Links to Help Me out in HTML5 stuff:

This is an HTML5 presentation by html5rocks.com/tutorials/
slides.html5rocks.com/#slide35
Slide 38: Gradient Function is AWESOME!

background: -webkit-gradient(radial, 430 50, 0, 430 50, 671, from(red), to(#000))

Shadows:

text-shadow: 
  rgba(64, 64, 64, 0.5) 
  -4px 
  0px 
  5px; 
box-shadow: 
  rgba(0, 0, 128, 0.25) 
  -4px 
  3px 
  0px; 

mas..

text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0 3px 3px; 

background: 
  -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, 
                   from(rgba(200, 200, 240, 0.32)), to(rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.32)));

border-radius: 11px; 

-webkit-box-reflect: below 10px
  -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, 
                   from(transparent), to(rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)));

CSS Animations:

@-webkit-keyframes pulse {
 from {
   opacity: 0.0;
   font-size: 100%;
 }
 to {
   opacity: 1.0;
   font-size: 200%;
 }
}

div {
  -webkit-animation-name: pulse;
  -webkit-animation-duration: 2s;
  -webkit-animation-iteration-count: infinite;
  -webkit-animation-timing-function: ease-in-out;
  -webkit-animation-direction: alternate;
}

Some Demos with the code... how nice!
http://html5demos.com/

tut for layout 2.0
http://www.grafpedia.com/tutorials/web-20-photoshop-layout-tutorial

web safe fonts
http://www.webdesigndev.com/web-development/16-gorgeous-web-safe-fonts-to-use-with-css

Blink Research

After watching the Opera interview on Malcolm Gladwell, I decided to take the Implicit Association Test that was described in his book and in the interview. I wasn't shocked because I kind of knew where the test was going but at the same time, I was kind of perplexed. I had thought I had given a preference towards black people (on the conscious level) but perhaps the way I answered the test was a bit confusing. Interesting though- I wouldn't consider myself a racist, but as Gladwell suggests, the environment is paramount. If you grew up seeing a certain racial group portrayed in a negative manner consistently, then more than likely your subconscious may associate that racial group in that manner even though on the surface and deep down, you treat people as equally as possible.

I took another IAT test but this time it was the Asian American ('Asian - European American' IAT).This IAT requires the ability to recognize White and Asian-American faces, and images of places that are either American or Foreign in origin.

Strange- I always had a strong idea that whites were more American than Asians, but the test indicates otherwise. Anyway, this was a better result but perhaps it is the test. HA!

Post # 4 Project II: Blink

I have chosen the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. Blink popularizes research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious; mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information. I find it interesting that Gladwell supports the argument that our ability as humans to “gauge what is really important” from little to no experience is very strong in which he coins as “thin-slicing.” He claims that our brains are overloaded with too much information everyday which clouds our innate sense of judgment at times. He contends that in this age of information overload, experts tend to make better decisions with snap judgments than they do with “volumes of analysis.”


One of the main reasons why I wanted to pick this book is because it is a non-linear story, nonfiction, and is about psychology. Therefore, its relationship to this new media form called the internet would be relevant in terms of a Flash presentation. The level of interactivity is greater simply because the book shows numerous examples and data of how our snap judgments are often better than our over-analyzed decisions.

The project’s idea line will be based off of Gladwell’s theory. Partly inspired from G. Lee’s Typoorganism project, I would like for the homepage to encourage the audience to click on a category icon. Within the several categories will be decisions the audience has to make based on their first instinct. Since this Gladwell’s book deals with time, I would like incorporate time in my piece. For example, the longer the user takes to make a decision, the likelihood of him picking the wrong answer increases. I am visualizing colorful circles and text that pop out like bubbles and move around which represent all of the choices the user has to make. There will be a right answer and several wrong ones. It should depend on how quickly the person picks the bubble. Although implementing disappearing time in the piece may be technically difficult for me as a beginner in Flash, I would like to see this happen.

Post #3 Abstract Formal & Associational Relationships: Rosenquist vs. Hoch

James Rosenquist  Coup d'oeil-Speed of Light, 2001

In Rosenquist's Speed of Light, his painting is composed of dynamic bright lines that upon closer inspection, create subtle shapes that reference the title. For instance, the lines create these tubular shapes that remind me of car exhaust pipes. The ferocity of the strokes are so exuberant, its associational title makes the viewer feel as though the he is experiencing the speed of light even though the entire painting is comprised of abstract shapes. Because Rosenquist was known for his pop art references of the events in the 1960s, his more contemporary paintings seem to still seem to carry on his past references but in simpler shapes as shown in his most famous work, F-111. 

[James Rosenquist  F-111]

Hannah Hoch Grotesque 

Hannah Hoch's Grotesque collage is comprised of distorted cutouts of human faces glued onto legs of young, Caucasian women. Since Hoch was a Dadaist, her art was meant to be a chaotic art for non-art's sake. Yet, even though the essence of Dada art was meant to be nothing, there seems to be a great deal of symbolism if not only strictly due to its associative meanings. Her associative photos are at first distorted into abstract shapes but then she composes her abstract pieces back into a composition. Hoch's photomontage is a relevant example of abstracting associative images into an art piece with symbolic meanings, particularly the old man with spectacles who seem to look like an angry man of power during the 1920s.

Man with a Movie Camera.1929

by Dziga Vertov. "This film is famous for the range of cinematic techniques Vertov invents, deploys or develops, such as double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, animations, and a self-reflexive style(at one point it features a split screen tracking shot; the sides have opposite Dutch angles). "  B&W film, silent movie with early 1900s music reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin- not quite as jerky. Shows city life.  Huge camera overlooking the city. Wedding: now transitions to dainty wedding bells. Divorce registration: now the music is kind of creepy and somber rendition of wedding bells. It must be real- a lady won't show her face. Death scenes. While a younger woman is getting her hair and makeup done at a beauty salon, a cloaked old woman stands outside a door, slinging rocks at the building. Prostitute: stoning reference? Factory boxing- extremely rapid against the beat of the drums.
Beach. Parallel between showing a box cartoon of cigarettes from said factory to a hot air balloon of some sort. Reference to Ballet Mechanique in my opinion. Used a motion shaping method- that showed some cylinders stacking on top of each other. Cool! Now onto sports- jolly girl swinging a disc and jumping hurdles. Koyaanaatski - more ref. like this movie. People around are part of the machine. MACHINE.

Fantastic use of cinematography- Tons of different styles. Trying to define what the new society is about. Propaganda. Post-revolution.

Post #2 Abstract VS Associational formal systems

According to the reading we did, the principles of Abstraction uses pictorial aspects of the images as the means to inform or persuade. The abstract qualities of the objects are the connection and the abstract pattern becomes a means to an end. Often organized as” theme and variation,” an underlying principle runs throughout the film. Take the example of an abstract formation by J.J. Murphy’s Print Generation. In this photograph, Murphy takes the same photograph and photographs the same picture over and over until the real becomes the abstract. He reproduces it 25 times. Another example is Richard Serra’s Railroad Turn Bridge where the photograph is taken inside a turn bridge. While the turn bridge is not abstract itself, the composition of the photograph shows strictly lines, thus taking the representational into the abstract. A great film example would be Fernard Leger’s Ballet Mechanique – even though conventional objects were used, the end result of the film made the audience view the representational objects and people as abstract movements.

Associational form is quite the opposite of Abstract form- imagery used in associational form may range from the conventional to the original. The conceptual connections can be readily apparent or downright mystifying. This form can also create large scale patterns which can organize an entire film and still build them own particular pattern with less attention to convention. The two main principles of associational form are as follows: first, the group images are in larger sets which create a distinct unified part of the film. Second, there are repeated motifs used to reinforce associative connections. A prime example of this form is Koyaanisqatsi which is divided up among 7 parts. This film uses known scenery to convey the natural majesty to the destruction and plundering of our planet Earth. Like abstract form, associational form relies on the audience’s remembrance and notice of motifs to unify the film around it. The purpose of Associational form is to convey obvious story and emotion though new imagery and juxtapositions.

Post #1 Ballet Mechanique Review

Ballet Mecanique was one of the first abstract films to have existed during the 1920s. In this influential short film by Fernard, Leger and Dudley Murphy,  recognizable objects and people are used through the film in a mostly abstract fashion. So much so that by the end of the film, the audience’s perception is skewed and what was once recognizable is now broken up and seen a part of machinery. In terms of cinematography, the film was shot in black and white since color was not available until later years.

The editing strategy used was consistent throughout the film. The director chops up certain scenes and shows certain objects as rapid, moving parts so that the audience is focused on the simple shapes and movement of the object as opposed to the object itself. This is primarily what the filmmaker is trying to achieve- turning associational objects into abstract shapes and movements. The film ends by emphasizing how much the audience's perception of ordinary objects and people has been altered. The beginning and end has similar elements.