Blog #10 Final!

From class, I have seen many great looking games that seemed to have captured my attention and were enjoyable to play. Although I didn't get around to play a lot of games, I did play the Directioner game, which I felt was not completely original, but it felt like it would be a great family game and I was constantly entertained by it as I was playing. I was thinking of my DTC 355 class where a major focus of the class theme is centered around how to make the message you're trying to send have a certain effect. I felt that the whole rule where members of the opposite team had to keep score was interesting and to me it subconsciously sent the message of no cheating and that you can't trust other players. I also felt that the cards were very well polished and gave off the impression of an actual board game.

Another project that I found to be one of my favorites was The-Not-So-Serious Ski Movie. Although I did not attend the showcase, I had been seeing this movie mentioned multiple times and I just had to check it out. After loading up the video and it playing the intro, I was caught off guard as it did not even feel like it was a ski movie. As the video progressed, I found it to get progressively more serious, but at the same time it had random funny moments which I felt added to the overall presentation. I can't help but think of my DTC 354 class and how shot perspective was so constant throughout the video. In that class we had to make a short film for the final project, and so we were taught how the camera angle can affect not only your shot, but the entire message of your project. I feel that in this video each shot is very emphasized and overall gives the video a very powerful message.

Comments:

#1: http://paisleypeterson.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/dtc-375-final-blog-4-30-14/#comments

#2: http://stephensallie.blog.com/2014/04/29/dtc-375-blog-9/#comment-20

These comments on their blogs show up being posted May 1 at roughly 4pm which I am confused about, as I definitely have not posted them at that time

Blog #9 Custom

While reading through chapter 10 of Bogost's book, I found he had made some interesting statements regarding the change in camera technology and how video games tend to use a mostly specified skill set. As an example on page 72 Bogost states "Conversely, videogame creation exercises few common skills. It requires programming of some kind...". When I read this line, it reminded me of how most of my day I am coding a website or using an Adobe program to complete some school work. Personally, it is hard for me to distinguish what is a common daily skill and something specific to me, because since I am entrenched in these products and ways of thinking all the time, it was difficult for me to distinguish a main difference between video games as a medium and other media. I found another interesting point Bogost made in that he basically stated how video games serve a double function, both as a "snapshot" of the creator's life or interests, and an entertaining game. "Like a snapshot, the game has value because of the way it lets its creator preserve and share a sentiment about her family. Likewise, you and I can appreciate it not as the crappy causal game that it is but as the touching personl snapshot that it is as well." (Bogost, 74). Although not thought of as often as actual console video games or computer games, Facebook also serves a double function both as a social platform where many people today use to stay in contact with their family members and friends and also to play games like, Candy Crush Saga to stay entertained. I did some thinking about this, and I feel that although the games on Facebook provide entertainment and may keep users on the website for longer, I feel it also creates a rift between people. The rift I am speaking about is that people may be playing Farmville or Tetris Friends against their "friends", but they are only interacting through the game and barely know each other. Besides the games, Facebook itself tries to make your experience more personal by labeling other users you connect with as "friends" even though you may have only met that person once or only know them through class or work.

Blog #8 Freestyle!

In keeping with the themes of art, empathy, reverence, music, and pranks, I chose to explore the concept of art. I find art is important not only because of obvious reasons, but because it is so varied and it brings out emotions or reactions in people that would normally never manifest in people. As an example, Vincent Van Gogh, the widely known artist was also well known for his ongoing battle with mental illness painted many beautiful paintings throughout his lifetime. It's interesting to note how many of his paintings had bright colors despite his mental battles, like his Sunflowers photo and his Bedroom in Arles. One of his last pantings, Wheat Field with Crows, show his continuing despair and is able to be seen by anyone viewing the painting. Art essentially brings the artist's imagination to life.

Blog #7 Stock

Prompt: Write an anthropogical examination of the communicative conventions of a blogging or other online social media subculture (for example, mommyblogs, right-wing politics blogs, Harry Potter fanfic blogs, model railroader discussion boards, et cetera: seek out a group that your classmates might not be familiar with), investigating who the members of the group are, what types of language they use, what types of arguments they make, how they use media, and what types of messages are acceptable or unacceptable in the group.

Anime/Manga/Comic conventions/message boards

In so far as a social media subculture, I believe a major one is the anime or comic book conventions and threads. These conventions are held throughout many cities and the message boards are in a mass abundance online. These boards have a variety of sections and topics for members to discuss. In general, it is difficult to tell who the members of the forums are, however, it is easy to discern that there is definitely a type of language for the community. Each community's "language" has many references to the specific anime/manga the board is based on. (I know that sentence is horribly phrased). Anime/Manga/Comic message boards also often reference other Anime/Manga/Comics in general even if the forum isn't based around said work. In anime and manga, sometimes a character's name is slightly different in the Japanese and English versions, generally in the community it is usually preferred when one refers to the character's Japanese/original name.



Comments:

1: http://paisleypeterson.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/blog-7-dtc-375/comment-page-1/#comment-46

2: http://themadblackscientist.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/blog-entry-7/comment-page-1/#comment-35

Blog #6 Stock

Dear Future College Student,

I know you are only 10 years old, but by the time you get into college, technology has probably changed a whole bunch. Originally when I started going to school, many instructors used overhead cameras to display documents to the whole class. Overhead cameras were basically machines that you would place a piece of plastic on and write on it. While widely not used in today's day and age, it was widely used and many people from my generation can remember using it during class. Hehe, it's funny how much technology has changed over the years. I remember back in the day when I had to actually take 30 minutes to connect to the Internet and load just 1 webpage. I know you probably don't find this very important, but it's always good to know what it was like before and how much it changed to today. By the time you're reading this, you might have a lot of e-books in your collection or required for your class, but you might not be asked to use hard print books as much. Although it might not necessarily be hard for you to understand physical books by the time you read this, it's just that physical books might not be in much use anymore. Growing up with physical books was very important because you actually had to keep track of the book and keep it from getting damaged. Personally, I prefer having a physical book rather than an e-book because it reminded me to read rather than trying to remember it having it in e-book form.

Sincerely,

Greg

Blog #5: A Better Pencil

Stock

After reading A Better Pencil, I have found that the book just reconfirms my bias against everything turning digital because personally there are some things, such as books, that I will always prefer to be in print format. I am usually ok with most things turning digital, such as writing and music and such, but I would prefer certain things to always be in physical format. Concerning the issue of technology use in classrooms, I have found these new technologies, like smart boards and the integrated projector/smart board things they use around WSU is very successful and are much better to use than the physical form. The integrated projector/smart board helps show online documents to the entire class and eliminates the effort needed like when overhead projectors were major in schools and everything had to be written on the plastic slide with those thin sharpie pens. The smartboards allow for a clean erase and don't need to be washed like the plastic slides used to be. In addition, the use of technology makes it easier for students to keep up with their school work and complete it faster because it is far more efficient than hand-writing everything. On the other hand, mostly every assignment being online makes it so the student could possibly procrastinate more and put off assignments until literally the last minute because assignments are uploaded to the Internet which is accessible almost anywhere. I always try to attend classes, even if attendance isn't necessary as I feel not getting that face to face interaction throws off my rhythm for the class. I use writing more for transmission as a majority of my assignments are online or supposed to be typed up.

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