Drawing? OH NO.

I don't know if you remember or not, but my introduction post clearly stated that I can not draw. This week we SORT OF had to draw but not really. There's this thing called "Generative Art" where you use some software which has an algorithm designed to help create the image. You still have to KIND OF draw, but the software contributes all sorts of nifty effects to make it not suck. Which it would have if it was just ME doing it. My super-quick reviews of the software we used this week:

Scribbler - Cool!
Scribbler Boooooo, I mean TOO - Pain in the Ass!
Flame - Fun Fun Fun!

With Scribbler I made two images I was happy with.

The first one, I wasn't sure if I would be able to draw a face but I decided to give it a try. And voila! I wanted to make her look lost in her thoughts and maybe a bit forlorn. I put some shadow under her cheekbone which I liked and I LOVE the hair - it looks like dreadlocks to me.

For the second image, since it's getting close to Halloween I thought I'd do something that goes along with that. I thought the way the software rendered lines made it look very "webby" and gave it some volume. Also if you look closely you MIGHT be able to see a (completely unintentional) skull.

Moving onto Scribbler Too! Did I mention I do not like Scribbler Too? I found it less than user-friendly and had some issues getting everything how I wanted it. The variety of brush options and the availability of color are positives. But still.

ANYWAY. The first one can be interpreted as an abstract Ganesha (the Indian deity). He's my favorite because he brings prosperity. And has a mouse. I'm pretty sure I was a Hindu in a previous life. Happy Diwali!

The second Scribbler Too was based on a picture of my doggy Murray. Isn't he cute? I definitely wanted to highlight his eyes and the catchlight. I like the juxtaposition of the lines with the empty space here.

Finally, I created two images with Flame. I like the versatility of this software (color, size, noise and a variety of other tools). It was enjoyable to use! And organic! The first one is meant to depict frustration and anger. Pretty straightforward!

The second one is the "calm after the storm." After the fire dies down you're left with just a wispy, cool aftermath.

The Flood

Remember that song I created a couple of weeks ago? Well, our next assignment was to create a MASHUP video with the song. I did this by finding public domain footage from Archive.org and using Windows Movie Maker to put it all together. I tried to use FileLab to create the video, but it wouldn't open for me (I tried multiple browsers and downloaded the plugin about 400 times - *shrug*). Luckily, I had a little bit of experience with Movie Maker from editing bronchoscopy videos at work, so there wasn't much of a learning curve!

My inspiration was basically every TOOL music video I have ever seen. Adam Jones, who is the guitarist for TOOL makes their videos (he also worked on Jurassic Park!) The clips I chose were mostly claymation and stop-motion, because they replicated the style that TOOL uses. The mimes at the beginning and the skeleton riding the penny-farthing at the end just seemed to match perfectly with the style of the song (i.e. sort of dark and foreboding).

My editing techniques were mostly just splitting clips into smaller chunks, trimming the beginning and/or end, and arranging them in different ways until I had something that told a story. As far as WHAT the story actually IS, I will leave that to the viewer to decide! In many ways the process was very similar to creating the song.

If I could change anything about my MASHUP I might spend more time trying to perfectly align some of the movements in the video with the song, but this seemed to occur naturally enough that it would have been too painful in relation to the reward. The most difficult part of the assignment was trying to find existing video clips in the public domain that I felt would accomplish my goal. The biggest lesson I learned from this project was that I'm actually ABLE to create something cool from scratch - the whole process was super intimidating from the start.

So without any further ado here's my MASHUP video "The Flood". Please feel free to leave me a comment with your thoughts.

The Flood from Shannon Crandall on Vimeo.

Who do you think I am...?!

Bubs (my husband... Chris, if you must) finally got me a birthday gift that I have been wishing (begging) for for a long time. Most people have a general idea of "who" they are, where they come from. I have a kind of unique situation, my mom and her twin sister, Leslie were adopted at birth in 1962. They were born to a 13-year-old child who named them Sandra Kaye and Brenda Faye (thankfully my grandma had sense to rename them Lisa and Leslie.) For what it's worth, both my mom and aunt also had kids at 13. Yikes, right? Also, go me! I broke the cycle! My kids have 4 legs! :) As for my biological father, I know his name and met him once when I was 14. My mom (who if you haven't got it by now - isn't reliable or even sane a majority of the time) told me that HIS mother is 100% Cherokee Indian. I think that's something she would like to be true, but I'm not convinced.

Back to my gift:

OMG OMG OMG It's finally happening!! I don't think a lot of people understand my desire to "know" who I am, and for a long time not even Bubs. It seems like everybody else I know, knows something about their heritage. So anyway, we have a little wager going on. Bubs thinks the results will come back with: Native American, Asian and Scottish. I think Native American, Asian, Irish and Hungarian/Romanian. It takes about 8 weeks to get the results, so we're looking at Thanksgiving or there about.

Here's a picture of me (and Bubs!), please feel free to leave a comment below with your guess. Winner gets a huge bowl of bragging rights! ;)

Shannie... the Musician..?

This week in my Fundamentals of Digital Media class, we learned about Mashups and how to use Soundation to compose some original music - for free. Now I love to listen to music, from classic rock to alternative to bluegrass, hip hop and everything in between. MAKING music is another story. I am not musically inclined, at all. In fact, my grandma is the music director at her church and would make me fill in on the handbells occasionally when her regulars were not available. I would practice for a few weeks. 1, 2, 3, 4... 1, 2, 3, 4, (only two notes, mind you) 1, 2, 3, 4. So the day would come, I would get in my position... look up... see all of the people staring back at me. Oh, f$#@!. Immediate head-shake. Tummy grumble. Trying to talk myself out of having explosive diarrhea... Aanndddd no music. You get the picture,that's my experience with making music. Eventually she stopped asking me to fill in, thankfully. So, when this assignment came up, my immediate feeling was dread. I have no clue. Luckily Soundation is pretty intuitive, and I was able to scrape something together, just click play down below and let me know what you think.