This Semester in Review

This is my last blog, and I want to look back on this last semester and how it's benefited me.

I learned plenty, that's for sure. This is a school like any other one. But learning just isn't enough to get a career and be happy in life. It's how I apply that knowledge and knowing whether or not I'm on the right path or not. My thoughts on what to be when I leave this school has changed a lot. I came to this school wanting to be an animator, and I've started to look more towards game design. 

I have to think back on what I've learned that I can apply to this career. I've learned plenty on the roles of design in new media. I've learned a lot on game design and how I can apply it. Despite not actually having worked with game software, I found out a lot of things on how they are made, the kind decisions I have to make to get it to work, and the hours and effort it takes to develop a game. I even made a couple of games this semester.

I think that I've grown alot over this semester, and have plenty that I can apply in my career.

The Advantage of Flash Sites

Places like Youtube and Megaupload are great if you work in video, but it doesn't work well for those of us who are game developers or animators.

That's where places like Newgrounds are so effective. Newgrounds is the most popular site for uploading Adobe Flash content. There are literally thousands of games and animations to see on the website. Anyone can upload something, and anyone can review and vote on what they think is the best. There's also better quality content and a higher abundance of it when compared to Youtube, as things that are vote to be horrible are generally kicked off of the site. There are a few things that are just people messing with flash, but there several entertaining animations and games. 

This is a great place to upload work and have it get noticed, and it's more likely to be seen there than on Youtube. Not to mention people can critique and give feedback, further improving one's projects.

Importance of Knowing History of New Media

There's the old saying that those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it.

That is as true in new media as everywhere else. When you don't learn what's been done before, you're bound to create something that's already been done. I've heard a few students say they'd love to see a virtual reality helmet like one would see in the movies. However, that's already been done twice. Once in the 60s, and it was so heavy, it would crush you without proper equipment. The second time was in the 90s, and that one would blind you after an hour or so of use. Besides better technology already exists right at the campus in the form of that virtual room on the upper levels. 

All I'm saying here is that most of the students I've seen don't see the importance of learning things like this. Learning these kind of things can have a huge benefit in the future when one wants to develop something truly unique. 

Steampunk vs. CyberPunk

A while ago I had a discussion with a student teacher who wanted to write Science Fiction styled graphic novels. 

He wanted to learned a few techniques from me on what he could draw. I looked into it myself and discovered there are several styles to choose from when designing a science fiction work. There's two major ones: Steampunk Vs. Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is the traditional style of futuristic artwork, meaning everything has futuristic feel with clean, efficient technology and laser guns and all that good stuff. Steampunk is a bit different. It's a science fiction futuristic style, but in a different sense. Its technology is powered by old methods like steam and coal, and instead of the futuristic space suits, people where the old school 1950s outfits (though it can go as far back as the 1800s fashion).

My friend and I found a new style to consider when making our work, though he wasn't as keen on the idea as I was. He still preferred the Cyberpunk style.

Workaround Copyrights

I learned of the copyright system, and what they call "Disney Creativity". When Disney developed his animations, he generally took old stories and gave them his own style. He was able to borrow off the ideas of what others had done before him, due to a loose copyright restriction on what was considered "public domain".

Today, that option doesn't exist for the new media artists. Copyright laws are more strict, and public domain is limited to only a few things, such as stories that existed thousands of years ago. But people find workarounds to the copyright all the time. Such as the Youtube users that create parodies of different shows, cartoons, etc. They can build on what others have done without violating the copyright law. They can even make money, through things like merchandise based on their own series and not that of the original show. This has opened a whole new set of options for me as a New Media student.  

  

Download Vs. CD Use

The medium  of the CD is dying for every industry.

It started with music with things like iTunes and Rhapsody. Now it's moving on to games. There are things like XBox Live arcade and PS3 store where you can download independently made games or remakes of old classics. But now you can actually buy full Xbox 360 games on Live without the need for a disk.

Now that doesn't replace CDs as a medium for games as a whole, but recently a new PSP system was launched that was a Download only system. No CDs at all. In all honesty, it never sounded like an intelligent idea. When you get bored with a game or finish it, you can trade it in at game stores, and buy a new one. With this system, when you buy a game, you're stuck with it. You can't trade it back, or reconsider if you don't like it at all. Still, it'll probably be the way of games in the future, so I'd better make sure when I design a game, it's good enough to keep.

Audio Parodies

Thousands of parodies of anything exist on Youtube. I was reminded of this after one of the TA's at the college, Todd Shelton, showed me an audio project that he created as a student.

The concept of this has been used by almost everyone on Youtube. Not even realizing that they are performing a technique called cut-up. Either by using their own audio, or taking audio from other source, they are creating a new media experience using their own sense of creativity. Several groups on Youtube, such as the Idiots of Garry's Mod and Team Four Star, and almost entirely cut-up artists. I never even thought of this concept until I heard of the cut-up technique in N100. Most of the time they are just a piece of audio over a clip, but some like the pre-mentioned examples are a hilarious yet unique experience.

This is just another option for New Media minded people and creative fans to create something unique and hilarious.