Photo Effects.

Here are some cool effects that you can do with a program I found on the desktop:

X-Ray:

Pencil:

Example of a Quick Video:


Four-in-One:

You can add backgrounds:


Look like an idiot:

Look like an idiot in a 'foreign country':

Pretend to have been to Wimbledon.

You get the picture...

Video Copying Skills

This was necessary =]

Week 4 (Lecture)

In the lecture for the fourth week of new communication technologies, we analysed a time-line of the development of screen and cinema. It spanned from the beginning in 1895 to 2010.

So in order to provide a brief yet accurate account of the time-line, here is a list of the development of screen and cinema:

1895 - The Birth of Cinema.
1897 - The First Permanent Movie Theatres.
1903 - The First Narrative Film.
1905 - The Nickelodeons.
1906 - 1st Full Length Feature Film.
1909 - The Movie Palaces.
1912 - The Serials.
1913 - The Birth of the 'Studio System'.
1914 - The First Movie Star.
1919 - An Industry on the Rise.
1920 - Expressionism.
1921 - Sound.
1922 - Montage.
1923 - Animation, Hollywood (Land) and Technicolour Dreams.
1925 - The Mile High Club.
1927 - Birth of the Talkies.
1929 - First 100% colour, Talking, Singing, Dancing Picture and The Oscars.
1933 - Automobile Movie Theatre.
1937 - Snow White.
1939 - TV and The Greatest Year in Film History.
1941 - Film Noir.
1945 - Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting!
1952 - 3D.
1953 - The B-Movie.
1955 - Movies on the TV.
1956 - Video Killed the Radio Star.
1958 - Cinema Verite.
1959 - Shocking, but True and Something's a bit Fishy.
1960 - Psycho! (The Movie).
1963 - The Multiplex and Video Killed the Radio Star Pt 2.
1966 - Star Trekkin'.
1967 - The One and Only.
1968 - Faces.
1969 - The One and Only Pt 2.
1970 - A disastrous Beginning and The Really Big Screen.
1971 - Proud to be Black and The Blockbuster.
1972 - PrOn.
1978 - Halloween (The Movie) and Lasers.
1980 - HBO.
1981 - I Want My MTV.
1982 - Film and Video Arcade Game.
1983 - Dragon's Lair.
1985 - The Home Blockbuster.
1986 - Computer-Generated-Animation.
1988 - Live-Action and Animation.
1991 - All you base are belong to us.
1993 - El Mariachi.
1994 - Pulp Fiction (The Movie).
1995 - Toy Story.
1997 - DVD's and Troops.
1998 - HDTV, The Last Broadcast and VOD.
1999 - The most profitable film in Hollywood history and TiVo.
2000 - Asian Action and The Naughties.
2001 - Inspired by the game and The Hire.
2002 - Movies on Demand.
2004 - What Backlot?
2005 - DVD killed the video star, feeling Blu and Inspired by the movie, by the game?!
2006 - YouTube.
2007 - Broadband Release.
2010 - Vibrators (seats).

Fascinating stuff...

Tutorial (week 4)

Today were doing a scavenger hunt! We have to find the answers to completely random questions without using Google or Wikipedia. Okay, here they are:

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin? How long did it take to grow?

A. The biggest pumpkin weighs 1689 pounds and it took 87 days

Reference: (http://www.bigpumpkins.com/viewarticle.asp?id=162&gid=50)

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Lilly Allen?

A. According to an anonymous source, Twitter is the most common and reliable way to communicate with Lilly Allen.

Reference: Craig Thompson (Fellow Student).

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?

A. A giraffe's tongue can grow up to 27 inches long.

Reference: (http://emaleighsblog.blogspot.com)

4. What does Glycomics mean? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?

A. “Glycomics,” the scientific attempt to characterize and study carbohydrates, is a rapidly emerging branch of science, for which informatics is just beginning.

Reference: (http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000075)

Definition:
Transient, highly critical manager: a manager whose interaction with the workforce consists in arriving, criticizing everything and everybody harshly, and leaving again.

Reference: (http://www.ask.com/bar?q=seagull+manager&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.encarta.msn.com%2Fdictionary_1481585101%2Fseagull_manager.html)

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?

A. David Cronenberg's first film was a film called 'Transfer' in 1966.

Reference: (http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+was+David+Cronenberg%27s+first+feature+film%3F+Which+of+his+films+Had+%27Blondie%27+in+it%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freebase.com%2Fview%2Fen%2Fdavid_cronenberg%2F-%2Ffilm%2Fdirector%2Ffilm)

6. When was the original ‘Hacker’s Manifesto’ Written?

A. The original was written in 1986 on the 8th of January. It was written by Lord Blanken Sheperd.

Reference: (http://emaleighsblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/1501art-tutorial-task-three-part-1.html)

7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?

A. Ever noticed that phone numbers given in American movies and TV shows invariably start
with the 555 prefix? Ever wondered why 555 and not something else?

The answer lies 30 years ago or more when the use of exchange names as part of the telephone number was still popular in the USA. Dials had letters as well as numbers and the first 3 letters of the exchange name were dialled followed by numbers. An example might be CENtral 78978. You dialled CEN 78978 or, using all numbers, 236 78978.

It so happened that 5 on the dial corresponded with J K and L and you can’t make any English place names using any combination of J, K and L as the first 3 letters. So the 555 code was allocated to service levels such as Directory Assistance, Operator, Repair Service, etc.

Due to the "low fill" of the 555 code, Hollywood was encouraged to quote 555 numbers in their productions to prevent real subscribers being harassed by members of the public trying out the numbers quoted on the screen. Generic and satirical advertisements and commercials often used 555 numbers. In the early days of exchange names the prefix KLondike-5 was used as this exchange did not exist.

Of course, there was a 555 code in each city (or each locality with its own area code). Therefore there were a lot of 555 codes around the USA being under-used. And with the advent of long distance dialling, anyone could call anywhere by adding an area code to the 555 number.

Reference: (http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Why+do+phone+numbers+in+Hollywood+films+start+with+%27555%27%3F&page=1&qsrc=2417&ab=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telephonecollecting.org%2Fcode.htm)

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Sydney?

A. The cheapest mode of transport that could be found was a flight amounting to $103 through Virgin Blue.

Reference: (http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+is+the+cheapest+form+of+travel+from+the+Gold+Coast+to+Sydney%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airfaresflights.com.au%2Fflights%2FGold%2520Coast%2FSydney-SYD%2F)

Please Note: Unless of course you walk the entire way, which would definitely be cheaper.

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
A.

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?

A. The punk band is called the 'The Black Assassins'.

Reference: (http://emaleighsblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/1501art-tutorial-task-three-part-1.html)

Lecture (Week 3)

Today is our third lecture for New Communication Technologies. We're learning about gathering the concepts of making movies. We're learning about the language of the cinema, otherwise known as 'Cine-Speak'. To start off, we looked at the different shot sizes. There is the 'Long Shot', 'Medium Shot', 'Mid Shot', 'Medium Close Up', 'Close Up', 'Big Close Up', 'Extreme Close Up', etc. Sometimes, a picture can describe particular words. For example: The 'When?' of a story could be represented by the picture of a clock. The 'What?' of a story could be represented merely by the background in the shot and the people inside it. And the 'Who?' of a story can be represented by a close up of a person's face. The 'Why?' of a story is a bit harder to portray through pictures, but most commonly represented by facial expressions to paint a picture of what is being said without dialogue. The 'How?' is generally represented through a Medium Close Up or a series of Close Up's.

This is an example of a Medium Close Up, portrayed through the iconic horror film character: Frankenstein. Bibliography: (http://cineprism.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/frankenstein-3d.jpeg)

This is an example of a Wide Shot, portrayed through a soccer game: Bibliography: (http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~lah/emma/Images/ERH_8years/wide_shot.JPG)


This is an example of a Close Up: Bibliography: (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Galanthus_nivalis_close-up_aka.jpg)

This is an example of a Mid Shot: Bibliography: (http://robinjames.com/db3/00239/robinjames.com/_uimages/RobinMidShotCanyon.JPG)

Another important aspcet in different shots, is that all the content is fitted into the picture. This is otherwise known as Head Room. There is also the factor known as Talking Room. This when we need to fit the character in the proper position to make his dialogue appeal natural and appropriate. Especially when you have two people in the scene, you need enough space for both characters to fit into the shot to have appropriate talking room.

Important note: rule of thirds. (Fitting the characters interest into the cross-points of the shot)

So to conclude, basically we learned an extremely long and strenuous amount of information about different camera angles and positioning people and places in order to create the 'who', 'what', 'where', 'when', 'why' and 'how' of Cinematography. Good stuff :)

Week 3 Tutorials - fun!

Today is our third tutorial of the semester. In the lecture tomorrow we will be focusing on referencing and research of information and more importantly, it's more than just Wikipedia and Google! Unfortunately for me Wikipedia and Google are the main websites that I use for absolutely everything, so this will definitely be a challenge. Obviously we can't use Wikipedia because basically anyone can use it and edit it, but it's so convenient to finding facts and figures about whatever.

So, for this tutorial, we have to explain the acronyms: ECU, WS and MS. At first, I didn't have a clue what these three things meant, but I decided to use good old Google to help out :). I wasn't entirely sure which one it stood for, it was coming up with chess clubs and universities and even a sporting team, but I came across this program called the ECU speech, language and hearing clinic. Basically it helps people with hearing and speaking disorders such as dyslexia.

'The Scottish Rite Program specialises in diagnostic evaluations for children and adolescents who are suspected of having or have been diagnosed with a language-based learning disability including problems with pre-reading skills, reading, writing, understanding speech or expressing themselves'

For the complete story, here's the link:
http://www.ecu.edu/news/newsstory.cfm?ID=1086

Once writing all that information about something I later found out was completely irrelevant to what those three acronyms actually meant, I regrouped and began 'researching' on Google again. However, I spent a fair amount of time on the other stuff about children disabilities and felt that was just as important as the other ECU so I decided to leave it in the blog.

ECU, in actually stood for Extreme Close Up. This is when the camera is in depth and usually focused on a particular area, for example: an eye.


Here is a close up of a young kid's face smiling :). Here's the link: (http://img6.travelblog.org/Photos/22651/263348/t/2171063-Extreme-close-up-0.jpg)


Here is an EXTREME close up of a woman's eye. Oh and here's the link to show my exemplary researching skills: (http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PAB3836.jpg)

Here is a Wide Shot of a football game: Bibliography: (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Arena_football_Kansas_City_wide_shot.jpg)

Tutorial (week 2)

In this lesson we're exploring convergent technologies which are developing the technology in society. However there are particular devices which are deemed quite pointless and more importantly, unnecessary....







People of the 21st century, and in particular, generation Y see these devices as very appealing and interesting, fueling the concept of pointless convergence devices by spending thousands upon thousands of dollars into this outlet of technology.






Only time will tell what new and pointless devices the world will witness...

It's interesting to think how technology has developed. We have the fundamental devices which have revolutionised society, for example a toaster and a microwave. Then people are beginning to combine various devices to create a completely new one. The mobile phone has been modified and advanced for many years now and the cool new capabilities and accessories appear endless...

Lecture (week 1)

Last week we had our first lecture for New Communication Technology. In this lecture we basically had an overview of the course and what we were going to learn and complete for the semester. At the beginning of the lecture we learned about all the new and old devices of technology and how they are used in everyday life. Then we covered intersubjectivity and intertextuality. We also covered convergence and how over the past ten years or so convergence is becoming more common. So far the course appears really interesting, not to complex and hopefully it continues to be this much fun!!!