Interactive Media Jobs

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/interactive%20media.do

Search the website and find three jobs that you like the look of.

1) Photoshop

2) Flash

3) Developer

From my own experience I can define the use of each job title:

Photoshop requires the ability to understand the idea of 'layers' so that the maximum workload can be accomplished. Also, skills in applying effects to photographs and have the ability to; mask; misinterpret images; change brightness & contrast and fluctuate the appearance of any property.

Flash uses similar techniques as the skills needed in Photoshop; the idea of layers. Motion tweening is a key must in this area as it can be used for great out-comes if used correctly and professionally. A new type of coding language is an even larger must have ability as Flash uses ActionScript 1, 2 and 3. Actionscript 3 is a professional coding language that can be used for great effects.

The title of a Developer defines itself as being a hard labor-intensive, work-ethic based character. Many hours are used plugged into the computer generating command lines so that the framework of a game, (mobile) application can function. Skills in GLBasic; JavaScript or C ++ will give a boost to the options available.

Salary

Photoshop = £17,000 - £35,000

Flash = £27,000 - £40,000

Developer = £32,000 - £57,000

Qualifications / skills / experience

All of the job titles require computer savvy people - With a strong interest and passion for modern art and design. One must be at ease with the Adobe Workshop Applications and have a general knowledge of how to understand the ethics of coding.

What is a job agency and how do they make their money?

A recruitment agency in the UK will locate positions for people looking for jobs advertised by employers, sending them out for interviews and helping them with all of the preparation, i.e CV's and personal statements. Basically doing the hard part. But at a cost; most UK Job Agencies make their money by charging a percentage of what their clients earn. For example, if a client is recruited by a Job Agency and begins working on a salary of £20,000 per year, the agency may charge 10% of this.

Explain what is meant by 'Permanent' and 'Contract'

Depending on what job is chosen there will be a difference in what each job suffices. Permanent and Contract work. With a permanent job the position is protected from cancellation unless the company goes bankrupt. With a contract job the position only usually lasts for around a month and is very unreliable but the upside is that the salary can be almost doubled compared to permanent job contract.

Other helpful links

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs/sports-interactive/

http://www.skillset.org/interactive/careers/

Besides advertisements, how else might you meet potential employers?

Personally from my own experience I was referred to local design company from a work placement at school, having the power of the Dorset County Council behind you really helps, but there are other ways as well.

Just get out there - print off hundreds of CV's and give them to every company that you have an interest with, also knowing the right people does help - regardless of what some may say; pester people; ask around because someone will have a opportunity available. Having a interesting and fulfilling CV will help an enormous amount, involve yourself with charity work as employers like this. Creating your own portfolio type website can help present your own work and is a great way to show off your personality and interests - as well as your ability and skills in the subject area of your choice. This is a modern way of showing off your abilities and will be noticed by potential clients and employers, this technique also proves the ability of understanding the modern era.

Trade fairs and shows are also an amazing opportunity to get up close and talk directly to employers all in one place. There you will be able to discuss what work could be available and whether your skills are up to the standard requirements.

Ethics of Privacy

Copyright ethics

What is a Copyright?

The definition of a Copyright is the right for the creator to hold their licencing terms. For example; If one were to sketch an idea for a logo on a piece of paper - as soon as the drawing had been completed the artist who created that work would hold the rights to it, i.e. meaning that under section 107 of the U.S Office Copyright laws nobody would be able to use or recreate that image for 70 years after the creators death.

What are the 3 moral rights?

• The right of attribution - Whoever has created the work has the right to be identified and credited as such. Where the work is used/shown/displayed in a performance or otherwise, then it is the right of the creator to be recognised for their work.

• The right of integrity - The work is not allowed to be modified or changed in any way without the consent of the creator/copyright holder. This is to protect the creator, by only allowing the works to be shown/used in a manner that they see fit. A musician may allow a sample of their song to be used in some situations, but not others. For example, a release may be granted for a sample to be used within a commercial advertisement, but not in another song by a different artist, or vice-versa.

• False attribution - No one is allowed to use the works and make any attempt to pass it off as their own works. This protects the creator by allowing them to have the recognition deserved to them, and is to stop others from effectively 'stealing' and claiming ownership of their creative works.

How might copyright affect you and your work with interactive media?

The interactive media section requires many assets for production in websites; games; videos; music; pictures and films etc. And the easiest way to acquire these is through an internet search such as ‘Google’, but what most people do not realise is that most of the images, videos and music are copyrighted. This puts a seal on them so that if they are used publicly the owner is liable to prosecute. If a copyrighted product is used on a website for example, it may be possible to contact the owner of the image and seek permission to use it, it is a misapprehension to many that copyrighted assets are off limits but in some circumstances the owner will give permission for the images etc. to be re-used or altered for production in other things. Although the likeliness of being granted permission to re-use the ‘Coca-Cola’ logo would be very steep – minor esteemed images from lesser known producers would be more likely to be grant permission.

4. Do you think illegal downloading is morally right or wrong? Justify your position.

Respectfully illegal downloading is ethically incorrect because it doesn’t not credit the owners for their products, but I can say from my own experience that it has been made so easy to do that it has become a norm amongst everybody I know, there is a plus side to illegal downloading – being on an interactive media course the Adobe media suite is a must and I would not be able to afford the cost for the software to complete most of my coursework at home. With a few click I was able to download the software and get working. On some levels certain people would agree that I have used it for the right reasons but it still falls into me being in the

wrong. The major reasons that the law is trying to knuckle down on this is because film producers are losing a large profit margin from illegal film sharing. One way that I could see a workaround, and a possible convincer for the illegal downloaders to stop would be to develop the video rental business, in this day and age this possibility is becoming a larger reality everyday with the introduction of ‘Love Film’ and direct video rentals to the users television. (Google TV).

5. What does Creative Commons do?

Creative Commons is like the middleman of copyrighting. It allows developers of graphics, pictures etc. to be more precise about the ways in which their works can, or can't be used. It allows the creators to make their own copyright rules for their work. For example; the creator of a piece of work may grant permission for anyone to modify as long as they feature the unique author; on some works the permission will allow anyone to adapt/change it and once altered can be attributed to the person who has transformed the work, without crediting the original creator. Other authorisations allow the commercial/ non-commercial use or what countries the law applies to, for example an image may be able to be re-created in America but not in Canada.

6. Use an image from Creative Commons in your blog correctly

Here is a photo I have attached from Flickr. Courtesy of TAKA@P.P.R.S

(From the Creative Commons search filter)

The producer of this image has stated some Creative Commons conditions.

Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

7. Give your opinion on the way that total freedom from copyright might affect our culture

Having the freedom to alter any piece work would induce far more creativity in the world because people would have a starting place to begin some of their work. Having this possibility of sharing work would advance the production techniques of music; films; games and graphics etc. For example if two game companies were to create two completely separate platforms - but to achieve a higher standard of gameplay they needed code from each other, they would be able to share the information and possibly combine to produce one sole game or two separate fully capable game that function accurately. With the copyright laws both companies restrict their sources so only people on the team would be able to view it. Unlocking the restrictions would allow for greater possibilities.

The down side to all of this is that there would be many duplicates and low quality products from people who do not have the expertise behind them, making it hard to find originals and well produced creations. Copyright laws were introduced to protect authors, thus to stop other people from copying and producing original work claiming it as their own, although again this would suffocate the imagination for other people, for example; if someone had re-created and image and applied their own uniqueness to it that turned out to be a success they would not be able to advertise this unless given access by the original author through the Creative Commons guide.

My finished 'Paul the Alien' website walk-through

VoIP using Skype

As a means of communication, VoIP - when first released was used between business companies as a modern way of holding conferences. But in this day and age anyone with an internet connection and the right software on their home computer or laptop can have a video chat with anyone; anywhere.

Personally I use Skype as a way of talking to my Father in Wales, my Friend Mike in Germany or even any of my other friends living around the corner.

Here is a preview of a video call I had with my friend Tom (who is also on my College course)

P.S - Ignore the gesture behind Tom.

Another step forward using this protocol is the adaptation in modern smart phones and tablets such as the Motorola Xoom (Purposely ignoring the Apple devices)

Also, possibly in the near future, a concept that has recently been tried and tested - 3D video calling. According to AndroidHeadlines.com (See below for link) - Sharp announced 2 glasses free 3D phones that can both capture and display 3D images. Possibly opening doors for 3D video conferencing if a manufacturer were to place a 3D camera on the front.

http://androidheadlines.com/2010/11/did-someone-say-3d-video-calling.html

Current Status on Unit 1 Part 62 - Website (Paul the Alien)

Roughly a month ago we were set an assignment to design and create a flash based website that had reference for a new or upcoming film. My decision was to create a web-based interface for the film 'Paul'. After building up the website with graphics, videos and ActionScript 2.0 code I had a fully functioning site, which took approximately 3 weeks to achieve. Before I started creating the web pages I made a mock-up of my desired loading screen; (Left), Finished loading screen; (Right).

This is the homepage of my website as of 15/03/11. I have recently added small tweaks and animations to this page including; Spaceship animations and sound effects; mouse follower; blinking eyes on Paul the Alien and Blades that slide in from the left.

The next page of my website is the Gallery. Using knowledge of previous lessons I implemented the picture flow effect to some of the screen shots of the film.

Today I added the 'Trailers' page which will include video trailers of the film and reviews.

National Readership Survey

The NRS (National Readership Survey) is a non-profitable organisation that carries out research on members of the public by using surveys to aid the manufactures of Britain's major newspapers and consumer magazines. The surveys that take place include questions that define what demographic of people read what magazine/newspaper.

NRS interviews a large sample of 36,000 adults (aged 15+) each year on a continuous basis, of which usually take on average around 27 minutes to complete and will be walked-through by a representative of the NRS in the interviewees home.

The techniques that NRS use are widely respected by companies that produce media for the public. One of these being in the form of 'The Daily Mail'.

Research Blog Assignment (Part 2/3)

Market research is a large collection of data that is recorded from the general public. If a company wanted to branch out at a new demographic they would use this type of research to find what their needs where and by the strongest means; meet the specified requirements with the greatest potential. Market research is a very common strategic advancement that not only creates a larger profit in the companies pocket but full-fills the needs of previously over-looked people.

After the market research has been undertaken the next stage would be to alter the product to match the designated requirements. An example of this would be 'Coca-Cola', this company has been around for over a century and is sill going as strong as ever. This is mainly due to the fact that they produce products for different markets; 'Coke Zero' - which mainly for the diabetic market. Before this product was released diabetic people could not drink Coke due to the high sugar content but 'Coca-Cola' noticed this by conducting market research and so-forth released 'Coke-Zero' which contains no sugar.

For this assignment we were given the option to research one of three;

The Simpsons; Pokémon or Star Wars. My decision was to go ahead with the Simpsons mainly because it was the one topic that I had the greatest amount of knowledge about.

From this I can detail on how Matt Groening (The creator of The Simpsons) used market research to promote the Simpsons, and the answer is - He didn't. At least for the first 2 series. When Matt Groening's 'The Simpsons' first appeared on the Tracey Ullman show on April 19th, 1987 every Simpsons family character was based on his own. His father - 'Homer', mother - 'Margaret' (Marge), three sisters - 'Lisa' and 'Maggie' and 'Patty', and 'Bart' - which is an anagram for 'Brat' is told to be based on Matt Groening and his sibling brother 'Mark'.

In the early days of the Simpsons people have always enjoyed the crude humor and shenanigans of Bart Simpson, but in the more recent series the episode have been based solely around Homer due the face that the target audience has developed considerably with families and older generations watching it. In spite of this the controversies have developed - a few that stand out are the homosexuality and religious views. In one episode, Colonel Saunders is God and many characters in Springfield are against Catholics. Thus causing a debate on what message the Simpsons is trying to present. But what most people do not realise is that they speak both sides of the story, instead of being completely biased towards one side of the argument.

Many people believe that the hypodermic needle theory effects children the most. Mainly because they have a small of perception of the world and are easily influenced. Having a role model like Bart Simpson has a possibility of giving the wrong idea to young people giving them the belief that skating naked through town is a good idea. Although the media says that they cannot influence people directly due to the face that kids like to be kids and the only influence they receive is from peer pressure from friends etc.

The reception theory has had it's deals with the Simpsons in the past, yet again with the religious views. One critical view that has stood out from the rest is the point made by Pakistani viewers. Apu nahasapeemapetilon is the owner of a 'Kwik-E-Mart' and has been known to alter dates and sell products at an extortionate price. Even though this just seems like a typical character from Matt Groening's sketchbook, people have raised criticism claiming that he is targeting Asian people working in '7/11's'. In fact - in the media's defense they have stated that this is not the case as he is based on a completely legitimate shop owner who was not Asian but American so therefore cannot be in anyway be related to a racist attempt.