Category: VISU1100

Part 1

Robert Byrant – Bob talked about his life within games. I had heard this before in Bob’s History of Games class. Bob started as a QA tester and worked his way up, and this will probably be the way I get into the industry as well.

Alexandra Robinson – Alex showed her kid’s photos and at the end her recent work with morse code. I really liked all the morse code work she showed, it was very interesting.

Joe Vitone – I found Joe’s family photos very interesting. I really liked the story behind it all, and that there were people who appeared over multiple years.

Part 2

This semester went pretty well. I enjoyed this seminar. I thought it was good to talk to people about their work.

Part 1 

We had Nate and Anne from the team making the indie game Wyldermyth. Nate is their programmer and Anne is their artist. I knew the process for developing a game takes a really long, but they put into perspective how much longer it takes for an indie team to develop their game when they said something you expect to take 3 months could take about five times as long.

Part 2

Why did you begin working as a professor?

Part 1

I thought that Bill’s images were very interesting and liked how most had circles and used a sort of heat map. I liked how Kim conducted her work by actually becoming interested in what she was doing. I liked all of the work everyone has done, it was interesting to see the differences in everyone’s work.

Part 2

After college, I think I would get an entry level job in the game industry. This would most likely be QA testing. I’m not really sure what I actually will end up doing, but I currently would like it to involve video games.

1. My plan for next semester includes taking Foundation of Art and Design or Drawing I, Rhetoric and Composition II, Computing Sciences Concepts I and the lab, Principles of Digital Media and Entertainment, and Spanish II. After that I plan to just continue listening to my academic advisor about which classes to take when. My Interactive Game Studies major will prepare me to work in the game development field. I do not yet know what position in the field I would like, but I am currently leaning towards programmer. If this major does not work out I do not have anything else that realistically could happen and I feel I would be happy doing.
2. I have considered a minor in Computer Science. This would be beneficial because it would give me more possible career choices and it could help with programming.

Skills Inventory:

1. My greatest strengths in Rhetoric and Composition include: doing a lot of writing perviously in high school.
2. For greater success in this course, I need to: learn to write differently and actually get help with my writing.

1. My greatest strengths in History of Games include: I knew a lot about video games before starting the class.
2. For greater success in this course, I need to: study and do better at remembering names and what each person did.

1. My greatest strengths in Visual Studies include: sometimes I can be creative.
2. For greater success in this course, I need to: take more time to do the assignments.

1. My greatest strengths in Personal Finance include: I’m good at math, so the work is fairly simple once I understand it.
2. For greater success in this course, I need to: pay attention in class to understand what we are doing.

1. My greatest strengths in Precalculus include: I’m good at math and have already taken precalculus before.
2. For greater success in this course, I need to: memorize formulas.

Computer skills:

1. My computer skills include: Photoshop, Premiere Pro, all of Microsoft, Unity (a game design program), OBS (recording software), Elgato Game Capture software, and some HTML.
2. I still need to learn: different coding languages, programming games, and anything related to game development.

Research & writing skills:

1. My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include: I believe I am able to retain the writing skills taught to me and implement them properly.
2. I need to work on these aspects of research and writing: Having the patience and attention span to actually sit down and research and write.
3. I learn best & accomplish most when: I have clear instructions and am interested in the work, otherwise I get too distracted and take hours to complete an assignment.

ACTION PLAN

Rhetoric and Composition

1. Take advantage of the writing center
2. Set more alarms so I stop oversleeping and missing this class
3. Go to the professor for clarification
4. Have others read my rough drafts to help me improve
5. Start writing my papers as early as possible
6. Go through multiple drafts
7. Ask myself what is and what is not working in the paper
8. Have a designated writing time
9. eliminate distractions while writing
10. Have someone read the final draft before submission for spelling and grammatical errors

Part 1

Clara (photography) – I really enjoyed Clara’s work. She said how she tries to continue to learn other ways to take photographs even though she is most comfortable with film.

Hanna (Graphic Design) – I liked how Hanna used typography in her work, I specifically liked her image using the word “Lost”.

Michelle (ARTS) – I like Michelle really progressed in her drawing, but stuck to her roots. Her use of lighting was great and I loved the colors she used colors together.

Alexis (Interactive Game Studies) – I liked how Alexis talked about the Interactive Game Studies program. She was real about it and said how it is hard and definitely not easy.

Part 2

Achievement Hunter – I find this website compelling because of the layout. They found a simple and interesting way to display everything on the website.

Lynda – This website easily lays out all of it’s courses for you to see. It is very simple to find what you are looking for.

Razer – This website is for sales. It is incredibly easy to find product details and know exactly what you are buying.

Apple – Apple has a simple and elegant website. It is interactive and engaging. It makes you want to look at it.

Part 1

1. These images are a part of our current assignment in Visual Studies. The goal of the assignment is to create digital collages.
2. To do this I am using the pictures I have taken previously for Visual Studies to create my collages.

Part 2

1. The strongest aspect of this work is the shapes used.
2. The weakest aspect of this work is the color palette.
3. Conceptually this work can be improved by having a basic idea to tie in the collages.
4. Technically this work can be improved by having an actual color palette.

Assassin’s Creed is my all time favorite video game franchise, so for this research post I choose to look at concept art for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations by Martin Deschambault. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is the third and final game about the story of Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Ezio began as a young man who witnessed his father’s and brother’s execution and goes on to be the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood. Specifically in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Ezio goes to 16th century Constantinople to search for the seals to the library full of vast knowledge hidden underneath Masyaf Castle by legendary Assassin Altaïr Ibn La’Ahad. Ezio searched for the seals while helping the local Assassin guild get rid of Byzantine Templar control. He succeeds only to enter the library where Ezio finds Altaïr’s skeleton and his Apple of Eden, but no books. He finds out that the entire purpose of the library was to convey a message to Ezio’s descendant, Desmond Miles.

Images via Concept Art World

Part 1

Time Tracker_

I watch way too much T.V. and should spend more time doing homework

Part 2

These images are screenshots of a small game I made last year. I have always loved video games, and when I decided that I wanted to make video games I wanted to try to do something myself. The game was simple, you just roll a ball around to try to pick up 12 yellow cubes. All of the programming for the game was written by in a tutorial, but I did all of the level design. I only made a couple levels and they were not hard, but to all of my friends it was incredibly difficult because they do not play video games. To anyone who plays games this would be a very easy game, but with my friends I had succeed in my goal of making a challenge.

Part 1

Questions

1. What are the main points of each article?
2. What can artists learn from their “entrepreneurial cousins”?
3. Do you agree that artists are entrepreneurs? why?
4. Which of the 12 characteristics of artists do you agree with?
5. What others would you add to the list?
6. Additional thoughts.

Answers

1. Both articles compare the similarities between artist and entrepreneurs. Article 1 tells how artist behave and what entrepreneurs can learn from artists. Article 2 compares the beginning stages of both an artist’s and entrepreneur’s careers.
2. Artists can learn to create a much needed support system and use the resources available to them to begin their career.
3. I agree that artists are entrepreneurs because artists are essentially starting a new business venture by having an independent art career.
4. I agree with all of the 12 characteristics to some extent, but I most agree with the fourth characteristic. I agree with “artists are children” because of the creativity children have and most tend to lose as they age, but artists somehow keep it.
5. I would want to add that artists see the world in a different way. An artist may look at certain things and see the components that make up that point of view, while a not-artist won’t do that.
6. I agree with how article 2 said, “the lines between artists and entrepreneurs continue to blur — and with more artists becoming entrepreneurs.” In today’s age, entrepreneurs need to be more creative and artists need to be able to do business.

Part 2

Questions

1. Do you have grit, or is this something you need to work on?
2. List a couple of things you could do to increase your level of grit.

Answers

1. According to the survey, my grit score is 3.25, which is more than at least 40% of the population. In my own opinion, I do not think that I have much grit because I get distracted and will lose focus on a project, unless I am with other people then I may be one of the most focused people in the group. I definitely think grit is something that I could work on.
2. To increase my level of grit, I could try to work on projects in small increments over a longer period of time. I could use a project I am highly motivated to do, and try to have a set time period to do it so that I do not continue to work for too many hours and get burnt out on the project.