Week 11 - Response 1 - Appropriation Progress 1

I have managed to find videos relevant to the story I am attempting to tell. I have taken clips which depict women working as or working towards becoming Engineers or Doctors, what is usually known as a "man's only" field as well as incorporated a "How to be an Independent Women" video in which the person in the video gives advice on how women can become independent if they so desire to do so. Other videos include 2 music videos relevant to a portion of the lyrics and a scene from the movie Brave which depicts the main protagonist shooting arrows at a target for her own hand in marriage as she does not want to be forced to marry someone she does not love or know. I'm not entirely confident there is enough of a balance between the real and the animated, but again, what is recommended of me is not my strong aesthetic. For now, In will keep it as is until I can show it again to get even more critique and change it accordingly, but as it stands, many of my peers think it is good.

Week 10 - Response 2 - Old+Old+Old=New

In don't feel the need to describe this reading in detail as it as like many of the readings that have been assigned, going into the matter of copyright. I do find it interesting in the way they execute the reading. They start by listing reasons for why the topic is being discussed. They state that what they "are not focusing on in this piece are the debates surrounding the ability of individual authors and artists to make a living producing and selling their work," but rather the "agency and action writing teachers can take in a world of media monopoly." They continue on to list key questions relative to the topic at hand as well as actions one should take when wanting use someone else's work.

Week 10 - Response 1 - Appropriation Project Inspirations

For Project 3, we are required to create a video using already established videos online. The goal is to use these videos to create a new story. My first idea was to promote cosplay by using the a parody of the song "Happy" by Pharell Williams and using different clips of cosplay with it. Unfortunately, the critique given to me was to try using other videos, not relating to cosplay to draw a comparison/contrast between the cosplay itself and an inanimate object. This made it difficult for me to continue forward with this idea of cosplay and caused me to rethink my video. Much of my inspiration comes from what is called AMV or "anime music videos" in which a person can tell a story of a song using clips from different anime or animated shows. I then began to look through what would be most easy and came across an original song entitled "I don't need a man" which depicted many of the known Disney Princesses and how many ended up being with a Prince of some sort and how Elsa from the movie Frozen was annoyed at this fact since women don't actually need a man to live. My idea started with making this into an animated version of the video by using clips of the different princesses' showed in the original video. however, again the critique was, use real life examples. As much as I understand the need to do so, it doesn't match my aesthetic, however I continue on my search to make the video the way I was critiqued to do.

Week 9 - Response 2 - Free Culture By Lessig Pgs 213-234 and POL Chapter 5

In Chapter 13 of Free Culture, Lessig describes how a man by the name of Eric Eldred, attempted to get his daughters' interests in the works of an author by the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne by posting all the works of Hawthorne online and by using "links to pictures and explanatory text, would make the nineteenth-century author's works come alive" (213). While his plan failed, Eldred was able to make these works more accessible to people who could not obtain the print version. This created a possibility for non-commercial works to become public on domains. It came to a point where a piece that Hawthorne created had it's copyright extended which caused Eldred to "fight back" (215). Lessig, the author of Free Culture, also joined in on Eldred's battle. It's really interesting to see the author promoting himself as it can further garner the readers' interest, but at the same time, can cause many to believe in bias.

In chapter 5 of Practices of Looking, it discusses the matter of Copyright. It's no secret that copyright is an issue in society. It has come to a point where Professors will literally sit and compare all papers submitted to them so as to make sure there is no copying between students and as ludicrous as that is, it has come to the point where it is now necessary. Sturken does on to discuss how it didn't use to be a problem, but after the expansion of the Digital Age, the matter became a serious issue. The controversy about the digital age comes to artist who try to self promote themselves. There are many ways to bypass a copyright online and as I have mentioned before, Richard Prince was able to do just that due to various manipulations which caused the supposed "story" to change.  

Week 9 - Response 1 - Tactical Media COMPLETE

After 2-3 of constant struggles in scripting, mixing voices. directing actors, and finding a high definition scene, the tactical media project in which I did a satirical dubover is now complete. There were many delays to the project due to lines needing to be either re-scripted and re-done, however the end product still turned out awesome. I do have to say that my only complaint is that at one point, the music and sound effects tend to be louder then the voices which makes it difficult to understand the scene itself, but if you really pay close attention, it can still be understood. I have to thank everyone for helping me out with this scene including my girlfriend Katie, who not only voiced in the scene, but also assisted me in scripting and directing too, as well as Eric Llrenas who helped mix/engineered the scene from scratch. While I did the voices, Intro and Outro, and subtitles he did both the Sound Effects and music, and of course the wonderful actors who made the scene come to life. I ponder what the class will think of it, but hopefully everyone will enjoy the hard work put into the scene.

The scene can be watched below

Week 8 - Response 2 - Free Culture By Lessig Pgs 53-79

Right from the start, one thing that caught my attention was the beginning portion about Thomas Edison and the creation of the Motions Pictures Patents Company (MPPC). Edison is famous for many innovations we use today such as the lightbulb, however this beginning portion sort of makes Edison seem like a narcissistic, selfish individual. He created the MPPC in order to control piracy. The problem I see is that Edison seemed to want to control almost the entire creative properties industry. This is merely an idea that I have perceived and it may not be correct, but as I continue to read the chapter, mention of Edison also continues. The chapter itself revolves the idea of piracy and how people tried to control it. Piracy is defined to be "using the creative property of others without permission" (53). The chapter discusses what types of medium piracy was involved in such as Radio, Television, Film, and music. Piracy exists in different shapes and forms, even today. One of the most controversial kinds of piracy is fanart of characters from different tv shows, games, etc. Fanart is not an official drawn portrait and yet is still sold for money. Oddly enough, many creators do no mind this selling of fanart, however it should still count as piracy since it is not originally made content. Another type of piracy is fandub or dub overs that are not from a official production company. Many aspiring voice actors are guilty of doing this and I believe it is okay to do a fandub of a short clip or scene from said production as it more or less advertises that production, it is obviously not okay to fandub an entire series as this is letting the viewers view the production for free. I do want to point out that "Let's Players" on Youtube, the people who play video games as a career do not get into any legal trouble at all for playing entire game series. This makes me ponder why as it is still letting a viewer see a product for free without needing to pay. There's quite a bit of mysteries relating to the concept of piracy and hopefully they will clear up soon.

Week 8 - Response 1 - Tactical Media Progress 3

Project 2 has progressed at a nice rate. Voice actors have recorded and I have mixed in a majority of the lines. I may ask for redos due to lines not being done a certain way that I feel is necessary for the scene. I have also begun to think that I need to change a line in the script into a full on Japanese phrase as this would further enhance the joke about a specific character (Mine) and why the bullies/punks are calling him a certain word. With so little time, I have also decided to ask a friend of mine to help me mix in the sound effects an music into the scene. I have been unfortunately busy with both work and class projects in other classes including a reading response (3-5 pages) this week, a book review (5-9 pages) in 2 weeks and several others that require my attention. I'm hoping my senior year will tone down a bit as I feel overwhelmed with so much work. Just remembering that I still need to do an internship scares me if my workload is this crazy.

Week 7 - Response 2 - Free Culture By Lessig Pgs 7-30

In the reading for this week, Lessig starts out with his main focus on the development of the Internet itself and then attempts to relate it to creativity and the concept of copyright. In the beginning of the reading, Lessig emphasizes that because oft he Internet, creativity has hindered progression due to the new laws that applies to the Internet. Lessig states that "The rough divide between the free and the controlled has now been erased. The Internet has set the stage for this erasure and, pushed by big media, the law has now effected it" (8). What this means is that people have found ways to bypass the laws that applied to commercial art/creativity, but due to the creation of the Internet, new rules have been made and copyright is either more frequent, or as stated before, bypassed. Such is the example of one artist by the name of Richard Prince. Discussed in class, Prince took photos of Instagram photos by other users, but with comments and put it in a gallery. The original photos were sold at a fairly low price ranging from $90-150, but Prince sold the photos for 90k. This matter is extremely controversial, but Prince managed to bypass the typical laws of copyright due to new laws online. The main law that was discussed in class is if the meaning changes, the art is now a new piece that one can claim for their own. This portion of the reading was the most important part as it had me thinking for long time about how we are not free as artists anymore. One can argue that we still are, but are we really if just anyone can basically replicate your work, make a few tweaks and be able to call it his/her own?

Week 7 - Response 1 - Tactical Media Progress 2

With only 2-3 weeks left, I have been working hard in making a script that relates to the pet peeve many voice actors have about over zealous fans and their opinions on voice acting. I am about halfway done with said script and by the current looks of it, it is turning out to be successful with many humorous moments that will most likely only be understood by people who are into the culture that this problem relate to. I have taken the time to also rename each character since the script makes more sense as the humorous lines are said. One particular character talks like he is Japanese, using Japanese terms so it wouldn't make any sense to keep their original names as the names were Japanese to begin with. Voice Actors for the scene have been chosen and mixing will begin possibly next week. Hopefully the scene will be enjoyable for all, despite it being targeted to people who are aware of the culture. I will probably be just posting this on Youtube as showing this at a Venue where the culture is known still wouldn't be too simple since most not everyone cares about the voice acting portion of the culture.

Week 6 - Response 2 - POL Chapter 10

In chapter 10 of the textbook Practices of Looking, the main topic of discussion is the growth of globalization. This growth occurred due to the space travels made by U.S and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. To put it simply, globalization refers to the interaction and the integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations. When satellites launched into space was able to take photographs of the earth, a new embrace of the globe took place. It is because of these satellites that globalization occurred as it has brought all sides of the world together nearly instantly through the broadcast of images, radio, television shows and etc. By showing the nations all over the world similar, if not the same networks, culturally, people were able to get together and work on projects that incorporated other cultures of their own. Such is the reason for the existence of shows like Avatar the Last Airbender which was an American made show that incorporated Asian culture such as martial arts into the show or Panty and Stocking which was a Japanese made show making fun and incorporating American ideas.

Week 6 - Response 1 - Tactical Media Progress

From the 2 ideas I proposed for reading response week 5, I have decided to go with the conversational clip between characters about the world of voice acting. I have begun my search for online voice actors willing to participate and am in the process of writing a script for the scene I have chosen. What I have decided to do is make a serious scene into a satirical scene. The scene is from a slice-of-life, drama anime called Clannad in which the main protagonist and his best friend face off against the Soccer team for talking smack about the best friend and even harassing the friend's sister. Eventually, they fight with each other about morals, principles and beliefs. The idea for the rewritten script will be as follows. The main protagonist is a professional who is hiding that fact that he is a new voice actor working for studios. The best friend is the over zealous fan who thinks voice acting is easy and thinks he can do it without training. The sister of the best friend feels pity for the said best friend because of his inexperience and little knowledge about the industry. The soccer team are new professional VAs with a stardom attitude. The girlfriend of the protagonist will not have a changed role.

The cutscene is attached below

I hope to be able to finish this by November 3rd

Week 5 - Response 2 - POL Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of Practices of Looking discusses the topic of post-modern art and how art has changed stylistically and influentially due to culture. The portion that intrigued me the most was the section entitled Addressing the Postmodern Subject, due to the discussion of animated films and series in different cultures. It is discussed that Disney had aimed to an adult market from the time of Snow White and eventually, animated films started to use parodies and adult-level humor to engage both adults and children alike. The section also discussed how the Japanese animations garnered a huge fan base in both Japan and the US. Shows such as Astro Boy and The Mighty Atom Boy were the bases for the foundation for the show The Transformers due to the popularity of the giant robot science fiction sub-genre. Popularity also grew because of the development of toys and making them into Saturday morning cartoons. Eventually, animated cartoons grew to be beloved by children and thus, the cartoon market exploded. 

Week 5 - Response 1 - Tactical Media Art Inspirations

As we have discussed in class, I had no ideas as to what I was wanting to do for this project. I've never been good with generating ideas that actually need to be executed, especially when the project/idea needs to bring awareness to a problem I've witnessed in society. After the discussion, doing one on voice acting and the many generalizations about voice acting was definitely a good idea that pertained to my interest and planned career path. The two ideas that were discussed include the following.

1. Find a clip of just about anything and have a compare contrast between a skilled voice actor and a person who has no idea how voice acting actually is. This will bring awareness to how much work actually needs to be put into the job, especially on the dubbing side as not only do you need to know how to actually act and portray a character, but the technical aspect of matching mouth flaps can be difficult in an actual booth

2. Find a conversational clip between 2 or more characters and script out a discussion about occurrences in which a person says that voice acting is easy because it's only about having a good voice and where a skilled voice actor talks about what it actually takes to be a voice actor. The dos and don'ts, ins and outs. This will act to be a more silly and fun project, but the editing will be a bit harder. In a way, it acts as a spoof/parody/abridged version of an actual series or scene.

In each case, the point is to show people who are ignorant to voice acting the actual difficulties and hardships about the job.

Week 4 - Response 2 - POL Chapter 2

In chapter 2, Sturken and Cartwright discuss the relationship between the viewer and the art piece versus the audience and the art piece. It is explained that an individual viewer is significantly different from a general audience as individuals exposed to art can have a more personal experience. They distinguish the two as a viewer being a looker and an audience being a collective of lookers. The chapter also discusses the producers of images and their intent behind the production. Examples include advertisers whose intent is to conduct audience research and persuade the audience to become consumers of the product being advertised. Artists of all kind have the intent of entertaining an audience and invoke personal feelings in them. Architects have the intent of persuading the audience to utilize a space in a particular way. As such, images have different meanings and the producers make them with their respective intents. One of the most important parts of this chapter is taste as it depends on culture, ethnicity, age, personal opinion and other varying factors. As an individual, I have taste in 8 bit aesthetic vs realistic aesthetic and that's because of the varying factors mentioned above.

Week 3 - Response 2 - POL Chapter 1

Chapter 1 is an abstract look at what images can do for a person. Images invoke different kinds of emotions from different people and one image can be perceived various different ways. The section that had me thinking the most was labeled "The Myth Photographic Truth." In this section, a brief history of photography is given. Photographs were mainly taken for two reasons. The first is document existing proof that an even occurred or that people actually existed at on point in time. A French theorist named Roland Barthes uses the term studium to describe this truth function of a photograph. Photographs are also objects in which we invest emotional content and are a primary means in remembering events. They also enable us to forget those things as well. Barthes uses the term punctum to characterize the affective element of photographs that pierce ones heart with feeling. The photograph called Trolley-New Orleans shows a divide/segregation between the 3 photographed people. As described in the book, there is "a white matron looking suspicious, a white boy in his Sunday best, and black man looking mournful." As I look at this picture, a lot of emotions run through my mind and I often find myself asking what these people truly felt at the time this picture was taken. This photograph is proof that both studium and punctum exists.

Week 3 and 4 - Response 1 - Designs and Completed work for Project 1

This is the poster for my cosplay campaign. I originally didn't have the slogan "Express don't Repress" on the poster, but after reviewing what a poster does versus what a billboard and what an online banner does, I decided to include it. All three mediums do the same thing, except a poster shows more information so I decided to include the slogan, what cosplay is, and a small tidbit of what people think of cosplayers as well as a message to all cosplayers.

This is my billboard. I originally didn't have the website on it, but after much deliberation, added the website last minute since billboards are advertised so that the general public can see it. The website link basically provides anyone who sees the billboard a place where they can learn more information about cosplay. Since billboards are much more straight and to the point, I cut the silhouettes of the body sizes down to 3 and only have the slogan on it.

This is my online banner. A banner provides more insight then a billboard, but less information then a poster so I decided to include both the slogan on the bottom and what cosplay is at the top. There is not website link because usually, online banners are clickable which redirects you to the website.

As you can see, all of my designs are relatively similar and almost the same with minor changes. I wanted the designs to be related to each other, as if being advertised by one company or person since other people's designs seemed radically different from each medium. The one thing that helped me connect other people's designs were their logos, but without those, I would not have been able to tell and would probably have viewed them as advertisements for the same issue, but by different people or companies. I also want to note that the website on the billboard is real and is actually about a book that discusses cosplay and how it is an expression for a lot of people.

Week 2 - Response 2 - POL Chapter 7

From what I could gather, Chapter 7 discusses mostly about how modern society has become a consumer culture, a culture in which the economy is focused on the selling of consumer goods and the spending of consumer money. This is due to the influx of transportation and the mass production of products. The emphasis of a consumer culture is to use material goods in order to attain happiness and satisfaction, making it a lifestyle instead of a choice. The most interesting portion of the chapter to me is the mention of the phrase, shopping arcade. It is defined by Sturken and Cartwright to be when shopping was just a mundane task that was transformed to an activity of leisure and entertainment. I wholeheartedly agree with this because of how people do shop in the society we live in today. People go out to shop for new clothes, accessories, playthings and etc, most of which is not a necessity, but a want. The phrase, shopping arcade, was what caught my attention because I myself am an avid gamer who loved going to arcades as a child. When you think about how they used the term loosely, it does fit since playing in an arcade was all about leisure and entertainment.

Week 2 - Response 1 - Campaign Ideas/Inspiration

For the first project in DTC 356, we are to come up with an advertisement campaign of some sort that is transitional from print, to digital and etc. I have two main ideas I'd like to do, but not entirely positive which would be better. My first idea is an awareness about what voice acting actually is. As a working voice actor online, I know the ins and outs and the dos and donts of the craft. I am a big fan of anime, cartoons and video games and as such, have attended several conventions about them. Because of anime and modern video games in particular, voice acting has blown up and suddently, now everyone wants to do it. But what a lot of people don't understand is that voice acting still requires the knowledge and skill of actually acting and knowing how to realistically portray a character. It's a pet peeve of mine when convention goers tell professional voice actors at a panel that they want to be VAs as well, but have done nothing to get there and think it's all about doing so many different voices. But in reality, it's not. My second idea is related to the convention scene. At conventions,the attendees often wear cosplay or what most people like to call during halloween, costume. The passion and love these fans have for characters of anime/videogames and the like have really inspired them to be said character when these conventions go on. There has always been a controversey about cosplay however, and that some outfits can be too revealing or you need to have the right body and face to wear certain clothing. I have a strong opinion about this topic as well and would love to express my concerns through a campaign. Both topics are incredibly dear to me so choosing one is the difficult part.

Week 1 - Response 2 - POL Intro & Chapter 6

The intro of Practices of Looking is, like many other intros to textbooks, a summary about what topics will be covered in each chapter of the book. It will identify key terms and main points to keep in mind while reading each chapter. The intro explains that the textbook will cover different aspects of "visual culture." How they plan on doing so is beyond me as I was mostly confused as to what visual culture since it can be defined as various different things.

Chapter 6 covered criticisms of mass media, which is nothing new as this has been a topic discussed in several classes and textbooks before. I think what really stuck out to me was when the chapter discussed about the worth of the Kennedy assassination video. It was stated that the video was sold for $16 million. It blows my mind that a person would pay that much for a video, but because the footage is a record of the event and not the event itself, there is only one known copy of such a video, thus making it rare. I also found the two very different opinions about mass media was also interesting. That some scholars and critics believe that mass media is contributing to individualization, while others believe that it is contributing closer to the community.

Week 1 - Response 1 - Ego Surf

I'm constantly reminded that without an online identity or presence, it is hard for someone to trust you. Companies hiring want to be able to google a potential employee's name to see what kind of person the potential employee is. Nowadays, people have different kind of social media accounts such as Facebook, Myspace, Google+, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. Some people also have linkedins for networking purposes. When I search my name, I search it 2 different ways. I search up what people know me by, John Go as well as what I'm legally named, John Wesley Go. When I look up John Go, I come up with an Asian actor who primarily works in Asia. I come up with my own Facebook and youtube as well, but there isn't much about me personally. When I search up John Wesley Go, I come up with an Anglican minister and theologian as well as my tumblr page. It's cool to see that other people share my name. As an aspiring voice actor, if ever I become professional, I'm sure I myself will have more presence online.