gerg kaufman

New Blog Location

2011-05-29T02:41:00.001-05:00

Hey kids! Good news and bad news. The Bad: I will no longer be posting to this blog web address. The Good: I will be now posting all of my new adventures to this address! www.gergwerk.com/blog

Thank you for your understanding, and hope to see you there!

Poor Kid in First Class

2011-03-14T17:56:00.012-05:00

I'm sitting at home one day and up pops an email about sending me to South Africa for a video shoot. “Pfffft, South Africa?” I say as I drag the email to the trash bin. After a day or two, I get another email from a production company in LA that has indeed confirmed that this is no joke. They proposed to send me to South Africa in order to have my work in a snippet for a promotional video. This begins the story of me being flown out to Cape Town, South Africa for a week.

Lets face it, the closest thing to I've ever been to first class is watching George Clooney in Up In the Air. Little did I know after boarding the plane that I wasn't just in first class, I was on the upper deck of a British Airways Boeing 747. An interesting story about this plane is that I have met the industrial designer for the famous seats I would be sliding my butt into. It may be described as having 72 inches of legroom with audio video on demand, inflight entertainment and AC power outlets.

source

Oh yeah, did I mention that the seat also slides down into a FREAKING BED?

source

As soon as I entered the plane, I was pampered like a fancy baby. As I sat down, an in flight stewardesses offered me a hot towel. Never being offered a hot towel before, I sat and observed the other passengers smother their faces and hands with this steamy delight. I started getting odd stares when they started noticing some punk ass kid staring blankly at them like a complete creeper. Next we were served our meals (what, we actually had a choice of what to eat?) My first meal was one of the best meals I've had in months. Something like... Steak tartar with mashed potatoes and greens. Soon everyone was off to sleep after indulging themselves with fine dining and drinks. Sitting there in the dark, on my fancy flat bed, the cabin was something reminiscent of a shuttle ticking it's way into space. Before I knew it, we had landed in London where I would await my next flight to Cape Town. Here is my documentation of the stop in London:

After another 10 hour flight to Cape Town, I was brought to the hotel I would be staying. After dropping my things off, I was able to get a quick tour of the area in and around Cape Town. The images explain in more detail than I ever could with writing, so just sit back and let your eye balls enjoy.

view from my window

View of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela stayed for many years

Table Mountain. The reason they call it Table Mountain is because when there are clouds in the sky, they move in a way that resembles a tablecloth waving in the wind. I although I did get to see the amazing effect, I didn't get my camera out because I was too busy picking up my jaw off the ground.

And now, some photos of the on site video shoot. I have taken the liberty of hiding people's faces so they cannot be identified.

What's that? Oh not much, just a cheetah walking through the lobby of the hotel.

I leave you with a sunrise in Frankfurt, Germany. Auf Wiedersehen!

CLICK SF

2010-10-10T04:06:00.000-05:00

This past week I was very fortunate to be invited by Brett Wickens of the Ammunition Group to attend the Click San Francisco conference. It was just what I needed - more exposure! I am also very proud that the Ammunition Group has asked me to help design (a quite badass) iPad application. I can't show you any details, but you'll hear all about it once it comes out.

At the conference, the setting was very intimate, so intimate in fact, that I ended up sitting next to Mattais Hanson, the CEO of a digital media training and immersion programme in Sweden called Hyper Island. He mentioned there were no ‘teachers’, no ‘grades’ and instead of working on one big assignment, the students attending do work with real clients for real life exposure. It made me reflect on my experiences at the KCAI and note the similarities and differences between the two programs. It's interesting to hear how other students go through different school curriculums.
Hyper Island in a Nutshell from Martin Bergén on Vimeo.

Dustin Callif and Jason Zada of Tool of North America gave an interesting talk about how they are thinking about interactive video for the iPad. They have recently come out with a bitchin’ iPad application (from what I've seen). "By touching, shaking and turning your iPad, you can navigate, unlock and reveal unexpected variations in each of these four “Touching Stories.” Shot by five different directors—and contained in one single app—these interactive, live-action, short stories evolve storytelling in ways that have never been done before on the iPad." - source Not to mention the app IS FREE (search “Touching Stories”). So if you find yourself with time and an ipad laying around, swing your sweet butt down to the apple store and download this app! Here is a little behind the scenes video to get your interests peaked.

I was also able to hear Stephen Clements of AKQA talk about their solution to head up the new Halo Reach “Remember Reach” Campaign (which is super caliente right now). They built an interactive space that “will let gamers manipulate a Kuka industrial robot to create a virtual monument to Spartan warriors in the run-up to Halo: Reach.” I'll just leave this here.

"Halo: Remember Reach" Behind the Scenes from Ashley Rodholm on Vimeo.

Another really nice guy I met was Vincent Morisset of AATOAA. He has done some really amazing things for Arcade Fire. His newest project with them, Synchronized Artwork, explores new ways to create and present visuals with digital albums. He also did the be oNline B interactive music video that won Gold Pencil award at the One Show.

I was able to listen and meet lots of other speakers such as Iain Tate of Wieden and Kennedy, Daniel Rhatigan of Monotype Imaging as well as some other great speakers on a panel that answered various questions.

These talks were great, but I was very excited by one in particular. Brett Wickens of the Ammunition Group included my work in his presentation. He didn't just mention my work. He didn't just show a slide of the final video. He played the ENTIRE THING. My heart was practically exploding out of my chest when the final credits ran. I am very grateful that Brett liked my project enough to share it with other people.

Flying Lotus + CASPA = yessssssss

2010-09-25T19:32:00.004-05:00

okay so I’ll be sharing more than just than that show. First we’ll start with the Global Dance Festival at the Red Rocks in Colorado.

Dubstep sucka - Rusko

Rusko // Red Rocks from gerg kaufman on Vimeo.

Deadmau5 had the best light show I think I’ve ever seen.

deadmau5 // Red Rocks from gerg kaufman on Vimeo.

I mean, just look at these clips from MiLyfestyle on youtube.

Such a great show.
-------

These next couple come from the party at the Mezzanine in SF (09.24.2010).
Flying Lotus and CASPA, who could have seen a better combo?

the world’s friendliest ghost. (caspa) Opening his set right after a fantastic performance by DJ Centipede.

CASPA from gerg kaufman on Vimeo.

Caspa dropping “The Others - Gravity”

the switchover. Caspa > Flying Lotus

and of course, last but not least, Flying Lotus.

Oakland Museum of California

2010-09-18T01:34:00.000-05:00

opening party for The Marvelous Museum exhibition in Oakland. Most of the items are works from the museums collection: part science, history and art — exhibition by Mark Dion.

LAYBOR DAY (and other events before that)

2010-09-09T03:16:00.003-05:00

time for a little exploring and photographing.

is that a cemetery next to a clown motel? why yes, yes it is.

sf moma

Down at the Art Murmur in Oakland: excellent piece by Esther Traugot with hanging wasps

Edmund Wyss painting

multi touch light table

2010-07-29T12:51:00.001-05:00

initial sketches

paper prototypes for scale and arrangement purposes

instruments change shape depending on what hand gestures you use. the tools evolve with the dj.

because each dj has a different method of playing music, each shape is unique to him or her. their table becomes personal.

stills from the video

here is the final video:

Multi Touch Light Table: GERGWERK from GERG WERK on Vimeo.

2010-07-27T01:02:00.000-05:00

There ain't no party like a west coast party cuz' a west coast party don't stop.

MOTHERS DAY

2010-05-09T11:08:00.001-05:00

happy mothers day! hope you have a kick-butt day!

Old memories...

2010-04-23T09:56:00.004-05:00

some shots of the past.

Something's creepin’....

2010-04-04T15:26:00.001-05:00

and movin’.

SENIOR SHOOTOUT (pow pow)

2010-03-25T21:10:00.007-05:00

as students our goal was to come up with an idea for our final senior show at the end of the year.

when thinking about a brandmark, i wanted it to be dynamic. considering i was thinking we are segmenting the rooms into different kinds of design, I assigned a color to each category. (print/packaging/motion/web - showcase all of our talents as a group)

in order to get the 25 students involved in the design, each student will create their own composition/mark/icon. based on the work they have in their portfolio or perhaps what kind of work they want to do when they graduate, each mark is a denotation for each student based on the color and scale of each shape in their composition. this way each student has a personal mark while remaining in the system. they have a sense of individuality of the group.

this is the catalogue cover. it combines a brand mark, title, place, time etc. on the back would be a grid of 25 individual brandmarks, one for each student. because the marks use the same colors, it still registers as a complete system. this also gives a second level of information about the student before seeing any of their work: example : Ian's mark has a lot of tan, so he must do a lot of web design.

this is the index of the web site. there is a left column with each students name. if you click on their name, it shows one representative piece of their portfolio or degree project. these will only be a sample. we don’t want to give everything away on the site.

users are also able to sort through categories (web/print/3d/motion) by clicking on the color. if you click on 3d work, small samples of the 3d work will appear in a grid on screen. each category also has a roll over sound to add yet another point of dimensionality to the system.

..................................................................................................
congrats josh and morgan for their winning entry un-think!

Mid Semester Degree Project Summation

2010-03-08T20:48:00.002-06:00

it's difficult for a traveling dj to keep track of all of his/her equipment. that's why for my senior degree project i want to propose the idea of installing large-scale, multi-touch light tables in clubs around the globe. Digital has its obvious advantages (storage, on the fly set up, easy accessible), but the problem is it doesn't look as cool as a analogue dj setup. another problem is if there are no buttons or knobs, the dj will have to look down at the screen the whole time to make sure he knows what he's doing. this is a big disconnect because he loses the needed interaction with the crowd if he's got his head buried into the table.

it would be too easy to apply already excising digital mixing software to the touchscreen, (traktor, virtual dj, etc) but lets face it, it sucks trying to turn a representation of a knob on a flat surface. my solution is a set of hand gestures that can be used to a large area on the screen to effect the parameters of a music, just like a traditional turntable and mixer. depending on the gesture, you're able to control the tempo, cue points, loop, scratch, eq's, and effects. Now the dj can interact/see the crowd and change the music parameters without having to look down (plus it looks freaking cool). each dj uses a different set of tools when they play a live show. some use turntables, some use synths. my goal is to have the light table access all equipment that's used in the analogue world (turntable, mixer, drum pads/mpc, 64 key monome, synthesizer, and effects processor).

for the rest of the semester, i will create a storyboard, film with green screen, and create motion graphics and combine all of these techniques into a video that showcases how this light table kicks ass over analogue dj equipment.

SPACIAL EXP: down at the car show

2010-03-08T18:38:00.007-06:00

documenting a wonderful car show experience:

PRACTICAL

fuel efficiency is practical for the environment and good to know when looking for a car.

signage is another practical application.

PERSUASIVE

as soon as i walked in, there were a row of women that greeted me and asked me to come talk to them.

i saw these two guys checking out the engine of this huge truck. this could persuade someone if they were looking for power.

i noticed the car salesman was wearing a his matching tie trying to sell this red Mercedes.

POETIC

this old volvo was fixed up and lookin' goooood.

and this is made of pure awesome.

NAWWW, I AIN'T DEAD...

2010-03-01T21:09:00.006-06:00

i'm just taking a vacation...

and when i say vacation, i mean buried up to my neck in ~~sand~~ work.

work soon to come all you impatient bloogers.

DP: planned research experiments

2010-01-27T14:05:00.005-06:00

experiments (rapid prototyping)

• design the different types of instruments the dj's will interact with
• film hands on green screen interacting with graphics (figure out best way to integrate video of hands with after effects graphics)
• think about how hand motions may call up different functions or menu's
• practice how graphics move in after effects
• shoot different points of view of touch screen and dj interacting with it
• create story board for different scenarios show off the functionality
• create different aesthetic effects, glows, colors to instruments
• film action and produce possible graphics that correspond with that action

DP: questions and considerations

2010-01-26T12:20:00.024-06:00

We were asked to pair with a partner and describe our degree project proposals to one another. Our partner then came up with a question that we should answer by the end of the semester.

“How can a Dj's interactions with graphic systems work to expand upon the entertainment of club goers?”
(question formed by partner michael may)

MY IDEAL CAREER–

would be a place that shared similar philosophies about work ethics; a place that knew how to get their hands dirty working, and went out afterwords to celebrate their accomplishments. We are not a single track society anymore. These minds would be able to have fun problem solving their way through video, motion graphics, sound, print, web, social and anything else that comes their way. I prefer a smaller office in which everyone was very open and accepting to new ideas and processes. I would like the office to have a comfortable working facility with natural lighting.

Personally I would like to work on a team to produce and edit videos; then design the packaging, poster, tshirts, web layout and other misc. artifacts that contribute to complete a system. I believe people (parts) have their own unique strengths that make the system (the team) complete. I love the idea of integrating motion graphics with film and sound. I'm also interested in user experience and how design may enhance the rituals of listening to the music. we become very attached to our music. you choose a very specific kind of music to listen to while you're performing different tasks or in certain situations. In the event of having no music, you become the rhythm and the sound with whatever task you're completing.

my ideal co workers would motivate and encourage me to dabble in photography, film, editing, sound, illustration, writing, layout design (print and web), kick ass, and participate in corn dog eating contests every other friday at the office.

MX: project two final

2009-12-03T23:50:00.005-06:00

alas, working wire frame website.

you can view the image, or better yet, click for live site! gergwerk.com

when thinking of the design for my site, I wanted the navigation minimal, very easy to understand, and be accessible at all times. the focus should be about my work, my achievements and information, not ornate elements that take away, or distract, from the them. one thing i am going to work on immediately is centering the content as apposed to having everything reside on the left side of the screen. during the process of making this site, i am most proud to remember how to build css document, and attach actionscript 3.0 to smoothly scroll through the images. i built this all myself! i had some help to figure out the scrolling images, thanks to josh, ian and michael dead man may. i struggled most with considering what i am capable of producing, and what i originally had planned the website functioning (keyboard functions that would toggle on and off navigation and flip through content). im not exactly sure what i learned through the process. it takes me a while to reflect upon experiences to pull out what i really learned...but if i had to say what i learned, it's that everyone has their own way of building these things (websites through css and actionscript). nobody is wrong for building it differently, just find out what works best for you and use it to the best of your capability. apply what you know to anything, even if what you know is just a little.

Design Coding

2009-11-29T15:47:00.002-06:00

one of the most influential design coding rappers to dayte. foo.

VA: shake yo' booties (Work It!)

2009-11-23T22:01:00.015-06:00

here's the skinny, if you will. america is the meatiest country in the world (couldn't imagine why). to put it nicely, we got as much junk in the trunk as a 1938 Buick Special 8. Heart related issues are leading cause of death, killing over 652,468 (27.7%) of North Americans. Half of the top ten leading causes of death are associated with an inactive lifestyle. (Any) exercising can greatly reduce health problems and help improve well being.

Now, I'm not going to spend hours of my time picking out songs for you to exercise with. That's why I've created Work It!—a prototype music database so people can create their own playlists. your peronalized jams will keep your heart pumpin' through whatever exercise routine you prefer. *disclaimer* you don't need to go to the gym to exercise. If you want to jog down the street in high heals and white leotards listening and imitating your favorite new lady gaga video, i can't be too displeased because at least you're doing something active. (but seriously. no leotards) the point is, whatever music you decide to exercise with will encourage you to keep doing it week after week.

the iphone application allows you to access your playlists on the go. the application also tracks your body mass index, calorie count, step count and heart beats per minute. what's that, not keeping up with recommended beats per minute? no? how about sending your heart on overdrive for an extended amount of time? the background color changes blood red as a voice notifies you maintain a healthy bpm rate.

you might be saying,“yeah, i guess that's cool greg. but how are people going to find out about Work It!?” large stickers will be placed on soda and vending machines reminding you of your unhealthy habits. going to eat that bag of cheetos? no problem, walk around the building four times while you're doing it.

detail
“a person that weighs 160 lbs expends 4.5 calories per minute while exercising.”

now get out there and Work It!

MX: “the screen and the body” part IV

2009-11-21T18:55:00.025-06:00

response to pp 103-115 the screen and the body

new concepts learned in the passage:
p 104.
“the body must be fixed in space if the viewer is to see the image at all. from renaissance monocular perspective to modern cinema, from kelpler's camera obscura to nineteenth-century camera lucida, the body has to remain still.”
to really view an image, the user must be still. if someone is moving, they might catch a glimpse of the image

p 106.
“in one of the earliest depictions of the camera obscura (dark chamber), we see the subject enjoying the image inside a tiny room, oblivious to the fact that he has had to imprison himself inside this 'dark chamber' in order to see the image on the screen.”
a majority of the pages talk about how user is trapped by the devices she uses. in early photography, portrait shots took minutes to expose. Photographers used ‘various iron clamps, reminiscent of torture instruments, to hold the subject in place...a voluntary prisoner of the machine in order to see her own image’. in cinema, viewers sit in a dark room, face forward and cannot talk to enjoy the experience. we are restricted my sitting down and facing forward. you are not completely contained—you could walk out of the theater and miss the rest of the film. Virtual reality devices continue immobility by ‘fastening the body to a machine, while at the same time it creates an unprecedented new condition by requiring the viewer to move.’ it's a very interesting contradiction. using virtual reality in order to have 'user experience', they must hook themselves to a machine, limiting mobility. in the device, the user is able to control camera angle and move through space as if they were walking. this, the most constricting device, allows for most user control in the experience. when designing websites, we as designers need to understand who our audience is and what kind of experience we are allowing them to have. a more exploratory site allows for more user freedom and should perhaps be more experimental with navigation or aesthetic. the opposite is said for a site where people know what information they are looking for. when reading a book, we think of the experience as linear, the author has control in pacing. in actuality, the reader is completely free to flip through pages, spend as much time on any page (pacing) or decide if they want to finish the story. On the other hand, film/motion prevents users from controlling these things because each scene and its pacing are already created for the user to sit back and reflect upon.

technology both hinders and facilitates freedom at the same time. although we sit at a desk in a particular room to use a computer, we are able to explore much more information quickly, as opposed to physically walking around in a library to search for specific books. In class, I'm able to sit at my desk and get the same, if not more, information from the internet than if i was walking through a library sifting through many books. although we are restricted by sitting at a table, the possibilities of communication can be as much or greater than 'real life'. As a user, I am also able to stay in contact with people over long distances much easier with the aid of technology. not only are we being restricted by computer screens, but now smaller electronic devices such as mp3 players and cell phones. to contradict an above sentences, i am able to connect with users far away, but this makes me neglect the people around me. take for example, bus riders. they sit next to one another, but usually spend the bus ride home on their cell phones talking to others that aren't there, or playing music on headphones that tune everyone around them out completely. perhaps we should choose a time and a place to use electronics for the advantages at the appropriate time. when someone is sitting next to you, why not talk to them? if you're sitting home alone, that might be a more appropriate time to converse with someone on the computer or phone.

because of cell phones, we are able to 'be in touch' and always 'plugged in'. it's a good thing if i need someone right away, i know how to get in touch with them. on the other hand, if these technologies make it more difficult to enjoy a nice vacation. when i went on vacations with my family, my dad would always have to take calls from work. this didn't allow him to relax, like he should of been on his time off. even these small gadgets restrict us.

MX: "the language of new media" part III

2009-11-19T00:14:00.014-06:00

response to pp 94-103 the screen and the user, a screens' genealogy

p 94. “a computer monitor connected to a network becomes a window through which we can enter places thousands of miles away. with the help of a mouse or a video camera, a computer can be transformed into an intelligent being capable of engaging us in dialogue...coupled with the computer, the screen is rapidly becoming the main means of accessing any kind of information, be it still images, moving images, or text. we are already using it to read the daily newspaper; to watch movies; to communicate with co-wrkers, relatives, and friends; and, most important, to work. we may debate whether our society is a society of spectacle or of simulation, but, undoubtedly, it is a society of a screen.”
no matter where i look, i'm confronted with a screen. cell phones, computers, car screens, electronic billboards, televisions, mp3 players, hand-held gaming devices, in grocery store isles, menus, and air port flight screens to name a few. I don't think i've grown up without a screen ever. I remember having a dos laptop i could play wheel of fortune on. i sometimes won a boat.

p 96.“although the screen in reality is only a window of limited dimensions positioned inside the physical space of the viewer, the viewer is expected to concentrate completely on what she sees in this window, focusing her attention on the representation and disregarding the physical space outside. this viewing regime is made possible by the fact that the singular image, whether a painting, movie screen, or television screen, completely fills the screen. this is why we are so annoyed in a movie theater when the projected image does not precisely coincide with the screen's boundaries: it disrupts the illusion, making us conscious of what exists outside the representation.”
futuristic films and gui prototypes (like the microsoft sustainability video) show the content being accessed from all sorts of surfaces. i'm not exactly sure if they intend to make every surface a screen, but it's interesting to be able to move content from a monitor to a table top by motion of dragging. i believe that's why movie theaters are completely dark, to minimize the area around the screen, so the user is able to have complete focus on the film. if someone's cell phone rings, or we can see the cell phone illuminating, both our auditory and visual senses are pulled out of the ‘picture window’. so turn of your damn cell phones during a movie!

p 97. “no single window completely dominates the viewer's attention. in this sense, the possibility of simultaneously observing a few images that co-exist within one screen can be compared with the phenomenon of zapping—the quick switching of television channels that allows the viewer to follow more than one program. in both instances, the viewer no longer concentrates on a single image.”
this is evident within my studio all the time. i walk by and see students working in photoshop, have their emails open and are watching a dvd, all at the same time. other students use the ‘spaces’ function, which allows them to toggle between screens on their computer. even when i have my internet browser open, i constantly switch between tabs and screens while other pages are loading. i guess my generation sure hates to wait.

p 98. “in 1882, unmanned photo balloons were already in the air; a little later, they were joined by photo rockets both in France and in Germany.”
interesting photography was used for such tasks!

p 99. “with radar, we see for the first time the mass employment (television is founded on the same principle but its mass employment comes later) of a fundamentally new type of screen, a screen that gradually comes to dominate modern visual culture—video monitor, computer screen, instrument display. what is new about such a screen is that its image can change in real time, reflecting changes in the referent, whether the position of an object in space (radar), any alteration in visible reality (live video) or changing data in computers memory (computer screen). What this means is that the image, in a traditional sense, no longer exists!”
i found this the most interesting tid-bit in the reading. i knew computers were being developed around the 50's and 60's, but i never applied the notion that radar was the first screen based object! niiiiiice. i then ask myself the question, “Are most technologies a product of fear/war?” history of internet.

desperate times call for desperate measures.

MX: design wireframes

2009-11-16T01:10:00.008-06:00

sketches, foo.

1.

2.

3.

4.

the problem i am facing deals with legibility between navigation and full size images. if i use a white box to place behind the nav but in front of the image, you loose a bit of the image. if i don't, i loose the navigation if my image has a black background. it's also hard to find images that are sized 1024 x 768 exactly. back to ze drawing boards.

VA: design ignites change (revised)

2009-11-15T23:45:00.004-06:00

project title: Work It

project description: America is the fattest country in the world. Heart related issues are leading cause of death, killing over 652,468 (27.7%) of North Americans. Half of the top ten leading causes of death are associated with inactive lifestyles. Exercising can greatly reduce health issues and help improve well being. People of all ages have trouble finding the time to exercise. By providing a music database, people become a dj by adding work out tunes to self-created playlists. the goal is to provide new motivational music for people to exercise to. the tool will also help set goals and track your progress as the music motivates people to be active.

MX: the interface, part I & II

2009-11-13T22:07:00.019-06:00

PART I of the Interface, I found it hard to comprehend a lot of the writing because of the vocabulary they were using. i was able to find some very interesting ideas later in the reading.

p 65. “hierarchical file system assumes that the world can be organized in logical multilevel hierarchy. in contrast, a hypertext model of the world wide web arranges the world as a nonhierarchical system ruled by metonymy. the interface brings with it strong messages of its own. (cut and paste operation)”. p 77. “its more accurate to think of the new media culture as an infinite flat surface where individual texts are placed in no particular order. this implies a lack of hierarchy.”
this concept seems overlooked in all my years at the art institute. as designers we strive to create a visual hierarchy in any media we work in. The graphic user interface we encounter in the operating systems of our computer uses a great designed (mac at least) hierarchy structure to house our folders. On the other hand, the internet is in no way based on any hierarchical structure, but rather a free flowing entity of ideas and thoughts that can be called upon at any hour of the day. we as users make these topics more important to us based on what we look at on a normal basis. the funny thing to me is, in this non-hierarchical digital space, each page we look at (based on our own interests) is designed with hierarchy in mind. it would be very difficult to navigate through lets say, a news website (cnn), if it weren't for the hierarchy used within the site itself. although someone might stumble onto my portfolio website in a 'non-hierarchical' way, the website that i have structured is indeed, designed with hierarchy in mind—for the user.

p 66. “the user performs all sorts of activities (trading stocks, searching the web, analyzing data, playing computer games) only using the same few tools and commands: a computer screen, a mouse, a web browser, a search engine, cut, paste, copy delete, and find commands.”
i sometimes think of this idea when i look at the vast amount of different things my friends all do with computers. it's a tool that we all use differently. in desgin class, we use it as a tool for creating our ideas. friends from home use the computer to play video games and store music to play at parties. the computer is now used as device for the dj to store and play up to 50 times the normal songs they could bring to a party using vinyl records. it's all according to context. each person uses the computer for their own personal reasons.

and something later in the article made me realize the computer is not just a tool for the things i mentioned above.

p 69. “by the end of the decade, as internet use became commonplace, the computer's public image was no longer solely that of a tool but also a universal media machine, which could be used not only to author, but also store, distribute and access all media.”
people are able to access information worldwide, and save the things they are interested in to create their own 'morgue'. we are also able to store ideas (word documents) and music onto our computers. we can then later call upon these files to refresh and distribute the ideas to other users or for personal contemplation or enjoyment. the things we collect might only seem like a folder of ‘cool stuff’, but are we really documenting and creating the culture of our times? based on the content i have saved in the past, and what i am currently saving, you can see a difference of information and stylization i chose to keep. this shows my documentation and evolution of culture through my eyes.

PART II

p 78. “the printed word tradition that initially dominated the language of cultural interfaces is becoming less important, while the part played by cinematic elements is becoming progressively stronger. this is consistent with a general trend in modern society toward presenting more and more information in the form of time-based audiovisual moving image sequences, rather than as text. as new generations of both computer users and computer designers grow up in a media rich environment dominated by television rather than printed texts, is not surprising that they favor cinematic language over the language of print.”
although films have been a famous past time for america and other parts of the world, my generation has always grown up with television and computers. i tend to think we are able to pack in more information and ideas into a time based event and let the viewer sit back and ponder these messages in a shorter time, as apposed to taking a large amount of time reading the same ideas in books. what happens when someone like myself is a slow reader? this kind of 'entertainment' can become very informative. i think images can transcend easier across language barriers as apposed to text as well. this is why there are icon systems being used for worldwide hubs (airports/olympics etc)

“p 80.
another feature of cinematic perception that persists in cultural interfaces is a rectangular framing of represented reality. cinema itself inherited this framing form western painting. since the renaissance, the frame has been acted as a window onto a larger space that is assumed to extend beyond the frame...p81. just as a rectangular frame in painting and photography presents a part of a larger space outside it, a window in HCI presents a partial view of a larger document. but if in painting (and later photography), the framing chosen by an artist is final, computer interface benefits from a new invention introduced by cinema—the mobility of the frame. ...a computer user can scroll through a window's contents.
p 83.
in video games, there are even cinematic cut scenes to set mood, establish a setting and introduce the narrative.
p84. this switch also made virtual words more cinematic, as characters could better visually integrated with their environments...the user can continuously adjust the position of the camera.”

new idea of cinema is now virtual reality games that users are able to explore within themselves, creating their own viewpoints and cinematic scenes through game-play. this further expresses the idea of the user vs. creator. the creator allows as much freedom as he/she wants for the user to participate in. depending on context and audience, sometimes the user is almost in complete control, within the restrictions of the creators code.

by using conventions of film from the 20th century, artists are able to create new worlds that users interact with. more and more emphasis is being placed on user interaction, as opposed to creating a semi-linear experience. as designers creating websites, there is a time and place to switch between a linear and non linear based interactions. those moments are decided when A. a user is able to go to any part of the website (nonlinear) and B. a user watches the order of images that I, as the artist, have placed in a particular spot on a timeline.

pg 90.
“a screen combines two distinct pictorial conventions—the older western tradition of pictorial illusionism in which a screen functions as a window into a virtual space, something for the viewer to look into but not act upon; and the more recent convention of graphical human-computer interfaces that devices the computer screen into a set of controls with clearly delineated functions, thereby essentially treating it as a virtual instrument panel. now it becomes a different number of definitions-opaqueness and transparency, image as illusionary space and image as instrument for action.”
picture plane vs picture window also exists within print media, not just the screen. paintings and photographs use transparency and opaqueness to look past the picture plane into the 'window' of the illusion of a greater space. anything that might be on the lens (a piece of dust) that was printed in the photo can pull you out of the window and make you look at the picture plane. a caption under the photograph or painting can also pull you out of the greater space (picture window). letting the user choose camera angle to explore the greater space not seen within a still painting or photograph is a great benefit how the screen functions as new convention.

one of the more interesting things I read:
pg 91.
consistency principle- dictates that menus, icons, dialogue boxes and other interface elements should be the same in different applications...in contrast, modern culture stresses originality: every cultural object is supposed to be different from the rest, and if it is quoting other objects, these quotes have to be defined as such. cultural interfaces try to accommodate both the demand for consistency and the demand for originality.”
this is very true for what we do in class. how different can we be but still use normal conventions not to confuse the user? as designers, we also have to decide when it is appropriate to use new conventions and when to use old ones. if the purpose of the site is to explore, perhaps using new methods and naming conventions would be ok. if we as designers are creating a site in which people know what they want, it's best to use normal conventions to make their search easier.

I will leave you with two great quotes from the end of the passage.

pg 93.
“it is one thing to use a computer to control weapons or analyze statistical data, it is another to use it to represent cultural memories, values, and experiences. ”

p 93.“we are witnessing the emergence of a new cultural metalanguage, something that will be at least as significant as the printed word and cinema before it.”