This is my first website done for my assignment. Although my website is not very good and still need a lot of improvement but I will try my best next time.
http://www.shireenpeh.com/
This website has given me a lot of tough times during coding because I am very familiar with the software. It is not as simple as I thought it would be, I never realised a simple website needed so many coding. When I was given the topic for the website which was digital heritage website, I instantly thought of Chinese opera because I never seen a Malaysia Chinese opera before because they are so rare and I only saw it appeared on Hong Kong television drama. Chinese opera has always fascinates me with its singing and acrobatic stunts, but what really fascinates me is the opera masks. The masks are so colourful and yet mysterious.
I never knew there was an association for Chinese opera existed in Malaysia and I found one, it's called Kuantan Chinese Opera Association.
http://www.mana.my/heritage-of-malaysia-empowering-the-artistic-heritage-of-chinese-opera/
Back into dynastic periods, Chinese opera were performed exclusively for the emperor as an entertainment, but as time goes by Chinese opera are now open for public. Besides that, they also perform during the lunar seventh month Chinese Ghost Festival as a form of entertainment to the spirits and audience. These masks were based on the ancient face painting tradition where warriors decorated themselves to scare the enemy.
Moreover, I found that different colour of the mask stands for different meaning and characters because I always thought those patterns and colour were just for decoration until I had done my research.
Blue- staunchness and fierceness
Red- devotion and courage
Purple- uprightness and sophistication
Green- impulsive and violent
Black- roughness and fierceness
Yellow- ambitious and cool-headedness
White- sinisterness and treacherousness
The colour of the masks can be related to semiotics, for example:
signifier- colour of the mask
signified- characteristic of the mask
Therefore, the colour of the mask let the audience know what kind of characteristic is it.
I think we need to preserve our cultural heritage in order to pass it down to the next generation, but now it seems that less and less youngsters are willing to involve themselves in traditional activities which is kind of depressing to look at.
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Redundancy and Entropy
Redundancy - something common and predictable
Entropy - something new and unpredictable
An obvious example would be the difference between Pixar and Dreamworks which both are animation studio.
Pixar is known for their heartwarming stories and often comes out new idea which are rarely seen on any other animation film. Their story are meaningful and contain depth and they are able to make a connection between the characters in the movie and audience. Their moral of the story are able to impact on people's life like Wall-E, teaching people to appreciate Earth resources. Most of their stories are out of the box which make it memorable for people. I can still remember clearly the whole story of Toy Story which is one of my favourite animated films of all time because it made me believe toys are alive when i first saw the movie. Besides that, I can even watch Pixar movies over and over again without getting bored. Pixar films rarely get sequels except for Toy Story and Cars unlike Dreamworks. Moreover, Pixar only release one film annually which they have more time to produce higher quality of work compared to Dreamworks.
In contrast of Pixar, Dreamworks's films are more lighthearted compared to Pixar's film which contain more drama and touching moment. Dreamworks release at least two movies annually, which can become a little bit overwhelming and tired of their presence because most of the stories are based on story book and pretty much predictable just by looking at their trailers or posters.Their movies has become a norm, content is not fresh enough because most of their characters are based on animals, featuring celebrities as the voice for the characters. Moreover, Dreamworks keep making movies with sequels, making their franchise boring like Shrek. Their moral and message of the story are lack of depth and I've noticed their moral of the story in the movies are mostly just based on friendship. Even though their stories and characters are not original enough, however there is one thing that can make Dreamworks stands out from Pixar is their humor and satire, their stories contain more laughter compared to Pixar.
Each of them has their own uniqueness, but what I think the most important in animation film is the content and the message. Overall, I think people need to keep reinventing themselves in order to produce fresh idea.
source: http://www.eatliver.com/i.php?n=4175
Friday, 17 August 2012
McLuhan's theory
"The medium is the message" said Marshall McLuhan.
medium- an extension of human mind or body
message- the idea of information, content, news delivered
In McLuhan's terms the message of a medium not its content, but its effect or impact on our lives, our ways of thinking, our social relations.
One of the examples is an episode from Mad Men series. Mad Men is television drama about a creative director works in a advertising agency set in 1960's in America.
In this part of the episode when he was trying to sell his idea of a slide projector advertisement to his client, he explained to his client that consumers need to have a sentimental bond towards a product in order to sell the product. Therefore, nostalgia is one of the feelings people can relate to, delicate but potent.
At one part he mentioned that the Carousel is like a time machine, it can go forward and backward. I think what he means is we are able to look back into the past and go forward as in to see the progress of what we are and achieved in the present day.His message is trying to make an impact on people's life, make them think about the sweet and sad memory they shared their loved ones.
The slides is like a collected memory that will make us feel nostalgia instead, take us to a place we ache to go again. Moreover, he said the Carousel travels like a kid travels, go round and a round and back to home again, a place we love. I think what he is trying to say is slide projector is not only for presentation only which were mainly for office use but also for people to use in their house, share with their family and friends. He changed the name of the wheel into the Carousel to make it sound more interesting and family friendly.
The medium in the video is the Carousel, the slide projector while nostalgia is the message Carousel carries in it, a memory when they look at the slides. The main purpose was to let people feel nostalgia when they look at the slides. From this video, I've learn that old product can be change into something new and fresh just by changing its 'message'.
source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus
medium- an extension of human mind or body
message- the idea of information, content, news delivered
In McLuhan's terms the message of a medium not its content, but its effect or impact on our lives, our ways of thinking, our social relations.
One of the examples is an episode from Mad Men series. Mad Men is television drama about a creative director works in a advertising agency set in 1960's in America.
In this part of the episode when he was trying to sell his idea of a slide projector advertisement to his client, he explained to his client that consumers need to have a sentimental bond towards a product in order to sell the product. Therefore, nostalgia is one of the feelings people can relate to, delicate but potent.
At one part he mentioned that the Carousel is like a time machine, it can go forward and backward. I think what he means is we are able to look back into the past and go forward as in to see the progress of what we are and achieved in the present day.His message is trying to make an impact on people's life, make them think about the sweet and sad memory they shared their loved ones.
The slides is like a collected memory that will make us feel nostalgia instead, take us to a place we ache to go again. Moreover, he said the Carousel travels like a kid travels, go round and a round and back to home again, a place we love. I think what he is trying to say is slide projector is not only for presentation only which were mainly for office use but also for people to use in their house, share with their family and friends. He changed the name of the wheel into the Carousel to make it sound more interesting and family friendly.
The medium in the video is the Carousel, the slide projector while nostalgia is the message Carousel carries in it, a memory when they look at the slides. The main purpose was to let people feel nostalgia when they look at the slides. From this video, I've learn that old product can be change into something new and fresh just by changing its 'message'.
To me, I think he presentation in this part of the episode is quite impactful and meaningful. The mood and music are well put together to project a sentimental feeling towards the audience.
source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus
Semiotics
From what I had learned in my media history and culture class, semiotics is the study of sign. A sign that signify something.
Wolverine has been one of my favourite comic superheroes, there are few examples that can relate to semiotics.
From arbitrary to iconic
Without seeing the picture or real photo, we can't tell whether 'Wolverine' stands for the animal itself or the comic book superhero.
Arbitrary
Wolverine is known for his near indestructible adamatium claws from his hand
Denotation- Wolverine's claws coming out from his hand with a sound effect, 'SNIKT !'
Connotation- He is ready to fight and the fight will be very nasty and violent
Myth - His powerful adamatium claws that can cut through almost everything.
Binary Opposition
There is always will be a villain in every superhero comic in order to show the binary opposition among the characters and to make the story interesting as well. For instance, the picture below shows Wolverine(hero) fighting with Sabretooth (villain), Wolverine's long time arch enemy.
Here is an interesting poster that I found online when I was searching for some inspiration for my poster design assignment. This poster is design by Olly Moss, a graphic designer.
As you can see there are two batman face in Wolverine's face. I found this design very simple and yet creative in putting an image within an image.
Since I saw this poster I started to notice a lot of batman in wolverine comics.
source(images):
Wolverine has been one of my favourite comic superheroes, there are few examples that can relate to semiotics.
From arbitrary to iconic
Without seeing the picture or real photo, we can't tell whether 'Wolverine' stands for the animal itself or the comic book superhero.
 |
| Iconic |
Arbitrary
Wolverine is known for his near indestructible adamatium claws from his hand
Denotation- Wolverine's claws coming out from his hand with a sound effect, 'SNIKT !'
Connotation- He is ready to fight and the fight will be very nasty and violent
Myth - His powerful adamatium claws that can cut through almost everything.
Binary Opposition
There is always will be a villain in every superhero comic in order to show the binary opposition among the characters and to make the story interesting as well. For instance, the picture below shows Wolverine(hero) fighting with Sabretooth (villain), Wolverine's long time arch enemy.
Here is an interesting poster that I found online when I was searching for some inspiration for my poster design assignment. This poster is design by Olly Moss, a graphic designer.
Since I saw this poster I started to notice a lot of batman in wolverine comics.
source(images):
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Cultural Talk
During the study break,my classmates and I attended a cultural talk led by Shao Hong SER. Surprisingly the talk was not as boring as i expected, it turns out quite entertaining. He started to define what is culture, culture is the way of life for an entire society. For instance, if someone or even celebrities started to have a tribal tattoo on their neck, others will start to follow the person and eventually turn into a culture.
Besides that, he also mentioned that there are 3 cultural levels which were:
-Physical [Material culture]
-Social [Behaviour culture]
-Spiritual [Ideal culture]
Moreover, there are 4 steps before designing a product
1) investigation (setting a scenario, research)
2) interaction (telling a story)
3) development (writing a script, sketches)
4) implementation (designing)
These steps will help us a lot for designing a product, allow us to create a much meaningful and worthy product. If we do not follow one of these steps, things might go wrong. For example, Shao Hong has mentioned that was a controversy involved in the design of the limited edition Nike Air Force 1 in Thailand.
Besides having the the flag of Thailand and the royal patterns on the shoes which were consider to be disrespectful for the Thais. The main issue of the design of the shoes was the symbol of the holy spirit(only for the King of Thailand) on the back of the shoes, which was very offensive and disrespectful to the King of Thailand. As a result the shoes were ban in the country
When the designer of the shoe was asked why did he design in such way, he/she then replied that he thought the symbol looked cool and interesting when he/she first saw that symbol in a temple in Thailand. The designer who designed the shoes simply put the things he/she liked without doing any research about the meaning of the symbol and the culture of Thailand, which will eventually create a backlash from the society.
The lesson of the day was always do research on the subject before taking any action.
Besides that, he also mentioned that there are 3 cultural levels which were:
-Physical [Material culture]
-Social [Behaviour culture]
-Spiritual [Ideal culture]
Moreover, there are 4 steps before designing a product
1) investigation (setting a scenario, research)
2) interaction (telling a story)
3) development (writing a script, sketches)
4) implementation (designing)
These steps will help us a lot for designing a product, allow us to create a much meaningful and worthy product. If we do not follow one of these steps, things might go wrong. For example, Shao Hong has mentioned that was a controversy involved in the design of the limited edition Nike Air Force 1 in Thailand.
When the designer of the shoe was asked why did he design in such way, he/she then replied that he thought the symbol looked cool and interesting when he/she first saw that symbol in a temple in Thailand. The designer who designed the shoes simply put the things he/she liked without doing any research about the meaning of the symbol and the culture of Thailand, which will eventually create a backlash from the society.
The lesson of the day was always do research on the subject before taking any action.
Ouya
While I was doing research for my essay topic which is about video games. I found this interesting website about a new $99 Android-based video game console called Ouya ("ooh-yuh") that will challenge the way Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been bringing games to us on our television for years. Ouya is a a new game console for television which is powered by Android. It is a fully hackable console, a system that is being pitched as a platform for both indies and big companies.
Ouya is a console that is fully open to develop for and on which every game will be free either initially as a demo or as a free-to-play game. This console will only be made through crowd funding, their goal is to raise $950,00. They promise that Ouya will be released in March, 2013 is they hit their goal.
Although the name of the brand sounds weird but it does look promising enough, it's going to bring the game industry to a whole new level. People are able to hack the console without violating any rules. It will be great for those indie game developer to release and sell their games. Everyone are able to afford this console which only cost $99, a gaming system with a modest amount of horsepower behind it.
Source:
- http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console
- http://kotaku.com/5924657/an-all+star-plan-to-build-a-new-99-hackable-video-game-console-requires-950000-of-your-money
Ouya is a console that is fully open to develop for and on which every game will be free either initially as a demo or as a free-to-play game. This console will only be made through crowd funding, their goal is to raise $950,00. They promise that Ouya will be released in March, 2013 is they hit their goal.
Although the name of the brand sounds weird but it does look promising enough, it's going to bring the game industry to a whole new level. People are able to hack the console without violating any rules. It will be great for those indie game developer to release and sell their games. Everyone are able to afford this console which only cost $99, a gaming system with a modest amount of horsepower behind it.
Source:
- http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console
- http://kotaku.com/5924657/an-all+star-plan-to-build-a-new-99-hackable-video-game-console-requires-950000-of-your-money
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Intertextuality
Based on my understanding, intertextuality is a complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text. Intertextuality tends to be distinguished from mere plagiarism through its sense of creative 'ownership', which kind of means nothing is original. People tends to get inspiration from each other. There are two types of intertextuality which are unconscious and (self-)conscious.
Nowadays more and more books are being adapted into live action movie like Harry Potter, Twilight,etc.. especially superhero comic books. One of the movie that can be related to intertextuality is the amazing spider-man that I've watched with my family recently. This movie is the reboot of the original spider-man movie franchise directed by Sam Raimi.I can't believe its already been 10 years since the first spider-man movie released in 2002. Although the movie has the same concept but it has improved the plot of the movie which is based more on the original comic itself compared to the first spider-man movie.
Both of the poster design are quite similar, but the design of the costume has changed to avoid confusion
Since this movie is pretty much based the comic, web shooters and the lizard are reinterpret from the comic into the movie with more realistic and scientific explaination.
Spider-man is not the only movie that has remake, films like james bond, batman,etc. Although the film is remake of the original series which is kind of unnecessary and yet people are still going to watch the movie and make millions dollars out of it. Maybe the reason people keep coming back to watch these movies is to see the improvements with new cast, adventure and CGI effects,as long as the content of the film is fresh. While the movie focus much more on the peter parker's life, the entire film is just an interpretation from the comic book. The comic book and the original series act as an inspiration source for the remake of spider-man. In a nutshell, nothing is original.
source(image):
http://cine-maravillas.blogspot.com/2012/06/proximamente.html
Nowadays more and more books are being adapted into live action movie like Harry Potter, Twilight,etc.. especially superhero comic books. One of the movie that can be related to intertextuality is the amazing spider-man that I've watched with my family recently. This movie is the reboot of the original spider-man movie franchise directed by Sam Raimi.I can't believe its already been 10 years since the first spider-man movie released in 2002. Although the movie has the same concept but it has improved the plot of the movie which is based more on the original comic itself compared to the first spider-man movie.
Both of the poster design are quite similar, but the design of the costume has changed to avoid confusion
Since this movie is pretty much based the comic, web shooters and the lizard are reinterpret from the comic into the movie with more realistic and scientific explaination.
source(image):
http://cine-maravillas.blogspot.com/2012/06/proximamente.html
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