My two animated Christmas Cards

Title says it all folks.

Banner for wilander

How to Creep Someone Out

The title says it all folks.

Late For Class

Today we worked on storyboarding and shooting a video.  Mine is titled "Late Again, Shane?"



and the link to it



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPuT64IpUE

Remembrance day

It is almost Remembrance day, and it is time for us to look at why we have Remembrance day, and what it means.

Remembrance day is celebrated by nearly all the Commonwealth countries, and is held on November 11th.
The event is held on November 11th because the majority of the violence in World War I was resolved on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918.  This day is for everyone to remember why we are free, and all of the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I will observe Remembrance day by watching the Global News coverage, and I have proudly been wearing my Poppy for over a week.

The wearing of Poppies is a symbol to show your respect for the passed soldiers.  It is a Poppy because the burial ground for a majority of the soldiers, Flanders Field, has poppies growing in abundance.

Colonel Geoff Parker

Age: 42
Hometown: Oakville, Ont.
Unit: Land Forces Central Area Headquarters
Deceased: May 18, 2010
Incident: Suicide bomber, Kabul, Afghanistan

SFU Surrey

I went to the SFU Surrey Campus on Wednesday, November 3, 2010.

I chose this school because it was one of the two options that offered Engineering classes. 

Entrance into the programme that I want requires at least a 75% GPA, English 11, Language 11, Science 11, Principles of Math 11, English 12, Principles of Math 12, Chemistry 12, and Physics 12.

It would take about 4 years to get my Bachelors Degree in Engineering, and up to another six for a Masters/ Doctorate.

I might be able to get jobs in the engineering field, such as an aerospace engineer.

It might be possible for me to get Student Loans, and there are two Scholarships in place for me already.

I was most surprised about the size of the school, the fact it is on top of a mall, and that I’ve been there several times and not noticed the giant SFU sign.

http://www.surrey.sfu.ca/ has all sorts of information on classes, requirements and general life at SFU Surrey campus.

The most important part of the day for me was learning that they include aerospace engineering programs, and are not too far away.

The Campus itself was beautiful, but only a mere hour of my entire day was spent there.  The rest of the time I was waiting for the bus, and walking around the mall underneath the school.

Photography Resources

I found some useful sites to help improve my photography skills.  Below are their links.

http://www.prosphotos.com/

http://tlc.ousd.k12.ca.us/~acody/digi1.html

http://42explore.com/photog.htm

Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated every year on October 31^st.  It started as the Celtic “Samhain” festival.  Samhain roughly means “summer’s end”, also sometimes celebrated as Celtic New Year.  The Celts believed that the border between the spirit world and ours wore thin on Samhain, allowing spirits, both evil and harmless, to pass through.  Most would disguise themselves in costumes and masks so that the spirits would see them as spirits as well, and not harm them.  Jack o lanterns also were used to the same effect, but made of hollowed out turnips for the ancient Celts. 

Modern Halloween includes themes of death, monsters, evil and magic.  Jack o lanterns are made of pumpkins and places near the front door with comical or scary faces.  Many people of all ages like to dress up in costumes of pop culture figures, animals, monsters and the like.  Some Halloween games include bobbing for apples, playing practical jokes on the neighbourhood, telling stories and attempting to communicate with spirits. 

With a little makeup, anyone can look like a zombie.

A green skull shaped fog machine.

My Jack O Lantern... Made in the image of the average truck driver.

A witch tearing off her own head next to her cauldron.

Lastly, a skull shaped Jack O Lantern.

Metal Casting

Last week Mr. Wilander's class did some silver casting. 

First, silver pellets are                      
placed into the spinner




Then the pellets are heated with a flame until the silver is molten.

Then they allow the spinner to spin, therefor pushing the silver into the cast.

Then the silver cast is removed from the spinner, and shaken in a bucket of water.

Once cooled and removed from the cast, the silver ring only needs to be polished up.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Canada originally started as a celebration of the successful harvest season, to be held on the second Monday of October.  My family, like most families, celebrates Thanksgiving by having an enormous family dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and so on.  I personally see Thanksgiving as an excuse to get together with the family, and spend some quality time together over a fantastic dinner. 

The recipe for stuffing that my Grandmother uses has been passed down in the family, and now you can have it too! ;

You need to have 5 cups of mashed potatoes at the ready, cooked, then fry 8 strips of bacon.

Next, fry ¾ cups of Chopped Onion and ¾ cups of Chopped Celery together in the bacon grease.

Drain the Onions and Celery,  then chop the bacon.

Add this mixture into the mashed potatoes, add three eggs, and whip it all together.

Add three to four teaspoons of Poultry Spice, one cup of diced onions (raw), a teaspoon of pepper, and mix all together.

Next, simply stuff the stuffing into the turkey and cook.

Here is a picture of Pumpkin Pie and Coconut Cream pie before whipped cream, then a picture of them both with whipped cream, and Lemon Merangue pie.

Digital Manipulation of Photographs

Today we were messing around with the special effects in photoshop, and I got some very interesting results.

First, I took my hallway picture from my last post.  I used the glowing edges effect, and voila, a psychadelic picture.

Then, I took my courtyard picture and adjucted the colors, and put an effect on it similar to plastic wrap.

Lastly, my parking lot/ baseball diamond picture, I used "Liquefy" to melt the picture around until I got an image that was interesting.

Different Lighting Conditions

All of these pictures were taken in different lighting conditions, and with a little photoshop I was able to clean them up nicely.

First is a picture taken from the floor of our school's math wing, darkened with accentuation on the shadows\

Next, the courtyard, with additional saturation and darkness in the midtones.

A look at the baseball diamond and the community center from across the parking lot, I took away some of the light.

And, of course, the iconic Totem Pole.  Fixed the glare, and made the color more dramatic.

Lastly, a photo from just outside the school, with some extreme editing into both light and shadow.

Mario animation

Just a simple .gif animation I made from a Mario Sprite sheet found on Google.ca

The Terry Fox Run

Today, on September 25th, 2010 was our Terry Fox run.  We began by all huddling in to the gym to hear a speech from Mr Stewart, and Ms Sutton about Terry Fox and cancer research. 

Then we were all herded out the doors for the near ceremonial Terry Fox run.  Hundreds of students gathered on the track, ready to run for cancer.

It was a tough run, but we all were able to find the energy to push to the finish line.

I also caught up with a Teacher to discuss the meaning of the Terry Fox run.

Q1: Hi.  I am on an assignment for Digital Media, may I interview you about the Terry Fox run?

A: Yeah.

Q2: Okay, thanks.  What is your name, and are you running in the Terry Fox run this year?

A: Mike Cameron, and no, I will not be running because I forgot my shorts.

Q3: Do you know who Terry Fox and why we run for him?

A: Yes I do, he is an inspirational person who was raising money for cancer by running across the country.  We just carry on his tradition.

Q4: Do you happen to know what kind of cancer Terry Fox had?

A: No, I do not know

Q5: It was Osteosarcoma.  Why did Terry Fox run across Canada even though he is disabled?

A: To raise money for cancer research.

Q6: Do you have any idea how much money he raised on his original run? And in the years since?

A: No I don’t, they said it on the news not too long ago, a couple million, I can’t remember.

Q7: Do you know anyone who has been affected by Cancer?

A: Yeah, lots of people.  That’s why I donate for cancer research.

Q8: What meaning does the Terry Fox run have to you?

A: Hope.

Q9: Do you do anything to help people with Cancer?  Volunteering or donations?

A: Donations, and when family members are dying I help them out.

Thank you very much for your time and patience, that is all the time we have for our interview today.

Terry Fox; The Great Canadian Hero

Terry Fox is a Canadian hero.  Why? Lets start with his pre-cancer years.  Terry Fox was born on July 28^th, Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1958.  He played Soccer, Rugby, and Baseball as he grew up, but he loved to play basketball.  His P.E. teacher told him he should take up cross country running, and Terry didn’t want to.  But he respected his teacher very much, and so he decided to sign up.  He continued with cross country and with basketball, eventually winning the Athelete of the Year award at his high school, along with his best friend Doug Alward. 

His mother encouraged him to go to enroll in the Simon Fraser University, which Fox did, and he studied kinesiology to help him become a gym teacher.  On November 12, 1976, Terry crashed into the back of a pickup truck while heading home to Port Coquitlam.  He survived, with only a sore knee, and ignored it until the end of the basketball season.  In March of ’77, the pain had intensified, and so he went to the hospital.  There, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a cancer that usually starts in the knee.  He was informed he would have the leg amputated, and would have to go into chemotherapy.  He was also told he had a 50% chance of survival.  Two years earlier, that percentage would have been only 15%.  The advancement in medical technology amazed him. 

Three weeks after his amputation, he was once again walking, only this time with an artificial leg.  He began playing golf with his father soon after.  Doctors say Fox’s positive outlook while going through his 16 months of chemotherapy helped him immensily.  When he left the hospital, he had a new outlook on life, he owed his survival to advancements in cancer treatments,  and wanted to do something himself that would help other cancer victims. 

Summer 1977 Rick Hansen invited him to join his wheelchair basketball team.  Less then two months after his first practice, Fox joined the team, and won three national titles with the team, and named an all-star by the North American Wheelchair Basketball Association in 1980. 

The day before his cancer surgery Fox read an article about Dick Traum, the first amputee to complete the New York Marathon.  He was inspired, and he began a 14 month training program, telling family he wanted to complete a marathon too.  He secretly planned his now famous Marathon of hope, only telling Doug Alward. 

Fox sent a letter to the Canadian Cancer Society asking for funding for his run, and they reluctantly accepted.  His plan was to get a $1 donation from each of Canada’s 24 million residents.  Fox was endorsed by the Ford Motor Company with a camper van, Imperial Oil donated fuel, and Adidas contributed shoes.  Fox refused any companies that asked for him to endorse their products, he didn’t want anyone to profit from his run. 

The marathon began on April 12, 1980 when Fox dipped his leg in the Atlantic Ocean, and began his 8000 kilometer trek.  On September 1^st, 1980, outside of Thunder Bay Ontario, Fox had several coughing fits, and asked to be driven to the hospital.  Once there, he was diagnosed with lung Cancer.  He was forced to end his run after 143 days and 5373 kilometers.  By the following April, he had raised over 23 million dollars.  Fox died on June 19, 1981. 

Schools everywhere now have a Terry Fox run in September to honour Terry Fox and to raise money for Cancer research. 

Photoshopping 2

Today we were working in Photoshop with our own photographs, editing the photographs to bring them to a higher level of quality.

First is a picture of a teenage boy not looking at the camera.  I was

able to rotate the picture, and lighten the shadows to bring out some color.

Here is a picture of my dog.  By utilizing Photoshop, I was able to

virtually bathe my mangy dog, and clean up his white fur.

There wasnt too much that needed to be done to edit this piture of a 4x4 truck.  All I needed to do was reduce the glare on the windshield and hood, and light up the shadows underneath only slightly.

Sadness in nature.  A once healthy forest taken down for more housing development, and a bike track.  Yet, some grass clings onto its simple life, and I was able to simply highlight the emotion of this picture.

Some truely beautiful clouds were floating above Aldergrove, and by shifting the shadows slightly, it was possible to get a much better looking, sharper photograph.

Even amongst constant development, Aldergrove somehow stays beautifully green. 

I simply brightened the shadows, and darkened the clouds again.

A happy inanimate object comes to life if you see the basketball backboards as eyes, and

the soccer net as a big gooey grin.  All that was needed here was to remove some

slight shadows and crop the picture to an appropriate size.

By giving the shadows much more power, this tree appears to be almost a painting, or a sketch.

Photoshopping

From the way that people always talked about photoshopping, I had a general idea of what it was.  But todays lesson in Digital Media showed me what Photoshop really is.  It is an extremely simple tool used to edit photographs and make them much better.  Below are examples of photoshopping.

What Digital Media really is.

Digital Media is any form of electronic information distributed to the world. That would include almost anything done on a computer such as, art, pictures, videos, websites, music and games.  Although in my opinion, I would further define Digital Media as multimedia made on computers with no outside sources (Cameras), where any and all images are created with graphics programs on a computer.  And, of course, Video Games are the best Digital Media :)

Digital Photography- Any picture that has been taken with a Digital camera in Phone, Camera, Laptop, etc.

Computer Image Creation- Using a program to create pictures FROM the computer, forming images or ‘graphics’.

Interactive Multimedia- Examples are; The Internet, Websites, CD’s, and similar forms of media.

Digital Video and Film Production- The use of digital video cameras and computer editing software to produce videos/films for release on the internet, websites, or through CD rom.

Web Design- The skill of producing a web site to be posted on the Internet for the viewing and interaction of other Internet users.

Digital Animation- An extension of Computer Image Creation to produce actual Movies/Videos purely from Computer Created Images.

Digital Sound Technology- Digital Voice Recording or voice recognition systems such as ‘Dragon Speech’, a program that will recognize your speech, and type out what you say.

Cell Phones- Cordless Telephones that can enable users to talk to other people, send text messages to them, and browse the internet.

Social Networks- Websites that allow users to connect, and share their information with other people, in the form of pictures, videos, and stories.

Video Games- Using Digital Animation and programming skills to make a game that is highly interactive, and animated, for people to play.