Web 2.0 Evaluation

The tool that I reviewed was Time toast. It is a professional timeline building site. You can browse through other people’s timelines without an account, but to create your own you must sign up. It is a online free program that You can customize your own timeline and add events and descriptions. This site is visually appealing and easy to use. There are many categories you can browse through and look at. You can sign up using Facebook and the site has abilities to post timelines straight to twitter or Facebook. You are able to upload videos and photos into your timeline easily.

I think that this application is very useful. You can make timelines for school and to help you study. You can find other timelines that are interesting and help you learn about different periods in time.

Website Evaluation

Website Evaluation http://www.videosoniclab.com/

This site is a strong example of poor usability and poor web design.

There are no visual cues to identify relationships on the page. The text on the page is larger than the name of the store on the page or the store motto. There is nothing to draw you in. There is too much colour, different font type sizes and some of the labels are blurry and difficult to look at. The images are pixilated which makes them unappealing to the eye. There is an attempt to group related services into three columns, but it is not effective. Some of the colours chosen to use for text (e.g., lime green on white) are impossible to read. It would take too long to actually determine how to navigate the site, so most people would not even bother to try. The site looks so unprofessional it would be hard to take them serious.

The links used on the site are not the traditional colours. Where traditional colour is used and you would expect a link there is none. The links for Home are in the traditional spots (top right and bottom of the page). Assorted fonts are used to present the text. Text is difficult to read. It is sometimes small and italics are over-used. Screen resolution is poor. Some underlined text is not a link and some text that is formatted like a button is also not a link. While there are no broken links, the Online Store is closed. To see much of the content, you have to go to the second-level.

Film Project: Pre-production Reflection

Film Project: Pre-production Reflection

The pre-production process started with our group attempting to develop an idea for our film. As a group we came-up with categories that we found interesting. Then, we brainstormed ideas for each of the categories. Next we narrowed down our choices by picking our favorites. We concluded that we would make our film about a day in the life of an RSGC student. The film will be a combination of an Introduction/Orientation and Documentary. We completed the Pitch Outline expressing our ideas and goals of the film, as well as, the resources and settings we would require.

Following the completion of our pitch, we started working on the script which is the backbone of the film. We made a rough draft which showed a more detailed description of the flow of the film. Next, we began to further develop the script adding in dialogue, detailing actions and defining setting or location.

Following completion of our script we moved on to storyboarding. Our storyboard was made up of a series of simple drawings. Each drawing represents a different shot and includes the camera angle (e.g., high-angle), the location, type of shot (e.g., close-up) and characters. In the written description below each drawing we included details of what was going on in the specific shot.

Overall our group worked well together. We tried to divide the work equally. There were many good discussions about each element of the project. Our discussion usually led us to agreement. We made decisions by consensus. My contribution to the group-decision making process was the same as everyone else’s as we all fully participated in the processes of brainstorming, scripting and storyboarding.

Of the pre-production processes, I found that storyboarding was the most challenging. I found it to be challenging because it was difficult to picture all the elements of the shot at once. It was also complicated to detail everything in a simple drawing. As we moved through the shots, we became more skilled at completing the process. This meant we had to go back to some of the earlier shots and add more detail. I think that of the pre-production processes, storyboarding requires more preparation.

Going through the various processes involved with pre-production is beneficial to the end result. The storyboard and script enable you to have an outline to follow so you are not figuring things out as you go. Overall the film will look more appealing and have a constant flow. By having a script and storyboard, you help make sure that you have identified the characters, settings and resources that will be needed. I see the value in completing scripting and storyboarding.

My Favourite Movie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/

My favourite movie is “The Shawshank Redemption”. It was released in theatres in 1994. The movie was written and directed by Frank Darabont and based on the book by Stephen King.

The film is about the story of Andy Dufresne a banker played by Tim Robbins, who is sent to be imprisoned for two decades. The story takes place in Shawshank State Prison. During his sentence Andy becomes friends with a fellow inmate Ellis Redding "Red" played by Morgan Freeman. The story is about his struggle in the prison and with the help of his friend and his way with money he is able to survive.

This movie falls under the drama category because it is about Andy’s struggle and problems in jail and life and how he overcomes it. Some scenes show allot of drama, from the characters and the environment the prisoners are in

I liked this film allot and thought it grabbed me and held my interest through to the end. The director did an excellent job of portraying the life as a prisoner in Shawshank and what the character was going through. As you were watching the movie the emotions from the actors helped make the film not only interesting but feeling the same emotions. This is a very solid and compelling movie. I would recommend it and it is truly my favorite movie.

Recreating Facebook Using Indesign

To recreate the look of Facebook you need to take a couple things into count. You need to create or find a font that looks like the one Facebook uses. You need the colours of the pages to match that of the websites. You also have to make sure that other parts from Facebook are present in your recreation and on top of all that you need to make sure that all of those elements contrast together to replicate the website.

When trying to create Facebook I tried to take the top toolbar you would find on a Facebook page and incorporate that to make the whole page look like a page on the site. When I was creating it I tried to visualize what a normal yearbook page would look like with the fonts and colours Facebook uses. There are many different pages that could be used for many different sections of the yearbook. For example an event page on Facebook could be used for different events at our school. It would show the date say you are attending then have different photos of the event and a description.

I find that our team was successful at creating a page that looked like Facebook although it was difficult using a program that was new to us. We found that we created something we were happy with and could be mistaken for the real Facebook page. We encountered one problem and that was to do with screenshots. Screenshots that were taken of the pages in Facebook can be blurry if not put in Indesign correctly, but we got around this problem.

Are team worked effectively as a whole. Each member contributed to the final project. Connor and Daniel brainstormed as Cameron and i Produced it in Indesign and made it work. When we were done we made changes we thought would work as a group. This was a fun assignment and i hope to be able to use what we learned shortly.

What i want to do for the yearbook

There are many sections that make up the yearbook. The one that i find the most interesting is the spirit section. The spirit section would be spirit days like the terry fox run and maybe events like Halloween. This section interests me because i think it would be a fun topic to recreate in indesign.

To create the page i would recreate a Facebook events page or use flicker to recreate the pages. It would be a fun topic and i would love to do those pages in the yearbook.

Photoshop Poster Assignment

Photoshop Poster Assignment

The images used on the poster were selected to tie into the themes and symbols used throughout Lord of the Flies. The image of the Lord of the Flies, the severed pig’s head on the stake, represents the boy’s fear of the unknown on the island. It also represents the savagery present on the island and present in some of the boys. The signal fire represents the hope for being rescued and provides a sense of safety. The background of the poster is a beautiful beach scene that is like paradise. The heaviness of the tree branch across the top third was intended to provide a darker contrast to the beach scene. The lone boy pictured on the beach represents Jack and the worst of what the boys have become. He shows how they have changed without the presence of adults and order. Overall we chose images for the poster that support the themes of the novel.

For the image of the pig, we used the polygonal lasso tool in Photoshop. This tool is used to select specific areas of an image. Prior to using this tool, we had a picture which included a pig on a stake. By using the tool we selected just the pig and the stake and copied the selected image to the beach background. We then used the erase tool to remove the unwanted parts of the pig image. We also used the colour replacement tool to enhance the colour of the pig. This resulted in a brighter picture with high contrast.

The text that is on the tree branch was created by using the text tool within Photoshop with an appropriate style of text. To be able to manipulate each letter of the text, each letter was a different layer. This made it possible to rotate and size each letter appropriately to the shape and size of the tree branch. The text flows along the tree and is easy to read against the black background.

The spot healing tool was another very useful tool that we used. The point of this tool is to completely erase small parts of an image. In the background of the beach image, there were boats, a dock, houses and people. To remove these from the image, the spot healing tool was used to colour over the spots that were not appropriate to the image for the poster.

Cameron and I divided the work equally. He chose to do the text and two polygonal lasso tool items (Jack and the pig’s head). I did the other item (Rocks) and also placed and fixed the font, and changed the pig’s color. We both worked on the fire smoke together trying to make is look as realistic is as possible. We made the choice to split the work in this way because we felt that we had the same level of skill in Photoshop and it divided the work effort fairly. We both contributed to the poster equally.

We used images for the poster from a variety of sources. They are listed below. The details regarding ticket prices and dates were obtained from a cast member.

Images Used:

Beach Background: http://search.creativecommons.org/#

Pig Head: (Screen shot from the movie Lord of the Flies)

Bon Fire: http://search.creativecommons.org/#

Bon fire Rocks: www.creativecommons.org Image ID: anim0420, NOAA's Ark - Animals Collection

Jack: (Screen shot from movie Lord of the Flies)