Wednesday 28 December 2011

ASSIGNMENT 2; CREATIVE STUDY, FCM ESSAY (Week 11)

         FCM can stands for Fat Cow’s Milk, maybe Fastest Car’s Machine or it can even stands for Faulty Copycat Maniac. Obviously that was only jokes, few words to catch your interest in reading the thousands of words in this essay. Back to the serious side, FCM is the suffix of Faculty of Creative Multimedia. It is a part, one of the overall four faculties in Multimedia University, in Cyberjaya campus. This faculty is not present in Melaka campus. In the official website of FCM, http://creative.mmu.edu.my/, it stated that FCM integrates academic study with extensive creative digital technology production work. This proven approach has placed Multimedia University at the forefront of Malaysian creative multimedia education. The faculty main objective is a specific purpose; that is to produce digital content designers. We cannot deny that these globalisation days are driven by the power of knowledge and information. Realized by that fact, FCM came out with a theory, 'content is king' upon which 'form' heavily relies to preserve its significance. FCM covers all stage of creative education except Diploma level, started from Foundation level, Undergraduate level and postgraduate level.
         I can say that FCM is the most popular faculty in the Cyberjaya campus. It is not because the quantity of student participated in the course offered in the faculty itself. It is because the Creative Multimedia aspects that is so sought-after by the government to create the future of  Information and Communication Technologies ( ICT ) in Malaysia after MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) was built.                                                  [sitiraihan1112701447]
        
         Faculty of Creative Multimedia was established back in the year 1997 and it was the first kind of faculty that offers various types of course that is related to the multimedia field for degree in the Malaysian education. In June 1999, Faculty of  Creative Multimedia together with other faculties in the Multimedia University was officially launched by the fourth prime minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad in Cyberjaya, Selangor. This Faculty is supervised and run by the dean of the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Professor Harold Thwaites.  Not long time ago, this faculty was named Media Arts and Sciences before it was changed to Creative Multimedia. The changes in the name obviously shows that creativity is the backbone to the production of art stuff, as the word “Science” in the former faculty name seems kind of run a little bit from the normality of creative thinking that is not bound with logical thinking.
          Faculty of Creative Multimedia is a rigid name in education as it helps students in the faculty to create and form something that is new based on different point of view on the subject by using the combination of various types of media form. Thus, this has made the Multimedia University the front-line of education in Malaysia. The faculty high reputation is to ensure that every graduate have many opportunities and received many request from employers in the multimedia world. Fourteen years after Faculty of Creative Multimedia was launched, there are many stunning achievement by students who received recognition locally and internationally.                                                                                               [farzuraazreen1112701254]
         
         The Faculty of Creative Multimedia can be considered the strong point of Multimedia University. The foundation program held for this course takes up about RM10,000 or more, and takes about a year to complete. It is also called the “alpha year”. Consisting of both local and international students, the faculty makes a total of about one or two hundred students at most, most of who took this course for their own interest in the entertainment or advertising industry. During the foundation program, students are taught the basics of becoming an artist at all aspects. Even as the “seed before the flower”, students are carefully treated as professionals to make the best of their work as possible.
        Picking up the pencil would earn them the title of an artist, and taking creative shots would make them a photographer. Before you know it, these students are and could be making, at most, around RM3000 at this very level- the salary of a full-time worker. To make up for the lack reference of books in this course, students take practical approach to achieve their respective goals. Therefore, the alpha year of the Creative Multimedia not only excel at its purpose to create an artist, it also gives students opportunities to have fun at making their assignments. Even without the basic skills of creativity, one can easily and efficiently learn the tips and tricks to generate ideas in the foundation program. Within the year, students find their identities and strong points, before they advance into their degree program, or also known as the beta year.                                                                      [nurdiananatasya1112700522]
            
         Upon completing the foundation programme, one can further their studies more to the degree courses or undergraduate programmes that the faculty of creative multimedia prepared in Multimedia University .  There are five major courses that the Faculty of Creative Multimedia prepares and there are Digital Media / Media Arts , Animation and Visual Effects , Advertising Design , Interface Design and lastly , Virtual Reality . Each respected courses has their own perks and Multimedia University provides tons of facilities and equipment for all the students who are studying their respected courses.
         Digital Media or Media Arts is a degree programme where students will learn how to create newly found forms of art of communication using the technologies of computers. This undergraduate programme is for those who are really into computer programming or anything that is related whatsoever to computer and uses them in a creative manner. As for  Animation and Visual Effects , it is a programme for those who are into making still drawings come to life as they master the art of digital animation as well as getting a good sense of design . 
        Other than that , there’s also Advertising Design . Advertising Design is a programme to show each student’s ability to advertise a certain item in a creative manner in order for the item to be sell well. Students will be taught how to produce something that can be in demand .Interface Design is a programme whereby students will learn the art of producing a creative and cutting – edge clarification for Information and Communication Technology. Lastly , Virtual Reality offers programmes such as creating real life animation with designs that are creatively made .                                                                       [rajaintansuraya1112700165]
           
        After undergraduate programmes in degree, the students can choose whether to continue their studies into master level and then goes to PhD level. Postgraduates programmes in Multimedia University offered three master programmes and one PhD programmes such as Master of Science in Creative Multimedia, Master of Knowledge Management with Multimedia,  Master of Multimedia for e-learning technologies and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Creative Multimedia. Through all those programme, Faculty of Creative Multimedia actually helped the student to improves their creativity and ability on studies which to be comfortable with reality of multimedia IT after graduate and also develop student fundamental skills to help their career prospect to make them as a professional worker.
        Those who earn master in Faculty of Creative Multimedia courses has a high chances in being accepted in the industries, well some of the job prospect with high level of yearly income are easily increase just bases on their knowledge and ability of creativity.Creative Multimedia courses has open a large employment opportunities around the world through the internet and others media. Multimedia University had research there’s a lot career prospects that suitable with this course which is something related such as Multimedia Content Manager,  Film Director, Animation Director, Animator, Advertising Consultant, Art Director, R&D Product Designer, Interface Designer, Instructional Designer, Multimedia Designer, Multimedia Trainer, Web Designer, Immersive Content Consultant, Simulation Designer, Graphic Designer, Entrepreneur or Cyberpreneur, Virtual Environment Designer and others career about multimedia.                                                                                                        [nurilyakhairiah1112700340]                                                                                                                       
          Multimedia has been with us for a long, long time that its significance is a must to use in various fields. In Creative jobs, such as illustrator, graphic design, game developer, and animator, multimedia has helped in producing so many outstanding masterpieces. Even in business or in any other presentations, multimedia is the best tool to explain the data or information effectively and fast to other people. Frankly speaking, multimedia has benefited us in a very positive and creative way, bringing entertainment as close as possible to our heart and makes our life easier than the ancient time. Finding Nemo, Despicable Me, Wallace and Grommit, are the nearest example of movies that could be seen on how the directors creatively create the characters, the plot, the settings and the most importantly the morals behind each and every story that perfectly can be understood by innocent toddlers.
          And as the human population increase every year, the competition between creative people also grew rapidly. This shows that the knowledge of creativity and multimedia is priceless and limitless. They had to compete with each other, making a distinctive uniqueness and rare skills just to be different and extraordinary from others. These issues are not only happen in artists and designers world but also in business area. Thus, young generations and professionals have to do endless research, practices, efforts and more sleepless nights to maintain their position. In certain fields, such as animation in 3D, they need a longer time to complete their goal that sometimes consume more than a year just to produce a 2 hours movie.  Commitment and teamwork are crucial in every employee to overcome any difficulties.
         However, when people are too creative, they sometimes use it in a wrong way. Hackers, viruses, pornographic materials, and to name a few, were all done by those of higher intellect in multimedia and technologies. It’s hard to believe we have these kinds of people living in our community, but this is the reality that we need to change. This bad influence, if we let it slip away, it will crush the whole system of creativity itself as youngsters will drown in never ending fantasy and entertainment. Just like how drugs can destroy the human if overdose. Besides, the higher cost in creative multimedia education and materials are basically money consuming that only certain students can apply this course especially those who are wealthy enough to apply.                                                                                                    [nurhanisah1112700468]
       As shown by the above statements, the Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) is definitely one of the most popular courses in Multimedia University (MMU), especially since the demand for multimedia is always increasing as the years go by. So far, MMU strives to produce quality education for its students and thus, results in producing many successful graduates who contibute greatly to society in the field of arts and multimedia.
        Despite the lack of textbooks to guide the students, MMU's FCM manages to create creative students through the usage of a "hand-on" experience, therefore encouraging their creativity without copying other people's ideas and providing them with valuable experience to prepare them for their future in the wide world of art and multimedia industry. This will help to prevent them from being overrun by the highly competitive people found in the industry and to have their voices heard and acknowledged by their employers and co-workers.
         However, despite it's popularity, learning Creative Multimedia is very expensive, as many materials and programs are required to do the projects and assignments given out by the lecturers.Some even decide to misuse their abilities to harm others, by hacking and creating harmful virses, as mentioned previously. Overall, FCM is a great faculty to learn under and students needs to learn how to appreciate people's works in multimedia as they put their hearts and souls into them to make their projects a success.      
                                                                                                      [anisaajwa1112700884]






Logical Mind Map about The Faculty Of Creative Multimedia


Tuesday 27 December 2011

Juxtaposition 4 (week 10)

Nur Hanisah binti Abdul Thani
1112700468


Juxtaposition 4 (week 10)

Nur Diana Natasya Maarof
(1112700522)


Nur Ilya Khairiah binti Alias
 (1112700340)




Siti Raihan Binti Hamdani 
(1112701447)



Farzura Azreen Binti Abdul Saip
(1112701254)



Anisa Ajwa Binti Sahrul Isa
(1112700884)






Thursday 22 December 2011

Juxtaposition 3 (Week 9)

Nur Hanisah binti Abdul Thani
1112700468



Juxtaposition 3 (week9)

Nur ilya Khairiah
(1112700340)





NUR DIANA NATASYA BINTI MAAROF
 (1112700522)




Anisa Ajwa Binti Sahrul Isa
(1112700884)



Siti Raihan Binti Hamdani
(1112701447)


Farzura Azreen Binti Abdul Saip 
(1112701254)


Thursday 8 December 2011

juxtaposition2 (week 7)

Nur Hanisah BT Abdul Thani
(1112700467)


Nur Ilya Khairiah binti Alias
 (1112700340)







Farzura Azreen Binti Abdul Saip
(1112701254)




Nur Diana Natasya 
(1112700522)





Raja Intan Suraya
 (1112700165)



Anisa Ajwa Binti Sahrul Isa
(1112700884)




Monday 28 November 2011

Juxtaposition (Week 6)

Juxtaposition is defined simply as placing objects side-by-side.

In art, juxtaposition is done mainly to bring out a certain quality or to create an effect, especially when contrasting or opposing elements are present. In a term of more formal elements, this can be seen, for example, with the usage of darker colours in contrast with lighter colours or a simple drawing against a detailed background.

A scene from Hayao Miyazaki's movie, Howl's Moving Castle showcasing juxtaposition between the simplistic
character designs and the intricately detailed background and foreground.


However, the usage of juxtaposition is more commonly used to refer to concepts and imagery. As an example, an artist may use a picture of polluted environment in contrast with a picture of a rainforest to stress on the importance of preventing pollution and conserving the environment.

Don't Waste Your Life by Zepaulo carries the message of taking care of one's health by comparing the differences between a
"polluted environment" and a "clean environment" by using a photograph of a person's face as the medium.


Juxtaposition is also used frequently in advertising items, especially household products, in order to attract customers to buy their products along with convincing them that their products are the best and better than any "Product X".

These are done because when 2 things are placed side-by-side, people will automatically compare the 2 things and make a decision over which one of them is better than the other. Thus, making up their minds over a certain topic or helping them make a decide a better course of action. Therefore, juxtaposition plays a vital role in solving conflicts in our everyday lives.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

novelty, creativity, innovation & invention (Week3)

Let we talk about creative studies~ ( again )
No one in this world can define creativity accurately, but still, many individuals in this world come out with their own perspective of creative definition. For example:

seeing the same way > different way of thinking (Shekerjian,D,1990)
doing something first of all unusual (Howard Gardner,1992)

Novelty is something that is so familiar within the creativity aspect. What is novelty?
Novelty = quality of being new, exist in subjective perception of individuals.

In this context, ORIGINALITY is not a decisive feature. Novelty in creativity is always based on what has been created before.
The study of creativity, based on the presumption of novelty, aims to explain how original works are produced and created. See, novelty can contrast a thing to be perceived by individuals as either new or old..

So, to make it simpler, i just make it like this,
BORROWING > RECURRING = NOVELTY PRODUCTION!

Creativity: generation of new ideas or a new way of doing things
Innovation: process of making improvement by introducing something new, the realization of a creative idea in a social contact.

Innovation and creativity is a mutual aspect. Why? see..
innovation = changing creative ideas* into goods/ services that people will pay for it.
*but, that idea must satisfy a specific need and replicable at an economic cost.


innovation can be divided into 2 parts
EVOLUTIONARY
Continuous  ( alteration in product's characteristic in a new product, do not require user-learning or changes in user routine. Ex. multi-blade shaver, flouride toothpaste)
Dynamic  ( require user-learning, but do not disrupt individual's routine. Ex. fax machines, hand-held computers)

REVOLUTIONARY
require good deal of user-learning, but eventually will disrupt their routine, and then develop the different from their actual behaviour .

End of the note. Now, i would like to ask your comments about the value of novelty in your own perspective....




Tuesday 25 October 2011

What is Creativity? (Week2)


CREATIVE THINKING

Creative thinking is very crucial in everyday life as it change one’s point of view and opinion and helps them to see things in different perspective than one’s currently do.

Definition
Creative- relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something, having good imagination or original ideas

Think- have a particular belief or idea, direct one’s mind towards someone or something; use one’s mind actively to form connected ideas, have a specified opinion of

Creativity- refers to the phenomenon where a person creates something new whether it is a product, solutions, work of arts, novel or jokes, etc. that brought along some kind of sentimental value whether to the creator itself or the society or the domain within which the novelty occurs.
                                                                        Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

Creativity in Everyday Life
That flash of inspiration is the final moment of a process marked by distinctive stages—the basic steps in creative problem-solving. The first stage is preparation. Search out any information that might be relevant and let your imagination run wild! Being receptive, being able to listen openly and well, is a crucial skill.

Once you have mulled over all the relevant pieces and pushed your rational mind to the limits, you can let the problem simmer. This is the incubation stage, when you digest all you have gathered. It's a stage when much of what goes on occurs outside your focused awareness, in the unconscious. As the saying goes, "You sleep on it."

The unconscious mind is far more suited to creative insight than the conscious mind. Ideas are free to recombine with other ideas in novel patterns and unpredictable associations. It is also the storehouse of everything you know, including things you can't readily call into awareness. Further, the unconscious speaks to us in ways that go beyond words, including the rich feelings and deep imagery of the senses.

We are more open to insights from the unconscious mind when we are not thinking of anything in particular. That is why daydreams are so useful in the quest for creativity. Anytime you can just daydream and relax is useful in the creative process: a shower, long drives, a quiet walk. For example, Nolan Bushnell, the founder of the Atari company, got the inspiration for what became a best-selling video game while idly flicking sand on a beach.

With luck, immersion and daydreaming lead to illumination, when all of a sudden the answer comes to you as if from nowhere. This is the popular stage—the one that usually gets all the glory and attention, the moment that people sweat and long for, the feeling "This is it!" But the thought alone is still not a creative act. The final stage is translation, when you take your insight and transform it into action; it becomes useful to you and others.

“That's easier said than done.” We are used to our mundane way of thinking about solutions. Psychologists call this "functional fixedness." We see only the obvious way of looking at a problem—the same comfortable way we always think about it. Another barrier is self-censorship, that inner voice of judgment that confines our creative spirit within the boundaries of what we deem acceptable. It's the voice that whispers to you, "They'll think I'm foolish," or "That will never work." But we can learn to recognize this voice or judgment and have the courage to discount its destructive advice.

Inside Creativity
Our lives can be filled with creative moments, whatever we do, as long as we're flexible and open to new possibilities—willing to push beyond routine. The everyday expression of creativity often takes the form of trying out a new approach to a familiar dilemma. Yet half the world still thinks of creativity as a mysterious quality that the other half has. A good deal of research suggests, however, that everyone is capable of tapping into his or her creative spirit. We don't just mean getting better ideas; we're talking about a kind of general awareness that leads to greater enjoyment of your work and the people in your life: a spirit that can improve collaboration and communication with others.

“I’m not creative.” We tend to think that creativity belongs to the artists, musicians, poets, etc. etc.   because we don't have much of an audience for what we do. In fact, we focus too much on "Big C" creativity—the glamorous achievements of geniuses—and overlook the ways each of us displays flair and imagination in our own lives.
The more you can experience your own originality, the more confidence you get, the greater the probability that you'll be creative in the future. The idea is to develop the habit of paying attention to your own creativity. Eventually, you will come to place greater trust in it and instinctively turn to it when you are confronted with problems.

The ability to see things in a fresh way is vital to the creative process, and that ability rests on the willingness to question any and all assumptions. This is personified by Paul MacCready, one of America's most prolific inventors. His best-known accomplishment is the invention of the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered airplane to fly a mile.

Being wrong is not bad! People always afraid of making mistakes, which can be embarrassing or even humiliating, but if you take no chances and make no mistakes, you fail to learn, let alone do anything unusual or innovative. In creative problem-solving, mistake is a great teacher of wisdom. Research suggests that creative people make more mistakes than their less imaginative peers. They spin out more ideas, come up with more possibilities and generate more schemes.
Play while work can stimulate your creativity. Don’t dissociate them! The same goes with jokes and humors. When you're joking around, you're freer to consider any possibility—after all, you're only kidding. Having fun helps you disarm the inner censor that all too quickly condemns your ideas as ludicrous.

This is why in brainstorming sessions the operative rule is that anything goes and no one is allowed to dismiss an idea as too absurd. People are free to generate as many ideas as they can manage to think of, no matter how wild they seem. In one of those ideas, there is often the seed that can eventually grow into an innovative solution.
For a child, life is a creative adventure. The most basic explorations of a child's world are creative exercises in problem-solving. They begin a lifelong process of inventing themselves. In this sense, every child reinvents language, walking, love etc.etc
"The kernel of creativity," says psychologist Teresa Amabile, "is there in the infant: the desire and drive to explore, to find out about things, to try things out, to experiment with different ways of handling things and looking at things. As they grow older, children begin to create entire universes of reality in their play."

The psychological pressures that inhibit a child's creativity occur early in life. Parents can encourage or suppress the creativity of their children in the home environment and by what they demand of schools. Most children in preschool, kindergarten—even in the first grade—love being in school. They are excited about exploring and learning. But by the time they are in the third or fourth grade, many don't like school, let alone have any sense of pleasure in their own creativity.

Amabile's research has identified the main creativity killers:
  • Surveillance: Hovering over kids, making them feel that they're constantly being watched while they're working.
  • Evaluation: Making kids worry about how others judge what they are doing. Kids should
  • Competition: Putting kids in a win/lose situation, where only one person can come out on top.
  • Over control: Telling kids exactly how to do things. This leaves children feeling that any exploration is a waste of time.
  • Pressure: Establishing grandiose expectations for a child's performance. Training regimes can easily backfire and end up instilling an aversion for the subject being taught.

One of the greatest creativity killers, however, is more subtle and so deeply rooted in our culture that it is hardly noticed. It has to do with time.

 Creativity flourishes when things are done for enjoyment. When children learn a creative form, preserving the joy matters as much—if not more—than "getting it right." What matters is the pleasure, not perfection.