Take two photos of the same subject from slightly different angles. Merge the two photos into a single looped, animated gif to create a wiggle stereoscopic image that simulates 3-D.
I decided to use my pal Spike, the metal dog in my front yard, taking about 4 pairs of photos. As ti turned out, my angle of different between each pair was a bit too much, but some of the ones that were similar in angle had enough different to make it interesting:
and from the other side…
I made mine in Photoshop by using the File -> Scripts -> Import into Stacks command, using the option to align objects- this has the effect of keeping Spike mostly motionless but animating the background.
Usually I have to do some futzing back and forth from the timeline view to the frames view in the Animation window. I select all the icons and set the animation speed to the quickest option (0.1s), Keeping the size at 500pixels wide, and 64 colors for the GIF options kept the files small (under 300k each).
Wiggling is fun! Spike is just happy to wiggle all day because…. what else is there to do?
Time after time the road out of a blog funk is sitting down to make some silly ds106 art. So it was later this afternoon, when this tweet form Cathy Finn-Derecki set me in motion:
@cogdog @twoodwar My God. What a load of twaddle! What’s next? Sebastian Thrun on the cover of “Tiger Beat” right next to Justin Bieber?
So challenged to put Sebastian Thrun on the cover of Tiger Beat, I got out the old Photoshop clone brush and went to work.
Now, one thing that gets me growling is when people send out a link via twitter with something like:
This would make a great #ds106 assignment
Which to me is a bit lame- if it would make a good assignment, then go ahead and make it so, damnit. Just tossing a link out there is not #4life to me.
Take a popular figure from politics, education, that you would not expect to be there, on the cover of a teen fan magazine. Bonus points if the cover includes a heart throb of initials JB and a lot of pink color. Re-edit the text as well to blend them into the style of the magazine.
Now that I’m in motion, time to get some GIFfin going…
I’ve wrote my whole shpeel on remixes a while back, but after looking at more material and examples I think I have an even better grasp of it. First I watched “Everything is a Remix Part 1“. This was really interesting to because I love music.
The video went through different genre’s of music, and showed how they used different lyrics, beats, melodies and baselines from other genre’s past… and ‘remixed’ them. Not always giving credit though. I am personally for giving credit where credit is due. But I still think it a creative act. The presentation of this remixed work is still very original. Led Zeppelin presented those lyrics to an audience that was more than likely unfamiliar with the works of Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolfs, etc.
The other video and website I checked out was that for the book by Austin Klean- “Steal like an Artist.” It showed a very positive view on ‘remixing’ and how it was the very essence of creativity. He does show that there is a good and bad way to “steal” though!
Remixing is the very essence of creativity I feel, and it leads to very interesting (sometimes interesting as in… just plain funny) creations. Watching the Buffy vs. Edward: Twilight Remixed and the Star Wars Call Me Maybe videos was a ton of fun. They are creations not made for crazy profiteering, they were made out of a creative passion. They were funny and amusing. The Star Wars video is NOT the Star Wars movie or the original ‘Call Me Maybe’ song, it is something completely different and unique. Same thing with the Twilight remix. Another was the 30 Classic Music Albums Recreated with Lego. This is very original work! It is taking the albums and presenting them in a manner that is brand new and fresh. It re-expresses them.
Remixing can be done negatively, but many times it can be done in an ethical and positive manner. Where that line is drawn is very relative and maybe even a bit vague… but so are most things concerning knowledge I think. If it wasn’t for remixing, we wouldn’t most music that is out, we wouldn’t have different models of cars, different computer brands, smartphones, even fashion… so for the sake of everything… I say we remix on.
I had really no idea what this class would be like. At the beginning, this class was an enigma. I was unsure of how it would be laid out and where I would fit into the dynamics of class. I was completely new to a lot of aspects of this class and was nervous about how I would complete assignments. In the end, DS106 was a great experience. It was a bunch of fun and stretched my knowledge and experience with the wonderful world of digital storytelling. It taught me many new things as well that I would never have realized had I not taken this class. It was much simpler than I had anticipated.
I am most proud of is my visual assignments. It always gives me a boost of confidence when I review my work. However, I wish that I could do some of my audio assignments over again. I have learned a whole lot more from that week in listening and taking others advice. I would definitely choose to continue on with visual storytelling. I deeply connected with the catchphrase assignment. I love catch phrases and lines from TV and Movies. I would also incorporate other things into the “catchphrase” genre, such as song and book titles. In continuing with this assignment, I would also compile several catchphrases to tell a story.
I definitely will use my photo and video editing skills in the future. Also, I will use the ideas that I learned from design and use them. I am a board member of an all breed animal rescue. My job also includes Webmaster, so using all my skills that I have gained from this class, I will re-tool the website into an astounding blog for the animal rescue.
My advice, wisdom gained from experience, to future campers is seriously manage your time. Do not let time get away from you because it will fly away on you. Also, the other major piece of advice I have for any future student is: Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t understand. No one bites and everyone is super helpful.
It all started on May 21, 2012, a young girl by the name of Kavon Johnson was sent to her first summer camp. She had never been to summer camp before so she was very nervous. Along with being very nervous she was questioning why her mother decided to send her to camp this year. Kavon wasn’t a bad child and her mother never had any problems out of her. So why was she being sent away. Even with all of her questions Kavon went on to summer camp.
When Kavon got to camp, it was very new for her. She knew no one, but everyone started introducing themselves and telling each other about their social networking sites. everyone seemed to have a Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube, and so on.
Soon the interaction began. One of the most welcoming tweet Kavon got was from Zazzy, a camp counselor. The tweet read..
.. soon Kavon felt more welcome than she did before and she was settling in safely to camp. So she thought. Soon after an uninvited guess came into the camp. No one knew who this person was at first, but the Camp Counselors stepped in and handled the problem. But Kavon felt very weird about it. How did an unknown guest just sneak into camp? Was she really safe here at Camp Magic MacGuffin?
Kavon tried her best to let the unknown man situation go, but for some reason she couldn’t! She felt as if the man was coming to get her. “Maybe that is the reason why mom sent me here?” “Maybe he is after my family?” “Maybe he came here to kill me” All of these thoughts ran through Kavon’s head. She could have been overreacting, but something wasn’t sitting well with her at all.
She wanted to tell someone about her suspicion but she didn’t want people to think she was crazy. If she would be able to tell anyone it would be her bunk mates. Kavon was assigned to Bunkhouse 3 also known as the naked lunch bunch. She was close to a lot of people in her bunkhouse but was especially close to a girl named Marcey.
Marcey is the girl in the pinkish shirt, holding a dog. Kavon then confided in Marcey and told her how she had never been to camp before, how her mom all of a sudden sent her, and how she thinks the strange uninvited guest was there to get her. Marcey believed Kavon but had a few doubts. Marcey told Kavon that if anymore strange people came into camp they would notify the Camp Counselors about Kavon’s suspensions.
For about 2 week camp was going fine. Everyone was beginning to get really close and the fun was really starting. Kavon had soon forgot about the strange uninvited guest and was making herself at home at camp. One night as Kavon was walking back to her bunk house she heard something in the woods. Like someone was walking.
Kavon ran into the bunkhouse as fast as she could and told Marcey that something had spooked her. Marcey explained that they were at camp and a lot of animals come out at night and they should should not be worried. Then Marcey mention how she had heard that Zazzy had gotten sick from food at camp. Did someone know that Zazzy was sharing food with Kavon and tried to poison her. Kavon was really worried now.
The next day a camp there was a new person there. No one knew his name at first but he came out of no where. Kavon told Marcey about this new unidentified man and that it could be someone else there to harm her. This time Marcey was ready to act. But she first had to check out this “new guy” to see what he was all about. They soon figured out his name was “Slide Guy” and Kavon wondered where he got that name from. Slide Guy was seen all over camp, but he never got too close to Kavon. Slide Guy did do a lot of weird things but he seemed so happy. As if he would not harm a fly. Kavon did start to notice that Slide Guy was getting close to Marcey.
During the middle of Camp, all the campers had to come together to do a radio show. Kavon wanted to work with Marcey on the radio show, like always, but for some reason when Kavon went to her bunkhouse Marcey wasn’t there. Kavon wasn’t really worried because Marcey was very busy around the camp. So that night Kavon attended a fire side chat with the campers. She thought that Marcey would be there, but she wasn’t. Again, Kavon didn’t worry about it she just thought Marcey was skipping out on the chat to do something more important. Kavon started asking other people if they had seen Marcey and no one had. Kavon then noticed that Slide Guy had disappeared as well. She ran and told her Camp Counselors about what had happened and they made this video.
Kavon knew for a fact that someone was out to get her now. Slide Guy could not get close to Kavon so he took the next best thing; her camp buddy. Kavon was in a uproar, she was scared to go out of the bunk, she was scared to be alone, she was scared to eat, she was even scared to do assignments at camp. People were out to get Kavon and her family knew about it. They sent her there to protect her, but she ending up bringing harm to a friend. Why were these people after her and why did they want to harm her?
As camp was coming to an end Kavon heard this strange noise in her bunk. This was the noise..
.. the whole bunk woke up to find someone trying to take Kavon. The bunk house fought back and come to find out it was Slide Guy returning Marcey. He was making this noise because he had gotten all of his teeth pulled and couldn’t speak correctly. Come to find out the people were not trying to harm Kavon nor her family. The were a private investigation group trying to get background information on her for a job she had applied for. She was so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself. The Camp Counselors had one more assignment for Kavon to do. It was called Pause [Four] A Moment. Kavon took a picture of herself when she figured out that she, her family, and her friend were safe and she knew she would remember that moment and Camp Magic MacGuffin FOREVER!
While getting ready to make my way for the airport on my final day in Japan, it seems there’s just time enough for one more animated GIF. The clip above is from an elaborate song and dance number from W.C. Fields’ International House. The musical number, from which this post draws its title, takes place in the ballroom of a hotel in Wuhu, China where very curious things are going down. This 1933 Paramount Pictures’ film is another one I must see when I’m back in the states.
I put the animated GIF together last week but have been too busy pulling everything together for today’s departure that there wasn’t time to get it posted. I did however have time to watch an amazing 11 minute clip from International House on the YouTube. Though I’ve never been much of a W.C. Fields fan, I’m feeling an odd desire to further explore his career as I become more interested in old Hollywood. I’m also eager to see performances by several other Hollywood legends who appear in International house such as Franklin Pangborn, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Rudy Vallee, and Bela Lugosi.
My favorite sequence from the YouTube clip is the dialog between Fields and the hotel nurse Gracie Allen. Though not shown in the clip, Allen’s husband George Burns played the hotel doctor. It is an absurd conversation in which the dingy and naive ALlen clearly gets the better of the surly drunkard. After she walks away Fields delivers a flabbergasted line that totally kills me, “The wren’s cuckoo.”
I’d hoped to be able to say more about why I find this film so intriguing but I really have to get my show on the road. Hopefully, I’ll be abe to find a DVD of in the states and post a review at some point – or at least some more animated GIFs.
Admittedly, this is the Casa (not Soundlab), but that is the 12 string Grant was playing in the Soundlab recordings).
Originally dropped in Alan Levine’s Storybox, which I think was supposed to remain a one-stop shop for media content, Grant Potter and I recorded a bunch of songs sitting around the Soundlab kitchen table back in September of 2011 that I’ve played on #ds106radio a time or two, but thought I would share here. I’ve spent the last week assembling different pieces of music, writing and presentations to be collected and shared on a separate page of this site with the hopes that assembling these works in such a way will lead me to the ‘next’ place in each of these extra-curricular directions.
As a kick off, and look back, at some of the music I feel fortunate to have made in the last year, here are a few choice cuts from the Soundlab Sessions, with Grant Potter.
As I was searching for videos to add subtitles to for this assignment, I randomly ran across this one and new it was perfect! It’s like a double stuffed oreo buffalax.
So check this- It’s a video of an African man singing a Hindi song… then both him and his Indian friend (who is shooting the video) proceed to talk in English. He expresses his love for India and Hindi music.
First lets get a little deep, put on your scuba-gear please…
This video is a beautiful example of identity, globalization, and expression. This is a Hindi song being song by a man who has never been to India, and is of a culture thousands of miles away from it. Yet he sings it beautifully, and you can see how much he loves it. An Indian man is filming this. This alone is showing how people of cultures thousands of miles away are so connected through something like music. Also that they both communicate via English. A language not even originated in either of there cultures. This is also a show of globalization (as well as colonialism, I’m going to take a wild guess and state that there connection was probably made during the age of colonialism. Probably both colonized by the British back in the day- India definitely was). While I’m no fan of colonialism, I see a beautiful mashup of cultures here.
Now for my creation…
-My brother in this video needs some bengay
- He thinks its pierre, but changes his mind and decides its booger
- It is numb, his son is numb, Taryka (his girl?) is numb… he needs more (bengay)
… As you can all see this is serious. Someone help the man….
So after taking part in the 7 day challenge , I decided it was only right to also do its mash-up assignment. At first I had no idea where to even start… so I started going through the daily create archive. As I viewed creation after creation, it sort of bloomed into the idea that is my mash up. The recipe:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aforgrave/7553769712/sizes/c/ <— tornadoe on ocean pic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ6j27e4jJk&feature=player_embedded <—- shaky cup in storm clip
http://soundcloud.com/mindofamasri/windy-rainstorm <— wind and rain
- a little voice recording
- VideoPad Video Editor (shout out to Chanda for exposing me to it!) <– check out her blog its awesome!
- some cool transitions
- a sprinkle of humor
I took a telemarketing sound clip, and cut it off with a rude warning of a storm. There have been storm warnings almost every other day here in Northern Va for the past few weeks, so it was only right.
Camp is now over (see the final story. If you are craving an experience like this, head over to ds106 and see how to participate. For more on the Summer of Magic Macguffin, see.....
