Assignment 2: Faculty of Creative Multimedia (Step 1)

Essay report about the Faculty of Creative Multimedia

The Faculty of Creative Multimedia, also known as FCM, incorporates academic study with a broad creative digital technology production work. Therefore, Multimedia University is placed at the lead of Malaysian creative multimedia education. The faculty was considered back in 1997 and the pioneers had exact purpose and that is none other than to produce designers who are experts in digital content.

The faculty is made up of a well-proportioned team of academicians and industry professionals in arts, architecture, broadcasting, computing, design, animation, and advertising. This faculty provides a good learning environment for Multimedia University design students. They will get a lot of art information, skills and techniques in drawing, thinking and create a creative design.

The entry requirement for local students in Foundation of Creative Multimedia is passing in SPM /O level or its equivalent with 5Cs inclusive of English and Mathematics or Pass in UEC with 4 Bs inclusive of English and Mathematics. Fees would be around RM10,000. As for international students, the entry requirement would be passing in O Levels / equivalent with 5 Credits inclusive of Mathematics, or passing in A Levels/equivalent with 3 Credits, inclusive of Mathematics/Economics, and fulfill MMU's English Requirement. Fees for international students would be around RM12 500 or USD 4 170. It will take 3 years to finish up the major courses in degree. Local fess would be around RM39, 000 and for international fees around RM48, 750/ USD16250. The entry requirement for local students to enter degree is pass in related foundation studies or pass in related Diploma from a recognized institution, with submission of portfolio on design, computer works and complete transcripts and resume (especially for those with working experience); for international students have to pass in Foundation in Creative Multimedia or pass in Diploma in design and computer related coursed, with submission of portfolio on design, computer works and complete transcripts and resume (especially for those with working experience), and fulfill MMU’s English requirement.

Besides that, Faculty of Creative Multimedia is then divided to five major courses for students to pursue and it consists of Animation and Visual Effects, Advertising Design, Media Arts, Virtual Reality and Interface Design as for the time being. One can take up Animation and Visual Effects if he is interested in film-making concepts with animation skills, 3D animation and video technology. Advertising Design, on the other hand, emphasizes the creation of advertising driven content through innovative multimedia applications. Students who take up Media Arts will be able to create information driven content in the digital technology realm. Virtual Reality is a study about the development process of communicating virtual reality applications, focusing on education and entertainment, using real-time computer graphics and immersive multimedia technologies. Last but not least, Interface Design provides an exploration, redefinition and investigation of the interaction and the interface between humans and the information and communication technologies.

Every semester or year, the Faculty of Creative will conduct showcases to present the artworks done by the students and even lecturer themselves, develop new artworks for the purpose of the showcases. Example of one of the showcases is Electronic Magazine (Entitle). The mission of this electronic magazine is to cover the latest news and events on art, design and multimedia. It also is an outlet for students to exchange opinions and share their artworks in this magazine. In order to publish this magazine, the students have been practiced to be in a team while improving the students’ working skills. Moreover, Entitle brings exposure to the faculty in a more active light. The contents of the magazine emphasized the ideas and suggestions instead of complaints from students. It also encourages the faculty students to be more involved and interactive because it provides the lecturers and students with a forum for cooperation. The magazine helps the students of Creative Multimedia as an ongoing resource about the latest news or students’ artworks.

Furthermore, it also speaks for all the students from the Faculty of Creative Multimedia and the main purpose of publishing this magazine is to promote the Faculty of Creative Multimedia and create awareness to more people about this faculty.

Just recently, about 3 weeks ago, an Alpha Week was held and was participated by Alpha year students (degree students as well) and lecturers. This event is not new. In fact, The Alpha Creative Term of Foundation Studies organizes this annually. What is Alpha Week? On that week, there will be an exhibition of Alpha Students’ Artwork: A Fundamental Journey which showcased a whole year worth of works done by students was showcased. Alpha Year students will be giving a basic understanding in concepts and courses which will be taught in the degree courses of Faculty of Creative Multimedia be it in Advertising Design, Media Arts, Animation Design, Interface Design or Virtual Reality.

Usually, the drawing workshop, for example, figure drawing that involved students from Alpha Foundation Studies will exhibit on that day. This drawing workshop led to the memorable Launch of the Alpha Week. Besides that, some of the students will perform for the audience during the launching of the event to show off their talents and to make the event a memorable and enjoyable one.

There are a lot of activities being carried out on the Alpha Week. Other than showcasing the students’ artworks, Alpha Creative Team also invited some professional photographers to give a talk about their experience on photo shooting and video recording, as well as to show us their past works. The purpose is for students to get to know more about this field as photography is really important for a Creative Multimedia student.

The Faculty of Creative Multimedia is able to brag amazing achievements by students and members who have received near to 100 recognitions in the form of awards and scholarships be it locally or internationally after a decade of planning, researching and developing.

The facilities provided in this faculty are Designing Studio, a workplace for students to enhance their creative thinking skills and to carry out design projects and assignments, Graphic Labs with high-resolution computer graphic images, thus installed with professional graphic and image editing software tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Macromedia Freehand and Macromedia Fireworks, Interactive Labs, where students create highly interactive multimedia applications for digital medium on fast and networked PCs equipped with classy industry standard authoring tools like Macromedia Director, Macromedia Authorware, Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

Furthermore, Set and Background Studio is provided with blue screen and motion capture facilities for a virtual studio set-up while Electronic Gallery is an exhibition centre where the conceptualized becomes a portal to the multimedia and digital world. It also showcases the best of student's work.
3D Labs such as Modeling Labs is where students create complex 3D objects using high-end computers and tools such as 3D Studio Max, AutoCAD, Maya and Softimage. Animation Labs on the other hand contains specialized facilities comprising of hardware and software intended for high-end 3D animation purposes. Lastly, Rapid Prototyping Lab consists of Computer Aided Design (CAD) facilities to produce prototype designs and mock-ups for interface design concepts while Post Production Labs consist of Video Labs and Audio Labs. Electronic Theatre or better known as E-Theatre is a cinematic hall equipped with audio and video facilities for screening and lecture purposes.

Other minor facilities that could be found in the building of the Faculty of Creative Multimedia are FCM café and MMU Knowledge Mart.

The University ensures that graduates of Creative Multimedia courses are in great demand with potential employers and take up important roles in the multimedia world. There are various job prospects that open to the graduates in different sorts of industries. Students who graduate from the degrees will have the opportunity as well as the proper knowledge and skills in the following career prospects, such as Multimedia Content Manager, Film Director, Animation Director, Animators, Advertising Consultant, Art Director, R&D Product Designer, Interface Designers, Instructional Designers, Multimedia Designers, Multimedia Trainers, Web Designers, Immersive Content Consultant, Simulation Designer, Graphic Designer, Entrepreneur / Cyberpreneur, Virtual Environment Designer.

Not to exaggerate but it indeed takes up courage for an individual to consider any of the Creative Multimedia courses to pursue especially for high school graduates. Creative Multimedia is an art and outsiders normally do not consider art as a stable career in reality but the truth is, based on the Dean of Faculty of Creative Multimedia, “the society is faced with increasing new forms of multimedia communication, both from the technological tools and the messages beamed to us each day via a saturated electronic environment. As the world shifts into the global digishpere, you as our students are faced with even bolder challenges to become future media creators.”

On top of that, Creative Multimedia is a not just about the technology. Creative Multimedia is all about creativity and imagination and it requires passion. Doing things you ought to do and doing things you want or like to do are two different things in this sense. You can’t be possibly doing things you ought to do instead of doing things you want to do for the rest of your life for the sake of income or more absurd, approval of family members. Quoting Walt Disney: Dream - Believe - Dare - Do, is Walt's mantra that led him to build what is now a creative empire without equal. DREAM beyond the boundaries of today; BELIEVE in sound values; DARE to make a difference; and then just go out and DO it.

Every normal individual has a dream and it’s just the matter of believing it or not. Take the first step, dare to be different. Have faith in yourself and just do it.

Additional information

One thing that makes the Faculty of Creative Multimedia different from other designing courses in other universities is that Multimedia University provides the best facilities and up-to-date multimedia equipment for the students. The building itself is decorated with fantastic artworks done by the students and the most impressive thing about this is that the artworks will be replaced by new artworks after a year, which means, the Faculty of Creative Multimedia produce excellent designers yearly.

Lastly, Interface Design course offered in Multimedia University is being offered as a course instead of a subject like how any other universities and that’s what make us different from others

Mind map

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Drafts and sketches

Final mind map

Random Association

Random Word is a simplest technique where a randomly picked word is used to generate new associations. By getting a random word and thinking how you can use it to solve your problem you are practically guaranteed to attack the problem from a different direction from that you would normally.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_stimulus

When to use it

-use it to stimulate open and divergent thinking and seek creative new ideas.
-use it to re-ignite creative thinking when you are running out of ideas.
-Use it to get people out of a rut when their thinking is still rather conventional.

How to use it

1. Find a random word

Find a random word that will be used as a stimulus for new ideas.
For example, on that day, our lecturer used a random word: “Traffic light”
And the task is using this random word to make a person stop smoking in 6 months.
(This method mix with: mind mad, associated mind map and metaphor)

2. Find associations

Think about some word relate to this word or some other things about which the word reminds you. Think openly: associations can be vague and tenuous (this is creativity, not an exam)

Random word: Traffic light

3. Use the associations to create new ideas

Now create new ideas by linking any of the associations with your task.


This is one of the examples of random association.
Our lecturers apply the colors of the traffic light to the cigarette to indicate danger.


How it works

Random Words works in particular by making you go elsewhere for ideas, and pushes you out of your current thinking rut. It uses the principle of forced association to make you think in new ways and create very different ideas.

Situation / Problem
To create “scary images or object” that will instill fear among people through out the ages Random word: Kitten



Association

1. Cat eyes: scary and evil
In practise: one of the kitten’s eye falls out and the other becomes very big as if it's going to explode.




2. Cat paws: long and sharp
In practise: Sharp claws are hurtful and scary. They are harmful when they are in contact with your skin so therefore, no one will like the kitten.


3. Tail: Attaching on people
In practise: As a weapon to circle around the body of victim while hunting for food.



4. Cat poo: acidic and unpleasant smell
In practise: The cat poo is corrosive to human’s skin.



• All the images above are my idea of the scary image using random association method.


In conclusion, using this random association method can help us think creatively and create many different ideas. I like using this technique because it helps me to come out with different ideas.

Written by Cecilia Lim Xin Lei

Edited by Chee Jenn Yi

Juxtaposition: Exercises

In week 10, we're given a few choices of animals and we're supposed to combine TWO animals to create another creature which can't survive on neither land nor water. My group mates and I have came up with funny and weird creatures and below are some example of our artworks.







Besides that, we're asked to write a poem with the key word given:

Chili - Love

Mortal & Pestle - Man

Here are the example of our poems:

Chili - Love

Love is like a red-chili And you are the one Although you look small to others, But you are hot, spicy, and as big as my world
-----
Love is like red hot chili, It gets hot when you taste it Triggers you to ask for more

-----

Love is like red chili It makes you feel hot and passionate Sometimes it's too hot that I can't control it

Mortal & Pestle

Man is like mortal and pestle You need to knock some sense into them
-----
Man is like mortal and pestle He will not get to work Unless you start pounding on him.

-----
Man can be described as mortal and pestle They are hard, powerful and strong But they only make one of the ingredients for your dish They are only a part of your life

At the end of this lesson, I've learned that all of us are able to come up with unique creation as long as we're willing to brainstorm and think otherwise. There's nothing impossible in this life because when there's a will, there's a way.

Written by Chee Jenn Yi

Juxtaposition 2: Analogy, Metaphor and Simile

For me, I think that the lecture in this week given by our lecturer Mr. Radzi Bedu is interesting. Not everyone understood the true meaning of “Juxtaposition”. Before this lecture class, I’m not really understand the term of juxtaposition. I got a clearer picture of it finally after the lecture class.

Besides that, we also learned about the true meaning of t

he terms “simile” and “metaphor”. They are quite easy to understand because we have actually learned them during our English grammar lesson before.

What is Juxtaposition?

Juxtaposition can be categorized into two categories of analogy which is the “logical anology” and the “affective analogy”. The “logical analogy” can be described as an analogy which uses similarity in design, structure as well as function in order to connect back with the subject while “affective anologies” can be defined as an emotional resemblance analogy.

or

Juxtaposition is the placement of two things (usually abstract concepts, though it can refer to physical objects) near each other.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposition

What is Analogy?

- A comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

- A correspondence or partial similarity.

What is Metaphor?

- A metaphor is a figure of speech that uses one thing to mean another and makes a comparison between the two. Metaphors can be very simple and they can function as most any part of speech.

Example of metaphor:

English Shorts Example- Simile, Metaphor, Personification

http://youtu.be/oF9_fsUkxuk

What is Simile?

- A simile is also called an open comparison. It is a form of metaphor that compares two different things to create a new meaning. But a simile always uses “like” or “as” within the phrase and is more explicit than a metaphor.

Example of simile:

source: http://mmdelrosario.hubpages.com/hub/simile-and-metaphors

In-Class Exercise:

We enjoyed the task or exercise given by the lecturer. The exercise is we have to pair up two words that are totally not related with each other and produce a new word. Then, create images by our own imagination regarding the words we created just now. After that, make a sentence for each pair of words you created and then draw an image to describe the sentence. This exercise is fun and it actually helps us to become more creatively in thinking in order to produce something new based on our thought.

This is the list of the words given by the lecturer for us to pair up:

Choose 3 pairs of number between 00-99. Mix each pair of them together and make a sentence

by using the words you got. Then draw an image to describe the sentences you made.

Here's some of the result we got...

Written by Kuan Swee Li

Juxtaposition 1

Juxtaposition refers to an act or instance of placing properties close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. Beyond simply creating interesting effects, such a contrast can be seen as imposing two trains of thought upon each other. Depending on the emphasis of one reference over the other a debate can be seen to arise, when used as a method in postmodern art, however, such debate rarely declares a distinct point of view.

As a developmental strategy, the juxtaposition of values enables relationships to be quickly ascertained and priorities and emphasis identified. Simply begin by putting properties in relation to each other, alter emphasis through a series of stages by noting the consequence of their interaction. Continue until the language moves closer to what you what to achieve.

As a designing students, juxtaposition is important for designing and creating something. We should think differently to create an interesting design that manage to attract the audience.

Rather amusing, don't you think so? It makes you think about just how the legs hang on air.

Delightful and I would not normally have thought of this as juxtaposition. But it is.

It is a beauty, the smoke stacks with each other and the houses to note the similarities and differences, not forgetting the clouds of smoke with the clouds in the sky, of course.

Juxtaposition allows the assessment in the overall architecture of the city.

Written by Goh Zee Ruey

Edited by Chee Jenn Yi