Multimedia Essay 2 - American TV Animation

While I was looking for an interesting American TV Animation in this area, I found a stop motion clay animation. The protagonist's name is Gumby, a little green man. To his right is his pony Porky.

（From the animation "Gumby Racing"）

This novel way of creation attracts me. Compared with those flat drawings, clay is a 3D model, which seems to look more real. The creator of Gumby is Arthur Clokey, people also call him Art Clokey. He is a pioneer in popularizing stop-motion clay animation in the United States.

Art Clokey released the experimental film "Gumbasia" in 1953. This is a stop-motion animation that uses clay to form some objects or shapes. You can see that the clay can be transformed into whatever you want it to be, and at the end of the video he made a "face". I think this paved the way for the emergence of Gumby.

On January 29, 1955, Clokey wrote and filmed the first pilot episode starring Gumby, titled The Adventures of Gumby: Specimen. Thomas Warren Sarnoff watched it and asked him to make a second episode. Gumby first appeared in "Howdy Doody", the second episode "Gumby on the Moon". Gumby became so popular that they later produced their own animated series, "The Gumby Show."

（From "Robot trouble"）

1988 launched a new series "Gumby Adventures".

“From Gumby - Moon Trip”

This method of animation production was very successful, and Gumby gained many achievements and opportunities for commercial cooperation. Compared to those bloody and violent animations, Gumby seems to be more suitable for people of all ages. As a character, Gumby, Clokey animated the character into a children's story, using clay to illustrate his series of fantastic adventures. I have to say that this is a very successful attempt. Stop-motion animation requires lower costs, simple props, and good finished products. The disadvantage is that the production cycle of props is long, the degree of freedom is low, and it will be restricted by objective conditions. Because clay cannot have the very exaggerated and wild expressions that can be seen in current 3D production or hand-painting. 

Found Character 02

 

Inspiration

I found some fantastic lines on a paper towel before I crumpled it up and threw it in the trash.

I tried to look at the clump of paper towel from different angles.

Sketches

I saw a bug-like creature in the first picture, and a monster with wings in the second. Then my association is that this is a bug creature that eats minerals, and then as it eats more and more minerals, it evolves into a bat-like creature with elder wings.

More Theory

A bug that eats metal minerals evolves into a flying creature with hands and wings after eating enough ore, just like a caterpillar slowly grows into a butterfly. After this, my idea is that the tail of flying creatures has evolved feet, which are both capable of flying and walking. 

Found Character 01

 

Inspiration

My inspiration is actually very simple, just like when I was a child, I would think of the clouds in the sky as the appearance of some monsters. Here is a picture of a dandelion I picked while walking my dog in the garden.

Don't those black dry leaves at the bottom of it look like the legs of some monster? Plus those countless petioles. Makes me feel like a Cthulhu-esque monster. Lots of tentacles and weird shapes.

Sketches

I first drew a rough shape based on my photo. And the nose and mouth of the glasses are added to the original center position. Those rhizomes made me think of some electrically charged elements, while the tentacles underneath made me think of many spiny structures. Its mouth is like that of an octopus or squid, with a huge cavity and full of teeth.

More Theory

Depending on the properties of the dandelion, this monster doesn't need to be huge, but there are many, and it has the ability to split. Just like when a dandelion is blown by the wind, many seeds are born and multiply. To sum up, this is a large number of monsters that appear in groups. They can firmly grasp the prey with their tentacles, release an electric current to paralyze the prey, and then eat the prey with their mouths.

Final Post-Rick

        The rapid upgrading of science and technology has undoubtedly brought a lot of convenience to our life. It can make the distance between two people no longer far, it can allow you to receive purchased food or express delivery at home, it can observe your health and heart rate, and it can monitor every move of criminals.

        During the time I left China, my girlfriend and I were separated by a very long distance, with a time difference of 12 hours and a time difference of 13 hours during winter time. Thanks to modern technology, mobile phones allow us to talk or video chat anytime. When my sun sets, the sun on her side rises, which is also a kind of romance. When she catches a cold, I can use Chinese software in the United States to find and deliver cold medicine to her, and it can be delivered to her home in half an hour. When it's her birthday or Valentine's Day, I will buy her a gift one or two days in advance, and she will receive the gift I bought for her on her birthday or Valentine's Day. None of this would be possible without these technologies.

        Of course, modern technology also has many risks and problems. People become overly dependent on technology, because technology many workers lose their jobs, technology makes life more risky, it monitors your daily life in real time, the evolution of AI may be more risky.

        "Head-down family". This refers to some people who use smartphones and other portable devices with their heads down for a long time anytime, anywhere, and often never leave their hands. For example, during their daily walks and subway rides, they keep looking down at their mobile phones. I think this is a very common phenomenon in contemporary times, and the personal safety problem of this phenomenon is obviously very serious. You are walking on the street wearing earphones and looking at your mobile phone. You don’t know what’s going on nearby, and your head bumps into a street sign or a car accident.

        Unemployment, which is also a serious problem facing today. Technology replaces people's jobs because they make fewer mistakes, can do more delicate work, and they don't need to rest. For example, the current AI painting can put anyone's face on a video or picture. Some time ago, I saw a news that someone took a picture of a woman on the subway and turned her into "naked" with AI painting. . AI itself is mindless, depending on the intentions of the person using it for good or bad.

        The evolution of AI is endless, they can upgrade themselves or update themselves. It can be seen that the current AI has become more intelligent. It can control your home appliances, answer your questions, and become emotional. It's scary how certain appliances could be a way for you to be killed if your home's systems are hacked. I watched a movie "M3GAN" before, which tells the story of Megan, a life-like toy doll with a high degree of artificial intelligence, who is designed to be the best playmate for children and the most reassuring ally for parents. In the end, it became a killing machine in self-evolution. This is a science fiction film, but no one knows that science fiction films may one day become reality.

presentation2 note

 Five eyes

• create in 1946
• intelligence-sharing alliance (US UK Australia Canada  )
• A mass detection program  

The rise of propaganda

• the effort to manipulate other people's beliefs
• still used today and is still relevant in today's world
• targeted toward groups of varying size at the local, national, or global level 

Disinformation

• false information deliberately and often covertly spread in order to  influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

how to spot a audio deep faker:

• Unnatural eye movements
• Mismatch in color and lighting
• Compare audio quality
• Body movement 
• Awkward physique

vertical integration and media

• creator and the distributor of the product
• Netflix Disney Fox News Coca-Cola 

news deserts

• the result of systemic failures to meet the needs of all communities

AI

 The video tells the story of AI and robots replacing human beings. It is undeniable that robots can be more accurate and have greater potential. What can be done by 10 people can be done by one machine.

Because AI can do better than those in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, this view is deeply engraved in people's brains. So people generally think that AI can do better. It's clear that AI is getting smarter now, and some see it as a threat. They know everything about our lives. Use AI to control appliances and more.

The video shows a serious contemporary problem - unemployment.

AI

PROS:

• One machine, one AI, they don't need to rest. They can work through the night on a full charge. There is no doubt that this is far beyond human.
• AI has more precision and can even calculate costs and losses. Simply put, machines are less likely to make mistakes.
• objective function (make more money)
• AI can upgrade itself to better serve human beings.

CONS:

• "We use google to search things, but we don't know if google is searching us". Privacy
• Your information, private data, and location are all monitored in real time.
• digital exhaustion
• Your information will be recorded. Accompanied by the disclosure of privacy.
• Technology sharing issues. People from different countries live in completely different social environments.

AI can be used for good or evil. Then it is the person who uses it, or a government, or a country that decides these.

Blog Post #7

 Netflix by Kielan O'Day

1977: Founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in California (purely a movie rental service)

2000: Falldown of blockbuster (Chance to by Netflix)

2007: Netflix began offering subscribers the option to stream some of its movies and television shows directly to their homes through the internet.

2010: Netflix introduced a streaming-only plan that offered unlimited streaming service but no DVDs.

2016: streaming service was available in more than190 countries.

CNN (cable news network)

Created on June 1, 1980 in Atlanta, GA

Originally became big on the scene once their piece about the attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan

Created by Robert “Ted” Turner.

It became the first 24-hour all-news service according to Harold L. Erickson from Britannica.