This daily create was a bit vague, so I borrowed a small mirror, and played around with a light ring and my phone’s camera lens.  This is a picture of my phone’s camera lens, from a mirror reflection, under my LED halo lamp.  The light ring of the lamp looks like a halo above the […]

We had some confused ds106 beavers for the Daily Create who needed some captioning help.  Here’s my rendition, done in MSPaint:

Here’s what I did this week, delving into the realm of video: Summary Notes on Season 3, Episodes 8, 9, 10 Reflection on opening scenes of Fritz Lang’s “M” Look, Listen, Analyze a Scene from “The Wire” 2 Inspires: Mahone’s Mouzone Movin’ On Harris’ App Icon 2 Daily Creates: His Master’s Voice Halloween a l’Orange […]

I was inspired by Ien Harris’ creation of an icon for an application on a smart phone or other electronic device.  His original blog post is here. This is a neat piece of work that involves simplicity and minimalism, and can still convey the idea of the functionality of the application. It needs to be […]

I was inspired by LaKisha Mahone’s design work earlier in the semester where she put together a “Where Are They Now” type of fan magazine piece on the actor/characters from “The Wire”.  Her original blog post is here. I like the idea of the characters/actors continuing on and they’re being followed and photographed as if […]

Season 3, Episodes 8, 9, 10 I totally love that the drug dealer in Hamsterdam wants to file a police report on a theft.  How quickly perception changes as people adapt to their circumstances! Lester Freamon appreciates the discipline it takes to drive 200 miles on a cell phone purchasing expedition every few weeks. If […]

Season 3, Episode 10 opening scenes with Brother Mouzone “Reformation” “We are in Baltimore, Lamar. Baltimore, Maryland.” I love Brother Mouzone’s intensity, and the clarity with which he delivers his lines.  Each consonant is as precise as the knot on his bow tie.  He is crisp, clean, and clear in his convictions and his purpose. […]

We know it’s a poor living situation because the walls are dirty, and the women are taking in laundry as their work. Well-dressed wealthy people are waiting outside the school for their kids.  People that take in laundry can’t take time off work to do that. We know there’s a sense of anticipation because the […]

    I decided to do the Alt Ending video assignment as a Blair Witch take-off, with my kids providing a surprise ending.  It’s every mother’s dream to have a few moments alone, but the kids always seem to find you in the end!  They had a lot of fun rehearsing their line and practicing […]

  I’ve wanted to do something with this scene since I saw it in my pre-semester binge-watch of “The Wire”.  It’s a terrific use of photography and positioning, with very little sound and dialogue.  Pretty much the only dialogue is a repeated epithet used with a variety of inflections and emphases. I replaced it with […]

Today’s Daily Create was to make a photo montage featuring a theme color.  It was easy to find orange everywhere around me on Halloween, and since this was supposed to be scary I chose the most terrifying image of all:  Two sugared-up 7-year-olds on Halloween.  EEEEEK!

Today’s Daily Create was to make an interesting indoor photo with the blinds closed so that your audience has to guess at the contents in your photo.  Cool and imaginative!  I went over to my parents’ house and took a picture in their living room of an object that used to belong to my grandparents. […]

Week 9 Summary Let me just say this.  I love how Jay Landsman speaks so eloquently, reads porn, and eats like a barbarian. He’s a more honest portrayal of McNulty.  No personal ambitions cloaked in self-righteous lofty goals, no falling off the wagon because he never got on it.  Pure honesty. What you see is […]

Radio Show Live Tweet – DSTW 76.5 9pm Tuesday night – Syd and Travis with Groom and Bond I thought there was a nice use of background music choices with spoken dialogue, such as “Lean on Me” when discussing Frank’s trying to keep his family and friends out of trouble and making deals with Greeks […]

Jeremy Hillberry’s hybridized character/animal was really well done and I found it inspiring enough to try it out for one of my assignments as well.  Mine did not turn out as well as his, and I think it’s because he was much better at merging the two images.  He said that Cedric Daniels reminded him […]

David Mercer’s “They Wait Around Like We Didn’t Notice” is a really good use of graphic design to produce a believable card for gaming.  The icons are appropriate, and the chosen quotes paired with the characters summarize what the character is all about in “The Wire”. I avoided this assignment when I first saw it […]

The first exposure I had to visual trolling, and it was even better because it was combined with the epigraphs from the start of “The Wire” episodes. Love the idea of taking a character in a scene and attributing someone else’s quote and then taking that last step and attributing it to another person entirely. […]

Season 3, Episodes 5, 6, 7   “I want to learn the ways of The Force and become a Jedi like my father.” – Luke Skywalker to Obi Wan Kenobi “Straight and True” I noticed several characters looking for role models to emulate, and mentors to follow.  It reminded me of those character-defining moments in […]

Today’s Daily Create was to imagine you get a pass to go back in your life and change something or do it differently. Being very college-focused right now has also gotten me thinking about my previous college life when I earned my first Bachelor’s degree a million years ago.  I goofed off a lot and […]

Today’s Daily Create was the Thirty Circle Challenge.  I had heard of this before as a creative workshop exercise and also as an icebreaker at seminars, but this was my first experience doing it.  Starts out easy, and if you’re in the groove, you can knock ‘em out.  I got interrupted and stalled, but was […]

Weekly Summary Another good week, and we’ve hit the mid-point of the semester!  The group radio show project was a success, and all the pieces have been hung together in a single final product for our group, “Wire Buyers”.  Here’s my work for this week: Final Radio Show: “Wire Buyers” Episode Summaries for “The Wire” S03:E02,03,04: […]

We did it.  Our first group project, and my first experience with making a radio show.  Never thought I’d be doing any sound editing, much less participating in producing a show for airing on radio.  How cool is that?  I have a new appreciation for how much work goes into taking sound and making more […]

Carl felt the tiger’s hot breath on his face and smelled its fetid breath as it snarled at him.  He kicked it as hard as he could, but the tiger’s claws tore into his flesh and shredded his clothing. His legs became tangled among his ruined clothing, and suddenly realized he was barefoot as he continued […]

Season 3 Episodes 2,3 4 Notes: Scared straight vs. bored stiff, yep those kids weren’t scared at all — they’ve seen dead bodies before. “Marlo? Yeah yeah he was here.  Now he ain’t.”    Poor Bodie can’t get a straight answer out of this new young crowd that mans the corners.  What are times coming to? […]

This was fun because I went way back in time to pull some old ads for an appliance repair and sales shop in Detroit called Highland Appliance.  They had several commercials for TV and radio, but I settled on the one featuring a “Yes Man” with a reference to Hurricane Agnes which hit our area […]

It had to be done. This is the result of several hours of wading through sound clips for clubs, bars, and various establishments with poles as a main feature.  My ears were bleeding, but I managed to get what I wanted into the commercial, and kept it classy (considering the material that ended up on […]

This is a promotional piece for our group radio show project called “Wired Buyers” where we focus on the product placement in HBO’s “The Wire”.  The show was rife with consumer products and we’re making a radio show largely made up of commercial ads, naturally given to hyperbole. I took a circuit tree design from […]

My Work for Radio Show Group Project Sept. 15 – I was asked by Maggie to join her and Imran on a radio show project group.  I accepted immediately because I was familiar with their work and had admired it and commented on it previously. Jessica and Lauren joined the group later that evening, and […]

This is my commercial spot for Kentucky Fried Chicken in our radio show project “Wire Buyers”, featuring product placement in “The Wire”.   You’ll hear Homer Simpson, Peter Griffon, Jason Alexander in addition to Wee-Bey, Avon, and D’Angelo discussing KFC’s finest virtues.  I went for funny, with segues that follow the verbal queues such as […]

Here’s another bumpersticker for a commercial I’m doing for the radio show.  I’m working on a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial, and I’ll want a graphic for the SoundCloud posting when I get it done, so I decided to go ahead and do it now to get me in a chickeny mood.  This is  for a […]