While watching The Little Mermaid to do research for my final project (life is so hard, right?) I really really wanted to do this idea. I wanted to create an advertisement for Flotsam and Jetsam Private Eyes. Why? Because I can. I just really thought the whole idea of it was crazy, they are spying on Ariel throughout the movie and reporting back to Ursula so she knows what step to take. They do a great job as well.
So I decided to make an advertisement for them. But of course, I didn’t want to make it just any advertisement. I wanted it to be a GIF because I wanted to show people that I could still make one. So I did. Here is what I came up with:
I wanted the GIF to be them being very sly (so I used this clip), and this was a moment when they certainly were that. However, I think the thing that stands out the most is their eyes. It just is too perfect for them to be private eyes. In order to make their eyes stand out more, I decided to make my font that color. By simply using the color selector tool in GIMP I was able to get the yellowish green that I really wanted. Similarly, I wanted the background to be similar. So I once again used the tool and air brushed away. This gave it a more smudged feeling and made it look fairly realistic in my opinion. I mean I think this ad checks out, I would totally hire them! See if Ariel does in my final project, coming your way soon.
I am almost always on Twitter, it’s actually unhealthy. However, when it comes to creating social media for famous or fictional characters, the Twitter tool is very lacking since it only allows one tweet at a time (I mean I tweet one time per 30 minutes). The facebook tool, while outdated still has some great features and can do a really good job of telling a story.
For the facebook that I made for Prince Eric I decided to focus on setting the mood for the story that I want to tell. As you can see, he takes his trip in which he has a great night and can’t stop singing (I mean he did meet Ariel after all). They then become friends on Facebook and you can see the rest from there. The thing that I really liked about this was the timeline that you can use. Having a timeline in a story is so critical to help people have an idea for what exactly is going on.
There really isn’t much more to say about this, I used the classroom tool of Fakebook in order to create the page. Some of Eric’s friends on the side are Ariel’s sisters and workers in the palace, all of whom are featured in the movie.
The secret to my beautiful hair? The dinglehopper. Seriously, it works so well!!
Don’t know what a dinglehopper is? Well here is an advertisement for it that you may see on a normal basis:
Tricked you! You thought it’d be a real advertisement. Nope, believe it or not I made this masterpiece by myself, with a headache on the side. For my final project (in which the story will be told in a blog post to come within the next 24 hours), we have to incorporate different pieces of media to tell a story and part of my story requires there to be an advertisement for a dinglehopper. If you haven’t been able to tell yet, the dinglehopper in the mermaid world is actually a fork in this world. However, they believe that it is used for hair instead of food. What silly cartoons they are!
Since this was not a video assignment, the first thing I did was create an assignment for it, which you can see here. I decided to make this one 4 stars. I know that is may seem like a lot, but you really have to find a bunch of different clips throughout a movie in order to create something. It takes a lot of planning and it also takes strong execution, which made me think that 4 stars was completely appropriate. Now that I had the guidelines in place it was time to start working on it.
There were a lot of different clips that I used in the creation of this ad because there are 3 aspects in the movie where the dinglehopper is used or mentioned. The first clip is interesting, because it actually is a video from this video, but the audio of this one. Yes that is right, the first video has talking in Thai. Now you may be asking yourself, Karissa why would you do something like that? Well I had the same video and audio, but for starters the video had subtitles which bothered me. But secondly when I was using Windows Movie Maker, everything was all fine and dandy. However, as soon as I went into mp4 the file would freeze for 3 seconds, the 3 seconds where the dinglehopper was mentioned. So, I ended up having to use a video, and then taking the audio and adding it into my Audacity file (which I will explain later).
Next 3 clips that I used were all from the same video, which made things nice for me in the editing world. I have scuttle announcing it, and Ariel anxiously wanting to know what it is, then followed by Scuttle’s explanation of how to use it. His explanation just makes me laugh every time because it is something that I feel like would actually be said in an infomercial. That part was just simple cutting the clips down to where I wanted them and putting them in the right order. Children’s play.
The final new clip that I used was this one of Ariel using it to brush her hair. It is a classic scene and is a great demonstration of people using the product, which is another common thing in infomercials.
But what is more common than a voice over? I’m not going to lie, I looked into Billy Mays videos to see what I could work with, but then I lost my Internet connection. While working in Windows Movie Maker, I have a bunch of imported media from other projects I have worked on including this one about a Snuggie informercial. I decided to listen to it and see what I could get, and I added in audio aspects from this video. The upbeat music that is playing throughout the commercial is the music featured at the end of this video (just copied and pasted) and I decided to add in Ariel calling it a dinglehopper instead of the narrator calling it a snuggie! That really was just basic Audacity stuff, which then allowed me to add in the audio from the first clip when the time came to it.
So I simply imported the audio in and I had a video! However, the ending seemed a bit anti-climatic. So I showed the details of all of the different things the dinglehopper features and what it can do for you! Typical infomercial ending antics. I made that in Power Point and saved the slide as a JPEG and was good to go!
I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you tune in later to see what my final project has in store!
Have you ever experienced a person, an ENTITY, a being that was so out of this world?? For instance, a legend.. Someone, or something, that many people could speak of but never truly understand? How about the man, the myth? I’m sure you know of him. He has even pervaded the DS106 culture… now, he must be unleashed, unveiled, to inspire, to amaze, to, well… do all of the above…
Now would you look at that smile. It seems he could brighten up any room, push away the rainy clouds, and leave just clear, blue sky.
However, even the Man, the Myth, the Paul has his flaws. For example, he has a tendency to go overtime on his work, and forget about deadlines. He has been meaning to work on this shortcoming, but justifies the ends with the means; the means of exalted work! maybe…. anybody?
Now, if you were to ask The Man, The Myth (yes that’s required when mentioning him) what exactly motivates him, you might hear any number of things… However, the single most important thing that The Man, The Myth would say, is that inspiring other people to do great work is what motivates him down to the core. He loves to see people inspired by his efforts and greatness. So, below is a fitting motivational poster, where The Man, The Myth, is motivation enough for anybody. All you need to do is take him in, and experience the newly-arrived motivation, success, and much, much more.
I know The Man, The Myth may seem like a very mythical creature, where extensive fables don’t even do him justice. In reality, however, he is quite a humble, and generous gentleman (no this is not a joke). Every morning when he wakes up, he sends a good morning text message to every single person in his contact list. Now if that doesn’t describe the likes of a selfless individual, I don’t know what does.
I want to take a moment here to really unveil The Man, The Myth. It is important that you gain a fuller knowledge of what goes on in the exalted life of The Man, The Myth. When he is not engaging is selfless activities such as creating extensive tutorials for friends, he can be seen in the Cave of his residence working tirelessly on Remixed Assignments and Audio mixes, one of which is found below…
He is also known to spend considerable time immersed in the psychological literature, mastering the sub-fields of Personality, Cognitive-Behavioristic, Humanistic and countless other offspring from the original field.
Here he can be seen deeply engaged in study, a steller intellectual indeed..
Before the day is all said and done, The Man, The Myth, The Paul would not feel complete and satisfied, without having given advice to future scholars and DS106-ers. Here are some key things that he wants you to think about:
1) Blog Early. Blog Often.
2) Stretch your limits to the max. He does this before breakfast is over.
3) Don’t leave your assignments until the last minute. However, the Man, the Myth, the Paul is guilty of this every ONCE in a while…
4) Remember to eat your wheaties.
And Lastly..
5) Even the Man, the Myth, the Paul gets inspired by others. In the words of Shaun T., “DIG DEEPER!”
In all seriousness, thanks to the wonderful professor Alan Levine, whose support and feedback throughout the semester have been very helpful. If it wasn’t for his watchful eye, and persistent check-ups, I don’t know if this would be possible. I’d like to say that I enjoyed this class, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to take it over. I’d also like to thank Jim Groom for his constant support, along with Martha Burtis. You guys are great!
Until next time: The Man, The Myth, The Paul, is officially signing out.
Peyton Sawyer from “One Tree Hill” is a character that in the beginning represents the definition of a “stereotype”. Her character is misinterpreted completely and through her confusion within herself she becomes a mystery to everyone. What people think of her…… isn’t who she is ……. What she sees is simply …….. a MYSTERY. This Pinterest site created by Peyton exemplifies who is is, what people actually think, & the mysterious secret that no one knows about her ….that Peyton Sawyer can see EVERYTHING.
Get a little glimpse of Peyton… HERE (Although DesignAssignment563 suggested a screenshot, I made an entire pinterest instead.)
…. Peyton has spent all of her life in a small town where everyone knows everything…. The person that she is today has a lot to do with growing up in Tree Hill. This poster that she made represents the loneliness that she experiences along with the desire to want MORE. One Tree Hill is a mystery within itself…. where are all the other trees? Why does Peyton always feel so alone?
(Inspired by DesignAssignment57 asking for a poster of a tv show location)
Along with my mysterious town….. I wonder who’ll ever figure me out? I find myself feeling like a puzzle sometimes. A stereotypical high school cheerleader with an awesome boyfriend and a “great” life…. Who am I? Why don’t I know? I see sooooo many weird things on a daily basis, when is it all going to be figured out? I know I ask a lot of questions…. but when I figure out the answers, you’ll be the first to know. – Peyton has always been a form of mystery, to herself and to her surroundings. Her creativity and artwork show her secret cry for help, her cry for attention and to no longer feel alone.
(Inspired by DesignAssignment64 to caption a photo found on the ds106 flickr page)
Peyton was always known by her love for music music and her meaningful artwork…Although no one knew what she was feeling at times, her music always seemed to tell some type of story… It was as if she was writing poems to express what she saw, that no one else saw. Or even what she felt… that no one else was aware of. The world around her was always so confusing, but one thing she knew was that she had the support of her father who was always there, since her mother had passed. This iTunes playlist that Peyton created simply shows her hidden feelings in the way her Playlist is organized. It’s almost as if she’s crying our for her help, or thanking her Father for always being there….
(Inspired by VisualAssignment46, to create a poem playlist.)
One of the amazing things about Peyton … is her ability to talk and express herself, even if she is confused and can’t put everything together. Peyton holds a Podcast (nearly every night) and talks about her day … to the public viewers online. The idea of her being a mystery to herself changes once she posts all of her stuff online and expresses herself as well as seeks for help. Through this podcast the world learns about Peyton Sawyer…. and over time she’s more than mysterious…. she’s finds her place.
(I created a video using clips off of Peyton’s actual podcast from “One Tree Hill” and inserted photos of Peyton and her artwork.)
The gang finally gets up into space. Woohoo! Their training ended up being entirely inadequate, as Archer is incapable of doing anything anyone tells him to do. However, while up there, they stumble upon, you wouldn’t believe it, Spock himself. Spock drops some knowledge on Archer. Archer doesn’t really understand what he is saying at first, but as he starts to grasp the concepts, he begins to get really excited. Have a listen in on the conversation overhead by those on earth (Houston, can you read me?)
To create this video, I took audio clips from the last two episodes of season three of Archer–the two where they do travel into space (also my inspiration for this project, but we’ll get to that later). I found a clip of Spock from Star Trek on YouTube under some random search that I did (I am not Star Trek savvy) and took the first thing I could find. Using audacity I mashed up the two to create a type of dialogue.
This was one of the toughest assignments (Dialogue Mashup from the audio assignments repository) that I have done–well worth the four stars, if not five. Using the tools and finding the clips that I wanted were not the most difficult part, surprisingly. Rather the thing that I had a hard time with was putting the audio together to create a coherent(ish) conversation. But I did it.
This assignment tops off my final project, bringing me to a whooping 16 stars. And adds the third genre to the mix. Let me know what you think.
In continuation of my final project, I have put together a few of my favorite scenes (some of the best scenes) from the first half of the first season of Archer. I think this will be a really effective way of recruiting a trainer for the ISIS space voyage, especially in combination with the posters I created. WARNING: This video contains a lot of crude and lewd behavior. If you don’t find this sense of humor funny, I suggest you not watch it.
To create this highlight reel, I combed through the first half of season one of Archer. This was time consuming, but totally worth it. It was hard deciding which scenes to pick, but I ended up going with the ones that I LOLed at. That seemed to be the most reliable way. I watched them in MPEG, and every time I stumbled upon a scene that I laughed at, I trimmed the video down, saved the clip, and then re-opened the entire thing. I tried to pick clips that related to each other from scene-to-scene (for the most part, since obviously not every episode relates to the last). Once I had picked out a selection of clips, I opened them all at once (in the reverse order) and then saved it all together. And voila–recruitment video and highlight reel all in one. This puts me at a whooping total of 12 stars for my final project.
In order to help recruit a new trainer for ISIS (and the on-going space mission), I have created a series of design media.
1. Propaganda Poster
This poster corresponds with the Propaganda Poster Assignment in the design assignment repository. I created it by taking a screenshot of this picture of Archer. In Photoshop, I carefully edited out everything around him, and left only his upper body. From there, I saved the picture and opened it up in the ever-so-handy Picasa. I used this WWI poster as inspiration, and added the typography to the poster, and threw on a ‘museum matte’ boarder using red and blue to give it the patriotic touch that it needed. This poster also poses as something a little less with the color theme that you will see in the next two posters.
2. Minimalist Poster
Corresponding to the Minimalist Poster Assignment in the design assignment repository is my minimalist poster for this glorious tv show. To achieve said poster, I took the “a” from the title of the show–literally cropped straight from this picture, or a bigger version of it–and edited it in Picasa. This time, I used two features in Picasa, the ‘museum matte’ and the regular old ‘boarder’ feature. I stuck with the original color scheme, because it suits the show, and makes it more recognizable for the audience–if they have seen the show at all.
3. A “How To Archer” App
This is the icon for an app that teaches the Archer fanatic How To Archer. It corresponds with the Create Your Own Smartphone App assignment in the repository. I also got the idea from a book that was actually written for the show called How To Archer, written by Sterling Archer himself. I even used part of the original book cover in my icon, so that the targeted audience can relate back to it. Perhaps it will become the logo for the show one day–this or the minimalist poster would be cool.
This series of design assignments sets me at an initial 8 stars. More to come soon. We are on the brink of recruitment!
Sooo, I’ve been busy. Haven’t had the sort of time I’d like to put towards this class, but I’m here with another edition of “Take One” (I’m working on leaving some assignments, I swear!).
This week, I decided to try my hand on Spreadsheet Invasion, mostly because it sounded deceptively sinister.
Anyways, the concept was simple enough: create an animation using Excel.
Thankfully, I have a copy of Excel installed, but to make this assignment a little easier to do I did go out and download a few tools. First off, I wanted something that would auto save my print screens, so I could quickly take a screen shot for each frame.
After some googling, I found FastStone Screen Capture, which did the very simple job of saving my screenshots to a folder every time I hit print screen.
Next, well, was actually taking the screenshots. Not too hard in itself, but it was a little tedious.
Earlier in the course we had a GIF-making assignment, and since then I’ve forgotten the tool that I used to compile photos into a GIF, but after a quick few searches I found the necessary tools.
Copying my files to my Linux VM, I used a nifty little tool called ImageMagick to first convert each .PNG to a .GIF, and then another tool called Gifsicle to compile those images into one GIF.
Thanks to those tools, what could’ve been a very tedious process boiled down to typing two different command-line operations.
Anyways, here’s my animation, appropriately titled “DS106 on FIRE!”.
The rules for this assignment were simple, take a photo of a common object, and manipulate the color.
My first thought: keys. So that’s what I took a photo of. The issue? Keys don’t contain much color.
So, I added in a Sharpie and a Pencil, and changed it to “common everyday objects“.
From here on, it was relatively simple to reach the end product in photoshop. All I really did was alter the levels to change how the colors are displayed–making the colors very bright–and I like how it turned out.
So, while there is not a lot to this assignment, I do like the finished product, and here it is for your viewing pleasure:
