notevenafreshman

[notevenafreshman]

Accidentally put this on my main.

Final Project ☺

For the final blog post, I will be talking about the production of the final project that I did with the lovely @pchizzle23 So the topic that we chose to focus on is Lighting and Composition. If you’re in our class (Idk why you’re paying me any mind if your’e not..), much of this you will see during the presentation, so sorry about that.  Our first step was coming up with a story, which Phoebe came up with. We then got together and drew up a very basic story board, adding little notes on the side for what would become the dialogues.

After that was all worked out, Phoebe finished and finalized the script. Then we head out and shot the movie. Due to time restriction since we only had one hour of battery and the sun was setting quite fast, I did not get to sneak in many BTS pictures): I just have this one picture I took of myself from Phoebe’s laptop for my snapchat (lol!) 

As for the lighting and composition… We chose to do a story that would take place both in the day and the night so that we could show how the lighting effects the mood. In the day time scenes, the atmosphere and vibe were friendly and nice, and the night lighting made for an energy of suspense and anticipation. I iwsh I had pictures to post of the BTS because we had actually experimented with lighting more than what you would think when watching the video.

In some of the scenes from the day time, we had actually brought in one of those things you put in the windshield of you car to deflect it. We used it to better highlight our faces. At night, we were having a bit of trouble with light, so we brought in this basically heavy duty flashlight. During the scene where Marcus was entering the house, I stood as tall as I could and we tried to pass it off as moon lighting, which in my opinion, it seemed to have worked. etc etc  As for composition, we tried to keep all the frames interesting by following the rule of thirds and not having the focus straight in the middle.

[notevenafreshman]

The Prince of the Clouds

Once upon a time, there was the Prince of the Clouds who lived in a palace of clouds in the sky. Every day he traveled the expanse of the Earth, bringing the rain. Through spectacular views of sunrises and sunsets, mountains and oceans, he was not happy. He had many servants, clothes made of the finest golden silks, and had expansive gardens with rivers that flowed below them, everything one could want, yet he was continuously unsatisfied and started to neglect his duties.

He wanted more than what life in his palace had to offer him, so although it was forbidden for him to travel to the world below, one day while his servants were busy, he stole away beneath the clouds. It didn’t matter where he landed, he just wanted to get away from his duties and see what more fun there would be in the world below. He found himself wandering into a small village where he heard the sound of a flute being played so beautifully, it rivaled the music played above in the palace. Surprised that a being from below was able to play as well as those from the clouds, he followed the sound and came to find a woman sitting on the outskirts of the village playing the flute. They fell in love and he made his home in the village, where they would eventually marry. The first few years were filled with happiness, but as time went on, everything in the village, including the people, started withering. Upon seeing her family become more and more frail, she begged him to return and carry out his duties, but knowing his servants would prevent him from descending once more, and that his human wife would not be able to survive in his palace in the clouds, he refused. Only when she herself was bedridden, he was unable to continue turning a blind eye. With a heavy heart, he returned to the world above and at once reflourished the village that had been home to him the past few years. He would spend the rest of his being carrying out his duties with care in honor of her, who he could only watch over from afar. - Inspired from folklore for class. It can be any village you want, idc, but myself personally was listening to this song while writing it, so basically imagine their relationship through the years being like this: https://youtu.be/3PIKesjmQTs Sorry! Couldn’t find a version with subs, but enjoy anyway. I know you will bc Aamir Khan is bae ok bye lol.

[notevenafreshman]

Sound Design

The Importance of Sound Design in Your Films

Summary: The article touches upon how sound may be actually more important than the visual. The sound is important to shape and create the suspense that hypes people up during horror movies especially. Thoughts: I agree with this because legit, I know that I start sitting at the edge of my seat when the music starts getting bad. When I hear the shady music play, that's when the suspense kicks in. That was all done on purpose and designed in a way to make the audience feel it before anything even shows on the screen. In a way, I like it because I know when I get to close my eyes, lol. It’s pretty cool to read about all the steps it takes when putting sound in a video though, because in the article, it says “ And even for a non-observant viewer, seeing a blowtorch lit without hearing the gas running and the pop of the ignition, would leave a glaring hole and sense of discontinuity in our film”, which is true! Earlier in the article it says that people can pretty much tell whether they are watching a  professional or amateur film even with their eyes closed. For example, even if just a small sound was missing, like a tap on a keyboard, it would sound super off to us and would seem really awkward. 

[notevenafreshman]

Rise of the Guardians and Lighting

Scene from Rise of the Guardians

Summary: This short article talks about the lighting and the significant of it in this particular still of Rise of the Guardians. It talks about how the lighting shows the depth subtly of Pitch’s lair and helps to highlight the main focuses of the shot. Thoughts: I like lighting because it’s pretty cool. You can use it to direct or rather, manipulate what people notice or pay attention to in a scene. People tend to notice areas with high contrast first, so here our eye is drawn to Jack’s hair, our hero. I also tend to notice the silhouettes hanging from the ceiling. The way they are lit bring a mysterious air, which I’m sure is what they’re counting on, since Pitch used to be a guardian of some sort. It makes us wonder what they were used for, since obviously his lair doesn’t seem to be used too often. Lighting can be used to manipulate what we feel about a scene as well. The above screen cap is obviously giving off an ominous and dark feeling, while although the image below is also dark, the feeling is more of a mysterious one due to the color pallete and perspective as the viewers are drawn to the moon and get a view that makes us look in awe. I feel that the image below also makes Jack look important and although he is looking to the moon for guidance, he is obviously a powerful figure due to his placement and the angle at which we see him, rather than the above image where he looks small and on his guard against Pitch who is obviously in his element (being dark and blending in yet obviously there and towering over Jack). 

[notevenafreshman]

Papers Please Review

Papers Please

Summary: In this game, you play a customs worker working basically pay check to pay check, making sure you let only those allowed to enter the country to get the stamp of approval on their passports. You have to work fast, since you get paid by person you help and you have to feed your wife, son, and two other family members who are prone to hunger and getting illness if you try to cut expenses... Thoughts: At first, this game is a bit monotonous, but really the first level is just an introduction and teaches the player all the different things to do and look for, and thankfully the creator made this the shortest level. Although it was more fun when the game got more difficult, it was also more tedious as new countries got added in, as well as checking multiple documents for expiration and matching the picture with the person (who sometimes gets a style change!). I think this game could be considered art, for one, because of the art game, it has nice stylized people, as well as the cute pixel art at the top. Someone chose that color scheme and the different pallets for the different people. I’m not sure if this game was created with artistic intentions, but to me it seems like it, although more like art used as maybeee a statement or to educate us on what customs were like at that time in Europe (as it seems to be based on Western European countries). Overall a nice indie game that gets steadily harderrrr.

[notevenafreshman]

Tips for Designing Game Levels

Keeping Your Players Engaged - Tips for Great Game Level Design 

Summary: This guide gives us some tips and pointers for what to keep in mind while designing levels for games, focusing on things like how you would lead the player, changing the scenery, and  on rewarding the player.

Commentary:

I thought this guide was interesting, and although only talked about for like a paragraph and a half, I am interested in the aspect of guiding a player through the game. I always have a hard time with games that just let us loose to figure things out on our own. Maybe because I’m a basic and don’t like thinking, but I like when we are led around like in the picture above. I initially wanted to write about another game called Touch Detective, but the article I found did not go into any depth about anything too much so I left it, but it brings up how abstract the game can get, like for one part of the first arch, the player has to figure out by themselves to put the mushroom cookies in a bag and microwave them to produce a dream-like trance. Like I was just thrown out in the wild and by chance I had decided to see if I could put the cookies in the microwave. Like that was just too much thinking, albeit it was a puzzle game. But if you consider it from a game design aspect, in class we brought up how if we figured things out on our own, we feel a sense of accomplishment, and therefore feel rewarded. I suppose that works in Touch Detectiv, but not in the sense of how the article meant. In the guide linked, they talk about how a reward could be if the player goes the extra mile, and according to the example they gave, the only reward they could mean in Touch Detective is probably extra dialogue from background characters haha.

[notevenafreshman]

Lol I got all my homework done so I’m in a hella good mood cuz hi, my name is MISS ON TOP OF MY GAME!!! Watch me be dead tomorrow anyway and also watch me actually not follow instructions with my blog posts. LOLOL WHAT IS LIFE???DUN MATTER< LES GET IT FAM.ALSO THANKS FOR GRADING MY PITCH GENTLY, YA GIRL DEAD 24/7.

[notevenafreshman]

Dead or Alive Over Time

Hardcore Gaming: Dead or Alive Series

Summary:  An in depth look at the progression of the graphics, characters, music, and overall design of the Dead or Alive series.  Commentary: Ok, so instead of being lame and using my usual method (and probably a method to be continued after this) and simply searching “articles on game design”, I decided to actually try to find something on a game I actually like. I searched “designing the dead or alive games” and came across “Hardcore Gamers 101″ which seem to be a bunch of home skillets going over games in depth, which is not a bad thing in my opinion, especially since they took the time to write about one of my favorites. I feel like I’m so basic for choosing this to write about but in all honesty, I have been in awe of this game since I first got my hands on it as a 9 year old. The graphics (to me) were so other worldly and even when I grew up, I am so amazed. I am not much of a gamer due to the fact that I spend all my money on shoes and clothes compulsively, so I don’t buy very often, so keeping in mind how limited my exposure is, this is the only game I have played where the backgrounds are interactive in the sense that I could KNOCK SOMEONE THROUGH THE WALL. Like the wall will shatter, or out a glass window. And everything is so precise that if you knock them out of the window at one part, they will fall and electrocute themselves on the neon sign below..or if you knock them out on a different part, though still the same arena, they don’t recycle and you could miss the opportunity to electrocute them completely. Ok, enough of me spazzing there, but although this isn’t an “article”, I think I can use this for my blogpost because it talks about what the designer was thinking when coming uo with this game. To make the game stand out, he wanted to focus on graphics, and although what they reallyyyy wanted was to focus on the bouncing of the women’s breasts, all the graphics in general are so beautiful that I can’t even be mad, lol. I am not typically a fan of using sexy women as your marketing plan, but in DOA, everything about them is beautiful, not just their sex appeal (although admittedly I have swerved from the Beach Volleyball game). This “article” also talks about the moves/attacks/counters/etc in the game which I also spaz about because EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS GAME IS AESTHETIC!!!! This game is so dang beautiful. On the note of controlling your character, one of the reasons I thought to write on this game is because I had just finished watching the video our professor posted (click here to see the tumblr post). It talked about how a game was designed properly if the player could understand and utilize what the designer had provided for them, such as the moves. I LOVE DOA because their combos are fairly easy to memorize and when you figure them out, it gives you a sense of achievement. They also have counter moves and omg theyre so beautiful I could just...talking about how beautiful the moves are, specifically on my mind in when Kasumi teleports on the other side of the opponent in a rush of cherry blossom petals (as with Hayabusa and the leaves). Quoting my “article”, “ The arenas are even more pompous - a gigantic waterfall that reaches miles into the sky, an aquarium full of individually modeled fish or a forest in fall, with flying leaves all over the ground”. The overall designing in this game is so ugh. I’ll probably never get over it.  Anywayyyy, that Hardcore Gamers site is good if you want to see in depth detail to the story line, design and etc of the game. This blog post is too long now but hopefully it’s ok. LOL KTHXBAI 

[notevenafreshman]

Why do my peers never interact with this blog?? Let me see your tumblrs omfgggg

Animation and Rigging

Hey everyone, this is a little late. As usual, your blog post will be about what we covered this week: animation and rigging. If you were given feedback on your post last week, be sure to implement it, and if you weren’t, keep giving me that delicious taste of thoughtful analysis that kids crave! It’s what keeps your grades healthy! 

….

I need sleep. 

[notevenafreshman]

What’s in Store for Animation in 2016

 ARTICLE THAT TALKS OF ADVANCEMENTS I THINK LOL CLICK THIS LINK HOMIES

Summary: So basically this article talks about the advancements and upgrades that are featured in new animating soft wares like Maya, 3Ds Max, Mudbox, and Motion Builder. Thoughts:  For this blog post, I basically looked up “upgrades in modeling and texturing in animation 2015″ and similar searches. A word that seemed to keep coming up was “maya”, so when I searched the said phrase, I decided to check out what was new and what people were talking about. So I’m not exactly up to date with problems people have as they design games and other animations (other than that thing about Jimmy Neutron: (WHAT IS THAAAT), haha. In all honesty, whenever I had done animations int he past, I had always done them in Flash or for very small ones, Photoshop. So obviously I am new to the whole 3D animating game. This article basically showed me about 3d animating, and about digital sculpting, which appear to have made biggg improvements, lol. But since I can’t compare it to any of my past experiences, my commentary is quite lacking and dry, sorry. I’m interested but for me, this is the starting line. Although I can relate to when they talk about making things look great despite screen size, since my little baby Samsung has a hard time with that lol. Sorry, thats all my commentary unless you want to hear me be like “wow thats cool” “oh is that how they do that??” and etc lol.

[notevenafreshman]

Late Introduction

Hello my lovely classmates and professor. This is a late post because I’m like dumb but I may as well introduce myself now. My name is Alavia but people tend to call me Aloe Vera, a minimum of 5 of my good friends and a minimum of 3 acquaintances tend to call me Empress Aloe Vera, and the numbers go up, at least that’s the goal. I just recently switched to an ATEC major and I’m not entirely sure what I want to do. I was interested in animation for a while in high school so I am considering pursuing that. I enjoy drawing so there’s that but I always keep it humble.  I am in love with makeup but you won’t know because I took a nonexistent oath to always come to class as a basic, but perhaps that will change.  I am half Pakistani and half Filipina and quite active in UTD’s Filipino Student Association, but don’t think that means I don’t love being Pakistani. I could write about being a halfie forever but that’s something entirely different. I am low key shy but pretend not to be, but sometimes that’s hard, so be my friend pls &thank~

[notevenafreshman]

GALAXY HATES ME AND EVEN THOUGH I UPDATED MY PASSWORD, THEY WENT AHEAD AND CHANGED IT THEMSELVES I THINK (BUT IDKKK) SO FOR NOW I WILL EMAIL YOU ON MY PROFESSIONAL EMAIL BUT HOPEFULLY IT GETS WORKED OUT SOON AND I CAN RE-EMAIL YOU WHO I AM PLS & THANK

Assignment

You need to create a blog. Feel free to make your first post about yourself. You need to then email a link to that blog that you will be updating weekly.