ENGL 419: Multimedia Writing

Project 3 Proposal
The project I had thought about doing was a power point presentation for a humane society where I live. I have volunteered there before and they asked if anyone could make a power point they could show their volunteers in order to make the training process a bit more organized. At the time I didn’t give it much thought because I had already volunteered, but now I think it is something they will need in order to continue with the volunteer program.
For this project I will make a power point presentation for the humane society to show individuals who are interested in volunteering with the animals. The power point will probably contain slides about caring for the animals, safety around the animals, and the hours they can volunteer. Each section will obviously go into more depth than just what I have listed.
The reason I thought this was a good idea was because it would help the employees who work there to be more organized with the volunteers. It will also make it easier to train more people and get the information across easier. It will also provide an outline for new employees who will train the volunteers. So this is my idea to make a power point for a humane society to show to people interested in volunteering to help with the animals.
I think this project will work because I already ahve a target audience and I will already know the specifics of what I will have to be able to do in order to complete the power point successfully.

I work for an online web hosting company currently. Most of us work remotely for most of the year, which no matter hard we try to avoid it, creates problems with communication. Problems in communication quickly lead into problems in training. There is a large learning curve for new employees who are unfamiliar with the software we use and the hosting techniques we employ. On average, I would say that more than half of our new employees leave within the first month upon being hired. One of the major reasons for this is because they feel like they are overwhelmed with responsibilities that they are not able to handle.

In order to combat this, I am going to create a flow chart that will be specifically designed for newer employees to the company. This flow chart will basically be a step by step response procedure for technical inquiries only. Although they will be handling more than technical support, this will help them get some guidance in problem solving when support is not readily available. When a customer is cornering your for information and quick fixes, it is nice to have a procedure to follow that will help you narrow down the problem. Even if it does not give you an exact solution to the problem, you will be able to give the customer some details on what the problem is exactly, which will help them calm down a little hopefully.

I believe that most larger-sized companies that employ a considerable amount of employees would have some type of procedural process for new employees. This will be one step in making hiring an easier process for everyone. By making this type of flow chart, we can make our company more expandable by having new employees always ready at the tip of our fingers.

For this class project I would like to create a class website. My aunt is a 3rd grade teacher and she is in need of a class website. Her name is Mrs. Buttler and she calls her class the Buttler’s Bunch. I would like to create a website around this theme. I would like to create the images for this page from scratch. The layout of this page should be simple enough for 3rd graders to use, yet not so juvenile that the third grade’s parents don’t want to look at it.
On this page I would like it to have a media section where the students and their parents can retrieve memos from the teacher, project descriptions, and other media the teacher might want to post. I would also like to include information on the class it self such as pictures, descriptions, and such. The page should also include contact information so that the viewers can easily get a hold of the teacher. I would also like to include a news and events page that can be easily updated by the teacher. A links page will also be important.
This teacher has some understanding of web programming but not enough to create a site herself. I would like to create something that is relativity simple for her to edit. So, it is important for this project to have an easy to understand web structure. I also want to keep the maintenance that she has to do to the page to a minimal. I want her to be able to use this page year after year with out having to change graphics or major body text. She is a busy individual and she does not have time to constantly keep up a website.

I’d like to create a program that allows you to easier study for tests. Oftentimes, when you have a test to study for, it helps to create something like flash cards to quiz yourself with. The problem I see with flash cards is that when you turn them over, you instantly have your answer. It’s a binary method of memorizing things that I think could be improved upon.
Starting up this program, it would display to you a list of quizzes you’ve already made, or it would give you the option to create a new one. If you click on one of the quizzes you’ve already made, you would start taking the corresponding quiz, which could keep track of your previous scores on that quiz (to help mark your progress). If you choose to create a new quiz, it would give you spots to input questions, as well as methods of answering. The answer could be a picture, a sentence, a fill in the blank; you could have to click a certain part of a picture, that’s a few options I can think of.

“Which of these graphs shows a favorable profit margin for the company?”
(Choose a picture from a few pictures, maybe if you miss it it will Eliminate two of the pictures and give you another chance. It could
Also include an explanation as to what defines a favorable profit margin Instead of getting rid of two pictures, or do both.)

“What is the definition of a protocol?”
(The user is given a text area to type their answer) If they get it wrong, 1 correct definition and 3 other random definitions from other definition questions in their slides are put Into a multiple choice format in which they choose the correct Answer.

“A __________ is a bacteria that doesn’t have a nucleus.”
The user is given a chance to type it in, and if they can’t, they’re given A multiple choice problem from which the other choices are other answers To fill in the blank questions in their slides.

“Where on this timeline did Cortez invade Mexico City, Mexico?” The user clicks somewhere on the picture, that is specified by the person
Who made the quiz, and then the program informs the taker if they are Right or wrong.

Or, on something like our English midterm…
“Enter as many of the design terms as you can.”
Then a list of blanks…. And after you finish, it lets you know what ones you missed, and
Then possibly an acronym that allows you to remember them.

I believe this program would be best utilized in pairs. If two friends who are taking the same class and are studying for the same test, each could boot up this program and make a nice detailed quiz with hints for when they miss a question, acronyms to help the other remember things, etc. and then they could give each other their quizzes to help study. At the same time, by MAKING a quiz on your own, you’re forced to learn the material as well as come up with hints to help you learn things and acronyms to help remember things.

I would like to create advertisement for the movie turistas. It would involve radio advertisement sound bytes, posters used for the movie and flash banner as well for the web. It would pretty much entail a lot of the advertisement process that goes through when trying to create advertisement on different medias. I think this would be a good idea, doesn’t necessary need to be this movie.
Another option I was exploring is creating a mini cartoon show on flash. I want to either create advertisement for a movie or create a cartoon on flash one of the two. I feel this would help me understand and enhance my skills of creative design. Because I would have to make this movie seem interesting to the broad range of people.
Not all the medias would be posters some would be printed as flyers. I would of course have to get this printed somewhere special to be able to print 11 by 17. I think all in all it would be a good experience for me as a CGT major. Because I deal with design all the time I feel this could only help me out in my major.

For Project 3, I am proposing to make a web-based game. My idea is to create a simple puzzle or action game. I believe this is the best project for me since I am a Computer Science major, and I have a strong passion for games.

I believe that this idea is a valid project based on the sample projects referenced on the website. The game will be placed on the web. The BBC’s Interactive Body or the games at Miniclip are similar in what I am trying to do. Possible tools that I can use are Macromedia Flash or Java.

There are many ways for the game to be graded. For example, it could be graded on its complexity, such as difficulty settings and levels. It also could be graded through features, such as adding ability for high scores. Also, it can be graded on appearance, such as having a professional look and making sure there are no glitches.

I would like to design a one minute television commercial for Guitar Hero, a videogame for Play Station 2/3. Guitar Hero is a game where the controller is an almost full sized guitar with 5 buttons on the neck, a bar that you strum, and a whammy bar. The game has 46 songs, and the screen displays a neck of a guitar where the notes come down the screen and when the note gets to the bottom of the screen you have to hit the corresponding button(s) and strum to play the note. I think this would be a good project because the only advertising I know of for the game is word of mouth. A television commercial would definitely fall within the bounds of a multimedia presentation. It would be a combination of video of the game, video of people playing the game, the songs contained within the game, and the musicians that originally performed the music. I have never done any video editing so it would be a good opportunity for me to learn how to.

http://www.guitarherogame.com/

For project 3, I would like to make a powerpoint presentation for a non profit radio broadcasting organization in Purdue, WILY Radio (www.wilyradio.com). I think by making my presentation, I will raise awareness of this radio station because currently, this station is only available through the internet. My aim would be to get this station to be played on the radio.

I think the reason why it is not played on the radio is because there are many segments of varying content, including those that play different genres of music. Also, with rising popularity, I am hopeful that this presentation will persuade the authorized personnel to grant a station that caters specifically to the Purdue community.

I think this would be a good project for me because although I am using one of the examples given in the project assignment page, it is for a different organization. I am marketing the station so I suppose that the purpose would be similar to that of the powerpoint marketing Wikipedia.

Animation Short

For my project I would ideally like to create a short video animation using computer models and CG animation programs to tell a short story similar to a machinima short. The difference being that the clip would likely be fairly short and somewhat rough-edged due to the short time constraints and that I would be creating the models themselves.
The Project itself would likely be limited to a minute or two at most. This is because of the time required to correctly create and rig models to successfully animate them. I say it would be comparable to a machinima short because the models I create would be fairly rough and low-polygon count models for simplicities sake. If time is truly too great a hindrance, I will likely end up taking pre-existing models and simply create a modified machinima production.
For the actual topic of the video, I am as of yet undecided. It would very likely be a very fast clip of some simple idea such as. Existing productions of such ideas include DVD-shorts from CG films such as Toy Story or Ice Age. Common usages of such clips are promotional materials or ending credit clips to keep the viewer interested in the screen.
For the project materials itself, I plan on using a program such as Maya or 3DSMax. I will likely err of the side of Maya since I have a little more experience in the program and I find it easier to perform animation tasks using the in-built tools. Both programs of course are capable of creating models and animations, I just believe Maya is better.
The project isn’t particularly high-browed thought nor will it teach anyone a vital skill. The project is designed to amuse or hold the viewer’s attention for a short duration. As such, the project is designed for an entertainment based outlet and would need to be produced to match that criteria. Resultingly, it also has little to do with my major (CS), so I have little justification for making it, other than maybe to claim that my education hasn’t been entirely wasted and that I can still do other things related to but not belonging to the aforementioned field.

I would like to design a multimedia server and a website that takes in ordinary radio station frequency as an in put and transform it into online broadcasted media. Regular radio frequency has a critical regional restriction. By broadcasting this via web, this can solve the regional restriction.

I think this idea will work because it’s taking current existing multimedia and modifying it better by solving the restriction.

There are currently existing limitations to this proposal. One of them is the scale of the server I will be working with. I will be using my home desktop PC to turn it into a server and the regular broadband line. Due to this, the server may not be able to accept too many connections and broadcast in high audio quality. However these can be adjusted via setting.

Project 3 Proposal

I want to create a poster that shows the step by step process of making a den pop or possibly showing what a den pop is made of. The step by step process would involve several steps and could even be done for every flavor combination that the den has posted on the wall. Each stage would have a graphic illustration/image of some sort along with a description of each step.

The other idea of showing what a den pop is composed of would involve a huge image of a den pop or maybe a cross section of a den pop with arrows and pointers leading to describers. This could also involve a zoom image of a particular section.

Both of these ideas would probably be done in Photoshop at an extremely large size so that it can be printed in poster form. My finished product would be the actual poster and I would even think about donating it to the Den.

For Project 3, I would like to redesign an existing website for Purdue’s chapter of Silver Wings Society, a professional organization consisting of civilians and Air Force ROTC cadets. The site was created last spring but it needs updated all the time because our events are always changing. This is a multimedia work related to my field of study and to something I am involved in. I am the secretary for silver wings so I will have access to all necessary information to make this website professional and complete. This site can then be used by the members of the club if our president approves it. It couls also be used by the general public if they are interested in involvement. The original site is at http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sws/. Because of the nature of this website, I will be able to define a specific purpose and audience, therefore following the guidelines that have been established for us this semester.
It will be easy to set a rubric for this project if I do the club website. There are many examples on the internet of websites made for similar purposes. I will be able to find one and critique it to develop my rubric. I will also have many examples to follow if I get lost for ideas.
This would be a great project because it encompasses a large multimedia provider and serves a purpose outside of this class.

For project 3, I would like to design a template for a newsletter for an organization on campus. The organization is called the Purdue Filipino Association, also known as PFA. Over the years PFA has grown as an organization and I thought it would be important for the organization to have a set template for a newsletter. The newsletter will inform the members of any current events that PFA has to offer. It will also benefit the Newsletter Chair position in the organization because they won’t have trouble trying to come up with a template each semester. With a set template for a newsletter, the Newsletter Chair doesn’t have to waste time on designing a new one. This will benefit the organization by allowing the officers to communicate important information to the members of the organization.

I think this is appropriate for project 3 because I’m designing something that has a purpose that’s trying to be delivered to a certain audience. The purpose of designing a template is to make it easier for the Newsletter Chair in PFA. The audience will be current members of the Purdue Filipino Association. The template will essentially be pre-designed structured document most likely using Microsoft Word.

I would like to produce an image using Photoshop that can be described as “deep”. While appearing simple at first, the image will contain many subtle features that tell a story when viewed together. I am unsure of the specifics of this work, but an example would be a painting of a bouquet of flowers. When you look very closely at the individual leaves and stems, you can see bugs and animals hiding and blending in to the bouquet. This idea of rewarding the viewer for spending some time to look at the work is the premise of my project. The specific subject for the main image and the subject for the underlying features are undefined right now.

Obviously, this piece fits the multimedia category making it ideal for this project. The piece will be produced digitally but can be printed to a physical medium also. When working in Flash and Photoshop, one of the best ways to have your work well accepted is to make the viewer feel unique. By implanting hard-to-find features in the work, you can give the viewer a sense of accomplishment and make them feel as if they were the only one to catch the hidden features.

I had a potential client who wanted me to design him an Alice in Wonderland poster. He wanted certain things included in it like a part of a poem that the caterpillar recited in the movie and an equation that was written about in the book. He wanted specifically the caterpillar scene with Alice. He wanted some emphasis on the Hookah that the caterpillar was smoking. Other than that, the creativity was up to me. I think that this would be a good project because I want to be a professional Computer Graphics Painter specifically specialized in Adobe Photoshop. I also thought this would be a good challenge to work on a project for a potential client. It would give me a chance to show someone my talent and own art style. This would also be something great to put in a portfolio. I would love to design other posters and print work one day for other clients. I could also get some extra practice using my graphics tablet which is highly recommended in the CGT field. Working in Adobe Photoshop for
this particular project could help me advance my skills in the program that much more.

I’m President of The Purdue Skeptics Society, and if I don’t come up with any other ideas, then I’m going to add to The Purdue Skeptics Society web site.
I plan to do some top ten lists for part of it. I also want to write my own top ten lists. Top Ten Science Myths.

Here's a Top Ten List on the James Randi Forum under the “This is True” heading.

If you haven’t heard of James Randi before, then this short video will be new to you.

I still need to think about the multimedia part of it such as Flash, PowerPoint, or Freehand. I could maybe do a comic strip, but I might change my mind about a comic strip.