Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Digital Story Compilation

 

This assignment was really a time to go back to look at all the assignments and memories shared during the course of this class. These are some of the ones I'm proud to share. The downside to using a song is that other audio's can't be played. I attempted to mashup some clips from daily broadcasts and what not but I think I need a little bit more training for that.

The process for this video involved importing all the pictures I wanted to use into Sony Vegas Pre(free trial) and then importing the song (Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolf).

My Masterpiece

Trailer Mashup--Mulan

I think downloading all the tools and learning how to use it was more annoying than doing the assignment itself. I used Sony Vegas Pro as the main tool for combining all my clips. Using clip converter, I downloaded the clips from YouTube and saved them in the proper formats (audio mp3 and video mp4). I imported the video into S.V.P. and then converted the audio into .wav so I could clip and chop away in audacity.

I chose to use the live Mulan version and switch the audio with the Disney version using the Lion King intro as an opening. The Disney audio I think does this movie so much more justice than the original. You can hear so much more intensity in the music than in the original.

 

 

 

 

 

Mulan Mashup

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Life

Someone once told me that "God never gives you more than you can handle"


This has me thinking. If God is testing us by giving us challenges to overcome, what is the punishment for those who fail? Eternal Damnation? And what are we supposed to be learning from these challenges?


IDK where I'm going with this but It's been on my mind lately. I've been occupied with asking WHY WHY WHY and not a lot of HOW. How do I get over this slump. How am I going to overcome this challenge and get to the other side with all the pretty rainbows and unicorn?


The answer...IDK. Tell me if you do. But I know this one thing .... You can't get too scared of all the whatif's that you are unable to act.


Here are some words of courage to keep you going


"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear"




Nelson Madela





 

 

 

 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Disappearing Act Web Story

So after watching Tim and Martha’s video and going over the written instruction, I still felt lost because I didn’t know what website I wanted to look at. I’m big on fashion but fashion is very image focused and Martha warned against websites with too many pictures….So what now? I thought of what Tim said about trusting your sources and knowing where your information is coming from and got the idea to play with a news source. CNN being one of most recognized news sources seemed like an easy target. There was an article on men getting cancer and some of the focus was on what they ate. Somehow my brilliant mind went from that to couch potatoes and then to men disappearing because they didn't want to do house chores. I bet if they could, men would actually do this. Now I am not a man hating woman but  it grinds my gears to see the women in family cooking and cleaning and the men just sit and watch tv. Sooo dad, bro, and uncles and Charles, this is for you!!!

I was able to do this by following the instructions listed here.

I used fireshot to capture the screen shot (I kinda wish i knew of this nifty lil thing much earlier but that's another story). So the only thing I cheated on was the saving while making changes cause I'd copy, past and save the html but then when I opened it, I got a message that said "No clickID (partnerID) has been set on this page"... Now whats that about? So here are the results.....Criticize, and Dismantle so I can rebuild and recover (that made no sense but I'm just typing what my brain is thinking of). 

 



 

 

I kept the original links from the article because I thought they related to the report about eating habits of men. I changed the links in the related topic to read more like it had some thing to do with the report. Men and dirty socks are a sub topic of men's household responsibilities and the women's lint issue was just for giggles!!!!

 

 

 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Reactions to these new turn of events

So i'm sure by now everyone has heard of the events that's happened in the last few days. We lost Dr.Oblivion, and now the prime suspect, Jim Groom has gone missing...but not before going mad and banishing some people. Fortunately for us, there is an audio recording of the event that wasn't audible to the naked ear during the live broadcast. I've managed to capture this audio using audacity. I know in doing this I have put my life in further danger. Fear not ds106er, we must fight on. We must not let fear keep us from speaking out. Whether you are with ds106 or ds107, we are all students praying for the safe return of Dr.Oblivion so that we can nurture our curiosity in peace.

The transformation by arababky




Thanks to soundcould's freesound,nickStageand Nummer39 for your help in cleaning up this audio

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Audio Experiment #3 Alvin!!!!!!

For the third audio experiment I decided to play with the effects since the other two didn't really allow for that much experimentation. I recorded someone singing this rhyme and then I played with the pitch and the pace which resulted in the lovely chimpmunck sounding thing. I added other effects but the pitch and the pace were the most noticeable changes that I could find.

Self audio by arababky




This is Alvin's toothless grandpa joining in on the fun!!!
Alvins toothless grandpa by arababky

Audio Experiment #2 Mash-up

This crazy mashup was so fun to do. i think the hardest part was thinking up questions and then thinking of the right songs to respond. It doesn't help if you don't listen to a lot of music. After i imported the songs i wanted to use, it was very annoying cutting away to the precise point where the answer began. I made a major mistake for this one, and that was using the same artist for the responses. At first I wanted it to be one contestant, but then one become three with very interesting personalities (I want to make it longer and more intricate!!!) but here is the demo. As for why the contestants have the same voice, I'll tell you that they are triplets!!!

 

Backup Link

 

 

 

Dating show by arababky
I used songs by Akon and the applause was from recordingHopkins on freesound.

Audio Experiment #1 Sound Story

For this assignment, I pulled out hairs, said some pretty graphic words and shed a tear or two but i finally got the hand of it. I didn't have a problem with downloading the sound effects but it took me a while to learn how to put it all on the same track and have them play in order. I found that it was much easier downloading and importing them in the order that i wanted them played in. As i listen to it over and over i realized there is a lot more that i could add to make it fantastic but time is $$$.

Sound story by arababky

Dr. Oblivion will be returned if anyone can guess what happens in this track!!!! Do not look below for clues!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Credits

Baby crying--- by reinsamba

Bed squeak--- by jackstrebor

Microwave --- digifishmusic

Sucking sound--- stephsinger22

Burp----HardPCM

 

Daily Shoot #595

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Play with contrasting scale today: juxtapose something small with something big!

 

Like all things, even fruits comes in different shape. I bet your mom wouldn't be mad if you played with your food this way. She's enroll you in art school. For this masterpiece, I increased the constrast in Picasa and reduced the shadow. I then added a warmth filter. I rotated the image 90 degrees counterclockwise to give it a twist.

Daily Shoot #596

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Make a photo with a strong linear composition today.

HAPPY 4th Everyone. Today i took the lil monsters out to see the fireworks and decided to do the daily shoot with them as my co-subjects. I've got some weak linear compositions standing next to the strong ones(the gate). Picknick had a 4th of July theme so i applied it to give it a festive feel.

P.S. She is totally picking her nose...you don't wanna know what she did with it afterwards

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Daily Shoot #594

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I'm really proud of this pic seeing how i chased this bee for quite a while waiting for it to pollinate so I can take a pic. I added a boost effect in Picnick(my fav tool now) and VIOLA.  Nature is dirty, but beautiful!!!

Daily Shoot #593

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Make a photograph today that features the sky.

 

I took this pic of the sun setting on I95 on the way back from Maryland. It was one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen and i thought it captured today's topic really well. Enjoy and appreciate the beauty around you

 

For today's daily shoot

Friday, July 1, 2011

Design Assignment 4: My Valentine

I know it's not quite Febuary 14th but to me everyday is an opportunity to show your love ones you care about  them. I picked this design assignment because i know my forever valentine checks up on my blog and I'm hoping he sees this the next time he logs on.

 



 

To create this, I used picnik to make it B&W. I was hoping to remove the flash in the mirror by doing that but it didn't work. I added the borders, and then the text and inserted the graphic hearts from the sticker selections. If anyone has any knowledge of how i can remove the flash reflection in the background please share.

Design Assignment 1: Minimalist Poster

So this is a minimalist poster for the movie Grave of the Fireflies directed by Isao Takahata. Here is the original poster that I got the idea from.

 

 

 

Design Assignment 2: Little Caption

Design Assignment 3: The Big Hip Hop

[caption id="attachment_211" align="aligncenter" width="990" caption="Firefighters sleep between trucks at the incident command post for the Wallow fire, June 8, 2011 in Springerville (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)"][/caption]

For this assignment, i chose this picture of a firefighter taking a nap on a very stressful day. I picked lyrics from the lazy song by Bruno Mars to match.

Stuff My Sisters Say

I have two sisters ages 5 (Sade) and 3(Fafa). I've watched them transfromed from quiet little angles to smart mouth lil monsters. It's always interesting the things they say and i'm always left wondering where they get it from. I'll be sharing a few of the things they say in here and please free to add stuff you hear from either kids of your own or other people's kids.

 

 

Mom: Sade you have to learn to eat African food. What are you going to do when you go to Ghana.


Sade: I'll just bring some cereal with me.


 

Me: Fafa can you make me a birthday card?


Fafa: No


Me: Why not?


Fafa: Because I can't write my name


Me: But its for me not you


Fafa: But i have to write from Fafa to Besha(what they call me)


 

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Tim Owens & Kirby Ferguson Commentary

Tim Owens’ discussion about all things design

So I am a sociology major taking ds106 because I thought it would be a fun class to take. So far it hasn’t disappointed. It’s certainly very different from any class I’ve taken and I’m glad I got the opportunity to take it, especially with Dr. Oblivion because I don’t think I would be getting the same experiences with another professor.  Tim Owens mentions that people aren’t born creative, but they learn and develop their creativity as they grow. I find this point taking some time to sink in because even though I know that talent is a combination of some “genetic” disposition and environmental factors, I can’t stop my mind from thinking that people are born with creativity.  I know this thinking is a copout as Owen’s says to not trying to be creative. We can all learn to be creative and develop that creativity to higher levels. I’ve noticed my own creativity developing in the daily shoots. Before this class, taking this picture was just about snapping and clicking and not really focusing on how I want that image to look like. It’s true that some of the best photography moments are those that are unplanned or even taken accidentally but other times, it takes some level of thinking and conceptualizing what you want to capture.

Owen’s point about being creative when challenged or hungry is one I am most familiar with.  The challenged part, not the hungry part, though I have been known to create some very creative food concoctions when I’m hungry.  Creativity is about being challenged and stepping out of our comfort zone in order to create something that will most likely be put on display for others to see. I know I have my own issues with making videos (but I’m working on it!!!). The way I would deal with this is probably create an alter ego to go on camera be my puppet.

The final point that Owens makes is that there is inspiration all around us and we must allow ourselves to absorb that inspiration and learn from it. One of problems that I’ve been struggling with is how to incorporate the things I love into the assignments. I’ve already experimented with the daily shoots by making my family and friends my subjects but  I feel like if we are to be making our own digital identity, how do we go about doing that without crossing the line, is there a line? Maybe I’m just being a perfectionist. As students we are so used to have strict guidelines and checklist of things to do for assignments so now that I’m in a class where all is fair game, I’m struggling to get a grasp on some set of rules to follow.

 

Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson

So the three points that I take from this video is that no one is an original. Creativity is something that develops from copying what others have created. Children learn to write by copying what their teachers write down and then as they grow up, they add their own words and create new sentences and maybe go on to write their own books. These three elements (copy, transform, combine) are something that we need to keep in mind as we progress in this class. Often I’ve looked at other people’s ds and visual assignments wanting to know how they do it but somewhere in my mind I shy away from wanting to learn that because I don’t want to be a copycat. Ferguson teaches that it’s ok to be a copy cat as long as you learn to put your own spin on it.

 

Daily Shoot #582

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I am all too familiar with today's topic. Several times i've had a deadline coming up only to have the dreaded blue screen pop up. Once again I did this in paint. I thought i'd practice my drawing a little bit (one step at a time). Constructive Criticism highly appreciated!!!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Daily Shoot #591

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2011/06/29 • #ds591

 

Illustrate choice in a photograph today. Be obvious or subtle.

 

For today's shoot i decided to make a poster using paint. The choices are heaven and hell. I made heaven so much lighter than hell and kind of ambiguous looking because we don't really know what heaven looks like. It's usually portrayed as a place of light as opposed to hell, which is much darker and deeper.

Daily Shoot #590

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Make a photograph that features white in a dominant manner. Use a white subject. Blow out the sky. Use your imagination.

 

All day I was thinking about this topic. I looked through what other people had posted but I didn't want to do the same thing. I had cereal for dinner and got the idea... milk is white. To make it more bolder i tweaked in in Picnick.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Pluggins Issues

Has anyone ran into this problem where they try in install twitter tools and i get this screen all the time.



???

Monday, June 27, 2011

Daily Shoot #589

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6/24/2011. #589

6/24/2011. #589

Make a photograph with around the number three today. Three objects. Three colors. The number three.