Assignment 4- Animoto

For this project, we had to do a multimedia slide show presentation using the Animoto design program. This assignment was interesting because it expanded on what was, to me, a fairly simple type of multimedia: the slide show. Mostly, I'd never considered that one might do more with a slide show than just present a visual and text based series of slides. Using Animoto, I could very easily see the difference as the addition of music and motion a simple series of still pictures gives the pictures a dynamic quality they would not otherwise have.

This project was a good way of helping me understand that a simple idea (such as the slide show) can be expanded into something more creative and complex. One doesn't have to settle for the simple and typical but can find ways to improve a project and give it some life.

Here's my Animoto video:

Assignment 3- Audacity

For the third assignment we had to create an educational, creative, or business sound file using the Audacity audio program. Audacity was a whole lot of fun and a really enjoyable program to play around with. I could go for hours just setting up different songs next to each other and playing with the different effects to see what sort of sound I got. The program was surprisingly simple but allowed for a wide range of creative input.

For my project itself, I chose a fun topic, doing a report on the internet urban legend the Slender Man. This was especially fun because the topic gave me an excuse to use the various effects in Audacity, such as white noise, echoing, and the like.

Overall, playing with Audacity showed me the possibilities one has with audio in multimedia, even without having to spend money on high end equipment. For a long time I assumed that good audio production was something done with high end equipment, but after using Audacity I feel I could make an acceptable audio track for any project I may start.

Here's my Audacity project:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4m5qC6zsjqNN2Q2YjI5YjItMzkzNy00ZTRiLWE3YjItNWNhNzI2Yjk3NGU3&hl=en&authkey=CMn7kZoL

Assignment 2 - Flickr

Our second assignment had us modify and then upload two different sets of pictures into a Flickr account. Before going into this assignment, I’d never used Flickr before but I knew it was a popular photo-sharing site like Photobucket. So it wasn’t too hard an assignment to do, especially since I was already familiar with the ability to modify my photos in Picnik.

One very interesting aspect of Flickr that I did not know about though was the ability to map ones photos. This feature in particular struck me as very useful because it allows viewers to get an idea of an area or place without having to actually be there. One can examine photos of mountains, deserts, or forests and know what specific areas are like from their computers.

In all this was a fun and informative project that showed me what use photos can be put to besides just decoration or reference.

Here is my photostream on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59368207@N07/

Assignment 1 - Photostory

Our first assignment was to create a multimedia presentation using Microsoft's Photostory. We also used the freeware program Picnik to edit our photos. I enjoyed this assignment because it allowed me both to explore the different forms of editing that Picnik offered as well as combining the photos with transitions and music in Photostory to create a more complex project.

Messing around in Picnik was fun, but also taught me how small amounts of editing can easily give a photo new meaning, especially when combined with other photos and music. Moderate use of different effects can vastly change the feel or tone of a photo and the audience's impression upon viewing it, and with Picnik it was very easy to try out different edits and compare them.

Photostory was a lot of fun because I was able to see the combination of visuals and audio at work. Simply adding one track of music to what is nothing more than slide show of photos gave the overall presentation a more dynamic feel.

Hello

This is the second IT blog I've made here at USM, both under the guidance of Dr. Yuen. I'm real excited to see the new programs and concepts we'll be learning in a 400 level course as I found my experience with multimedia in my last class to be a very interesting one. I'm an English major so I often think solely in text, but finding other ways to work, other ways of going about making projects, be they creative or academic, is always helpful. So I'm looking forward to this class and all it has to offer.