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Digital Portfolio Conundrums

For a while now, I have been unable to access my digital portfolio, but having recently started up my own site to showcase my work, what better alternative is there? My Digital Portfolio is now located at: 

http://bscott92.wix.com/bryanscottcreatives

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How it all begins! The planning process, good music and a strong computer. For me I always start on paper and just let my thoughts flow so that the next day I can review and decide!

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Conceptual Statement: Vernissage Assignment

Conceptual Statement

  The purpose of my presented project is to inspire fun but also teach a lesson to anyone who is playing the game. My prime aspiration therefore was to develop the game from its youthful stages into something that was wholly immersive. I started off by examining what was already in place from its beta stage in the studio project: it had the base structure and operated on a two phase system with little external impact. I therefore developed this idea further and blossomed a whole story for the ARG Spy Agency.

To me, the ARG Spy Agency embodies social media in a lot of ways: it is powerful, manipulative and mysterious and so my game play style operates as a tool for fighting against this monolith. The game is more a tool of protecting your own identity and securing a victory over the ARG Spy Agency than anything else. As the master puppet of the ARG Agency, the GameMaster spins the wheels to try and cause players to drop their guard and to test them. A vast difference to the original game which focused purely upon espionage and exploitation.

I chose to present the project simply for many reasons but primarily because it needs to appear primarily self-explanatory to any user. The simple layout of a starter pack, a rule book and examples of both items and website images employs a simplistic grandeur which is eye-catching and confidently transfers information without overloading the individual.

In the initial stages of development, I had decided that I was going to just use this as a game and photograph individuals as they picked up my items, thus tying in an additional sense of the espionage world. But as I began to think more on the way this game could be used, I realised how it could also be used as a tool for learning. If it was to be employed in schools, probably around intermediate or late primary age, then it could be used as a way of showing students the dangers of not knowing who you’re dealing with online and teach them how to make responsible decisions and protect their own identity whilst still having fun and acting like spies. Thus that is how this variation of the game came into existence. With the addition of rules, game physics and interactive websites alongside social media, it has become a game that I certainly hope to test amongst my own group of friends.

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Reflective Statement: Vernissage Assignment

Reflective Statement

  As I reflect upon the past Semester, I realise how truly quickly it has passed me by, and how much I have learnt from the three papers that have been given for the semester. Yet it is in the project I present that I felt there was the most learning to be done. As the second project of the Studio Class for the Semester, I joined a group that were forming a mass social media cluedo-styled spy game, whereby players developed personas via social media outlets and projected their own image upon the world. This game, entitled the ARG Spy Agency, offered players the opportunity to trade, barter and investigate with one another so as to procure each other’s items and trade off their own, whilst avoiding getting caught out. Whilst a somewhat successful endeavour, I found room for error and thus expanded upon it in my final presentation. I desired to develop how physicality could come into play alongside the social media, thus making it more directly interactive and not entirely focused on the cyber universe.

For this reason, I provided a “starter pack” which outlines the old rules with multiple additions to refine and perfect the gameplay style. In reflection of this project however, I would have spent greater time focussing on the finite details and expanding the “end-game” possibilities as I feel a game such as this has a lot of room for growth. However this particular project definitely played in favour of my strengths and allowed me to expand my creativity through use of literature and creative writing. My goal was to show the resourcefulness and power of social media whilst also operating as a lesson on the dangers it can present.

I expanded upon the playability of the game to make it more immersive on all fronts. My first addition was to add in a type of in game store which was manned by the GameMaster, followed by the evolution of the “Two Phase Game” into a “Five Phase Game”. Given more time, I feel that this is something I could have developed even further, by then veering to introduce more large scale events which would affect the outcome of the game. The prime reason I chose this project for my Vernissage however, is that it caters to the needs of gamers whilst also offering a valuable lesson. Much alike my previous project, Instrumagic, I always aspire to teach individuals lessons whilst they’re having fun. The ARG Spy Agency Game shows the power of social media and also how dangerous it can be, because it takes 10 individuals who develop their own persona and hide behind it, attempting to fool each other. I think that in its beta state, the game was flawed in that there were no clear cut concise rules governing player interaction. Fortunately, the interaction was just between class-mates, but in a larger scale, the figure of the “GameMaster” operates as a safety net against foul play. I Introduced the GameMaster to operate as the only figure who knows all identities and controls the viability of the game. I think, given more time, I would expand upon how the GameMaster could play out if the game were to become more international, as opposed to a game between friends.

All in all, I am happy with the presented product. It provides the base-game necessities along with a healthy interaction between social media and real world playability.

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I feel that I have truly uncovered a new passion of recent in being able to play with photography and as such am immensely grateful for having been given the opportunity to pursue it in the first year of the BCT course.

My decision to explore, "Natural Life and Death" through photography is one that I am very pleased I chose to go with. As I am unable to make it to the presentation day, all my material will be presented through tumblr, in the exact same format as I would have aspired to present it in class. With each of my selected images, I was very particular about how I set them out. I wanted there to be progression of Life to Death stages, whilst also exemplifying the Natural aspect of it. I felt that this was something that was captured particularly well in the images of the white flower, in it's various stages of life. Firstly as a flower in full bloom and all it's glory, onwards to one which has been touched by death, on to the final one which has embraced death and is completely browned in colour. This shows a natural cycle and also reflects the natural motion of the seasons which embody and reflect the idealism of life to death: Every autumn the world dies, and at spring it is born anew.

I find that this reminds me in particular of how the Greeks explained the cycle of the seasons in Mythology. By their canonical belief, every Autumn and Winter, Persephone, the daughter of the Goddess Demeter was sent to the underworld to reside for 6 months. In these 6 months, her mother would no longer tend to the earth as was her dominion, and thus the world would die. Upon her daughter's return to the earth however, Spring and Summer would appear, when the world would come back to life and be in full bloom. The first and second images, encapsulate this perfectly as they reflect the life to death cycle (image one) and the arrival of Spring from Winter (image two)

Image Two, of the tree branch stretching out to the sky perfectly reflects the concept of Winter becoming Spring. On the right hand side of the image, the branches are very dark and the trees in the background are clearly covered in amber leaves and still fully burdened by Winter. Yet as your eyes pan to the left, the image comes to life once again and you can see flowers, green and the branches grow much lighter. This, in a way almost looks as though it has just been touched by a Goddess out of myth. The tree seems to be stretching towards the warmth of the sun and beginning to burst with life in order to rival the dark, cold nature of winter.

The third image on the other hand, takes a different approach. A favourite of my childhood, and a beautiful flower, it is in fact a death bringing and a weed. Typical in most gardens in New Zealand, these flowers crop up in shaded areas and choke the plants around them. I found a cruel irony in this, in that the weed produces a beautiful flower which gives life to dark areas, yet at the same time it kills the other plants around it. I feel this takes a twist on the intent of my project in that it reflects how in Nature, death can often take the guise of life in order to preserve itself and wreak havoc to those around it. Much alike images of wolves disguised as sheep; these flowers operate in a similar fashion in that to the unknowing eye, they are but beautiful flowers.

Due to complications having arisen, I was unable to render these into animation as I'd hoped, however going forward towards the Vernissage Submission, I aim to utilise my photography and images in order to generate animated, photographic images. I regret that I did not have more time to explore this, but was glad with my choice of task, as it took me away from the confines of the classroom for two weeks and out into the field where I was able to tinker with photography and setting up scenes. I feel that this well equipped me for the final submission and I look forward to it.

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The prime reason for my exploration of life and death through natural imagery, in photography is due to my fascination with how utterly uncontrollable they both are. Of all the forces in the universe, life and death are the two things that we have no power over. Although we can cause life and death to occur, we have no power over these forces once they have begun - once a new life is created, you may influence or guide it but at the end of the day, the only life you can attempt to control is your own. Similarly with death - once a death has occurred, that individual or creature is beyond the arms of any harm.

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My final photo is by far my favourite. I staged this by simply using water to mix up the soil beneath the pole and stir up the leaves around it. To me, this perfectly embodies the way that people view life. No matter who you talk to, they will always have their own trials and tribulations occuring within their life, however they way they approach it and deal with it is always different. You will meet those who are always swaying between the good and the bad in their life, almost as though they're balancing on a pole. Then you will meet those who acknowledge they have trials, but choose to put them beneath them and simply march on over. I adjusted the saturation and removed all colour from the photo in order to place emphasis behind this notion also.

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This image was constructed simply by using a piece of rope. Tied around the branch at the back, it was used to hoist the branch into the background, thus granting the definition for the foreground that was lost against the grey background. To me, this image shows the beginning of life, which is always shown best through nature each Spring. Flowers, in particular, hold an incredibly natural beauty which is entirely unrivalled. By adjusting the lighting on the photo, I was able to intesify the power of the colours to grant even greater effect to this sense of new life and a new beginning. The curvature of the branch also suggests that it could be a circle, which would reflect a larger theme of the circle of life. These flowers, as they are coming into blossom, would resemble the beginning of a new cycle.

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I happened across this bird one day, and fortuitously enough I had my camera. At the point and time, it had it's back to me and I didn't want to frighten it off but wanted to get it's attention. Thus I used my iPhone to generate music in the bush to the right hand side of the bird, thus causing it to turn and face in that direction. I found this bird to hold an immensely regal demeanour, especially as it strutted around the field: Almost as though it felt it was better than every other bird in the area. I feel that this image is constructed in such a way that it can truly exemplify the beautiful colours splashed across the chest of the bird and the head also. Given the poor lack of lighting due to the weather on the day, I adjusted hue, saturation and lighting in order to bring out the full colour and beauty of the creature.

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For my second photo, I had to wait until exactly the right time of day with the right kind of weather, before I was able to capture the image I wanted. After many attempts, I finally garnered the one I wanted. I wanted to exemplify the beauty of natural lighting via these "Stairwells to Heaven". In the altered image, I tinkered with hue and saturation until almost everything except the stairwell of light is swathed in darkness. I've always felt that these held a narrative of something otherworldly. These beams of light which stretch from the heavens and illuminate various aspects of the earth, almost as though God himself has parted the heavens and shone the light down upon this section of the earth. This image to me is more of a natural construction that required me to wait until the time was right.

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(All pictures were taken by myself on my Canon Camera)

(All images taken Wednesday 17th September to Friday 19th September 2014)

I've always been fascinated with how colour can impart emotion and how it holds a very natural beauty and this was an aesthetic I aimed to respect within my photography. Through all of my photos, I wanted to show the true beauty of natural colour amidst faded or highlighted aspects of the rest of the photo. Within this particular photo, I used a plastic flower against a flowerbed backdrop to grant a sense of realism to it and with a combination of lighting and the flash of the camera, the image was truly brought to life. This is amongst my favourite images, as the flower stands out heavily against the blurred background.

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Final presentation! Despite the official prints of the cards turning up, I am immensely happy with how my exhibition has turned out!

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Progress!!

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Building the final prototype and preparing the last touches to build the exhibition tomorrow!

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What a week!

After a week of no internet, I seriously need to catch up on my blogging! So I've decided to immerse two of my projects: Instrumagic and Aerial Advertisements.

Instrumagic

From my first project, Instrumagic was a playing card game that focused more upon teaching and instructing individuals on how to create and perform music than actually generating a direct sense of fun. My aim is to tweak the rules for this, in order to establish a sense of fun! It will require analysing the game mechanics, the individual and co-operative mechanics of each card, and the level of immersion generated by the game for the players.

On top of this, I want to bridge the gap between the game and technology and in the promotional material from the aerial advertisements, focus upon the launch of the the app or computer software which syncs and works with the cards.

Aerial Advertisements

Aerial Advertisements was a collaborative effort in the Fly High project a few weeks ago. Our team generated four different flying machines that had the capability to drop advertisement material, project advertisements and spread a companies name. For this reason, I've chosen to pair it with Instrumagic, and set the scene for the launch of the game.

I aim to create two flying vessels from a selection of a plane, hot air balloon, a dirigible and a rocket.

Tomorrow I will begin physical construction of these vessels to have on presentation in the exhibition in 6 days!

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Summative Studio Assignment

I've decided that for my final assignment, I am going to revisit the most recent assignment, Fly High in which our group had a heavy emphasis upon aerial advertising. Given enough time, I will match this with my card game, Instrumagic, in order to establish an entire marketing campaign for an instrumagic launch event. Beneath I have provided a plan of action for the next few weeks so as to finish it as effeiciently but perfectl as I can!

27th May 2014:

1) Establish how I wish to present the paired project and which elements of it will have to be changed and altered to have it ready for presentation.

2) Begin re-examining the designs of the instrumagic playing cards and the operations of each card.

28th May 2014:

1) Establish how effectively the two projects can be merged together.

2) Generate a morphological chart for each project so that I can see different ways of going about the fine tuning of the designs.

3) Get peer critiques on the new designs and get advice for presentation.

29th May 2014:

Solidify the designs and begin developing the finished, polished products.

30th May 2014:

1) Have complete concepts for all aspects of the project

2) Commence building of exhibition and putting all elements into place.

3nd June 2014 - 7th June 2014

1) Test the card game

2) Test the advertisement effect

3) Begin assembling the exhibition and prepare reflective statements and statements of context.