Assignment Week #8 Pt.3

I want to teach stop motion animation for my classroom teaching. First of all, almost all kids love animation, and they watch it daily, so it'd be a subject that easily provoke their interest. Secondly, it involves with several mediums at once to create the final outcome, including photography and videography, which would help kids to expand their knowledge in the digital world. Thirdly, making a stop motion animation would require lots of observation for students, in order to make things work in their vision, and it is an essential for art learning as well as general learning.

Learning Objective: Students will observe and understand different movements in our life and how it affects every single thing we do. They will learn the basics of making a stop motion animation by using the iPhone app I Can Animate Lite. Student will explore different art materials used in a stop motion animation and create a short story includes two of their favorite things, they could be people, animals, objects, colors or anything they love.

Target group: grades 5 to 8

Materials: play doe, pastel, marker, iPhone with I Can Animate Lite installed, tripods.

Guiding Questions:
What's movement? What moves? What is moving right now?
Do you like animation?
How do things move in animation? What's your favorite animation character?
How can we make moving images? What can we use to make moving images?
What do you want to move in your animation? How are you going to do it?

Classroom Activity:
-Watch a short stop motion animation on Youtube
-Classroom demonstration
-Brainstorm stories individually
-Brainstorm stories in a group
-Students will be pair in groups of 2
-Idea proposal
-Build sets and props
-Finalize and export
-Share a success

Assignment Week # 8 Pt. 1 Reading takeaways

The article introduces several types of new media arts and conceptualizes the role that new media can play in art learning.  The new technology with its advancement offers opportunities for easy communication and collaboration, that broadens my horizon for classroom teaching. As an artist who's still very much into the traditional approach to create art, I can't deny the benefit that new technology has brought us, where new art forms provide the opportunities for "DIY" and to work collaboratively, yet I shared the same concern with many working artists today, that how we can introduce new technology as a new art medium to students without affecting the process of art making, especially for younger kids? While at Judith's class, one of my classmates asked a question that shared a similar concern: if a kid is looking for reference/resource to make a new art work, should we encourage him to use the library, or he should be encouraged to just google for a quick answer? What new technology can offer is so rich that we get lazy on searching and take information we get for granted as it comes so easily.  For younger kids, they could lose their curiosity to dig deep on the subjects and turn a blind eye on many other things they could have discovered through the traditional process of learning.  I believe the same theory could apply to art making, as what new technology offers could have some people take advantage of its convenience to focus more on the outcome rather then the process, where ideas and inspiration bloom.  Finding a balance while applying the new media arts to the classroom teaching would be extremely essential as it could deeply influence students learning experience and learning ability, and it's teachers job to bring the new technology in the classroom at the right time, and lead students to the right path into the digital world.

The second reading was a very interesting read. The articles explains how technological revolution has changed our way of learning through several stories and that there is no reason why people shouldn't expand their ways to learn, to teach and to tell stories through new technology. In the reading, it talks about how traditional story telling form should not be limited within certain methods, such as writing, where kids should produce poetry anthologies, magazines and literary anthologies they can be proud of, instead of things they don't care about for an audience they will never meet. Obviously, traditional writing is just a way of storytelling, and we've had so many other new ways to tell stories, and to enhance your stories. I just want to point out that no matter how many new medium forms and opportunities out there, it's always the story and its substance matters.  It is important for teachers to remind students about this core value when they do their work, so that they do not get lost in the world of digital, and making use of new technology in a superficial way.  New technology has definitely enriched our learning experience that promotes diversity and originality, and while having the concern of digital access for younger kids, the expansive opportunities for children to become who they want to be are extremely exciting.

Assignment Week # 8 Pt. 1 Create an animate gif

For this assignment, I wanted to do something quirky, funny and narrative, so I created an animate gif with a butterfly wandering around in the air, leaving her usual favorite flowers and eventually destinate on a piece of poop instead.

I had several ideas at the beginning, such as making a line drawing with a simple narrative and pretending to do a magic trick to make myself disappear, but I ended up with the butterfly idea, as I thought it would be more fun to work with.

I have had brief experience working on stop motion animation years ago, and I remember making more than a hundred of drawings to create a short animation with a body figure moving in the still frame that only lasted for 20 seconds, so I wanted to do something different this time, to play with different views that'd create a perspective that's more dynamic in my gif.

I started out by creating three very simple drawings: the butterfly, the flowers and the poop, then cut them out, moved them around like collages.  Below is the very first gif I made, when I was still trying to figure out the direction that would make the gif work. The butterfly was literally moving instead of flying, and I did not move the camera at all the whole time. 

From there I just tried to experiment as much as I could, played with the speed and close-up shot for the stop motion, and I even tried to think of it as a movie, where different ways to handle to camera lens would dramatically change the focus and meaning to certain scenario. In the final stop motion I made, the last few motions was actually shot separately as my phone died in the middle of shooting. That's my regret for this project and I wish I had more time to do it all over.  In the end I exported the file into gif and I believe my final looks a lot more fun than the first gif I created, tho the last few seconds may not look as fluid.

 

Assignment Week # 7 Pt.2

From the creative assignment of this week, the first thing I realized was that all sounds are connected and it is impossible to isolate one sound from the other, just like how we see, smell and taste: we never get in touch with the world through only one thing. When I tried to capture a particular sound at the very beginning, there'd often be other sound mixed in, and it reminded me about the sounds that can't be recorded, the sounds we live in and live with, like the sound of our breathe, our steps, the sound of every single movement our bodies make.  It's very interesting to notice these small things I never paid attention to through the creative assignments I do for the class. The other thing I noticed was how blind I could be with sounds. Our five senses are all connected for us to identify and make connection with the different objects/experience in the world we live in, yet the visual aspect always comes to our mind first, that I often forget it is not only what we see, but also what we smell, what we taste and hear make us feel and engage. I believe the same issues could happen to many kids in the school today, and learning to appreciate what we have, understand the importance of observation would be something that's very important for them to learn.

I also believe sound art would be a very interesting topic to learn in the art classroom.  Sound is such an interesting subject as it is so closed to us yet it could be abstract to talk about. Kids often start their experience in art with visual approach due to its easy access. Bringing sound art into the classroom would show kids another way to look at the world they live in.  They would learn to observe on small things and make connections with their learning experience differently.

Assignment Week # 7 Pt.1 Audio making: New York New York

For this assignment, my initial idea was to record different sounds of water and put a narrative behind it, but one of the water sounds came out literally like peeing to me so I gave up haha. Then my thought was just to record any sound I found interesting through out the week then figure out what I wanted to do while remixing some of them in the end, but as I recorded more sounds in the city, I found it's very often that people's talk in different languages chimed in by accident, so I got inspired and decided to make something about the diverse culture in New York, which is also one of the important parts that make New York New York.

The first sound I recorded from the final is a sound in the subway station when the train arrived. I also included several sounds from the street with strangers talking in different languages, such as Koreans, French, Spanish and English.  I also recorded myself speaking in Chinese and mixed the sound in. I asked for my brother's help with the last part with piano as he knows how to play it. I had him recorded the sound and send it to me.

On the part of audio editing, I had a problem at the beginning as Audacity somehow couldn't load the sounds I recorded.

But I found the solution online and made it work. I played around with time shifting, cutting and sound effect in the program, and it was a lot of fun to explore once I got used to the basics.

I usually get very nervous using new programs but audio editing at Audacity was definitely easier than I thought. Overall it was a good experience.

Assignment Week # 6 Pt. 2

I believe videography is great for art classrooms as well as education in general. Making video often involves with social interactions, outdoor activities and personal experiences. It helps students to retain more information and understand concepts more rapidly through visual communication.  Students are able to capture different moments of their life with moving images, and record their steps throughout their journey of learning.  Nowadays, making videos are a lot easier than it used to be as all mobile phones come with cameras, and the easy access give students the opportunities to be more enthusiastic about what they can learn through videography. People also make videos to share their life experience on social medias, which is a huge part of the digital era today. The use of videography for art classrooms and general education will connect students' learning experience with new technology and pop culture, to broaden their horizon and keep them up to date informatively.

Videography also brings great literature, plays, music, or important scenes from history into the room by exploiting the medium's power to deliver lasting images. Teachers often show video clips with different subject matters to engage students in problem-solving and investigative activities.  The vivid images and moving motions are definitely a lot more interesting to look at for students, and it can easily reach children with a variety of learning styles, especially visual learners. Additionally, incorporating videography in assignments for younger kids would easily provoke their interest to explore new mediums and hopefully transition that curiosity into other aspects of their learning experience.

Assignment Week # 6 Pt. 1 Hugo Does His Own Makeup

I had no experience at all in making videos. Actually, I barely take any videos in my spare time and I've never thought about getting involved with video making ever in my life, so I knew this assignment would be challenging from the beginning.

Initially I struggled to come up with an idea that interested me for this particular assignment, and I thought I'd have to find a fun subject to work on considering my lack of general interest in video making. Later that week, a makeup tutorial that my friend shared on Facebook caught my eye, and it inspired me to create a puppy version of this makeup tutorial video.

My idea was to put a hoodie on my dog either Hugo or Lucas and hide behind with my hands going forward through the sleeves to perform the tutorial, to create an illusion of the dog himself doing it.  The shooting was a lot harder than I thought. At first, I spent a lot of time with my partner to experiment and learn about the perspectives and angles of the camera, as we found a closer and tilted angle would reveal my head that's supposed to be hidden behind, and I had to position low and literally bury my face in Hugo's hair in order to show my hands visibly.  We also tried both puppies to see which one would work better for the camera. Lucas is younger and smaller with more behavial issues so we decided to "cast" Hugo for the video after a few test shootings. Then I realzied that it could be difficult to keep Hugo sit still and focus on the camera, as he never had such training.  The shooting took place for three nights in a row, as I didn't want to exhaust my puppy and had to give him a break every 5 to 10 minutes.  It took us a lot of effort to make the final video that captured him with full attention.

Test shooting with my another puppy Lucas

Multiple attempts with my dog Hugo

The process of editing was not easy. I've never used IMovie before so I honestly felt every anxious before editing the video. I couldn't find the option to extract the audio from a video on IMovie so I downloaded a program that should have done the work but it ended up not working. Eventually I decided to play the video on my phone closely to the camera while shooting to make the audio part work.  It also took me quite some time to figure out how to split clips and edit the titles.  I also couldn't figure out how to slow down the scrolling speed for the scrolling credits.

Overall I think the experience was a little scary as video making was totally out of my comfort zone, but I'm very glad I tried it out and I'm actually very interested in learning more about it.

Assignment Week #5 Reading Takeaways

From the reading of New literacies and social practices of digital remixing by Lankshear and Knobel, the authors introduce a concept called "remixing" that involves taking different cultural artifacts into combination and manipulation to create something new.  They further articulate the "remix" in music industry where the segments of different songs are mixed together and re-worked into new songs.  The analyzation of how people interact with each other that eventually lead to the production of new cultures reminds me of our daily life that's filled with the idea of remix. We're all contributors to our culture with our perspectives, knowledges, experiences through every little thing we do, and I feel proud to share my aesthetics and opinions with my education in art making, design and history.   

I can't agree more with the statement of "remix as a necessary condition for culture." We all come from different backgrounds and experiences, and that's a gift by nature for every individual in this society, and each of us is already a remix ourselves. The technology today has provided a much easier way to have our voice heard, which also promotes the production of remix, provoking diverse conversations, communication, competition and opportunities of growing, and it dosen't only apply to people but also the culture we live in.

In the reading of New opportunities for interest driven art-learning, I learned that the field interest-driven arts learning represents a resurgence of traditional visual and performing art forms through new technology enhancements. Kids today are obviously making a renewed commitment to the art forms that offer a lot more variation of creation and presentation. As a student in art education, I've only realized how important it is to keep our eyes refreshed and our mind updated in new technology, so that we'll be able to teach kids what they want to and need to know. I also believe schools should offer more opportunities, such as workshops and classes, for kids to open their eyes on the digital world, to learn and experiment. Kids today have the access of the arts that is invigorated by new variations of traditional art forms, and it's a great advantage for them to develop a broader horizon and catch up with the digital age.

Assignment Week #5 The potential of scanography for classroom teaching

I think scanography has great potential for art teaching in the classroom. The printing process provides the kids with a various level of control, allowing, while offering the opportunities for unexpected yet immediate results.  Kids can scan any objects that interest them and get to capture the colors, textures, motion and sequence of these objects. The occasional unexpected results lead to more observation and it helps kids to see things from a different lens. The flexible and experimental process in scanography also could be a great fun for art teaching. 

Assignment Week #5 Create two sets of scanographs

1) I started out the experiment trying several different objects including wool threads, fabrics, tapes, ribbons, paper palette etc. Then I started to put a couple things together and see what would happen. When I was playing around with the art mannequin and a mug on my desk, I saw one image came out looking like a person was disappearing with some visual effect. So I thought I'd go for it and make my mannequin disappeared on the screen. The picture below are two objects used.

Below are my process:

Eventually I made the images into a gif to connect them altogether

2) For the second scanograph, I experimented with one of my dog's fluffy toys, and I found the texture with it could be interesting.

The process:

Final:

Assignment Week #4 pt.3

1. Acknowledging about digital photography help children to adapt to the world where they live in, in which technology applies on every aspect of our life. I'd like to point out that digital photography also dramatically reduce the cost of documenting our living and learning experience. Children get to record every moment of their life much more easily and freely. The easy accessibility allows children to explore the world of art with less restrictions.

2. Kids nowadays are able to get in touch with technology in their early ages. They have easy access to digital photography since all mobile phones today come with a camera. Students use digital photography to take photo of slide shows for notes, and document their memories in schools. Students photograph their works and obtain the opportunities to possibly look at their work in a different lens from the camera. Putting digital photography in good use for school help students to learn faster and more efficiently.

3. Digital photography gets kids outside, and puts them in another place where they learn to see differently. The easy access of digital photography gives students photographic opportunities for them to explore and experience outdoor, wether it's for taking a selfie with an interesting background or just capturing a beautiful scenery.

Assignment Week #4 pt.2 Impact 25 progress

I'm teaming up with Annie for this project.  We've formed an idea of having 25 people participating a drawing together through the platform of social media. Thus far we've created an event on Facebook and came up with the basic guidelines for this project. Our goal is to create art collaboratively through communicative social media, with our viewers in control of what the final product will look like. Doing this project will explore the topic of how technology has brought us together despite the geographic distance and time. We attempt to make the event as simple as possible so more viewers could participate. Me and Annie will figure out the best time for the event and refine our idea so that we can make it work.

Assignment Week #4 pt. 1

1st idea:

Because the color yellow pops out a lot in this photo, I believe the photo could be part of a series of a traveller's journal photos that tells a color story with the places he/she's been to.  I'd like to include a few more photos that share the same elements of colors and geometry to create a connection between the images.

2nd idea:

I believe the photo has potential to be a part of the narrative, maybe as the background setting for a story of tiny creatures living above the ceiling. Not exactly sure how I can execute it by matching this photo up with other photos but I thought it'd be an interesting direction.

My friend suggested I should go with the first one as the idea was more clear.  He believed the first idea captured the essence of the photo I took and the final execution would look more completed and cohesive.

Execusion:

I started off by going on Google image search to find photos that share similarities with the photo I took, but unfortunately the search results were nothing I pictured. So I looked into my own photo library and started doing my research on Google by changing different keywords for the search.  Eventually I found a few photos that echoed well with my intention for the idea I went for.