Week 10
It was my presentation week. I presented on Marshell Berman's "Modernity: the experience of space and time".

(http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mcclun/My%20Work/Drawings/Mickey%20Mouse%20(1997).jpg)

There will always be contradictions. I used the growth of cartoons to animations that human now experience modernity. Cartoons started with only moving visuals on our television screen, as time past, sound are add on and visuals are improved. Until today, cartoons are almost being replaced with animations because of its good quality where the modern people preferred.

According to Berman, to live in modernity, is to live with contradiction. There will not be a any one-sided; when there is benefit, disadvantage will come with it. Humans will tends to think more of their own personal benefits which they had already predicted that contradictions do need to happen.

Week 11
Economics, ownership and culture of information

Copyleft was indeed a smart act in the copyright law. I understand the benefit one will ensure from its master piece but copyleft had able their master piece to go beyond their expectation.





The creator of a software is considered a genious, but what if they are others who re-write his software and came out with better version of it? The copyright law will protect the rights of the original creator but copyleft had enable his software to achieve better performance with the help of others. There are many people out there might able to help us and make it better but because of us worried to much about our individual benefits, we do not dare to take the next step and allow others to help improve ourselves.

Week 8
Designing immersive environments

Space in computer games. Space are created in computer games for players to explore and to play in a game. These spaces are big but they are limited or they each have their own bourdaries. These boundaries are set to guide the player throughout the games so they are able to continue to the next stage.

(http://www.lotussoft.com/picture/little-soldiers-by-phelios-computer-games.jpg)

Space also allows players to move around in a game to look for tools, other players and etc. All computer games need to have space, without space, there would not be a game. But these space are always limited, if the designer of the game do not limits them, then the player would have a hard time finishing the game or it would be an endless game.

In conclusion, space is created for the pleasure of the player to play in a game.

Week 7
Designing Mediated Experience

Things are design on purpose to make us how we are suppose to respond to it. For example, movies, articles, journals, music and etc.

We are being control by the designers on how to react to their creation of art work. We experience what they wanted us to experience. Which is why we feel goose bumps in a horror movie, laugh until our tears out in a comedy and etc. They are all well planned and designed.

We are all involve in one way or another, sometimes we do not even realise it happens. This happens even on a road, you saw a Motorola mobile phone billboard and information went into your brain. Humans have reaction when they see things. We can get attracted to what is on the billboard and it might be convincing enough to make us want to own a Motorola mobile phone. The billboard was design for such.

(http://people.msoe.edu/~raud/forum/V80%20Billboard.jpg)

We do not have many choices to avoid such experience. Even in news, they are all design for us. The choices we have are, switching channels or shut off the television set. However, when it is off, we are able to be attracted by our surroundings.

It is too hard to avoid being control by our surroundings that was design to control our experiences.

Week 6
Novel sounds and noises: the new world of electronic music

Sounds and noises are not today's technology. Human are able to make sounds and noises from the time they are born on earth. Baby crying are example of them.

But because of today's technology, sounds and noises are brought to a higher level where, people create better sounds and noises for pleasure of our ears.

Musics and songs are creation of it. People nowadays listen to music to relieve themselves from stress at work, relationship, family and etc.

Today's multimedia could even bring music to a greater height. Where distribution of music is accessible through the internet. Anyone with a computer accessible to the internet is able to these music worldwide.

To produce a music is also easy now. Any recording devices or an audio software could make music. Now, there are even sound engineers to produce electronic music. Where sounds are produce through an audio software using computers as gadgets.

The limitation to produce a music nowadays is very low compare to the past few decades. Where recording can only be done at studios which involves high financial cost.

Animation also comes closely with music. Animation alone is not strong enough to the audience. For example, Finding Nemo. Musics are produce to go together with the movie. There also human recorded sound to enhance the animal characters' vocals, other than just the electronic music.

Because of today's technology, I would say that art works produced are not as good when music was first created. Human tend to take today's technology for granted. Because of the low prduction cost, human are less aware of their qualities. They could simply re-produce their work again.

- the image cannot appear here, please click the link below to view, sorry for any inconvinient caused

(http://www.novamusic.com/images/studio001c.jpg)

In conclusion, multimedia had help many to produce & distribute music and animation but its quality are still beyond expectation to qualified as an art piece. There are also pros and cons in all matters.

Week 5
Science fiction: visions of the future.

Science fiction or better known now as sci-fi, has achive a tremendous height in the film industry. Film makers has been making fantacies, amusements and fears to film watchers. For example, a norm would never experience life in Matrix. Sci-fi had brings wonders and imagination to human's life.

Those-were-the-days Sci-fi films are very influential to today's sci-fi films. Most of the ideas are quite similar from the past but because of what we have now, called technology, it brings human to a higer level of imagination.

Comparison of Jurassic Park (1993) & Godzilla (1954) setting designs

Jurassic Park (vs) Godzilla

Godzilla is one of the early "giant monster" movies produced in Japan back then. Whereas, Jurassic Park is a modern or futuristic "giant monster" movie. Both settings were generally the same, where it is mostly set in the jungle.

The Godzilla itself is less detail and neat looking compare to the dinosours in Jurassic Park. The movement of the of the Godzilla is not as lifely as the dinosours in Jurassic Park. Where the dinosours move smoothly. A huge difference that can be seen because of the advance of technology.

Technology had bring sci-fi movies to the extend where movie watchers are able to enjoy and feel the trauma which was set in the movie itself to its audiences. The movie itself has its own life, which would lighten up its audience's life.

In conclusion, sci-fi is borderless, it is all up to the creativity of the creator's mind and it will be never ending. Better technology will encourage creator's mind to go as wild as possible.

Week 4
Modernity: the experience of space and time

Regarding to the readings by John Ruskin and William Morris on industrialisation of mass production and engagement with machine technologies in the making craft.

In my opinion, mass producing handy crafts with machines will degrade the value and the quality of the crafts itself. A craft being made fully with machines will each have less attention compare to hand made. Machines are program to make them in a large quantity but its quality will somehow be neglated because of how it was set.

Whereas, if a craft were to be hand made, the person would have its whole heart to make the craft as good as possible. When crafts are produce by human individually, they are not identical. This also brings more value to the craft itself as the artist could not make as much craft as a machine can make.

Although the quantity of hand made product are much lesser than machine made, but hand made crafts will always have a much higher value as for its quality.

(http://www.kristapeel.com/images/paintings-grasses50.jpg)

Although the writers have its point, but there is always room for imperfection. Hand made crafts which make its value higher can only be purchase and appreciate by the higher income communities, which also considered as the minorities. The lower income communities would have difficulties to even own a craft which is hand made. Thus because, their daily life's income are still unpredictable.

In conclusion, there are positive and negative points in the writers' point of view. The lower income communities would be looking forward that someday in their life, they would achive what the higher communities are doing, which is near to almost impossible with political, social and etc. issues happening around the world currently.

First blog for MHC 292.

Our tutor, Harry introduce us to what Multimedia is. Multimedia means multiple media. They are combination of sound, graphic, text, video, and animation.

We were later ask to act as "System Analysis", as a normal user to view this website, www.balthaser.com.





As a commen user, this are my reviews on it:-
-The loading speed of this website is appropriate. User do not need to wait too long for loading.
-Text move too fast at the beginning on the intro.
-Text font use are italic, making it too fancy. Normal text would just do fine.
-Introduction audio is attractive as this get user's attention to continue viewing this web.
-The Tour Guide is usefull for first time user to understand what services and abilities is provided in this web site.
-A clear voice over is use for the tour guide brings clarity to user.
-Background music or sound effect is also suitable to sustain user's interest to continue the tour guide.
-This website did attracted me to try out their free account.

Overall, the tutorial session sustain our interest as we were introduce to multimedia and we are about to comment from user point-of-view.

Christal Loh
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