References
Buckingham, D. (2008). Introducing Identity. In the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning (pp1-24), Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press
Christensen, B.T. (2005). Creative Cognition: Analogy and Incubation. Department of Psychology, University of Aarhus, Denmark, Retrieved from: http://www.interruptions.net/literature/Christensen-Dissertation.pdf
Garfinkel, S. (08 August 2003). The Myth of Generation N. In MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/401995/the-myth-of-generation-n/page/1/
Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2008). Digital Remix: The Art and Craft of Endless Hybridization. In Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 52, No. 1 (Sep., 2008), (pp. 22-33)
Stillman, J. (01 October 2014). The 4 Stages of Creativity. In Inc.com magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-4-stages-of-creativity.html
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. In On the Horizon Vol.9, No.5 (pp1-6), MCB University Press.
Overall reflections
I think that one of the greatest challenges in this project was having the patience to fold and film every step. In total I took 722 photos and the process of looking through them and editing them took a long time, but at each stage of production, digital technology was essential. I had to use Youtube in order to pick up the basic skill of origami, and then used video-making programmes to collate and edit. Lastly, the music was made entirely on my laptop. All these point to the accessibility of technology and the potential it can bring; anyone with a laptop and camera can now make a movie from their homes.
On the other hand, I admit that I have not been entirely effective as a supposed "digital native",
especially when I could not accurately express what I needed to find out from Youtube tutorials, or when I could not figure out how to use Windows Live Movie Maker.
Prensky (2001) argues that “digital natives”, or my generation that has grown up with the technological boom, learn by “interactivity”, “graphics before words” and “at twitch speed”, all of which culminating in a hunger for “expression, discovery and their own self-development”. Whilst I definitely prefer this form of empowered and self-directed learning, through this project I have discovered that many “N-geners” (of the native generation) much like me have experienced difficulty at one point or another to use the tools they have been given. Garfinkel (2003) supports this in his argument that it is risky to believe that a time will come where we have a completely computer-literate population simply because not every young adult has Internet access or has graduated from school. Juxtaposed with this ill-equipped situation is the societal norm that Prensky has outlined, where every young adolescent, including myself is expected to have the innate ability to use technology. This only highlights the greater need to invest in education in schools to help children and adolescents to fully exploit the potential of digital technology.
Overall, I found the process of making this video very fulfilling as I now know the limitations of digital technology but also its endless possibilities once I've learnt to work around those limitations. I chose to do this subject as I hoped to dabble in both film and music, and I think this project has been the perfect opportunity to do so. I was particularly fascinated as I watched my story unfold with each frame played in succession. I would definitely make another stop motion film in future, perhaps after learning how to use more complex stop motion software, and with other materials, such as clay or 2D sketches.
On the other hand, I admit that I have not been entirely effective as a supposed "digital native",
especially when I could not accurately express what I needed to find out from Youtube tutorials, or when I could not figure out how to use Windows Live Movie Maker.
Prensky (2001) argues that “digital natives”, or my generation that has grown up with the technological boom, learn by “interactivity”, “graphics before words” and “at twitch speed”, all of which culminating in a hunger for “expression, discovery and their own self-development”. Whilst I definitely prefer this form of empowered and self-directed learning, through this project I have discovered that many “N-geners” (of the native generation) much like me have experienced difficulty at one point or another to use the tools they have been given. Garfinkel (2003) supports this in his argument that it is risky to believe that a time will come where we have a completely computer-literate population simply because not every young adult has Internet access or has graduated from school. Juxtaposed with this ill-equipped situation is the societal norm that Prensky has outlined, where every young adolescent, including myself is expected to have the innate ability to use technology. This only highlights the greater need to invest in education in schools to help children and adolescents to fully exploit the potential of digital technology.
Overall, I found the process of making this video very fulfilling as I now know the limitations of digital technology but also its endless possibilities once I've learnt to work around those limitations. I chose to do this subject as I hoped to dabble in both film and music, and I think this project has been the perfect opportunity to do so. I was particularly fascinated as I watched my story unfold with each frame played in succession. I would definitely make another stop motion film in future, perhaps after learning how to use more complex stop motion software, and with other materials, such as clay or 2D sketches.
23/10/2015
Prior to starting this project, I thought about whether remixing was truly a form of creativity. To me, creativity has to come from within, thus one could be inspired by external sources to create something, but the materials should be made by oneself and the idea organically or spontaneously conceived. However, through the course of this project I have begun to adopt a more fluid definition of creativity, to include the most accessible form of digital creation—the remix.
According to Lankshear and Knobel (2008), remixing refers to
“taking cultural artefacts and combining and manipulating them into a new kind
of creative blend”. Even though the source material came from elsewhere, the
act of putting them together to convey a particular message is one that engages
the 4 aspects of creativity and unlocks limitless imaginative potential. In
fact some remixes can prove to be more complex and aesthetically mature than
the original works, as suggested by Lankshear and Knobel that remixers have “in
mind the aesthetics, appreciation, form and composition dimensions of remix
practices”. The effectiveness of the art form subsequently depends on its
“fertility” or the number of times it is reproduced in further remixes, much
like how artwork through history lasts by appreciation from millions and
inevitable reproduction in similar forms. From a big-picture perspective,
remixing too can be considered a form of art.
With this new understanding, I decided to spend the next few days making the soundtrack that will go with my video by remixing loops on Soundation. It was a process of trial and error, as I attempted to put sounds of different genres together, such as putting Indian-inspired drum beats like "Dholak" (a traditional two-handed drum) with Western acoustic guitar tunes. Due to the different tempos and vibes of each loop, not all combinations sounded harmonious together. However, Soundation gave me the flexibility to adjust the tempo and pitch of the loops so that they might fit with each other. Soundation is a great example of digital affordance, because any amateur with basic knowledge of music (tempo/rhythm and pitch/tone) can use it. Despite this I discovered that I should not adjust every loop's tempo/pitch, as doing so can ruin the effect I intended, such as a slowed-down version of "Congo" beats that I initially hoped would be a good lead up to the fight scene. The need to exercise discretion highlights the artistic merit of remixing which relates to some form of innate musicality and a deep thought process when relating sounds to the story.
The process of making the music also made me reflect on the
lecture we had about sound art, which highlighted how sounds could
strongly complement a story, creating a mood or atmosphere that makes the
audience feel a sense of connection with the story. For instance, the forest scene in my video was accompanied by a mellow sound whilst the scene with the volcano had a heavier undertone.
Screenshot of my Soundation studio. The loops are on the right, and the audio channels on the left. I can layer the different channels and adjust their volumes, or use the scissors tool on the top left corner to crop the loops, and the move tool to rearrange the order of my selected loops.
21/10/2015
Today I tried to collate all my images into my very first stop motion video. As a Windows user, I already have
windows live movie maker on my laptop, so I
decided to use it to make my video. However, after uploading all my images onto the programme, I realised that I can only speed up the duration that each image will be shown on screen, from 7 seconds to 1 second. Playing each frame at 1 second each was not fast enough to achieve a stop motion effect. At this point I got rather confused
and didn't know what to do.
In the end, I went back to Youtube to see if I could find a solution online. None of the tutorials fit into my description of "how to speed up movie on Windows Live Movie Maker", but after about an hour or two I finally figured out that it was simply because my movie was a slideshow, and not a video yet, and that the option of fast-forwarding was only applicable to videos on Movie Maker. To test my theory I split up sections of the slideshow and saved each section as individual movie clips. To my amazement, it worked and I could speed up each section at a desired speed, some slightly faster at 2X, some slower at 1.25X.
This temporary setback made me feel more like a "digital immigrant" than a "digital native". Thankfully the programme is not as difficult to use as I thought, and I could add transitions, split and trim clips, and add music without any further problems.
and didn't know what to do.
In the end, I went back to Youtube to see if I could find a solution online. None of the tutorials fit into my description of "how to speed up movie on Windows Live Movie Maker", but after about an hour or two I finally figured out that it was simply because my movie was a slideshow, and not a video yet, and that the option of fast-forwarding was only applicable to videos on Movie Maker. To test my theory I split up sections of the slideshow and saved each section as individual movie clips. To my amazement, it worked and I could speed up each section at a desired speed, some slightly faster at 2X, some slower at 1.25X.
At this point I can only adjust the duration of each image
I have to save the slideshow as a movie first
Now I can adjust the speed of the video clip up to 64X
This temporary setback made me feel more like a "digital immigrant" than a "digital native". Thankfully the programme is not as difficult to use as I thought, and I could add transitions, split and trim clips, and add music without any further problems.
20/10/2015
I now have all the photos I need to make my video. However, I had to use string attached to a pin that was fixed to the characters to control their movements such as jumping and flying. Now I have to use photoshop to remove the string and any other unwanted elements from my photos before the final collation. This step falls under Stage 4: Verification of the creative process as it is part of packaging the idea for an audience.
Top: After using the "Spot-healing Brush" to remove the pin and string. Bottom: The original image.
16/10/2015
I have been working on making all my origami characters whilst collating the photos on Pic Pac. However, every now and then I have had to revise the storyline a little as I try but fail to learn how to fold certain animals. For instance, I wanted to introduce a horse after the scene with the sword that will bring Blox to her next destination, but I could not successfully fold a 3-dimensional horse figure despite trying to copy several Youtube tutorials. I feel that this only goes to show there is still a limit to technological affordance; the online resource is only a medium of communication, and there will never be a guarantee that the viewer/learner will successfully receive all the information needed to effectively acquire a chosen skill. I guess this also gives the process of creation a crucial element of humanity, so that the end product is not entirely computer-generated, but has a degree of human trial and error. This experimental process, to me, is the fertile ground for creativity and sudden bursts of inspiration when finding an alternative, better solution.
This also depends on the nature of the creative project. In this context, because the primary material is still handmade, the human technique of art and craft is still key, but in another context, such as a CGI stop motion film, there would not be such a limit to technological affordance.
Perhaps if some of these Youtube videos had audio instruction rather than silent demonstration, they would be more effective.
12/10/2015
So far, Youtube has been the most useful resource for me because I rely on it to learn how to fold my origami characters. The process of learning independently using an online resource like Youtube reinforces the importance of technological affordance in our interactions with computers. The original definition of affordance is an ecological one, as established by James J. Gibson in 1977: affordances are what the environment “offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill” (Gibson, 1977, Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2012). Therefore, affordance is a meaning-making resource, but the important thing to note is that the animal has to first perceive it as a resource. Animals comprehend an affordance as a possibility for action on the basis of their own capabilities to use it. Gibson makes no differentiation between animals and humans, and in this digital age, affordance is all the more relevant. With inventions such as Youtube, we now have an array of affordances, but only if young people like me who are the biggest consumers perceive them as a learning and creation tool.
(Source: Marigami. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4BjqKd8FsI)
Pic Pac has also been extremely helpful, allowing me to preview my video clips before collating them. In particular, Pic Pac allowed me to reverse and rearrange the order of my photos, which is necessary as some scenes had to be photographed in a non-linear way.
For instance, this part of my video with the staircase stacking itself upwards, was filmed in reverse. I began with the completed staircase fixed in place with tape then cut each "step" off from the top to bottom, and reversed my footage to create this effect.
This part of the video shows Blox moving up the stairs like a video game character climbing up an obstacle to collect a "life" represented by the origami heart, and finally unlocking treasure/a tool for the next stage (here a paper sword).
10/10/2015
I am still unsure how my story will go. My
initial idea was to enact a fight scene between the paper rabbit and dinosaur,
but I am unsure as to how to go on from there. That being said, I decided to begin experimenting with Soundation, to come up with accompaniment sounds for the fight scene. (To listen to the first version of my soundtrack, click on the link below)
https://soundation.com/user/yellowlight/track/fight-scene
As I layered the electronic beats over each other I realised that I could introduce a video game theme to my story. Some general observations I have about video games is that they follow certain similarities with adventure/fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings:
https://soundation.com/user/yellowlight/track/fight-scene
As I layered the electronic beats over each other I realised that I could introduce a video game theme to my story. Some general observations I have about video games is that they follow certain similarities with adventure/fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings:
-Both are set in fictional worlds, where anything can happen, and players/readers are expected to suspend their disbelief in order to engage
-Both have a central hero, who may or may not have a loyal companion
-In both situations, the hero is in search of something: adventure, treasure, glory, etc.
-There are multiple challenges or ominous/strange happenings on the journey that the hero must confront and overcome
-In the end, if the hero survives there will be a happy ending.
I now have a clear idea of what my storyline will be like; I will introduce a hero, an origami girl called Blox with the rabbit as her companion, and she will go on a journey to acquire treasure and glory, perhaps in true "Lord of the Rings" fashion, by slaying an origami dragon.
I now have a clear idea of what my storyline will be like; I will introduce a hero, an origami girl called Blox with the rabbit as her companion, and she will go on a journey to acquire treasure and glory, perhaps in true "Lord of the Rings" fashion, by slaying an origami dragon.
I realised at this point that I was at an intermediate point between stages 2 and 3 of creativity: Incubation and Illumination. Previously, I did not know what to do with my idea, so I had to let my mind wander away from it and engage in other creative pursuits first, and in an unexpected way I have found a clear direction. Incubation suggests gradual development of the idea in terms of "active unconscious processing of the problem", and culminates in the 'hatching' of the solution in a "surprising insight" (Christensen, 2005). However, Christensen also argues that despite this suggestion that not confronting the problem inadvertently facilitated its solution, creativity does not come from doing nothing. Instead, it is strongly dependent on the creator's knowledge of the limits of the real world, and to sample impossibilities (Christensen, 2005). I think I was actually generating different story plots in my head, thinking about how to tie them together and whether or not I could present them in a visually effective manner. For instance, I considered whether to Photoshop my characters against stock photos of natural landscapes but decided it would look jarring against the paper animals. Instead I chose to fold the trees, sun and moon, giving me more flexibility to apply stop motion to those elements as well.
04/10/2015
I have started learning how to fold simple origami creatures, a
rabbit and a dinosaur. At this point I do not have a storyline in my mind yet,
and I think I might make things up as I continue learning how to fold different
characters. I can foresee that the process will be long as I have to stop after
finishing each origami step to take a photo of the paper as it takes form. I am
also worried about whether or not it will look successful as a stop motion as I
have not done it before and might have overlooked certain details as I took the
photos.
I decided to use Pic Pac, a phone application, to test my first set of photos. Pic Pac allows me to directly upload the photos
I have taken with my smartphone and puts them together into a short videoclip.
I can also duplicate clips and merge them, but these will cost money. At this
point in time, I only need to collate the images as a test run.
My first characters
My first characters
Pic Pac has allowed me to visualize just how my project
might look like, and I think I can continue with this idea. However, I’m still
having trouble with generating a storyline and will have to keep looking for
inspiration elsewhere.
Rationale/Decision-making process
I chose stop motion animation because of its simplicity. The
process may be tedious, but the underlying idea is easily replicated; one just
needs to collect several frames of footage and play them in succession. The
myriad of software available for stop motion also provides flexibility in terms
of adjusting speeds, trimming clips and reversing/playback. I also chose paper
as my medium for its accessibility, as I want to prove that in this digital
age, anyone with a camera and limited resources can come up with something
creative and original.
I started on
stage one of creativity: Preparation, by looking for inspiration in other
Youtube videos posted on the padlet links for class presentations. One
inspiration was “Euphoria: a Stop Motion Animation by Guldies” depicting clay
animation. I thought that was a bit difficult to do and sourced for other types
of stop motion on Youtube. I discovered another video “Stop
motion paper papier papertcut Animation en papier @Oledie carte de voeux 2011”
which showed certain techniques that I later used, such as reversing frames to create an effect shown below.
(source: Elodie Oledie, an animation artist on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJEBbs9X6s4)
The original paper is shown at the end of the video, and the "waves" are created by tearing and rolling the bits of paper across the screen.
I also wanted to use as much original content as possible, so
instead of looking for songs to use as my soundtrack, I found a music-making
website and layered loops to make appropriate sounds to evoke the mood in
different scenes. The website I chose was Soundation.com, which gave me a wide
array of synthetic and electronic sounds that led to my idea to make a video-game inspired animation, as video games
often use electronic beats to match a fictionalized, artificial world. Examples include “chiptunes” and synthesized orchestral pieces. I also incorporated tribal beats to match the sped-up
portions of my video as I think an undercurrent thumping rhythm engages the
viewer/listener better.
(Example of a chiptune. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE520_WSusA)
4 stages of creativity
Since this journal aims to examine how digital technology enhances creativity, I would first like to define creativity in four stages as outlined by renowned psychologist James C. Kaufman.
 |
| Source: Own image |
Preparation
§
Innovation arises through continual feeding of
knowledge and expertise in a wide range of areas. Through gathering and
synthesis of mass information, one expands one’s reasoning capability to discern
what is useful and what is not.
Incubation
§
This stage is essential. Individuals who seek
creativity must let their mind freely wander from the task at hand rather than
pressure themselves to come up with an ideal solution.
Illumination
§
Connections between bits of information
spontaneously form and collide, crystallizing in one’s consciousness.
Verification
§
For one’s ideas to reach others, one needs to
properly package them and craft an effective message to appeal to one’s chosen
audience.
(source:http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-4-stages-of-creativity.html)
(source:http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-4-stages-of-creativity.html)
Introduction
Hello and welcome to my reflective journal! This journal documents my exploration of what digital technology can do to help us expand our creative potential through the making of a paper stopmotion video that shows the adventures of an origami paper doll/girl named Blox and her friend from the forest she created, Bunny. Origami is the traditional and handmade art-form of transforming a boring piece of paper into new and interesting forms, but with technology, we can enhance the experience by adding movement and life to these origami figures onscreen. Throughout the production of this video, I will also examine the concepts of digital nativeness, computer affordance, creativity and remixing.
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