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When purchasing a product there are certain things we take into account, possibly subliminally, sometimes very well acknowledging the fact. However, it is more than likely that we will purchase a more expensive version of a product for little gain except its physical appearance.

A prime example of this is with iPods and specifically the iPod Touch (shown below).

The iPod touch was considered a revolutionary MP3/MP4 player when it came out In September 2007. It was also considered to be the best on the market.

I purchased an iPod touch in the first few months of 2008. When searching for an MP3 player I initially went out looking for an item under the £100 mark. Whilst searching for an MP3 player there’s two options. Either, the cheap end plays MP3’s, or, there’s the brand name models which come with a few more features ie contacts, calendar etc. As you may be able to guess, the iPod touch costs a ‘touch’ (no pun intended) more than £100. In fact it is twice the price, £199.99.

So why did I pay twice the price I was originally willing to? Was it because it came with a calendar? Or was it because there were games available? Personally I don’t think it had anything to do with any of that. After all don’t we already have items that tell us where to be and when, and don’t we have over-priced Sega’s to play games on? So why is it that we pay more? I believe it is the design and media glorification of a product that sways our decision.

I believe that the design of a product and how it is portrayed in the media work hand in hand to convince us to buy a product at twice the price of its rivals. The reason for this its obvious – well sort of. I believe that the reason we buy these products is because we’re made to feel that they will make a much bigger difference to out life style than the non-branded Japanese import. We’re never really told how they will improve our quality of life, but it seems we are willing to believe it anyway. The other reason is entirely due to the design of the product. I think that it’s our subconscious idea of wanting the best. As with anything, if its aesthetically pleasing it is considered in our minds ‘better’ than a product with identical functions.

Below is my final Pixelation Sequence. Out of all the animations that I have trialed through this project I have decided that this is the most advanced for a number of reasons. The main reason i have chosen this one as my final piece is that it seems to flow much smoother than any other of the animations i have done previously. I also belive this is more impressive as different filters and effects were required for different parts of the sequence. Finally I would like to say that i'm really happy with it. Let me know what you think!

Tom.

Below is my final edit of the pixelation sequence attempted within our groups.

The mobile phone; a modern day necessity and on many occasions a burden to its users. For the last 10 years mobile phones have become commonplace in our society. We’ve always hoped to achieve the very most out of them, and usually ended up disappointed. However, the next generation is creeping up. There are already several models on the market and many will be released in the next few months. A glance at these specifications suggests that they may finally have caught up with our expectations.

The first mobile to seriously ‘wow’ its audience was the Apple iPhone, which has now evolved into the iPhone 3G. 3G Technology is basically a mobile form of high-speed Internet. As with the iPhone and its soon-to-be competitors, a mobile phone is no longer really a phone, it’s a hand-held media device designed to organise and co-ordinate every aspect of our social and personal lives. All this power in a product that fits in the palm of your hand must bring some changes to our life? Surely?

A recent study has taken place to show that modern technologies – notably the Internet and mobile phones, were initially viewed with a good deal of scepticism when reviewed in the media. Look at any technology magazine or website from the last 10 years and without doubt you’ll find a letter of complaint or article written with a negative slant. Many of the articles stated that these newly developed technologies and the production of social networking websites and virtual worlds were dumbing us down. There were reports of teenagers forming their life around the Internet as opposed to the real world and as a result this generation was becoming incapable of interacting with other people. However, the study's findings have revealed that far from developing a generation incapable of communication, this technology has facilitated communication and that thanks to the ease of internet access, family relations are on a modern day up!

The report which was documented by the BBC states that the correlation of mobile phones and the Internet are helping family members maintain stronger social ties. It can only be presumed that the more advanced this technology becomes, the stronger its capabilities will be at keeping people in touch. Speaking from personal experience, maintaining contact with loved ones in Australia over a decade ago depended on erratic air mail correspondence or a very expensive phone call. Communicating across the globe can now be achieved by a very inexpensive message posted via Facebook, MySpace etc, which thanks to these new mobile technologies, can be done from anywhere!

I believe that as these products become even more refined we will keep in touch with more people than ever before. I believe that these products will change society in a way that will increase our ability and willingness to stay in contact with those we may not see on a regular basis and will give a new dimension on ways to communicate with those that we do.

In conclusion I think the next generation of smart-phones and highly complex web compatible mobile phones will change society more for our own good than bad. However, I don't believe that this change will be recognised as significant and will be taken for granted much like every other piece of technology. That is unless it is perceived as having an adverse affect and then we’ll no doubt here about it!

OK, so i keep putting together strange little clay men. Which come out "OK" but I've never been that happy with so I decided I should try and do something with some sort of story/theme. I decided to do a minature evolution themed animation. The results are below:

Quick Animation Update!

Below are videos from my latest (and best) clay animation video and pixelation animation.

The clay animation:

Out of the two clay animation video's I have produced so far this is my favourite. However, I still feel that attempting to create a clay animation video of a high enough quality may require more experience.

The pixelation animation:

This video has come out better than I initialy expected. I am pleased with the current effects that have been added using the 'Batch Processing' tool in Adobe Photoshop. I am also looking foward to trying out other effects and styles.

This weeks seminar was based around the practise of pixelation. Pixelation is the production of video footage from a series of still images (as in stop motion) however whereby people are involved.

A series of images were produced in groups of 4 and we will individualy process those images individualy. My group decided to do our filming in a local Nottingham pub - can't imagine why =) Unfortunatly those images won't be worked on until next week.

However as a continue to my animation/pixelation work I am working on producing two other small clips:

The first uses clay models as my 'puppets'. The raw image sequence for this below, as you can see sound and visual effects are still to be added, some timing issues also need to be resolved:


The second sequence i'm working on is involving the use of toy cars. The raw image sequence for this below, as you can see sound and visual effects are still to be added, further images may also be added:

As a follow on to 'Pin-Hole Camera-ing' during freshers week we were also tought methods used to create stop motion animation. This was achieved using a stills camera (standard digital camera), a tripod, a whiteboard and a couple of marker pens.

We were split into groups of 4 and told to think of interesting ways to transfer a box from one side of a house, to the other side.

The results of this are shown below (my groups animation is from 1.06 to 1.15)

Creating a Pin-Hole Camera was one of the activities done on welcome week! The idea is to make a very basic camera using simple materials and creating a good picture from it.

The Pin-Hole Camera was created using:
- A Can
- A Circle of Cardboard
- A Strip of Cardboard
- A Lot of Gaffa Tape
- A Piece of Electrical Tape
- A Hole
- A Piece of Photo-Sensitive Paper

Then its as simple as point, 'shoot' (the shooting part being removing the 'shutter', being electrial tape' leave for as many seconds as required), and finally replace the tape so no more light can enter into the camera (can with a hole in it).

Finally to produce the picture the photo-sensitive paper is put through the standard photo-development process:
- Developer
- Stop
- Fix
- Wash down with water

We now have the negative which you can see below:














The negative is scanned into a computer and inverted to give the genuine image, the final result shown below:

My first week at NTU has already been an exciting and enjoyable experience. The first day was a combined mixture of, talks about NTU, talks from world class athletes, talks from our tutors, and running around Nottingham looking like a member of the SAS jumping over poles avoiding push-ups from the ‘Fresher Reps’. All this was before we’d had much to drink.

My first practical session in Multimedia involved creating the images for a ‘still image sequence’ initially when I came here animation was not one of the subject I felt most interested in, however, after just one session I already want to learn a lot more, and that leads us to today, right here, right now, writing my blog – best bit is, its not even over yet!

What do I want out of Multimedia at NTU?

I want a number of things including, a better perception of industry tools and techniques. A good understanding of all covered topics, most important being: animation, audio engineering and especially website design.

The most important thing I feel I can gain from this course, with the exception of a great qualification, is a precise idea of what I want to do when I leave - it'd be nice to think i'll have a good time achieving all of the above.

Tom