Response to "Solutions"

As we have kept reading Andrew Keane's work, I have found that his thoughts on Wikipedia disturbing. Apparently it has "destructive consequences" which I find to be a very extreme view. I understand to a certain extent his thoughts that Wikipedia is not necessarily a scholarly source. The thing that I don't think he realizes is that the majority of the population know that already. Wiki's are user generated content, and do to that fact, yes, there may be some mistakes. However, I have found in my personal use of Wikipedia, that the site tends to be at least 99% accurate. And how do I know this? I do more research. Wikipedia is very helpful in that it allows people to find something very quickly and easily. However, because it is user generated information it is always best just to look for some other sources in order to back up the information you see there. Most professors do not allow students to use Wikipedia in a bibliography anyway. That being said, pretty much anything you search for has links to where the information came from. So if I'm not certain about the wiki pages info all I have to do is click a few of the links to see just how accurate the information is. So i disagree with the notion that Wikipedia is destructive. In fact, I'd have to say that I have done very well on a lot of papers because I have used it.

My Vision of Web 3.0

When I think about web 2.0, I almost feel as though it doesn't get much better than this. Sometimes people make assumptions that the next generation will be significantly better than the last. While I feel that some improvements can be made to get to Web 3.0, I do not think that we will have virtual interfaces that pop out of thin air just yet.
I think that Web 3.0 will first have some significant improvements in speed, granted a lot depends on the type of laptop one uses and the connections one has. Sometimes though it just depends on the amount of information is being sent from one place to another.
I think that there's a chance that we will start to see the internet show up in other places besides the computers and phones. We even discussed how there is talk that it will begin to show up in washing machines and cars.
I like the idea in the packet about Web 3.0 having making searching for something easier. Maybe we will be able to search for things in groups now, that aren't necessarily related. Imagine how much easier it would be to search for a movie and a restaurant in the same search bar and come up with locations, directions and possible even a menu.
And even though we are starting to see this now, I think that the internet will be smarter, not only giving you options for things that may be related to what you usually look for on the internet, but also just give you more options related to exactly what you tend to look at. Say if i look at a site for a certain game. Maybe my interface will give me a list of other websites with different reviews, features, and paraphenalia for that specific game.

Illustrator Project

The topic for my midterm project was the amatuerish style vs. professional production. In keeping with that I decided to use a few photos from around the web and tweak them to show how an amateur video ends up on a site like YouTube and people from around the word can enjoy it. I used both Photoshop and Illustrator. I like using filter effects a lot so I ended up using a few different ones, the most important being the film grain on the YouTube screen. Most of the time when you see an amateur video it most likely doesn't have a movie quality to it being that it is shot from a personal camera or a webcam so I was attempting to convey that.

Illustrator Proposal

Because my Midterm project was on the topic of amateur style, I feel I should do something to reflect that. While I am unsure of the type of picture I want to depict, I think it should be some sort of wacky picture of me and my friends goofing off. That would probably be in the true spirit of a YouTube video. I think i would use the live trace function and give it some different coloration, then afterward use a film grain effect from the filter gallery so the finished product would have that "homegrown" style

Midterm - Homegrown Style vs. Professional Production

Amateurism vs. Professional Production

As the internet has continued to become increasingly popular over the last 12 or so years, sites like YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook have staked their claim as popular hubs for homemade content. Consumers can upload and indulge in their own amateur content as well as that of others. Due to the ever increasing popularity of these sites, professional business, both private and public, have begun producing advertisements that imitate an amateur style as well, in an effort to emulate the Web. This amateurish style is become so popular, that some think it might eventually outweigh the value of professional production. However, this is not necessarily true. The “homegrown” style is more of an effort to connect with the audience than anything else and even though it still has to grow some more, it may never be as effective as profession production.

Any American with access to the internet is familiar with You Tube as well as social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The success of these sites comes mainly from the idea that they are pretty much based on the consumer. They all began shortly after the start of the new millennium as contained ideas that were either independent or small parts of larger businesses such as Google or New Corporation. Now they are already among some of the most popular sites on the web. Facebook and MySpace serve as social networking sites and YouTube is a video hosting services. All three are flooded on user generated content. YouTube in particular is filled with media of the “homegrown” variety. While it is true that both Facebook and MySpace allow users the ability to upload their own videos, the immediate function of the sites is social networking. YouTube on the other hand specifically allows millions and millions of people to upload their own videos as well as rate and comment on other user content. YouTube does contain professionally produced media, such as official music videos and episodes of popular television shows, but the real reason why the site has gained worldwide popularity is because it allows users to become involved. Not just by watching or commenting, but by creating their own content. An important thing to realize, however, is that while these sites are known worldwide, and are even at times spotlighted on television venues such as popular sitcoms and the news, they are mostly contained in the Internet.

As a result of the success of amateur content and that fact that it is very internet based, companies and studios have begun to produce ads and entertainment (movies, TV. shows, etc.) that resemble amateur “homegrown” videos. Ads like eTrade’s talking baby have been granted great success. Movies such as “Cloverfield” and “Quarantine” have attempted to bring the amateur style to the big screen. While audiences were interested upon first glance however, the two movies met with very mixed reviews. Then you have movies like the recent “Paranormal Activity”, which did extremely well. With that being said, it would seem that people can enjoy the style, but in small doses, which is why there is speculation as to whether it is the “wave of the future” so to speak. It would seem that it works well if the homegrown style media is short and sweet, rather that long and drawn out, which is why videos on YouTube and commercials for companies such as eTrade connect with audiences better. Not to mention that the success has a lot to do with the actual content of the media as well. One of the reasons for the success of “Paranormal Activity’s” success is the fact that it is of the horror/suspense genre.

Amateur media in the giant scope of things seems as though it is more of a pleasure for the moment. People like it but our culture, as well as most around the world, seem to receive, professionally produced media with tope of the line graphics much better. After all, when you look at the highest grossing movies of all time, the movies that have captured the most people are movies such as the Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Titanic, and most recently Avatar, which made over 2.5 billion dollars worldwide. None of these movies were done in an amateurish style. Instead, they are known for their use of CGI (computer generated images), amazing sound quality, and more recently 3-D technology, a style that is being used more and more frequently after the huge success of Avatar. This technology has become so popular that electronics companies such as Samsung are beginning to manufacture 3-D televisions. It may be possible to say that 3-D is the wave of the future. Nothing quite like feeling like you’re inside the movie you are watching. But even in this case there are some flaws, due the fact that people tend to have eye issues or motion sickness if they watch too long.

In the long run, it would seem that even though people enjoy the amateurish style used in different media, it ma only be a passing fancy, a fad of sorts. I think it will always be popular, but will never become as popular as the professional production that we have all come to love and enjoy. Nothing beats that high definition, crisp, animated graphics if they are done the right way. I think most people would agree with me.

Live Trace in Illustrator

Let me be perfectly honest and say that I do love the live trace function...it is a very simple way to make an image your own. Here's what i started with.


And here's what i ended with...i used a 9 bit color preset and the the dark stroke effect from one of the artistic galleries. I went with this direction because I like the dark feel to it...kinda goes with the whole idea of a special ops soldier

Midterm Topic

For my midterm project, I would like to continue with those questions that we answered in class, more specifically the issue of Intention Amateurism. I find it to be an interesting thing that I can discuss and I have plenty more to say about it. I also intend to research the popularity and success of this type of media to support my own conclusions