Fairuz Tribute
I worked with Rucyl Mills on this remix.
Features two songs by Fairuz - the legendary Lebanese singer.
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October 25, 2006
October 20, 2006
Price tag of art
I'm not sure where I stand on the Shirky-McCloud debate. I think the issue is slightly complex. I do believe it's important that artists are able to support themselves through their work, and I find it unfortunate that they lose their fortunes due to the Internet and digital publishing. Not all art will translate as well to the web, and so those artists are probably safe from this trend. On the other hand as a user, I would not want to sign up for a system like BitPass - or at least I'd be very reluctant. I haven't run into the situation where one of the comics I read has started using micro payments. I think when it comes down to it I would agree with Shirky, that the deal breaker is the mental transaction costs; additionally, there’s a lot of great free web content out there, so I haven’t felt the need to pay for anything.
It's quite interesting how much time and effort people would invest to pirate software, create peer-to-peer tools, and so forth, to avoid paying money and/or to support free content. Somehow society has created a value-system of what is worth it and what isn't. For example, people are not willing to invest in a CD, but are willing to pay half that amount to watch a movie in a theater; while some others will download it directly using file-sharing tools. I cannot imagine where the future of IP laws debate will take us, but a system of micro-payments will not survive. The only win-win situation I can imagine is advertising. It seems to work for many existing models, and it's not a hassle for the users/readers. I am not sure why McCloud wouldn’t rely on advertising, unless it is inconsistent with his beliefs. Perhaps there will be a better implementation of BitPass in the future, or a more successful micropayment model, that would reimburse artists for their work.
What really impressed me was the YouTube and Warner Music deal. It's groundbreaking when a small startup company like that can have so much leverage over a huge corporation like Warner. This essentially consolidates the power of the online community and signifies the power shift that has been happening gradually.
October 11, 2006
Still-Image Storytelling
My Still-image Story
Remember turn ON your sound!
You can access it here.
Some screen shots:
My Process
My original idea was to make a musical from the start. I had intended to make a musical with fish, but it was too complicated and I didn't have the proper camera equipment to do it well. So instead, I made a musical using silverware! I used colored clay, silverware (forks, knives, & spoons), and straws. I also used a white board as a background, and I shot the images using a bird's eye view. The main idea behind it is that each character has a few mouth/facial expressions that I use in loops, according to the music. I used a Canon PowerShot A520 without a remote and without a tripod, at first. I finally obtained the tripod, but I didn't use it for many of the shots. It was difficult to get the angles I wanted, since I wanted a bird's eye view, and that was impossible with the tripod I was using.
Problems I faced were the problems everyone faces when doing stop motion. I think I'm too clumsy for claymation. I kept walking all over my set by accident!
October 10, 2006
Toilet Disaster
I worked with Christian Bovine to produce the following work of art:
We used the following images to create the one above: