Real Situation

Here is the final for "Real Situation":



For this part of the identities "box" project, I decided to convey my passion for writing lyrics and poems. This audio visual piece is played when the user clicks the notebook in the suitcase. The angle and the unsteady nature of the shots in this project give the effect of being the person writing it. The parts where the writing is blurry, however is due to technical difficulties with the camera and not being able to get it focused properly.

The song I chose for this piece is by the band Sublime, called "Real Situation." This song is about war and politics and shares the same viewpoint on the subject as myself. The genre of this music is reggae, my favorite music and which represents struggle, rebellion, love, and spirituality.

The introduction to the video is from an interview with Westwood One Radio. I cut the quote out of the interview to go with the writing of the title. Brad Nowell, the bands guitarist and lead singer is speaking about his influences and mentions danehall music which is stems from reggae and is faster and more bass oriented. This is also one of my favorite genres of music and so I thought it was the most appropriate quote to play while I write the title in the video.

"Who Am I?"

Here is the final for "Who Am I?":



This whiteboard animation is also part of the identities "box" project and comes up when the user clicks the easel in the suitcase. The easel represents my love of art and since the aim of the identities module is to show who you are, I decided to make a surreal piece surrounding the question "who am I".

I approached this by writing the question and answering it through drawing symbols which represent myself. These symbols include, the peace and yin yang symbols, the OM symbol, a tree, a mushroom, waves, the earth, musical notes, a heart, and finally a stick figure representation of myself. These sybols represent peace and balance, spirituality, nature, music, and love. All of these themes are focused around finding one's self.

The music I chose with this piece is the song "Lightning" by Skream. The genre of this music is dubstep. The tone of the music is mellow but has a psychedelic feel to it. I felt this was best suited to the surreal nature of this piece.

After I came up with the idea I looked for some surreal art containing symbols which merge into other symbols. Below is "Roots of Emotion", my inspiration for this work:


(picture from: www.freewallpapers.tk/.../roots-of-emotion.html)

This piece represents love and roots. The tree might represent nature while the emphasis on the roots combined with the heart suggest a deeper meaning.

"Nights Through the Window"

Here is the final for "Nights Through the Window":



This is part of the identities "box" module. This piece is played when the user clicks the camera inside the suitcase, which represents my love for photography. Throughout my life and travels, I have always had a camera to document my experiences. In particular, landscape shots have always interested me and I wanted to use the technique of pixilation to make the landscape come alive. I chose to do a night landscape with a full moon to give it a mystical atmosphere, as the full moon and night is associated with many mystical things. Additionally, the title refers to insomnia and I tried to show the frustration of insomnia through the interuption of the sequence with a black screen and red writing saying "@#$#%^% Window!". This is done right before the tone changes to a more aggressive one through the red window and the red haze in the landscape.

Here is some of the inspiration I had for this piece:


(picture from: www.irishblogs.ie/categories/italy/)


(picture from: www.flickr.com/.../discuss/72157602012887681/)


(picture from:www.flickr.com/.../discuss/72157605156999146/)


(picture from:www.flickr.com/.../discuss/72157605156999146/)


(picture from:www.flickr.com/.../discuss/72157605156999146/)


(picture from: http://www.pbase.com/b2photographs/image/73258492)

Identities - Box Screenshot and Render

For this project we were asked to create a "box" containing 4 items which represent ourselves and our avitar. For these items I decided to include a easel, camera, speaker, and notebook with a pen. Each of these items, when clicked, goes to an audio visual production which applies to the item.

I made the box a suitcase to represent how many places I have lived and how much I have traveled. This also helped me to decide what I would put in my box, because I simply thought of what I always need to have with me. The easel symbolizes my love of art. The camera represents my love of photography and film. The speaker represents my passion for music. Finally, the notebook and pen represents my love for writing.

Again, I am not as happy with with the final result as I had hoped. I had trouble with the textures for the items; in particular the speakers and camera.

Avitar Screenshot

Here is the screenshot and final render from my avitar:
I'm fairly happy with the result, although I would have liked to make it look a bit more realistic The main problem with the production of my avitar was navigating the software.

3D Avitar Sketch

For this assignment, as part of our identities module, we were required to create a 3D avitar in a 3D environment. Both the avitar and the environment have to represent myself. Here is the sketch of what I planned for my avitar and environment:



For the environment, I wanted to do something to do with urban life. I love to play basketball and there are many courts scattered about most cities. I decided to have it closed off and walled in to give the effect of being in a city. When you walk between high buildings, all you can see are the walls unless you look straight up; this is the concrete jungle effect I was trying to achieve.

The trash can represents the waste and pollution of the city and symbolizes the focus on industry and goods in an urban environment.

The actual avitar is a sound system, complete with cd player, headphones that plug into his heart, and speakers for others to hear. The face is a sketch of a painting I have done called "Self Portrait." (see below) This painting signifies the dual sides of my personality. To emphasize the struggle between the two sides, I broke the glass on the frame it was in and took a picture of it instead of directly scanning the picture although it is hard to see this on the final 3D production. (see final avitar render) The overall message from my avitar is that it shows an artistic mind trapped in a mechanical body and surrounded by brick walls, which is all equally symbolic.