Assignment 8B

Nathan's hero/villain combination was pretty humorous. I wouldn't necessarily consider a worm to be the best of superheroes, but I suppose it works. The brightness of both scenes are very high, which suggests that both characters are outside. This makes sense since they are both outdoor animals. The worm has several very bright color hues, which suggests that he is a good guy. In contrast, the bird is almost completely black, with no white saturation at all, which suggests that he is evil. Generally, evil characters are represented by dark coloration, which is a far cry from the worm. The two characters share an affinity of upwards and downwards movement, but there is a contrast in the exact nature of such movement. The worm reminds me of a character from a video game I used to play way back when I was a little kid. The game was called Earthworm Jim, and it was about a superhero worm similar to this one. Earthworm Jim's mission was in text, and all of his motives were clear to the player. On the other hand, this worm's motives are subtextual. You would assume that he defeats birds, but you are not wholly sure as to why exactly he fights them. It was explained that he fights them to protect the rest of his worm brethren, but we wouldn't have known that for sure without explicit talk about the subject.

MacKenzie had both the hero and the villain in her animation. She used basic stick figures, and the hero looked as if he could fly. I could tell the difference because of the shapes used. The hero had a round head and the villain had a triangle head. I'm not sure exactly what the square-head figure was...so that led to some confusion. Their movements contrast because the villain just shuffles along, and the hero usually flies. Being stick figures, their bodies share an affinity of shape. Your thoughts need to be active when material is presented, because you are not told what exactly to believe as is the case in didactic material. The sun being in the picture with the hero creates a positive mood, but it's gone when the villain is present. The lighting is meant to be brighter for the hero when he is under the sun. Shadows are meant to be present for the villain, because bad guys are generally represented by dark colors or black.

A third commentary was supposed to be done...but nobody else posted their hero/villain animations.

Assignment 8A

Superhero Audio

Assignment 7

The two videos that our group did were much different from one another. With basically everyone else's videos, they were nearly identical with a few aspects changed around. My video had the same basic joke, but strayed really far from the exact joke setup. Most of the characters in my video used what I would describe as "normal" movement. Billy, on the other hand, used erratic movement that made him appear extremely creepy. It gives the audience a sense that he is suspicious, and should not be trusted. On the other hand, the movement of the characters in Jenna's movie have a bigger diversity. The way one character moves suggests that he is bored, and the way another moves shows that she is nervous or antsy. The movement of the others is all very similar to one another.The space in each video is restricted by the close proximity of the walls, with the exception of the opening scene of my video. My opening scene is outdoors with a wide area, so it doesn't feel restricting like the rest. The space extends far on all sides of the characters, so wide and medium shots are most prevalent. Tension and release is used in my video when awkward pauses appear in the dialogue, and when the camera zooms in on my face as I look creepy. The tension is released when someone speaks again, breaking the odd silence. I implement this several times in my video, but Jenna's does not. Contrast and affinity is present in both videos through the characters. In my video, the male and female characters have similar movements to one another, but drastically different styles from Billy. In Jenna's video, the son and daughter have an contrast of movement, while the mom and dad have an affinity of movement.

Villain Animation

Assignment 6B

Assignment 5B

Assignment 6A

How to be Creative

Assignment 5A

Out of all the images we had to choose from, I probably like this one the best. Each sphere seems to individually represent a different idea or theme, while the entire conglomeration of spheres seems to represent the universe in a way. I also see the woman represented in this picture as being one with the universe. It sounds kind of cheesy, but it makes sense. The artist uses contrast and affinity with the different colors of spheres. The ones near the center being warmer colored, and the perimeter spheres have a sort of cold calmness to them. Nothing about the picture is necessarily objective, but rather subjective. It can be seen as symbolic of multiple abstract ideas. The rule of thirds is used in a way in the original image, as it frames the woman's face nicely. The orb that I decided to zoom in on reminds me of the earth in a certain way. It is mostly blue with a little green, which makes me think of the globe covered in mostly water. In the original image, the depth cues carry our eyes far back into the picture in a cool effect. If this were film, the original would probably be classified as a wide shot while my zoomed image would most likely be a close-up. By not zooming in, the artist was able to provide a myriad of possible interpretations to the actual nature of the different spheres that are the building blocks of a larger image. The smooth and flowing edges of the spheres and the background as a whole create a calm and peaceful image that is nice to reflect on. I have always liked the color blue along with water, so that's why I framed it like I did. Overall, this is one of my favorite pictures I have seen this year thus far.