Final GPA

Well, my final GPA for the first quarter is officially 3.95. I'm bummed. I really wanted my 4.0. Stupid Typography instructor and his stupid A-!!! :( grrrrrr!! But, all in all, I should be happy, I know. School is difficult for perfectionists, let me tell you. :)

I received my books and they are really interesting! My two books for my Drawing Design and Art Theory class are cool and kind of Drawing for Dummies, so I know I'm in the right place! :) Then, in addition to the books we got a drawing kit that's a real Drawing for Dummies kit! :) Has a little wooden model in it and everything! So - that should be a really cool class.

For my Introduction to 3D Animation class, it's a new software program - 3ds Max. I downloaded the trial version of the software because to run the tutorial disc you have to have the software. My poor little computer just doesn't have enough memory to run it properly - I need an upgrade - but what I have been able to try is really cool. I'm looking forward to that class.

My Intro to Business class book is ginormous!! Seriously huge book with small print that fills up pages with really, really small margins - the text practically fills the entire page! Also came with 4 CDs containing chapter audio notes - that's going to be a serious class with serious tests and stuff - I can tell.

My E-Commerce book is also pretty detailed. It's another class that I think is going to be serious and have real tests and stuff.

So....I'm working and reading ahead for the second quarter. I'm excited!!

More to come later!

Final Grades

Hello again all.

So....first quarter of school is done. I enjoyed it overall, aside from the one class that drove me up a wall. Final grades are in and can now be reported!

Success Strategies - this class was a bit of a bore. I didn't really get anything from it, but it was a required course so - done and dusted.

Final Overall = 108.24%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Written Assignment = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 100% A

English Composition - my favorite class this quarter. I really enjoyed it, I got a lot from it, the instructor was great, and I liked brushing off my writing skills and getting back into things. He also gave me some really nice feedback on my grades, so that was really encouraging and helpful.

Final Overall = 99.26%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Exam = 100%
Week 11 Final Paper = 100%
Final Percentage/Grade = 99% A

Intro to Computer Graphics - this was a good class too. The instructor was awesome and really engaged with the class, which is saying something for an online course. She was helpful, available, it was a really awesome class and I feel I learned a lot.

Final Overall = 98.47%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Revitalization Project = 92.73% (wish I'd had her Week 10 feedback before I turned in that final project - I could have improved it)
Final Percentage/Grade = 98% A

Typography - oh how I hated this class! I still maintain that in the hands of a better instructor, this class could have been awesome. It's no fun when you know the instructor is dialing it in. Also - this man is so in love with himself that it was nauseating! Constantly pimping his work, which if you've seen video game inspired fantasy art with half-naked females, you've seen it. Nothing original there, but don't tell him that. He believes he's the god of Graphic Design. What an asshat! I will not miss this class. I'm leaving it not knowing whether or not I've truly grasped the principles of typography. We spent the majority of the quarter trying to design things he'd like. Again, his taste is pretty basically male fantasy garbage. But, it's done now. Yay!

Final Overall = 92.44%
Week 11 Discussion = 100%
Week 11 Final Portfolio = 100% (yeah, you could've knocked me over with a feather when I saw that)
Final Percentage/Grade 92% A-

So I ended up with an A- in that last class instead of an A, that kind of sucks, but I don't think it will affect my 4.0 (it better not!).

Again, for a first quarter back in higher education, it was a good experience. The online classroom environment made the two design classes a bit difficult, as did not having the Adobe tutorial discs and books that my Intro to Computer Graphics instructor wanted us to have. I feel I could have gained a lot more from having more instruction in those programs. I also think the design classes could have been more dynamic in person. But, I made it through! I'm happy with the results and ready to head into my second quarter.

I'm looking forward to my books arriving for next quarter's classes. According to the UPS link, they should be delivered on Wednesday. My Drawing Design and Art Theory class has three books for it (!), so I'm a bit intimidated by that. I'm not a good drawer by any means, so I know this class is going to be very challenging. I'm excited to start into 3D animation this next quarter too. It will be interesting taking those two classes on campus in the regular classroom environment. I'll have to try to remember how to take notes! :) My two online classes will be E-Commerce and Intro to Business. I have a feeling those classes are going to have real final exams and tests. We shall see. All in all, next quarter looks pretty good. Once I see how it goes, I'll be able to determine if I want to add another extra class the following quarter to try to get me through sooner. I wanted to wait until I took a "real" full courseload quarter to see - - I still maintain Success Strategies didn't really count as a real class this quarter. :)

So....I might blog here again after I receive my books, but for the most part this blog will be a little quiet until classes start again, which is July 6th. My two online classes will be available then, my other two classes are on Tuesday and Friday nights. I plan to continue to blog about the return-to-school experience, so stay tuned! Cheers all and catch you later!

Typography Final Portfolio

Hey again.

So....this is my final branding portfolio for Typography. Again, my mock company was a feminist film studio. I had to do a cover letter and proposal, but you won't see them here 'cuz they have addresses on them. But, here are the actual pieces of my portfolio for your enjoyment. Also - some things I had to redesign taking into account my instructor's feedback so - - if you've been following along, you can look back and see the changes. Have I grown? I dunno - you decide. :)

Business Card:



Letterhead:



Flyer:



Brochure Outside:



Brochure Inside:



Newsletter Page 1:



Newsletter Page 2:



So...that's it. That's my portfolio for Typography. I am, as I'm sure all y'all who have been following this will know, utterly happy to put that one behind me! Oy! I feel kind of lost without homework to do, but my new books should be arriving shortly and I will share all the goodness when they do. In the meantime, quiet time for a bit here until next quarter, which starts on July 6th. Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Intro to Computer Graphics Final

Hey all!

So....I made it through the end of the quarter - yay! :) I already posted my final paper below so....that was that. :) Success Strategies, again, had nothing worth posting this quarter. My final project for Intro to Computer Graphics was the annual report redesign. We had to redesign the front and back covers and four inner pages. So.....I chose to redesign the annual report for Barnes & Noble. Here is the link to the real report: http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_investors/annual_reports/Barnes_%26_Noble_2007_Annual_Report.pdf

So - here are my redesigned pages:

Cover Page:



Inside Pages:













Back Cover:




The front and back covers were Week 10's assignments, and utilized my redesigned logo on the back cover. I never received my grade/feedback for Week 10, so I just went ahead and used them. We'll see how that grade turns out. Eek! So....that's Intro to Computer Graphics - Typography to follow!

Two Down, Two to Go!

Well....this week is starting off interesting. First, I couldn't sleep for anything last night. Got up and busy early this morning, which was good. Turns out instead of everything being due Sunday as usual, it's all due by midnight on Friday. Good thing I got a head start. I am completely done with my Success Strategies class. English is completed and submitted too. Computer Graphics and Typography require waiting for some feedback, but I am making progress. The end is in sight. If things keep going this well, I should be done with my school week a bit earlier than planned and get a head start on relaxing (and worrying about my final grades). More new postings to come! Laters!

Taking a Chance...Cuz I Need Feedback

Hi all.

I'm taking a bit of a chance here that someone might decide to plagiarize my awesome paper, but I seriously need some feedback on it. I think I've managed to get things working well here, but it's one of those cases where I've looked at something so much, it's beginning to lose its coherency to me. As such, I'm posting here and hoping for some feedback. I'm hoping to submit it ASAP, but it's not technically due until next Saturday. Anyhoo....any feedback/constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!



By Women, For Women: the Need for More Women in Creative Control in Film

Not every girl is a beautifully perfect princess looking to be saved by the handsome prince. Not every woman is a chic shopaholic trying to drown her loneliness in credit card debt and manhattans until she meets Mr. Right. Yet if you go to the local multiplex and check out the available films to see, an overwhelming percentage feature women and girls portrayed as shoppers, talkers, and girly girls, most in a supporting role rather than as the main protagonist in a movie. As a woman, trying to find a relatable role model in the live action or animated film offerings is like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. Where are the riot grrls? Where are the real career women who balance work and family without the bitterness or inevitable frumpiness applied? Where are the women who don’t live their lives by the number on the scale, or spend the majority of their time lamenting the lack of male companionship in their lives? Where are the little girls who don’t follow the boys around, but lead them; the rough-and-tumble girls with Band-Aids on their knees? With the overwhelming number of studio executives, story creators, directors, and producers in the film industry being male, perhaps therein lies the problem. It would make sense that in order to achieve a level of realism in regard to women in film, first there must be more women in positions of creative control in the film industry.

Each year, Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., takes a statistical look at the film industry with regard to the status of women, or lack thereof, in its ranks. The focus of these studies is the “celluloid ceiling”, a variation on the typical “glass ceiling” most women find themselves coming up against in the workplace. Her research found that in 2007, women comprised only 15% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films (Lauzen, 2008).

Other studies illustrate the lack of strong female roles models and the disparaging portrayals of women and girls in animated and live action films. In her report Women @ the Box Office, Lauzen found that female characters comprised only 10% of clearly identifiable protagonists in the top 100 worldwide grossing films of 2007. In addition, only 31% of films featuring an ensemble cast had at least one prominent female character (Lauzen, 2007). A recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association on the sexualization of young girls found that from 1990-2004, of over 4,000 characters in the top-grossing motion pictures and G-rated movies, 75% overall were male, 83% of characters in crowds were male, and 72% of speaking characters were male. When women were found present in these films, they were more often portrayed in a sexual manner than their male counterparts, dressed in revealing clothing, and objectified rather than being portrayed as whole, unique, and admirable individuals. They also found an unrealistic standard of physical beauty emphasized and shown as an ideal for young girls to try to emulate (APA, 2007). Since the majority of studio executives, directors, creators, and writers are male, this would indicate that without female peer representation in creative positions in the film industry, there is a serious lack of positive female protagonists and role models for young girls and women to be found in current films.

In an article in USA Today, director Jane Campion, who won an Oscar for her film The Piano in 1993, and is one of only three female directors to ever be nominated for an Academy Award, poses the following hypothesis on the lack of female peers in the industry: “I just think this is the way the world is, that men control the money, and they decide who they’re going to give it to” (AP, 2007).

In her report Women @ the Box Office, Lauzen also finds what may be a link between her research and Campion’s thoughts on what might account for the lack of higher-ranking females in the industry. Lauzen found that when female and male filmmakers have similar budgets, the resulting box office grosses are also similar. In other words, the sex of filmmakers does not determine box office grosses, but film budget does (Lauzen, 2008). In that same report, Lauzen was able to debunk the theory that films with a female protagonist do not do as well as those with a male protagonist. She found that when the size of the budget is held constant, films with female protagonists or prominent females in an ensemble cast earn similar box office grosses and DVD sales as films with male protagonists. She found that films with larger budgets generate larger grosses, regardless of the sex of the protagonist (Lauzen, 2008). As such, one could draw the conclusion that women in higher ranking executive creative positions within the film industry, given the same budgetary considerations as their male counterparts, could produce films with more positive portrayals of women and young girls that achieve success at the box office, and thereby provide more balance and accuracy for females on film as a whole.

Within the animation industry, there are even more discrepancies in the portrayals of females. The Disney/Pixar version of the animated female basically falls into the categories of stock characters, mostly of the princess variety (Riley, 2009). Female characters are often portrayed as either stupid, outnumbered, blatantly subservient, or non-existent (Lahey, 1994). In most cases, the villainous females are portrayed as ugly and incapable of acquiring or keeping a man honestly, so they resort to subterfuge or mayhem, as illustrated by the Ursula character in The Little Mermaid. Most heroines are either successful or attractive, but never both; this determination applies not only to animated film, but to live action as well. Modern heroines may aspire to careers, but if they do not snag the handsome prince too, they are seen as unfulfilled or unsuccessful (Riley, 2009).

Taking all of this into consideration, one possible resolution to the problem of under-representation seems to be one that director Catherine Hardwicke chose when she went to make the film Thirteen. Co-written by herself and a young family friend, Hardwicke had trouble finding the financing and support to get the film made. As an alternative to the standard studio system approach, she went the route of self-financed independent film to get the movie finished and out on the film festival circuit (UC Regents, 2009). As a result of all of her hard work, the film won the Director’s Award at the Sundance Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for supporting actress Holly Hunter. It also paved the way for Hardwicke to be given the helm to the film adaptation of the movie Twilight based on the popular young adult novel by Stephenie Meyer. That film went on to be the highest grossing film for a female filmmaker to date.

While individually financing on one’s own is an expensive but possible alternative for female filmmakers, new funding initiatives for women in the filmmaking industry are emerging. The Women in Film Foundation was begun in 1973 to give female moviemakers more opportunities to succeed by offering help and funding for their work. The Women in Film Foundation makes it one of their primary goals to draw attention to the lack of women in positions of creative control and power in the film industry. The foundation’s Film Finishing Fund supports films by, for, and about women by providing cash grants and in-kind donations to independent moviemakers (Murphy, 2009).

In the animation industry, the National Film Board of Canada is making strides in employing more women involved in animated films or sequences. As a result of this increase in females in creative control, there are fewer problems with stereotyping of characters, female or otherwise. Marcy Page, an animation producer with the Board, explains, “Independent animation is one area where women have carved a niche for themselves; there’s not a lot of male hierarchy and institutions that get in the way, since animation can often be a solitary pursuit.” (Lahey, 1994, p. 24). As with live action film, independent animation with independent funding sources seems to be the best opportunity for more women to get their messages up on the screen. With independent storytelling and funding, women can work on their own to combat stereotyping about their gender and present reality and fantasy from their own perspective as artists instead of as objects.

To help set the stage for the next generation of female filmmakers, several national initiatives have been created to help young girls interested in filmmaking learn about the industry and the trades involved. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, local colleges and universities, and various studios and businesses, these programs work to establish a national girl’s film network and expand into a women’s film network. Girls in these programs learn valuable skills and information about the film industry including media literacy, digital photography, film/videomaking, and film editing. Many of the participants in these programs go on to study filmmaking and various aspects of the film industry in college (Sweeney, 2005). Armed with the education from female mentors working in the film industry, these program graduates can enter into the film industry with enough savvy to negotiate the independent film circuits and find alternative funding sources.

Clearly, the film industry is still lagging behind other industries in creating a more diverse gender representation both behind the scenes and on movie screens. Until the time at which the studio system begins to properly fund film projects by women in the same manner in which they fund projects for men, the only avenue open to female filmmakers is that of independent cinema. As such, it is up to the moviegoer to determine whether the films they pay money to see are going to be part of the problem within the studio system, or whether they might choose to patronize more independent cinema offerings with more accurate representations of females. Those consumers who have young children, especially daughters, would do well to pause before taking in the new Disney or Pixar feature at the Cineplex, and think about the role model images such films provide for their daughters. At the very least, while Disney and Pixar are continuing to grow in their representative offerings in regard to female characters, a family dialogue following one of these films could go far to open communication with young girls about self esteem, body image, career aspirations, and the realities of relationships between girls and boys, and men and women.

In her book Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women Are Really Doing on Page and Screen, author Susan Isaacs notes that “A damsel-in-distress, movie-of-the-week mentality has infected our film and fiction.” She also notes that “Despite the most recent revolution in women’s rights, we are still being portrayed as the gender of the quivering lower lip” (p. 4). Until the time comes when female filmmakers and films featuring accurate portrayals of women and girls in protagonist roles are funded with the same budgetary amounts and considerations as those for and about males, the best way to support the needed change in the film industry is to support realistic, women-centric offerings at theaters. By picking movies made by women, using women’s voices and realistic portrayals of female lives, we not only validate those voices, but show the Hollywood system that there is money to be made in supporting and financing movies by women, for women, and about women. Perhaps once the Hollywood studio system sees the influence and box office returns of positive offerings from, by, for, and about real women, they will begin to share some of that power with women, shatter the “celluloid ceiling” once and for all, and allow more women to join their ranks.
 

References

American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Retrieved May 12, 2009 from www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html

AP. (2007, May 20). Jane Campion Laments Lack of Female Directors. USA Today. Retrieved May 6, 2009, from http://www/usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-05-20-jane-campion_N.htm

Isaacs, S. (1999). Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women Are Really Doing on Page and Screen. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Lahey, A. (1994, Winter94). Beyond Betty Boop: Animation and Women. Herizons, 7(4), 24. Retrieved April 27, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Lauzen, M. (2009). The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film web site: http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2008_celluloid_ceiling.pdf

Lauzen, M. (2008). Women @ the Box Office: A Study of the Top 100 Worldwide Grossing Films. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film web site: http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/Women%20@%20Box%20Office.pdf

Murphy, N. (2009). Women in Film Foundation Empowers Female Moviemakers. MovieMaker Magazine. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www.moviemaker.com/producing/article/women_in_film_foundation_finishing_fund_20090323/

Riley, S. (2009). Too Few Animated Women Break the Disney Mold. Media Awareness Network. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/articles/gender_portrayal/break_mold.cfm

Sweeney, K. (2005, November). Grrls Make Movies: The Emergence of Women-Led Filmmaking Initiatives for Teenage Girls. Afterimage, 33(3), 37-42. Retrieved April 27, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

UC Regents. (2009). Women Filmmakers Break Down Barriers. UCLA Today. Retrieved April 29, 2009, from http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/040224closeup_women.aspx

Week 10 - The End, It Is Near

Hey all.

So....pretty crazy week this week. Lots going on personally and then a lot of things going on school-wise.

My classes have been okay this week, just requiring a lot of design work. Intro to Computer Graphics was redesigning the front and back cover of our annual reports. Since we're doing this on real companies and all, I don't think I should post anything just to cover my ass as far as copyright and what-not, ya know? ;) I'm happy with my submissions though - we'll see what my instructor thinks.

Success Strategies was the usual stupid stuff.

English Composition had to do with identifying logical fallacies. That stuff sincerely messed me up, gotta tell you. But I think I did okay. The discussion was posting our final paper rough drafts for peer review. I managed to slog my way through two of them that were written with at least a semblance of knowledge of the English language. Honestly, I don't know how some of the people in that class are going to pass it, just saying.

Typography....ah yes, the bane of my educational existence this quarter. I only got 72% on my brochure from last week. I redesigned it and was going to resubmit it hoping for a better grade, but then he posted something in his usual jerkoff style on the main announcements page and I decided to just wait and resubmit all the redesigned stuff with my final project. I am so sick of this asshole, I can't even tell you.

So....this week's typography assignment is the newsletter that goes with the rest of our portfolio for our mock company. Just as a reminder, mine is a feminist film studio. So....here are the two pages I mocked up for my newsletter:

Page 1



Page 2



So....that's that. We'll see what he says.

It turns out I have a final essay exam in English, a final research paper in Success Strategies, plus the completion of my final annual report project in Intro to Computer Graphics, and the final redesigning and submission of all of my portfolio contents in Typography, plus discussions in all of these classes as well. So....this week is going to be insanely busy. But it is the last week. I shall keep y'all apprised as things move forward. So far, I am maintaining my 4.0, but the A in Typography is just by the skin of my teeth. We shall see.

As always, constructive feedback is appreciated. Cheers all!

Final Week 9 Assignment - Typography

Hi all.

Well, I finally managed to finish out Week 9's work. I don't know why I had so much trouble this week, but motivation was not my friend at all. It took a lot of time and redesigning to get this brochure the way I wanted it too. I wanted the darker purple background and the neon green type to really pop and appeal to younger, punk-type grrls. :) As such, here is the brochure I designed:

Outside:



Inside:



As I say, it took me a while to get this the way I wanted it, but I like it. Whether or not the instructor will, well....you know how that's gone. :)

I have not yet looked at Week 10 at all. I will have to do that later. Right now, my motivation is still lacking so I think it's nap time. What else is there to do really on a dreary, rainy day? ;) Laters!

Week 8 Grade Results

Hi all.

Things have been a little weird for me this week. I think part of it is just that I've hit a bit of a weird moody time, and part of it was enjoying having the house all to myself. Either way, I've had some motivational problems in getting my schoolwork done this week. Another possible contribution could be that the quarter is winding down and I'm ready to be done. :) Two more weeks and then this quarter is over.

I finally sent off two assignments yesterday (English Comp & Intro to Computer Graphics), and I'm still trying to finish Typography.

English Comp was the rough draft of my final paper. I'm not going to post it here, but I'm happy with it and will look forward to seeing the feedback I receive for it. For Week 10, we're doing peer reviews of our rough drafts so....that should be interesting (or whatever).

Intro to Computer Graphics was designing the logos for our final annual report redesign projects. We had to submit 10 different variations of our brainstorming activities, then our final logo design. Here are my brainstorming ideas:



For my final logo design, I decided to go with a simple typographic design so....here it is:



Typography's assignment that I am still working on is the brochure that goes with our final project. I will be back to post it once it's completed.

And finally, here is the grade breakdown for Week 8:

Success Strategies - Overall Class Percentage: 110.81%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Quiz 93.33% (no indication of what question was missed)

English Composition - Overall Class Percentage: 98.82%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Written Assignment 96.67% (he was supposed to attach
something detailing what was wrong with my assignment
that he deducted, but I still haven't seen it.)

Intro to Computer Graphics - Overall Class Percentage: 99.21%
Week 8 Application Assignment 100%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Revitalization Project 100%

Typography - Overall Class Percentage: 93.02%
Week 8 Discussion 100%
Week 8 Flyer 92% (23 of 25 points)

So....that's the latest from here. I will be back to post my Typography final brochure once I get it completed, which better be tonight! As always, thoughts? - Leave 'em!