Day 03

Hmm.. I only managed to post this thing up now because the internet at my place was down yesterday. Well, anyway, yesterday we were to gather in LT25 again, to clear our doubts about the project. Anyway, Mr. Alfie mentioned that students tend to get the wrong idea (like what I said in the previous post). The project was supposed to be some sort of documentary of our journey of our freshmen year. He also mentioned that many people thought they had to include all subjects. However, we were told that it was not necessary, unless we want it that way. That actually made our lives easier. :) Then, we were supposed to achieve the purpose of making the video, not just to make the video nice. For example, if the video’s a really nice and cool one but failed to achieve its objective, it has been done wrongly.

Then, we were shown a few examples on how documentaries are actually done, which one’s the right way to do it, and some lousy ones. We were shown documentaries of The Lord of The Rings, some documentary about detectives trying to solve a case that happened in Mount Everest, some interesting introductions, and endings. For example, Shoot ‘em up, Hostage, Iron Man, Monsters Inc, and many more. Some were interesting, some others were boring. However, it’s enough for us to generate a few more ideas.

Today, we actually thought that the way Hostage was introduced was really interesting. They actually used graphics for it. I liked the way they linked them all up together so smoothly. It’s really different and I guess, not easy to do. Then, the last illustration actually faded into a video. It was cool.

We also liked Shoot ‘em Up’s ending. It was actually funny, with the carrot. AHAHA. Other than that, there were lots of shootings. The show also ended with illustrations. There were lots of guns, shootings, and blood. However, they managed to put them all up in a creative way, and once again, linking them all up. Never have I thought of a gun becoming a building. Hah. Oh, yes..Vivien and I especially liked the part where there were bodies full of blood and it actually flowed down with the credits. We went “WAH. Nice..” …something like that. Haha.

I wasn’t sure what Aaron thought of though. We didn’t manage to have a group discussion today. We actually planned for an online discussion yesterday night but my #@$@^%& internet would not allow me to do so. I’m so sorry, people =((. Well, anyway, all I knew was that we were trying to do part of our introduction the way the detective video one did. Oh, and I kind of liked the part where they actually made use of only words and audio. Ting Yu, like us, liked the examples too, including the ending for Monsters Inc. for their graphics and song.

The lecturer emphasized that audio also plays a very important role in the video, and that the place we choose to film was important too. We have to choose a place with the right lightings. Well, I guess today’s screening was quite worth it, getting to see some interesting examples. However, I had actually hoped they would show examples to us, as in, student’s work, but er, nevermind.

Confronted our lecturer about the 5^th and 11^th of Feb. I might not be able to attend class as I have to return to Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year. I was kind of worried since I might not be able to present our work or plan with my group to the lecturer on Tuesday. However, I was told that it was actually up to us. It could be just one person, or the whole group presenting to the lecturer, not to the whole class. The only thing she was worried about was whether or not I have done my part, whether the group agrees and understands my situation that they wouldn’t mind, and whether or not I would miss what they have discussed with the lecturer on that day.

Message to group members: Maybe we should do some video test on the intro. Then, we can present it. We can also add sketches into our presentation.

Anyway, things that should be covered yesterday was, erm, I guess, whether or not we would still want to cover all the modules we’ve taken or not, and to continue our discussion on how to link them together. OH, and our ending!

Uh huh…I guess that’s all for yesterday! 

=( I feel kind of guilty about yesterday.

PS: I am not very sure of the Video's Title. AHAHA. From my last bits of what happened yesterday. Uh huh. Yep yep. Short Term Memory ._.

Day 02

*Found out that we do not have to be 100% formal-yay?* So,...

Here goes. Class began and everyone had to show their blogs to the whole class o_O. Was worried because I thought my post was rather crappy. Well anyway, most of us did it the 'wrong' way. Our lecturer said we should be talking about the ideas generated on each day, our progress. In other words, making sure we take a step each day, I guess? However, I agree with what Raj has said, because even before any of us started, Vivien and I were already wondering if we should actually post all our ideas in this blog. Sure, it would help our lecturers monitor our progress as we go. But, it is quite open, as in other people can see what we post too. So, what if our ideas get snatched? Like, copy and paste. And the thief managed to do a good job from our concept/idea.

But then again, I guess we should worry less. Everyone is thinking really hard for this project. All of us are really trying to contribute in our very first major project and I hope this maintains. Er but seriously, I hope no conflicts would come up and all, and that everything would be going smoothly.

***

Well anyway, ideas, correct? I'll start with Day 01's.

On Day 01,...

*We thought of putting some lion intro thingy, but changing it by putting Aaron instead of the lion. :)

*We also had this idea on like, a video on a still image or video. For example, a newspaper front page with this big picture on it. Then the picture moves. :)) I guess it's something like the one in Harry Potter, but we didn't get our idea from there! ;D

*Another thing we thought of was.. Hmm..Alright. Say that we'll be using someone who's about to run. At first, we take pictures of the feet taking step by step. Then, slowly, the pictures increase in number and frames/keyframes, becoming a video. That's a way of linking photography and video I guess. I also thought about a guy who jumps off somewhere and then the surrounding changed as if he's in mid air, falling onto the camera-it's something like an ending to the video. However, maybe I was thinking a little too much about video when the whole thing that we're doing is actually, considered video I guess.

*We also listed out all the subjects we've taken(except for CDS and Electives) to see which one appeals to people the most.

Uh huh. Yep yep. I guess that's all for Day 01!

PS: Found this today! Ah..how nostalgic. :) Watch watch. Ahaha.

***

Coming to Day 02,

Today, our lecturer asked us to write down two things we think the video is supposed to do, like what are the messages we're trying to say/convey through it. What's the video's purpose..and so, we wrote it all in Vivien's sketchbook(which is why I guess some of us can't really remember what to write in our blogs, especially with a short term memory person like me. AHAHA.) Uh..yeah. I wrote "MOI is a fun and challenging course." and "Bringing still images to life"(sounds familiar. maybe Kezia said that? or was it the TP commercial..) The others said things like "Having fun while studying", "A course people should go to", something like that. I can't remember. =S

AND SO,... MOI is a fun and challenging course! I think it's really fun when you actually have the passion to do it. After all, people who enter MOI should be feeling that way, not because of wrong reasons. Heard about why people joined MOI in the other class when we introduced each other. Felt quite disappointed when they mentioned 'wrong reasons' but then again, most of them are getting used to the course, which is good I guess? They are nice people too. Alright, back to the message. It's also challenging as we actually do things we least expected to do, and since it's our first year, it's some sort of like a foundation. So, we learn a little bit of video and animation, not just what we're majoring in. :) For example, we had to do presentations, modelling, etc.

***

About ideas generated on Day02,..

*Vivien had this idea of a person at the beach that got some bottle and there was this message inside. In the message, there's a picture with a girl in it, and the girl actually pulled the person at the beach into the frame. She also had this idea of the camera flying all around for the introduction. I didn't quite get what she meant by that cause she got the idea from a movie they watched after school.

*INTRODUCTION! We thought of ways to introduce ourselves in the video. Vivien would be holding a board, introducing herself?, Ting Yu would be jumping and she'll be introduced once we made the video freeze :) , Aaron would be after her, turning the camera around, introducing himself, and I will be drawing or writing on the bench about myself. However, we're not so sure about it yet. In fact, I'm not even sure if I remembered things right. Ahaha, but TY's one is some sort of confirmed. :) I can imagine her floating in the air with a happy smiley face :DDD

*We listed out all the modules we've taken throughout our first year and thought of ways to link all of them together. We tried putting them in chronological order, but we tend to shuffle them a little, to link them more smoothly. First, we'll start off with ComDI. We'll stress on the fact that presentation is very important. So, we'll be doing a video on us presenting, then, we'll be linking it to Drawing Essentials where the last action in the video would be sketched. For Drawing Essentials, we'll showcase our sketches and final assignment. Next, we'll be linking Drawing Essentials to Creative Story Telling, where we'll be drawing a person telling a story in class, and it turns into a video. Then, we have Ideation, where people actually enquire about generating ideas and all. 3D Art Fundamentals will be next. We'll be adding a little touch of humour into the video by Vivien saying "Through Ideation, I also learn how to bend wires". Then, we'll be showcasing our other works. ...etc. We mananged to link our video until Animation Fundamentals, from which we'll continue during Day03.

Anyway, a short synopsis on how they will be linked(in order),

ComDI>DrawingEss>CreaST>Ideation>3D Art Fund>Digital Media Fundamentals >Photography>Video Fundamentals>Animation Fundamentals>2D Art Fund.

***

Reflections: Sometimes I wonder if we're all okay with each other. Sometimes I worry that they would be afraid to voice out what they feel so that they do not offend the other party. Sometimes I am afraid they might think I HAVE to include the idea I gave. BUT! PEOPLE! IF YOU MANAGE TO READ THIS, JUST SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY. WE'LL ALL TRY TO BE UNDERSTANDING! <333> YES YES YES! xP

Yeahh... Today was pretty fun. They actually went to watch some scary show after school. I met up with them after the movie and we continued our discussion. Well, of course we could not fully concentrate so at times we er ya, went off track. Ahaha. We had to shift places to discuss too cause it was getting too late. It IS late already anyway. Now, I mean. Haven't gone to the sites our lecturer gave us today. I guess I'll do that tomorrow. OHH.. TOMORROW. NO, WAIT. LATER =). Can't wait for the screenings of examples! =DD Also so that we make sure we're on track. Yeahhh.. That's pretty much what I have to say today I guess. It must be a pain to read this. Ahaha. Oh, CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?? Day01 post and Day02 post! AHA! XD

*Goes off to bed now. I lack of sleep. xP*

Day 01

We, the MOI-ers could be seen gathering outside LT25, waiting till we were allowed to enter. Once permission was given, we entered the lecture theater and sat down. Mr. Alan gave a short brief on what we were supposed to do for MOIP1. Basically we were supposed to create a video on what we've done for the past few months. In short, it's something like a reflection journal. We were to show our best works and show what we've done and learnt in our course so far in the video so that we could actually show them to O levels students, during the Open House, and also, to our parents. Mr. Alan thought that there weren't much to show during the Open House when it came to Moving Images. So, here we are, having our turn to promote our course. We were given our schedule for this major project and were divided into 3 classes. We were also told that all three lecturers in charge will be taking turns to monitor and consult us. We then went to our respective classes and waited till our lecturer came. When she came, we were to form groups of four. We had freedom to choose our group members, and to balance ourselves so as to be able to create an interesting video. A few misunderstandings came up during the formation of our group but anyway, things got settled and our group consisting Aaron, Vivien, Ting Yu, and I were formed. We brainstormed and came out with a few ideas, writing down all the subjects we've taken and thought of what would appeal to people the most. We're still in progress for now. We'll have an online discussion later when all of us are online.