Blog Comments :D

1. Wei Wang
http://mediaartsisamedium.blogspot.com/2010/10/protection-on-facebook.html?showComment=1306821877173#c8021711851955104381

2 Jalen James
http://causingrambunctiousmedia.blogspot.com/2011/03/logo-parodies-are-cool-too.html?showComment=1306822975465#c6930262862383033525

3 Steffi Marcos
http://steffiatmedia.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-spray-can-to-light-graffiti.html

4 Melanie Dos Remedios
http://melaaaniee.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog-entry-4-from-spray-can-to-light.html?showComment=1306826348861#c3158436215969976274

5 Nickole Gregorio
http://mee-dee-ahh.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-entry-2-look-at-music-videos.html?showComment=1306826967042#c1905225006410046263

6 James Plaza
http://comethroughmyplaza.blogspot.com/2011/02/hidden-humanity-behind-call-of-duty.html?showComment=1306827642874#c8901365650237447696

Blog #6: Logo Parodies that speak the truth

Created by Greenpeace UK

1. Describe the logo using the language of the Elements and Principles of Design.

The logo is made using different shades of yellow and green to make the BP logo. It is composed of repeated shapes that are overlapping each other and makes a flower pattern. The different shades of colours help contrast the Earth inside the garbage can. The Earth is coloured in black and shows a dripping effect which represents the oil spill.

2. Describe the symbols used in the logo. Why did the graphic artist use such imagery?

The main symbols that are used in the logo is the BP logo to show that they are main target of this logo. The artist also included a picture of the Earth covered in oil inside a trash can which is telling us that BP really made a huge damage to our planet and when something is damaged, we throw it away. 

3. What does this logo say of BP's coroporate identity?

What this logo is saying about BP's identity is that it kills the earth. Once something like this happens, we "throw" it away because there really is no more solution to this problem. Luckily, we have scientists and other marine experts that make possibilities happen such as cleaning up the oil and etc. 

Blog #5: Digital Actors

1. Is this acting or is this animation?
In my opinion, I would say that this is a combination of acting and animation. The producers relied on the actors to give the characters expression and action throughout the whole movie using a technology called "performance capture", where the actors wear bodysuits filled with reflective markers and the cameras would capture every movement and facial expressions the actors make. The animations are being done using technology to complete the whole movie. If the actors weren't present, I think that the movie wouldn't be the same and would take much longer to complete because the animators would take a lot of time adjusting and setting the characters' features throughout the movie and the performance capture would make it much easier because the actors are doing all the job and all the animators have to do is to change it into animation.


2. Do you think that animated character should be eligible for acting awards?
I think that animated characters should not be eligible for acting awards because the actors are not being shown throughout the whole movie. The movie depended on the actors so that they could give life to the characters, and the rest we're done using technology. To be eligible for an acting award, we have to see the whole performance of the actor not the animated character because we can't tell if the animated character is doing the same action or giving the same expression as the actor. 

3. Do you think that human actors will ever become obsolete? Why or why not?
I think that human actors will never become obsolete because animation is not for everyone. For me, actors give real performances because we can see every facial expressions and movements the make, their passion for acting, and we can relate to their story. Animation does give performances and facial expressions, but we can't really relate to them because they are not passionate with their performance since they're all done technologically.

Blog #4: From Spray Can to Light: Graffiti Revised.

I chose this street graffiti because I think it's unique. It is different from the typical street graffiti that we normally see in the streets. The artist used the same graffiti techniques, but just put it in 3-D form. In this graffiti, it shows an illusion of two people going white water rafting in a river with an alligator standing by. The artist used many of the Elements (line, colour, size, shape, value, etc.) and the Principles of Design. The size of this graffiti starts of with being narrow at the far back and gradually gets wider as it gets to the front. Intricate lines and shape are used to make the outline of the artwork look realistic. The yellow raft is emphasized from the rest of the art work to create an illusion of two people white water rafting in this "river". The artist used a lot of shading to give this masterpiece some value and texture.

I chose this piece because the palm trees instantly reminded me of the beach and how I would used to go there all the time whenever we have family gatherings. In this photo, we can see that the artist used variety of lines to produce this image since we can't fill in the whole picture with colour. The dark background helped show the different levels of contrast in this piece of art. The colours' level of brightness adds a lot of value in this  There is a lot of repetition with lines in here, especially with the wavy lines as one represents the grass and one is the sky, I believe. 

Both light graffiti and street graffiti allows the artist to express their emotions through their work in a creative and artistic way. They use the same techniques and concepts, but they are shown differently. Light graffiti artists uses LED lights or any light source and editing programs such as photoshop to create their work. They use the atmosphere as their canvas and let the movements of their whole body and imagination do the whole work. Special effects are added so that they can add value, contrast, and extra details to the picture and make it much better since they are only drawn using lines. As you can tell, light graffiti's usually have a lot of negative spaces because the images are usually not filled in. Light graffiti is the type of graffiti that is legal since they are not "painting" on a hard surface area and are only captured using a camera which makes it only temporary. Street graffiti artists uses different type of paints to create their work. They use walls, trucks, or any choice of their location as their canvas. The artist uses intricate lines and a lot of painting to make their artwork very detailed and realistic. Street graffiti is illegal since it involves vandalism, however, it can be legal unless you ask permission from the owner of the location you are trying to use as a canvas. Eventually, both types of graffiti uses the Elements and Principles of Design.

Blog #3: Mashups and Copyright Law

For this blog topic, I decided to do the Glee mashup video.


1. What is this mashup trying to communicate? Is it technical experiment, social or political commentary, a comedic parody, or an abstract work of media art?
This mashup cover by Glee consists of two songs produced by two different artists, "Confessions pt II" by Usher and "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi. I think this mashup is trying to communicate by taking both of these songs and putting them together as a technical experiment. Since Vitamin D was their very first mashup episode, the producers wanted to see the outcome result if they combine two songs together and see if they would go nicely together so that they can do mashup covers in their future episodes. This is an abstract work of media art because none of the lyrics really go together and we're irrelevant with each other.


2. Did its creator follow or break copyright laws in its production?
The creator followed the copyrights in its production because they technically made a remake of both songs and combined it with each other to make it their own version. Glee is also known for their constant covers, so it requires for them to follow the copyright laws to avoid getting sued by the music companies.

3. Do you think that mashup like this requires copyright permission? Why or why not.
Mashup like this requires copyright permission because they are taking two different songs from two different artists and making it their own version by combining it and adding their own effects.

Blog #2: A Look at Music Videos

The video I chose for this assignment is How to Save a Life by The Fray.
Initial reaction: My initial reaction to this video was that I felt the emotions of every person in this video. The video captured my heart every second because of the powerful messages that were being presented in this video, and how they just let everything out. During the video, it reminded me of a loved one that passed away. When they said "And I would have stayed up with you all night", I had this feeling of regret because while that loved one was in his last hour, I didn't really get to have the chance to say a few words to him because I felt really sad about his condition and I couldn't handle seeing him suffer like that.

Analysis and interpretation: There are currently 2-3 different version of music videos for this song, but I decided to do this one because I found it the easiest out of the 3. The video started off with a blurry effect and were focused on the band. Then, they showed many children standing in a white background expressing their feelings while the band is either beside or behind them. Throughout the whole video, tips were showed in different effects so that they can be emphasized and we could feel every expression. I think the band or the producer created this version of the video so that these children could express what they're going through. Whether they may be depressed, suicidal, or lost a loved one, they want to remind us that there is always going to be someone that cares about us and that we could always cope with our problems and start fresh. This video shows a variety of themes such as depression, suicidal, coping with drug and alcohol addiction and a loss of a loved one. But it's really our choice of how we want to view it as because everyone has a different opinion on these type of things. I think this video/song is aligned with religious values because they do encourage the children/audience to pray to God whenever we're in need of help because He is always listening to our problems and He would guide us through these process and lead us to the right path.

Consideration of cultural context: An event that could have influenced the band to make such a video is maybe encountering with people who are experiencing difficult times in their life and they just want the audience to see how these people are feeling while they are coping with their problems and they share us tips on how to cope with them.

Expression of aesthetic judgment: The cinematography, acting and performance, storyline, special effects, lyrics worked really well together in this video because everyone had the chance to share their story with us through their emotions and tips. The acting and performance really got to me because everything about it felt so real and it makes us want to express our feelings with them because every movement of their body were so powerful. The blurry effects throughout the video made it seem very dramatic and made it kind of suspenseful in a way, in my opinion.

Ongoing reflection: The music video influenced me by showing me every emotions physically instead of only singing it. The video made the song better because you can feel the emotions from every word of the song, which can help us take the words more seriously and help us connect with every person with our experiences. I think that the group did a good job on putting this whole video together and encouraging all children or anyone that there are people that do care about them. 

Blog #1: Social Network Privacy

         Social networking sites such as Facebook is a great website that allows us to add friends/users around the world, send out messages, share pictures and etc. It is also a great way to communicate with your friends and family all over the world without spending your money. Personally, I use Facebook as a bridge for communication with my friends and family back in my hometown and also get updates from my friends that I haven't seen for a long time.

         Recently, Facebook has just hit over 600 million users and it's still expanding. Having 600 million users on a site can scare us because we never know who's really behind that computer screen. Many of us are aware that Facebook can expose our information if we allow them, but there are privacy settings that can help us protect what we want to keep privately. Setting your personal information privately is the best action for you to do because you're protecting yourself from uninvited eyes such as stalkers and identity thieves. Identity thieves can easily steal your identity and use it for criminal purposes. They can also pretend to be like you and ruin your name. We should only post what we are willing to share with anyone, but still be cautious with what we do. Deleting little bits of information or any posts we made in the past will not make a difference because those information might have already been saved into someones computer. 
  

         My personal settings are currently set to “only me” and “friends only” so that I can protect myself from people that I don't know. These settings allows me to let my friends see what I post without worrying about people that aren't my friends from seeing my activities unless they send me a friend request. Also, remember that we shouldn't accept any friend requests from people that we don't know personally because this person might be a sexual predator, identity thief, stalker and etc.

       We can still have fun while using social networking sites, but we should still be cautious of what we do online just to keep ourselves safe from anything that might happen to us.