Poster for End of Year Exhibition

This is my project poster which I designed, to be used for the end of show exhibition. To find out more about the exhibition see www.creativedigitalmedia.ie

Week 30 – Final Project Presentation

In our last week for this final year, we have to present our project to our lecturers and classmates. Here is my presentation in full for my project Visual Cinematography.

 

Gary_Presentation

Week 28/29 – Final Project Meeting

In my last week of this long process, I have completed all elements and tasks of my project. This week in the meeting with Hugh, we will prepare my final presentation structure and content. For the project deliverables I have completed the following:

For the project: The title is Visual Cinematography

I have completed a total of 6 animation videos, each describing and visualising a specific aspect of cinematography. In total all together are a total of approx. 20-22 mins of animation.

For the website. The title is www.visualcinematography.com

The website contains all 6 videos, all still images taken and used for the project, descriptions of the videos and the project itself, and links to more of my work.

Now that the project is complete the last thing for me to do is prepare my presentation with Hugh.

Week 28 – Project Meeting 15

In this weeks meeting we discussed the last stages of my final year project. This included giving the website and project a name, preparing for the final presentation where I would defend my project and discussing the end of year exhibition. I was asked by Hugh to have all of the above complete for the last project meeting next week.

One thing I had completed for this week was my thesis. The title is ‘CGI and Cinematography’ and discusses both areas in detail before then discussing the impacts each area has on the other when they are integrated together.

Click here to see my thesis – THESIS_GARY_2

Now that the thesis was complete I now only have to focus on my project. With just two weeks left before the deadline I need to finish off all tasks that are incomplete or need got be changed. I will then have everything completed for next weeks meeting where I will show all to Hugh and prepare my presentation with him for the final project presentation.

CT: Week 14 – Final Presentation

This is our last week for critical theory and will be my last blog entry. Over the last few months we have covered a lot of areas that we have never covered before. From ideologies and methodologies to virtual worlds and its impact on people. I have learned much through this module and can apply some of things we covered in future projects and assignments. A special thanks to Nicola Duffy who taught us over the past few weeks. Overall I didn’t really know what to expect with this module but now that it has finished I can see that I enjoyed it and can definitely take some new ideas from it.

To finish off Critical Theory we had to present our research and findings as described in weeks 12 and 13. Myself along with Dean Wall were the first to give our presentation. I researched the question ‘Discuss the role of Avatars’ while Dean chose ‘The dangers and joys of interacting within a virtual world’. Overall I think the presentation went well. We both had researched a great deal into our questions and used some relevant and interesting visuals to accompany our findings. So this is the end of my experience in Critical Theory. I enjoy it and would definitely advise others to do the same. I’ll finish off by showing myself and Deans presentation, here it is:

Week 27 – Project Meeting 14

In this meeting we went through chapters 1,2,3 and 4 of my thesis. Hugh gave me some notes and feedback regarding the thesis to include and make changes to. Some of the key points included:

• references – to use real movies as references and not just clips from movies e.g for animated films using CGI (ToyStory, Up, Kung Fu Panda)
• we removed section 4.7 ‘Live Action’ as it was similar to section 3.4 and therefore was irrelevant
• include more detailed definitions for specific things mentioned within chapters e.g where a camera dolly is mentioned give an explanation and a definition

For next weeks meeting I have to have the following done:

• finish off chapter 4 of thesis
• finish animations for lighting video

CT: Week 13 – Assignment 2 Research

In this weeks class we began researching for our assignment 2 presentation. For the presentation itself, we are splitting up into groups of two and are taking one topic each. We will then present to the class next week as a group, showing our research and findings. For my half of the group I have chosen to research the area of ‘Discuss the role of avatars in virtual worlds’. I chose this area because I find avatars in general to be interesting as it is a way of any individual to become someone completely different through an avatar.

Following my research so far, here are some things I have found:

CT: Week 12 – Assignment 2 Update

This week in critical theory, we were given a update for assignment 2. Following issues with the ‘Second Life’ software, a complete change had to be made regarding the assignment task. Instead of using ‘Second Life’ as a means of gaining insight into human culture, thoughts and ideas, we were given the task to research two relating areas and then present our findings to Nicola and our classmates. The presentation will take place on May 9th and will allow to us to show and explain what we have researched. The two areas we will choose from is based on 6 options. These six areas are all relevant and similar to the original assignment brief, but instead of using the software, we are now presenting our findings.

Here are our six options to choose from:

1. What is the nature of identity and relationship in virtual worlds?
2. Discuss the roles of avatars
3. What are the dangers and joys of interacting in a virtual world?
4. What role does anonymity play in a virtual world?
5. Explore and discuss the role and impact of privacy
6. Discuss cognitive theory and how its relevance in interacting in a virtual world?

These our are options. In next weeks class we will begin researching our chosen areas.

 

Week 25 / 26 – Project Meeting 13

Following the easter break, I began going through the work I had done, for feedback with Hugh. During the meeting we discussed each of the animations I created for my final year project, my thesis and the website theme I have chosen for my website. Here is the feedback I received from Hugh:

• Lighting Animation
  • re-do robot arm
  • use different light types – key light, fill light, rim lights
  • include light objects in animations

• Aspect Ratio Animation
  • use x and y resolution settings within blender instead of aspect ratio settings
  • re-render blender scenes and take into Finalcut Pro

• Thesis
  • continue working on chapter 4

• Website Theme
  • this is the theme I have chosen http://ghostpool.com/wordpress/reviewit/

For next weeks meeting I have to do the following:

• re-do one animation using feedback details
• continue working on thesis and send to Hugh for feedback

CT: Week 11 – Assignment 2 Hand Out

Following our hand up of assignment 1, we had the easter break. Now that we are back, our first critical theory lecture consisted of the hand out of our second assignment. This assignment is based within the 3D virtual world of ‘second life’.

Second Life is a virtual 3D world and environment where users can log on, create a visual representation of themselves using and avatar, and then visit places within the world interacting with other people through their own avatars. Before we were given the actual brief for this assignment, we watched a documentary style video based on second life and how it effects people within the real world. I couldn’t find the exact video we watched in class but here is another I found on YouTube:

This video explains the idea behind second life and the effects it has on users both in the real world and within the virtual world itself.