Mac+P's+Page+Fall+2016

Homework 1 It was interesting read about how copyright laws affect the creation of new art. Copyright laws are an important part of society as it allows people to protect their creations from being shamelessly ripped off by others for profit. Without them there would be very little incentive for people to create new art, movies, books, etc. but there definitely needs to be balance between under protecting and over protecting. I fully agree with Judge Alex Kozinski’s stance that overprotecting is just as harmful as under protecting people’s works. In some way, every new creation is based off old works. It may be interpreted differently or have different outcomes but in the end a completely original idea is difficult to come up with. I found it interesting how complicate the United States copyright laws can be to an artist trying to create something. Even for something such as a documentary which is probably trying to educate its viewers and spread awareness of a problem or commemorate someone’s impressive life. I found the part where Fox attempted to charge Jon Else ten thousand dollars because his documentary “Stage Hands” happened to capture four and a half seconds of an episode of The Simpsons in the background. It seems almost like extortion to me and a cheap way for large corporations to make a quick buck by taking advantage of the little guy. In my opinion the fair use law seems to be overly complicated and could benefit greatly from either a simplification of the law or a more detailed interpretation that clearly states what can and cannot be used. This would make it easier for aspiring filmmakers to use certain material without having to worry about retaliation or being too afraid that they don’t use it at all even if they could have. It also seems that different forms of art have different rules for how long they are copyrighted before they enter public domain; it might be better if there was a more universal system that covered all art thus eliminated confusion. Another part I found very interesting was the discussion of the documentary “Tarnation” which was made for 218 dollars but ended up costing the creator over $400,000 in clearing rights. I can definitely see how a vicious cycle has formed where once one person has to pay up for clearing fees they are going to make other pay up to use their work. That is almost to the detriment of art as it stops new creation from occurring as new artists probably don’t have access to the funds necessary to secure the proper rights. I am glad to see that there is some protection though against large corporations using excessive lawsuits to stop people from parodying their work. It would have been very unfair if Mattel had gotten away with stopping any parodies on their Barbie dolls. The amount of organizations that become involved in showing a film to a larger audience is crazy. Everyone from broadcasters, distributors, insurance companies, brokers, and lawyers all need to agree and be comfortable that none will be responsible for a lawsuit against them. There should probably be some law instituted that cuts out some of the middle men while still keeping the same protections so that more filmmakers have the ability to show their work to a broader audience.

Exercise 1







Project 1







Homework 2

The author discusses how difficult cinematography was for artists through the 1900s. 1993 brought on the start of rapid development in the video editing space. For a long time creating layers was very difficult which made it hard for artists to combine different elements into one video. There was some experimentation in this space during the 1900s but artists would not be able to see the finished work until filming was complete thus stopping them from making improvements as they go along. The Velvet Revolution seems to be incredibly important in the development of modern video editing. As technology improved rapidly in the 1990s computers were able to complete more complex tasks. This allowed for great innovation in the cinematography space through software such as After Effects. Artists were able to create thousands of layers for a work of art and edit each one individually. The ability to change the transparency of all these layers allowed artists to add different depths and effects to their work for the first time. To my generation video is a very important source of media. We take these complex videos for granted now but it was the innovation that occurred during the Velvet Revolution that allowed such great advances in animation. One thing I believe we have all learned is that once powerful technology is available to the public rapid innovation occurs in that space. After Effects is described by the author to be one of the first software to allow artists to make real time changes to their work. It was able to change films, TV shows, and commercials which are watched by millions all day long. This ability for artists to add much greater detail to their work through layers allowed for greater creativity to cinematography. I found it interesting how this change happened very rapidly over a 5 years from 1993-1998. The detail seen in videos is something I take for granted now but wasn’t possible to do back then. Artists were able to layer different 2-D pieces together with motion graphics which was a revelation back then. Innovation has only continued with the development of other applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut, and Avid. After Effects was such a huge change for video editing because it used to take entire special effects departments to accomplish what one person can now on a computer. Transparency was also a huge addition for video editing. It allowed artists to add many more layers and pieces to a frame without it becoming too cluttered. Artists could have the viewer focus on one central piece and use transparency to add peripheral pieces to the video. The digital age we live in now has only added to the importance of these improvements in video editing. The Velvet Revolution was the start of innovation in video editing but that has only continued with the improvements in technology. Complex 3-D technology and effects have become very popular and now entire films are made just from a computer.

Cinematography

AR Reading Response

Augmented reality has the ability to change and enhance the world we live in. A key area written in the magazine is the ability for augmented reality to add to historical sites and artifacts. AR will allow researchers to preserve historical figures in 3D models in case a natural disaster or war were to occur damaging or destroying the site. Another interesting area I found was the ability to add to these sites without damaging or disturbing them. Using technology people would be able to walk around Rome for example see what building use to look like in ancient Rome. The ability for education is huge I this area as well. People would be able to see writing and other visuals added to these sites without the destruction or cluttering of them. Education is a key area where AR could have a huge impact. For the first time a student will be able to be immersed in the subject they are studying from anywhere in the world. For example a Civil War battle could be reenacted in front of you without actually needing to travel to the site. I also found it interesting how AR could be used to enhance art. The description of how an artist used AR to enhance her drawings and make them 3 dimensional shows how promising AR can be in multiple fields. It allows artists to interact with viewers in ways never thought possible before. While Google Glass was not a consumer success it did allow us to see how our future might look like. People could wear glasses or contact lenses that allow them to receive notifications and messages, video chat, take pictures, and browse the internet all from their eyes. I could easily see augmented reality helping with navigating around a city using these glasses where the arrows and signs would appear in front of you. The ability for AR to change our world are endless and we are only starting to scratch the surface of possibilities.

AR Project Trigger

Overlay 1

Overlay 2 Overlay 3 For my augmented reality project, I decided to make an interactive textbook. As an economics major I used my Macroeconomics textbook and relevant course information as the augmented reality part. When the user looks through their phone at the book I have different charts and graphs appear. First the wealth distribution for the United States appears. Next I have the historical graph of the Dow Jones appear and move along with history. My last overlay is the United States debt level and it moves across with history to show how it has grown exponentially. I used a combination of Photoshop and aftereffects to achieve the looks and effect I was looking for. For the first overlay Photoshop was used to isolate the pie chart from a much larger example of multiple charts. I used Photoshop to isolate the key elements in the Dow Jones graph. After I used After Effects to attain the desired movement I was looking for. I used a similar technique with the US debt level graph. My idea was that it would allow the user to see the changes in real time. Using augmented reality as an addition to textbooks could allow for an enhancement in education. It could allow charts and graphs to move with the user and bring the textbook to life. An idea that I had that was a little challenging to add would be for a way for the AR reader to see that a student attempted a problem and then reveal the answer to them afterwards. This would be a nice way for students to see how they are doing while still being forced to attempt the problems. This could help with learning from a college level all the way down to elementary school. Also with the continuous rising costs of textbooks it would be nice for publishers to continue to add elements to them.