Flash animation - the next update

I have found a news report that I have cut up to fit the length and style of my animation. From this I can see the main sections that I will need to include and therefore have drawn out an animatic. This is a new method for me, as I have not made 2D animations before, and when planning for projects that include video elements I have always used storyboarding. Basically animatics are a very basic hand drawn version of the final piece.

To see an example of an animatic click this link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FinPTn-Rg-M.  

From my research, it is clear to me how I will go about beginning the actual animation process in Flash, how to export the video and how to use audio within Flash for an optimal performance in the final exported project.

I should mention the nitty gritty parts of the animation process too, if you haven’t read my previous post updating you on my animation project, it might be a good idea as I have mentioned a lot about the actual animation techniques I will be using.

Although before I begin animating, I would feel much more comfortable knowing I have all of the graphics work done. Not because I’m worried about these, I generally really enjoy the design process of a project as much as the technical parts. But if I am animating a scene and realise I need something extra, or do not like the graphics I have drawn then I would like to have spares handy to go asap.

This part of the project is definitely underway, as I have already created an animatic I know exactly what to create digitally, as I have drawings to work from.

As I have seen previously in a lip syncing tutorial, I’m going to first arrange the audio appropriately, as I have two pieces to import. These are the opening news tune, and then the broadcast itself. I do not have to worry too much about slicing up the news report in flash, as I have cut and pasted together the report from audacity.

 

On a side note in relation to this, I highly recommend that if you need any audio work done (generally low key) then go and download audacity here - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I’m not sponsored by audacity or anything, it’s just a brilliant program to get to grips with easily and above all, it’s free.

As for the rest of my project I will be updating this blog on my progress, so if you would like to see the developments of my animation then keep reading! Or even if you would like to just have a look at the finished piece, I will upload it here first.

Flash animation, a project in progress

Our most recent assignment at college is to create a 2D animation, in a satirical fashion for our client (Imaginary of course) ‘Jib Jab’. Jib Jab specialise in creating these sorts of animations that poke fun at any major issues we see in the news these days.

So because it is for this client, we have a couple guidelines to stick to. The first of which is for the animation to be between 45 seconds and a minute long. The other was to, like Jib Jab, pick a topic in the news to make fun of.

Also I should point out that we have been learning about some basic animation techniques to use. I gather that the better the use the technique in our final animations, the better the grade we will get for it… I suppose.

These techniques include ‘frame by frame’ animation, ‘tweening’ and using the ‘bone’ tool.

Frame by frame animation – Basically one of the more classic methods of animation, you draw out each new frame of animation. In terms of my animation I will probably be using this for the lip syncing element.

Tweening – This is a tool in Flash to create smooth movement, generated by the program itself. In basic terms you can choose a frame to start with and then another with your character in a different place, then use the ‘tween’ option to create movement between the two frames that you have specified. For my animation I am thinking about using tweening for mostly any camera movement rather than character movement.

The ‘Bone’ tool – This tool (also in Flash) is much different from the techniques I have already talked about. This tool allows you to create the basic skeleton of a character underneath or behind the graphics. This is generally used for more realistic movements, and to use instead of the frame by frame technique in terms of movement. I am still undecided if, or where, I would use this for my animation.

Right off the bat I have an idea growing in my mind. I have decided to start gathering different news reports about the price of fuel at the moment, poking fun at the subject (without offending people obviously).

Keep following this blog for further updates; I will also post my final animation on here too.

2D Animation

We have recently been set a project to create a satirical styled 2D Flash animation, in the style of 'Jib Jab'. This means that we are basically going to create a comical animation, picking fun at some issue in recent news.

I have already pitched and presented my idea to my lecturer at college. My idea will be to make fun of a recent news report on the price of fuel, using the audio from the report and adding my own comical graphics to create the effect I want to achieve.

As I have already taken the audio from the news piece and sliced it up to around 50 seconds, my next move will be to develop an animatic. This will just be hand drawings outlining the animation with the audio piece added.

I will be posting more updates soon.

Cyanide and Happiness Short - A Review

This cyanide and happiness short is about a character named 'sad Larry' who meets with an old friend whist eating lunch. This old friend tries to cheer him up, but when that fails he kicks food in his face. It is a comedy themed animation, and is named appropriately as the cartoon is only around a minute long.

In terms of the storyline, obviously this animation is very basic. But because it is just a quick comedy type animation I feel that this cartoon does not need a good storyline, it is a very comical quick Flash animation. Because it is set in this style, the graphics are relatively simple as well, although the animation does run smoothly.

Again in this animation as the previous one that I reviewed the animation involves both frame by frame animation and tweening.

Leo and Satan - A Review

Leo and Satan is a comedy type Flash animation in which the storyline involves a little boy and Satan, the devil. In this particular episode Leo and Satan are playing video games when they lose the batteries to their controller, then after wrecking the sofa to get them Satan turns in to the huge demonic creature that he is, and breaks down in to hell in anger.

The storyline for this animation is somewhat lacking a lot in terms of the cartoon, but in my opinion are made up for with the funny antics included during nearly all of the episode. Furthermore, the style that the cartoon is made in, the storyline does not seem to be as important as what is actually happening on screen, it is more about a few quick laughs. Also, as the cartoon is only 3:22 minutes long it would be counter productive to introduce the audience to a complication storyline.

In terms of the actual animation used, there seems to be a mixture of frame by frame animation and regular tweening used in Flash. The frame by frame part is used for the lip sync parts of the animation and some movement, such as walking. There are usually tweens in the background moving simultaneously to the frame by frame part. The combination of these two types of animation makes for a very nice and smooth looking animation.

Upon further investigation, I also managed to find out that the animation was made at 25 frames per second. Enough for the cartoon to look smooth and at a high quality/frame rate but low enough for a decent upload speed to the web.

All in all, I give this animation an 8/10.

I'm going to make a cartoon!

For our next assignment at college we have been told that we will be making 2D animations. The only major thing we have been told about it is that it must be at least 45 seconds long, and it will be made in Flash.

In the next few days I will be posting my research on existing Flash animations, this will include what I did and did not like about them. The content of them as well as the actual animation techniques used.

E-zine article for college - Flash for computer games, what you need to know

Online Flash games, for the most part, are superb ways we use to either kill time or relax with and on average it will keep our attention for a good five to ten minutes at a time. They are mostly designed to be easy to ‘pickup and play’. This means that the controls will be relatively simple, as will understanding the objective of the game. We as consumers will only usually play Flash games for a relatively short time, so being easy to understand is one vital ingredient for a great game, another would be the game mechanics behind this. Excellent game mechanics for an online Flash game will mean that the game is made to be simple in terms of controls, and the objective of the game will try to interest the user, or even ‘addict’ them to keep them trying to reach it if they fail. Another thing that users will expect from a Flash game online is for it to load relatively quickly, you wouldn’t want to wait ages for something that you may only play for a short while.

Since its birth in 1996, Flash games have grown in popularity and have revolutionised online gaming. From 1996 to 2004 Flash games, whilst still in their infancy, had trouble running on lower spec machines. But since, Flash has had improvements made to the program and Flash Player, online games have never run so smoothly.

Today, there are millions of Flash gaming sites, with many more Flash games available for free, just to pick up and play. Many of these Flash gaming sites even allow you to create your own account on them, and save your scores on their games (for a good example, see http://www.addictinggames.com/). ‘Article base’ explains how these Flash games began to impact peoples everyday lives (1), ‘Amazingly these addicted game lovers were ready to cut down time from their work just to play these Macromedia Flash games!’ Flash games have been constantly evolving in terms of game types, playability and functionality since the beginning. On top of this, since Adobe took over Macromedia (and taking on Flash), Flash has become more powerful, easier and more available to use. Anyone with an internet connection can download Flash Player for free; every new computer already has this on its operating system an 99% of all internet using computer have used Adobe Flash Player (2).

So we know that the game mechanics and playability of Flash games make them so popular, but surely there are other factors? Yes, indefinitely. Another major factor that weighs in to the equation would the Flash Player itself. This and how Flash relates to it. Flash was made to display ‘rich media’ types. It can display relatively detailed graphics with ease, as well as audio and video elements. Flash games can even be made using vector images, eliminating the threat of pixilation completely. Most online Flash games will only take up part of the screen; this means it does not have to load as many large files from a development point of view. Also from a development point of view, by using ActionScript 3.0 within Flash, elements can be loaded in from an external source only if and when they are needed (If you are unfamiliar with the term ActionScript, it is basically the coding language used to create Flash programs.). When developers use this method when creating their games, it can make the game run even faster than normal because the game is only loading in elements when they are needed during game play.

Generally, the best place to find Flash games is on specialised Flash gaming sites, this is because many different games are uploaded to these sites from different companies, even games that people have managed to make in their spare time, as a non profit type project. In fact, sites such as www.newgrounds.com even allow you to submit your own content for free, for others to play with online. Sites like these are very helpful as they allow smaller game designers to upload their games free of charge, on to a site that usually has a sufficient amount of traffic to support the game and submit feedback.  

In addition to this, if you are interested in Flash gaming, it is always good to check out some Flash gaming sites that are based upon a community type structure. This means they allow you to create your own account (usually this is free) and submit feedback on the games you play. Similarly, as I discussed earlier, some also allow you to upload your own games, should you want to. Usually these types of sites will also have forums, allowing you to find out more about Flash gaming.

Throughout this article, I have generally talked about points relating to smaller online Flash games; however there are some huge hits on the internet that are much larger games, and allow you to create your own account and even save the game. To see a good example of a larger online Flash game, try ‘Farmville.’ By connecting with the popular social media site ‘Facebook’, ‘Farmville’ has also become incredibly popular. The game allows you to create an account with your Facebok identification, then save your progress as you play through the game. This shows that when using Flash for gaming purposes, there are no limits. More experienced programmers will even make 3D Flash games, these will still work on any computer with a Flash player.

The technical side of online Flash gaming in terms of how they are distributed involves some know-how about actually using Flash itself. Generally game files once exported are ‘.swf’ files. These are basically what are used to run the game with Flash player. As mentioned earlier, it is always good to keep file size to a minimum because it will cut down loading time if it is being used online. ‘.swf’ files will use all of the elements used when creating the game in Flash still saved inside itself, with a much smaller file size than the actual Flash project or ‘.fla’ file.

Today in the Flash gaming world, it is mostly online based. This is why I have been explaining points related to this. The reason that it is based more online is because there are no disks you have to buy, and nothing you have to save when downloading the game (there are Flash games which do allow you to save, they will automatically save a file on your computer.). Flash gaming has not always been mostly based online. Since its birth in 1996, the online world of Flash gaming had only just begun to grow. There are countless amounts of Flash games available to us with a click of a button, from many Flash gaming specific sites.

References:

(1)    http://jamiehanson.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/history-of-flash-games-and-how-it-has-evolved-747482.html - articles base.

(2)    http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/ - Adobe.

Block Out alpha testing 2 - Update 4

On from the last alpha testing of Block Out, I have added some new features.

The major feature is the second level, which has an obstacle that you have to avoid. If you hit the obstacle, you are set to your start position of the level. It also includes the same idea of using a lever to unlock the exit as the last level did, to keep consistency.

Another feature of this version (0.2) is that I have added another collectible. Just before posting this version online, I realised that you could actually cheat to get more collectibles than should be possible. Once getting a collectible, you could go back to the main menu, and using the 'continue' button I have added, you could start back at the same level you left off, and just get the collectible again, adding to the amount you have.

To overcome this bug, I had to use variables. I am not too familiar with variables in Action Script 3.0, but I gave it a go. Along with the number variable I used for the amount of collectibles you get, I used a Boolean variable to determine whether or not you have already got that collectible.

To further show my progress, my game is online here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/blockout_new.swf

To stay up to date with everything I post about my game, like the official Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-Out/144784318953426

Block Out alpha testing - Update 3

I have uploaded a little alpha test of my game here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/blockout_new.swf

Unfortunately as it is on the web, it may horribly re size itself depending on what screen you have. The actual game is only 640x480. The reason it is that size is so it will fit on the popular flash gaming site - www.newgrounds.com - without a problem, also this keeps the file size low which cuts down on download time.

I have also posted this on the Block Out Facebook page, so anyone can test it. Bear in mind it is a first alpha test with only one level, so there are bound to be some bugs. Over the course of the next week I hope to have finished all of the levels in the game, probably around 3 or 4, depending on what I do with them.

Also, I will be posting more playable demos as I put in more features in the game. This is so people can tell me what they think of the game, as well as report any bugs or issues that need to be sorted out.

So just a quick update on the game, feel free to play and don't hesitate to give me feedback.

Block Boss to Block Out - Update 2

I have changed my idea to accommodate a horror type theme. Block Out will have the same functions that I created for Block Boss, but it will have some differences. One major difference is that when you are moving the player, you will only be able to see part of the level, like a torch following the character you control to light the way.

I will be posting an alpha test for the game tomorrow, and also I have linked Block Out with my social networks. You can see the official Block Out Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-Out/144784318953426?sk=wall - I will be posting regular updates on here as well as this blog. I decided to create a Facebook page for my game, as I feel it would be easier to connect with anyone who wishes to test the game, so I can gain as much feedback as possible. Furthermore, I am able to post polls, people can vote on what features they would like to see from the game.

As I begin testing, I will be asking if anyone would like to be a consistent tester for my game. What I mean by this is that they will play every playable demo I bring out, and give me feedback in the way of writing. I can then change the game accordingly, and add it to my project file.

Speaking of the project file, I was notified today that our class will have to make documents describing the code in our games, I thought of going one step further and making a sort of 'code library'. A short book containing all of the code used in my game, showing my understanding of how to put it into practice.


I will be posting more updates soon.

Block Boss - Update 1

Okay so I have got some very basic functionality of the game working. If you would like to try it, do so here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/alpha.swf

I have also posted a video update on my channel, I will be posting more updates as I progress through the project. You can view it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bulVANIEYk&feature=channel_video_title

My first project has been posted

As mentioned earlier, I said I would try to sort out some hosting to share my first project that I created upon returning to college for my second year, it was just a week long project to get the ball rolling.

Anyway, you can see it here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/menu.swf

Update

I have decided on an idea for my game I am creating in AS 3.0, and actually intend to stick with it. Today I have spent finishing most of the design work for the game as well as starting to actually code the game.

As I am unfamiliar with AS 3.0, it has taken me an afternoon just to set up the drag and drog functions with some transitions.

I will be posting more information on my game as well as some examples and playable alpha/beta types to have a go on.

Today's lecture

This blog post is to summarise and reflect on today's lecture about the interactive media industry.

You may have seen that earlier I blogged an example assignment brief. This is because lately we have been learning about how to understand elements in the industry that we are hopefully going to make a career out of.

For an assignment set by a company, the following are key points to address before even considering actually making the product. The following stages are for when you have pitched and got a project to work on.

• Research the audience. A key step in creating your multimedia product will be to research your audience, in fact you will probably spend more time planning the product and time on research than you will actually creating the product. If you are doing work for a larger company they will probably have sufficient audience research of which you can use, otherwise you will have to do this yourself. The key points in defining the audience you are looking to aim for will include knowing what pshycographic and demographic profiles the clients' product is for.

A little more information is needed to explain the profiles of potential audiences. A demographic    profile means knowing the age group, gender, culteral background and economic social classes people fit in to. A pshycographic means knowing about the personality of those people. This is things such as what are their interests? What products have they previously used? When and where do they like to use them? What kind of person are they?

• Another stage relating to research will include researching exisitng products. You can gain research for existing products and research for audience profiles by contacting other companies who have this information or doing it yourself. The drawback of contacting another company is that they will probably want money for their research work, but also doing this yourself takes more time out of your schedule.
• Find out what budget you will be working to. Also what will you be signing? Will you have to provide more elements of the project, cutting into your profit, or will the company you are creating the product for provide these elements.
• The schedule. How much time do you have to complete this project? Make sure when you make any deadlines that you can abide by them; if you miss a deadline you will have to pay compansation fees and you will  have the title of 'unreliable' attached.
• The above two points make up the most part of the contract. Once you sign a contract to do a job by a certain date for a specified budget, you have to work to this. As mentioned before if you do not complete the project sufficiently for the deadline it will cost you dearly in money and reputation.
• The creation stage begins.

To expand on the points covered, the reason that the time schedule and budget are two of the main parts of the project specification because if they go wrong, the project can fall to pieces. For example if a company who makes deodrant for instance is set to release their deodrant product in a month and you have been asked to create a website for them and finish it two days before the release of the product, if you are late the marketing campaign can fail. Or say another deodrant company is to release their product on the same day and you fail to meet your deadline, that competitive company will already have the upper hand, meaning that the company you are working for has lost out on much profit.

In terms of the project budget, this can differ in relation to the size of the project and your previous experience can all change the hourly rate that you get paid. For example a student doing a website for a local B&B would probably get on average £30 a day, working an 8 hour day. A proffessional web designer who has completed larger projects in the past and has wealth of expierience in their field will probably earn aroun £70 an hour, or more. So you can see the differences in relationship to the type of project/client you are dealing with and your experience also.

Much of what I have talked about in this blog post will become all the more relevant to me later on once proceeding into the industry, but also in more recent times as our class have been told we will have client based work to complete later on this year. This means completing work for clients for a set deadline and possibly a set budget. The reason it is in some cases more important is because it is not a college briefed assignment, basically if we mess it up it will be our reputation on the line. My lecturer also suggested that if we get too many jobs to do in the future, or a job that is too advanced for us then you can hand it on to another person or company, but shadow that company. Meaning that you follow what they are doing every step of the way, acting as a superb learning tool, learning from proffessionals to boost our own knowledge.

A new project, my explanation.

You may have wondered why I seemingly randomly have posted some information about Action Script 3.0, and a flash game review. This is because for my next college project I will be creating a drag and drop style game.

The reason that I feel this is such a significant project and requires some explanation is because I will be working in Flash Action Script 3.0, which I have not done before. Our media class has had a couple of lessons in 3.0, learning the basic functions of a drag and drop game, I will need other features than this though. I will be learning this myself. The other features will probably include tweens, some 'move to position' type code, scoring and a timer. I think most of this will just be working off of variables of which we have learnt about. A few online tutorials should help, and I'll be on my way with the game.

I have been reviewing games because I'm in the process of researching other existing online games in order to see what works well and what doesn't basically. This means that I can then include good features from many games to try and include in my own (obviously not directly as this would be in violation of copyright, and plus I want my own idea and design). I am probably going to be aiming for a demographic age group of 12-18 year olds.

So this is just a quick overview of what I have been/will be doing currently. I'll keep updating this blog frequently...

Flash ActionScript 3.0

At college we have begun learning some AS 3.0 in Flash, as opposed to the 2.0 we learned last year. We have learnt some basic functions including importing movie clips/bitmap images to the stage, and code to create a 'drag and drop' style game.

The advantages of using AS 3.0 is that you generally have more control over functions and it runs quicker. Furthermore there is more demand for people who can use AS 3.0 in today's interactive media industry. What is also helpful is that there seems to be so many more online tutorials concerning AS 3.0 as opposed to AS 2.0, I'm sure this will come in handy in the near future. Although ActionScript 3.0 is a harder language to learn than 2.0, I believe the benefits of using 3.0 will make using 2.0 somewhat pointless, in my opinion. I have used AS 2.0 for around a year now and I think this was a great way to get into flash, but to make some more complex applications AS 3.0 is definately necissary.

Here is some of what I have learned in todays lectures concerning ActionScript 3.0, I will explain what each part of the code means as I run through it:

var mc:MovieClip= new MovieClip();

This means that we are creating a new variable called 'mc'. And this variable can hold movie clips (A type of symbol used in Flash.). Then, it creates a new movie clip which we use in a little while.


mc.graphics.beginFill(0xFF0000);

This line of code firstly specifies what variable we are dealing with, this is 'mc', the variable we created earlier. Then it is telling it to set a colour to any graphics that are drawn. The colour set is the part in brackets, '(0xFF0000). This is what is called a hex colour code. This particular code is for a red colour, every colour you can see on your screen has a hex code, so to change it you simply change the colour code.


mc.graphics.drawCircle(50,50,50);

After setting the colour, we tell our variable 'mc' to actually draw a graphic shape. In this case it is a circle. Also we can see three numbers in the brackets being shown, '(50,50,50);'. The first two numbers set what is called the 'reference point'. This is the shape's point of origin, but just for drawing shapes it is not too important, but if you set the shapes position on the stage it will be relative to it's reference point. The third number inside the brackets refers to the size of this particular shape. Because this is a circle, we only need one number to specify it's size. If we used another shape such as a rectangle (drawRect) then we would need two numbers which in essence set the width and height of the shape.


mc.graphics.endFill();

This will stop the shape from continuing to be filled. Unless you have other functions in your project, this is not too important.


mc.x=80;
mc.y=50;

This tells the variable 'mc' including our circle shape to go to a set position on the stage, in this case, x = 80 and y = 50.


addChild(mc);
 Finally and perhaps most importantly, this line of code will actually put 'mc' on the stage when it is run, and this will draw our circle.

Drag and Drop game review

The assignment brief

This piece of homework is all about how in the 'real world' companies will write briefs about what projects they want done to anyone whom it may concern in the media industry. This is a fake one I created to try and show what you should include in a project brief, and the importance of them. Basically, the more information you put into the brief, the less questions and hassle you'll get later on in the project.

My name is John Smith and I specialise in selling computer related goods. I’m the MD of ‘CompTech’, a small business which sells computer hardware to a variety of different audiences including other media based companies and to consumers online. My company is always pushing forward in terms of creating better and more affordable computer technology for every day users and other companies alike. Our previous products include external hard drives, computer monitors and keyboards which have all sold successfully to our target audiences. I have operated in the computer based industry for over five years, and have kept the idea to always endeavour to improve current technology; ‘CompTech’ has gone another step forward with our most recent product the ‘USB Master’ USB drive.

The ‘USB Master’ USB drive is a new USB drive that is able to hold much more data, in a smaller sized encasement.  It works just as a regular USB drive would, you can store/change files on it and it is ultra-portable. The difference between our product and a regular USB drive is that our one is much smaller, but can carry the same amount of data as other popular brands of USB drives. By reducing the size of the USB, it is even easier to take with you wherever you go, and whenever you need it to transfer or use files in different places. The USB drive comes in different sizes depending on how much data it can store, although the largest size is still the smallest in comparison with its competitors.

For the launch of our new product ‘USB Master’, we need a professional website set up (Using Flash or HTML) that contains information about this new product, and a sort of training method to educate people on how to use the product. Ideally this should include sufficient media to support the information and the product, this means including professional standard images and/or video elements with the written information. The information about the product also needs to try and sell the product to online consumers, there should also be ‘click to buy online’ option in the site. Furthermore, the primary concern of this website is to promote the ‘USB Master ‘and advertise/sell it to online consumers. The site needs to be clear and have a ‘clean’ sort of design, meaning all of the important elements of the website have very good usability. For example the navigation must be visible on every page, and the whole site must keep a constant design throughout. Moreover the site does not need to have many pages, but must include detailed information about the product and have training on how to use the product with appropriate media. One of the most important elements to the site is that it must have a link to buy the ‘USB Master’ product, as that is the whole aim of the website.  Our company logo and ideals must be present somewhere within the site also, that ‘CompTech’ are constantly pushing to develop better affordable technology. (We will give you any media we want to be put into the site; the rest will be up to you.)  In terms of the actual visual look of the website and its layout, this is also being left up to you as we are hoping to change our visual image as a company.

The target audience for our new product ‘USB Master’ will be a large range of ages and demographic profiles as it is suitable for anyone related to the computing world, aged fifteen to fifty five. Because USB drives are so widely used in the computing industry, and even outside of this industry the product has a design and functions that will appeal to all looking to buy a new USB drive. Primarily this will be aimed at people within the computing/media side of business as they will tend to have a better understand of the information about the USB drive, although in the site, the information and training must be written as if it is teaching someone who has never used a USB drive before to cover much more ground.

Furthermore, the target audience for the promotional website itself for the ‘USB Master’ product will be very similar to the target audience for the product itself, although selling the product to consumers on the website is vital as demographic profile groups outside of the previous target audience scope (For the ‘USB Master’ product) will possibly also be interested. This means that providing important information, selling points and training on how to use the product is vital to its success. These things need to be done in a professional manner and design. (For example having too much information to take on board for the consumer on one page will tend to draw customers away from purchasing the product.) The site’s target audience is similar to that of the actual product we are selling because its purpose is to promote and inform about that product.

The budget for this project will be £4,000 as the website needs to be at a professional standard, but the project is, in terms of page numbers and functions, not a large site. The main elements for the site will include the ability to purchase the main product item online, and information and training of the product supported by relevant media to help portray this. As mentioned earlier in this brief, the design work and information architecture is up to you.

Moreover, the deadline for this website project to be completed by will be on the nineteenth of November, in good time for the actual product launch on the twenty-sixth of November. The site must have been checked and be working without fault by this deadline date. Also it must have been tested on a focus group and had any important changes made it prior to this date.

As we want a new image as a company, and we are leaving the design work and structure up to you I do not think it would be appropriate to show you other sites that we would like our website to look like, we require a completely new design that is based around being clear and clean.

I'm back!

I am back on to the second year of the Interactive Media course at college! We have already had an introductory assignment of which was to make a website in a week, I will hopefully be posting this soon as I will register a domain for it. In terms of the project, I don't think I've ever spent so much time on Flash in one week! It's all good fun and I got good feedback off of my lecturer for it.

Anyway I will be back to posting relevant work material and other things related to my course and possibly some new personal ventures. I am currently on day 4 of learning HTML and have built a simple blog-type site which I will post a link to once I also have a domain for that.

So, stay tuned!

Copyright

Media products today will always be protected by being ‘copyrighted’. This means that anything within that product, it may be a sound, film, typographical publication, music, art or anything that person creates cannot be taken and used by a different author and used elsewhere without the creators permission. In basic terms it stops people stealing other peoples products, if they do this it is illegal and they will be open to prosecution. Media companies copyright their products so it is theirs, no one else can legally take any elements from it without consent.

For example if I were to create a website of which I copyrighted and then you came on to my site and chose to copy an image from it and use it for your own product, this would be breaching the copyright laws which state you cannot use my work until 70 years after I had passed away.

Today, much of the interactive media industry will actually use items from different projects and companies much of the time, this can be okay as long as they have consent or they do not breach copyright laws, if they do this they are open to having their company to be sued by the original owners of the items and prosecuted. If you are ever unsure of using objects from another person’s product it is advisable to ask for permission before proceeding to use their content.

Another issue surrounding copyright is websites which allow people to illegally pass on data to other users for free, being able to download games, music and film without the creators consent. These are sites such as ‘Utorrent’. They let you search for media products which are downloadable, people will upload items for many to download free of charge. In essence this deteriorates that company’s profit margin because if people support these sites, they are not paying for the media product. The sites themselves are breaking the law. This is a different type of copyright breach as it is not people taking items from another company to use for their own product, but to just use for free.

As copyright laws are so strict and can often be so difficult to bypass, companies can often become too cautious with what they use, even if they have created everything for their product themselves, it may be too similar to previous ones in the past created by different authors.

So to in some ways avoid this, the ‘creative commons’ act comes in. This basically encourages people to share their creativity and work so others can learn from them and then create their own work. Copyright was created before the internet existed and today there is so much content on the web, it can be difficult to create anything without using elements from different existing sources.

Creative commons creates a balance between the original copyright rules and the ability to share creativity, anyone from small, to the largest companies can have the creative commons act, there is no difference. Another reason for creating the creative commons act is that it helps to ‘realize the full potential of the internet.’ This means that by having a ‘some rights reserved’ approach to copyright rather than an ‘all rights reserved’ one that people can share ideas and promote creativity not just with each other, but inspire themselves to create a better product themselves.

Now this still by far does not mean if a company has the creative commons act that people can just take anything they wish from them without permission, it is more focused to collaboration of companies in order to create a better final product. But companies can create places of which they store all files of which they are happy to share with the online world, which is also inside the laws of copyright. This is important so people can’t just distribute products like they would do on illegal sites such as ‘Utorrent’.

In today’s world it is essential to find a balance between sharing content freely and have copyright laws put in place. Without these laws anything you potentially create, someone could steal and you may never be sure if a product you buy was put online by the original creator. The ideas behind copyright is to protect content, but those who also want to contribute to the industry and have creative commons may wish to share some of their work for others to learn off of, use and change for their own use or inspire for new projects.

Privacy and the internet

Privacy on the internet today has somewhat been reduced by the barrage of social media sites and other sites which demand our personal details and give us little in return. This is because we have come to place much more trust in the internet, and believe we are secure whilst giving much of our personal information away and sometimes, without even noticing. But should this really be happening? What are the consequences to just handing out our information for millions to see? A prime example of this would be to take a look at some social media sites.

For instance the popular site ‘Facebook’ has racked up over 500 million users in 2010 alone, it allows users to create their own profiles and asks them information about themselves which people can see. Although Facebook has privacy settings so you can choose to not let everyone see your page it has applications that suggest friends to you, based upon your interests and how many mutual friends you have in common. In fact, millions of people update their statuses regularly and even let people know their location. People trust sites like these without thinking of the dangers of publicly displaying much of their information. In some cases, you can learn a lot about a person, where they live, where they work etc. without even ever talking to them. Would you go out and tell random people all of your personal information? It can be somewhat dangerous as you can’t know who is viewing your profile. This can be commonly found on similar sites such as Myspace and Bebo (Although they are somewhat dated.). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygp9juWDIiI

Another danger of sites like these, are the sites themselves. Upon signing up to sites like Facebook, Twitter or other sites which includes online shopping there are pages and pages of terms and conditions that would take hours to read so many of us choose the easy option and immediately press the ‘agree’ button. This means we could be signing up for anything, people have tried to sue companies like Facebook for using their personal information for advertisement schemes although they state it is included in the terms and conditions. This is just scratching the surface, Facebook keeps every single bit of user information that is updated including status updates and photos, being able to use these how they see fit. It is not just other users of the site people must be cautious; it may also be the site itself. At one time or another we have all heard of online shopping transactions going wrong and the company taking all of the consumers money, this can still happen today but many people seem ignorant to the matter and will easily hand out personal information as well as their bank details.

A common argument for those against such sites is that it is a breach of our basic human rights, our right to privacy and in breach of the online data protection act. Although these arguments can be quickly overlooked as they still agree to the sites’ terms and conditions. The best way to be sure your information is not being stolen would be to just not sign up to websites who ask for your information but today it is sites like these are the most popular and are ruling the online world.

Another common but dated issue with privacy are online scams such as emails naming you the ‘winner’ of an unknown competition, they may ask you to give out your information such as your address and bank details so they can steal your money. These are much easier to spot mainly as they can be so obvious and have been around for a while. But this can also happen in online shopping; unaware a customer can order items and give out personal bank details in return. Usually sites will have a secure log in system in which you have a safe account to shop with; this will be on official shopping sites.  

It seems that today we give out much more personal information than ever before online; our online privacy is becoming more of an issue. Many of us have the mindset that online scams, fraud or robbery won’t happen to us. But even if we only use secure sites we still have to be careful who we give out our information to, and if we really need to give out this information. Also if people only post on social media sites pictures and statuses they wouldn’t mind anyone seeing this wouldn’t stop breaches of our privacy, but if it ever did 

happen then it would not be such problem to us.

In conclusion privacy on the internet today is an issue, we all seem to agree to terms and conditions before reading them, and we are using more recent sites that can breach our privacy. It is our right to have our own privacy and should be entitled to it online. However, it is our choice to sign up to sites such as Facebook and our choice whether or not to read the terms and conditions, although if there are sites that pass on our information for others to see, it seems to be in direct violation of our human rights and the data protection act.

               

The Simpsons - A critical response

The Simpsons is a popular family-based situation comedy which touches on some major issues that we see in the world today or even issues within the family itself as it represents the typical American family. This in turn makes the show more relatable to its target audience; the show is family based so can still relate to an audience of a wide age range.

As an audience we expect family orientated sitcoms to be appropriate for persons of all ages to watch and have relevant issues within its storyline. Obviously the show should be more relaxed and not some sort of thriller action epic as this would lessen its appeal to us as an audience. Also we expect its humour to be more of a light humour and for it to be relatively easy to understand. The Simpsons is mostly what we come to expect of the ‘sitcom’ genre and has an element to it that is easy to understand for younger people watching the show, as well as deeper meaning behind the jokes and storyline which the more mature audience may understand about more serious issues within the world at the current time. The Simpsons does in a way differ from what we expect of a sitcom as it is firstly an animated show and some of the adventures and antics the main characters get up to can be quite extreme.

The Simpsons has been released on some other platforms other than just TV. ‘The Simpsons Movie’ being much like the popular television show, but the adventure and storyline is set on a greater scale obviously. The genre slightly shifts from a family orientated one to more of an adventure type story. In terms of other platforms the Simpsons has been featured in console and PC games. For some of these the genre has competed changed to become more objective based obviously as it is a game. In others the genre is quite similar to the TV show and keeps a comic element to it although does slightly change to make it fit more of a comedic type game.

The underlying structure of the Simpsons is one of a typical American family, it shows how the typical or ‘nuclear’ family have struggles and how they deal with their problems;  a lazy, irresponsible father figure who sets off most of the wacky adventures and has a wife who plays more of a passive position in the family. The family has three children, the eldest of which is a troublemaker like his father, the next eldest being nearly the opposite with honestly and trustworthiness and then the youngest whom is the baby of the family. This clear not only in the TV show, but the Movie also. 

The Simpsons Movie has parts within it of which can link in with the structure of the ‘hero’s journey.’ For example, in the area of which the Simpsons live in called ‘Springfield’ The father of the family (Homer) manages to cause much trouble in the town, meaning that a higher power now seizes the place and places a large glass dome around it. Managing to escape the family then move away and refuse to help the town. But after more events later in the film they then decide to help and succeed and triumph for the town, this also ties in with the ‘Hero’s return’ part of the Hero’s journey.

Within the characters of the Simpsons there are some role models. Although nearly all of the characters have mistakes sometimes there are few who serve as more of a role model type figure. In essence, Homer (The father of the family.) is a sort of role model to the children of which his son follows mostly. Although Homer is by far not the ideal role model, as a father it is part of his duty in being part of the family. In a way, Marge (The mother of the family.) is a much more beneficial role model as she plays a much more mature and wise character compared to Homer, although she is usually a passive character because Homer seems to be the centre of attention. Other than these characters there are various role models placed throughout the TV series such as well known celebrities playing the voice of reason within the storylines.

These pivotal roles can also have an effect on the audience who view the show, the audience can gain knowledge of what is right and what is wrong as well as other life lessons that could be relevant to our everyday lives. It seems that no matter how odd or unbelievable the adventures are that happen in the shows, they always end up as they did at the start, back to normal. This is usually because something happens which shows them what they should do to get things back to the usual again.

The main characters of the Simpsons consist of the family; they can represent different types of groups. For example, the parents represent a middle aged, working class group of average people and the children represent average children or teenagers and their struggles. Also, combined, the whole family represents the average American family with some somewhat dysfunctional relationships within the family of which is relatively common in reality. They encourage us to sympathise with these types of people, in some episodes it seems to try and make us sympathise with the parents feelings, or one of the parents’ feelings about an issue, and in others they try and make you sympathise for the children, the teenager generation. This all depends on what happens during the episode and as this is so different from each episode they can make us as an audience sympathise with nearly all the main characters at one point or another.

In the Simpsons minority groups are represented by characters that are not usually in the main line up of characters, there are often not in multiple episodes. Groups in the minority within the Simpsons consist of characters such as ‘Apu’, an Indian man who owns the local convenience store and ‘Carl’ who is Homers friend an African-American. There are not many characters in the Simpsons of different nationalities or races. In essence, the Simpsons can poke fun at the idealism of racism and such topics not because the show itself is racist, but as this is a relevant issue today is shows awareness of the problems. The minority groups in the Simpsons are rarely featured but in a way are good representations of how the world see’s these groups in America today.

The main family consists of two males and three females although the rest of the characters are predominately male, so the balance of males to females is more towards the male side. Although there is no discrimination in terms of the storylines, the females can have leading roles in episodes as well as the males. The female characters in the Simpsons are often the more mature people, although can also be more passive in terms of their personality, Marge is a prime example of this. In comparison to the male characters who are usually the cause of the adventures and most wrong things that happen in the show.

In terms of social groups, the Simpsons has covered many groups over their episodes but this is usually in a brief way and will not go in to much depth within many social groups as the main focus of the show is towards the family itself.