Untitled Document

People perceive things differently. This is the theme chosen for this assignment and is exemplified by the above animation.
The theme is chosen on the basis of Clement Mok and Jakob Nielson's discussion from Reading 5. Both are among leader in Web design field with extensive experience and have made great contributions to the Web and Web design.

But why are they having a lot of different opinions on common issues? Why do they have disagreements on the same subject even if they are in the same field? Although they have a great deal of skills and knowledge in the Web Design, they both have different experiences with different background. That makes them to have different attitudes to the Web design.

It is impractical for two people to have identical experience in their lifetimes. They must have experienced different things and this leads to arguments and disagreement as a result of their own personal view. Sometimes these individual ways of thinking are neither right nor wrong but different and against each other.

It is universally true in all professional fields. Even professionals in the same field may have arguments on common things that they usually face everyday. This central theme is simple and natural but is very common and it usually happens to all professionals.

Representation of Themes in Animation Format

The animation features two people looking at the number "9", which is "6" if it is saw the other way round. The first person sees the number as nine from her point of view while the second person sees the number as six from his point of view. They are both looking at the same number, which can be either 9 or 6 depending on where the person is.

This idea simply demonstrates the two people perceiving the same thing differently from different positions. The two people's perception of the number in the middle is different because of the way they look at it although it is the same thing.
But why does the background have to be the sky and the sea? Both the sky and the sea are blue to represent two people of the same kind. But they are facing against each other, symbolizing the two people being against each other's opinion. The motion of waves and lighting in the sky are featured merely to add visual effects to the animation. The exact wording of the theme is included as final thought of the animation.

So what actually is the number meant to be? As mentioned above, it entirely depends on individual opinion.

Tasks Performed

In order to finish this assignment, a variety of activities have been performed.

First, the author read and comprehended the specified Reading from the course website. Secondly, the main points in the reading were highlighted and one of them was selected as a theme to create an animation. Thirdly, the author carefully considered how the theme should be effectively presented in an animation

After getting some ideas on how the animation would be implemented, the author started by drawing simple pictures and developing simple animation to become familiar with Adobe Photo Shop and Image Ready. Then the background picture was obtained by modifying the picture that was taken in Yeppoon by the author about a year ago. That picture actually included a person that has been cut off. As this picture was taken by author who, therefore, have full rights to utilize it.

After putting some modifications on the background to generate waves and brightness in the sky, pictures of a woman and a man as well as the number in the middle were drawn. Then the dialog boxes were added to show how each person mentions about what they think and argues with each other. After that, the theme of the animation, "People perceive things differently" was added using Type.

When the animation became satisfying and was added on the top of the index page, this essay was begun, discussing the selected theme and the way it is symbolized by means of animation.

Assignment Duration

The assignment took about ten days to complete. The first day was spent reading and selecting theme while the second day was occupied with considering how the theme should be animated. On the next two days the author became familiar with Adobe Image Ready. The animation was developed on next two days. Writing the essay, uploading the web page and final compilation of the assignment were done on four days, taking altogether ten days for the entire assignment.

Difficulties Encourtered

On preparation of this assignment, there were some difficulties and problems encountered:
· Reading, understanding and selecting theme was a hard process as the reading is a fairly complicated text.
· Thinking about how the theme should be represented was also difficult although the author came up with 6-9 idea
· Drawing the pictures of two people was reasonably tricky as the author was naïve in drawing
· Although creating animation seemed easy, using advanced animation functions and optimizing capability was frustrating. The file was lost twice for not optimizing the file correctly and requiring to animate again.

Learning Outcomes

By completing this assignment, the author has learnt to appreciate animations as well as animation techniques. Using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Image Ready has become easier. Adding filtering effects is studied. In addition to drawing and animation techniques, the author has learnt how to read and analyze a text critically. By picking main themes from the reading, the author's summarizing and critical thinking skills are improved.

Furthermore, the author has learnt how to develop a single web page featuring image and text. In short, the author has learnt how to pass the information using pictures and motions in an effective and meaningful way.

Conclusion

In conclusion, selecting theme from a given text and creating animation about the selected theme is an enjoyable experience learning new things as well as developing critical thinking skills. This assignment is a very useful learning exercise giving students an opportunity not only to undergo the technical animation and web designing part but also to experience analyzing critically and communicating with viewers in an effective and creative way.