Flash project: conclusion

So its been quite some time since I turned in the flash project. I deviated dramatically from my original design and with for something alot more minimalistic. With my previous design my eyes were alot bigger than my stomach, especially considering I’m a rookie Flash user.

I kept the daisy, but eleminated the literal exploration of other environments and decided on a simple and less multi-layered design. Heres a screenshot.

When the user hovers over the petals with his mouse, they turn into a colored version of themselves, and the center turns yellow. Click the red petal and a red vine grows out of the flower. Use your mouse to hover along the vine, following its path. Along the vine you will trigger the growth of another vine, follow that vine or follow the one youre already following, each path leads to new growth without giving any warning to the viewer. The viewer must search for the triggers that grow each new vine, there will be no visual indications. This is a loose reflection on life and how one must journey through life to find their destiny, which will be revieled to them along the way. Click the center of the flower to erase and start over.

Because this is a prototype, only the Red, Orange and Center of the flower are interactive. The rest of the petals will react when hovered over but not to clicking.

Heres a working version of the project:

http://dfyb.net/daisy.swf

more thoughts on the Flash project

as to where each ‘button’ will lead to: i would like the viewer to be taken to an environment relating to the picture seen on the flower petal. the environment will be somewhat interactive, the most important aspect being how to return the main page.

to return to the main page, the viewer must interact with the environment, search around to find the link back to the main page. this is intended to involve the viewer by forcing him or her to experience that particular environment, whether it be a positive or negative experience.

Preliminary thoughts on our first E. Media project

This is totally new to me. Im just now figuring out how to use Flash (the requirement for this project) and I have a few rough conceptual directions I want this project to take on. I started with a picture of a daisy, with the idea that each petal will be a button in Flash that leads to something else, alot like a paper fortune teller. That idea morphed into making each petal a cutout from a larger picture where I could find a solid field of whatever color Im looking for. For example, I might cut a petal from a picture of a cluster of red balloons. I like the idea of the picture being something technological or un-natural; it would provide a nice contrast to the natural element of the flower.

Conceptually I would like to incorporate the theme of fate, different paths of destiny, an interface similar to those ‘choose your own adventure’ books we discussed in class. I want to play on the theme of ’she loves me she loves me not’, represented abstractly by a digital daisy where each petal is a different outcome.

some questions I need to answer:

-how am I going to represent each outcome, and how will I lead the viewer back to the ‘home’ page of the daisy?

-how do I make each transition fluid and pertaining to the theme?

-what music should I use and what tone will it create?

this is my original brainstorming sketch with my notes

these are rough examples of what the flower petals might look like once cut from their larger photos.

more to come.

Comments on “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin

A copy of the article can be found here: http://bid.berkeley.edu/bidclass/readings/benjamin.html

Benjamin’s article is discussing the evolution of Art and aesthetics in relation to the ability to reproduce art on a mass scale. Beginning with a history of artistic reproduction (the woodblock), the author moves through a brief history of mechanical reproduction in Art. Benjamin then moves on to address the more abstract issues that are created now that reproducing art becomes more and more simple and convenient. A few of the topics addressed are ownership, and the value of ‘the original’.

Artistic reproduction can be found in the media as well, where art now reaches masses of people, and thus effects more people than ever would be possible had the technology to reproduce art not been available. An artist in our day and age can be more influential in a single day than the masters like Titian and Divincci were over years of their lifetimes.

I think a good example of an artist having influence via the media would be the issue in Amsterdam that occured a few years ago when artists began publishing cartoon drawings of the prophet Mohhamed, whos face, in the Muslim tradition, is forbidden to be recreated. Needless to say, turmoil ensued as numbers of offended Muslim individuals protested the outrageous event.

More comments to come as we discuss this article in class.

Getting the ball rolling…

Just in case someone will be reading this, Ill add a formal intro.

Im Christina Day, and this is my art journal where Ill be posting my current projects, ideas, assignments, and anything else I deem worthy of posting on the internet.

That said, Ill start with some notes on my current game design project. Were developing a third person shooter in which the main character is an ‘invader zim’-esque robot. were discussing using a music theme, having the robot character wear headphones, maybe incorporate a music selection feature.

Im uploading a colored concept sketch i came up with to give us a place to start.