New Media 20

STOP MOTION WITH FACE MAKEUP
Click on the image to the left and be transported to a Petapixel review of Emma Allen's Stop Motion film. You won't even need headphones, as just watching it without volume is mindblowing...

Remember that you are creating a stop motion film this term on your own... you may participate in another student's film as well, but you are each responsible for a stop motion film of a short length. Your film must tell a story (no matter how short), and you will use the steps provided in the assignment explanation provided in the pages below... Have a great day!

SOCIAL ISSUE AND CHANGE
DESIGN PROJECT
assignment 1...

I Can Change the World
First, feel, then feel, then
read, or read, then feel, then
fall, or stand, where you
already are.
Think of your self, and the other selves...think
of your parents, your mothers
and sisters, your father
then feel, or fall, on your knees
if nothing else moves you,
then read and look more deeply
into all matters come close to you.
Make some muscle in your head,
but use the muscle in your heart.
-Leroi Jones

This project is an exploration of and a means of expressing opinion on a social issue that needs to be changed in order to make the world a better place today and for future generations. It is also an opportunity for you to use visual and verbal means to express feelings about the world in which you live. In his poem, writer Leroi Jones, for many years now known as Amiri Baraka, foregrounds the necessity of students developing their hearts as well as their minds. For Baraka, authentic feeling includes feeling for the world and people around us.

Sometimes it seems difficult to be connected and see beyond ourselves; by looking into yourselves, students can begin to become more involved with the social issues of the world. Through research, you are able to connect your felt concern with facts and information that helps you to investigate the complexities of an issue and to then formulate realistic positions on what might be done to improve the situation/problem. It also helps you to understand that sometimes courage means continuing to be aware of a situation even when it is not at all clear what currently can be done to improve things.

By looking at the work of contemporary artists such as Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holtzer, you will see that there are many ways to make art and design. They do not feel the need to complete a perfectly rendered drawing or painting to make a powerful statement about something about which they feel passionate. These artists used graphic design and New Media to create a body of work that addressed social change.

After a class discussion about events or social problems that that you and others in class find disturbing, each student chooses an issue to research and represent. You will also write about how they feel about the situation and to formulate potential solutions to the problem. Your verbal expressions are incorporated into your design.

Appropriating images from magazines and newspapers generates the imagery for your design project. An important aesthetic aspect of this project is that I am not asking you to laboriously re-draw found images. Utilizing a familiar strategy of contemporary postmodern artworks, the selected images are juxtaposed and layered onto the final artwork using photoshop and illustrator. You will take your ISSUE, create a design campaign that addresses the issue. You will design posters, coffee mugs, t-shirts, billboards, magazine ads, facebook pages, and whatever design based propaganda to bring attention to your issue.

Barbara Kruger used simple red and white fonts on black and white images to create her body of work.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

You and your classmates will have a lively discussion on social issues. Each member of class may be aware of differing social issues happening in our world. I know you learn about these things in school, on facebook, and through your own interests... If you have ever "liked" a page because it was supporting change, somewhere in the world around some issue, then you understand what I am asking you to do...

Then what?

AESTHETIC STIMULATION
Gather samples of effective posters and images that address your social issues. Northland Poster Collective, the Guerilla Girls, and the Syracuse Cultural Workers are good sources for posters.

PROACTIVE RESPONSES
Each student will choose an issue or problem as the focus for his or her designs. Students will write a one sentence statement explaining why this problem is of importance to them and hand it in...

RESEARCH & SEARCH FOR IMAGES
Students conduct library and/or Internet research about the topic. They begin to gather images. These will be saved to your pictures library on your computer.

You are not looking for images that simply illustrate the problem. Encourage students to think about creating meaning by juxtaposing images that typically might not seem to be related to the issue or idea.

PLAN COMPOSITION & BEGIN DESIGNING
It is best to develop the composition more spontaneously by experimenting with bringing together various combinations of collected images. I encourage you to be open to unexpected effects. I also encourage juxtaposition, overlapping, deconstructing, and reconstructing of the images. Use Photoshop and illustrator... or whatever programs you would like. I have had students create amazing designs using powerpoint and word before... the sky is the limit.

DESIGN FOR? WHAT SIZE, SHAPE, ETC?
What you decide for shape and size is up to you. at a minimum you need two different designs and slogans.

ADD TEXT - EMOTIONS & FACTS
The text can be a quote or the artist's own response to the issue. Alternate large scale and smaller scale text. The text does not have to be oriented at right angles to the poster edges.

Find a fact that creates a "Wow!" response in readers. Have students test the effectiveness of their facts by sharing them with their response groups.

CLOSURE
Have each student write a description of the process and final product.
We will print the media you have created on coffee mugs, posters, etc...

OBJECTIVES
• The students search for proactive responses to an issue or problem.
• The students juxtapose, overlap, and layer images, using raster and vectors.
• The students experiment with creating clear, dynamic compositions.

New MEDIA 20 Photoshop Project Assignment #2

How to TRANSFORM A SELECTION

Photoshop Project

Assignment 2 (2 prints due / part #1 and #2):
Part #1 -- Composite Narrative (self-portrait)

Create a self-portrait image (montage). Be sure to incorporate yourself into the composition in a major way. The image should serve as a true portrait of your total personality. Consider symbols, settings and filter use carefully. Use your Photoshop skills to blend and form a cohesive compostion.

Specifics:
In this assignment you will use Photoshop to create two composite narrative images. Create a new Photoshop file 13" wide by 19" tall at a resolution of 200 dpi. The resulting image will be shown as an electronic projection on screen during critique time. Your final image(s), be sure to save in .psd format, will be printed out using the Roland on Matte Photo Paper. A second version, saved in .jpg format, will be accessible from Internet when we create a personal web portfolio (web site).

Part #2 -- Composite campus setting (make the familiar unfamiliar)

Utilizing imagery (buildings, paths, people, equipment, trees, etc.) found on campus, create a composite image that illustrates a new reality for the viewer. Example: put the front door next to the backdoor and change the shape of the buildings and surrounding area. Make the familiar unfamiliar, but maintain a sense of realism in your final work.
Click here for great examples (http://www.davidadouglas.com/)

Specific grading criteria (for assignment #1):

Two final quality images (printed out AND online version). Each image should include at least three, or more, layers. /5
Incorporate a variety of personal imagery into part 1 and create inventive combinations in part 2. /5
Each image should include two or more applied filters and/or effects/textures. /5
All images should demonstrate superior craftsmanship (no jagged edges, blown-out details, etc.). /5
Correct size, resolution, and format (13 x 19 inches, 200 resolution, .psd format) /5
All compositions should successfully create the illusion of depth (be sure to change the value and scale of certain objects in order to achieve an added sense of dimension. /5
Total __/30

composing 2 images into 1...

hard fast lighting drama

how to move things around in PS

changing focus points

colorize this photo?

STOP MOTION ANIMATION
assignment #3

Stop motion animation is a creative technique that involves technology to give a physical object the ability to move seemingly without aid. By photographing an object's "movements" frame by frame and replaying the images in sequence, life is given to an otherwise lifeless item ("The Stop Motion Animation Process"). Stop motion animation is a form of animation that, at its very core, is a simple process that most can accomplish with only a few tools. The steps to take to produce any stop motion animation involves 1) capturing frames, 2) editing the footage, 3) compressing the footage into a video and 4) outputting the creation. The frames can be shot using standard video film or photographs and exported into a video editing program where music, sound, transitions, credits, etc. can be added. The film must be compressed for the adequate outputting of the film which could be for DVD release or simply web streaming.

Due to the ease of access to such a successful form of animation may be why stop motion animation is used so extensively throughout the world and in a variety of fields. Stop motion animation can be found almost everywhere from television advertisements to feature films. The filmmaker/animator PES, for example has created very creative and surprising shorts as advertisements for major companies worldwide. His latest addition to his body of work has been a commercial for the 60th Anniversary edition of Scrabble ("Home of the Twisted..."). And while stop motion is a creative technique which can be used to promote a product, it has high entertainment value as well. For example, stop motion was used to create Tim Burton's famous cult-classic "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Based on Burton's poem of the same name, it was the first movie to be completely animated using this technique. Exquisitely done, this film took one hundred animators three years to complete due to the fact that it required twelve stop motion moves per second of film ("Trivia..."). This film is a perfect example of how an artist used stop motion animation to adequately portray their creative ideas and used imagery to illustrate a literary narrative.

See the following links for awesome stop motion animation examples...

Whiteboard Stop Animation

Lego Stop Animation

The first thing you need is, of course, an idea. Try to stick with something simple for your first one–any action that can be split up into smaller parts works well.

You may wish to make an inanimate object appear as though it is alive; for example, a sock inching its way across the floor or a piece of paper that crumples itself up. While brainstorming, keep in mind that you can expect to shoot around 10 photos for every second of film.

Second, you’ll need a digital camera. Since you won’t be printed these photos, you can set your camera to the lowest size image setting. This will let you fit more images on your memory card at a time. Depending on how long you’d like your movie to be, you may need to “fill and dump” your camera (copying the photos to your computer and erasing the memory card) multiple times before you are finished.

Finally, in order to turn your images into an animated video you will need video editing software like Apple’s iMovie or QuickTime Pro. There are also a number of free and shareware programs for Mac, Windows, and Linux, some of which are listed at the end of this tutorial. More information about these programs is available on their respective websites.

STEP 3: FIND AND DOWNLOAD YOUR PHOTOS

Now that you’ve captured your images, you’ll need to get them onto your computer. This process varies widely from camera to camera and computer to computer. Consult your camera guide and software “Help” if you are unfamiliar with this process. We’ll be using movie maker.
Once you photograph your stop motion project, you simply need to copy all of your photos into an animation folder you create in your pictures folder on your computer. Do not use your "O" Drive for this, as it will fill it... Once you create your animation, you will save it to disk, then you can eliminate this folder once your project has been published.

First, import your image files to your computer's hard drive into the libraries folder "Videos". Then open Movie Maker and transfer your photographs from "videos" into movie maker, and begin the process of compiling your photos into an animation.

FINAL TOUCHES: MUSIC AND SHARING
To fine tune your animation, you can slow it down by choosing to use more than 3 frames-per-photo. You can also add music to your short by dragging MP3s or AIFF files to the timeline..

FREEPLAYMUSIC.COM

To share your stop-motion video, you’ll want to "save movie". The steps in this process depend on which format you wish to use... I believe that for our purposes, "for Computer" is a fine file size and format. If you wish to send your movie to someone via email, you will want to save another copy as "email" size and format. In general, look for “Export” or “Share” options, and try one different formats to increase your understanding.

Have fun, be creative and always EXPERIMENT!

Post-it Note Stop Animation

Music Video Stop Animation

Story Boarding

STEP 1: STORYBOARD YOUR IDEAS

STORY BOARDING

Storyboards present the visual image of what the viewer will be looking at on screen, whether it's a television set, a movie theater screen or a computer monitor. These are shown in a format called a "storyboard panel". A storyboard panel is a rectangular shaped box on a piece of paper. The dimensions of this box are usually around 4" wide x 3" high for television. There are usually 3 panels to an 8 1/2" x 11" page.The size and shape of the panel can vary depending on what is called the "aspect ratio". This is the size of the width to the height. The television aspect ratio is 1:1.33 - 1 units high by 1.33 units wide (also known as 3:4). Standard Widescreen is 1:1.85, 70mm film is 1:2.2, and Anamorphic Wide screen in 35mm Panavision is 1:2.35.

STEP 2: SHOOT YOUR ANIMATION
Let’s say, for example, that you would like to make that sock move itself across the floor. Start at the beginning: place the sock somewhere and take your first photo. Remember, you want to use camera (still frame) mode, not movie mode.

Using a tripod and only moving your object will make it appear as though your object is moving through your frame. Keeping the object in the same general area in each frame by moving the camera along with it will make it appear as though you are traveling with the object. It’s up to you.

After you’ve taken your first photograph, move the sock slightly in the direction you want it to travel and take another photo. Move it again by the same distance, and take one more. Continue this until the sock reaches where you want it to stop. You can manipulate your object in creative ways to add visual interest to your film, just make sure that whatever movement your object makes is done slowly over several frames.

Finally, if you make a mistake while shooting, delete that picture on your camera and take another. This will save you from having to edit your film later.

STEP 4: ANIMATE YOUR PHOTOS
In order for your animated short to play properly, you must tell Movie Maker how long you want each photo to appear before showing the next one. It’s kind of like creating a slideshow, except instead of giving each image a few seconds, you give it only a fraction of a second. The timing you choose will affect the overall tempo and length of your film.

For our sock example we used a duration of 3 frames-per-photo. Since videos you create in Movie Maker usually play at 30 frames-per-second, a setting of 3 frames-per-photo means you’ll see 10 photos every second. Now you can see why you have to shoot so many photos!

If you use the 3 frames-per-photo setting, you can easily estimate how many photos you’ll need to create a movie of a given length. In our example we used around 100 photos, for 10 seconds of video. If we wanted to make an animation exactly 30 seconds long, we’d shoot 300 photos.

Time in Movie Maker appears in “0:00″ format (see figure 3). The number before the colon is the number of seconds and the number after the colon is the number of frames (so 3 frames-per-photo looks like this “0:03″).

This next step is very important, so stay with us! In Movie Maker, select all of the photographs in your stop-motion album (the quick way to do this is to click on the very first photo and then, holding down the shift key, scroll down and click on the last photo, or right click and "select all".)

You just created your first stop-motion animated video short!

Two-sided tshirt Project ... Yup, you are that Awesome. Assignment #4

Just continue on the path that you are on with the tshirt project, designing a two sided shirt that demonstrates your strongest ability in Photoshop...

Assignment #5

Create an Illustration...

"An Illustration is a visualization such as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that stresses subject more than form. The aim of an illustration is to elucidate or decorate a story, poem or piece of textual information (such as a newspaper article), traditionally by providing a visual representation of something described in the text." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustration)

Historic Illustration

Early books were illustrated (and written) by hand. They were often created by the church and referred to as illuminated manuscripts. The next step in the evolution of illustration was wood block prints which was used in the 15th century. In the 16th century etchings were used and in the 18th century lithography was used because it was faster and more precise. In the late 1800's illustration became a major factor and illustration's golden age came about. Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, and Maxfield Parrish became well known for their mastery and illustrators/ authors such as Beatrix Potter became prevalent. The introduction of easier and more inexpensive photography equipment led to the decline of illustration in the early 1900's.

WHAT TO DO???

The assignment is to create an illustration of your choice that is to be paired with an article (or song, poem or otherwise) of your choice. The illustration should compliment your article, bringing to life a main idea or concept of the article. Generally, a quote or written component are included in most illustrations. Size is left up to you, as some illustrations are small, while others are full page spreads.

Tell a Story

Many images are used to help a narrative, and as an illustrator it is important to keep developing this skill in your off-time.

Make a book cover for your favorite classic novel.
Create a series of illustrations that show the passage of time.
Illustrate a song.
Make a narrative advertisement for a soft drink.
Illustrate your favorite childhood memory.
Make a children’s book spread for a fairy tale.
Illustrate the four seasons.
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Make a series of black and white “chapter” drawings for a novel.
Retell a short story in graphic form.
Create a theater poster for a Shakespearean play.
Create a series of illustrations that shows a person aging.
Make an instructional poster for a favorite recipe.
Illustrate a day in the life of a cat, dog, fish, or monkey.
Make a picture book dummy.
Illustrate the seven days of the Creation.
Interesting stories to consider: The Odyssey, the Bible, Aesop’s Fables, Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare, nursery rhymes
Make a magazine cover for a current news story.
Illustrate a famous historical event from: 20 years ago, 100 years ago, 1000 years ago, Prehistoric times
Illustrate family life in the future, at least 100 years from now.

Academic Exercises

Time to get back into the classroom! Refresh your skills every now and then so you don’t lose sight of the basics.

Make an illustration influenced by your favorite illustrator.
Paint a landscape with only three colors.
Create a painting in a medium you’ve never used before.
Study and draw figures from each source: Bridgman, Vanderpoel, Hogarth, and the masters
Make an abstract painting.
Paint a self-portrait.
Create a full painting in 30 minutes.
Draw a figure in: 1 hour, half hour, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds.
Fill a page of your sketchbook.
Create two versions of the same painting — one with warm colors, one with cool colors.
Sketch in a public place.
Paint a traditional still life.

Illustrations in...

Illustration in Art

Illustration has intermingled with art for many years but it became very noticeable during the Pop art movement in the 1960's. Warhol, Lichenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg had a obvious influence not just in style but in production. The used illustration techniques such as silk screen printing and lithography.
Andy Warhol
Roy Lichtenstein
Robert Rauschenberg

Modern Illustration

Illustration is still commonplace in magazines, newspapers, and on the web today. Advances in technology have led to a greater use of digital Illustration using programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Illustrators today will still work in traditional materials such as paint, ink, & watercolor but the envelope has widened to allow nearly anything from collage to photography. On the right are links to interviews with three modern illustrators. Click the link and read the interview. Each of the illustrator's has a very distinct style and mood. Consistency is generally necessary in order to market yourself as an illustrator.
ERIC ROHMANN
DANNY GREGORY
MATTIAS ADOLFSSON

Illustration Techniques
There is a wide rage of techniques in illustration and there are some excellent websites to aid you in the process. Below are three links to sites that show some demonstrations on technique. Even if you are not interested in illustration you can still learn from watching other artists work. There are a number of artists who blog regularly and you can watch their creative process. It's important to keep in touch with other artists that are talented to stay sharp.

Make an album cover for your favorite band.
Create a modern movie poster for your favorite classic movie.
Create a classic movie poster for your favorite modern movie.
Design a creature that is a combination of at least two different animals.
Design a car from 100 years in the future.
Paint a landscape painting of an imagined land.
Draw a treehouse. Include as much detail as you can.
Draw 50 thumbnail sketches of the same object.
Make an illustration for each month of the year.
Design a deck of cards.
Make up your own fairy tale land and characters.
Research and draw characters/objects/settings from: the Mob, the Middle Ages, the Samurai, a Pirate ship.
Draw a monster a day for a month.
Illustrate a song from the Sixties.
Create illustrations of current events and topics such as global warming, airport security, new technology, or education.
Illustrate a stereotype.
Participate in Illustration Friday.
Create a Moji.
Start a blog.
Help other artists who ask for critiques of their work.
Join an artists’ forum and participate in discussions.
Find and study online tutorials.
Look at other artists’ work through portfolio sites and blogs.
Subscribe to Drawn!
Subscribe to Lines and Colors.
Listen to what other artists have to say through podcasts.
See what other artists’ like on de.li.cio.us and StumbleUpon.
Contribute to the ThreeThumbsUp Gallery.
Read EmptyEasel.com.
Check out AmateurIllustrator.com.
Join a community like the Little Chimp Society or Illustration Mundo.
See the point of view of an art director.
Stay up to date with your industry: SI, SCBWI, GAG, IPA
Find illustration competitions.

Assignment #6 Portfolio DVD Cover

I believe it is very important that you collect all of your assignments into one portfolio. To do this, I ask of you to create a DVD cover 4.75"X 4.75". The composition you create is all of your own design. Remember that it represents you as a designer and should reflect aspects of your strengths, professionalism, and interests in New Media.

I will give each student a DVD case and new DVD to save their files onto for their portfolio.

This project will be submitted to me as a semester portfolio project, marked for your CTS modules when completed.

Photoshop Creation Assignment 7

Use the image on the left to link to a face painting workshop.
Copy the image below to use in photoshop... do this by right clicking on the image, select "Save image as", choose a location to save it, probably your "O" drive or the "pictures" file on your desktop. Open Photoshop, open the file containing this pretty lady...

​New Media 20

SOCIAL ISSUE AND CHANGE DESIGN PROJECTassignment 1...