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I Will Show You a Transition (Not Really, Just Here to Talk About It)

Posted on by Jay

In film, transitions are the work of moving onto another scene, whether that scene happens just minutes later, or in a montage sequence, or years after the setting of the initial scene. It’s a way to help tell the passage of time within a film, no matter the length of time there is in between. It also helps in showing information to the viewer within just moments, rather than showcasing it over the course of however long it takes to get to a good bullet point in the story. A transition can also be used to showcase a change in a person; how they look, how they identify, how they react to the world around them, and many more like that.

Outside of film, we can use a transition to change from one topic to another, tying the two topics together in a way that’s easy for people to understand, and making it easier for them to grasp. We can use things that relate to each other as a way to transition from one thing to the next, all while keeping the flow of the scene or topic, and while making sure that the audience is on the same page as everyone else.

“Project 365 #133: 130510 Cut To The Chase” by comedy_nose is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0 .

Starfield’s Retro-Futuristic Look

Posted on by Jay

Starfield is a game that is a mostly unpopular game amongst the gaming community—not because it’s unknown to a lot of people, but because not a lot of people enjoy it. The game was created by Bethesda Studios, who created the Elder Scrolls series (the more well-known games in the ES series are Skyrim and Oblivion), and has been a game in the making for quite a long time. The game is set in the future—the 22nd century—and in a universe where people can travel easily to different civilized planets by star ships, and live in planets that are not that hospitable by any standards; it’s a game with alien creatures, and different gangs, and foods inspired by astronaut and high climate foods, and the capabilities of traveling to different universes. There is the inclusion of NASA that fits within the main storyline (that actually plays a vital role that led to…almost everything that exists in this game). You can visit Earth in its desolate space, and the other walk-able planets that are within the Sol system.

As someone who enjoys playing fantasy games more than sci-fi games, it’s been a game that I have enjoyed playing a lot despite the criticism that it has received from many, many people. What’s more, there are many structural things that are incorporated into the game that take on a very universal and astronautical appearance—almost a…modern retro-futuristic look.

The video above is a showcase of the outfits (not armor/spacesuits, though you will find some stats on some outifts) found in the game. Some of my favorite designs come from Ryujin Industries; my go-to base game outfit, however, is the White Neocity Poncho, for no reason other than it looks nice when worn on my own character.

There are still some current day influences to the way that some of these outfits look (e.g. the Freestar Rangers outfit look more western and have a “cowboy” flair, but still fit within the universe of having that futuristic concept to it); but for the most part, many of these outfits do have many resemblance to a retro-futuristic look that I think fits well for the universe.

“Xbox Series SX Controller Starfield Limited Edition” by Oleg Kuznetsov is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 .

Imagine, If You Would…Customizing a School Campus to Your Liking

Posted on by Jay

The fictional virtual world OASIS, much like the real-life virtual world Second Life, doesn’t have many limitations as far as what can be created and used within the world, or how that world can be used (e.g. for educational purposes). Aside from not being allowed to monetize from using copyrighted materials and IPs, there is no limit to what a user can create and host within the virtual world as long as they know what they’re doing.

In the fictional and predictive, sci-fi novel Ready Player One, the main character, Wade Watts, uses OASIS to attend classes in his virtual high school, which has instructors who also use avatars to teach their students. The schools within OASIS are copy-pasted to look almost identical to each other in the way that they are structured and how they function, but labeled by number to differentiate them from all the others. All schools also have a strict code on what a student’s avatar can look like, and each student’s name is displayed above their avatar rather than their username. While it makes things easy to use and keeps things from being too different from each other (not that being different is bad, but sometimes it’s easier to learn to navigate different buildings if most of them look the same), I think it lacks creativity and doesn’t fully allow the users to utilize the things that they can use to their advantage.

Of course, in a school setting, you would want to try and keep things as school-appropriate as possible without the total limitation on someone’s creativity. I’d like to think that, for a virtual college I would like to go to, I would want there to be an area that simulates not a building, but a forestry landscape for people to escape to and relax or even study. I know, in the novel, there are ways of simulating an area like that in the classroom, but it would be nice to also have a dedicated space where it’s reminiscent of nature, and not just a temporary image that people can close out of once the lesson is over.

If I were to add anything to redesign a college building inside of our version of the OASIS, I think it would be nice to take inspiration from Arcane and the way they designed Piltover, which is the industrial city home to the invention of Hextech. Their buildings are very much inspired by art deco, but have an industrial twist to their designs. I like to imagine, in a world that is not as desolate and sad as the one in Ready Player One, and in a world where things like this were easily more accessible and safe for people to use, it would be nice to have a nice form of escapism for people, or a place reminiscent of an artistic area in the real-world that might be too expensive for people to travel to. Something that isn’t entirely standard in the virtual schooling world, and also something that is unique enough that makes people want to take inspiration as well.

“Melbourne Art Deco House” by colros is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .

You Too Shall Succeed – Rube Goldberg and Inspiration

Posted on by Jay

“The Way Things Go” is a short film, directed by Fischli and Weiss, that showcases a Rube Goldberg contraption—a contraption that depicts a chain reaction to complete a simple task. Rube Goldberg contraptions, in my opinion, are very dramatic in a very positive way; the way that they can become intricate, and need a keen eye to make sure that everything will work out to completion, is absolutely incredible, and makes me appreciate the dedicated time it takes to create something so incredibly absurd—again, said with positive connotations.

“The Way Things Go” instantly reminded me of a music video I had watched during class last year: “OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – Rube Goldberg Machine – Official Video”. The entire music video consists of watching their Rube Goldberg machine unravel in real-time, and often in-beat to the song that plays in it. I think the song choice to use the Rue Goldberg machine on was a perfect choice; things like this take trial and error to complete, and therefor it can get very frustrating at some points. A nice reminder that, despite all your hardships and the things that come with it, everything can be okay by the time morning comes, and you can reset yourself each day to try again and keep going.

(to be quite frank, this should become a reminder for myself as I enter the new year)

I consider these video, amongst other videos created and inspired by this concept, to be art. It’s a thing that these creators took out of their day—in fact, quite possibly many days—to complete, especially including the trial and error that comes from testing it out to make sure each section worked completely. I have personally never have done something like this in my entire life, but I know that it’s not an easy thing to do, and especially one that takes up more than a minute to complete smoothly and perfectly. The dedication it takes can also become inspiring to others, and therefore can help keep this domino effect of inspiring others to accomplish their own tasks—and so on and so forth.

Spreading the Word About My Works (or…Maybe Not)

Posted on by Jay

Despite the fact that I have been publicly uploading my crafts to a website that I host, I have not been cross posting my content to any of my social media accounts. I have an Instagram account that is under the same name as my website (jaysblankstudio), as well as a Pinterest account that is under the same name; however, I have not posted anything on either of those locations. I also have a YouTube account where I have posted videos for video projects. Most of those videos are unlisted but can be seen through my website! 

As far as plans for either of those go, I feel as though using Instagram as a portfolio of the things I have created would be a good thing for future needs regarding a job in the artistic field (or anything related to digital designing). I don’t think I would want to post everything that I have created onto my Instagram—I would most likely just post the things I am most fond of and am most proud of. For any potential videos I make, I will still put them on my YouTube…whether or not I make them public or unlisted is up for debate.

“Hot Chocolate & Computers” by Martin Cathrae is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .

Welcome to the Hero’s Journey!

Posted on by Jay

It’s wonderful to be welcoming so may new faces on this incredible adventure! This is a place where anyone can begin, no matter what sort of Hero’s Journey you are navigating through in your own life! It is also a place to help reflect on your previous adventures, as well as think about how these steps can help you navigate any current or future ones you may go through. There are many outcomes to our adventures, and not all things will happen in the same step; but this can give an idea of what could happen, and, in turn, help you prepare for an even that relates to these steps.

On the side of the ship that everyone has entered on, there are multiple images and artworks creates by previous adventurers that have gone through their own hero journey—or are currently going through it—and have created a badge to reflect them and their goals. My own badge shows off many flowers of different types surrounded by myself. The inspiration comes from the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, an artist that I have talked about previously in a previous post, which also shows off the draft of my mission badge. My badge shows off flowers that represent different types of self-care, as well as things I aspire to be in order to better myself and my mental health.

Dungeons and Dragons: The Real World Campaign (The Multimedia Saga)

Posted on by Jay

Every good teams has a nice balance of people—those whose strength can back-up what other weaknesses are. Whether this is in the real world, working with coworkers that you spend time around daily, or creating a team of people in a game setting where an infinite amount of things can happen, it’s necessary that we are able to know who we are working with, and learn how to be as cooperative as possible. Knowing people’s jobs and specialties can really help in creating a positive team, especially when they all balance each other.

Just like in Dungeons and Dragons, there are certain fields that require certain jobs to help the workflow of the team, and to make sure that things are running as efficiently as possible. An example of this would be a team dedicated to making graphic designs for a company, but the team is broken down into different categories and job titles:

  • The one who can create the design (Graphic Designer)
  • The one who requested the design (Art Director)
  • The one who can go through and make changes before sending it back (Editor)
  • The one who provides imagery for the design (Photographer)
  • The one who adds the flair and creates moving imagery to help sell the point, after the design is finished and needs to be presented to an interested party (Special Effects Artists and Animators).

Based on the Myers-Briggs personality types that are usually used for D&D characters, as well as linking up those same personalities to each job listed here, we can create a team within the world of D&D that has the same match-up as the creative multimedia team we see in real life:

  • Art Director = Warlock or Rogue (INTP, the Logician)
  • Editor = Paladin (ENFP, the Campaigner)
  • Graphic Designer = Wizard or Sorcerer (INTJ, the Architect)
  • Photography = Barbarian (ESTP, the Entrepreneur) or Fighter (ENTP, the Debater)
  • Special Effects Artists and Animators = Ranger or Bard (ISFP, the Adventurer)

The classes themselves all differ based on what weapons they use, as well as what their roles are for the party (arcane users for varying types of abilities, a paladin for healing, a warrior class for damage and tanking (a person who uses their self to take on a lot of damage from the opposing team, as well as deal massive damage), and therefore can pick each other up when one lacks a certain skill for a certain action. This is very similar, if not almost exactly, to how everyone working on a real life job uses their own specialty and skills to help each other on a certain task, and collaborate to complete it.

Citation:
Ball State University | Myers Briggs Personality Types
16Personalities | Personality Types

“Wacom Computer” by Negative Space is marked with CC0 1.0 .

Joining the Adventure

Posted on by Jay

College is a big step for a lot of people—there are many things that can seem overwhelming if someone is just starting to think about extending their education, or wanting to develop some other skills that would benefit them for a multitude of reasons. Depending on the college as well, sometimes the “competition” of trying to get in when there are so many people wanting to attend can be off-putting to those who have insecurity about getting that acceptance letter. College can be intimidating at first glance, but the adventure that waits inside is exciting, and can be worth the hardships that come with preparing for college, as well as when in the thick of it.

An alumnus of the college—or maybe even someone who is in the middle of earning their degree—would be the best person to speak to about their experiences being in college. From the student’s perspective, they’d be able to tell you about their experiences signing up and taking courses, about their experiences with time management (or a lake thereof), and their experiences with utilizing the college resources found around campus or online, amongst many. Of course, everyone’s experience is going to be different, and not everyone will have that picture perfect image of what it means to be a student at college; however, those “imperfections” can help encourage students to still participate and have fun while doing it.

Everyone’s reasoning for joining college is going to be different; the journey to get to the destination, however, can bring people together, especially when you find that you have surrounded yourself with familiar classmates who are in the same classes as you and are working towards the same goal as you. Sometimes the experiences you have with other people, as well as the ones you have yourself, can have as much of an equal impact as finally obtaining the degree that you were working towards. That is an adventure that some people would not replace, no matter how stressful things got on the way there.

“Empty college classroom with 10 rows of chairs on layered levels. Podium and projector showing computer desktop at the front of the class.” by Marcus Burnette is marked with CC0 1.0 .