This week I was happy we only had to do three so I could do my best to get my work done sooner rather than later.
I made these three for this week’s daily creates the one that took me the longest was definitely the Australia day. I almost forgot it until I laid in bed and then jumped up realizing I never posted it. Since it was so late when I remember couldn’t add a kangaroo and koala like I wanted to. The flags were the pg version of my idea, I was actually planning to do a map and then have the country flipping off everyone else and them looking either happy or offended based on their relationships.
The last one I did I was low key sad since I realized there wasn’t really anything I had aside from basically homework, my parents are lucky I didn’t learn to hate them because EVERY summer I was forced to spend the whole-time doing homework. If my siblings were sent to summer school, they PAID for me to go too! Like homie what!
The burrito was nice but gosh was it pricey, the most balanced meal I had in a while.
For this assignment, I was inspired by the game over screens when you fail a game. At first It seems you have hit a stopping point but then you look down and see try again but and you find a new way. Things aren’t over till you give up. Max has hit dead ends all her life, but she knows that It’s only over when she stops fighting. So, until then she will punch through firewalls and bodies. Photos and edit done by me. I made this using a software called Picarts using black boxes to fill in the computer screen and finding a font that fit. Took a but to maneuver it properly though.
I decided to visualize max through a site called Picrew. Artist ne_yolk. With that and the trading card creator it was easy to bring Max to life and flesh her out a bit more. Dirty brown hair, deep dark circle, and unhealthy pale skin due to all the smog cover and being inside. My thought process was of her getting caught eating sugar to keep herself up after not sleeping all night.
Images and edits by me, the image is off certain day on campus that I saw a rabbit and thought it was stunning so naturally I snapped a photo. I try to preserve small moments if I can. This was back last semester when I walked past for work and the light was hitting perfectly, I couldn’t help myself.
Today’s weekly summary Image is brought to you by the scene of the back Woodard window by me.
Number one is always a good place to start Learn How to Write Assignment Posts.
The Work Itself
Telling the Story Behind the Story
Narrating the Process
As with most things even if you work for hours if you don’t tell someone how hard you worked, they will never know. Admittedly the start is rough for me since my habit of doing what’s important and gong back for small details later is going to be the end of me. There have been many papers completed and completely redone due to this habit. But I made sure to read through it and then….told myself to do it again Thursday because I will 100% forget (medical junk) and yep!!!! I did!! remember knowing yourself is better than knowing your enemies people!!
Dude chill it's not that deep. In fact, it is that deep
Next great hurdle was the daily creates and I am so! happy I checked what needed to be done on the weekend and not Monday! I really needed that extra day to do the daily creates in case I forgot, and I did, once again know yourself well!
Jan 18th my first post, I was so sure I didn’t own anything that was the slightest but spy like. Then I remembered the tool I used for mischief. My key screws they have been used dull almost, my special tool for when curiosity strikes. So I searched through my bag and pulled them out finding decent lighting before snapping a picture.
Jan 19th sarcastic captcha, although it said sarcasm I wanted to be funnier about it making a captcha that was impossible to do in a different way. Funniest part was that I edited this in google slides, clipping and pulling together a random group in images. As you can see the technology degrades as it goes down. I almost chose to just put toasters on the bottom row. With cropping, copy and paste, grouping and blasting music it was made.
Jan 20th This one that had zero thoughts, I hate clowns and therefore put that energy into this. Using an app on my phone called photo Leap to make it. Transforming the cover onto the books, though I realized it was too small to read so had to make it look more like an ad then anything. the clown was added by trying to make the blur match the one that was already there.
Jan 21st So much harder to make ugly art them expected but, I did my best. Much better at making something look unsettling rather than ugly. It can’t be seen but there is hidden text saying free me and run. Creepy right! It’s just a bunch of squares put together in different shades of grey.
Jan 23st Simple as making sure to put the happy birthday song my family uses.
Explore the Assignment Bank is third. I was almost unlucky and didn’t notice Make at least two of the assignments relate in some way to our course theme. Good thing I checked almost daily
Of the assignments the easiest was the coloring after all it was just downloading an app and following the instructions. I did try to stick to 2 star and below options and was truly surprised by how many there were. Plus, some get very complicated very quickly and unfortunately, I’m not at that level yet. Overall, I spent the most time on the intro since I was trying to get the Doctor to just say my intro completely forgetting how sassy he is. So, it took a few rewordings to realize. The visual assignment time was spent more in coming up with the idea then actually doing it. This time I used the paint application and good old Pinterest it’s a cesspool in my eyes (I spent all of middle school doom scrolling there). I ended up pumping the work out over the week and going back to adjust it today only to remember everything in this class is live ;^; shoot. Welp I may end up doing the publish later option more often.
Customizing my blog..Groan! At first, I was trying to figure out how to do it custom but, ended up crashing and burning since I’m a minimalist with a floral dream. Changing my main background color irked me cause not every color looks good with everything but white and black are neutral. So, despite being a dark mode girly I chose white since flowers tend to be a light color. Color theory begone it’s called if my brain go purr it works. I ended up choosing one of the offered themes. Then fought with the category boxes. That was a must! It’s more of a accessibility thing for me. Why click text when it could be pretty pictures one is far more impactful don’t you agree? Of course, I found a video about how to add links in word press.
Gosh I love the internet. Then it hit me! Agh I had to actually label my pretty flowers, so people knew where they were actually going. So, I labeled them and now the variety of pink flowers are their own identity. After that it was far simpler just looking up flowers. I mean for the assignment’s sake I can add more but honestly, I felt very very satisfied my brain go purr and my eyes don’t get stressed and overwhelmed trying to take in a flurry of information and graphics. Not flashy but I never liked a flashy.
My character took a while since I was stacked with work but, overall, she came out far less fleshed out then I prefer. Still, I thought about all week thinking what she would be like. Looking up cliches and so much more.
For the interaction and Dr. oblivion it seemed more like a long turn but started out at getting used to do both, so going to make it a habit to comment on my classmate’s stuff and making sure to ask any questions to the Doctor.
The Postman was an interesting read, but I struggled to relate it to my film. Overall, I got it done faster then I hope despite all the reading admittedly I should have done each reading one by one and compared not do all at once and try to compare based off my memory was not fun hoping from page to page.
Finally redid my review honestly very uncomfortable experience writing like that for something school related… Still got it done and it certainly came out differently… Better is not the right word but, it is more fun and interesting to read now.
Your bank account’s worse nightmare and lady of the Salt Blue clan. Born on 08/20/2060…error…information deleted… Born on ??/??/????. She was raised under her single mother and forever absent father at the age of 5 she was sold to a repair shop to be an apprentice. Under the gang soon worked her way to become the top hacker. Hidden in the dark shadows and slowly hacking away in a broken world.
“Turn it off and let it burn” -Max
She loves eating meat but, in today’s society it’s hard to get the real stuff since most is synthetic meat. Although she isn’t a drinker her favorite is a blue martini from the Gear. A night club down the street from her. Favorite colors are red and blue since they pop up the most often on her screens. 100 ways to fix a computer is her favorite book and one of the first books she ever got. On the other hand, her favorite book in called blue moon romance….error….Information edited…..Her favorite movie is Brookshire murders. Finally, her favorite item is the Cyber Screwdriver, helpful for opening doors and zapping enemies in an emergency.
Your bank account’s worse nightmare and lady of the Salt Blue clan. Born on 08/20/2060…error…information deleted… Born on ??/??/????. She was raised under her single mother and forever absent father at the age of 5 she was sold to a repair shop to be an apprentice. Under the gang soon worked her way to become…
I began with the name Matrix since it’s very noir and ended with the name Max since it’s very gender neutral. I did not have a specific idea in mind so thinking of a good image that suited her took a while. She is inspired by hackers with deep dark circles and no social lives.
Technopoly is a culture dominated by technology, redefining religion, art, family, politics, history, truth, privacy, and intelligence. In the film I watch technology was intrated into society and treated as a tool rather then a force that shapes culture as Postman says.
Postman also says that we see technology as a fried and igore it’s negative portains. In this film technology was indeed used to take lives and hurt people.
In the film the main charater did recieve infromation over load technologey used to completetly change who he was. “The Groundstar Conspiracy” seems to focus more on a government conspiracy and technological secrets, while Postman’s concerns are about the broader impact of technology on culture and society. Though the biggest point that the movie does relate to is the use of technology being dangerous if left unchecked
Honestly reading through the Postman was interesting but, not as eye-opening as I’m sure it is to most. After all I have screamed at enough computers to understand that it is more than meets the eye. Plus, I am a young adult with a brain that isn’t fully developed I am constantly skeptical and against things, simply because someone told me I should be quiet and trust it I will actively work hard to comment and question every aspect. The second I learned I could use sites without accepting all cookies I made sure not too even if they made the process take longer on purpose so you wouldn’t click it. I did actually struggle though when relating it to my film since while yes, they utilized technology it wasn’t like they were puppets being manipulated by a main frame or something, so I had to go back and really look. Then I didn’t know how long it had to be and simplified it. Overall, though yes, I did enjoy the reading no I did not enjoy analyzing I would be impressed to meet someone who does.
A broken sign flashed blue neon, creating a rhythmic flicker over the alley’s slippery, damp asphalt. Potholes accumulated puddles that were too deep to be rainwater, reflecting the sky like obsidian shards. A instrument of brushed steel, its strange blue glow fading to a dying ember, lay beside a crumpled body. Rats, slender and plump, emerged from the darkness, scavengers in a concrete jungle where even rodents appeared to flourish. His story was buried in the endless urban night, and he was simply another fatality. The weight of the world, a tiny data chip promising salvation, shifted in the pocket of the man who had been his friend – or had he been? Trust was a currency long devalued in this city of shadows and circuits.
Stay Home – Living is Dangerous. Create some sort of graphic. Design the overall graphic to convey some sort of feeling or theme, but then have text saying something completely contradictory to the theme or feeling. Sort of like one of those old anti-motivational posters, but with more design than a black box with a white frame.”
I wanted to do something simple and creepy. Using the description of the assignment to create the creep factor.
I had to search for a suitable image that went along with the theme of tech noir. This particular image was built with the idea of constant surveillance even if you can’t tell. Yet I opted to put a visible eye then a hidden one.
Tech noir is investigations, conspiracies, and betrayals
It’s not always man vs. machine
That’s at least how I saw it in The Groundstar Conspiracy.
A research computer complex called Groundstar is destroyed in an explosion, killing six people and leaving one survivor named John Welles, who is suspected of stealing a miniaturized fuel system.
Talk about a classic bit when he is finally saves and comes to, he has amnesia!
Sticking to cliches who comes to investigate? A silver haired fox named Tuxan a classic anti-hero. His methods are questionable, but his hair is exquisite.
With some good old interrogation and surveillance, Tuxan tries to piece together Welles’s past and uncover the identities of his collaborators, who he believes are trying to silence Welles and prevent him from revealing their secrets. Everyone is very gun happy.
Violence is clearly everyone’s favorite solution.
Guess what the twists aren’t over!!! This movie is an absolute maze, and it messed with my head because there is truly no one you can believe.
The real John Welles was a computer technician who died shortly after the explosion! The man’s true name is Peter Bellamy!
Who is Peter Bellamy you may ask?
Honestly, he’s not the victim; he’s just a sucker who was used and then thrown away, somehow the center of everything, yet in the end easy to disp. Our protagonist was caught in a web of manipulation and deceit. Left with whatever scraps of his true life he could remember, of course, more accurately whatever scraps he was told about or had nightmares about.
This tale ends with Tuxan admitting he was weaving a web to catch the true conspirators. I was right not to like him from the start. Bellamy was simply bait, the true John Wells now on ice, or should I say in it… low blow, I know, but guess what’s lower, his body! Kidding, kidding, he’s in a drawer, not a grave.
This was all to catch this mean son of gun. Smug, rich, and a weird amount of free time.
After all that I need a nap. But first let me give you a character map!
“The Groundstar Conspiracy” Key Characters
Peter Bellamy/John Welles: The amnesiac
Tuxan: Hard-boiled investigator and dirty cop
Senator Stanton: corrupt official
Honorable mention!
Nicole Devon: Femme Fatale
This is truly a classic of the tech noir genre.
Morally ambiguous characters, the blurring of Lines between good and evil, The constant surveillance and paranoia. I mean it was funny in a creepy way.
“I see you”
The film’s visual style and atmosphere evoke a sense of suspense and unease, reflecting the core anxieties and themes of tech noir.
“The Groundstar Conspiracy” is a film noir that blends elements of science fiction and film noir, creating a suspenseful and intriguing narrative. The story revolves around John Wells, a sabotage suspect who emerges from a devastating explosion at a top-secret research facility with severe injuries and amnesia. The film exemplifies the characteristics of tech noir, showcasing the potential dangers of advanced technology and the use of the telephone as a tool for surveillance and manipulation.
The film’s narrative structure mirrors the classic film noir tradition, with a confessional narrative driven by the amnesiac protagonist. The film effectively utilizes visual elements characteristic of film noir to create a world of suspicion and uncertainty, with low lighting, shadows, and claustrophobic interiors accentuated. Beyond the visual elements, the film also employs thematic elements of film noir, such as the presence of a “femme fatale” in Nicole Devon.
One of the most striking aspects of “The Groundstar Conspiracy” is the moral ambiguity that permeates the story, with characters operating in a world that blurs the lines between right and wrong. The film’s ending leaves the audience with unanswered questions, reflecting the often uncertain and morally challenging resolutions found in classic film noir.
