DANM Final Prototype Questions: answered by Breeze
Lindsey, By nature, site-specific work has a tendency to be dictated by the surrounding environment (sounds, lights, shapes, public, etc). I like the idea of sounds from the space where projection is taking place to be the soundtrack for the film (specially as you’ve presented the premise for your work and its dichotomy: beauty and raw). As your prototype was presented, though, it’s hard to get that from an indoor location. But that in itself… projector fan, footsteps, murmur of quiet chat are all valid ‘soundtracks.’ Comprehension or interpretation? If the goal is to lead the audience to a conclusion, then perhaps recorded sound or even a narrative would be helpful. I think that ‘interpretation’ is cool (whatever audience member gets out of it is ok with you), than soundless track is the way to go.
Luke, I studied 3d modeling and animation for one semester in undergrad… there is NOTHING simple about it. I think unless one has an interest to pursue that route (complex modeling and animation), there may be a lot of crap produced and ultimately cause people to lose interest in the product. But then again, if libraries are available and a ‘lite’ version of the tool can be used… I personally tend to gravitate towards collaborations whenever possible; were this my project, I would steer the development of the tool towards THAT setting.
I had problems with my email when I tried to send you this before. I’ll try to replicate my answer:
Angela, Sorry, but I too am running on fumes and I am a little confused by the ‘question’? But my choice is ‘B’ I wanted to answer the ‘quiz’ without watching the video any more than you showed in class. I guess this makes it a more ‘valid’ answer to the purpose of the class: first impression is the only impression most users will have, don’t you think? I guess some of the issue was not knowing what to look for WHILE watching the video. In the state of mind of a ‘braindead-end-of-the-quarter-grad-student’ I was more than happy to go: “ooh, pretty pictures!” and that was all I was getting from the video. I suppose the audience member context makes a big difference on interpretation AND memory retention. Wow… just read over what I wrote and it confused even ME! Hope some of it makes sense to you.
Lea, I think the idea of giving the audience a dual perspective is a good one. I particularly enjoy the possibility to be IN the box, caged, while looking at videos of the outside world. I think an interesting addition would be an idea of ‘surveillance’ of the people inside the box (as if they were the birds, viewed by the outside world).
Monica, I am trying to distinguish your ‘website’ from a ‘group’ one might join in Orkut or myspace. I think the question of ‘access’ is a biggie for the audience you are trying to reach/connect. Whenever I think of community sites, one strong element that comes to mind is the ability to ‘comment’ or reply to any one section of the site. I think the dialogue created by the comments is one that evokes MORE sharing. Also, uploading images, sounds or even videos (even if links to youtube) would motivate people to participate.
posted on 'form'. sorry, didn't keep a copy!
Will, Personally I enjoy the concept of your project as a ‘short term’ experience. I would play with it and see what happens for maybe a couple of days (see the different images or colors produced over time), but I don’t see its value for a long-term involvement. Mostly, I guess I am NOT interested in keeping track of the ‘negative’ energy reflected by companies associated to the sins. To me, community involvement and focusing on the virtues of my life (and of those around me) are all about the energy that interests me. The affect is more of an experiential thing than a measured amount. I guess that is why I keep suggesting the ‘personal’ involvement and control of different aspects of the ticker. I’d like to see something happen in response to a personal choice; your interpretation is ‘cool’… but learning your point of view and seeing a representation of it, my interest fades away quickly after that. (kind of like looking at a painting in a museum).
Luci, I think that you could have different sections devoted to different interpretations of ‘home.’ Broad may be how some people want to engage, but I think the typical joe off the street wants a bit more direction. I guess it will depend on your target audience.
Mike: Other than the River/watershed, what environmental issues do you feel are important/relevant to expand as another direction, or storyline? Since you are planning on working with children at schools and educating them through taking part in a digital media performance, I think it is appropriate to take on which ever subject the teachers or school wants you to do. You could teach about explorers, or missionaries and their happy indian slaves, etc. I think you should come up with a script (including all the splits in the storyline, games, and cues/lines for the virtual person who leads the audience through the performance). This would really help give everyone, including danm administrators an idea of what you are going for.
Luke: The goal that will attract students need to be articulated more. How will you engage the students' interest in the subject matter? (authoritarian teacher control doesn't count) The games should be more closely related to the subject matter, and not just be games like the tadpole game. Something more like dodge the floating garbage, or catch the floating garbage type game.
lindsey: the flash applications will make it easier for children to navigate through the programs as well as making it fun for them. a few concerns/questions i have are why are there going to be two different linear narratives/direction that are dependent upon the correct answers. i think that would detract from the learning of the children. also are there other issues that you could address besides just the environmental issues. while i think the environmental issues are important, some of it is a little site specific. and there are other things that this project could be used for as well.
brendan: I have always found climate change caused by CO2 emissions an interesting topic. This is not only effecting eco-systems such as the watershed from your project, but larger scale global weather patterns.
Angela: Though issues concerning global warming have become somewhat hot topics, it would be interesting to see the creation of a game dedicated to teaching the root of global warming, and what people can do to prevent further damage to the environment.
Lea: Another issue that is relevant on many fronts is Junkfood. This impacts the environment because of the waste associated with the packaging, because of the industrialization of the living beings such as animals and plants, and the health of people who eat junkfood. I like your project, but I have one other comment to make. I felt that the cartoon seems geared to a very young audience while some other aspects of the game seem geared to an older audience. I may be wrong because I don't have a lot of experience with children, but it was just a feeling I had. It seems like a very worthwhile project.
wll: the question of environmental issues is limitless and almost dependent on the type of audience you are 'educating'. if this needs to be local, you could relate it to fishing - the bbc recently had an article on statistics that illustrate the possibility that by 2050 we will have overfished and polluted the seas so much that we will no longer have natural fish in our oceans. I recommend the movie: an inconvenient truth. There are many resources available, and i almost dont know what to refer you to based on the fact that mainly, I dont know if your audience is staying the same or changing. I think there's enough material on watershed pollution to isolate this project to that theme. also, what can these kids do to make a difference - this can be offered as an activity, after all this should be a goal of this educational process.
ONE toggle switch for comparison mode: When user clicks the toggle switch, the entire story, not just a little chunk, flops over from one version to another. Tick marks on parts of the story are all you need to show there is a ‘difference’ from the one the user is reading from the ‘other’ version. Side by side comparison (two columns as a newspaper layout) is another option. This could be problematic for computers with small screen.
Brandan, I had already answered the ‘old’ questions so here is a combo package.
Headlines and photos that pertain to ‘good’ or ‘friendly’ news catch my interest. I am by nature an optimist and gravitate towards ‘fuzzy’ stories. There is enough bad news thrown around that when I get to CHOOSE the material, I keep it to ‘bright’ subject matter.
No. It’s just an illusion. Specially because most mass media ‘information’ is sensationalized and NOT positive.
Confused, careless, disconnected
Images paired with news: Attention grabber. I seldom flip back and forward to see the actually correlation between the image and the story itself. Typically: image grabs attention and gives me a ‘preconception’ of the material. I read the story and move on without ‘reflecting’ on the image.
Marc, Not having experienced the ‘control’ myself it is impossible to give you a ‘first person’ perspective. I do, however understand the concept and think it’s a great idea. The ‘glitch’ of network speed and latency may, however, be one of the reasons gamers haven’t implemented this agency yet.
Questions here
A
Melancholy, tired, lazy, uninterested, distracted, contentment, reverence.
1 – look down most of the time
2 – move only a few feet at a time
3 – not too curious; only look when necessary to gain general view of surrounding before moving to new location
Deer grazing OLD dog waiting for master to come home Hippopotamus out of water
I felt at peace. Not in a hurry to go anywhere. A couple of hours ago I would have been disturbed by the ‘slow’ pace, but I just woke up from a nap and am feeling good about the speed.
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