January 16th, 2008

Class was not in session today, however I was in the computer lab once again. Trying to create even the simplest website is very difficult and above everything else frustrating. Even though I did have a very detailed set of directions, removing the feeling of frustration was not possible. The directions were clear, however the problem arose when I had to locate certain buttons or areas where I would need to indicate directions. After spending about seven hours at the computer and not gaining much success I was tired and brain dead as well. Tomorrow will be another day to complete and finalize the website.

January 15th, 2008

"Macbeth is another one of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, based on Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was written around 1605 but was not published in the first Folio until 1623. It tells about the fall of the ambitious couple, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is the tragic hero, a character who has a fatal (tragic)flaw within himself that he cannot change. He is not a bad person; he is just too ambitious. Macbeth is a story about the murder of a king by his brother, the revenge of a son (Macbeth), three witches who plot against Macbeth, and Macbeth’s rise and fall."

This ambition constant craving for more power which MacBeth contained caused me to chose GUILT as the best expressive word relating to my video. MacBeth was not a bad person and therefore, all the blood shed to obtain this power leads to many deaths and suicide...which I visually express within my video depicting Shakespeares play.

Presentation

Today being the final day of class included a conclusion to the whole course as well as a presentation from everyone within the class. It is interesting to see the various sorts of styles each individual contains and also to see how no two people express or see things in the same light.

Also, I learned a new term which relates to the Bahaus School of Design. "The Bauhaus School was Germany's most important and most avant-garde art and design school."

Gesamptkunstwerk, which means a unified art object also relates back to the Bauhas School and is a primary aspect of design. When expressing yourself through artwork it is essential to create a unified peice of work which is consistent and mantains the same theme.

January 14th,2008

Below is a video based on the play MacBeth, by Shakespeare. I chose three images which I felt would most effectively and easily convey MacBeth to my audience. Through Final Cut Express I created a short video accompanied by music. The musice I chose was Chopin's Nocturne and "The way I are" by a hip hop artist called Timbaland.



I feel as though the video successfully conveys MacBeth and I am also proud of the way in which the music complements the images. At first I found it to be a bit of a challenge trying to connect to very seperate syles of music. However, after overcoming the challenge I am please with the video and my editing work. The only issue I felt was an obstacle was time. I would have put more time into adding more effects and details to the video, therefore mending any present flaws.

January 11th,2008

The image of the crown resembles royalty and is used a symbol for MacBeth.
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5o8zymZzYLy7wUuokTS7Jnki3TQBIfmpiwTINje9j1W7Jan8JLXqxjW0NLx_1gLF0FsSPanUBZQwiyg0Xb8Df3jFsVZLM4PuIS218Ku-gBOOQHaSVYNaPmXVhv8PRqL8sk8heV7uE91K/s1600-h/crown2.jpg">

The clean hands are a symbol used to express a murder that has not yet been committed and also ties into the conclusion.


The final image represents bloodshed and the overwhelming guilt felt after.



Through photoshop each image taken from a digital camera was resized to fit a
720 x 480 px size frame with a resolution 72. By removing and silhouetting the background and then adding color the images were transformed. To create an illusion, convey unity, and evoke Shakespeare I played with techniques such as playing with texture, lighting, and color.
With this project I focused on enchancing images and creating a world concentrating on connecting each disparate image.

January 10th, 2008

My day in the computer lab today was filled with editing the final soundtrack for my Shakespeare storyboard, as well as finalizing my images which compose the storyboard. So far I have 3 images complete and I am left with one more image depicting the word Greed until I move on to the final step. Once my images are complete I will use Final Cut which is a program that will help me in creating a short video evoking a shakespeare play.

January 9th, 2008

The endless possibilities, and neverending changes within Photoshop along with the various techniques the program provides has made this project quite time consuming. Within this assignment, I found difficult to arrive at a final product, mainly because feeling completely satisfied practically doesn't exist. The feeling of incompleteness or of adding always cravng to add just one more final touch seems to never diminish. However, after much attention to detail and design I am pleased with my end result of three images enchanced through photoshop in order to successfully evoke the Shakespearian play, Macbeth.

January 8th, 2007

Shakespeare Story Board
MacBeth


The focus of this storyboard had changed a few times before I arrived at the image posted above. Originally, I thought of including the images of a dying rose, a crown and bloody hands. However, after discussing this idea with my Professor and putting more thought into the idea, I realized that creating unity between these images would be difficult. Also, the images I had in mind did not necessary evoke MacBeth as effectively as the images within my final project.
The above storyboard consists of a crown symbolizing MacBeth and his throne, followed by images of clean and bloody hands which relate to murder and guilt.

January 7th, 2008

After working with SoundStudio and becoming acquainted with sound design, I also learned digigal sound editing and sound manipulation. It is slightly cynical to think that while working on this project my largest dilemna would be deciding what to discuss and post in the daily blog I was assigned to update. This instance, being the first time I had use a blog left me confused and unsure of what exactly it was that a blog entailed. To solve this problem of uncertainty, I relied on my past experience of writing summaries and papers, only to realize that this would also be too lengthy and drawn out to fit the characteristics of a blog.

Editing

The last time I checked in I had brought up the difficulty which comes with recording your voice and how schocking it is once you realize the immense emphasis to detail this type of work contains.

Editing voice and manipulating sound has proven to be a frustrating yet satisfying skill I am happy to have learned. After overcoming the problem of recording my voice for the Podcast Radio Broadcast for Illegal Art. I was again faced with another challenge. However, this time I would be comsumed with takeing to very seperate songs and collaborting them to recreate one unified peice of music that I would then incorporate into my broadcast.

January 3rd, 2008

It is shocking how many times one must record a four word sentence before arriving at the final product and being satisfied with it. Not only must you worry about the speed of your voice, but also it is essential to pay attention to aspects such as tone, volume, and specific word emphasis. Also, I found it challenging to correctly adjust the music chosen, to fit my Podcast Radio announcment. After recreating two songs to make them my own with the use of SoundStudio, it was slightly difficult to shorten the length of both peices of music to fit a timeslot of about 5-6 seconds. However, after utilizing the various techniques the SoundStudio program offered with some creative thought, I acheived my end result with much satisfaction.

Illegal Art

"As adolescents grapple with both their quest for identity and their opposition to authority, they inevitably find ways of expressing their inner turmoil and conflict. One example which illustrates these two dynamics is the practice of graffiti...The act of graffiti has become such a wide spread practice among youth that society has been forced to confront it as a phenomena (http://www.graffitiverite.com/graffitiartTherapy.htm)."

Many people are unaware of the fact that all Graffiti is not destructive and illegal. It is important to recognize the vital difference between graffiti and tagging. This difference categorizes graffiti as a form of art and tagging as an illegal crime. One artist by the name of Keith Haring forever changed the common view of graffiti, added to it's popularity and brought Graffiti from the street and into the museum.


















The practice of graffiti as an Art form is also represented in the following video:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y333RhDQ8U)




The action of negating and overlooking creativity within graffiti is overwhelming. Few realize that "Graffiti Art is an art form that dates back to the Egyptians and Aztecs. It must not be confused with tagging....Most Graffiti artists are young, urban, inner-city, minority youth that are usually self-trained and self-expressed artists(http://www.youngperformingartists.org)."

Also see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1uyZCwF34





Even though the internal expressiveness and tremendous talent is visibly evident within the practice of graffiti, still many fail to acknowledge and accept Graffiti as a form of art. A large percentage of society views grafitti as a "deliberate marking on property, both private and public. It can take the form of pictures, drawings, words, or any decorations inscribed on any surface usually outside walls and sidewalks. When done without the property owner's consent, it constitutes illegal vandalism.Graffiti has existed at least since the days of ancient civilizations. Graffiti originally was the term used for inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii
(http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/graffiti.htm)."

The length of Graffitis' existence and the scrutiny it has endured over the years, in my opinion deserves some understanding. The effort, creativity, vision and talent neccesary to create Graffiti should without a doubt categorize Graffiti as a form of art... unless that is, it is done without a property owners consent.