Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Monday, December 8, 2008

Final Data Presentation

This is a short data presentation for my my Sound & Motion class. It is intended to be a short film for youtube or maybe as a commercial on a clean house website/tv show. The final product feels like a crime scene investigation as the camera and text explore and narrate the different parts of a bathroom. My purpose is to show just how dirty your bathroom really is, so I present 5 different facts revealing disturbing and surprising information about common bathroom objects such as the toilet, soap dispenser, etc. The text is animated to interact with the object it is related to in a purposeful way as it comes onto the screen adn then leaves the screen. I tried to create smooth transitions and provide enough time for the viewer to read the entire fact, but in some cases, I still think the video moves too quickly. I used iMovie and AfterEffects during post production to complete this project. I learned how to use different tools in AfterEffects such as the transform functions, masks, and different effects like "scatter." The music I added is supposed to enhance the drama and suspense of the dirty bathroom facts.

Untitled from Kyle Huber on Vimeo.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

S/M Data Presentation- More Research

THINK YOUR BATHROOM IS CLEAN?...THINK AGAIN!!

So I have decided that what I want to present in my informative video clip is facts about poor bathroom hygiene and how to improve your cleanliness.  Poor bathroom hygiene can present a health risk to the entire household. When not cleaned properly and often, a dirty bathroom becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and germs that spread illness through the house. Each family member can play their part in keeping the bathroom clean to prevent germs from spreading. It involves keeping themselves clean and cleaning up after themselves. The regimen is not just healthy; it's considerate. The dirt and germs you leave behind can linger and spread illness to other family members.

This relates to my original activity of brushing your teeth, but now I'm taking it one step further and branching out to the bathroom in general. These are the 5 facts I will be presenting:


1. Use disposable towels to dry your hands instead of a cloth towel that everyone would use. By using disposables, you'll be throwing away germs instead of spreading them. Communal towels contain bacteria and viruses that cause illness.

2. Replace your toothbrushes every three months. Don't let your dirty toothbrush hang in the holder with your family’s toothbrushes. And never share a toothbrush with anyone. That's the quickest way to spread infections.

3. Occasionally remove your showerheads and soak them overnight in vinegar or a commercial cleanser. This removes the build-up and dirt that clogs the head and contaminates the shower water.
(info from Safety.com)

4. Fecal bacteria grow in refillable soap dispensers. You can get as many as 10 million bacteria on your hands every time you use one because they grow in the soap. So, don’t use them! Buy a new soap dispenser when you run out.

5. Flush your toilet with the lid closed because the force of the flush can send bacteria and water droplets from the toilet out in to the air and can contaminate your personal hygiene items such as your toothbrush!

This is an interesting video I found about my last fact:Dr.Know: How Dirty Are Bathrooms?
 
SCREEN SHOTS FROM INITIAL FILMING








Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Visual Communication: Modes of Appeal

These are my nearly finished modes of appeal posters that I have 
revised since the first class critique. 
My logos poster now has an "aha" moment, which is important to include while trying to stick with Fukuda's style of design. I created irony by saying "25 million soldiers" and then showing the word "victory" on a grave. I hope my message is now more clear.
I needed to give my ethos poster more information so that it not only has an "aha" moment but also, now the general that I vectored is given context by the word "victory" and the crosses in the background. At first, people weren't sure that he was a general. He could be a mailman or any sort of man who wears a hat. So, the crosses of dead soldiers creates the irony of war doesn't really create a true victory..people are still dying!
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The artifact I chose to work with is by a Japanese designer named Shigeo Fukuda. The poster is called "Victory 1945" and was created in 1975 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the end of WWII. It has a PATHOS mode of appeal and sends and emotional message to the viewer saying that this idea of war and battle creates irony and a false sense of victory. 

These are my initial ideas for a LOGOS mode of appeal, which means I am sending a logical message. I kept Fukuda's style of simplicity and irony, as well as a similar color pallet. 
These are my ideas for a ETHOS mode of appeal. They are intended to give a sense of credibility and the soldier figure becomes the speaker of the text. Irony is used again. 

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Sound and Motion: 4a DATA PRESENTATION


!!!UPDATE!!!

AFTER IN-CLASS BRAINSTORM SESSION:
I have come up with some great ideas for how I can present my 5 statistics in this data presentation. I want to use my bathroom as the stage and I will set up a camera and record a 30-40 second live shot. While nothing will actually be happening physically in the bathroom (other than maybe the light being turned on and then turned off) it will be more interesting than a still photograph of my bathroom. I can then use typography to guide the viewer through 5 different parts of the bathroom. I will try to find bathroom facts that relate to dental hygiene, whether its how much water is used on average each time u brush your teeth or how the flush of a toilet could contaminate your toothbrush...and then the facts will be animated through kinetic typography as they guide the viewer through a narrative. 


SOME IDEAS I RULED OUT:

A) I thought about making my imagery be of 5 different people with different teeth in range of perfect teeth to crooked, not so nice, teeth smiling on film for about 6-7 seconds each while I narrate an interesting fact about dental hygiene. The voice over would make the visuals on the screen of the cropped, weird, and compelling close-up "smiles" be more powerful.

B) Maybe I could show 5 different facts about things relating to teeth hygiene and film each scene for approximately 6-7 seconds. The imagery would be nothing to do with the bathroom, teeth brushing, or flossing...but the message would be a nice contrast to the straightforward and literal directions I have used so far. Instead of showing someone flossing I would show them shopping and use the fact about how 73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping than floss. 

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DATA PRESENTATION [description]
design a sequence of five important/interrelated/interesting statistics about your activity/hobby. they should be combined in a way that makes a logical case (logos) about your activity/hobby and provides information to the viewer in a clear and compelling way. required content: five facts, at least three communication channels.

above all, don’t forget that we’re developing a narrative (how you say it) as well as a story (what you say/structure) with this work.


PROJECT OBJECTIVES
as a result of this project, you will be able to,
• apply all temporal elements (duration, motion, and transition) and at least three communication channels (image, text, voice, music, sound effects) to your work
• explain hierarchy of and relationships between the communication channels
• develop a range of form generation methods from analog to digital
• explain the differences and qualities of digital and analog motion
• hold a perspective on the practical applications of narrative in the design field and its practitioners
• apply deeper technical understanding of flash, photoshop, illustrator, and video / sound software and apply to the production of classroom projects

WRITTEN PROCESS
• the purpose of the work. why does it exist? what is it supposed to do? 

-The purpose of my presentation is to communicate information about personal dental hygiene through different channels in an innovative and narrative method. I will explore temporal elements such as duration, motion, and transition to present a series of statistics and interesting facts about brushing and flossing. I decided that a data presentation sounded more appropriate for my subject matter because I don't think a television show about brushing your teeth would be a hit! I want to make a commercial, not a show opener. 

• context for the work. what surrounds it? where or when does it appear? is it stand-alone or does it require a presenter, what else is on that channel? etc.

-My presentation will be designed like an informative television commercial that is not directly advertising a specific project. Instead, it will advertise important and compelling facts that should appeal to anyone who cares about their teeth being healthy. It will be able to stand alone, because it will be narrated by sound effects and voice overs. I am going to use Flash to create my movie clip and I want it to be approximately 30-45 seconds long. It won't be interactive, because as a commercial on television or on an internet website, it will just run on its own. I think if the viewer is paying attention, it will sort of seem interactive, however, as I guide them through the information in a meaningful and purposeful way.  Just cause they don't get to click certain things or chose what they want to see happen, doesn't mean I can't communicate my content in a similar way.  

• audience description. who are they and why are they watching?

-My audience is going to be very general because my activity is a part of literally everyone's daily hygiene. I could target a younger age group and create an aesthetic with playful colors and illustrated imagery, but I want to try something different. My last project for the nonlinear narrative was simplistic, clean, and had childlike vectored images. I think for this project I want to use photography and collaged image/compostion of a bathroom sink/mirror as the stage for my presentation. Even if I don't use any video clips or real people, but it will still be dynamic. I want my audience to watch my presentation to learn interesting facts about an activity they don't put much thought into because brushing and flossing have been a part of their daily routine since they first grew teeth. Sure, not everyone brushes 2x a day and flosses daily, but ideally, I would like my presentation to inspire people to want to improve their hygiene habits. My audience will be intrigued and interested in my presentation because of the channels I chose to communicate information and because of the visual aesthetics I plan to create. 

RESEARCH PROCESS
I started researching the content for my informational commercial. 
This Fun Dental Facts Website has a bunch of neat facts that I might use in my project
For example:
- 32% of Americans cite bad breath as the least attractive trait of their co-workers.
-38.5 total days is the number an average American spends brushing teeth over lifetime.
-73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping than floss.
-80% of people are not happy with their smile. 
-Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
-The average toothbrush contains about 2,5000 bristles grouped into about 40 tufts per toothbrush. 
-More people use blue toothbrushes than red ones.
-Smokers remain three times more likely than non-smokers to lose all their teeth.
- The average woman smiles about 62 times a day! 
-On average, men only smile 8 times a day!
-Tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease among children ages 5-17 with 59% affected. 
-Americans spend $2 billion a year on dental products -- toothpaste, mouthwash and dental floss.
-94 percent of Americans say they brush nightly; 81 percent say they do it first thing in the morning.
-Percent who say they floss daily: 28%
-About 85% of people with persistent bad breath have a dental condition that is to blame.
-38.5 = the total days an average American spends brushing teeth over a lifetime

Other websites I will draw statistics from include: Dental Hygiene Facts and Dental Health

I have been browsing youtube trying to find helpful videos but the supply for what I want to do seems to be limited. I found some fun and unique clips that are pretty dated, but still informative : How to Properly Brush and Floss Your Teeth

www.good.is  has increble videos on their website that I found very inspirational

I really like how this video presents such powerful information and statistics, but I do see ways that it could be improved. I think if some of the facts with big numbers were allowed more time to soak into the audiences mind by maybe showing something we can relate to in order to give the number context. For example, if I'm giving a fact about the number of toothbrushes that americans purchase a year I will try to literally show that many toothbrushes on the screen to make the viewer understand and visualize the significance of what is being said.

These next two clips have compelling usage of typography and ways to present information. I know it doesn't relate to my content but I like some of the transitions they used and I want to explore how I can create similar transitions in my data presentation. 

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Final Sound and Motion Nonlinear Flash Narrative

Wow! I can't believe I have figured this out and reached the point I am at for this final critique. Flash is challenging, very challenging- especially when trying to learn action script without tutorials and without a solid understanding of how it all works. I taught myself how to address errors and fix them by taking chances. I expanded my knowledge of writing code and definitely learned that trying something new isn't as simple as it looks. I often spent hours and hours on one concept, just trying to figure out how to create it the correct way. Using containers and playing around with the movie symbols, instance names, and multiple layers allowed me to become comfortable within my final flash file. I feel like I know where everything is and how to navigate Flash with shortcuts and other tricks. I'm really glad we had this project and I look forward to designing websites and other action scripts in the future.

The sound effects I chose are all about "brushing your teeth." They include sound files of "brushing," "swishing," "spitting," "rinsing," and "tapping." All of these sounds should be extremely recognizable and specific to my subject matter. I included the sound effect of a clean smile which sounds like a "ding!" I think sound effects establish a direct relationship to the activities I'm presenting visually. They enhance the images in the animations, regardless of the fact that they are not direct sound effects of what is being shown. In other words, just because the animations don't show a person swishing toothpaste in their mouth or tapping their toothbrush on the sink- the sounds still make sense to the activity of brushing your teeth.

The voice overs are about brushing and flossing, but contain instructions on how to properly brush and floss. They also explain why doing these are important daily activities. I like the way they are educational, with out being boring or uninteresting. I searched youtube for a long time trying to find the movie clips with the best narrations and then I recorded them directly through audacity. This was all a brand new trial and error process for me. It opens many doors to me as far as what I can do in the future for other projects. I tried to record my own voice overs and after narrowing down the best ones for my final project, I decided to not use the recordings I made..based mainly on the fact that I would rather hear a stranger's voice than my own :)

The music files I chose also add color to the narrative because they allow the viewer to chose the mood while they navigate. They can click one tooth that plays a fun song about shiny smiles or they can enjoy an instrumental song without lyrics that sets an entirely different mood. I chose a song called "My shiny teeth and Me" that is pretty literal, but the instruments and the singers voice relate to a younger age group.. I think its catchy and fun. Its not tacky or cheesy, unless you wanna get super critical! The songs with lyrics are both educational, which is what my original intentions were throughout this entire semester. I chose an activity that is part of everyone's daily life and in order to make it not so monotonous, I chose songs that suggest brushing is not just important, but enjoyable!

The following images are screen shots from my nonlinear narrative that I have created and interacted with. I posted several different variations of how everything can be manipulated, moved, opened, played, etc. I think you can get a good understanding of the visual aesthetics I have designed.The only thing you still have no idea of is how I used sound to add to this interactive narrative. Each tooth contains a different sound effect, voice over, or music file. You can play as many as you would like at once, or just click each individually and listen to them by themselves. (I found that by playing a music clip with sound effects on top of it was especially interesting.)








These are some screenshots from during the creation of my final product:





These are my sketches of initial visual directions:





Wednesday, October 29, 2008

comm. models- "system" postcard



When the output (or "products") function along side other products, it forms a system. I tried to visualize a system with my original postcard and the new product that my partner created with his own added imagery that supports my message of the shoe shining box becoming an obsolete object.

I had to research additional information that supports my visual dialog. I am now trying to place the product in a "historical" contextual system.

• What is the impact/relationship to other products?
By using an old newspaper article from the time period of WWII (aka 1939-1945) I am relating my shoe shining box to this time period. The cutout of the missing shoe is no longer a white space, but now it is part of the overall system I have created. The newspaper give an indication of when the decline of shoe shining began.

• What is ONE argument (from a historical point of view) that can be made about the object?
Shining shoes was a respectable form of urban living in the past and gave many successful business types their first foot hold on the corporate ladder. Before the Depression, no bustling city street in the US was complete without fleets of shoe shine boys armed with their homemade wooden shoeshine box, cheap black and brown shoe polish and old cotton rags, all in an eternal quest for nickels and dimes. After the Second World War the enterprising business went into steep decline but personned, shoe-shine stations could still be found in main airports and big city underground garages etc. As the decades have passed, the amount of shoe shiners have decreased even more, mainly because the shoes that are in need of a "shine" are not as popular anymore.

• What are the ramifications or benefits of this system?
This system that I have created results in the viewer gaining knowledge of
a) what the object being shown actually is (the cutout shape of the shoe is an index of what the shoe shining box is used for)
b) what the missing shoe creates as a product ( "shoe shining is becoming extinct, because people don't need their shoes shined anymore")
c) why and when did the depreciation of my object begin?

• How could that engage in a dialectic based on the second postcard?
The second postcard left a lot of things open for question. Why did the receiver of my original postcard cut out the shape of a shoe and leave the composition with such tension and uncomfortable balance? What exactly was he intending to say? The system I have created explains and defines what I thought he was trying to say with his output postcard.