Here are some of my notes made the old fashioned way with the paper and pen method. Admittedly it's hard to assess an electronic journal if there are no posts!!!
At the beginning of the digital media course I felt very overwhelmed by my zero knowledge base which meant I had an enormous amount to learn.
What I have learned is that I write notes and follow them. If my notes are detailed enough I can follow them and repeat the method.
I have learned that I may get stuck but that I can't break the program or computer which is a relief!
In the first weeks Greg explained that we would be learning to use Adobe photoshop which is 20 years old and is a huge program with numerous applications.
Firstly Greg outlined the work ahead.
The first project was the creation of a Gif animations( which at the time sounded impossible) as a self portrait using text and photoshop. This concept was a means of highlighting a facet of an individuals personality.Using meaningful words or phrases builds a picture of the person. Online Gif generators such as imgflip.com or gifninja.com, would be used to animate the idea by linking together frames.
The unknown word "meme" was explained as an appropriation or reworking of existing artworks. These should be constructive and positive.
To illustrate this idea we watched "Everything is a Remix" which emphasised that appropriation involves enrichment not simple mimicry.
As was highlighted, the most successful movies are sequels/remakes.
The self portrait needed to combine colour,text and animation.Greg suggested checking out other people's approaches to the task.
My self portrait comprised wild neon colours flashing on the screen.VIV was joined by ID. This succinctly sums me up- Firstly, I love bold, bright colour.Viv, from the name Vivienne meaning lively and ID as I continue to work myself out i.e. identity.
With one-on-one help I was able to successfully complete the assignment.
My meme involved super imposing Carmen Miranda's fruit headgear on Jan Van Eyck's Man in a Red Turban which was a bit of fun! Again, thanks for the help to complete the task.
The skills in digital media would definitely be beneficial for other subjects. I lack naturally talent but at least I have made a start and will try to reinforce what we have been learning through repetition.
