Work whinges & Final Module planning

So much has gone on at work recently - lots of redundancies - my Curriculum Manager took voluntary redundancy which has split the Media and Interactive Media team up and ended up with me having to run the BTEC Diploma courses next year. I have no knowledge of running FE courses and have had no wish to be so embedded in FE - I wanted to get more involved in HE - not sure how this has happened! He left yesterday at such short notice, so there is so much for me to plan and do, and there I am trying to free my brain up to complete the MA....... help! 

Yesterday, I finally pinned myseself down to get on with some Uni work and it really is about time. I must now prioritise totally if I have even the minutest chance of completing this module.  I have now got a more concrete plan and I am about to get this down on paper, from my scribbly notes.  I have been frantically searching this morning for a large sheet of paper to get the plan written out.  

I went back to look at Ed Bains personal interactive project called the Devils Tramping ground and also re-visited Donna Leishman's work to try to re-invigorate my creative juices... and this worked!  I finally feel that I am focusing on this project and making a good attempt to banish the constant nagging in my head regarding College work and preparation. 

The Bloody Chamber

The Devils Tramping Ground

I am now going to go and attempt to get the branching narrative plans drawn up :)

Using Flash to make apps

I've been searching to find some info on how to turn Flash animations into apps. I haven't been too successful in locating a lot of information. I know that there has been an issue with Adobe & Apple, but it has supposedley been resolved now, I think!  I went onto Lynda.com and had a look at some tutorials, one was based on a simple game - not exactly what I want to do; but just to attempt to get the idea of how to integrate into an i-pad/phone.  The tutorial was by Todd Perkins and he discusses the problems with older devices viewing Flash animations and said that the animations must be kept extremely simple ~ this has worried me because although I will need to keep a certain simplicity within the animation, I did not want the visual to be that simplistic!  I was also considering incorporating mixed media and this could compicate the issue further :(.  Looking at Todd Perkins' simplistic style, I can say that this is not the way to go for me and there is hardly any animation in this and on testing this game, some people were having problems viewing it....

Sk8bit - Todd Perkins' game app

I went on a HTML5 course at work recently and after all the ongoing HTML5 hype, we were hoping for more intuitive use of Canvas, but currently, it is all based on code. You have to have an excellent knowledge of HTML & JavaScript - way beyond me and the others on the course actually.  Apple have been promoting HTML5 as an alternative to Flash..... not yet, nor in the near future, I don't think - not unless you are a competent coder! 

Rooftop Films - animation

I just liked the style and the single tone colour scheme used in this animation :)

Rooftop Films Signal Film from Fran Krause on Vimeo.