Final Capstone Blog

          Well Capstone has finally finished and I am satisfied with the result. I didn’t imagine I would get so much done and ever since my Capstone project started I have become more motivated than ever. This experience has allowed me to become prepared for acquiring a career in the real world and gain more knowledge on how to do so. 

        Crafting the graphic novel has been an eye-opening process and I have discovered many ways and new techniques I could use to craft more graphic novels. I will surely take this techniques with me to the real world and try to make a career out of all the knowledge I’ve gained. 

The portfolio that I have crafted for my Capstone will surely be the starting point to gaining an actual job. After I graduate I may get some experience in my field by working for the Baha’i Faith. What I will actually be doing is not known yet but I am sure it will help me gain more experience I need to achieve my goals. 

         I could not have gone this far without my director Monica Larson, and the other staff at the Communications department in Shepherd University. I have been to two other universities before Shepherd and started out as a Psychology major but I am glad overall with the switch I made to Communications as it is truly the gateway to achieving the career I want most in this world. I am thankful that I made the right changes during my college experience and I thank all who have led me to this path. I have planted the seeds necessary to start my life in the work world and gained the traction I need to be succesful. The capstone experience was very necessary and I am thankful for where it has gotten me over the semester.

Cultural Attendance Blog #5 - The Birth of Bahá’u’lláh

            I attended a religious gathering of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. I am a member of the Baha’i Faith which is a religion that basically believes in the unity of mankind, the unity of religion, and the equality of man and woman. The founder of the Baha’i faith is known as Bahá’u'lláh and to celebrate his birthday, members of the Baha’i community gather together to say prayers and enjoy good company. His birthday was on November 12, 1817 so it has been almost 200 years since he was born. I have not been involved in many religious activities since the Summer of 2013 and it was nice to see the community again. I attended with my mother and we were both on the fence about going due to the lack of knowledge of the location where the event would be held. We went anyway and I noticed many technical difficulties and videos being played to celebrate. 

           A thought occurred that I could possibly create videos for my religion and spread the teachings of the Baha’i Faith across the country. After attending all of these events I realize that more and more of what I learned in the Communications department could be applied to my everyday life. From the events I attend to just simply helping my parents and other people learn new software and techniques. I realize that Communications is relevant to my world. It helps that I have all this knowledge as it is becoming more relevant to acquire knowledge of these techniques. I learned this well in this event and even planning events could be applied. 

To learn more about the Baha’i Faith one could check the link below this post. 

http://info.bahai.org/

Cultural Attendance Blog #4 - Super Smash Bros for 3DS midnight release

          I attended the midnight release of Super Smash Bros for the 3DS. It was not my first time attending a midnight release of a video game. The other midnight release I attended was for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y a year prior to this event. 

          It still baffles me today that people would ruin their sleep schedule to come out and support a game as the soon as the clock strikes midnight. Of course I am guilty of this because I too wanted to play the game so bad. I can honestly say I did not sleep well that night as I plugged many hours into Super Smash Bros as soon as I got home that night. My dream is to create a product such as this where individuals come out at ridiculous hours of the day just to get one of the first copies of my product. As I waited in line I partook in playing Super Smash bros matches through the demo version of the game with random people waiting in line too. Just like with Otakon it felt good to be around people with similar interests and I would love to be around people like that all the time. I would love to get a job in the video game industry just because I play them almost everyday and I want to spread the joy to other gamers too. 

          Gaming is not just a form of entertainment but it was a way of life. It encompasses so much from storytelling to emotional therapy. Gaming has healed the minds of many (myself included) that I don’t find it too insane that people want these games so bad. I learned from these releases that people just want to have fun that much because having fun is the greatest feeling a person can have.

Cultural Attendance Blog #3 - Otakon

          I attended Otakon in at the Baltimore Convention Center. Otakon was the first anime convention I have ever been to. For about 5 years I have been trying to go with my friends but they always came up with excuses as to why they couldn’t go. I decided to just go on my own and had low expectations as I was by myself. I had arranged to meet up with people who I met through tumblr.com and I had never met them in person before.

         Surprisingly everything turned out fine and it was a really fun experience. I got to meet other fans of the same stuff I watch and it was crazy having people understand all of the anime references I make because I’m not used to that. I went to panels that featured voice actors, the Japanese history in anime, and I got to see how Anime licensing companies in the USA operate. 

          I attended Funimation’s panel (an anime licensing company stationed in Texas) and I saw all the announcements they made and trailers they themselves made about anime that were going to be dubbed into english for US audiences. I actually had the thought occur that Funimation would be a company I would want to work for and I could actually adapt well considering my knowledge in the communications department combined with my knowledge of anime. I could tell from the panel that the staff at Funimation really do love anime and enjoy their jobs and that is something I look for in a job. They also get to go to conventions across the country all the time which is something I would not be opposed to doing myself. So once I graduate I will look into a job in Funimation Entertainment because it is very relevant to my interests. I had fun at my first anime convention and I made some new friends who I would like to see the next time I attend a convention. Hopefully my other friends will go next time after I tell them of my experiences there (but not of the money I spent there).

Cultural Attendance Blog #2 - Comedy Show in Washington DC

           I attended my first comedy club showing in Washington DC. The reason I attended was actually because my sister was one of the comedians participating. It was a sort of audition where there would be 10 comedians each performing for a few minutes. If they performed well they would perform in front of a bigger crowd next time. My sister passed the audition round and it was a great night. 

             My sister Elahe Izadi is actually a reporter as well as a comedian. For years she has done this and managed to partake in both of these paths of her life. I learned through her that it is possible to follow more than one dream and I look up to her for this. My sister’s performance was great and I realized how much work she actually puts in for both of her jobs. 

           I need to obtain the same work ethic as her if I want to do everything I’ve planned to for years. I want a stable job and at the same time I want to construct graphic novels for a living. These are my callings and this event made me want to obtain the same greatness that my sister achieved. All of her friends, coworkers from her reporter job, and family members were there just to see her perform and it was heartwarming to see the crowd laugh at her jokes. She often appears on Msnbc for her reporter’s job and takes on a complete different demeanor and attitude. If it means accomplishing my goals I will work as hard as my sister does. 

       I’ve never really cared for stand up comedy and I just went to support my sister but this event was surprisingly enjoyable for me and my family. I would like to attend more of my sisters’ events to support her.

Video on my sister: http://elaheizadi.com/media/

Game Design Blog #11 - Competitive Battling

          In the world of Pokemon (our world of Pokemon not the game world of Pokemon) there exists another community of Pokemon players devoted to something called competitive battling. This scene is devoted to playing the Pokemon games seriously and as a sport. Many see these competitive players and think that battling Pokemon is an easy task but this is not so. Competitive battling is basically a Pokemon battle taking place between different players of the games battling each other.

          In every Pokemon generation after the third generation Pokemon were given stats known as EVs, Natures, and IVs. These are what play huge factors in competitive battling. Natures give a Pokemon a boost in one stat and decrease in another. These are random when a player receives or catches a Pokemon. EVs are known as Effort Values and when battling other Pokemon, each Pokemon gains an Effort Value in a certain stat when they defeat a Pokemon thus receiving a boost in that stat. IVs or Individual Values are automatic boosts each Pokemon receives in stats. It is ideal for a Pokemon to have perfect IVs in every stat and gaining a Pokemon with these stats is very time consuming. 

         Judging from the explanation alone a lot of time, patience, and luck goes into raising Pokemon for competitive battling. Many individuals wonder why Gamefreak would go to the trouble of including all these features but the simple answer goes back to why they released the Pokemon games in the first place. They wanted to have players interact with each other through trading and battling. 

In terms of actual battling competitive player Giancarlo Parimango “You have to be really good at reading your opponent’s mind. You have to ask yourself, ‘if I was battling myself what move would I go for next?” 

           Competitive battling is very complicated and is not meant for casual players. It is very time consuming and if one were to be interested to getting into it they would have to be in it for the long haul. The Pokemon community is very famous to having very many different sub cultures and this helps the players find a community for each person.

Resource: Magdaleno, Alex. "Inside the Secret World of Competitive Pokémon." Mashable. 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. <http://mashable.com/2014/02/20/competitive-pokemon/>.

Cultural Attendance Blog #1 - Malala's Pakistan

On September 4th 2014 I attended a lecture by professor of History Dr. David Gordon called “Malala’s Pakistan - On the Edge of Two Worlds”. The lecture basically detailed the history of Pakistan’s government and gave incentive for students and other individuals to read Malala’s book called I am Malala. When I attended the event I expected there to be only students in attendance but there were many individuals in their 40s to 60s in attendance to hear the lecture and to my surprise when Dr. Gordon asked how many have read the book the majority of individuals in attendance had completed the book. 

It was interesting to see how many different groups of individuals were in attendance and it opened up my eyes to how diverse the group was. After the presentation I went to talk to Professor Gordon about my Iranian background and to my surprise he had huge knowledge about my culture and religious group and was very kind when speaking to me about this. 

The presentation gave me more education about Malala and what she had to go through while bringing change to the world. Malala was shot in the face for fighting for what she believed in and luckily she is healthy today and being protected in Britain. If she were to return to Pakistan should would most likely be captured by the corrupt government and viewed as a villain by many. In the United States and other countries she is viewed as a hero fighting for the right to education. She recently won the Nobel Peace Prize and this is a huge accomplishment for someone her age. After attending the lecture I am most certainly motivated to obtain the book myself and read through it to see how a brilliant mind was able to overcome so much adversity. 

Game Design Blog #10 - The Nuzlocke Challenge

In the Pokemon community there are many who consider the regular games to be way too easy. The Pokemon series is not known for being a hard one. Many argue that the series is easier to get into because of how easy it is to play. Others want more of a challenge after playing the same games for so long. 

This was the thought process for a webcomic artist known as Nuzlocke. Nuzlocke was bored during finals week at his college and decided to play an old copy of his Pokemon Ruby. Thinking the game to be too easy he imposed two self-restricted rules on his playthrough. He was only allowed to capture the first new Pokemon he saw in each new area and if a Pokemon fainted he had to release it thus making the Pokemon not usable for the rest of the play through. The results were what he did not expect. He found himself caring about his Pokemon team and using Pokemon no normal players would use. He wanted to share his experience so he made a now well-known web comic known as Pokemon:Hard Mode. He posted them on 4chan and these users have dubbed it the Nuzlocke Challenge. 

The impact the Nuzlocke Challenge had on the Pokemon community was astounding. Many fans of the comic partook in the challenge and made their own webcomics. The Nuzlocke Challenge had thus developed it’s own community and the challenge is well-known by many Pokemon fans. People on youtube.com have also recorded themselves doing their own Nuzlocke Challenge spreading the popularity of it. Others (such as myself) partake in the challenge on their free time. Many add their own rules to the challenge to make it harder or easier and it is all up to preference. The same two rules are still intact. The original webcomic although vulgar and comedic did teach a valuable lesson to Pokemon fans everywhere. The lesson that it taught was “there is no victory without loss.”

You can read the original comic here: http://www.nuzlocke.com/pokemonhardmode.php?p=1

Resource: "What Is the Nuzlocke Challenge?" What Is the Nuzlocke Challenge? 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nuzlocke.com/challenge.php>.

Capstone Progress Blog - Achieving the look I want.

Style is an important aspect to take into account when constructing a graphic novel. You have to make sure the style works well with the type of story you are writing. I have discovered the style I want to use with my sprites for my graphic novel. By enhancing real photos to make them appear more sprite like I am able to make the contrast between the sprites and the background mesh well together. I am using the fresco filter in Adobe Photoshop to make the real photos like as if they are from a video game to match that sprites that are meant for video games. I am still learning about everything Photoshop is capable of and I am sure I will continue learn about what this program has to offer the creative fields. 

With the feedback I received on my storyboards I am on track to finally completing my novel. Funny enough the feedback I received helps me to reduce the work load I have to do. I have a history of wasting panels to have a character say one line but with the help I received from my director I now have learned to make the panels more concise and have characters deliver more information on a single panel. This will also help me from not repeating panels. A big part of creating a graphic novel is to make sure the reader does not have to continue shifting their eyes between panels every 2 seconds. It would be too much to process and make the reader feel as if they are in a hurry. As I continue the project I am continuing to learn much more about the kind of work and thoughts one needs to take in. I am relived to hear that my story is fine and well crafted and it gives me more confidence and motivation to finish this work I am crafting from my mind. I am not on track to constructing a novel that I have always wanted to craft. 

Game Design Blog #9 - Twitch Plays Pokemon

        There are fans of the Pokemon franchise who have stuck with the franchise since they were children. There are fans of the Pokemon franchise who strayed away from the series after the first generation or the third generation. There are some things in the franchise that still bring these two groups of people in harmony though. 

        On February 12 2014 a random twitch user going by the name Twitchplayspokemon developed a program that would work with the video streaming website twitch. This program streamed Pokemon Red and allowed twitch users to put in a command in the twitch chat that would control the actions of the player in the game. This phenomenon became known as Twitch plays Pokemon. Whenever a twitch user typed in the commands left, right down, up, a, b, start, or select the protagonist on the screen would act according to those commands. Over 1 million people participated in this experience and Twitch plays Pokemon became its own subculture and fans became creative with this phenomenon. 

         There was a lore that was developed with the quest and twitch users had many reasons for why certain events transpired. A good example would be the protagonist’s Pokemon Pidgeot. The Pidgeot in the game was referred to by the fandom as “The Messiah” or “Bird Jesus” for its incredible battle strength and basically commanding dominance in the whole run of the game. The fact that the fandom could create a compelling lore for the game despite having little control of the player’s actions is astounding. The creator of the game has said he has “interest in continuing the event through each generation of Pokemon.” Other live streamers have implemented the program he made into other games such as Minecraft or the Super Nintendo RPG Earthbound. Twitch Plays Pokemon is an inspiring event that many fans of the series and even individuals who use the internet will view as a historic event in the Pokemon franchise. Currently the website is streaming Pokemon Stadium 2 implimenting the same formula as the original Twitch Plays Pokemon.

Resources: 

Suszeck, Mike. "Twitch Plays Pokemon: Creating an oral history in real-time."Joystiq. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/26/twitch-plays-pokemon-creating-an-oral-history-in-real-time/>.

"TwitchPlaysPokemon." Twitch. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon>

Progress on my Capstone Project - Storyboards finished and Enhancing my skills

As the date for capstone presentations slowly approaches I find myself pressed for time on getting everything in order. My progress on the project however is currently on schedule and I am good to go for now. I need to start working more and I have quit my job to allow myself to have more time for this project. This project is the gateway to many better job opportunities so I devote my time to that. 

I have finished my rough storyboards for the project and I await the review from my director to see what I need to improve on. The sprites have been enhanced to look more crisp for my project and each character that appears now has a sprite of their own. The sprites size has increased so they won’t look blurry when I craft the graphic novel. An issue I have had with sprite comics in the past is that my sprites usually look blurry when I put it onto a Photoshop canvas but now I have eliminated that problem with the help of Adobe Illustrator a program in which I have no prior experience in. 

This project has already expanded my horizons by allowing me to gain more experience with more software which I need to have knowledge of in the work field. The programs I learn the more job opportunities open up for me as a person in the field of Communications. I now need to make some sample pages so I get a feel of what my actual novel is going to look like. I need to use the Photoshop filters to make the backgrounds look like they belong with the sprites. I plan on taking actual photos of the backgrounds and with Photoshop I am planning on editing those backgrounds to appear more sprite like as to much the cartoonish appearance of my sprites. Thanks to my existing knowledge on how to use the Photoshop program I am able to execute this method with minimal problems. As I am on schedule I hope to continue to be on this path and enhance my repertoire of skills for the work world.

Special Effects Blog 2: Making the zombie project easier

          One of the difficult affects I am anticipating to work with in the zombie footage is having myself (the subject) walk in the graveyard off screen. The reasoning for this is because I plan to have my feet hidden behind a stone wall for most of the clip and then I will have to add them back when I walk off the screen. I need to enhance my mastery of the 3d special effects for this undertaking as I believe it will help achieve what I desire for this clip. 

          I could have my storyboard show me walking sideways offscreen instead of backwards off screen. That way I could hide my feet still and won’t have to hide them in. Perhaps I could also add in an extra clip that is exclusively me walking off of the scene. With that clip I would have to record a separate walking sequence. 

         Another problem will be animating the backpack in the scene in addition to myself. This makes it so now I have two objects I need to rotoscope and manage. Both of these objects will be showing movement and both need to be rotoscoped in the composition. Again I could have a separate clip with me putting on my backpack instead of the normal clip of me rising and putting in my backpack in the same clip. Separate clips with separate actions seem to be easier to manage and combine into one film then to have to manage them all at the same time. Managing them all at the same time would be hectic so most likely I am going to have to manage different clips in different compositions rather than all of them in one to reduce chaos in the editing process of my film.

Game Design Blog #8 - The side games of Pokemon and their impact

The Pokemon franchise has produced so many spin off games and many argue that they are just as successful sometimes more successful than the main games. There are some gamers in the gaming world who have played some of the side games but none of the main games. These games take normal concepts and apply Pokemon to them.

In Pokemon Snap “players of the game proceed through various environments in a vehicle that travels through the air, in water and on land and try to “snap” the best pictures of various Pokemon® (pocket monster) characters. The player uses various techniques to get good pictures of the characters including using food and music to entice the characters into positions in which good pictures can be taken.”

In blockbusters around the United States there were kiosks where players could bring their memory packs and have the pictures they took in game to be printed out. The original concept for Pokemon Snap was originally just a normal game where the player would go into the wild and take pictures of normal animals. In order to make the game more interesting to Nintendo gamers, Nintendo had Pokemon applied to the game instead.

Many gamers and even non-gamers are exposed to another side game which is the Pokemon trading card game. Many young children were unaware of how to play the game so the Pokemon Trading Card Game for the Gameboy Color was made. This game helped players learn the actual rules and expanded interest in the actual card game for video gamers who were unaware of its existence. Pokemon Pinball and its many sequels brought the joys of regular Pinball to a portable system. Many argue that it is a better experience than real pinball. 

The side games are important to the franchise and will be continued to be created as long as the fans keep asking for them.

resource: Link, P. J., et al. (2002). Kiosk for printing and communicating video game images, Google Patents.

Game Design Blog #7 - Gender Roles and The Pinacle of Popularity in Pokemon

It is no secret at this point that Pokemon is popular. Kids, teenagers, and adults all take part in the culture our society has created around Pokemon. According to the article “Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon”: Pokemon “might be appropriately be described, in anthropological terms, as a “cultural practice”. It is amazing that this series of video games, toys, shows, and card games has reached the point of being a cultural practice. Pokemon has even reached the point of entering into other domains. In the most recent 2014 World Cup Japan’s mascot was Pikachu who is the mascot of the Pokemon series. 

A huge part of Pokemon’s popularity is its appeal to both girls and boys. Starting with Pokemon Crystal in 2001 players of the Pokemon game were able to choose whether or not they wanted their trainer to be a male or a female. The games have since had this choice for players. Nintendo at this point became aware of their audience and made that point to add such a feature. 

In most forms of media girls are represented poorly. In Pokemon most of the female cast turns out to be the favorite characters of most fans. In each game there is a champion (or a last boss) at the end that the player must face to finally beat the game. For the first three generations of Pokemon all of these champions are male. Finally in Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl the champion is a trainer named Cynthia. The general consensus among fans is that Cynthia is the toughest champion that any player has faced in any game. In the anime she also plays the same role and acts as a teacher figure to the main characters in her story arc. She is a good role model for girls that are tired of having the same damsel in distress characters in their animated shows.

Resource: Ogletree, Shirley M., Cristal N. Martinez, Trent R. Turner, and Brad Mason. "Pokémon: Exploring the Role of Gender."Sex Roles 50.11/12 (2004): 851-859. Print.

Capstone Progress

Half of the semester has passed by so quickly it’s hard to imagine how fast the next half is going to be. Production towards my actual graphic novel has begun and I have done many things to further my progress. I have crafted sprites from a wonderful website that lets users customize their own sprites. These sprites will serve as the cornerstone for my story. They are the tools that will help illustrate 

emotion and plot. 

I am not one for planning. As I craft more parts of my project more ideas just flow into my head. As I write character profiles I instantly craft new ideas and create more pieces of work to manifest those ideas. I am a person who becomes more creative during the process of creating. Ideas flow into my head once I force myself to work on a story. As I wrote a character profile for my main character I immediately crafted a brand new character in my head that would play more importance in the story than most of the others. I wonder if other writers have this happen to them as well. My main character Jonas was going to be motivated in his quest from his own experience but then I had the idea of adding a mentor figure to help guide him on his path. I believe this will enhance the quality of my story and help explain certain parts. 

My director Monica Larson helped me figure out how to make my pages look well together with sprites and natural backgrounds. I am not an artist but with the programs that I have sought out I am able to make myself appear as much of an artist as I possibly can. With this project I hope to learn more about programs such as Adobe Illustrator which my director showed me to help my project. I have not touched Illustrator but I look forward to diving in the program once I begin production on the actual novel. 

This project is a gateway to a world of possibilities. With this project alone I am learning so much and acquiring more skills that I am able to use in the real world. I hope to take these skills with me and pass these on to many others just as my superiors and professors have done for me. I appreciate this opportunity I have worked for to be able to craft works and have others view them.

Sound Design Midterm Blog

Taking Sound Design so far has been an interesting journey for me. There are quite a few things that I have learned in the first half of the class that I could apply to a real world setting and it is important to recognize those lessons and put labels to them. 

The first lesson I learned is how to apply certain types of loops to a music project. I was unaware that garage band contained so many loops that could be applicable to many thing such as a song or a podcast of some sort. This is important for those who want to do sound editing of any time and are pressed for time. This means that if an individual could not get a certain sound effect on their own they could make use of the sound effects that come pre-installed with garage band. 

The second lesson that I learned is how to label parts of the track. Labeling a track’s parts is important to the creator of a song or music product because it helps the creator identity what parts contain what if the creator happens to not touch their project for an extended period of time. This also helps any newcomer to the project understand what the music track is all about. Meaning If someone new is helping out with the project they would be able to identity what part contains what.

The third and most valuable lesson I learned was the difference between analog and digital sound. Analog is more natural whereas digital is not. This helps in real life because if one were to help create a piece of music for a band then the creator would need to know the difference between analog and digital sound. The video below best explains the difference. 

  To conclude it is safe to say I learned quite a few things and I am excited at the prospect of learning

more in the world of Sound Design in the Communications field of study.

Game Design Blog #6 - Pokemon and Education

The Pokemon series is seen by many something merely for children to help them waste time. This statement could not be further from the truth. Simply walking onto a college campus one can see that the series is a hit for individuals of all ages. Many are sporting Pokemon t-shirts and game systems to trade and battle their Pokemon with. Not only are most adults wrong about Pokemon being just for children but it can be seen as a medium to educate children. The fact that the game requires basic math skills helps in that player’s must be able to use subtraction and addition to determine how much hp their Pokemon loses. Even in the trading card game these skills are necessary. 

The card game functions as a system where a Pokemon may deal a certain amount of damage. For example if a Pokemon has an attack that deals 10 damage to an opponent then the opponent must put a damage counter on their Pokemon. Each damage counter represents 10 damage. If that opposing Pokemon has 60 total hp and only 50 left then the player must come to the conclusion that their Pokemon is only able to survive 5 more attacks from that Pokemon. The trading card game has a target audience of children ages 6 and up. This shows that math is a skill necessary for playing the game and the player is able to pick up on these skills by engaging in this activity. Pokemon even helps children’s understanding of reading. 

According to a study conducted by Vivian Vasquez “there is a lot we can learn about how to support literacy development by watching children closely as they engage with such (certain) texts”. Vasquez also stated in her study that her “intent is to show the sorts of literate behaviors that come from children’s participation in and use of popular culture texts such as Pokemon. Pokemon is a prime example of how our society could incorporate popular culture with learning basic academic skills in the school environment. 

 

Resources: Vasquez, Vivian. "What Pokemon Can Teach Us about Learning and Literacy." Language Arts 81.2 (2003): 118-25. Print.

Anya's Ghost

I recently read an interesting graphic novel called Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol. Anya’s Ghost basically tells the tale of a Russian American girl named Anya who falls into a well and encounters a ghost named Emily. Emily travels around with Anya once she leaves the well and they become good friends. Little does Anya know that Emily has some dark secrets deep inside her. 

I finished the entire novel in one sitting and when you finish a novel in one sitting you know it’s good. Initially I expected a somewhat light story because of the cartoonish art style but what I got was a darker and deeper story. It shows that no matter how friendly your art may seem you are still able to convey a mature and emotional story. In the process of dealing with Emily, Anya starts to grow as a character and develop in a 200 page span. The reader doesn’t even realize how much Anya has changed until the end of the story.  

I sympathize with the main character. When I was younger if there was an Iranian person in my school my mother would always try to force me to befriend them just because we were the same race. Then I realized that we should be there for each other because we both know the struggles of being a different race in school of primarily white students. 

The story was a good read for me personally as it gave me ideas of how to condense an emotional and gripping story in a short page span. It also showed me that no matter how cartoony the art is, the story ultimately shines through. Originally I was put off by my own idea to use sprite art but after reading this tale I have no qualms or issues with implementing sprite art. I now have the techniques necessary to also have my sprites merge with my backgrounds to have them appear more naturally together. Ultimately I would also like to create a connection with the readers just as Anya’s Ghost did. If I could achieve such a feat then my story will be stronger and more interesting for all those who read it. 

More reading of other graphic novels similar to Anya’s Ghost needs to be done so I am able to gather more inspiration for my writing. Writing that connects with the writer is so crucial for a graphic novel as it resonates with the reader’s emotions and create a red string with the reader. The reader will then tie the string to their friends and acquaintances about the story they have read and some may accept it and some won’t. The goal of the writer is to have that red string that is tied to their writing become tied to everyone across the world. This is what writing is about.

Resources: Brosgol, Vera. Anya's Ghost. New York: First Second Books, 2011. Print.

Game Design Blog #5 - The banned episodes of the Pokemon anime adding to the popularity.

           An interesting event took place on December 1997 in Japan. There was an episode of the Pokemon anime where the gang encounters a Pokemon called Porygon. Porygon unleashed an attack in the anime that caused flashing lights. As a result of this over 700 people in Japan suffered from seizures. The episode since then has been banned on all television networks in Japan and has never seen the light of day in the USA. Porygon later received new evolutions in later Pokemon games but this Pokemon and its evolutions has yet to make another appearance in the anime. Every pokemon has been in at least one episode of the anime except for Porygon2 and its final evolution Porygon-Z. 

This is not the only time Pokemon episodes have been banned. 

               

                            

           Another episode of the anime that was shown in Japan featured Ash and his friends enjoying the beach. The episode was banned because the male character known as James was wearing a body suit with huge breasts. He was doing this to win a beauty contest. Interesting enough the episode was aired in the USA twice under the pretense that it was a “lost episode” but the episode was never shown again in the USA. Of course the scene with James and his fake breasts was cut out and yet the episode has still not seen the light of day in the USA. 

            

            Pokemon is one of the only known children’s television shows to have outright banned episodes. Normally when an anime is brought to the USA for children they just censor most of it but Pokemon has straight up banned episodes in the USA and even Japan. The amount of banned episodes it has even adds to Pokemon’s popularity even if it isn’t in a good way. Pokemon is popular in so many ways and it’s crazy that it always seems to find a way into real world issues. 

Resources: 

Takahashi, Takeo, and Yasuo Tsukahara. "Pocket Monster incident and low luminance visual stimuli: special reference to deep red flicker stimulation."Pediatrics International 40.6 (1998): 631-637.

The Keys to Suicide Prevention

The decision that individuals make to commit suicide not only affects that person, but once they commit suicide they are spreading the seed of depression into all of their friends and family. The seed then leads that individual to commit suicide and the process just continues on and on. It is like an infectious disease but instead of showing physical symptoms it infects the person’s mind and they commit suicide without anyone knowing why they did such a thing. 

Healing the minds of so many people affected is a tough task and that task is left to psychologists. It shouldn’t just be left to psychologists. Writers, artists, musicians, and comedians should have the minds of the depressed in their hearts when they are creating. They should take their own experiences and forge them into a work that could show the depressed that they know how they feel and there is hope beyond the cloud that haunts their soul. 

According to a Study from The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, individuals suffer from something called bereavement. Bereavement is identified by many symptoms such as sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and low mood. The problem is that these symptoms don’t classify themselves as a mental disorder. The same study also said that depression after the suicide of a close friend or family member is more difficult to cope with then other factors of death involving a friend or a family member.

The same study found that behavioral cognitive therapy is able to lessen the burden of depression on individuals but that depression is still there. The key is to provide intervention for the individual as early as possible so they don’t get enveloped their sea of depression that hovers over their mind. So it is imperative that everyone recognize the symptoms of depression in others so they are able to intervene. Again, this does not fall in the hands of just the psychologists but the people who share love for the afflicted need to have their eyes open. 

The ones who create entertainment do so for the public to enjoy and be happy. Entertainment in my life has been nothing but positive and whenever I was feeling depressed it was always there for me when I needed it. It felt like a healthy escape from the real world and got me invested enough to realize my problems weren’t that big. I want to accomplish the same through my storytelling. Doing something as great as that would be a huge benefit for not only me but for humanity. 

Resources: A CBT-Based Psychoeducational Intervention for Suicide Survivors

Game Design Blog #4 - Popularity of Pokemon in the World

The Pokemon franchise has taken over the world. It has essentially put Japan in a spot of godliness among small children of the world. Even children in third world countries know about Pokemon. According to a 2003 (the year when Ruby and Sapphire came out in the United States) study by Anne Allison, when she interviewed children from the United States she had asked them all if they knew Pokemon had come from Japan. All of the children had responded that they knew this and they developed in interest in visiting Japan and even learning Japanese. This all stemmed from their interest in the Pokemon series. To draw in people from all walks of life a mascot for Pokemon had to be chosen. Pikachu was eventually chosen because he was cute, powerful, and appealed to people of all ages. 

According to Anne Allison’s article, in the United States Ash Ketchum (the human protagonist in the Pokemon anime) was made to be more of a focus than Pikachu was in Japan because they wanted kids to associate themselves with a hero who was clearly good. In the Pokemon movie “Mewtwo strikes back”, some changes were made to the United States version to make Ash be the obvious good guy and Mewtwo (the Pokemon that is fought in the movie) to be an obvious bad guy. Them morals of Mewtwo in the original Japanese version were ambiguous and it wasn’t clear if he really had bad intentions as he does in the United States Version. Anne Allison paints a picture in her article that Pokemon is a sign of changing times in the form of play. This is still true today. With each new game that is being released in the franchise more mechanics are added and expanded upon to update the ways of play associated with it. The effects of this franchise on society is great and continues to be a positive change on the way we view play.

Resources:  Allison, Anne. Postcolonial Studies. Nov2003, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p381-395. 15p. , Database: Academic Search Complete

Education and Gaming Practical Considerations for Integrating Alternate Reality Gaming into Science Education

1. Practical Considerations for Integrating Alternate Reality Gaming into Science Education (Ebscohost) (By: Bellocchi, Alberto. Teaching Science: The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association. Dec2012, Vol. 58 Issue 4, p43-46. 4p. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

     This article basically talked about the idea of integrating science and gaming into one. The researcher discussed a game he showed his students where the students play as an environmental scientist who tries to uncover the source of fish being killed in a national park. The players have to make decisions in the game and have to talk to NPCs who give the players hints as to what's going on. The player must come to the conclusion of what happened on their own and thus beating the game.

2. WoWing Language Arts (Ebscohost) (McCrea, Bridget. T H E Journal. Sep2012, Vol. 39 Issue 7, p24-27. 4p. Reading Level (Lexile): 1460. , Database: MasterFILE Premier)

     The article discusses the integration of "World of Warcraft" and Language Arts. Students are logged into the game by teachers and are taught reading comprehension and vocabulary through the folklore in the game. The idea also helps shy students interact more in class and gets them to achieve academic greatness.

3. The Games Children Play (Ebscohost)  (By: Padak, Nancy; Rasinski, Timothy. Reading Teacher. Dec2008, Vol. 62 Issue 4, p363-365. 3p. , Database: Academic Search Complete)


          The article discusses 10 different educational games made for children that enhance their language arts skills. One of the categories the games are split into is "games with sounds". These games show how to pronounce words and help the child to feel at ease and never frustrated. The other category is "games with words" which focus on a child's vocabulary skills.

4. Fighting baddies and collecting bananas: teachers’ perceptions of games-based literacy learning (Ebscohost) (Gerber, Hannah R.; Price, Debra P. Educational Media International. Mar2013, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p51-62. 12p. DOI: 10.1080/09523987.2013.777182. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

    The article detailed a study where graduate students were required to research literacy and gaming while at the same time playing through the entirety of several different video games. The students had to keep a blog detailing their research and their progress through the game. Interestingly enough the results showed that teachers are always hesitant at integrating gaming into their curriculum because it strays off a different path of teaching that they are used to.

5. FunBrain Language Arts Games (Ebscohost) (By: Mandell, Phyllis Levy; Minkel, Walter. School Library Journal. Jun2004, Vol. 50 Issue 6, p61-61. 1/9p. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

     The review provided detailed accounts of four different educational games and the effectiveness it provided to children's learning. One of the sections talked about a list of games that integrated a popular PBS TV show called Between the Lions and teaching children how to say certain words. The game was also in print format which was a great alternative to those who do not wish to use the computer. The other games faired well but suffered from problems such as constant pop-up ads which make print versions of a game preferable to some out there.

6. Can a Video Game get a kid to read the classics (Ebscohost) (Greg Toppo; @gtoppo; USA TODAY. USA Today. 06/19/2013. , Database: Academic Search Complete)

     The article provided a news a report listing that certain video games made by Lexica would be coming out that have characters from classic novels primarily used in education settings. If students wanted to get ahead in the game they had to read the novel ahead of time. One of the designers Schell said "If you really care about the game, you're going to read the book." The company's goal is to have kids want to play the games rather than having them feel like they have to play them.

Game Design Blog #3 - Pokemon Gold and Silver/ The second generation

Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow were super successful. It became one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises to date. The second generation of Pokemon showcased Pokemon Gold and Silver. These games were to feature new storyline, new mechanics, new world, and full color added to the environment. The last generation was just for the Gameboy but Gold and Silver were made for the Gameboy Color to provide the full color support to the sprites.

The staff at Gamefreak had to come up with brand new ideas for new Pokemon. They took inspiration from their childhood and all of the Japanese comics they read growing up. The staff at Gamefreak began production on the 2nd generation of Pokemon right after the release of Red and Green. They wanted to release the new games in 1998 originally. Interesting enough the first episode of the Pokemon came out in 1997 which is a year after the release of Pokemon Red and Green. In the first episode of the anime the protagonist sees the Pokemon Ho-Oh which was not revealed yet until Gold and Silver were released. Since production began right after Red and Green were released they probably had an idea of what new Pokemon they wanted to add to the new games beforehand.

The reason for the late release on the games is because Gamefreak had to work on Pokemon Stadium for the Nintendo 64 which is one of the most early Pokemon spin-off games. The United States would not see Gold and Silver until they year 2000 when it was displayed at the American International Toy Fair.

Reviews showed that Pokemon Gold and Silver were just as good if not better than their predecessors. Gamefreak added many new things to the games to expand upon the fun introduced in the last games. The time function in the game (which went by realtime) was interesting in that certain events happened depending on what time the player would play. It was unreal for a gameboy color game to implement such a system to a game. The games were twice as long as Red and Green with the players being able to visit the Kanto region and win 8 new badges(the region the players traveled in the first generation)

It was at this point businessman and gamefreak realized that everyone loves Pokemon and the franchise was here to stay.

The Positive Effects of Anime

Growing up I have been a huge fan of anime (Japanese animation). I thought it was amazing that such stories could be conveyed through this anime. What set anime apart from regular children’s television for me was that it was more mature and conveyed real life situations better for me than cartoons. A great example is the anime “Digimon Tamers”. Digimon Tamers was targeted towards kids but it tackled real life topics such as loneliness, depression, divorce, death, and separation from friends. My child-self couldn’t handle all of this at once but it somehow made me want to pursue a field in writing. 

One study conducted in Malaysia showed that children who watched anime online were influenced strongly and positively by the characters. The children wanted to be happy just like the characters. I suppose in a way I was the same as the children in the study. When I saw Digimon Tamers, the main character was a regular boy named Takato. He had no special skills and seemed pretty wimpy but as the story went along he became determined and wanted to reach his goals. That was something I wanted to achieve as a child. 

This same study indicated that the genres of anime were endless. The genres ranged from sports, self-defense, journey, food, action, drama, comedy, and relationships. All of these genres are able to motivate children and even teenagers to accomplish goals. The study showed that these genres of anime caused positive interaction between the children they studied. When the children talked about the anime and their favorite characters, they were very enthusiastic and excited to talk about them with their friends.

I want to have influences of Japanese anime in my story. When I write a story or comic I take influences from anime rather than american comics. That is why I am not a fan of the superhero genre as much. I am more of a fan for stories that are deep, intense, drama-filled, and something that just seems badass. I don’t get that same feeling from superheroes because they seem cliched to me. If this ever gets published I would most likely need to hire a new artist to do the art and I would want it to be reminiscent of a manga. 

Anime has been such a huge influence for my stories and my dream is to have a show with my stories that are inspired by Japanese anime.

Resources: The Influence of Online Anime towards Children

Graphic novels and Education

Graphic Novels have been around for many years. They are seen by many of the older generation to be a waste of time for young adults and children alike. Young adults and children view them as entertainment. To the individuals that write graphic novels they view their work as extensions of themselves and the ideas in their head coming to life. True lovers of graphic novels also see others’ works as masterpieces and something that could enhance minds in individuals everywhere. 

Studies show that students in school have enhanced cognitive skills when they read graphic novels as opposed to actual textbooks. It is obvious that young people would love to read graphic novels as opposed to textbooks. Using graphic novels as educational tools for high school students in theory would work as a better learning device than textbooks. According to Gretchen Schwarz in her 2002 article “Graphic novels for multiple literacies” she found research that said that “reading graphic novels may require more complex cognitive skills than the reading of text alone.” 

I plan to use my graphic novel to educate many individuals. I want to spread suicide awareness and teach psychological principles in a way that is understandable to the reader. Individuals who don’t understand psychological principles and terms would be able to understand those principles once they read my novel. I want the reader to also connect with my story while learning something. That way those suffering from depression and those who are not would be able to understand each other once they have read my graphic novel. Once that happens I will have made a good impact on society.

Perhaps with my story I will be able to open a gate to allowing graphic novels to be used as a teaching device in the middle school and high school curriculum. If I had used graphic novels in huh school and middle school I probably would have gotten better grades because I despised just reading textbooks. Graphic novels in college would also be a cheaper option which would decrease the costs of tuition at many schools and help students learn better from them. 

One day graphic novels may very well be instated in the school system and students would be able to obtain better grades with a reading source that is easy to understand. It is amazing how many things graphic novels are able to achieve with the author’s thoughts and ideas brought to life on paper. Creativity and education brought together can make understanding and learning about subjects more entertaining.

Resource: Graphic Novels across the curriculum

Blog #1 Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen is considered by special effects directors and movie directors in general to be the father of stop motion animation. He made realistic looking monsters appear on the big screen and brought to life many dreams of fellow directors. He brought to life many monsters with their fluid movements. Whenever a monster was a screen it appeared natural and realistic. Compared to older movies which used close ups of actual animals, Ray implemented mythical creatures and made them seem like they belonged in our world. 

One of his most memorable creatures was the cyclops from “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”. The cyclops was a one eyed creature that had legs like a satyr (which is a human whose lower half is horse-like in some ways). The cyclops had movements that seemed normal for a creature of it’s anatomy and viewers could tell what the creature was feeling when they saw his face. The fact that the cyclops had one eye and still gave emotion through just his facial expressions is a true testament to the work of Ray Harryhausen. 

Ray himself could be considered an actor in this movies due to the fact that he had to record every action of every monster he filmed. He himself would have to move the monster frame by frame. It was as if he were the monsters himself. He used his studio at home and spent time doing these scenes by himself. His models were a manifestation of himself in a sense. He gave life to them and he illustrated their emotions through what he wanted them to be. Like a real actor if he wanted to change something in a certain shot then he could do that through the movements and the faces of the monster. Ray Harryhausen is truly not just a king of stop motion but a god of stop motion and he will be remembered for centuries as such.

Game Design Blog #2: Satoshi Tajiri and the First Generation of Pokemon

               The Pokemon franchise was inspired by the childhood of Satoshi Tajiri. Satoshi Tajiri had a fascination of collecting bugs when he was a child and he wanted to emulate that feeling and happiness he had as a youth for others. The character Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon television show is actually based off Satoshi Tajiri as a child. Ash Ketchum’s Japanese name is actually Satoshi making the resemblance more obvious. 

                Satoshi Tajiri and Pokemon artist Ken Sugimori had their own magazine called Game Freak. Eventually Game Freak evolved (just like a Pokemon. Get it?) from a magazine to a video game company. Satoshi valued the idea of friends playing together which is what helped him conceived the idea of Pokemon. When he saw that the original Gameboys had a link cable slot where friends could connect and play against each other he wanted to implement that into his game. Though he not only wanted people to play against each other to play with each other as well. Once Tajiri brought his idea to Nintendo, The CEO Shigeru Miyamoto (Ash’s rival Gary Oak in the anime is named Shigeru) decided to mentor Tajiri in the creation of games. This idea was pitched in 1990 and 6 years later in 1996 Pokemon Red and Green came out in Japan. 

                The Gameboy was actually considered a dying handheld and was not doing fairly well but when Pokemon Red and Green came out it improved the Gameboy’s sales dramatically thus saving Nintendo from collapsing. Tajiri even managed to sneak the Pokemon Mew into the game without Nintendo ever knowing. He included Mew so players would be inspired to trade with each via link cable and make the players bond more than they normally would. 

Pokemon Blue was eventually released to make improvements over the Pokemon sprites and mechanics of Red and Green. Eventually North America got Pokemon Red and Blue which used the same sprites and mechanics as the Pokemon Blue in Japan. North America appreciated the games just as much as Japan does and this started the power house known as Pokemon.

Depression and Ignorance

Depression is a subject that has put me in thought for years. I have personally had my ups and downs but I have never thought of committing suicide. The thought of that scares me in itself. I have seen suicide happen (not in front of me) but I have had a friend who has contemplated suicide and hear about it all of the time. I never understood why people decide that suicide is the best option but with this research for the project I plan to gain an understanding as to why people go to such lengths and decide that suicide should be the end.

There are so many risk factors for depression and so many causes that it's tough to help those suffering from this crippling disease. It is important to also note that depression is not a "United States Exclusive Disease". Suicide is the number one cause of death for youth aging from 18 to 24 in South Korea. The main cause of this suicide in 80 percent of these cases is depression. The attitude towards important events in a young person's life is overanalyzed by those youth and in turn the youth think that what happens in those moments of your life cripples you forever and that there is not point to go on.

The biggest example is parents pressuring their children to perform at the best academically. Many Korean youth are afraid to go home if they got poor grades and some even contemplated running away from home. When people badmouth those suffering from depression for committing suicide it makes others feel worse who have contemplated it and does not help them in the least bit.

With this graphic novel, I wonder how I can target many individuals suffering from depression and help them feel at ease. I want people to feel like I'm there for them with my storytelling and that I know what they're going through. If my story ever becomes a series then I want to be able to incorporate individuals suffering from depression for many different reasons.

Self-help groups and Psychotherapy are both proven to help prevent youth who suffer from depression to commit suicide. The reasoning for this is that they are around others who are in the same boat as them and are able to connect with others. They are able to be there for them and vice versa.

The subject of others helping others is something that is wonderful. It's good that those who are suffering from depression are able to impact each other in a substantial way and that is a key subject I want to cover in my story.


Resources: Rising youth suicide and the changing cultural context in South Korea.
Tackling taboos: Young people talk about Asia’s mental health problems