http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6bvu676UZCE&NR=1

I love the cutout style of this piece. It work really well with the linear black and white drawings. MAybe for my identities project I could design an animation/ film to my favourite song? 

Metropolis 1927

"The Heart Is The Meteor Between The Head And The Hands"

Personally, although I don't have much film knowledge for this era I think Metropolis is a master piece. I how the troubles of Germany were expressed through the over exaggerated emotion, the clothing, the text etc. For instance the clothing united the workers and separated the boss but most importantly it showed you who the heart of the film was- the son. Dresses in white and always sensitive to what was going on in his society he was what united all the classes. It symbolised the problem of the time, that Germanys  society had to unite to beat Hitler.

1) There can be no understanding between the hands, the heart and the head.

Every part of the film says there is an understanding. The son, acting as the heart reflected what the people needed, a saviour. The community needed to be strong against the powerful, rich forces that I think represent Hitler. Also The son represented their heart because of his vivid over expressions,and wiliness to give up everything to join them.

2) In some ways the film can be seen as a flash presentation.

Some parts of the film reflect this through the text acting as symbols for what is going to happen e.g. the text goes down the scene when its talking about the working class whereas it goes up the scene if its talking about the upper class. In one scene the text oozes blood when one of the characters is in trouble.

3) Technology is evil.

Technology is just a tool that could have been used for good or evil however without that technology Hitler would not have been able to cause as much damage to the world at that time. Also many people probably would've died making the technology of that time. On the other hand there a predictions of the future of what a city would be like and the people ruined it. 

The message is That if you use your brain and hands to filter it through your heart it will be good and wholesome.

In later years, way into the future this film was an influence for films like the matrix (as far as the technology theme goes)

Curiosty cabinet presentation ideas

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jlx2yEM_ikM&feature=related

This interactive book has given me the idea to maybe have a book opening and revealing the faces of my character?

The real thing vs the imaginary

http://blog.futurelab.net/2008/04/your_avatar_can_how_go_partyin.html

I found this image on a website advertising marketing, innovation and design. I found this image VERY STARTLING. It gave me a new thought on how avatar really are a reincarnation of themselves. They can give some people hope like this little boy who is too ill to live his life the way he deserves to. People all over the world, in all shapes and form use this website application to burn their face onto an avatar. Its called 'Burn Alter Ego' who are said to give people the 'freedom to maximize your social life beyond reality.' Apparently it allows your to create your own account to work with face book, the burn alter ego (much like second life,) etc...

Personally, I think that in situations like that little boys it is one of the remedies that will give him hope. He's built his identity through the troubled experiences he's had by building a tough warrior outfit.

New York Times

New York Times

These are two photographic collages created for the NewYork times. they were created to reflect the changing of pop culture. How we can show the world how we'd like to look in our fantasies. It brings up the question what is our true identity? Is the person we see in the mirror who we really are? 

Character sheets

Mickey Mouses representation of Disney through a famous logo. When Disney isn't written on a film etc they use Warhols  famous pop art technique to represent their company through a symbol.

Every one around the world reconises the classic mickey/ minney mouse character. They were created 80years ago to star as a cheerful rodent in white gloves for fantasia. The white gloves and his friendly face became this trade mark. World wide Mickey was soon known as the ambassador of Disney representing the company all over the world. It is known that Mickey mouse is they character that reflects Walt Disney himself; they both started out mischeivous and cheeky bit with age they prefered to step out of the lime light to witness others work.

When people see Mickey mouse they see happiness in any place, in any culture.

http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lessonplan/model.htm
This is a good cartoon sheet to explore all of the dimension of cat woman and to look into detail of how you want to present her. The uniform is her identity. It sleek, it's sexy and it's stunning. All the traits (appearance wise) you want form a female supper hero.
Http://www.highend.com/3dsmax/

Also I like this character sheet purely for the different expressions therefore you would know how she would react in different situations. I would like to incorparate this type of character design into my work as you would feel like you are getting to know the character from all angles

Second life

I typed in Sherwood Forest to compare real life with second life and it came up with this 'kinky'/ castle area with woman advertised. Also under sherwood forest sex was the first thing it came up with. What are they trying to say about nottingham?! Again going back to identities they have almost completely changed the identity of sherwood forest to make it into some ones fantasy. it fits into the 2 ways you can go when you create your own world/avator. You can create something true to real life or something completely different.

I looked up ChinaTracy's land and it was nothing that it is advertised as. It wasn't coverd with fireworks etc and exciting as everyone made it out to be. There was sewage everywhere. I would've thought there would be nothing like that in second life to make it as desirable as possible. After all its meant to be an escape for people. Who wants to escape to a sewer.

It's all about the lego...

My Lego Creation

By Gayr Stares

Photography By Sarah Trundle (flat mate)

I've had an idea in my head about creating a piece of work based using lego men for my ID project for a while. The idea first came about when one of my flat mates did a photoshot with them (see above.) 

The idea is about me making sacrifies when you loose friends through travel, different personalities etc and making peace with the idea that relationship in your life will always change. This happens throughout your life so I wanted to represent it through objects that everyone can relate to- lego men. They're simple and  everyones enjoyed them at some point. 

Photoshop characters

REFLECTIVE CHARACTER- this photo that I took of myself and altered in photoshop is a representation of the reflective side of my nature, where I go to when I am in deep thought. Images and sound spill out of my head making me who I am today.

 
PASSIONATE CHARACTER- This photo represents my feminity. It is also a factor that might make my work different in the male dominated world of multimedia. I tried to take a photo that would make my eyes the focus to show my thoughtful, passionate natures towards people in my life and my passions such as animation/illustration. 

HAPPY CHARACTER- what else can I say. 

Pixilation animation

http://ukyoutube.com/watch?v+R-7zko_HMIE

Http://patsmith.deviantart.com/art/puppet-71281722

I liked the suttle humour of this piece. It made me laugh through the boys angry face at how he was getting beaten up by a puppet therefore becoming the puppet. I liked the illustrative animation style as it made it feel more personal and child friendly.

http:uk.youtube.com/watch?v=13pEJU9UWnU&feature=related

This animation inspired me to play around with drawing in my pixilation piece as the faces are full of character even though they are linear drawings. Also I like how well it goes with the music and it traditional character (through the drawing.)

Second life- Vanity

I made my character fat to see what it looks like but the body just blew up and disappeared. Was that meant to happen? If it is, is it trying to send out some weird message to the world?
I thought about second life on a basic level today. What is its purpose? Why are people so attracted to it. Identity that's why. You can be who you want to be with out causing any disruption to your daily life. You can look how you want to look in a blink of an eye. That is the aspect I explored today. I wanted to change my appearance to suit how I really am but I messed around with being fat, thin, yellow, tall. I can see the attraction but I still think its setting people up for disappointment in real life- it definitely not that easy to change. 

 
On the other hand they had less individual application. Second life gave me a list of greetings. They're really cheesy and quite stereotypical. In my opinion it doesn't give your character much individuality. it's as if the conversation start with a cast that you have to fit into.