Week 09: Moving Pictures (Actionscripting)

Find below, the Actionscript used in today's example.
In this example, the VIEWER will select a category (SOIL, SOCIETY, SOUL), and then click the NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons to move through the slides that are located in folders.
Each filename is formatted as follows: img#.jpg, where # is a sequential number.
Each file is located in a folder according to the category it fits into.

Include the photo only presentation AND this application in PROJECT#3.

// FRAME SCRIPT
stop();

// SOIL Button
on(release) {
category = "soil"; // what folder to look inside
nextone=1; // what image to play first
limit=5; // number of images in the folder
loadMovie("images/" + category +"/img"+nextone+".jpg", mypics_mc);
}

// SOUL Button
on(release) {
category = "soul";
nextone=1;
limit=2;
loadMovie("images/" + category +"/img"+nextone+".jpg", mypics_mc);
}


/* NEXT Button script */
on (release) {
if (nextone>=limit) {
// Do nothing
} else {
nextone++;
loadMovie("images/" + category +"/img"+nextone+".jpg", mypics_mc);
}
}

/* PREVIOUS button script */
on (release) {
if (nextone<=1) {
// Do nothing
} else {
nextone--;
loadMovie("images/" + category +"/img"+nextone+".jpg", mypics_mc);
}
}

Pictures And LoadMovie()

// Assume the image files are inside a folder called images, and that the files are named mypics1.jpg, mypics2.jpg, etc....

// frame script
set nextone = 1;
// ------------

// next image button
on (release) {
whichImage = "images/mypics" + nextone + ".jpg";
loadMovie(whichImage, "imageLoader")
nextone++;
}

// TODAY'S EXERCISE:
// Can you figure out a previous image button?
// Create an application that runs your SOIL, SOCIETY, SOUL images.
// The application must first, choose the show ( SOIL, SOCIETY, SOUL) then run the images inside that show.

Have fun!!!

Field Trip ... if anyone is interested

See Shamanic Journeying in Toronto

WACOM 21" Cintiq at Henry's Photographic Show

Project#3 (Assignment 1) Soil, Society, Soul

Thanksgiving Day walkabout.

To be an Earth Pilgrim

Project Three will look through images.

We will research through the lens of soil, society, and soul.

Some inspiration from Satish Kumar:
To be an Earth Pilgrim is to revere Nature as our sacred home, and see all our life as a sacred journey to become at one with ourselves, with others and with Nature. The starting point for being an Earth Pilgrim is humility in the face of Nature’s immense generosity and unconditional love. Take the apple tree. We eat the fruit that has been freely given – and finding a bitter pip, we spit it out. Here the pip immediately starts to cooperate with Nature. The soil provides hospitality for the seed, which is nourished by the rain and the sunshine. Soon the pip has literally grounded itself and realised itself as another tree bearing innumerable apples and countless pips. When people ask me about reincarnation, I point to the apple tree. And when offering its fruit, the apple tree does not discriminate between human and animal, educated and uneducated, between black or white, man and woman, young and old. All are equal, and all receive.

http://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article2644-To-Be-An-Earth-Pilgrim.html

A Reminder: Keep it simple!

Benjamin Zander Video

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, October 15 - 19

Volunteer for imagineNATIVE!
A volunteer orientation session will be held Sunday, October 5 from 4pm-5.30pm at the Al Green Theatre at 750 Spadina Avenue.

The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, October 15 - 19, is an international festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples at the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, and new media. The screenings, parties, panel discussions, and cultural events attract and connect filmmakers, media artists, programmers, and industry professionals from Canada and around the world.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!

As a non-profit charitable organization, we depend on the support of volunteers. As well as being a lot of fun, volunteering can provide a way to gain valuable experience and meet key players in the entertainment industry while helping out a community-oriented organization and supporting Toronto's art scene.

We are seeking enthusiastic volunteers to fill a number of positions before and during the festival, October 15 - 19. Some positions include:

- Guest Relations
- Airport Greeters
- Theatre Ushers / Ticket-Takers
- Workshop Attendants
- Party set-up
- Office Prep (pre-festival)

ImagineNATIVE volunteers are rewarded for their hard work with a Festival Pass, which gives access to festival screenings, special presentations, workshops, and parties.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact: Amy Rouillard, Volunteer Coordinator, web volunteer@imagineNATIVE.org
http://www.imagineNATIVE.org

The basic process of graphic design

The basic process of graphic design in terms of Communication Theory: it is the role of the designer to maximize the effectiveness of the total transmission, What he starts with is the alphasignal, the content devised generally by someone else. What he deliberately adds is parasignaI, the form devised by himself as his
contribution to increased effectiveness. What he injects of his own personality, his own idiosyncrasy his own eccentricity, coincidentally in the process, is infrasignal. It is to be hoped, if he does get some infrasignal in his work, that it is positive, that is, an asset. It is the mark of a good graphic designer to make sure that his work radiates no negative infrasignal.

Reference: Alphasignal, Parasignal, Infrasignal: Notes Toward a Theory of Communication By Crawford Dunn

Alphasignal, Parasignal, Infrasignal

When we listen to instrumental music, we are receiving parasignaI completely without any alphasignal. In such, there are no hard data, only soft data that require a far lower level of energy to decode.

Alphasignal is, by its very nature, encoded into a specific language either alphabetical or numerical - and requires specific linguistic knowledge to decode properly.

For this reason, alphasignal can be stopped dead still at many language boundaries and not allowed to pass.

Parasignal, on the other hand, although rarely truly global, is allowed remarkably free passage across language barriers. Thus, parasignal can be used where alphasignal is worthless.

Read: Alphasignal, Parasignal, Infrasignal: Notes Toward a Theory of Communication, Crawford Dunn, from Print Magazine, Nov./Dec. 1970. [Crawford Dunn]
http://visualstudies.buffalo.edu/resources/classnotes/art319/exercises/parasignal/Dunn_article/Alphasignal%20Parasignal%20Infrasignal.pdf


Also read: Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler:

Archetypes (p. 24)
Heirarchy of Needs (p.106),
Iconic Representation (p. 110),
Mimicry (p. 132),
Mnemonic Device (p. 134)

Using one generally recognized and accepted symbol, trademark, service-mark, word or phrase, develop and execute four variations of that symbol exemplifying each of these four approaches for manipulating parasignals:

Alphasignal with neutral parasignals
Alphasignal with common parasignal
Alphasignal with contradictory parasignals
Contradictory alphasignal[s]

Search for advertisements, magazine illustrations, magazine layouts, book jacket designs, etc. for outstanding examples of each of the 4 approaches for manipulating parasignals. Or start out with one commonly understood alphasignal and parasignal combination and create variations 3 and 4 for them.

PROJECT#4: Type, Sound, Image, Interactivity

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Upon successful completion of this project the student will be able to do the following:
• Integrate the User (through User input) into the presentation
• Design Actionscripts creating interactive functionality
• Understand complex objects and integrated systems
• Recognize design principles across multi-media forms
• Demonstrate how type, sound, graphics, and interactivity can be integrated into telling a unified story

PROCESS & CRITERIA:
Represent the kinetic story with text, sound, images and interactivity.
i) Submit a FINAL kinetic story built in FLASH, integrating text, sound, graphical images and interactivity. Include on the CD, the .fla, .swf, PC & MAC Projector.
ii) Submit a written (one page) report explaining your comments about the whole process of creating a digital multi-media presentation using text, sound, images and interactivity. This report should include a self-evaluation of how you valued the process and your project outcomes.

Due Dates:
1) Sketches & Model: Due Week #13
2) Working Revised Model: Due Week #14
3) THE FINAL INTEGRATED STORY: Due Week #15

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Include all Process stages (1,2,3) when submitting PROJECT #4,Week #15.

PROJECT#3: Type, Sound, & Image

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Upon successful completion of this project the student will be able to do the following:
• Capture graphic images (original pictures) and prepare them for digital output
• Organize graphic images according to specific categories
• Match type (text) images to graphic images
• Tell a story with graphical images and sound
• Integrate graphical images with type to strengthen a story
• Demonstrate how the introduction of graphic images can affect the story
• Demonstrate how type, sound, and graphic images can be integrated to tell a unified story

PROCESS & CRITERIA:
1) CAPTURE GRAPHIC IMAGES: Capture original graphic images to tell a story.
With a camera take pictures that can be organized into the following three categories: Soil, Soul, Society.
i) Capture a minimum of 90 (30 per category) pictures using a digital camera. The pictures must represent the text of the original poem.
ii) Organize the pictures according to the following categories:
• Soil (Looking Down / Earth / Ground),
• Society (Looking Across /People / Humanity),
• Soul (Looking Up / Spirit / Sky).
iii) Store the pictures (in JPEG format) on a CD, in a Folder named: IMAGES. Within the IMAGES Folder, create three sub-folders (SOIL, SOUL, SOCIETY). Organize the pictures into the appropriate folders based on the graphical images they represent. Name each image by category then by image name: For example: Soil_sand, Soil_water; Soul_bluesky, Soul_birdsflying; Society_chessplayers; Society_peopledancingtogether.
iv) Create a Sketch/Chart/Report matching the text from the story to the images captured.
v) Submit the IMAGES CD and the Chart/Report.

2) A STORY WITH ONLY IMAGES: Represent the poem with only images.
Re-create the poem with images only, by replacing the text with the appropriate images.
i) Substitute the images for the text lines.
ii) Submit the poem, but this time with graphical images (pictures), sound, and NO TEXT. Include on the CD, the .fla, .swf, PC & MAC Projector files.
iii) Submit a written (one page) report explaining the following:
a) Rationale for the choice of images in the recreated story
b) Shifts or changes in the story due to its now graphical image form

3) AN INTEGRATED STORY WITH TEXT, SOUND & IMAGES: Represent the poem with text, sound & images.
Create a new kinetic poem integrating text, sound, and graphical images.

Due Dates:
1) CAPTURE GRAPHIC IMAGES: Due Week #10
2) POEM WITH ONLY IMAGES: Due Week #11
3) AN INTEGRATED POEM WITH TEXT, SOUND, & IMAGES: Due Week #12

IMPORTANT NOTE: Include all image process stages (1,2,3) on the CD, when submitting the complete project.

PROJECT#1: Animated Type

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Upon successful completion of this project the student will be able to do the following: • Demonstrate animation principles applied to type;
• Explain the ways the meaning of a story can change with animation;
• Apply traditional design principles in a digital space/time-based environment;
• Create a new animated story;
• Deconstruct a story (finding key letters & words);
• Compose a digital story (reconnecting key phrases) constructing meaning;
• Tell a new story using kinetic type.

DESIGN PROCESS & CRITERIA:
1) Finding the type
a. Photograph images (letter pictures). The images must look like the first letter of the thing they represent. For example: The letter W looks like a wave. The letter S looks like a snake.
b. Save all images.

2) Tracing the images (using Flash) into the letterform
a. Using Flash, import the image into the Library, create a graphic symbol and trace bitmap the image.
b. Save the fla.

3) Creating a morph animation from the original image into the bitmap, and then into the letter
a. Using the original image, the traced bitmap, and the letterform, produce an animation illustrating the transformations from image, to traced bitmap, to letterform.
b. Save the animation as an .fla, and .mov.

4) The animated poem
a. Choose/compose a poem.
b. Translate the poem into an animated sketch.
c. Create a design rational explaining each animation in relation to the poem.
d. Complete the digital poem using Flash, applying design and animation principles.
e. Save as .fla and .mov.

5) Share the animated poem
a. Share the work through an in–class presentation (original images, traces, letterform animations, animated poem, design rationale).
b. Post to YouTube, blog, web site.
c. Describe the ways your design fulfills its purpose of communicating your ideas and the messages embedded within the poem.

Important Notes
1) Do not include music.
2) Do not include photographs
3) Do not include interactivity
4) INCLUDE TEXT/TYPE ONLY.

PROJECT#2: Animated Type & Sound

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Upon successful completion of this project the student will be able to do the following:
• Edit digital music (cut/paste, fade in/out and output .wav/. aif formats)
• Demonstrate how sound can affect the emotional impact of a story
• Explain sound design principles and how they affect and integrate with visual design
• Demonstrate ways type and sound can be integrated to tell a compelling story.

PROCESS & CRITERIA:
1. EDIT & INTEGRATE BACKGROUND AUDIO: Produce a background sound track file.
a. Listen to different music tracks while watching your Kinetic Type (Project #1) presentation.
b. Decide on a music track, edit it, and insert it into your Flash presentation.

2. FIND, EDIT, & INTEGRATE SOUND EFFECTS: Integrate sound effects into the poem.
a. Markup your poem with sound effect cues.
b. Find appropriate sound effects to insert into the poem.
c. Create a poem with integrated sound effects.

3. Kinetic poetry using Type and Sound.
a. Create a new kinetic poem integrating sound (music & effects) with type.
b. Submit a one-page rationale explaining how (the ways in which) the music and effects support the story.