Blog Post 1 - Stage 1 - Initial Ideas

This is the first post of this project log, and arguably the most important entry of the entire project log due to being the base from which the project will take. At this very early stage of the assessment it is very important to try to think of some initial ideas from which I can work on to hopefully come to the right decision.

Whenever starting a new project whereby one can choose the route, direction and theme of the project I often feel that it's important that the chosen subject should be based around a subject or subjects that you enjoy - this is because it's well regarded that if you are working with something you enjoy and are passionate about then in theory you do end up with a better result.

So, with this in mind, the initial ideas that I have thought of are below:

Initial Ideas Mind Map

Although I am an undergraduate student who is living in the 21st century, I must admit to rather liking the era that is the 1980s. Personally, there are two elements that I really like (and probably even prefer to modern day); the cars; the music. Quite an unusual statement to hear nowadays I would admit however being a Classic Car enthusiast and being involved with numerous Cars and Classic Cars the saying of "they just don't make them like they used to" certainly comes to mind! 

As mentioned, I'm certainly a Classic Car enthusiast (certified petrolhead, if you'd like) and also being a big fan of 1980s music has made me think of a possible route that I could take in regards to this project. With that information in mind and referring back to the introductory specification of creating a video game or DVD Movie, at this early stage of the project I certainly feel like I will be edging towards the DVD Movie. I must also admit to not being much of a video gamer, which is visible in the introductory mind map situated above.

The Cast of "Ashes to Ashes", with the fabled Audi Quattro

Thinking about the possibility of a movie that could be created, and trying to think of a subject that nicely ties in the two aforementioned subjects of the cars and the music of the 1980s, I remembered the TV show "Ashes to Ashes". This police drama series was the sequel to the previous series called "Life on Mars". The series tells the story of a policewoman, Alex Drake, who in the year 2008 was unexpectedly shot and inexplicably regained consciousness in 1981. This was similar to the previously aired series Life On Mars whereby a policeman, Sam Tyler, was hit by a car in 2006, awakens in 1973 and finds himself working for the same police station however 33 years earlier. Back to Ashes to Ashes, this series was set in the 80s, so is in my preferred era, features some fantastic music hits of the 80s and also a wonderful range of 80s cars. Certainly since the series has been aired, an Audi Quattro finished in Mars Red is quite the holy grail and become a cult item with prices rising dramatically.

Therefore at this point of the initial ideas blog post, I would say that using the TV series of Ashes to Ashes could be a good base to use for my project. Futher in depth information and research will obviously need to be carried out, however that will be for another post.

References:

Mind Map Creation Tool - Bubbl.us - Link - Last accessed 5th February 2014.

"The Cast of "Ashes to Ashes", with the fabled Audi Quattro" - Link - Last Accessed 5th February 2014.

Introduction

For the second assessment of the Digital Imaging Software module, it is necessary to compile a project logbook in the form of an online blog to document the progress over time. Below is the situation brief which specifies the necessary elements to include when compiling this project logbook.

Assessment 2 (40% of Module Grade)

Assessment 2 consists of a project logbook detailing how you achieved the work. This logbook should go into considerable technical detail (“I did this, I did that…” is not enough) of the principles used and the reasons for the technical decisions you have made.

The following statement is a good example of what is expected: “I decided to create the overlapping text effect by placing text on different layers, because it would be easy to adjust the arrangement later without retyping all the text”.

The logbook will show your complete project design process through images, annotations, sketches, notes, references, etc. It will also act as a design log where you record:

• What you are doing for each stage of the project.
• What works and what doesn’t.
• Why you have made decision x etc.

You should consider the logbook not only as a record of the actions you have taken, but an ongoing evaluation of your progress. You should also ensure that you also consider:

• The success of your final designs in terms of what works and what doesn’t.
• What you would do differently next time.
• What you would spend more or less time on next time, etc.

You should work on this as you go. It is impossible to write this up after the fact because you would miss a huge amount of detail. The log book should take the form of an online blog.