Capstone 461 Cultural Event #2 Crayon Melting Event "ARTSY!"

For part two of my accidental mission to find cultural significance in tacky events I went to the Program Board’s Crayon Melting event.

What?  You haven’t heard of the wild craze of crayon melting?  Crayon Melting has exploded all across the nation, especially in that town where that Crayola factory exploded.  I guess I’ll have to explain the process for the uncultured plebes.

The process is quite simple, you just melt crayons over colored paper.  The crayons are glued to the top or side of the paper and then melted so they drip down and make uh…  melted crayon streams.  The crayons can be peeled, but it’s not necessary.  I left some paper on the end so the crayons wouldn’t melt off the glue.  The crayons and paper are held up on a covered easel and melted with a blow dryer.  The process is pretty quick and the crayons began to drip after a few seconds, which is good.  I didn’t want to feel like a jackass holding a blow dryer and not melting something.

I checked it out because every few years some craft project will suddenly take off and people will be doing it all over the place until it burns out.  Pottery painting, beading, hemp jewelry, steampunk, cupcakes, all just emerge from nowhere and take off with the crafty people.  I don’t really see crayon melting becoming that big though.

Why?  Because it not only involves hot wax but hot glue guns as well.  Even among adults I saw people burning themselves on the hot glue guns they used to stick the crayons onto the paper.  I could see kids enjoying crayon melting, but there are just too many safety issues.  Glue guns are notoriously hard to control and since they stick to skin, second and third degree burns are possible.  Now you could skip that step and just have a bunch of crayons pre-glued, but that’s not as fun since you can’t pick your colors.

A few people got creative, but from what I saw there were a lot of splattered rainbows.  One person drew a face then put crayon tips on the eyes, spraying the crayons outwards.  I noticed there was a strange lack of cool colors (blues, greens, darker colors) so I made an Autumn based melt with oranges and light reds (strangely not as popular).  It’s a working title but I am hovering between “The Fall of Fall” and  “Victoria’s Club Foot”. 

If there was a kit or if the process was more streamlined then it would be a fun activity to do with friends.  Since there are limited easels and blow dryers though, people have to wait turns, and it’s not as fun to watch crayons melt, as it is to melt them.  Also, I take my melted crayon art VERY SERIOUSLY; I’d rather not have an audience.  Not to mention you kind of need to concentrate when flinging hot wax everywhere. 

It’s a very personal experience, and the more serious people will try to make a piece that doesn’t look like a bunch of wax.  There was something of a silent mission: to take children’s material and turn it into a respectable piece of art.  I don’t really see anyone paying a lot of money for these things, but it would be interesting to see different ways of applying the wax, other than with blow dryers and hot wax.  Fun for Kids!  

Capstone 461 "Filling in Inspiration Blanks"

Works Cited
Hayley Williams images:  http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1186&bih=806&q=hayley+williams&gbv=2&oq=Hayley&aq=0&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=1410l2785l0l4173l6l6l0l1l1l0l231l726l0.3.1l4l0
Blip comic:  http://blipcomic.com/index.php

For this week I've been sketching out the characters and looking for inspirations to fill in the blanks before I finish the script this week.
For the girl character I've been looking at Hayley Williams from the band Paramore.  She is the ideal modern punk princess to work with.  She has a rounded head, which I liked almost immediately when I tried it.  Another thing about Hayley is that one out of four pictures is wacky.  She has about three actual pictures then one of her with her tongue out or just making an odd face.  I think that would be really fun to play with and give her a cute yet rebellious attribute.  It would also add something to any expostion or walking scenes, which is usually a visual doldrum.

As far as attitude, I've been reading the online webcomic Blip.  Blip does a very impressive job of balancing fantasy and reality worlds.  The main character is a crude girl named K, who lives with the drama of balancing life, boys, yadda yadda.  And she is best friends with a vampire, witch, and android while angels are out to sabotage her life.  The thing is that she doesn't know it.

The supernatural elements exist and have a viable effect on the story, and K is not aware of the specifics.  The "Secret friend" thing has done before, but this comic avoids a lot of cliches.  K has never come close to finding out their true identities, they've never had to erase her memory somehow, or do anything that would create a huge disaster.  The whole point is that the world goes on, despite the supernatural elements.
I really like that attitude.  It's kind of anarchic compared to fantasy stories where the whole world is effected by just one specific change.  I've already talked about how magic in my comic is just something that exists in the world and is not actively acknowledged, just used.  I'll keep in mind Blip's attitude with the supernatural when working with magical elements in the comic.

Capstone 461 Cultural Event "BINGO show"

This seemed like a gimme cultural event and I almost wasn't going to do it, but here it is:

The cultural event I attended was Commuter Bingo today at the Student Center.

Commuter Bingo is a cheap little event they have at the student center every so often as part of Shepherd University's "please don't just go home" commuter program.  They have it frequently since throughout the semester because Bingo itself is really just a one time expense.  The prizes usually consist of a few big things, but most of the stuff is just cheap supplies for school.  I'll usually play a round or two and get a free notebook or frisbee out of it.  But this time I didn't play and noticed a strange cultural phenomenon.

Bingo, for the most part, has a large cultural stigma in America.  The image that comes to mind when you say "Bingo player" is one of a much older white woman, usually lower class, spending larges amounts of time going to Bingo halls and adjusting their oversized wigs.  Bingo is considered a game for old retirees to spend their time, and is never really taken seriously by the younger generation (I for one can't imagine what it means to be a "professional" player in a game based on luck).  That's what's strange about commuter Bingo.

Watching the people there I noticed that nobody there was an old woman.  In fact there seemed to be about an equal mix of males and females playing the game.  They were all young students, but that's where the similarities ended.  Not only did the game draw in people across gender and age lines, but people from different cliches (nerds, jocks, sororities, etc.) as well.  If the above bias was true, then young people should have avoided Bingo like the plague, but instead they were running out of Bingo cards!

I tried to ponder the reason behind this.  I mean, I had just watched age, culture, and gender demographics get punched in the throat, there had to be some explanation!

1. Perhaps it was the location.  Lots of people come in and out through the student center and some may have just started playing on impulse.
2. The hours.  It started just before lunch and ended afterwards, though most of the players weren't eating as they were playing.
3. The prizes.  I don't stop playing after I win something though, I'm a bit greedy that way.
4. Advertising.  They usually put up flyers before hand or post something on the Shepherd website, but I don't remember hearing or seeing anything about it.

Out of all these I think #1 has the bigger impact.  There is a high level of human traffic in the Student Center, and Commuter Bingo was set up right in the cafeteria area, not in a separate room, so you have easy visible access to the activity.  Being able to see the activity and access it probably played a big part in collecting people to do an activity that they normally would not seek out and take part in themselves.  While most college students would not actively search for a Bingo parlor, having one right there in a common area would allow them to enjoy the activity without having to go out of their way.  The other listed points probably just aided in the decision to join in.

This presents an interesting idea when incorporating media.  Would you be able to cross demographic and social boundaries if you were to set up in an open and available area?  Could you reach a wider local audience with this method?  On a national or global scale it wouldn't work, but think of smaller activities.    If you were having a business meeting, would it be more effective to hold it in the main entrance then a meeting room?  Would a local film be seen by a more diverse crowd if it was shown outside than inside a theater?  These would be important and unique ways to get a desired result and one that I would keep in mind for future reference.

Capstone 461 "Making a World."

It's admitted that the main use for wikipedia isn't exactly reliable information.  Though the one thing I find it helps with a lot is nomenclature.  When I wanted to look at "different settings for fantasy worlds" (like steampunk, medieval, etc.) I got answers back for "computer settings".  So I used wikipedia to find the specific words that wouldn't send me to IT consulting.

I found an interesting entry called "world building"  that listed several elements that shape a fantasy world. I figured this would be a great way to solidify the world I want to set my comic to and at the same time create a unique work.

The Elements of World Building:

Cosmology:  
This element applies more to a sci-fi world.  How are the solar systems and stars mapped out?  Are there other dimensions?  How do they relate?
I could include a magical plane with this one, but the comic itself is more down to earth and realistic.  I don't see anyone going to the plane, and even though there is magic in the world, the how's and why's are not important.  To the characters in the story it just exists and people can use it.  Explaining magic is fun, but it's mostly pleasurable for the writer.  I imagine that explaining magic to people in a magical world would be like explaining plastic to someone on the street.  As long as it works, who cares?

Geography and Cartography:
Kingdoms are a large part of the world in my comic.  The one focused on in my comic is the largest in that land.  It takes up most of the continent (roughly the size of Europe) and features many cities but one main one where the King resides. (I'm really just making this up as I type).  The Romans conquered in a manner that was unique, in that they'd replace the rulers of a land they captured but leave the citizens alone, so that their village structure was still intact.  I think this would make a fascinating environment for my fantasy comic since I could include wildly different towns, but still give the characters an excuse to visit them.  An example would be "Sure, you're a troll burrow, but now you're a troll burrow under the name of our king.  We're here to collect your taxes."

Names:
Hmmm... It's still a bit early to start with names.  I was hoping something would come to me once I start sketching the characters.
My usual modus operandum is to take current words, usually verbs, and rework them into something that would make a believable first or last name.  For example one of my favorites is Shye Asher Vidaner.  The character is not shy, but the name is simple and easy to remember.  I've noticed some fantasy creators can get a bit carried away with consonants and make the name hard to pronounce.  So as a general rule if I can't say it in my head, then no one's going to remember it.  Though last names are fair game.

Culture and History:
I want to include different races in with the humans in my comic.  Most of them would appear in the background and a majority would be mixed in with humans.  Some would live outside, but most of the races have long achieved harmony with each other.  There will be some outcasts (like driders and trolls) and will be the common enemy of all the races, but that's not really important in my story.
As for the question of what the races would be, I actually prefer the template in this case.  The fantasy tropes are so well known that you don't have to explain what the species are, everyone knows that elves love nature and shoot bows while satyrs rape nymphs and look like Satan.  So if you know the types, you can work against them.  A character that is a bashful satyr would be much more dynamic since it would play against the stereotype and create interest.
On the flipside, a race of creatures that you just made up would be new to the reader and such a twist would have no meaning.

Human Geography:
I was actually thinking about this one earlier.  I wanted magic to have an effect on the social-economic structure.  Mostly I was pondering on rural-urban relations.  Since most anyone intelligent can use magic, I believe most rural areas would be abandoned.  Instead, large cities would be the focus of the population.  Teleportation can make living on the farm unnecessary while weather control can arrange crops just about anywhere.  The only people living far from civilization would be the ones who choose to, and even then the distance would only be ephemeral.
The setting where my story begins actually be set in a sub-urb of sorts, with a smaller population and a bustling marketplace.  As an area just outside a city but not too far out in the wild, I believe it would be a perfect middle ground to start the adventure.

Physics and Magic:
I really hate big magic.  Floating cities, surreal dimensions, time warping, they're all so sloppy and are usually pulled off in ways that are even sloppier.  Why does this castle float in the air?  Oh, magic crystals.  I prefer magic that is a bit more grounded.
So for my story I grounded the magic!
The magic in my comic works on a consistent level.  You cast a spell it happens, you stop casting it stops working.  You can cast magic on objects (one of the main character uses a variety of magic objects) but the magic isn't limitless nor permanent.  If you want a floating city you better have a bunch of high-level magicians taking shifts or that thing is going to fall (an interesting industrial take on it).  Some objects can be switched on or off, or activated by other magics (such as anti-curse pendants) but they are planned to become obsolete.  It's a comic about tax collecting in a fantasy world, of course there's going to be capitalism involved!

These planning elements are from Francois Dominic Laramee's Game Design Perspectives (2002) as found on Wikipedia.

COMM 343 Graphic Novel "Medium DOESN'T Matter"

Reading The Right Number by Scott McCloud, I was reminded of a similar experience: reading graphic novels on the Playstation Portable.  "The Right Number" was set up as a series of illustrations in a single frame.  Each image contained a small version of the next image within the current one, upon clicking (or hitting the up arrow or space bar or wishing real hard) the smaller image will enlarge and fill the frame.

This was a neat little gimmick and it really felt as if it was pulling you further into the story, but I only really see the technique working just this once.  Viewing multiple comics in this format would become trying, not to mention sort of restricting since each image would have to be the same size.  Hence the word "gimmick" up there.

As for whether or not I feel it's a comic, I still believe that it qualifies.  The basic format of frames and  word balloons are there and even though some parts are animated, it hardly qualifies it as a different medium.  I mentioned the PSP up there because the comic reading software is also animated.  They take scans of comics and zoom in on the words in the order of reading and then zoom out to show the whole image of the frame.  Some of the fancier comics will even have sound effects where appropriate.

Does it still count as a comic? Hell yeah.  See, the heart of the comic is still there.  You could print out "The Right Number" and it would unmistakably look like a comic.  The only thing that would've changed   would be the way in which the comic was presented.  The digital comics on the PSP are still comic pages they are only presented in a way that makes sense on a digital medium.

The asian comic, which we will call the Outstanding Horror Story Hiding Incredible Terror, is also a comic that is presented in a different way.

Unlike "The Right Number" OHSHIT, is presented a bit differently from the traditional comics.  Their are no frame edges and little word balloons.  The style is more similar to an anime than a manga comic, so much so that I thought the images were screen shots.  Though it's pretty much set up like a webcomic or one long series of comics, the technology that makes the screen automatically scroll is what gives the comic its bite.  OHSHIT sets its own pace and leaves you feeling helpless.  A neat trick for a digital comic, but sadly, it still feels like a gimmick.


Works Cited:
http://scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/trn/index.html

http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=20&weekday=tue

COMM 343 Criticalling Graphic Novels

http://shepherdgraphicnovel.pbworks.com/w/page/33819192/The%20Choice

Mike Lewis' "The Choice" is a hand drawn comic about destiny, survival, and lycanthropes.  It was an interesting that he chose not to make the werewolves savage berserkers but instead gave them a society and monarchical structure.  The werewolves were intelligent and varied in shape, not just wolves but tigers as well.  In the future I would like to see what other kind of lycanthropes (man-animal hybrids) would present themselves.

One of the main problems was the artwork.  Not that the drawings were bad, but there were some clear issues scanning the images.  There was a lot of aliasing with the lines and random marks doting the images.    There was some attempts at shading for the flashbacks so a basic knowledge of Photoshop was demonstrated.  This is just more disappointing since the dots can be cleaned up easily.  The only color is in the words, which is a good tool for separating the speakers.  The problem is since the characters aren't in color you don't know what speech bubble belongs to what character.

"The Choice" is a good story with some interesting twists that could be improved greatly by correcting some minor techniques.
----------------------
http://shepherdgraphicnovel.pbworks.com/w/page/11979555/Eternal%20Life

"Eternal Life", by Elizabeth Farnham is a comic about a girl and her wolf.  (Apparently last year people were on a werewolf kick.)  There seems to be a rash of comics made of filtered pictures, but I feel "Eternal Life" uses the technique the best.  Rather than just taking photographs and running them through the Filter ringer, "Eternal Life"s images are selected a cropped artistically.  Some pages had little words but were laid out very well.  The photos of the winged wolf were especially inspiring.

The characters' names were really cheesy (Elif vs. Adeth? ugh...) and worse, gave away the ending with its predictability.  There is also a problem with pacing.  Several pages will talk about her modeling career (unimportant) and in one page they'll skip ahead a few years (why?).  A lot of things can come up that shortens your comic or makes you rush the story, so it's important to be able to know what is crucial to the plot and what is not.  It's interesting that her father is a rich cosmetics mogul, but if the end result is that he's a cult leader, he could be a potato farmer for all it matters.  The back story of the main characters is more important.

Game Inception. COMM 344 Game Design

There is a strange phenomena that has been occurring in console games, one that can be seen as great or annoying.  It's mostly appearing in RPG games, but has made some brief appearances in board games as well.

This is the inclusion of a whole different game inside of a game.

To be clear, this is nothing new.  Minigames are quite common in video games and some (like Mario Party and Wario Ware Inc.) are entirely made up of video games.  What I'm referring to is a Game-within-a-game that is not just a small break from the action, but an entirely new experience.

For the best example, take Little Big Planet.  At first glance you have a very quick platform game comprised of designer-created levels.  Let's call that Game A.  You go through and beat all the levels and get enough items that you're satisfied, then move on to God of War and tear the head off a medusa.  WRONG!  There is an additional creation game inside of Little Big Planet that is completely different from the level platform game.  This Game B requires a different set of skills and is so much more vast than a minigame that you will probably spend as much time on Game B (if not more) than Game A.

Most Game B's are based around an online community, and are becoming more complex as technology (and budgets) increase.  For my game design research I would like to look into some more examples of Game Inception and see what future games are going to offer.

COMM 352 "Whatsizface point oh won" Online identity

I've been out of the loop a bit to long to really forge any type of opinion on online identity.  My area of expertise when it comes to the internet is forums, but the more modern forms escape me.

The article in "A Rape in Cyberspace" discusses the uncanny realm where people set up separate identities for themselves and play through them.  I don't think anyone's played a MUD or MOO since the turn of the century.  MMORPGs have long replaced the text based games with enticing graphics and customization.  I tried a MUD a few years ago, but I didn't know any of the text commands and was mostly pissing people off.  I didn't know how to keep conversations private and kept interrupting people with my questions.  It was kind of like going into a coffee shop, and yelling over everyone "WHAT KIND OF COFFEE DO YOU HAVE AND HOW DO I ORDER?!"  I found forums to be a bit friendlier and I didn't have to type as fast to keep up.

As for the case of Mr. Bungle, there is a name for him now: troll.  Trolls are abundant on the internet and find their way into about every sort of online medium.  Trolls are usually sociopathic and seem to exist for the sole purpose of ruining everyone's online experience.  A troll will post obscene material, harass people and just generally make you feel like humanity is lost. Generally, it's best to ignore a troll.  Openly challenging them (without the backing of an online authority or community) will make you a target for harassment.  The worst kind of troll is one with technical experience because they can retaliate with worms or viruses.  If banned the more stubborn troll will merely find a new way to come back online and attack using a new profile.

Most forums and high-profile online games will have a police of online administrators or filter that will prevent direct offenses like cursing and spam.  This is good because if trolling finds a support bad things can happen.  4-chan is a website that will forum of trolls where bad behavior is actually encouraged and exploited.  For example if a member has a problem with a person or website they can post their information online and the "community" will attack them.  And a lot of them know how to hack...  Websites have had to been shutdown and girls have committed suicide due to the onslaught of horrible things posted on the site.  Trolls can be anything from a mild annoyance or a destructive force and are a blight on people who are just trying to have an enjoyable time online.

Works Cited

Dibbell, Julian. "A Rape in Cyberspace." JulianDibbell.com. 1998. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. .

COMM 352 "Point of Power" by Michael Chartuk

Edward Tufte and David Byrne both have valid points to make about Microsoft Powerpoint and they're points can be explained best through the topic of bloatware.  Powerpoint, and other Microsoft Office products are referred in some circles as "bloatware" or software that contains so many features and options you'd die of old age before exploring them all.  Every update and remake of the product just adds more features to the software, thus "bloating" it.

The positive side of bloatware is that the abundance of features allows for infinite modes of expression.  The customization abilities of Office products is outstanding, with templates and settings to make minute to drastic changes to your document.  Using these features creatively can lead to interesting and dynamic pieces of art, which is Byrne's point, but only so long as the user knows what they are doing.

There are so many options and customizations in Powerpoint that one can work with the program for years and merely scratch the surface.  So instruction is key, and frequently lessons are taught at multiple levels, such as "Beginner Powerpoint" and "Advanced Powerpoint" I and II.  Since most people would rather take courses on the evolutionary growth of fungi than take several courses on Office software, the majority of us only have a basic (and possibly outdated) knowledge of Powerpoint.  The geek speak and terms used in the software also prevent people from learning on their own, since a lot of the check boxes and pull down lists only make sense to the tech savvy or professional computer workers.  In this sense, Powerpoint and other Office products are indeed, evil.

I agree with both Byrne and Tufte.  Yes, Powerpoint can be used to create beautiful and meaningful things, but until you possess the knowledge and skill then all you produce will be crimes against humanity.  At some point the bloatware needs to come to a pinnacle where the programmers can look back, simplify and allow the user to make better work with less knowledge.  Until then we will have publishing programs that will get more complex and more buried with each new carnation.

Although, as someone who's versed in Microsoft Office, I have to say that Access is infinitely more sinister than Powerpoint.

Byrne, David. "Learning to Love Powerpoint." Wired 11.09: Learning to Love PowerPoint. Wired.com, Sept. 2003. Web. 23 Jan. 2011. .

Tufte, Edward R. "PowerPoint Is Evil." Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil. Wired.com, Sept. 2003. Web. 23 Jan. 2011. .

COMM 352 Spring 2011 "Top Topical Topics"

I'm not sure what to create a website about.  Most of my confusion comes from copyright issues and uncertainty about whether or not I'm allowed to talk about companies.

Here I my topics and the issues I have with them.

-Building Gundam models.  It's a hobby I've enjoyed since high school so I have a lot of experience and could easily fill several pages of information.  My only issue is whether or not I can use the "Gundam" names and show the pictures I took of them.  This topic is my favorite one.

-Algae biodiesel.  I've done reports on this topic in the past, and my only hang up is that there is not a lot of information or research that I can make into a stable website.

-My dog, Jezebel.  We don't really know what kind of dog "Jesse" is.  This one would be the safest site to create, but would involve getting a very paranoid dog to act naturally and not stare directly into the camera like a deer.  She has enough quirks and mysteries to fill a book.

-Bad business plans and worse inventions.  It's become an ongoing joke of mine to come up with spur of the moment plans for businesses that would fail horribly, like a macabre restaurant or snowshoe flame-throwers.  It would be funny to take these ideas and illustrate them for a webpage.

COMM 352- Expectate Ions

It's been years since I've had to type just the basic html, and there are now a lot of programs out there (like this one) that allow for easy publishing of website material. I expect that Computer Mediated Studies will be about learning how to navigate this programs and create accessible material for the Internet. I don't expect use to be able to cover every pitfall and trick in one semester.