After completing lesson 3 in Flash I learned quite a few valuable lessons. First and foremost is to always triple check every line of code. I don’t know how many times the application stopped working due to a stray bracket or letter. Secondly is that there is generally more than one way to get flash to execute the same task.
Below are links to several websites which I found to be quite resourceful in my research of the prominent figures in Celtic mythology.
A very useful website with an easy to use interface which grants the user quick access to information on the Celtic mythos. The only drawback is that the information provided isn’t terribly in depth and lacks detail.
Very useful for getting an in depth analysis of each character myth.
This website provides a vast insight on Irish culture, not just Celtic myth and I found it very useful in terms of interface and detailed information.
yesss.perso.neuf.fr/celts/women.html
A page I came across on the internet which goes into great detailed accounts of the prominent women in Celtic mythology.
The website of Ultimate Guitar is dedicated to all things guitar. The main purpose of the website is to provide guitar tablature for guitarists to learn songs from and there is a vast library of tab to be found at Ultimate Guitar making it is a very useful website. There is however much more content to this site than tab ranging from music news and reviews to music reviews and lessons.
On the home-page the first thing the user sees is a search bar, beside this bar is a menu. On this menu the menu can toggle what they want to search for ie. tab, reviews, news. Then the search bar will look in that particular area. This mechanism is very user-friendly and makes navigating throughout the website a breeze.
Below the search bar there a six different boxes (3 stacked on 3) in which the latest edits to the website appear in the areas of music news, reviews, lessons, articles, forum, and any new tab which has been submitted to the site. This useful if one simply wants to swiftly catch up on the latest music news.
At the very bottom of the page are several links to upcoming gigs and music events. This make the site very well rounded in that most if all a guitarists needs are met on the first page of the website.
There is also a social aspect to the website. Users can sign in via either facebook or google+ and rate and post comments on the articles, tab sheets, and create discussion threads on the Ultimate Guitar forum. This add another dimension to the website, boosting its usabilty and interactivity.
I have very few complaints about the website however if I was to nitpick, I find that the advertisements along the side of the website to be annoying, that is all.
Interview with up and coming film maker, Niall Clery.
As a creative media student I am learning many different facets of media, such is the nature of the course. In my course we cover many areas of creative media, some more interesting than others and and some more hard work than others. These areas range from theory based modules such as media studies, media theory to more practical based modules such as audio-visual techniques, interactive authoring, and graphic design.
Far and away for me the practical based modules I find to be the most enjoyable. This is mainly because I can get some hands-on time with the technology used in the media industry, be it the hardware of A.V. such as the camera and microphone equipment or the software of graphic design such as Photoshop.
Of all these media production techniques that we learn I would say that I find Photoshop to be the most enjoyable. The reasons for this is that the software grants the user the tools to create whatever is on their mind in terms imagery. This is very powerful because often times the greatest limiting factor to creativity is that the person does not have the ability or the tools needed to express what they want to express.
Photoshop can be blank canvas where the artist has a seemingly infinite number of brushes and colours to choose from or can be used to alter images to a frightening degree. Photoshop skills have many practical applications because of the creative power possible with it. Any job in graphic design will require a person to have a firm understanding of the software. Graphic design covers almost every area of media such as T.V., internet, games, music, newspapers, magazines, and even radio.
With that in perspective it becomes quite clear how vital it is to have a strong knowledge of Photoshop if one wants to work in graphic design or even many areas of media.
An Analysis of Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope
Under Joseph Campbell’s “Heros Journey”
By David Dyar
Star wars Episode IV: A New Hope is a classic sci-fi film written and directed by Gorge Lucas and released in 1977. It tells the story of a Galaxy at war, a young man, Luke Skywalker’s journey to become a Jedi Knight, and his quest to find out the truth about his father, Anakin Skywalker. It is one of the most iconic films of all time and noted for its use of cutting-edge special effects at the time it came out.
The film opens with a rebel freighter travelling at high-speed and being pursued by an imperial star ship. The freighter is captured but not before an escape pod is launched carrying two droids C3PO and R2D2 with an important message from princess Leia for an Obi-Wan Kenobi. This escape pod crash lands on Tatooine, the droids are found by Jawa traders and sold to the farm where Luke Skywalker resides. The farm that Luke lives on is very boring to him and is the ordinary world which he later escapes from.
Luke discovers the message from princess Leia in R2D2 and sets out to find this Obi-Wan. This simple problem can be considered the call to adventure as it sets in motion a chain of events which lead to Luke leaving his ordinary world.
On his way he is attacked by the sand people and almost killed until Obi-Wan saves him by scaring off the sand people. They then head to Obi-wans dwelling where he tells Luke the truth about his father, that he was once a Jedi Knight who was betrayed and killed by the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Showing him his father’s lightsabre he tries to convince Luke to come and join the rebel cause and come to the town of Mos Eisley. Luke who is scared and feels inadequate does not want to go decides to head back home. This is his refusal of the call.
Obi-Wan comes with him as Luke has agreed to drop him off at the nearest transport station. However as they pass by Lukes farm they find it a smoking ruin. Stormtroopers have visited and killed killed his aunt and uncle. With nothing left for him here he decides to travel to Mos Eisley with Obi-Wan. This could also be considered his call to action and Obi- Wan is his supernatural aid.
They reach Mos Eisley where Obi-Wan mind-tricks a stormtrooper and dispatches a thug who tries to fight them in a bar. This is Luke crossing the first threshold into the unknown realm.
While in Mos Eisley they hire the smuggler Hans Solo and his partner Chewbacca to help smuggle them of Tatooine safely in the Millenium Falcon, their hyper-speed star ship. This is accomplished although under heavy imperial fire. This is the facing tests, and making allies, and enemies.
They set their course for Alderaan where they hope to find more allies, however when they arrive they find that it has been destroyed by the Deathstar, a vast and powerful space station which then captures the Millenium Falcon with a tractor beam. This is the approach to the inmost cave as it is a major setback.
Once inside the Deathstar Hans, Chewie, Luke, and Obi Wan manage to elude the imperial search team. Obi-Wan manages to sneak in and turn off the tractor beam, freeing the rest to escapes in the Millenium Falcon, however as Obi-Wan is making his way back to the ship he is confronted and killed by Darth Vader. Hans, Chewie and luke escape to the rebel base on Dantooine where a counter-assault against the fearsome Deathstar is being launched. They fly against the Death star in their fleet of X-Wing fighters and are successful in their attempt to destroy the station as Luke fires a missile into the “Achilles Heel” exhaust port exposed in the blueprints mentioned earlier. The deathstar is utterly obliterated. This is the ordeal as it is the big life or death crisis in the film.
At end Hans, Chewie, and Luke are rewarded for their efforts by being given medals of honour by princess Leia. This is the reward the hero’s earn for overcoming the ordeal.
The final stages such as the road back, resurrection hero, and the elixir are not shown until the sequels, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi.
The bags are packed, the flight is booked, and the taxi is here. He is leaving the misery behind him in search of a new life abroad in a far-away, unknown land. As he makes his way down the worn, weedy driveway, each step feels heavy with significance as he realizes that these are the last steps that he will take on Irish soil for many years to come. He reaches the the taxi and turns to face the house which has been his home for all 23 years of his life. As he looks back his mind is struck by a wild mixture of memories and emotions. The moment is bittersweet. He is moving on to the freedom of a new-life and a new country which is scary yet exhilarating and away from his home which has been been like a prison to him for the past 5 years of unemployment yet also safety and security. Now he dips his head into the taxi and it takes off down the road. He is saddened by the thought that he will not miss this country or the life that he had.
There is such little opportunity today in Ireland, it seems the only way for young people to be self-sufficient and stand on their own two feet is by searching for employment overseas. The younger generation simply cannot get a foothold in Ireland. It frustrates and maddens me that I am 19 years of age and still dependent on my parents when all I want is the opportunity to work hard and make a living for myself. I realize that this may come across as whiny and ungrateful but in truth, I am thankful for everything that I have and I know that my situation is a hell of a lot better than some. Yet I can’t help but feel as though I am being deprived of the freedom to make my own way in life.
David Dyar 