Letter to Future Students

Hello future students,

My name is Michael Hicks and I was a proud member of the Seeing Sideways class for the Spring 2011 semester. This class is hard to explain, but I'm going to give it a shot. Seeing sideways is about finding how, why, when, and where you are the most creative and exploiting that place to create some fun and unique projects. To be honest, you are not expected to make the best thing ever, but simply to make "something". Of course, Ms. Lykins would prefer it to be amazing, but its more about making the actual thing than impressing her. I believe that it is more important, even to Ms. Lykins, that the person who made it stands behind it and shows it off. That leads me to another objective of the class, which is to present and show off what you make from project to project. This is a hard one to get used to at first, at least for me, because you are showing stuff off that you are probably not used to showing people. I finally realized that the projects are usually odd and everyone has to show them so it is better off just sharing.

I believe that I got quite a bit from the class. I learned how better to harness and exploit my creativity. This is a really important lesson, considering that I have to be creative quite often in this major, and usually under a time limit. It was also enjoyable to see what everyone else made for projects. I felt like this was really inspiring in itself. It's good to know what your peers are capable of, especially the ones that you share the program with.

As to how this affected my approach to future classes, I think that it will make them all a little less stressful and easier. I really do think that I'm more connected to my creativity than I was before I took the class. When I do need to be creative under a time frame again, I believe that things will go a lot smoother. I have also learned to trust myself a little more, which is very important. I don't make something and automatically think it's crap. I now can look at my own work more objectively and am better at finding ways to fix a problem. All I can say is that this class is fun, and unlike anything you will ever take in college. It's at least worth a try.

Sincerely,
Michael Hicks

Final Project

For my project, I decided to research censorship in advertising. I originally wanted to do something with censorship, but when I found that there was a rampant amount of censorship of advertising throughout the world, it piqued my interest. To convey my research, which is cited below, I made a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation seemed to interest the audience and even engage them at certain points. I talked about the unbelievable amount of advertising censorship that takes place in the Middle East with specific examples. I also cited specific examples that occurred within the United States. I was hesitant to share my project at first, thinking that it wouldn't be good enough to show the class. In the end, I'm glad I did and believe that advertising censorship is an interesting topic that deserves more research and attention. You can view my PowerPoint presentation by clicking here.


Sources:

http://creativebits.org/Visual_communication_crash_course

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/craigslists-forced-censorship-of-erotic-ads-saves-journalism-industry/

4-11-11: Reaction!

I think that last weeks class went extremely well. There were a lot of good projects and discussion. However, what I remember most about last week was someone's lack of a project. Last week, we showed and discussed our, "Why Are You Here?" assignment. One student answered by saying that she didn't know and that she didn't have a project as a result of it. This wasn't one of those times where I thought that she was just being lazy and didn't have a better excuse. She really looked frightened as she told the class that she didn't know what she was doing in this major. She claimed that she had lost her creative spark and was essentially drifting through the New Media program. She cried, as others have and probably will in this course. I felt for her. I think she is going through something that a lot of creative people do. I have certainly had feelings of insecurity and trouble coming up with anything creative. I think that she is in a funk at the moment and I believe strongly that she will find her way out of it. She seemed very intelligent and thoughtful and spoke about how she thinks it could be because she has no time to do anything creative. She spoke about how she used to do things for herself and not just for a grade. I think that she will find her creativity again. I'm not sure how she would exactly go about doing that, but she certainly seems capable. Other things were discussed in class, but I think this was the most important aspect of the class.

Remember That Cool Project That Time?

My personal wellspring of creativity simply comes from relaxation. This can involve a bunch of different things. I relax by reading comics, watching movies, laying around and watching TV, etc. If I am properly relaxed and comfortable I have an infinitely easier time being creative. Of course, doing this can sometimes lead to trouble when I'm asked to be creative on a deadline. Most of the time, however, it all works out just fine. For my project, I decided to re-attempt a project that I had done a couple years ago for a class where my creative process did get the better of me. This was for the N110 class. I have no idea what it's called now, but it mostly consisted of Adobe Illustrator. I found a project from the class on my jump drive that I hadn't really completed. I don't remember why I chose this, but what I did was draw over a photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator 2. Here is the untouched picture.
When I found the file, I had only a few minor details done. Since we were talking about old projects that we don't think turned out very well, I thought that I would "finish" it. I'm still not sure if it's where I want it but it's definitely much closer than it was. Here is the final version.
This is definitely memorable for me. It was good to go back to this project and look at it in a different light. I'm honestly not any better at illustrator than I was, but I think that my perspective has changed a little over the course of the last couple years.

That's about enough of that. For this course, I have also had a project that I didn't think went as well as it could. I think that my breaking the rules assignment could have been a lot better than it was. All I did was mess with script formatting and turn it in. The reason I did this was due to time. I think that is the biggest challenge with this course. I always want to do something more ambitious than I can get done in a reasonable amount of time or I wait to long to think of what to do. If I wait to long, I'm constantly rushing to get something done and it never turns out as good as I want it to. If I were able to reattempt this project, I would change everything about it. I would have a completely different concept and put some more effort into it. Off the top of my head, I would choose a rule that could have more done with it. I would probably choose a rule that I consider silly and film something with me breaking it. I think I was way too self-conscious at the beginning of the semester which also led to me thinking a lot of my ideas were "stupid". This has mostly gone away at this point. Regardless, it would have more put into it than that project did.

Why am I Here?

That is a good question. I've thought about this a lot since it was assigned and I couldn't answer it at first. I started to think, why am I in this class? The answer to that question was fairly simple. I am in N385 because I needed the credits and it sounded like an interesting class. I didn't think that was enough to go off of. Then I went bigger and wondered why am I here at IUPUI. Once again, this wasn't hard to answer. I'm here because I want to learn and get a better job than I would have gotten without going to college. The next time I asked the question, I went much bigger. Why am I here on this planet? This took a little more time. I struggled until I started thinking about the things that I enjoy most. Of course I here for my family and friends, but I don't think that it's even as big as that. I believe that I am here to enjoy the little things. Things like hanging out with the people I love, doing well in school, and entertainment. There are so many more things than that, but that was my starting point. Even though enjoying the little things is a bit of a cliche, I believe that it is for a good reason. Since I was very busy last week I didn't have as much time for this project as I have others, so I decided to show what I mean by writing exactly what I mean.

Why I am Here

Michael Hicks

I'm not sure if I believe in God or having been put on this Earth to serve some higher purpose. I think that I am on this Earth to simply enjoy it. More than anything, I enjoy the little unique experiences. I enjoy sitting around and talking with friends about bullshit. I love coming home after a class and talking to my nephew about how his day of preschool went. I love the feeling that I get after I watch a good movie or read a good comic. I used to lose sleep over the thought of why I am here when I was a kid. I imagined the endless universe and couldn't comprehend my place in it. I still can't, but that's the point of this. Instead of staying up all night and fretting about things that I have no control over I can simply realize that I am here to enjoy life. Of course I am here for the big events in my life as well, but those are few and far between so I feel that I have to focus on the day to day. The best way of doing this is trying to extract joy from the mundane. If I don't like what I'm doing at a particular moment I try to find something about it that I do like. If there is absolutely nothing that I can find that I like, I create something. Basically, this is how I stay happy. Being happy lets me enjoy things more. Honestly, I think I'm here just to be a happy person.

Fear Reaction - Part 2

I believe that the best project from last week wasn't even really a project. When Colby began her presentation, she showed a funny video of Charlie Sheen. At first, I believed that she had actually made it until I realized the production value after a few seconds. I then thought that she just showed the video because she didn't have anything. After her video was done, I didn't know if there was going to be anything more or if that was going to be it. Turns out, there was a lot more. When Colby admitted to the classroom that she was a drug addict, I was shocked. She is always the quiet girl in the classes that I have had with her. I was even in a group with her last semester and I had no idea. I remember that she didn't contribute a lot to the group and she was fairly difficult to get a hold of. I think that I now have an explanation that I never thought I would have. I didn't know what to think of her presentation, and to be honest, I still don't. I do know, however, that it took her a lot of courage to do what she did and I respect her greatly for it. I hope that she overcomes her problems and I wish her the best. I believe that last week could be viewed as a great first step.

Fear Assignment - 127 Comics

127 Comics



(Hopefully a higher quality version will be up soon. This is shorter than what I showed in class.)


I was surprised at the reaction to my project. I thought that the majority of people seemed to like it. Even though I said that I expected people to be entertained on my blog, I didn't think that I would succeed in the final moments before the presentation. Even with my video freezing and skipping, the class still seemed to enjoy it. I think that the project could have been better than it turned out. Even with the video playing back perfectly, it still isn't the way I pictured it when I first started the project. To make this project better, I would have proper lighting, a cleaner set, and proper audio capturing. I think that the video could have been shot better as well. I think that it could have had more funny moments put in and I could have used some more practice to make the takes better. Even with all that said though, I'm very happy and appreciative of the reaction my project received.

Class Reaction

I expect the class to be entertained or amused in some way. I haven't finalized my project as of yet, but from what I've done so far, I expect a fairly positive reaction. I think that boredom is a possible response, but I'm hoping that my project is compelling enough to stop that from happening.

Bliss

For my bliss assignment, I decided to take a few hours out of my Sunday and do something that I love to do. What I did isn't as important as how it made me feel. I felt great while completing my bliss assignment, as I should have. I'm not sure how creative it made me feel, but it did feel great to take some time out of my day to do something that I like to do. I realized after I got done with my assignment, I felt much more relaxed than I normally do. I think that the feeling I had after I did my bliss assignment is something that I need to try to emulate whenever I have something creative to do. I feel that it is much easier to come up with ideas when I am relaxed and don't have a million things on my mind. I should have done my project immediately after my bliss assignment, but due to time constraints, I had to put it off for a while. When I did get around to doing my project, I had just woke up and saw my four-year-old nephew playing with the stuffed animal that I had brought home from school. I decided that this would be a great opportunity for the both of us to have some fun and complete some school work in the process. I sat down with my nephew on the floor, amongst a pile of his toys, and asked him if he wanted to play. Of course he did, so we began to give Dopey, the stuffed animal that was thrown at me, a personality. From the very beginning, Dopey was a bad guy in our story. My nephew, William, gave him a deep voice and proclaimed, "I'm going to get you, Batman!". I found this to relate to the video that we watched in class because my nephew had made a funny contradiction. Dopey is a dwarf that doesn't have much intelligence. He really isn't much of a threat at all. But when seeing that the stuffed animal was so much bigger that his other toys, he naturally made him a villain. Dopey turned into a Godzilla like creature attacking everything in his sight. We continued to play for a while, but the whole time, Dopey remained a villain. I'm glad I decided to play with my nephew for this project because he always had an idea of what he wanted to do and if he got bored with something, he quickly came up with a new idea or introduced a new toy. I think that was a good lesson for me. If something doesn't work, it's okay to throw it out and try again. It's also good to try a bunch of different things and see what sticks. Overall, I was happy with this project and will remember it for a while to come. My nephew also enjoyed it, which made it that much better. Here is a picture of him, post assignment.

Field Trip

At the beginning of class, we were informed that we would be taking a field trip up to the fourth floor of the building. We saw a lot of interesting stuff. I forgot what it is called already, but the 3d VR type room was pretty incredible. I'm surprised how much went into making it. I thought that it was cool that it could detect where the player was by using the floor and the glasses. We then saw the block tv that had super-high resolution. This thing was interesting but it didn't seem all that useful. Google maps was awesome on it though. We saw some more 3d while we were up there, but I can't honestly remember why. To be honest, I'm not all that interested in 3d but I thought that what he showed us was done well and served a purpose. All in all, it was a good field trip and I saw some interesting things. I was surprised to hear that some of the things we were shown were available for us to use. I'm not sure if I'll ever take advantage of it, but at least I have the option to.

Does It Add Up?

Inspiration>Idea>Concept>Trial>Refine>Product

I feel like this is a process that I have been following for a while. Actually, this is the process that I want every project to utilize, but sometimes, I either make it so I don't have the time or I'm not motivated enough to go through all of the steps. Most of the time though, I think that I follow something close to this.

The discussion in class was very interesting. I was surprised how many people agreed on the same basic process. For some reason, I expected the conversation to result in many different types of processes. Getting to the order we have now seemed to almost be common sense. As for the discussion of New Media = Target Audience and Art = Me, I think that it is a fairly agreeable statement. I don't think that most artists think about their target audience extensively. I think that they more or less do whatever they want and hopefully someone else likes it. With New Media, I believe that people have to consider their target audience to be successful. I think that one of the reasons that people in New Media worry more about their target audience is because the internet is such a big place. Of course, being in New Media doesn't necessarily mean that your work/project is going online but their is definitely a high percentage of it. Anyway, with an audience the size of everyone on the internet, you have to shoot for specific goals or your project might end up with no one interested. I think that when you are too general with your potential audience, many people will see it as generic.

Now, on to the actual project. My inspiration for the project was my little brother, Mark. I chose him because I felt like doing something with Photoshop or Illustrator and I found a picture on his computer that seemed like it would be fun to mess with. I started this project with Photoshop. Here are my first two ideas/concepts.


First, I took the photo and made it black and white and left color in the reflection on the glasses. I was fairly happy with this one, but I thought it wasn't enough to turn in and thought that I would try some other stuff.

The second try was just me kind of messing with my brother. I basically made him look like he was from Twilight. It's a funny image, but after I completed it, I wasn't really happy with it and just thought that it worked better as a joke. It was also fairly easy and was really just a matter of making things lighter and darker and a little blur.
Finally, I took the original photo into Illustrator and traced it out. This is my favorite version of the picture. I view the other two pictures as trial and refinement and this is definitely the product. This might not be the hardest thing to do, but it did take some time. I also think that it has the best look of everything I've done to the picture.

The process worked pretty well for me and I believe it helped me end up with an interesting final product. Without using the process, I'm sure that my results wouldn't have been as good. I believe that this was a pretty good exercise and I plan on using this method on future projects.

Class Response - 1/31/2011

Concepts and final products are obviously very closely related. A good concept is needed to achieve a good final product. A concept, to me, is something that can always be evolving. Until the project is finalized, I think it is good to explore many different options. The intended target audience is impacted mostly by the final project. The concept can also be used to drum up support for a final project. If you tell someone the concept, it could change their mind about the project a little, but the final project is what makes the main impression.

As for class this week, I enjoyed it. I thought that the projects that were shown had a lot of creativity behind them. I like Beth's idea of letting the students control the class. It does, however, get a little annoying when that leaves the class sitting there in silence. I do wish that she would sometime take control a little quicker in those dull moments. Besides that though, class seems to be progressing smoothly.

Breaking the Rules - Script Writing

The rule that I would like to discuss is proper script formatting. The format of script that I will be using is master-scene. When a script follows this format correctly, the script is usually easy to read and looks professional. The content of the script may be lacking in some way, but the format makes it look "correct". This is a format that everyone expects your script to be in if you are making something longer than a couple minutes with a narrative. The rules of a master-scene script are fairly odd and unusual if you aren't used to producing them. Character dialogue should be in the middle, actions are set to the left, and scene headings must be properly used. It really isn't hard with some practice, but I have seen quite a few scripts that are written without the guidelines in mind. The scripts written without using this format are usually confusing and strange to look at. They also look extremely unprofessional. I used an excerpt from a script that was written by me. This is me, breaking the rules of master-scene script formatting.

INT. BAR - LATER

Jim is sitting awkwardly at the bar. The music is loud and

Jim looks like he isn't having any fun at all. A cute girl

walks up to the bar right next to where he is sitting and

orders a drink. Jim stares at her for a moment, trying to

think of something to say. He starts to say something but

the girl walks away with her drink before he builds up the

nerve.

Jim looks fed up after this and grabs his coat and stands

up. As Jim is putting on his coat, a "hot" girl in her

early 20s stops him. She is clearly a party girl and acts

like one.

AMY

Where are you going off to?

JIM

(Befuddled)

I was actually just leaving.

AMY

Not before you buy me a drink, you

aren't.

JIM

S-s-sure.

Jim buys an expensive looking drink for her. Amy knocks back

the drink in one swig and slams her glass on the bar. After

she slams her glass down she grabs her purse and throws her

coat over her shoulder.

AMY

This place is just too loud. How

'bout we go back to your place and

hang out?

JIM

Uh, I don't know.

AMY

Oh come on, man. I'm not going to

hurt you. What's wrong with a

little fun?

Jim thinks it over for a second. He gets a determined look

on his face.

JIM

Sure, let's go.

CUT TO:

INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT

Jim and Amy walk into the apartment. Amy looks around at her

drab surroundings.

AMY

Man, this place sure is lonely. You

mind if I invite some friends of

mine over to put some life into

this joint?

JIM

(Unenthusiastically)

That sounds like it could be fun.

After doing that, it doesn't seem like much good can come from ignoring formatting rules of the master-scene script. In this instance, the rules just make everything easier for everyone. It might take a little effort to remember them, but I believe that they are worth it. I chose to do this because I have had to write quite a few scripts for various classes lately and many people can't remember how to write a script, even with it being explained to them multiple times. I think that this is a rule where nothing is really gained by breaking it.

Class Response - 1/24/2011

I had a really good time in class this week. I thought that the class had some fairly interesting ideas for the egg project. Beth began the class by proving a point to the class. She basically showed us that we are in control of the class and that she won't tell us what to do. This was an interesting concept to me because no other professor I have had behaves this way. It's very freeing to have a professor that has such a loose teaching style. We also had quite a large discussion on rules. A rule that kept me from doing what I wanted to do when I was younger was my curfew. On multiple occasions, I had to go home before I wanted to. This was usually not a problem, but if the clock hit 1:00 am, I was supposed to go home. When hanging out with friends that didn't have curfews, it was especially embarrassing. If I would have stayed out and disregarded my curfew, which I did a few times, I would have gotten in trouble. I was fine with this rule my first couple years of high school, but it mainly embarrassed me towards the end. That's when I thought I was old enough to stay out as long as I want and do whatever I want. I'm glad I followed this rule when looking back on it. I believe it helped to keep me in line.

What Do You See?

For my assignment, I chose the phrase, "a pokey walker." This intrigued me because I had no idea what a pokey walker was. The first thing that came to mind was an old person's walker covered in barb wire. I didn't know where to go with that, so I then thought of Walker Texas Ranger. I gave him some weapons in Photoshop and turned him into a pokey walker.

Attack of Eggimus Maximus!

It was a day like any other. The comic books were nestled safely in their boxes and everything was right with the world.

That is, until the incredibly evil Eggimus Maximus arrived!


Eggimus was dead set on claiming the comic books as his own. Luckily, a rag-tag group of heroes and the Batman gathered together to oppose this vile villain.

The heroes quickly surrounded Eggimus, hoping to take him out quickly and effortlessly.

Their hopes were promptly dashed when Eggimus Maximus hurled Indiana Jones and Chewbacca to their deaths!

This outraged Jonathan Frakes and the Doctor. Watching their friends fall to their demise made them want to destroy the repugnant egg creature only that much more! But, alas, Jonathan Frakes is just an actor. Eggimus tossed him off of the fortress of comics with ease.


Now it was the Doctor's turn. With his superior intellect, the Doctor was able to distract Eggimus by explaining how he manages to travel through time in a flying phone booth. The logic behind the Doctor's technology is enough to baffle even a talking egg.

The distraction proved to be a success and allowed Batman enough time to sneak up behind Eggimus!

The wicked wrongdoer was caught by surprise when Batman lifted him over his head. Luckily, Batman remembered to pack his collapsible over-sized bat-cup in his trusty utility belt!

Batman then proceeded to crack the crook in the cup! The Doctor normally hates violence, but he decided to let this one slide.

Eggimus was defeated once and for all. Batman and the Doctor stared at what was left behind of the terror that caused them so much trouble. Many were lost, but they won't be forgotten.

THE END

Class Response - 1/10/11

This is probably the first time that I've ever went in completely blind to a class. I had no idea what this class was about. I had heard that it was fun, creative and interesting, but little to nothing regarding anything specific. When I entered, however, I knew that I was in for something a little different. The first thing I saw was a room full of chairs that looked like they were straight out of Star Trek. After a few failed of attempts at taking the helm, I figured out how to sit down. From there, the most interesting first day of a college class was underway. I spent a long time trying to think of something interesting from my childhood. I think that is something that I need to think about more often. I have many fond memories from my childhood, at least I thought I did, but when I was asked to think of something I blanked. The only thing I could remember was playing with action figures and flipping through comic books. Compared to many of the other stories, mine was so mundane. After that, the "what is art" conversation was had. This has always been something that I don't know what to think about. My opinion on it varies depending what mood I'm in. Something can be complete shit one day, and then after looking at it again, I think it is art. Then, when watching the MUTO video, I kept thinking about how long that must have taken. Instead of admiring the unique nature of the video, I just thought about how much of a pain it must have been. I think that just comes from me being afraid to undertake something that requires a huge commitment. That is one of the first things that I feel I have to get over in order to do some truly great work. I really enjoyed the first day of class, and if this is a good indication of how class will function, I can't wait to go back.

Class Expectations

I am not really sure what to expect from this class and this is the only class that I have been comfortable with that feeling. Normally I am stressed out about what exactly is going to happen in class and the amount of work that goes along with it, but for this class, I am more intrigued than anything else. I expect that we will do some zany things along the way, but it seems that I am also going to learn what goes into creativity and how to better express mine. I am expecting a fun and relaxed atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to venture out of their comfort zones to do something different. Interesting class discussions and making new friends would also be nice. I expect to get a lot out of this class, even though I'm still not sure what it is really all about. In this class, however, I don't think that is a bad thing.