Wiz Khalifa - When Im Gone

HIP HOP BANGER

          Ok so its been about a month since Wiz Khalifa released his album rolling papers but the reception was amazing.  The kid has made it...  2nd best selling album on itunes right now.   This song is such a good jam.  The beginning starts of slow but it builds into an awesome beat.  Go download the whole album (click here)  but take a listen to this instant classic.

Wiz Khalifa - When Im Gone

(click to download)

Delorean - Stay Close (RAC Remix)

 

FEEL GOOD DANCE SONG

    Whats up guys welcome to my music blog, ill be feature some of my mixes and remixes along with some of my favorite songs for the week.  I search for music everyday and Im constantly in the hunt for new hits.  Today my song pick for is by Delorean - Stay Close (RAC Remix).  Delorean is a group from Spain with an alternative feel while still doing some remixing of their own.  But the post is really about the remix artist RAC.  They really have a perfect combination of rhythm and sound, a real feel good song.  Definitely one to listen to all summer...

Delorean - Stay Close (RAC Remix)

(click to download)

EXTRA CREDIT

LAST DAY OF CLASS!!!!

For this weeks blog we read Karim Rashid's creative manifesto.  There were many elements that I really like as well as some that I would like to add.

So instead of just critiquing his I'm going to create my own:

JAY DEAL'S CREATIVE MANIFESTO

1. BE YOURSELF.  always!!!!  Show people who you are right away, if you don't like something don't like it, if you act certain way around your friends show that when you meet new people.   (Exceptions:  Church, Funerals) 
2.  Don't take life too seriously.  There are times when you should be serious that's understood.  But realize life is mostly good even during really bad situations... your living aren't you... that's a gift from god.
3. Don't sweat the small stuff.  Just relax!  take a deep breath, not everything has to add up perfectly for you to be successful, its what you perceive is success not what society thinks.
4. Write down your thoughts.   The minute you have a thought that you think is different, unique, or just plain brilliant just write on something!!!! anything it doesn't matter, thoughts are precious, like unlocking secrets in your mind, use it for later.
5. Patience.  Simple....things dont always just come to you.
6. Sleep on it.   I cant tell you how many times Ive been stressed or confused and I take a quick nap, when i wake up everything is so much clearer.
7. See the bigger picture.  Sometimes people get so hung up on one moment instead of seeing the whole thing.
8. Be an optimist.  Its a complex subject, some people just assuming they're always pessimistic... but you can change that simply by changing your attitude.
9. Be a team player.  If you work well with others they will pay the favor back and who knows you may even make a few friends on the way.
10. Love yourself and your family.  You were put on this earth because of these people, you are responsible for yourself so represent yourself well.

ASSIGNMENT 10A

FREAKKKKKK FACTOR!

     This weeks blog we read an article called Freak Factor, from Changethis.com

 The article goes over many good ideas on how to lead a successful life by recognizing your weakness. 

1.  What's My Problem?

Valid,  why?  Because constructive criticism is the most helpful reality someone can receive.  So many times people cant accept reality.  How do people perceive you and how can you improve on this?  Everyone one has problems, if you cant recognize this, then you will most likely fail at a lot of things you do.  You must find your strengths and weaknesses, then find ways in which to improve on them.  Lets take me for example, I have many strengths and weaknesses.  

Strengths:  I feel as if I work well with others, also very efficient worker because I'll work until I get it finished.  

Weaknesses:  I don't take criticism very well and while I work well with groups I don't accept other peoples ideas right away. 

Freak:  I have a natural obsession with being very compulsive about my passions.  I will spend hours editing videos because that is what I like to do.

2.  For get it!  Don't try to fix your weakness. 

Valid.  There's no need to fix what you feel is wrong with you or anything.  You weaknesses are a part of you that are hard to correct.  People don't want to spend the time working on their weakness.  The most important part to remember is that you must accept you weaknesses.  Similar to the first point, people have many different characteristics that make up who they are.  By worrying about your weaknesses you are not looking at important things you can be working on.  Don't dwell on negative thoughts about yourself, be proactive on improving your strengths.  While some may argue that fixing your weaknesses is an essential part to growth, I agree with the article in that wasting your time working on your weaknesses will never allow you to get to your strengths.

  

3.   Freak: The Power of Uniqueness

Valid.   I think that being unique is extremely important in the media industry.  This is what makes the creative industry creative.  Imagine a professional media field in which people lacked true creativeness,  all projects would essentially be identical.  It just takes one person to step out of the box and to do something different that sets the bar for an entire new playing field.  That is perhaps the most important factor in pop culture today, finding something that no one else is doing and capitalizing on the product.  This entire class has given me a new approach to being unique.  Through the labs I have learned to do my own thing.   Because it is what people do not expect, that they remember.   Do something new and unique, not only because people will think of it that way but also because its what you want to do.

 
 

ASSIGNMENT 9B

THEY SAY THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

     This weeks blog was an audio critique on Collapsus.com, 

ASSIGNMENT 9A

VIDEO GAMES ARE SWEET!!!

For this weeks blog we were to critique our presentations on video game design.

Our game was called...                         BATTLEPOINT

        First, lets analyze how well we did at presenting our idea.  We were supposed to act as though there were investors trying to buy our game.  What we presented was purely conceptual, something that we would hope to work on someday.  However I believe we did a really good job explain our idea and how it was different from games today.  We choose an existing genre that has previously been successful but are now just changing the way you can play it, and that's perhaps my first point.

    Its extremely hard explaining to people how your game is going to look, feel, or even play, when there's no physical example.  These were all things we thought, together, would make a great game.  I personally could have done a better job explaining how the controller works.  Our game will work best with the Xbox 360 Kinect, but some people may have no idea what this is.  While we constantly emphasized controller free game-play, that may have confused our audience.  How would the mechanics work...etc?  This concept was the hardest to explain because even I didn't know exactly how this would work, but I knew it would be something revolutionary, something to change the landscape of gaming forever.

   Nonetheless I believe our presentation itself was phenomenal.  We did a great job expressing the ideas of our game and how it will look and feel; what it will sound like, and the rules in which its played.  Our images really helped emphasize what visuals we wanted to create.  Audio wise we took clips from old games to show that our sound will be similar but our experience would be completely different.

    In the end, we could have done a better a job, but it was a preliminary try and I think with a little better preparation and a class other then 8 am we could have certainly done better.  The message we wanted to convey was that these games that we were modeling after have been some of the most successful game franchises ever, so if its broke don't fix it, just innovate it.  Were taking a concept that most know and making you play it in a different way.

ASSIGNMENT 8B

SUPER SUPER COOL HEROES!!!

       For these week's blog we are to analyze other groups superheroes.

Lets get into it....

         The first group I'll take a look at is Christina Wang and Chris Page

VILLAIN

 

HERO

 

        Okay!  For the first group the easiest thing to compare is the color.  The color between the two characters has a direct effect on who's who... The red is the villain and the dark colored character is the hero, somewhat like batman.  While the hues aren't complimentary or anything black or white can generally work with any type of color, especially with red.  The artist chose red most likely because it helps emphasize danger and evil.  The devil is also associated with fire so maybe they were trying to infer that with their color scheme.  As for saturation and brightness its clear the villain is a lot brighter than the hero.  This was most likely done for many reasons but I thought it helped emphasize the dangerous nature of the villain and how the hero is kind of mysterious.   These two examples do an excellent job describing color but there is more to characters then just color.

     The next group is Emily Zink and Adam Cesarz

HERO

VILLAIN

 

           This group did an excellent job showing movement.  This group showed character movement in many ways.  The hero moves very graceful, swinging from pole to pole, doing back flips and back handsprings while the villain moves very slowly.  Its almost as if the villain is always thinking about something whereas the hero has very fluent thoughts and swings from thing to thing without any effort.   The animations that are created for these characters display a number of movement characteristics.  The first is parallel movements,  the characters are moving along with the background.  There is also a lot of overlapping movement at least in the first animation with the hero as she swings around the poles the camera is also moving in and out.  Finally, there is a lot examples of weight within the characters,  for the hero this is demonstrated when she lands on the ground you can see the weight bend in her legs.  The villain similarly demonstrates weight only you can see it in his hair.  Overall, very good job done by these two!

      The final characters I analyzed are Mike Mytknick and Amanda Oyakawa.

HERO

VILLAIN

         This final group does an awesome job showing lighting.   First off, there is a clear and easy distinction between good an evil.  The hero has light colors and has a friendly shape to him whereas the villain uses dark colors and a shadow-like shape.   The shadows used in the villain image are brilliantly done, its almost as if the character is a shadow itself.  Then put it next to a dark background and you really have a good villain character.  The colors also do a really good job setting a certain mood.  It seems very obvious but it is actually very subtly done.  The hero has light colors however it takes a second to really know if this is the hero or not.  In the villains image its clear, its dark, its eerie, perfect moment for a villain to arrive.  Finally, both images do  great job with symbolism.  Between color and shape you really get the idea of who's good and who's bad.   Really good job guys!!!