Flash Interactive Architecture Reflection

TECHNICAL
In creating this piece I used Photoshop to edit the pictures and then animated and added sound in Macromedia Flash.  I began by changing the colours in the picture to make them more realistic, normal colours (changing the yellow walls to white) and by dodging and burning the slightest bit the image.  I then used the clone stamp tool to edit various unnecessary, distracting people and objects out of the image.  I added neon looking letters to the stage by adding a layer style to the text layer which gave it an 'outer glow'.  I created the stage lights by making cone-like shapes, and erasing parts of them and making them with a gradient.  I created floor lights by making rectangular shapes and changing their opacity and style to 'luminosity'.  I also added the picture of speakers and created lights on the wall by creating shapes and just as the text, changing the layer style to 'outer glow'.

IDEA OR CONCEPT
The idea I eventually used in this piece was that school spirit encourages school community which is important to build and maintain.  The message of this space in this piece is to encourage excitement and community with the school.  The purpose would to encourage students to get greater involved and excited about the school. I kept my original plans, which was to have lights in the floor which interact with people walking on them, as well as music being played.  I was unable in this animation to show the cheers being displayed on the floor.  I was also unable to show the lines or courts being not painted on the floor but made of LED lights.

INFLUENCES
An piece of interactive architecture which inspired me in creating this piece was,  the Ocean of Light.  Its interaction with the viewer with its use of changing LED lights was what I found inspiring to create this piece.

COMPOSITION
The balance of this piece is symmetrical.  I put even amounts of colour and lights on both the top and bottom as well as the left and right.  There is emphasis put on the lights on the stage because they change colour and are bright.  I also tried to show the interaction between the floor and players as important by having the players move and the lights move with them.  Your eye move around the image as in the beginning you are simply looking at the players but as they move and the lights shine and change, the viewer understands it is not only about the game, but the school.

MOTIVATION
Beyond fulfilling the requirements of this assignment, my motivation for completing this piece was to be able try to show the importance of school community through this piece.  It is very easy to go through high school without appreciating the experience.  Without stopping to realise that students and teacher interaction can be very important, especially through ages which you are growing.  It is good to rely on others and being able to show that within a community, there are people there to help you.  I wanted to show that it is perhaps not easy, but it is important to interact with all of the classmates around you.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
Elements I found most successful in this piece are the use of neon changing coloured lights on the stage.  I found these successful because I was able to actually show the letters as glowing letters which I like.  I also found the animation of the changing stage lights successful because, although it is simple, it is also effective.  The sound within the animation, I was pleased with because I struggled with creating a stop and start with the sound, as while trying to do it, I found myself almost wrecking the rest of the animation.  Elements I would improve, with time allowing me would be the animation of the players and the lights.  I would have liked to show the players walk and actually have some of the lights disappear as they moved. Parts through creating this piece that surprised me would be how difficult I found it to create the floor lights and that I was mostly able to remember how to animate using flash.