The website is finally beginning to take form and finish up. I have a few more tweaks and edits that I will be performing tonight and tomorrow. By Monday I hope to have the finished website ready to go in time for the final assignments.
The GoToMeeting with Timothy went well. There were no real technical issues and we were both able to deliver effective presentations in preparation for the video tour assignment. The assignment has given me some additional guidance in some ideas on making my website more scannable as I put the finishing touches on it.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
PRWR628: Website Progress Report 7/10/10
Although both the menu and scannability tests revealed a number of potential issues with my blog, I have not yet gotten a chance to correct the errors these tests have revealed. I wanted to wait until I finished developing content for my website before I worked on tweaking it. By doing so, I would be able to avoid needless backtracking.
Now that the content is just about finished, I can focus on both cosmetic updates and addressing issues raised by the tests. Although my website is slowly becoming functional, there are a number of minor edits I need to make to the website in order for it to follow the guidelines set by Reddish and Krug. I will start these edits tomorrow in order to prepare for the upcoming peer reviews.
Now that the content is just about finished, I can focus on both cosmetic updates and addressing issues raised by the tests. Although my website is slowly becoming functional, there are a number of minor edits I need to make to the website in order for it to follow the guidelines set by Reddish and Krug. I will start these edits tomorrow in order to prepare for the upcoming peer reviews.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
PRWR628: Website Progress Report 7/03/10
This week had me focusing on content addition. With most of my work involving adding actual content to the pages, holes in the website are beginning to fill in nicely. Although some pages are not complete, and many pages would benefit from some pictures, I am starting to establish the actual look and feel of the website. Comments that I received from _ helped greatly in guiding my content addition, especially in regards to the homepage. I do still need to find a good way of implementing the tagline on the banner however.
Completing the menu report has proven to be quite the eye opener. I thought that my navigation was fairly solid, but the report revealed a number of errors that I will need to correct before I begin to edit and shape the content that I have on the website. Although I have started to address some of the issues brought up by the report, my initial task in the week to come will be to fix the menus before I continue on with the content. I hope to have these issues resolved by the end of the holiday weekend so that I do not fall behind in the main task of reaching 75% content completion.
Completing the menu report has proven to be quite the eye opener. I thought that my navigation was fairly solid, but the report revealed a number of errors that I will need to correct before I begin to edit and shape the content that I have on the website. Although I have started to address some of the issues brought up by the report, my initial task in the week to come will be to fix the menus before I continue on with the content. I hope to have these issues resolved by the end of the holiday weekend so that I do not fall behind in the main task of reaching 75% content completion.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
PRWR628: Website Progress Report 6/27/10
The major objective for this week was the completion of the skeleton site. It was nice to actually begin the practical work for the website. Now that I have the outline and pages posted, I feel like I am really beginning to make significant progress in completing the website.
In regards to major changes, I did not deviate too greatly from the outline that I presented last week. I may end up removing a few of the sublinks next week as I begin to start writing out the content. However on an overall level I think I am on track to continue following the plans and schedule that I posted in my outline.
In regards to major changes, I did not deviate too greatly from the outline that I presented last week. I may end up removing a few of the sublinks next week as I begin to start writing out the content. However on an overall level I think I am on track to continue following the plans and schedule that I posted in my outline.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
PRWR628: Website Progress Report 6/19/10
I spent this week creating the outline and carefully started laying the foundation down for my website. Through the completion of the website planning document I was able to organize my thoughts and begin setting up a plan for how I will redesign the website. Over the next seven days I will begin the practical work, mainly in the form of the home page. I want to have the home page established along with a few of the links by the end of next week. This should put me on track to accomplishing 50% website content completion on time.
My website planning document can be accessed here.
My website planning document can be accessed here.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
PRWR628: Website Progress Report 6/12/10
I'm still in the early phases of my project in terms of design and general direction. The major obstacle I am facing in regards to designing the website is organization. The website I am working with has an extraordinary amount of texts and links, and my main objective at the moment is attempting to design a diagram in which I can reduce both the number of texts and links on the website.
I discussed some potential options with the people I work with at Friend's of Patapsco, and they recommended focusing on creating links that can help general groups of visitors find information relevant to their needs. For example, a link leading to a page for volunteers that are coming to the site specifically stating what is needed of them. Another page for potential donors that illustrates the importance and significance of the group, and so on.
I want to create a website that provides simplistic navigation for each group, yet at the same time I want to be careful not to provide overlapping or repeating information. I want something that can be accessed by both everyone, while at the same time easily catering to their specific needs without boring them with unnecessary details that don't interest them. This layout task is my major challenge right now.
My sample persona and scenario can be accessed here.
I discussed some potential options with the people I work with at Friend's of Patapsco, and they recommended focusing on creating links that can help general groups of visitors find information relevant to their needs. For example, a link leading to a page for volunteers that are coming to the site specifically stating what is needed of them. Another page for potential donors that illustrates the importance and significance of the group, and so on.
I want to create a website that provides simplistic navigation for each group, yet at the same time I want to be careful not to provide overlapping or repeating information. I want something that can be accessed by both everyone, while at the same time easily catering to their specific needs without boring them with unnecessary details that don't interest them. This layout task is my major challenge right now.
My sample persona and scenario can be accessed here.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Movie Review
Note: This movie review contains minor spoilers, though if you’ve already seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street I’m not spoiling much.
In this day and age of modern cinema there are two things we can always count on: Another (often increasingly obscure) comic book hero movie is always around the corner, and scriptwriters are clearly running out of original movie ideas. For an example of the former note that Jonah Hex is around the corner. In regards to the latter, remakes are IN. Sometimes this means we are treated to a remake of an obscure late 70’s piranha movie (now in 3D! Joy!) or something a little more recognizable…like say Nightmare on Elm Street.
…at least it was not in 3D.
I did not come into Nightmare with high expectations for two reasons. First, this is a modern day remake of a classic movie franchise. This tends to be a death sentence for me before I even start watching the movie. I really liked the original Nightmare, and I always go into a remake of a classic movie fearing that modern day theatrics will mess up the spirit of the original with fancy computers CGI and all that jazz. Do not get me wrong, there is a way to make a modern day remake work. At the same time, there are also many ways through which it can and will fail. This holds especially true for Horror movies that aren’t named “The Decent” (which really should have kept the original untrimmed ending in North America, but I’m rambling)
I had one hope for this movie, one aspect that I wanted to be perfect beyond everything else. I really wanted to see Jackie Haley pull off one astonishing Freddy Kruger. This may seem like an obvious point, but I must point out that I am a huge fan of Haley after seeing Watchmen, a movie I largely enjoyed for the sole reason of seeing Haley running around as Rorschach (everything else was hit or miss about that movie for me). Haley had the potential to pull off an amazing Freddy, he had the voice, the posture, a perfect man to put on the claw glove. I could have cared less if everything else about the movie sucked if Haley did a good job.
Sadly everything that made Haley awesome in Watchmen was not present in this movie. Instead, viewers are treated to a subpar performance by not only Haley, but pretty much everyone else in the movie. I’ll give Haley props for trying, he was close and looked menacing enough, but whenever he spoke the veil of a creepy evil dream stalker was removed from my vision. Instead of a Rorshach voice, we get something that sounds like Christopher Nolan’s Batman. Now when I think of Freddy, I half expect him to appear in one of the kid’s dreams, grab them by the neck, and shout WHERE IS HE?!?
Freddy to me is not a vigilante seeking justice; he is an evil vengeful bastard that takes pleasure in killing people and listening to their final screams of terror. Having only watched the original Nightmare and subsequent remake I won’t attempt to analyze the motives that drive Freddy, but Haley as Freddy to me felt too driven by revenge, killing the children as revenge against the parents that hunted him down. While this is good, the actual horror aspect, the pleasure that Freddy gets from playing his little cat and mouse game of hunting down the victim before pouncing on them brutally and killing them is completely lost here. Nightmare is a horror movie franchise; this remake was a supernatural revenge movie starring evil Batman. Freddy still shows up, states his trademark line before appearing and killing the victim after a witty one-liner, but it all felt soulless here, and not at all menacing. I dare say it: Haley mostly ended up sleepwalking through his acting role.
If Haley was sleepwalking through this movie, than clearly the teen protagonists never got out of bed. No one really seemed to have their heart in this movie. Truthfully, the direction is more to blame for this. The movie builds itself on the shock value to the point where it relies on the jump way too much. In order for a shock to work, you need both a startling audio cue and a visual reaction on screen. The audio was there, oh boy it was there, but the kids definitely did not have that “oh crap the killer is behind me” reaction that you would suspect. The momentum fades instantly leaving a bunch of teenage kids acting like their stoned…though to be fair it wouldn’t surprise me if Quentin really was. I’d pass on that date promise Nancy.
As for building suspense…well suffice to say this movie does not try to be clever in offering any true surprises. You will see every shocking moment coming a mile away. As my horror movie aficionado girlfriend sitting next to me constantly said throughout the movie “it’s coming…anytime now…” in regards to the not so subtle hints that Freddy was about to “shockingly” appear. I couldn’t help but agree.
Speaking of dreamland, the alternate realty did provide one of my favorite parts about the movie: the transition between real world and dream world. I’m a sucker for cool visual tricks, and there were some pretty cool surreal tricks as the teens crossed over, not to mention some of the things that occurred in the dreams themselves. While I liked it, the movie could have done a much better job at promoting suspense here. At one late point one of the teens says “It’s becoming difficult to determine what is real anymore, if we are awake or asleep.” I was thinking they would play with both this and the whole “awake while sleeping” thing (whatever the medical term for it was called) a lot more. Sadly it was a one surprise trick never to surface again. Pity.
On its own, Nightmare ranks as a completely average movie in my book. My dislike for the movie stems mostly from disappointment in what could have and should have been an excellent 90 minutes of Jackie Haley running around killing people with an uber claw glove. Nightmare purity aside, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the movie at the end of the day, but it really could have been so much more. This movie will not give me nightmares due to being a cinematic disaster, but I will lose sleep wondering what could have been.
In this day and age of modern cinema there are two things we can always count on: Another (often increasingly obscure) comic book hero movie is always around the corner, and scriptwriters are clearly running out of original movie ideas. For an example of the former note that Jonah Hex is around the corner. In regards to the latter, remakes are IN. Sometimes this means we are treated to a remake of an obscure late 70’s piranha movie (now in 3D! Joy!) or something a little more recognizable…like say Nightmare on Elm Street.
…at least it was not in 3D.
I did not come into Nightmare with high expectations for two reasons. First, this is a modern day remake of a classic movie franchise. This tends to be a death sentence for me before I even start watching the movie. I really liked the original Nightmare, and I always go into a remake of a classic movie fearing that modern day theatrics will mess up the spirit of the original with fancy computers CGI and all that jazz. Do not get me wrong, there is a way to make a modern day remake work. At the same time, there are also many ways through which it can and will fail. This holds especially true for Horror movies that aren’t named “The Decent” (which really should have kept the original untrimmed ending in North America, but I’m rambling)
I had one hope for this movie, one aspect that I wanted to be perfect beyond everything else. I really wanted to see Jackie Haley pull off one astonishing Freddy Kruger. This may seem like an obvious point, but I must point out that I am a huge fan of Haley after seeing Watchmen, a movie I largely enjoyed for the sole reason of seeing Haley running around as Rorschach (everything else was hit or miss about that movie for me). Haley had the potential to pull off an amazing Freddy, he had the voice, the posture, a perfect man to put on the claw glove. I could have cared less if everything else about the movie sucked if Haley did a good job.
Sadly everything that made Haley awesome in Watchmen was not present in this movie. Instead, viewers are treated to a subpar performance by not only Haley, but pretty much everyone else in the movie. I’ll give Haley props for trying, he was close and looked menacing enough, but whenever he spoke the veil of a creepy evil dream stalker was removed from my vision. Instead of a Rorshach voice, we get something that sounds like Christopher Nolan’s Batman. Now when I think of Freddy, I half expect him to appear in one of the kid’s dreams, grab them by the neck, and shout WHERE IS HE?!?
Freddy to me is not a vigilante seeking justice; he is an evil vengeful bastard that takes pleasure in killing people and listening to their final screams of terror. Having only watched the original Nightmare and subsequent remake I won’t attempt to analyze the motives that drive Freddy, but Haley as Freddy to me felt too driven by revenge, killing the children as revenge against the parents that hunted him down. While this is good, the actual horror aspect, the pleasure that Freddy gets from playing his little cat and mouse game of hunting down the victim before pouncing on them brutally and killing them is completely lost here. Nightmare is a horror movie franchise; this remake was a supernatural revenge movie starring evil Batman. Freddy still shows up, states his trademark line before appearing and killing the victim after a witty one-liner, but it all felt soulless here, and not at all menacing. I dare say it: Haley mostly ended up sleepwalking through his acting role.
If Haley was sleepwalking through this movie, than clearly the teen protagonists never got out of bed. No one really seemed to have their heart in this movie. Truthfully, the direction is more to blame for this. The movie builds itself on the shock value to the point where it relies on the jump way too much. In order for a shock to work, you need both a startling audio cue and a visual reaction on screen. The audio was there, oh boy it was there, but the kids definitely did not have that “oh crap the killer is behind me” reaction that you would suspect. The momentum fades instantly leaving a bunch of teenage kids acting like their stoned…though to be fair it wouldn’t surprise me if Quentin really was. I’d pass on that date promise Nancy.
As for building suspense…well suffice to say this movie does not try to be clever in offering any true surprises. You will see every shocking moment coming a mile away. As my horror movie aficionado girlfriend sitting next to me constantly said throughout the movie “it’s coming…anytime now…” in regards to the not so subtle hints that Freddy was about to “shockingly” appear. I couldn’t help but agree.
Speaking of dreamland, the alternate realty did provide one of my favorite parts about the movie: the transition between real world and dream world. I’m a sucker for cool visual tricks, and there were some pretty cool surreal tricks as the teens crossed over, not to mention some of the things that occurred in the dreams themselves. While I liked it, the movie could have done a much better job at promoting suspense here. At one late point one of the teens says “It’s becoming difficult to determine what is real anymore, if we are awake or asleep.” I was thinking they would play with both this and the whole “awake while sleeping” thing (whatever the medical term for it was called) a lot more. Sadly it was a one surprise trick never to surface again. Pity.
On its own, Nightmare ranks as a completely average movie in my book. My dislike for the movie stems mostly from disappointment in what could have and should have been an excellent 90 minutes of Jackie Haley running around killing people with an uber claw glove. Nightmare purity aside, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the movie at the end of the day, but it really could have been so much more. This movie will not give me nightmares due to being a cinematic disaster, but I will lose sleep wondering what could have been.
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