TORI BROWN

In Bob Bryant’s presentation, he explained his history with games, including what games he had played and worked on during his life and career. For example: the first game he loved playing was Fireball Pinball, and he worked on Barbie Race and Ride during his time at Mattel Interactive.

I sincerely enjoyed his presentation, because he made it fairly personal as he explained his favorite childhood games, and in addition to this he cracked a few jokes to keep the mood light.

In Alexandra Robinson’s presentation, she talked about her kids, how they affected her career as an artist, and showed some of the photos they took.

I thought it was interesting to hear about the importance of adaptation while being an artist. Her explanation of how her kids drastically altered her career was interesting and something I hadn’t thought about previously.

In Joe Vitone’s presentation, he showed us his ongoing photo series Family Records, in which he photographs the people who live near Akron, Ohio.

During his presentation he explained his reasoning behind photographing the everyday people living in Ohio. He said that most photographers dream about photographing celebrities and famous people, but that he had more respect and more in common with everyday hardworking people, so he chose to take their pictures instead. I really resonated with this and appreciated that worldview.

 

While reflecting on my time in this class, I came to realize how important it was for me to take it. During the course of this the assignments forced me to do things like look at internships, which I definitely would not have had I not been forced to for a grade. Overall, I’m glad I took it and I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge about what it’s like to be an artist in modern world and what some of my options are.

Nate and Anne Austin are a married couple who are creating the video game Wildermyth. Nate is the programmer for the game and Anne is the artist. They were inspired by tactical combat games, and wanted to create their own character driven fantasy game. One interesting piece of advice that they mentioned was how to separate personal relationships from business relationships. Nate mentioned how he originally worked with another friend to program the game; however, due to creative differences his friend left the project, but they were still able to maintain their friendship. I appreciated them mentioning this, and their emphasis on the importance of compartmentalizing relationships when working on business projects with people you have a romantic relationship or friendship with.

My questions for the faculty presenters are:

1. Were you as upset as I was when Pluto’s planetary status was revoked?
2. What question do you want me to ask you?
3. Does working actually make you happy or is that just a giant lie I’ve been told my entire life?
4. Does life ever get less confusing?
5. If you could shorten your presentation to just one sentence what would it be?
6. Is it actually bad for me to crack my knuckles or is my mom just telling me to stop because she thinks the noise is annoying?
7. If St. Edward’s suddenly didn’t exist tomorrow would you have a backup plan? Should I have a backup plan?
8. Everyone keeps asking me to plan my life out at 18 and I think it’s slightly ridiculous. If you stuck with the plan you had at 18 what would your life look like right now?
9. Why are vegetables so gross tasting if we need them to survive? Did evolution fail us in this respect?
10. Do you actually know when to use “whom” instead of “who”, or do you just guess like I do?

In Jimmy’s lecture, he talked about the idea of “public” publications, meaning not only the book and the physical printed material, but everything that surrounds it. In addition to this, he talked about a few people: Lindsay Starr, a book designer who started a micro press, and works in southern publications; Molly Sherman, a graphic designer and professor who thinks about how graphic design can be used to influence the world we live in; and Kelsey Towell, a graphic designer who made a stencil that uses various shapes to make letters.

His lecture was interesting, because I was able to see examples of people working in the field of graphic design, and they were all working on very different projects, showing that there is a lot of different ways to use design.

In Bill Kennedy’s lecture, he didn’t actually talk that much and let the powerpoint, and his art, speak for itself. The images he presented began as photographs he took of objects that he came across in his everyday life, and then through hours of photoshop, he manipulated them until they were unrecognizable, abstract, vibrantly colored images.

I really enjoyed this presentation. The vibrant images were extremely eye catching, and I found that some of them had such intense color that it was difficult for me to look at for an extended period of time, like looking at the sun.

In Tuan’s lecture, he showed an array of his work, such as stickers, screen printed bags, and one of his instagram projects, which was about white collar criminals. Additionally, he talked about how student design assistants will help him during certain projects. During his lecture, he said “Wow…I do a lot of work for this department”, and I think that this quote pretty well sums up his presentation.

I had seen some of Tuan’s work in previous classes, so it was interesting to see some more of his designs and notice some similarities. I had also been curious about the work that student design assistants do, so it was helpful to see some projects they took part in and get some more clarity.

In Kim Garza’s lecture, she explained that she is an associate professor, designer, and experimental film maker who values curiosity, passion, and wonder. She also went through a couple of her past jobs and projects, such as: making nature catalogs for birding tours, designing return labels, making trade show booths and websites for cloud computing, working on an app for airline price comparisons, working on an experimental film with her husband for over 9 years, etc.

I was fascinated by the way she structured this presentation, relating all of her projects and accomplishments back to her values of curiosity, passion, and wonder. In a world where I’m constantly stressed, worrying about deadlines, and how I’m going to make money, it was nice to ponder what I’m curious and passionate about.

 

My current 5 year plan is to keep my grades up so I can keep my scholarship and continue attending St. Edward’s University. My goal is to graduate in 4 years with a major in Interactive Games Studies, and a possible theatre minor. However, I’m less clear on the minor, because I haven’t talked about it with my academic counselor yet, so that’s still to be decided. Assuming that all of that has gone to plan and I’ve graduated with my degree, I’ll attempt to find an entry level job in the Video Game industry, which will most likely be Quality Assurance testing. I still don’t have any specific long term plans, all I know is that I’d like to have a career in a creative field and be able to support myself, but I don’t have anything more specific than that, because I’m only 18 and even if plan out my life today, I’ll change my mind in a month.

In order to accomplish these goals I need to maintain a GPA of at least 2.5, so I can maintain my scholarship and continue my education here. I feel fairly confident in my ability to accomplish this, because my current GPA is a 3.7. In addition to this, I need to continue taking all my general education requirements and classes related to my major. I spoke to my academic counselor last week, and he assured me that I was completely on track.In regards to getting an entry level job, I feel confident in my ability to find one, because I’m a member of the IGST Facebook group, which regularly posts job openings and internship opportunities. As for long term goals, in order to have a career and support myself, I need my college degree, and I believe that I am currently where I need to be and doing what I need to be doing in order to graduate with my degree on time.

 

Tori Brown

Professor Ivey

Foundations: Art and Design

October 29, 2017

Reflective Essay

            I was asked to listen to, and reflect on, two blocks of videos. The first block of videos was composed of the rock bands: My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and Cocteau Twins. The second block of videos was composed of Brazilian musicians: Vinícius de Moraes, Caetano Veloso, and Tom Zé. After listening to video blocks one and two, I felt sincerely unnerved and did not enjoy the experience; because, for many of the songs -especially in block one- I could not understand what the artists were saying, and I felt that the music had a hypnotic quality that I did not enjoy. Additionally, for many of the artists –especially in block two- I preferred the background music to the actual singing.

I previously mentioned that after listening to a few songs from the artists in block one, I felt uncomfortable; after contemplating this, I have come up with a few reasons to explain my discomfort. One reason, is that the way the artists sang in this block, either made them sound very high pitched or very far away. As a result of this, I couldn’t understand the lyrics and felt somewhat lost. For me, I prefer music to be a communal experience, where I feel at one with the music and become a part of the artwork, but because I felt like I was lost, I didn’t experience that connection with the music. Another reason, is that the background music felt very psychedelic and trippy to me, and that, combined with the confusing singing, made me feel even more out of place, and almost like someone was trying to hypnotize me. While this sensation the music causes may be enjoyable for other people, I just wanted to shut it off. I think this effect that the music has, may be similar to ASMR, which is another auditory and sensory experience that is enjoyable for some, but very disconcerting for others.

On the other hand, I had an easier time listening to the artists in block two; however, it still wasn’t music that I felt very attached to, nor was something I wanted to listen to again. While I still couldn’t understand the lyrics that were being sung, it didn’t cause that same feeling of discomfort that the other block did. I believe that this is due to the fact that the lyrics were being sung clearly, even if they were in a different language. Additionally, I preferred the background music to the actual vocals. I found this to be especially prominent when I listened to Tom Zé. I really enjoyed the beat and flow of the music, I just was not fond of his particular vocal style.

The music of these particular artists was not something I could fully immerse myself into, because of my own person discomfort, and my inability to form a connection with the music while listening to it. I am by no means saying that this music is bad, or that there wasn’t care, time, and effort put into it. I believe that these musicians are talented, it’s just not my personal taste.

1. My current four-year degree plan is to major in Interactive Games Studies. I am already taking classes related to my major, such as History of Games, and have met with my academic counselor to begin selecting classes for Spring Semester. This major will help me prepare for a career in the future,  because I will be introduced to many different facets of the gaming industry such as game design, animation, computing, etc. which, in turn, will help prepare me for a career in the gaming industry. As of right now, I don’t have a specific back up plan in case this major doesn’t work out. However, the reason why I decided to study at a Liberal Arts University, was because I wanted to be exposed to a variety of different programs and careers. If Interactive Games Studies doesn’t work out as my major, I’ll go talk with my academic counselor,  I’ll go through degree works, and see what other line of study I want to pursue.
2. As of right now, I do not have a minor, nor have I considered a second major. However, after looking through degree works and trying out different minors, I’m interested in minoring in Theater Arts. I worked backstage for my high school Theater Company all four years, and eventually worked my way up to become the official head of Costume Tech. I’m also a member of Thespian Society. I really enjoyed Theater and I find that it has a lot of similarities with my current major, in that it’s creative, it includes elements of design, it’s a story based medium, and it’s a part of the entertainment industry. I’d love to continue learning about Theater and and possibly pursue a career in the field.

SKILLS INVENTORY:

For each class ask yourself the following:

My greatest strengths in College Algebra include:

My ability to teach myself the material and complete all assignments on time. In class, we only go through so much of the actual course material, so it’s up to the student to read the book and understand the rest, and I am very confident in my ability to do that.

For greater success in this course, I need to:

Give myself more time to review before tests. During the last test we took, I did not review the material close enough, nor did I give myself nearly enough time to adequately study the chapter, and I ended up doing poorly. In the future I need to rectify that.

My greatest strengths in History of Games include:

My ability to study and prepare well for exams. I have found that I’m more inclined to study for history-based subjects, because I am self-aware enough to know that I don’t retain dates or names well without purposeful review.

For greater success in this course, I need to:

Stay on top of my homework assignments, especially the reading. For this class, the homework is not immediately used or tested, so I have a tendency to continue pushing it back and procrastinate rather than completing it. In the future, I need to stay on top of my assigned readings so that it doesn’t pile up.

My greatest strengths in Foundations: Art and Design include:

My ability to dedicate lots of time towards assignments so that I can fully complete them, and create something I am proud to turn in.

For greater success in this course, I need to:

Take more risks, I have a tendency to play it safe with my assignments, and I routinely get points off for that.

My greatest strengths in Rhetoric and Composition include:

My ability to write strong essays and contribute to class discussions.

For greater success in this course, I need to:

Learn more about punctuation. I have a tendency to overuse commas, and I’m also still not entirely sure what a semicolon does. By this point in my student career I really should have figured that out.

My greatest strengths in Truth, Justice, and the Graphic Way include:

My ability to write well. Most, if not all, of the assignments in this class are writing based.

For greater success in this course, I need to:

Participate more in class. I almost always have something to answer or contribute, but I hesitate because it’s the biggest class that I’ve ever been in, and I get really anxious. I would really like to work past that.

My greatest strengths in First Year Seminar: Visual Studies include:

My ability to turn assignments in on time and communicate well with professors. I missed a class previously due to emergency medical circumstances, but I was still able to communicate with one of the professors, create a plan, and turn my assignment in on time.

For greater success in this course, I need to:

Double check the links I submit. I’ve accidentally sent the wrong link before and I felt like an idiot. I hope I never do that again.

Computer skills:

My computer skills include:

Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Movie Maker, and Sketchbook Pro.

I still need to learn:

How to code, and how to use Maya or a similar animation software.

Research & writing skills:

My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include:

My ability to effectively pre-write, form a clear thesis statement, support my thesis with evidence, and connect my thesis with my conclusion. My greatest strengths as a researcher is my dedication to gathering relevant data for my essay or project, and allocating lots of time to this area of the writing process.

I need to work on these aspects of research and writing:

As I explained previously, I need to learn more about punctuation rules and how to correctly use them in my writing.
I learn best & accomplish most when:

I have allocated lots of time to complete my assignments, listen to music, and have a full stomach. When I am hungry, distracted, and worrying about time, I don’t get anything done.

ACTION PLAN

10 Ways I Can Do Better in College Algebra:

1. Do my assignments ahead of time, so I can get the added bonus points
2. Allocate more time for studying
3. Be honest about when I’m confused in class
4. Rent a room in the Library so I can practice problems on the white board
5. Go to my teacher’s office hours
6. Do homework with friends or in the math lab so they can help me
7. Re-do homework problems, so I can better retain the lessons
8. Complete all study guides given to me by my teacher
9. Try to hate math less, so I’ll be less inclined to avoid doing it
10. Use online resources like Aleks.com in addition to my textbook

 

The photos shown above are from the 100 Solutions project for my Foundations class. The goal of this project was to take a normal object, which in this case was a pair of scissors, and interpret it in 100 different ways through photography. I set about reaching this goal by taking the scissors with me everywhere I went for a week, and photographing them whenever I saw a new situation to put them in. In the first photo, I was playing with shadow and the easily recognizable shape of scissor handles. I liked the idea of having a photo of scissors despite the fact that the scissors were not actually in shot. In the second photo, I put a pair of sunglasses I have on the scissors to try out some slight anthropomorphism.

I would say that the strongest aspect of this work is the versatility, both of these photos are very different in terms of situation, position, color scheme, etc. The weakest part is probably the framing of the actual photos. For example, you can see part of the bed in the bottom of the first photo, and in the bottom left hand corner of the second photo you can see part of the other wall.

To strengthen this photo conceptually, I probably could have taken more risks. In terms of this project I played it a bit safe and did not do anything exceptionally out of the box. As for technical strengthening, again, I could have done a better job framing the actual photos.

Overall, I’m proud of the work I produced for this project. I am by no means a photographer, so this project was somewhat daunting for me, but with my limited skills, I feel that I created some really good photos.

 

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