Schlack Attack

Throughout week 6, the Digital Arts UC Irvine group has been focusing on creating a mass personal blog. This gives each and every student the opportunity to give insight to who you are, or in some cases possibly a fake persona. Over the past week, we have been discussing articles about LonelyGirl15, a professional YouTube vlogger that was assumed to be an original, as well as topics like bullying and coming out videos due to government policy changes. From these readings, I have learned that technology has a huge influence not only on how our lives are ran (YouTube, Twitter, etc.) but also how we can perceive the difference between what is real and fictional (in the case of LonelyGirl15).

Understanding these sorts of concepts reveals millions of opportunities for content that I can personally use for my two to three minutes vlog. While of course the means of recoding the vlog itself will be an element of how technology has become a vital role in the digital arts, there are also other ideas that come into play. The controversial argument of what should and should not be posted on the internet is the most concerning topic for me as our class prepares to film. Privacy on the internet is almost impossible due to today’s technology, especially on the world wide web, so anything that is displayed can practically be viewed or used by anyone who comes across your content.

While I would like to discuss a topic that I am highly interested and passionate about in my segment of the vlog, I am going to be cautious about what layers I reveal about my personal life, while trying to stay both personable and professional.

On a side note about privacy, I came across this image that gives some insight to what is the social norms of what is expected of different posts for different media sites. The diagram creates a linkage that tries to show the differentiation between different audience members who will be viewing and reading your content, and gives guidance on what is or is not appropriate for certain social networking sites. While this is only a generalization chart, I feel that there is truth behind what the picture is trying to convey. Feel free to leave comments about how you feel about this idea of privacy and where are acceptable places on the internet to post personal information.

E-Media Room

This week in lab we traveled across the UCI campus to the E-Media Room at the Calit2 building. We spent the majority of the day cleaning up and reorganizing the space to create a unique set up for the class’s upcoming vlog. We are going to be creating room on the green screen of what a bedroom would look like if the class were to merge all of their personal bedrooms together, using common elements. To do that, each student is taking the time to create a blueprint of what his or her bedroom looks like, so that as a class we can see what most of the students have and where it is located. Here is what my diagram looks like:

Bedroom Blueprint

As this class project continues, issues of how to create the perfect collaborated bedroom, who brings in what materials, and what will each person say on their part of the video blog will have to be confronted as the complications arise. For now, I will be concentrating on what issues are most important to me, so I can prepare on what to say for my individual part of the vlog entry. After the filming and recording are done, I am excited to see how all the personal entries will work together in creating one cohesive video or video series.

After another week of editing,critiques,and revisions,the OCWayfarers have produced a new CicLAvia video presenting the Eagle Rock Yacht Club’s dodgeball event. After viewing the first video, some of the comments viewers had were that our title pages were too long and there was a lack of footage and pictures covering the event. In order to accommodate the remarks of the critics, all title pages were significantly reduced or in some cases,removed all together.

In addition, a clip of another ERYC member was included to provide more information on the event as well as showing the community coming together to play dodgeball, as seen in the background. Still images were placed at the end of the video clip to include more action as to what was occurring on the streets by capturing, children, family, and dodgeball professionals coming together to “play in the streets.” Lastly, a special wordmark was placed in the beginning of the presentation to both brand the Digital Arts UC Irvine program, as well as create synergy within class and out in the digital realm.

This week in the arts 50 lab, my group OC Wayfarers, took the time to geotag all the photographs taken at CicLAvia. After uploading all the images to Flickr, we placed the pictures approximately on the corresponding locations to which the photos were taken. While most of the images were taken at the Eagle Rock Yacht Club’s dodgeball location on 4th and Spring in Los Angeles, there are also a variety of photos taken along the streets of CicLAvia. We even have a few pictures taken at the metro station both in the LA Union Station and the Tustin Metro Station to document our journey from Irvine to CicLAvia!

For the first assigned project for the Arts 50, 60, 70 series, our class teamed up in groups of ideally three students. My group consisted of two other art majors besides myself, Jean Paul Sio and Jeffery Hatakeda. On October 7, 2011, our group collectively known as the OC Wayfarers, went to  the city Los Angeles to participate in the event CicLAvia.

wayfarer: |ˈwāˌfe(ə)rər| (noun) a person who travels by foot

While participants of CicLAvia have their own unique idea of what the event means to them, one way to simply describe it would be a day to “play in the streets.” It is a day for a couple of hours where selected streets of LA are closed off to all cars and busses allowing for people of all ages and locations to come out and have some fun in the normally traffic condensed streets. While the majority of CicLAvia participants are bikers, the event has urged more guests to try other means of transportation like walking, skating, scootering, etc.

While event coordinators have urged people that there is more to do at CicLAvia than just biking, riding bikes still remains the most popular activity here at the event.

For our assignment, my group was in charge of documenting the Eagle Rock Yacht Club’s mini grant activity of playing dodgeball. Through the use of digital cameras, video cameras, audio recordings, and Twitter updates, we had a successful overview of the whole event from start to finish. The ERYC coordinators, invited both professional dodgeball players along with anyone on the street to come out an enjoy a quick game. Children, teenagers, and parents alike were thrilled to interact with other in a dodgeball game, and even spectators had a blast watching all the fun.

By the end of the day, the OC Wayfarers had collected an immense amount of pictures, videos, interviews, and memories. The day was packed of excitement, and we were ready to head back to UC Irvine to look at all the footage we had covered. Over the next few days, JP, Jeffery, and I worked on a short video on what we had experienced at the unforgettable event of CicLAvia, and we look forward to the next one on April 15, 2011.