Research Photos

Here we have firstly mini versions of Vince where I tried out drawing different styles so save from wasting ink printing the bigger ones and then mucking it up.
Then we have the actual bits of paper I used in the animation.

Check back soon for when I've finally shaved and got my final styled beard!

Take care,
Joe.

Happy Christmas! and Research Animation

Before I begin explaining about how making the research animation went, I thought I should explain how forgot to say I had a breakthrough with Jeff about the Vince animation before we left for Christmas!
As Vince is going to be the introducer to Decembeard, he needs to be speaking a lot but it's going to be very difficult and time consuming to lip sync and animate Vince's mouth to the audio, so instead Jeff said why not just film the actual mouth speaking and map it to the drawn face in After Effects?
This simple idea is absolute genius and hopefully going to save me a lot of time in the long run! I also asked Jeff to be the voice of Vince since he helped make him now and he agreed.
This has led to a running joke which will be that Vince and Jeff are not linked in any way, despite the obvious fact that Jeff is the voice of Vince which viewers will find out from his obvious denial as Vince and then hopefully again when they hear Jeff speak in his interview later on.

But moving on from Vince, who is on hold at the moment until I return to Uni and can film Jeff's mouth speaking the script (which I also need to write) I have completed the research animation which shows which beard styles I am going for.

Originally I was going to show each beard style quickly but there are just too many so I have narrowed it down for the viewer but for you reading this blog here is a link to two of the websites I researched from:

The first one is Beards.org which specialises in beard culture and has a heavy influence from Decembeard and growing beards in general:

http://www.beards.org/

Next is a man named John Dyer's Blog which is a documentation of his quest to have every single style of beard that exists! So far he has managed 33 out of the 42 he knows of so far:

http://www.dyers.org/blog/beards/beard-types/

These two websites really helps me to narrow down my search and I have decided on a combination of 3 beard styles, the Sparrow (first photo, made famous by Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean films), The Anchor (second photo) and the Hollywoodian (third photo).
However in the documentary I will not say that I have decided yet as I want the viewer to wonder for a bit longer (if they're even interested that is! It doesn't sound very exciting haha) so that the end result seems more impressive.

Originally the plan with this animation was to have a comic book of famous people all with different styles of beards and then pan over them with the camera until ending on a still image of me which is actually a frame from the final scene. The still would then become the film and the documentary would continue.
To overcome copyright I was going to re-draw each celebrity photo e.g. Mr.T, Chuck Norris etc. and put them into a comic strip.
But as I've just explained I am now going to narrow down the research so that the viewer isn't bored by the sheer amount of beard styles that are out there.

To overcome this boredom problem I have done a small animation with scrumpled up paper which scrumples out and in again to show each drawing. Each drawing is also a picture of Vince's face without a beard and in my next post I'll put some of the animation images up so you can get an idea of how it worked.

Take care,
Joe.

P.s Happy Christmas!

Carousel workshop strand A: The Image: Still/Moving

To help us develop our initial ideas, we had to choose two Carousel Workshop strands in which to work.
These workshops were on certain styles and mediums of media and art, and really helped me to focus and hone my original idea into what I'm working on right now.

I chose Carousel Strands "A" and "C", Starting with Carousel workshop strand A: "The Image: Still/Moving".
Here for the first weeks of this module along with the monday lectures we looked deeper into how we could use animation and certain software and practices (such as Adobe After Effects and editing skills like the ones used in "Tango" by Zbigniew Rybczyński) for our experiments.

I really enjoyed the hands-on approach with this module and having already had a large passion for animation and been familiar with some of the influences (such as Eadweard Muybridge and Zbigniew Rybczyński) from previous work, I found that this was definitely the area in which I wanted and needed to work.
These workshops also really helped me form ideas for my MEDI 262 work into Experimental Animation as the topics overlapped a lot which was very helpful and productive indeed. :)

Here are some links to my Vimeo page where I've uploaded the work we created during these workshops:

Sofa Stop Motion: http://vimeo.com/15843278

Rotoscoping Riot: http://vimeo.com/15843609

Moon Madness!: http://vimeo.com/16056784

Craig's Crazy Crustacean Carry on!: http://vimeo.com/16056791

Each of these videos were great fun to work on and really helped me to understand the power of moving image to convey emotion and entertainment and also how important team work is. As I progressed through these workshops the quality of my work became that much better when I worked in a team, which was a big eye opener for this project because for me to be able to complete my own experiments, there was no way I could do this on my own.

However, I didn't see this as a curse, but instead saw it as a blessing as now I could fashion a partnership with some of my fellow students and friends and together we could help each other make our projects the very best that they could be.

That's it for this week, tune in next week for my Strand "C" work and my initial notes and ideas I made at the beginning on how I'm going to make my "Mechanical Instrument" or "Marble Run Music" as it's now being fondly called! They're working titles so bear with me on that one! Haha!

Take care and Merry Christmas,
Joe.

Intial Ideas, Link to Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment

Forgot to add the link to the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment so here it is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM

Enjoy and take care :)
Joe.

Initial Ideas

With the focus of this project being on finding ourselves as Experimental Practitioners, the area in which we're able to explore and express ourselves is quite a big one!

After our initial lectures and introduction to this module, I already had a few ideas evolving from these sessions (along with a few others I still had knocking around from the summer holidays which I thought of elaborating on) but overall there was one idea which kept on shining through from way beyond the summer and these lectures.
I remembered it first after viewing this Youtube video of experiments with Diet Coke and Mentos: and also after one lecture we had on "Time and Space" how we could experiment with it.

This video and the connection it had to the "Time and Space" lecture later on really got the ball rolling for me and helped me to realise that finally I could work on an idea I've had for years, which is to create a chain reaction of 'A' affecting 'B' to create music.

What I mean by this is that with the help of Marble Runs, Cogs, Motors and whatever else I can think of to help, I will create a machine I guess which will create music by certain objects affecting others, but with the use of the motors, this machine will be continuous in making music, instead of it just being a lucky one off run through.

I know this is going to be a massive project with a lot of room for error and problems, but I've wanted to do this idea for years now, (ever since I first looked at Wallace and Gromit's inventions in "The Wrong Trousers" when I was 10 and thought, that is so clever I want to try that too if I'm honest haha) and now I can finally do it with the help and support I need to make it a reality. :)

That's all for now but check back soon for the next part on the Carousel Workshops which helped us to figure out ways in which we can realise our ideas :)
Take care,
Joe.

Preparing for the Christmas Holidays and Vince the Stereotypical Pirate

Since the Christmas holidays are coming up, I've been busy this week preparing all the bits and bobs I'm going to need for making my animations, starting with Vince the Stereotypical Pirate.
As Decembeard is obviously in December I had the idea of an advent calendar being the way I would change from scene to scene. This would be done by a calendar having a door pop open as an animation and then in post-production the video for the next scene being there behind the door.
The tricky part though was deciding what would be on the front of the advent calendar, which is where Vince the Stereotypical Pirate stepped in.

Vince began life as the character who would explain the rules of Decembeard to the viewer in the opening scenes of my documentary, but from there evolved into the comedy relief and exhibitor of all the different things I'll need to show throughout my film, such as the different styles of beard in the Research animation, the Decembeard introducer and now the face for the calendar transitions.

In this blog you can see the actual calendar I've made and animated ready for when I'm home in Exeter for christmas. Since this documentary is being made in "real time" (i.e. as I go through December the footage has to show the correct amount of beard growth etc.) I needed to design, animate and edit these calendar transitions before I left for Christmas as I wouldn't have a chance to until afterwards.
Ironically it turned out when I did make them, I was only in the first one and so it wasn't as time based as I thought but still at least they're done and out of the way now.

You'll see in the animations at the end and the photos here that Vince's eyes move and he winks. I would upload the videos here but I'm going to only upload photos and narrations so that the final product is a surprise and you can see it for the first time properly.

Next up is the work I've done on Vince for the introduction animation.
To draw Vince after starting with only drawing his head was quite troublesome but eventually I ended on a style I liked and after chucking him into Photoshop he came to colourful life.
This final photo will be put back into photoshop as it's a PSD file at the moment and then I will be cutting out each body part and exporting it as a single file.
Then once his body is all exported I am going to drop him into After Effects where I will make the animation.
I've only used After Effects a few times but this is a good chance for me to get to know it so I'm quite excited to see what powers it holds for my future animation!

That's it for now so I will post again soon during the Christmas Holidays after I've finished with Vince so check back then.

Take care,
Joe.

MEDI 259 Experiment: Ideas and Practices (2010 - 2011)

Hello and welcome to my blog/online sketchbook for MEDI 259 Experiment: Ideas and Practices.
I admit it has taken a while for me to start this blog, but things have been pretty hectic getting the project on it's feet, so finally now in the Christmas Holidays I have gotten some down time where I can start putting all my notes and work into order for you to see in this blog.
So for now, watch this space as the work will be uploaded soon :)
Take care, Joe.

Interviews and First Scenes

Beginning with my interview with Jeff, the interview was very nice and relaxed and a great way to start off the first filming bits of my documentary.
However, before filming Jeff for his interview, he helped me to film the first scenes of my documentary where I shave off my beard.

This went well and since me and Jeff are friends I find working together really enjoyable and so my delivery of the lines, although a little bit rushed, is surprisingly natural for me as this is one of the first things I've ever done on camera myself mainstage instead of alongside others.

The interview with Jeff carried on in the same fashion as we played Xbox and filmed during as I'm going to put a narration over some silent shots of Jeff.

Next up I went to my girlfriends and Interviewed everyone there.

Starting with her family I found that they were really helpful and willing to engage fully with my questions. Often people can get a bit nervous and just say short answers but there were no nerves here and so the interview has a lovely family dynamic and warmth to it. The natural humour about Phil's chin etc. really accents this style and I'm really pleased with this as it linked into Phil's interview well too.

With Phil's interview we kept the warmth but looking back after filming you can hear Eden downstairs shout shut up at the dogs for barking whilst we're filming. Although trying to help she did end up being louder than the dogs so we re-shot the interview.

However, after playing the interview back to others they barely noticed the dogs and Eden and said if anything it strengthens the family feel of the documentary. It was a pain that we re-filmed when the original was fine but still it's a good practice to get into just in case and actually this fact came into play as I edited the interviews.

With this work I am going to be doing each scene/subject of my documentary as a mini piece of work so that each subject gets a full dose of focus and detail.
I call this style of working "The Lego Effect" as the practice is the same in that I have these separate scenes as building blocks which I'll put all together once I've got all the pieces I need to to make the final model. :)

I've started this work ethic with these interviews and already edited and put them into an order so that they smoothly progress.
Sadly I wanted to film the interviews with two cameras but could only get one JVC out so instead I have filmed the same questions from different angles and then was just going to put them next to each other but instead have gone one step further and used the pauses and "Umm's and Aaah's" in the speech to link one scene into the next seamlessly.

That's it for now but with these first scenes and interviews edited and ready to be put into the mix I can now focus on the animations which are going to take up most of my time.

Check back soon for the next part of work I've undertaken.

Take care,
Joe.

Second Proposal and Decembeard has Begun!

Following on from my first proposal, here is my second proposal which shows how far I am since then and how I'm going to continue:

MEDI 236: DECEMBEARD ORDER

Here is my list of scenes in the order in which they will appear in the documentary. Also at the bottom is an attached video of the first and third scenes, which I’ve already filmed. Also these films won’t play in Word for Windows.

1. Open onto me shaving (shaving foam on and just about to put razor to cheek) and camera aimed at sink and mirror etc. and I turn to camera, surprised “Oh! Hello there I’m Joe Skinner and with my friends Philip Peskett (photo of Phil pops up) and Jeff White (Photo of Jeff pops up) we are taking part in the social challenge that is DECEMBEARD and the following event of Manuary.
Now I’m pretty sure you’re all thinking “Decembeard?” “Manuary?” what on Earth are they? Well here is my good friend “VINCE” to explain. Over to you “VINCE”.

2. Transition to animation with “VINCE” (think 70’s handlebar Ricky Gervias David Brent moustached guy?) explaining the scientific explanation of why people grows beards, and the origins and rules of Movember, Decembeard, Manuary and others (the February) Etc. “Back to you Joe”

3. Transitions back to me wiping foam with a towel from my face all clean-shaven “Wow thanks “VINCE”, though you do sound strangely familiar…. then get Jeff to voice him? (Or say something funny) maybe VINCE shouts shut up and just get on with it?”.
So there you have it, it’s whatever time (10pm) on November 30th; I’m clean shaven, as are Jeff and Phil so time to get an early night so we’re all ready to begin Decembeard afresh tomorrow.

4. WHAT WOMEN WANT: “Intro = While I was taking part in Decembeard I thought it’s only fair to ask my girlfriend what she liked in terms of facial hair as she’s the one who has to put up with it!
Interviews with girlfriends, what they want, how they feel, how it makes them look, favourites etc. Starts with the calendar door NOTE: MAKE A JOKE OUT OF THE CALENDAR FROM FIRST SCENE AS I HAVEN’T FILLED IT IN SINCE WAS AWAY AT EDEN’S OVER THE WEEKEND! SO MAKE UP JOKE E.G. OH WOOPS THIS HASN’T BEEN UPDATED IN A WHILE! THEN FILM OF ME TAKING DOWN CALENDAR AND PUTTING UP ADVENT CALENDAR READY FOR TRANSITIONS! Opening and the date then goes into video (intro as narration over calendar) interview.
I introduce everyone “Hello today (looking at camera then turning it round, handheld) were going to find out what women like when it comes to facial hair by talking to my girlfriend and Phil’s partner Greta. Then go into interview and asks questions. Maybe interview housemates too?
From this we find out why they like beards (and also which types they like for later on - Point 8)
So from there I can lead onto what beards have represented over the years = history e.g. what they represent and symbolism. Why Etc. etc. “So it seems that beards for most of the girls I’ve spoken to symbolise strength and manliness, but has it always been this way? What else have beards been a symbol of in the past? Well through the magic of cinema let’s have a look through “The History of Beards” WITH THE HELP OF POP-UP POWER! (Film me talking to the camera so can explain how far along my beard is as well) (3rd week of December!)

5. The history of beards and facial hair. Pop Up Animation transition from the interviews with a voice over to a big book on a table (I put on table then open and zoom in on whilst narrating?).
From here the scene is then of the open pages whirring across then the stop-motion cut out people appear (side on animation on my desk) and the animation begins until a transition back out of the book (zooming out) and the book closes. Then the voice over carries on to say that now we’ve seen the past, let’s go forward in time using the magic of technology and transitions via this calendar to look at how Jeff got on with his first week. Then the camera zooms out from the book and out of a door on the calendar (the 3rd? Or put on another title e.g. 10,000 BC) and zooms in on a week ahead where that door opens and we see Jeff’s video inside and zoom onto it.

6. Interview starts with video of Jeff shaving or about to, or playing Xbox or something) and then voiceover explains that Phil’s away working in Guernsey for the first 2 weeks so we’ll see how his beard is coming along later on, but for now let’s hand over to Mr. Jeffery White. Begin interview of him a week later on how it’s come along and what styles he’s thinking of going for, influences of this style, Whether it’s itching etc. (30 seconds max) include pictures and narration too? Photos like on Mac whirling.

7. Phil’s back after 2 weeks (ish) so interview him then talk about styles and same things. Make it interesting and different to Jeff’s!

8. Then with narration over montage video of the two and Gret and Eden talking (amongst everyone else too if have interviewed the house as well) explain how from from all these interviews it seems that style is much more important than just growing a beard. Have examples of the most popular beards popping up as stills/drawings and then go on to to say: “So as I started taking into account everyone’s different style of beard in consideration for my own, I wondered just how many styles are out there? And which are the most famous/popular?”

9. From here I began to research style (clips of me on laptop and beard websites etc. have a clip of redtube maybe as a joke like oh! Woops! ) And found that like the history of beards, there is a lot more than you’d expect to find! So In short, it began with” then explain which style was most popular first (e.g. Mr. T’s) whilst it cuts to the comic strip in a comic strip panel style (i.e. the video becomes rotorscoped and cartoonified, then zooms out to actually be a panel on the comic strip and camera pans over to first style and on from there etc. Then end panel is a cartoonisation of the next scene, an interview with me explaining the end of Decembeard.

10. “So here we are at the end of Decembeard or in Manuary?” Then from here come back to an interview with me at the end of Decembeard or beginning of Manuary? (New Years Eve?) And explain what style I’m going to go for and why (For Eden). Then montage of the journey (extra footage which can include a Christmas theme e.g. me wearing a beard as a joke whilst interviewing family and friends etc.) and explain in a voice over how it’s been a great and surprisingly educational trip into a subject which I never thought could be so interesting and vast, and cite some random beard facts.

11. Then explain which style I’ve decided to go for during the montage with examples popping up (e.g. if went for Mr. T he could pop up) and then end on the animation of my beard growing and then becoming styled with narration, then fade out to an actual video of me in the same place talking about how I like my beard and how Eden likes it could end with a wink then closing my bedroom door but that could be too rude?

12. End credits is music over firstly an animation of Jeff’s beard or Phil’s beard growing and then a little disclaimer over the music explaining how far they got (for Jeff not far etc.) and what they went for in the end, then video of the beards and them talking about the overall experience. Think Jackass 3-D ending.

13. Actual credits with slide show of everyone with those blue beards. E.g. Starring: Jeff White with actual beard, and Philip Peskett with actual beard (same for me) then the others e.g. cameramen, Eden, Gret have the blue beards over the top. OR: All have blue beards but start with everyone else but me Jeff and Phil then show everyone with the beards as a starring and special thank you to and then have me, Jeff and Phil with blue beards then move them away to show animations? Prefer the first way.

14. Funny disclaimer at the end Merry Decembeard and a Happy manuary to everyone! Note: No beards, chins, Moustaches or any other facial hair/area was hurt during the making of this documentary. There was however a lot of itching for poor Jeff.

15. Date Created.


To really show the progress I have made, I've literally given in my final list/order for Decembeard (the title I'm giving this piece) and shown which bits I have filmed already as they are lined out. So far I've only filmed the first scenes where I've shaved off my beard and started Decembeard. All I can say is my chin is so cold! :( Didn't think it would be this bad but it really is freezing when it hits my bare skin like that haha.
So Decembeard has begun for myself, Phil and Jeff and so has taking pictures everyday till January. I decided against the video diary every few days as there is plenty going on in this documentary without them.
Also I could start uploading the photos of each day, but I'm going to leave them till each set is an animation of our beards growing and then upload them instead. :)

Other than that, nothing else has happened really. Next weekend I'm going to interview Jeff after a week of Decembeard to see how he's getting and then I'm going to my girlfriend Eden's next weekend to interview Phil who is her dad on how he's been getting on.
I was going to interview him around the same time as Jeff but he's been away working in Guernsey so I'll do it next weekend as I'm also going to be interviewing his partner Greta (Eden's mum) and Eden herself as to what they like in facial hair, since it's them who are going to have to put up with the beards overall!
So far my girlfriend has made it pretty clear that she regrets saying Decembeard as an idea because I apparently have a "fat chin". Hence I am now dying to have my beard back more than ever to cover this cold fat chin of mine!

That's all for now so check back soon when I'll talk about the interviews :)

Take care,
Joe.

Text Presentations

Alongside getting our proposals and the ball rolling on our projects, we began with the task of making a documentary on a select text we were given, ours being "The Performative Documentary" by Barker, Dineen and Broomfield.
In short, the text was trying to argue the question as to which out of "performative" documentaries (E.g. Documentaries which re-enact scenes using actors) or "Real-Life and Challenging" Documentaries (E.g. "Bowling For Columbine", director really involved with subject) portrays the truth best?

To express what we had learnt from this text, as we were put into groups to make these presentations, we created a mini documentary which compared the two different type of documentaries against each other.
Filming was great fun and really did help us to get into the feel and groove of making documentaries. The text was very heavy in my opinion which sadly dampened the fun and creativity of this piece. A smaller text would have been much better as we could have really gone to town on the whole thing, instead of having to summarise and compress the knowledge from all 22 or something pages!
Never the less, the documentary is something I'm proud of and it went down well in the screening so that's a positive. :)

Unfortunately I haven't got a copy of the documentary but instead here is a link to the video which Jeff has uploaded to his Youtube account:


http://www.youtube.com/jeffwhite1990#p/u/10/3OVXlq1VJPI


That's it for now but check back next week for the next bit of progress. :)

Take care,
Joe.

Proposal, Research and Preparation (Plus Photos of Ideas/Notes)

Here today we have my proposal for my documentary as well as some links to other work I've looked at for research and also the photos I said about earlier of my notes/ideas which are penis free. Since my last post, I have included my girlfriend's dad Phil, and my friend and coursemate Jeff White to take part in Decembeard with me so that there is more than one outcome of beard style/growth. I was going to ask my friend Tom however due to geography it was much easier to get Jeff to help me out instead but perhaps in the future I could do a second documentary on just the beards growing and include him too.

Firstly then, here is my proposal:

MEDI 236 DOCUMENTARY PROJECT:

PROPOSAL

The focus of my documentary will be on the social challenge “Decembeard”, with an insight into the history and culture of beards and facial hair.

Working with influence from the McDonalds and fast food documentary “Supersize Me” by Morgan Spurlock, I will be participating in “Decembeard”, a social challenge whereby I shall grow a beard from scratch, starting on Dec 1st and finishing on Dec 31st.

Throughout this month I cannot shave, trim or style the beard in any way until “Manuary”, Which is January and the month where participants can decide whether to trim and style their beard or completely shave it all off.

Alongside my initial challenge, I will interview others who have agreed to participate to compare experiences, as well as including a history of beards and facial hair throughout the ages, focusing on the symbolism beards have become associated with. (For example, only high classed Ancient Egyptians were allowed to grow beards as they were seen as a sign of nobility and strength).

The target audience will be mainly men from the age of puberty and older, whilst the medium I shall document in is mainly film such as for the interviews and my video diary.
However, with the history and transitions created out of stop-motion and After Effects to allow for a more interesting and engaging insight into the history.


It was hard to start a proposal as I've never done anything like this trying to "convince" and explain to someone why they should be interested in my project!
Never the less once you get going, the words were there in my head as I've been working through how I'll make this project over the last week or so (hence the delay in this next post) and so putting it down on paper was quite easy once I'd gotten over that first hurdle. Introductions are always the hardest part to write.

Next up we have here some research into documentarys etc. which have helped me to build up the content for my proposal and project so far.

First up is obviously going to be "Supersize Me" as I've been rambling on about bits of this a lot so far!

First is the intro to "Supersize Me":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V168xofxgu0

I really like the animation style and obvious diagrams and visuals in this scene as they really accent the narration and the points he is trying to get across. I think I could really get on board with working in this way and with the workshops I've been having into After Effects and other animating software, I really think I could do a scene like this well (not in a vain way just saying I would love to have a go as I have an understanding of how to know!) and hopefully just as clear and exciting.

Next up is some videos on beards which I found interesting:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCP5VqmDsf4&playnext=1&list=PL37C6BA647A226115

In this one the use of reversed filming is really effective and although I don't think I will be showing my beard growth in this way, it's still an interesting piece which I debated about incorporating for a while. Perhaps as a future project?

Next up is an animation of the man who took a photo of himself EVERY day for 6 years!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B26asyGKDo

This is truly incredible footage and not ot mention ridiciously disciplined! This is the style I want my beard to be shown in at the end. Nice and simple and raw. :)

Here we have a man doing the same but with a beard being grown as well and done for 8 years instead! It's insance the amounts of dedication these people have!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc_PU3D3QNE&feature=related

And here is one of a pregnant woman during her pregnancy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBUsWwMXTjE&feature=related

This one is a little too slow for my liking and doesn't show transitions very well but still it is worth mentioning. :)

And finally I've actually found one of a beard growing as my final example of this time lapse! Although these are all time lapse based pieces, the transitions are what I've been looking at and especially the backgrounds. This change that happens around us as we grow is something which truly fascinates me as it's not just the man growing but the enviornment too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY8gja0_CCA&feature=related

So there's some of the best research bits I've done and in alecture recently we also looked at "Bowling For Columbine" by Michael Moore. Again this simplistic style and very hands on interactive style of documentary, where the director is directly involved with and addressing the viewer and the documentary, is what inspires me overall and is the main aspect I want to be present throughout my piece.
At first I thought the style might be more reminiscent of a documentary with a Expository style, but thinking it over, documentarys like this differ and become more interactive by the documentor making his/her view very clear and emphasising it through collaberation with "real life" people/witnesses, not actors and also through a general collaboeration with the project and subject(s) it/themselves.
Also, the animations used to explain in this piece are again showing just how a simplistic animation can help break up the visual and narrative to spice it up and keep it fresh and appealing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUSpszWfu_w - Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine".

Finally, in this blog are also the photos of my notes etc. from the beginning of this project right up to now with the ones showing order and content.

I'm sorry if you can't read them cos they're a bit small, but basically they are firstly all 4 documents together with top left being the notes from that first 236 lecture, then below is the content and order I've been putting together and next to that is the additional notes once I'd narrowed down my subject. Then finally top right is my list of rules for Tom and Phil which outlines what they have to do when taking part in Decembeard. Originally as you can see here, I asked quite a lot from them so when they actually take place (although now it will be Phil and Jeff) I will dumb this down and give them a more simplistic outline of what they've got to do. :)

That's it for now but check back soon for more on how I'm progressing along with this project, including footage, more images, notes, research and anything else I can think of that would be relevant to this project. :)

Take care,
Joe.

MEDI 236 Introduction

Hello and welcome to my new blog workbook for MEDI 236 A.K.A the Documentary Project.
In this module I will be creating a documentary on a subject of my choice with regards and references to other practioners work and styles.

Having already learnt we were going to be doing this module in the second year I originally thought I would do it on Buddhism, as I learnt a lot about it during my A-Level in Philosophy.
However this idea felt too safe to me and I decided to start from scratch, and if I couldn't think of anything better I would come back to this.

Below is my list of other ideas I had taken from my initial ideas and notes. I would normally upload the notes but to be honest they're very messy and also a couple of my coursemates have drawn penis' all over them so it's not the most professional approach to explaining my beginnings!

Initial Ideas List:

Buddhism - Go to temples and ask a major question/try to answer it
Improve on this idea and have my own journey!
Spiritual? Go to different religions e.g. Buddhist temple, Church, Gurdwara (Sikh Temple)
Modern Travllers/homes
Lifeboat down Exmouth
Dad's new Puppy Bea and the RSPCA
Fishermen/seamen and their lives down Exmouth
Plymouth in general (history etc.) (Crap idea)
Challenges!
Gym Challenge E.g. since probably gotten bigger over Christmas, documentary of me getting healthy again?
Learn a trick? I.e. Juggling?
Riding a Bike guy (bloke from another year in Media Arts who learnt to ride a bike for the first time as his documentary)
Volvic Challenge
Growing Plants
Finally getting a Tattoo? Scabbing etc. WHOLE PROCESS?
Haircut/hair growing?

FOR ALL KEEP VERY SIMPLISTIC - THINK "SUPERSIZE ME" by Morgan Spurlock

It was only when my girlfriend Eden said that my beard was getting a bit scraggly after that final idea that she realised how good it would be as an idea for me to grow a beard from scratch and do a photo each day!

This idea from such a beautiful creature is what I have concluded to do for my documentary. The challenge of growing a beard is already a social event which me and a few friends have taken part in before last year called DECEMBEARD.
Taking the words DECEMBER and BEARD, those who take part must shave on the last day of November and then resist from shaving all december until they can style and shape whatever facial hair has grown in January (although to stay in style with the other title, most called it MANUARY, MAN and JANUARY since it is mainly men who are growing the beards, unless any women take part who have Hirsutism!).

As I've said above, my main influence for a challenge based documentary came from Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me" in which he ate only Mcdonalds food for a month.
However along side this initial challenge he included a history and back story to many of the points and subjects which arose in his documentary.

For my own project, I am going to be taking part in this challenge of Decembeard and explaining what and why it exists, as well as why people have beards and what they have meant over the years.
Already I knew that a big beard (such as Merlin's) has been associated with wisdom etc. but what else have beards represented and been connected with?

From here on in I will be preparing firstly my proposal of my idea (which I'll post next along with the photos of my ideas which don't have willies on them!) and then getting an early start on the project by getting myself ready for taking part in Decembeard since it's November now and the early bird catches the worm etc. :)

Take care,
Joe.

End Blog for MEDI 116

Looking back over my blog and the website we've made, I must admit that this module has been very unique compared to the others in terms of the final product and documentation style along the way.
I've never attempted to make a website or use a blog and have found both actually quite enjoyable once you get into the swing of things. I mean the blog is literally an electronic diary of this project to fill in after each day, well nearly each day as it does slip my mind sometimes when busy! But being able to simply type and upload what we've been working on instead of all the printing, cutting out, sticking in etc. that comes with sketchbooks has been a pleasant break and quite possibly something I will think of doing with future projects.
However, in terms of MEDI 116 this is the last blog entry I will enter for this project as I shall be handing in my work tomorrow and starting to finish MEDI 117 ready for the exhibition.

This module has been an overall enjoyable, if not stressful at times (in particular the last week before Easter!) experience and working with websites and using my blog is something I most likely will want to work with again.
So thanks for reading and if you want to, check back now and then for any new stuff I might upload and document during my time here at Plymouth Uni and otherwise.
Take care,
Joe.

MEDI 116 Presentation Feedback and Evaluation

As a group we felt the presentation went really well and received some positive feedback and only one minor negative point.

Starting with the positives, our group dynamic of systematically working through each stage of development showed really well throughout the presentation so I'm guessing we showed this side of the process effectively.
The use of stop-motion for the map opening worked well to draw in the viewer apparently and was a good starting point and centre for the website.
These comments were really encouraging and alongside the negative will work as great evaluation points.
The negative comment on the other hand was just about how the background (a montage of photos of the market in washout and faded effect) didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the website and the sketchy hand drawn style we were going for.

On the plus side, at least it was noticed that the sketchy theme is consistent throughout each page and so being evident in all areas of the website must successfully link each piece together.
But also with regards to the background perhaps if we'd had more time we could of fixed up a better layout. We tried the wood effect so it looked like the whole website was on a desk like the map, but this didn't work so perhaps if we worked on this again we could redesign a background.
Also I've noticed that the titles are a bit too sketch like and seem quite scruffy as the camera with which we took the photos was not very high quality.
A final note for improvement is that most of the websites we saw had themed transitions from one area to the next which made us wonder whether if we'd had time could we have done something better than the standard "your on one page, click, your on the next" effect.
Looking at Tom Summer's groups website, the use of stop-motion to show the character running was very effective and in connection with the map animation may have worked well as an evaluation point. It also carried their story along very well so perhaps if we'd had more time we could of built up more of a personal guided tour feel where a man guides you around the market to each page.
For example, when on the home page map, click on stall and then it cuts to an stop-motion animation of someone walking to that store then the actual page fades in perhaps? It's a bit late to be thinking about this all now as we've finished the website but still for future projects more attention should be paid to the transitions an flow of the website from one area to the next.

Alongside getting feedback for our own website, it also gave us a great chance to look at what everyone else had made.
I particularly like the websites by Simon Will's and Joe Stutter's group where a "Google maps" style 360 camera effect was used to great success. How this would even be possible I can't quite understand at the moment but perhaps in the future I will learn this technique as it looks very professional when it was put up on their websites.

Overall, the presentation went well and I'm pleased with our own presentation and the website we have produced.
That's all for tonight/this morning, I've also included a link to Amy's Flickr page where you can some of the photos we used in the website.
I've also finished my evaluation and sent it off for Andy to have a look over so check back tomorrow night where I shall talk through the whole experience, my evaluation and bring this blog on MEDI 116 to a conclusion.
That's all for now, take care,
Joe.

The link to Amy's flickr for some of the photos we used in our website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fish_eye_fish_pie/sets/72157623723495717/

P.S Our Script for the Presentation

Here as well before I sign off for the night and focus on 117, is our script for you to read in it's current state. No doubt after we meet up tomorrow before the presentation it will have been altered again but here it is so far:

MEDI 116 PRESENTATION SCRIPT

1ST SLIDE TITLE

Amy: With our website we started off researching many of the websites from the module brief and from other sources to see what type of website we wanted to create.
From each of these websites we looked at the good and bad qualities and found aspects of some websites, such as Gorillaz.com’s interactivity on the “Plastic Beach” game or the ability in the Folk Songs for the Five Points website to make your own unique music using their sound clips, very inspiring towards how we wanted our own to develop to the viewer.
With this research we were then able to have a clear idea of what we wanted the website to look like, leaving us with the question now of what area we wanted to express. Here are the links to some of the websites we looked at.

Jeff:
We began by spider diagramming for places around Plymouth, a place we could all access easily, for ideas on where we could base our website.
Our initial ideas consisted of main tourist areas such as the Bus Station for example, which is a large focal point of the city, but these areas seemed too obvious and simplistic so we tried to make the area the website expressed more abstract and interesting.
From here we used the Bus Station as the subject and tried to think of ways to express the area using objects and unusual mediums.
Ideas stemmed from using a chest of drawers where each separate draw held different information or an area of the bus station, to a sink where sounds of water and the gushing taps could be used to melt one area into another.
We certainly got the abstract aspect right, but trying to explain and link the two aspects e.g. why a chest of drawers would be connected to a bus station and so on proved more hassle than it was worth and so we opted for a different subject and approach.

Anastasija: We tried a different tactic and as we liked the chest of drawers idea, we started thinking of where we could find such an object and so fell upon our chosen subject of Plymouth’s Indoor City Market.
With the Market, we had a wide range of areas with which to incorporate and express into each drawer.
We eventually decided to drop the idea of using a chest of drawers as we did not see the need for it when the market has so much we could express already, but this does not mean we just listed what each stall had to sell.
Instead we wanted to go a step further and create a more personal experience for the viewer to explore.

Joe: Whilst me and Jeff worked on actually making the website using flash, Amy and Anastasija went out to the market to collect photos and information on the market such as the history, layout and so on.
However to take the website a step further, they gathered interviews with the stall owners and shoppers so that alongside the photos of the market, the viewer could get a more realistic feel and understanding of what the market is like, through the real opinions of those who work and shop there.
On the link are the interviews Amy and Anastasija collected and some of the photos we used on the website.

Amy: Although we worked efficiently and to the best of our abilities as a group, there were inevitably going to be a few problems we encountered.
The first of these was that the original website was quite standard and boring at first which led us to want a hand drawn map of the area to emphasise an overall more personal feel.
The original idea was to have a flash of the markets doors opening and then a film of someone unscrumpling the map and laying it flat. We tried filming this but found many problems in trying to get the right effect and so in the end opted for stop-motion animation of the map ball unfolding by itself.
This worked much better and for added effect we added sounds of the paper being scrunched up.
We also were going to add the sound of a pencil scratching as it drew a circle for when certain stalls on the map were highlighted but found from our research that websites became very irritating when repetitive sounds were used so we opted for a more simplistic approach so as not to annoy the viewer.

Jeff: The main problem with this project was that we found the first interview recordings we collected were far too quiet to be heard and so new interviews had to be collected.
This was quite a big setback but whilst Amy and Anastasija did this me and Joe again worked on the website so when they returned we were ready to add the interviews straight away and make up for lost time.

Anastasija: We also realised that this website should be accessible to everyone and since our interviews are audio files, we have included the scripts for each interview.
This aspect of the pages did make them text heavy but we want all people to be able to understand and enjoy the content so by having both audio and visual content for the viewer, those with hearing or vision impairments for example can still enjoy our website to the full extent.

Joe: With the website itself and using flash, there were no major problems and all ran smoothly in making the website, however when we came to publish and open the website in firefox there was an error and it could not be opened.
At first we tried changing all names of the files into lower case as for some strange reason using capitals can affect the website working? But eventually we came to understand that it was because we were using an old version of Firefox and so once firefox had been upgraded it worked fine.

Amy: Overall, the website worked really well to give the personal and modern feel to the market that we wanted to express.
For example using our own scrunched up effect of the hand drawn map instead of Plymouth Councils actual map of the area and sketchy style titles coupled with quality audio and visual content worked well to portray a more human feel to the website which we feel helps the viewer interact with the site more and get a better taste of the friendly levels on which Plymouth Market operates and the unique shopping experience it has to offer.



Check back tomorrow for how the presentation went, take care,
Joe.

Presentation is done and ready!

Having finished the script for the presentation last night, instead I went in to Scott yesterday to meet my group and together we made the powerpoint to go along with it. This was a much better idea than just me making the presentation as together we made the powerpoint and then readjusted the script to fit in with the main points we as a group had established as the most important focal points.
Now I feel we have a stronger and more interesting presentation with samples of our influences and research plus Amy's flickr account showing the photos we took and this link:www.soundcloud.com/arixonmedi116 which has all the interviews sound clips Amy and Anastasija recorded and now those who view this blog can hear them as well.
Addressing the whole project together to make this presentation has really helped to evaluate the good and bad points we've encountered so that our critical evaluations can be much more in depth and expressive of the whole creative process with this module.
For example, some of the problems we encountered such as firefox being unable to open the website until it was upgraded to a better model had slipped my mind and so know I can put these things into blog (as i've just done) and explain how i felt about this problem and other aspects of making this project in my evaluation.
I've also realised I haven't uploaded all the sketches and plans we've done so here is the storyboard we made for how the website could play out:

That's all for now but after the presentation tomorrow I shall blog about how it went and how I felt about it etc. etc. then begin writing my critical evaluation from what i've learnt with the feedback.
Take care,
Joe.

Presentation Update

Hello back in Plymouth now and have just finalised the script for the presentation and realised a few more things to include for this blog.
I started writing the script a couple of days ago but thought it best to talk about it on the blog now it's finished.
The first thing I noticed I hadn't explained about is how we added a history part to the website and how we were worried this was too text based. We wanted to stay away from text based areas as much as possible (except the script for the interviews which was necessary as i'll explain in a minute) as they're can get very boring, very quickly.
But with the history of Plymouth Market we thought it had to be included on a website about it! And in actual fact this led to the interviews, in particular one about how Sainsbury's, Tesco's and other large supermarkets and how there is a lack of personal one on one shopping in these shops, gaining more depth and understanding for the viewer (if they so choose to find out more by clicking the history area) into why Plymouth market is so friendly and a unique shopping experience. The fact that this area was also an additional part of the website gave the viewer the option to look at all this text and factual information rather than force it upon them and so once again emphasises the friendly, personal approach we wanted the website to have from the hand drawn map down to the interviews and choices the viewer is given.

The second point I noticed is that with the interviews, those who are hearing impaired cannot hear the audio clips and so despite being text heavy, we included scripts for all the interviews so all viewers have more chance and opportunities to enjoy and understand the content. Again this gave across a friendly feel as we tailor for those who have impairments instead of only leaving the audio or visual sides of our website, thus eliminating the possibility of discriminating against those who are impaired in some way.
The script itself is solid if I do say so myself in that it addresses all the main points of our website and so hopefully will get this across at the presentation successfully.
However to accompany and make this presentation interesting, I'm now going to make the powerpoint slides including examples of our work etc. etc.
In fact, now I think of it, this presentation is pretty much a condensed version of this blog but in person as a group so this blog has been very helpful in making sure we explain every aspect we want to.

I'm now going to crack on with the visual/audio side of the presentation and shall report back tomorrow/after the presentation on Tuesday so watch this space and take care,
Joe.

The Last Week of Term

By thursday the website was looking much better than before and I am now very proud of what we have created.
I forgot to mention in my previous blog that Amy and Anastasija's original interviews didn't work and so we were able to have a group discussion before they went out again. It was during this discussion that we settled on going for a more personal theme of one on one interaction with the viewer and the market's feel, resulting in the questions the stall owners were asked being more about the overall experience of being in the market.
This in my opinion is where we really started to get involved with the project, what with 119 being completed etc. we were ready to get personal with it as well and get the whole thing up and running before everyone disappeared for Easter.
I mentioned earlier what we created along the way and so for this blog I will add some photos Amy has taken of the market which we shall use for the individual stall pages, and some photos of the avenues between the shops, where new content is going so the website isn't all based on the stalls and stall owners.
By Friday of the last week we were pretty much done. Wednesday and Thursday were the days where the real slog was on as we outlined the website then filled it in with the detail, including a new section on the history of the market to show it's background and strong link to the customers, and so by friday we were pretty much done and after testing the website to see if it worked (which it did), we were ready to call it a day and export it to disk.
Here we ran into some strange trouble with the website uploading when capital letters were in file names so after a painful half an hour going through all the titles of the files in the 116 folder on my desktop and changing them all to lower case, we exported the website and work to disc and are ready to create the presentation.
The original plan was that if we didn't finish the website in time, Jeff, Amy and Anastasija were able to access Dreamweaver and still work on it, which left me with the job of creating the powerpoint presentation for our group.
Even though the website works, I'm still taking on this responsibility and so now that the website is finished I shall explain the process of making the presentation and why I will include certain points and facts about making this website.
That's all for now as I'm now going to focus on MEDI 117 for a while so stay tuned and after the weekend I will update again about the presentation progress.
Take care,
Joe

Blog Update, Sorry for the Delay!

Sorry for the long delay in getting stuff up on the blog, it's been pretty hectic the last couple of weeks what with working madly to get the website done (which might I add I can now confirm IS FINISHED and up and running thank goodness!) before we left Uni and settling in back home for Easter etc. so finally now i'll upload some of our photos, drawings, scanned work and so on:

Starting with the background we were originally going to use, this turned out to for some reason crash Dreamweaver whenever it was opened and so we scrapped it for a new idea which was to show a desk as a background.

Our new layout for the website is to start with the same ideas of the front doors, then full view of the market and then show a select few stores and have interviews about the market and information about it as a whole, not just the stores themselves, but with a few new exciting extras.
For example, with the map/bird's eye view idea we decided that a sketched, rough and personal style of map would work well, rolling in from a scrunched up ball into the map you see and interact with.
So the next photo here is the map i traced then redid in my own sketchy style so the viewer feels that the market is, as the interviews say, a more personal shopping experience than standard supermarkets.

Whilst I was doing this, Amy and Anastasija went down the market and collected interviews and photos ready for Jeff to put into Dreamweaver as a Flash website, which we all decided by the way would be the best way to present our website.
Once these were all collected, Anastasija ordered them all into seperate folders per stall and Jeff began putting them into the website, whilst Amy worked on the scripts from the interviews and I worked on making the titles for each stall in the same sketchy style as the map.

By this stage in creating the website I believe it was wed/thurs of the last week of term and things were looking really good. The next thing we worked on was Perfecting the transitions from area to area on the website and this included me creating an animation with Jeff showing the map roll in and unfold for the viewer to see.
This was pretty easy to knock together but to make it even better I went off to record sound to go along with the animation and map whilst the others worked on various bits of arranging and making the content ready for the website e.g. Taking it in turns to write up the script, arranging photos, converting the interviews into MP3, cropping them etc.
Along with recording the crumple sound for the map, I also recorded some circles being drawn with a pencil to go along with when the stalls on the map are highlighted but these seemed too o.t.t and so was left out, as in all honesty, noises on websites are so irritating in my opinion and distract me from wanting to look at the websites content.
I'm not sure if it will work but i've uploaded the animation as well for you to view to get a taste of how the website will unfold, literally!


Finally for tonight I will upload the pics of the titles to show you the sketchy, personal style we're going for. Not the most exciting upload but still is a vital part of the overall feel of the website haha!

Well that's all for tonight but tomorrow, and I mean tomorrow I won't forget haha! I'll carry on explaining where we were on the last week of term and the overall final processes of the website finally being completed.
So good night for now and take care,
Joe

Our Original Sketches and Designs

Here are some of our initial sketches and ideas from the beginning of the project.
Sorry it's taken so long to get them up on here but we've been pretty busy actually making the website so once these are all up I will get back up to date reporting the last couple of days.

First up are Amy's first sketches of the doors to Plymouth Market and how we could use this as the beginning of our website and our first notes on how the website could run from page to page:


Brainstorm stage 1...

1. Market Doors - click to go in. Need two photographs (doors open/doors closed)
2.Open plain slightly Birds Eye View of market. Have 6 highlighted/outlined stalls with names on top highlighted.
3. click on one then flicks to photos Amy took eg. pet store and then click on highlighted budgie cage and into come all related to the store.


Few more ideas.

Rather than have it just give information on that store, could have it giving information on the market - history, culture, different types of stalls, navigation of market - where it is in relation to plymouth (draw map?) how to get there, opening hours etc.

Could have with the pictures of some of the stalls we took have sounds and the interviews..

Also was thinking about the flash - for some people it takes ages to load and not everyone has a flash player which could be a downfall… we could always put this in our critical evaluation at the end, but maybe not all the website has to be in flash? just the beginning and when they go to choose which part of the market they want to visit...


As soon as Amy sends the next bits later today I'll upload them to go with these.
Take care,
Joe

Further Website Research

Carrying on from yesterday here's the rest of my research notes:

http://www.net-reality.org/

Good: Neil Jenkins piece "Exquisite Corpse" really stood out to me as the whole piece seems to be based around key literature and words the viewers have input being combined.
This allows the viewer to have an affect on what the content is and become a part of it, a feature we could add to ours though on a less complex basis.
Stanza's piece looked really interesting but sadly, like most of the other websites, it didn't load for me as I used Safari web browser so even though it looked good I wasn't able to further my research without lots of hassle etc.

Bad: But to be honest from what others have said it seems I haven't missed much.
With the websites and pieces I could see, this view was pretty much verified as well, mainly because most of the work was very abstract and similar to the previous website http://wwwwwwwww.jodi.org/ with the bright colours and text, although with much more purpose and explanation with these pieces!
The layout did not inspire me to delve deeper into the different "online/offline" versions etc. either as it seemed very standard and basic, as if it was done not to promote the pieces but just to contain them.

http://www.incident.net/works/timessquare/

Good: Really interesting use of live webcams, all contained in a very simplistic and straight to the point website.
Unlike the boring standard layout of http://www.net-reality.org/, this site makes the main content the focus of the whole website and doesn't let the viewers attention wander to anything else, because there is very little else which pops out to the viewer.
The interactivity is enjoyable and quite surreal to look at Times Square live whilst it dark and cold here in Plymouth!
The titles are bold and subtly highlighted when selected so though the design is not O.T.T on engaging the viewer, it works effectively to filter the attention onto the main piece.

Bad: Due to a slow internet connection the video footage was very jerky so I didn't really get the full experience but from what I saw it was really good. Slow internet connection is a problem which is inevitable to be honest so with our own website we will have to discuss ways to get around this and find a solution so the viewer can get the full experience of being in the market.

http://www.viewsfromthegroundfloor.com/

Good: The use of video alongside the same theme and text style as the website ties the two together. The layout is simple but works well to direct to the content.

Bad: The content and layout seemed very dated and could have been done much better in my opinion. The bright text against a black background gets really irritating and is very hard to read so it was only at the last second that I saw the warning that it will crash Safari.
Luckily it didn't crash it but even though the theme of the site connects with the video, a more simplistic and bold theme would benefit here instead of the difficult style putting me off exploring the content further than the initial video.
With our own work an simplistic and easy to understand format is definitely starting to seem the best way forward.

http://amanita-design.net/samorost-1/

Wow. This website was by far my favourite to work with and was just beautiful in all areas.
Good: The visual content is absolutely stunning and really sucks the viewer in to the storyline of the game, in fact right at the beginning when the second planet is going to collide with the first I actually felt sorry for the little guy!
The game itself though incredibly surreal and random is very easy to navigate and each scene links to the next with ease. The loading times are quick so the action keeps going and the puzzling interactivity to try and get the man to carry on his journey really makes you think and get involved, an aspect that maybe our own website could benefit from by incorporating games of some kind?
The layout is superb as there is only 2 links at the top for the creators etc. leaving the entire site to exploring this strange new story and discovering what might be going on. This greatly pushes all the emphasis onto finding the interactive areas of the first planet and beginning the story free of distractions from other areas of the website.

Bad: The only downside I can possibly think of is that some of the parts of the level were hard to do, both to think about and secondly to find the interactive areas. This is most likely part of the overall experience but for me it got a tiny bit tedious and took some of the glory away from such a brilliant piece.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/nauman/

Good: The use of sound is very impressive and there is plenty to play with, ranging from many different emotions and overall very effective at creating an effect on me, even if it was a negative and disturbed one. All the different voices when running the mouse down across them all became very unnerving and although personally I didn't like the piece, I can admire that it took a lot of work and is effective on me.

Bad: A downside is that the layout is rubbish. It is so bland and boring, which is probably why it works so well to unnerve me, but still even if you're going for a basic emotionless website so the content does the talking (literally!) there was so much more which could be done than just plain greys.
The text also as each piece was spoken ran too fast to it became harder to understand what some of them were saying, particularly the "piss and die, eat and die" etc. part, it was only by listening a fair few times I could understand what they were saying!

http://arounder.com/

Good: The final website I looked at and to be honest it was pretty much just Google Maps but with more areas such as inside certain buildings as well. Never the less I chose to look at Cyprus as I'm going on holiday there in the summer and from what Arounder has shown me in very high quality it looks good! Though I said this is like Google Maps it is a much more advanced version and of a much higher quality in some areas. The layout is simple and easy to use, just choose a place and off you go.
The fonts and text are all very easy to read and so working out how to use the software wasn't hard in the slightest.

Bad: The only real downsides are that 1) apart from being a map there isn't much else that is interactive and this becomes boring quickly, and 2) the fact that the camera is way too fast and hard to control. It's all well and good showing wherever you've chosen to look at in high quality satellite imagery, but if you can't slow the camera to look at it, there's not much point.
Other than that an enjoyable website which was also very helpful and informative as well, again something we want our viewer to feel as well.

Having researched all these websites and seen what is good and bad when it comes to this area of the media, there are many questions and areas of development and interactivity I'd like to bring up with my group and see how they feel about it as well.
That's all for tonight but today we finished collecting all our content ready to be put into a website tomorrow so stay tuned for all our sketches, notes and diagrams to be up and available to you soon.
Take care,
Joe