be included when it comes to designing them- adding characters that fit into different traits and troupes to appeal to a larger audience. Before this became a norm, I wanted my designs to seem more unique, relatable and more importantly life like. Even on social media some of my fellow creatives that I have followed for years, added diversity, race, gender and sexuality into their designs to add a larger appeal to their designs. And because of this I have seen their designs receive more attention and unfortunately criticism. However I feel that some are afraid to add certain traits in fear of portraying them wrongly. 

So how do you represent them correctly? So much so that it is accurate and not offensive?  Michael Chavez, a student attending Minnesota state university wrote a paper on the diverse range of these traits in a television series called “Orange is the new Black” and states “Representation of LGBT characters alone is not enough; the type of representation also matters. Additionally, it is not just fair representation that is lacking but also content for and about LGBT individuals on television that is limited. Stronger positive content is 10 meaningful for young LGBT individuals who may be looking for role models within current television. It is also important that television continue to develop these representations so that minorities can have more accurate media representation.” (Chavez, 2015 pg9 and 10)

From the online lecture and the paper on OITNB, through my research I have found that when designing diverse characters or stories I need to be careful and accurate when it comes to race, gender and sexuality, and avoid using stereotypes.

Sources: (2016). Cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu. Retrieved from  http://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1421&context=etds   

Image One: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f3/d4/0d/f3d40d358793b723184a8ab1f17d88ab.jpg Image Two:  http://66.media.tumblr.com/52f0bfbd660bcba02be2430a814f8489/tumblr_inline_o9w5i4GF4X1u21syi_400.jpg Image Three: http://cdn.exstreamist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/orange-is-the-new-black-season-four.png

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Secret Interview Techniques-CIU111

The lecture this week was focused on secret interview techniques that potential employers could use when interviewing a possible employee. The way that the employers of large well known companies use everyday life questions as sneaky questions to see how your work ethic and mind set would be when working in a team or group, is very interesting topic and intrigued me. At first anyone would think it doesn’t make any sense, but then it hits you.

This particular interview technique isn’t very known to many employees and would confuse many people. I personally have gone for a job interview before, and I did get the basic and generic questions such as:   “How will you get to work everyday?” “What makes you suitable for this job?” “Why do you want to work here?” Granted I wasn’t going for my dream position in working for one of the big companies such as Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks but it was an interview none the less and with a big well known company- Subway. So I personally, was really confused and shocked that big companies ask questions that are seemingly not about the position your running for, but instead are:

“If you were a part in a car, which part would you be and why?” ”What would I find in your refrigerator right now?” “If you were at a business lunch and you ordered a rare steak and they brought it to you well done, what would you do?” “What’s the most important part of a sandwich?”    

I personally found the last one funny as I made subs at my job and would argue that all parts are important, but I digress. At first you think, what? Why would a big company (such as Pixar) ask about whats important in a sandwich? Why would they need to know what part I would be in a car? And what I buy at the store? These questions make sense though when you think about it, and have an underlying message. For example if you were asked about what would you find in your refrigerator right now and you answered that you have leftover pizza in your fridge, that would reflect how lazy and unhealthy you are at making a decent meal for yourself. Whereas if you had pre-made meals and brought your own fresh food, it would show to employers that ask this question that you have the effort and drive to make meal for yourself.

To be honest I find that some of these questions to be a bit unbelievable, so I did some research to find someone in the industry who has had such weird questions.  Danny Rerucha who currently works at Blue Sky Studios received the question: “ How would you count all the grains of sand on a California beach without the use of sophisticated tools? (Start small. You can estimate the number of grains in a cubic centimeter easily by hand. Build on that knowledge.)” He also continues by stating that “ When answering these questions, start small and think out loud. It’s not important how quickly you get to the correct answer. What’s important is how you arrive at the correct answer. Sometimes, there is no correct answer. In those cases, what’s important is how you arrive at a reasonable answer.” (2015, D.Rerucha)

This made me at least feel a bit reassured that this questions aren’t as far fetched and someone else in the industry also got a brain teaser like question. These questions are intriguing and at first don’t make any sense straight away, but once you understand why the employer chose to ask that particular question, you realize it relates to the workplace you could be working in. Personally, I’m not that confident in brainteasers, so for future reference I might need to study these questions, especially if I hope to work for Disney or DreamWorks.

Sources: My second interview with DreamWorks Animation. (2016). Danny Rerucha. Retrieved from http://www.dannyrerucha.com/2015/04/my-second-interview-with-dreamworks-animation/ Image One: htt p://67.media.tumblr.com/250339889393603180bee9a3e8d55586/tumblr_mhihcvCR061rksv4mo1_500.gif Image Two: htt p://s.quickmeme.com/img/fb/fb2f369d108573cdb8839545dd59f6d172343dd561ae49e51a88070757bfd9bc.jpg 

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Copyright And Contracts- CIU111

The lecture this week was focused on Copyright and Contracts and explained how not everyone (both in the industry and out) knows the full extent of copyright rules. Which I personally think is true. In this case, the most common thought that most people have about copyright laws is that if you create the work and submit it to the public, you are the owner of the work. However there is more to it than that. One of the other aspects that is involved is, if you are employed most of the copyright goes to your employer and lasts 70 years after it has been publicly released.  For me, I personally think that copyright is one big gray area with many ins and outs and a whole lot of reading-30-something-pages.

However for me, I have never had to deal with anything huge involving copyright. Although I have seen it before on social media sites, where people who draw “fanart” or “fan works” of a character someone else has made (from big companies such as: Disney, Walt Disney, Pixar ect) put the words “I claim no ownership” or “I don’t own this” at the bottom. So this leads me to ask: How does copyright work in terms of being in the animation industry? Do you have to make your character designs unique enough so people know who designed it?

To answer some of these questions, I researched and came across a professional called Ivan Hoffman. And he states “ Before such rights of trademark in characters can be found to exist, the law requires that the character must have developed what the law refers to as a “secondary meaning.”  This refers to the legal doctrine that when a consumer sees the particular character, it associates it with a particular source.  Of course the best example would be Mickey Mouse.  Everyone on the planet knows that that character stems from a particular source…Disney.  To the same extent would be Bugs Bunny, the source being Warner Bros.  This secondary meaning then allows the consumer to know that when he or she sees or relates to that character, that the particular source is behind it, either directly or through some quality-controlled licensing arrangement.” (ivanhoffman, 2016)

As an apprentice going into animation and making characters I found that if someone through the animation pipeline made a character, their ideas would not be 100% protected unless they represented their work overall.

Sources:  The Protection of Fictional Characters. (2016). Ivanhoffman.com. Retrieved from http://www.ivanhoffman.com/characters.html

Image One: htt ps://cdn.meme.am/instances/66538426.jpg Image Two: htt ps://media4.giphy.com/media/CdOXUMoCYjAgE/200_s.gif

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Your Income and Your Art – CIU111

The lecture this week was focused on "Income and Your art" and the many different varieties and methods used to get a income within the creative industry, one of these topics being commissions. There are many different variations, but some that are common are: becoming an employee, running your own studio, crowdfunding, getting a day job, consulting and commissions. I have seen many inspiring and freelancing artists attempt to make an income through this method using social media platforms or I have seen others that have a large fan base advertise fellow artists commissions.

I have thought about trying to commission people through HTML coding, however I have never tried since the whole concept of commissioning is a somewhat new experience even though I have seen it through social media platforms, I myself have never tried to start. Because of how unfamiliar I am with trying to start a commission, one of the things that intrigued me during class that was brought up was; How does one start a commission? And how do they set prices for their work? Alan Bamberger explains " So how do you start? If you don't have a consistent history of selling your art in a particular price range or in a particular market or your sales are erratic or you're making a change or you're just plain not sure how much to charge for whatever reason, a good first step is to use techniques similar to those that real estate agents use to price houses. The selling price of a house that's just coming onto the market is based on what are called "comparables" or "comps" or prices that similar houses in the same neighbourhood sell for-- real estate criteria. (Artbusiness, 2014)

As Bamberger expresses, I feel that the prices of commissions vary depending on how in demand the artists work is and how much of a reputation they have in the industry. However I found that in a animation industry if you wanted to start working on commissions in your own studio, the best way to get well known would be to work for smaller studios or freelance. For example start with small companies and studios that will work with your style eg: kid/teen cartoon shows. However I feel that most will be discouraged going for the smaller studios instead of aiming for the well known studios such as; Disney, Pixar ect when this could be used as experience and an opportunity to build up a portfolio.

Throughout this research I found that commissions can be either demanding or really hard to get noticed and have customers buy your work since it all depends on peoples tastes, how much they are willing to pay for what you make and the quality of the commission when it's finished. On some of the social media sites I am on, I have seen many of my favorite artists post different commissions and prices to pique peoples interest. Here are a few examples:

Source image: http://nijuuni.deviantart.com/

Source image: http://roxoah.tumblr.com/commissions

Sources:  Everything Any Artist Needs to Know About How to Price Their Art. (2016). Artbusiness.com. Retrieved from http://www.artbusiness.com/artists-how-to-price-your-art-for-sale.html

Image One: http://images2.mitadmissions.org/images/2016/04/06/minionsmeet.gif Image Two: https://media.giphy.com/media/hbDeBvXXU86UU/giphy.gif

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Professional Identity – CIU111

The lecture this week was focused on "Your professional identity". One of the topics that intrigued me that was brought up during class was how are we the same? What do animators, What do animators, audio engineers, game developers, filmmakers, web developers, and graphic artists share in common? As creative's I firmly believe that we all share one thing in common- passion. In regards to the thoughts inside that help me survive the long days of study and university in general, I can personally say that my need to fulfil these goals are the driving force that motivates me to push further in this tough industry.

As was discussed in class, it wasn't about the need for money or the want for riches, it was the drive and motivation to become different from the norm- to become different from everyone else in the creative industry. Because of the tough industry, and that most of us will more than likely fail the first time in our futures, I personally feel that I am no different and that most of this will be determined by luck and uniqueness.

As an aspiring animator, I feel that a lot of other creative's in other areas such as; film, audio and games can relate to trying to strive to be passionate and unique in such a selective and tight knit field.  Chris Sliga stated that "Learning from your mistakes is also essential. Nobody is perfect! We all make mistakes both in our professional lives and personal ones. We can choose to repeat them or not, but if something you are doing is driving negative results, then its most likely time to learn from it and change the underlying behaviour. Doing so, will inject positive results into our lives." (LinkedIn,2016).

Throughout this whole article, I feel that this quote is very valid for any amateur creative striving for success, since learning from mistakes is to be expected. However it is important to try and strive to archive results whilst being engaged in being passionate, which is what I have taken from this lecture.

 Sources: Passion Drives Success..Or does it? (2016) Retrieved from  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/passion-drives-successor-does-chris-sliga

Image One: http://45.media.tumblr.com/c7f2e8d0e24eb84b75295ac7d5f9164c/tumblr_nmkqza0YSd1urep1no1_500.gif Image 2:  https://65.media.tumblr.com/929d6f982044b16ae9bcaa6169bb1cae/tumblr_njpmvnCKXD1tpoi89o1_400.gif 

[cjrroles]

Blog Task 5

Reversal of the Heart - Carolyn Chrisman Senior Thesis 2011 (by FiddleGriff Animation, 2011)

Image 1: Transformed princess dragon screenshot (At 3 minutes and 47 seconds of the animation). 

The Reversal of the Heart is a stunning 13 minute animation created by a talented and inspiring artist known as  Carolyn Chrisman. This short film has piqued by interest and heart because of the interesting and meaningful storyline as well as animation style. The meaning behind this short is fairly similar to the The Butterfly dragon (by Sushan Yue,  2010) on terms of themes, structure, music and the use of no dialogue.

The story behind this piece is about a how a young knight kills the dragon queens chick in order to take the jewel from the chicks heart to give it to the princess. Because of this, the princess is turned into the dragon and is forced to run away from the knight who gave the jewel to her. Later on she meets a young wizard while she is a dragon, who decides to help her in getting to the mountain at the heart of a dragon kingdom. The knight from before followed the princess to the mountain, where the necklace is broken and the former princess turns back to human again. Because the knight feels guilty for what he has done, he offers himself as a replacement for the lost chick he had killed.

The individual components throughout the film, work and tie in well to make the animation as a whole effective in portraying the story. The way Carolyn shows this is in the film, is the use of no dialogue and the piano and sound effects in the background helping to give an ambience to the movie. Because the movie has no dialogue, the body language of the characters help to portray and show how each character feels in the film. During the movie, colours also play a large part in expressing the characters intentions, for example the dragon queen becomes a silhouette after her chick as been killed.

Throughout the duration of this film, one of the key meanings that was consistent was that things weren't always what they seem, and sometimes your actions have consequences. When the princess becomes the dragon, she becomes something that is viewed as different, scary and something to be eliminated. During the film when the knight sees he is actually chasing the transformed princess, it was demonstrated that he judged the situation too quickly.

My personal review of this short film is 5/5. The animation, characters, plot and meaning of the story were a strong point throughout the film and tied in with each other completely. Each step the princess made throughout her journey to the mountain show what she had to overcome in order to fix and undo what has befallen her.

This is the link to the short animation itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHLwG3ioD4Y

[cjrroles]

Blog task 4

The pictures and media I usually re-blog vary from character art, to concept art or even GIFS from my favourite movies or games. Personally I love and prefer concept art, because I feel it helps give the viewer an insight on what and how these ideas were formed before the final product was made and decided. The content is normally aimed towards my personal love of animated characters and the animation behind them.

The board I created for this task is on Pinterest. Which can be found here:  https://www.pinterest.com/cjroles/curation-activity/

The media I have chosen to pin to this board varies from favourite and inspirational scenes to concept artwork. The reason behind selecting these images is to help express and portray my interests and what I use as as inspiration. (Starting from left to right)

1. Merida from the Dreamworks film “Brave”. I personally loved both the story and the animation that went into making this film. I loved the concept of Merida being this fearless and independent young woman. This fearless young woman who plays a large part in inspiring myself and hugely impacts my work, as her story helps influence the other character progression throughout. The design and the making of Merida’s character alone was what really drew me in, as her hair alone was made up of a series of hand placed, sculpted individual curls that together formed into her hair.

A article explaining how 'Brave' Features Hair-Raising Animations

2. Agni's Philosophy from Square Enix’s Final Fantasy. Final fantasy has played a extremely large and influential role, and I have been inspired countless times on what their next best thing is going to be as well as past games. Agni's Philosophy is currently a Final Fantasy tech engine demo and was revealed in E3 2012, showing what Square Enix’s Luminous engine was capable off. The real time computer graphics that were used throughout the demo, were awe inspiring so much so that I hope to archive something like this at that standard.  

An article explaining the engine that was used to make the demo.

3. Princess Mononoke from Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s has inspired me since I was young.  Hayao Miyazaki character design, the animation and the worlds are amazing and awe inspiring. Some of the characters that have been created play a important role and story throughout each of the movies  Studio Ghibli creates- each of them giving a fantastic and insiders view as well as invaluable life advice and the choices that have to be made in order to accomplish something.

A video explaining the making of Spirited Away

4. Spyro the dragon. Is another huge inspiration for me when I was younger. Personally I was captured by the idea and concept of the character himself as well as the free roam and worlds that you got to explore throughout the game. Spyro’s unwavering will to help anyone in need, really plays a huge influence in inspiring me to create such strong, easy to relate characters. 

A website showcasing the design ideas that went into making Sypro

5.  Big Hero 6 (2014). Is a recent inspiration and one that really influenced myself personally into deciding what kind of animation I would like to work with. Baymax’s design and overall character was both refreshing and funny- a large white robot like creature that looks like a marshmallow. Other than the characters, the world and fluid animation that was in the movie was very interesting and caught my eye and really showed what can be done with today’s software.

A video of the Behind the scenes of Big Hero 6

6. Ōkami (Game) by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. This game inspires me in many ways. The unique characters, to the interesting and amazing scenes heavily inspired by Japanese gods, and to the woodcut watercolour style which looks similar to the Japanese ink-illustration (known as sumi-e). Throughout the gameplay you play as a wolf trying to archive and inspire people to believe in gods (namely her) while also trying to rid the world of the evil Orochi. I loved the idea of the main character being an animal instead of the normal human, trying to help stop a evil force. 

A video showing some of the gameplay and features of  Ōkami

[cjrroles]

Blog task 3

Based on the fads and trends of the 90s I predict that Final Fantasy VIII (1999) will get a reboot in the next 5-10 years. The Final Fantasy franchise has received many reboots over the years ranging from differing characters and design, as well as different plot line. Although in 2010 a spin off the series Final Fantasy XIII made a show of the old game, however many of the original fans disliked the turn-based game play mechanics and the linearity present in the game.   

However many have already designed the components to the reboot via fanart. The reboot will keep most of the original concepts, but remove the highly disliked linearity and add a more easy to use turn based system. The reasons why the original story line for Final Fantasy is going to get another reboot, is that the company Square Enix wants to appeal to a larger audience by adding strong female and male characters with their own unique story and world. Each time a new game is released, Square Enix showcases the technology at their disposal and what they can accomplish with each new game released.

Many of the games that were released were never the same in terms of story or story world they were based in as well as none of the games were continuations of the story from the previous games. 

Final Fantasy VIII (1990). By Square Enix . Retrieved March 24, 2016, from http://www.gamesreviews.com/pc/pc-reviews/12/final-fantasy-viii-steam-review/

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Blog task 2

Media today is vast and is used extensively throughout the whole world as a means of communication. In modern day society it is considered a social norm to be seen on a social media website; such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Social media has personally influenced me in many ways and has changed my outlook and has been a source of inspiration.

As I slowly continue this bachelor in SAE, I have personally used social media- namely YouTube- as a source of inspiration, and serves as a drive for me to archive something akin to what some of the users have created. Some of the many one minute animation videos are an example of this. 

Many of the different animation styles, variants, and storytelling that some of the users shared, helped to cement and reflect on the level of achievement that I wish to accomplish. This is reflected by the the kind of videos that I wish to create; animations for short one minute films or animations for Pixar branded films. 

Mainly, however the underlying messages that some of these short films show to any viewer [See Video below] are a fantastic for researching a broad spectrum of animation and animation styles alike.

A Fox Tale- A short animation HD. (2012). By 4ADesertAnimation . Retrieved March 4, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piH5_aP0fY8

[cjrroles]

Blog Task 1

Walt Disney Pictures Big Hero 6 was what had inspired me to study animation at SAE. This movie's design and how fluid the animation scenes are in each frame are many of the examples of why Big Hero 6 was an inspiration.

The story world in this movie and how unique but original the scenery was set in, was what really caught my eye. The originality that was behind the making of the hybrid city 'San Fransokyo' where majority of the movie is focused in, piqued my curiosity and fascinated me with trying to archive simular results in my studies.

I found that this contributed to the reasons why this movie sets apart the rest of the other movies that are made by Walt Disney Pictures. However throughout the movie I found that I was motivated, inspired and ambitious to make something of a similar nature at an industry standard here at SAE.

The characters that are shown throughout the film were what really set a clear goal for me and my interest in pursuing character animation or rigging. The film represented and showcased both technology, software and the techniques used as well as what could be accomplished in animation today.

Big Hero 6 | official trailer #4 US Marvel Disney (2014). (2014). By moviemaniacsDE . Retrieved February 23rd, 2016, from https://youtu.be/ZyBUCHpeVzY