Alessandra+Duque

Augmented Reality Project For my Augmented Reality project, my concept was based on the idea of using art to create art. I wanted to bring a painting to life. Therefore, among all the pieces in pop art, I thought Keith Haring's dancing figures would be perfect for the giff that would be applied to the trigger image in Aurasma. He illustrates human dancing figures using primary colors and basic elements of line and form, although it is very simple and clean, it has an animated, lively feeling to it. I took of advantage of the round lines on the edges of the figures that indicate movement, to move them around while the figures move their arms and legs. My AR piece is almost like an extension of Haring's painting rather than a recreation or replacement.

Kinetic Typography media type="youtube" key="3xjuTJY2sFo" width="560" height="315"

Homework #1 - Response The comic achieves to explain and portray the struggle of film makers. Nowadays the digital art industry is very limited due to the fact that they cannot express what want to entirely because copyright laws are limiting them. Just like they mention in the comic, copyright laws are supposed to protect and promote creativity. But new artists, industries, technologies, even the advertising industry, are making the freedom of expression almost impossible. It seems almost frivolous the fact that large companies will charge small creators and filmmakers, who obviously do not have the means nor resources to clear the rights of trademark and copyright. As a non-American citizen, it is ironic how Americans promote the United States of America as a country where there is freedom of speech and expression. But simultaneously, there are a bunch of laws and law suits that limit creativity. This is a clear example of how creative industries have lost their focus from what it is really important, and now focus in making money.

Over the summer I worked at a communications agency. For most advertising campaigns, we couldn’t afford doing a photoshoot because of time and budget. Therefore, we got most of our images from websites such as istock and getty images. They usually have millions of royalty-free photographs, video footage, vector illustrations, and audio tracks to use for our campaigns as long as we paid for them. Prices vary between websites and content, but still very reasonable. I believe the whole concept of online, royalty free, stock photography providers is actually pretty smart.

In the case of trademark laws for logos. I understand why most of the time, even if it is fair use, has to be taken out of the picture frame. Companies spend large amounts of money to carefully place their logos in strategic places, specially where their image won’t be negatively affected. For example, a luxury car company might pay a movie to show off their expensive and luxurious car. Coca-Cola and McDonald’s probably has some sort of deal to sell only Coca-Cola at every McDonald’s restaurant in America. For these companies, exposing their logo is crucial. Therefore, society has created this popular culture where every time you show off the logo of a brand, without proper permission, might create some sort problem where money is in the middle of this.

I think the American court should make a greater effort to properly explain the terms of fair use in order to promote the freedom of expression of creators and artists. I understand that these laws are crucial when someone is trying gain a substantial benefit from other person’s work. But when this is the case with documentaries that are trying to capture and promote a part of history or create awareness of a social problem. The concept of fair use seems so vague that I believe lawyers can almost find their way around it and apply it when convenient.

Exercise #1



Project #1





Homework #2 - Response

In the article “After Effect of the Velvet Revolution”, the author, Led Manovich, walks us through the evolution of the new hybrid visual language of moving images. Even though this new hybrid language dominates the visual culture nowadays, it was not until 1993 when the software After Effects was released that different mediums could be combined and transformed. No new media was created, instead designers were now able to mix still images, videos, animation, graphics, and typography within the same project and frame. Creativity was no longer limited. I was born in 1994. I can barely recall this evolution of digital media because it wasn’t something I noticed as a small kid. What I do remember is the evolution of technology and computer software that was taught in school. We were taught Microsoft Paint on PC on Elementary School, whereas in High School we learned the basics of iMovie, Photoshop, and Illustrator on Mac computers. As a millennial, I believe most of the people from my generation take video as the most important media for granted. I never really noticed the evolution of animation and the importance of special effect on videos and cinematography until the release of the movie Avatar and Blu-Ray technology in 2009. I remember that on that year, everyone was talking about how the movie pushed the limits of visual effects, promising to be the most technologically advanced work of cinema ever created. Everyone knew the story in which James Cameron, who also directed the movie Titanic, begins to write the treatment for the movie in 1994. The release date for 1999 was pushed back because they didn’t have the technology available that was needed to create the film Cameron had envisioned. After seeing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, the director was convinced that he could now make his film. On 2009, everyone wanted to get their hands on a Blu-Ray DVD of Avatar to watch the astonishing special effects at home. The Velvet Revolution not only influenced filming and cinematography, but also TV commercials, video games, music videos, TV shows and the list goes on. Designers were now able to work on layers. This allowed them to give greater detail to their work because they could add multiple layers and use transparency in order to achieve the result they were aiming for. It is amazing how in a period of 5 years, the world changed after the release of a computer software.