Study Guide for Exam

DGC 1180 Final EXAM – Study Guide

Exam Date: 17 November 2010

The exam will have two parts.  Part 1 is worth 60 points and Part 2 is worth 40 points.

Part 1 is a review and description of facts with some analysis in the last question.

Part 2 is thinking, comparing and using information learned in class for analysis of attempts to communicate.

You will be able to bring to the exam any and all of the notes you have made.  My suggestion is that you organize them in a single sheet or some way to be able to access them efficiently while you are taking the test.  You will be taking the test in a computer lab.  This means that you will have access to the Internet and everything else that is possible to access on a computer.  There will be parts of the test where you will need to access content on the computer and/or the Internet.


You will need to be able to recognize and describe the following:

The basic elements of the AIM model for communication
The precepts and laws of Gestalt perception
The impact of culture on various aspects of communication design
The categories of type described in class
The methods for handling color using digital tools
Technological developments that changed and/or expanded communication design


You will need to be able to do the following:

Define communication design according to the AIM model
Describe media forms on the basis of the experiences they enable
Describe the differences in typefaces or fonts based on their
Identify your favorite designer and justify your choice
Identify your favorite design period, style or movement and justify your choice
Explain why Sergei Eisenstein is important in the history of film
Identify classic films and the subsequent films they inspired
Describe the ways music has been used in movies across time
Discuss the impact of technological changes in communication design


In part two of the exam you will be given groups of communication designs.  You will then choose two of those designs for comparison.

First, for EACH of the designs you choose you will provide the year it was created, the name of the designer (if known), and the movement, school or era with which it can be associated.

You will then compare and contrast the two designs on the basis of
* the psychological factors in the composition
* the cultural elements in the design
* the aesthetic elements of the design
* the typographic features
* relevant technological aspects
* the apparent objective of the design; and
* the possible audience for the design.                                        


You will perform a similar task of comparison and contrast between two animated films and between two live-action films.


You will give your answers on a word document on the computer and turn it in to a folder on the computer.

YOU NEED TO BRING HEADPHONES TO THIS TEST


Please post any question you have as a comment to this post!

- Dr. W -

Comprehensive List of the Movies we have watched this semester

In order of year here are the movies we have seen bits of in class:

1894 Glenroy Brothers Boxing
1895 The Gardener

1896 The Kiss

1897 Seminary Girls

1899 Ben Hur - Stage Play

1902 Voyage to the Moon

1907 Ben Hur

1911 Little Nemo - Winsor McKay

1915 Birth of a Nation

1915 Charlie Chaplin

1925 Battleship Potemkin

1925 Ben Hur

1925 Strike

1927 Laurel and Hardy

1927 Metropolis

1933 Duck Soup

1934 It Happened One Night

1937 Snow White

1939 Gone With The Wind

1939 The Wizard of Oz

1940 Pinocchio

1941 Citizen Kane

1941 Dumbo

1942 Bambi

1950 Cinderella

1951 Alice in Wonderland

1952 Singing in the Rain

1953 Peter Pan

1954 Seven Samurai

1959 Ben Hur

1960 Psycho

 1962 Dr. No - Bond

1963 Sword in the Stone

1964 Mary Poppins

1964 My Fair Lady

1965 Sound of Music

1968 2001: A Space Odyssey

1970 The Aristocats

1971 Bananas

1971 Fists of Fury

1974 Blazing Saddle

1974 Young Frankenstein

1977 Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope

1979 Life of Brian

1979 Moonraker - Bond

1982 Blade Runner

1984 Adventures of Andre and Wally

1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off

1986 Luxo Jr.

1987 Untouchables

1990 Home Alone

1991 Beauty and the Beast

1991 Once Upon a Time in China - Wong Fei Hong

1992 Waynes World

1993 Jurassic Park

1994 Fist of Legend

1994 Lion King

1995 Pochahantas

1995 Toy Story 1

1999 Matrix

1999 Notting Hill

1999 Toy Story 2

2001 Barbie in the Nutcracker

2001 Moulin Rouge

2001 Shaolin Soccer

2001 Shrek

2001 Zoolander

2002 Die Another Day - Bond

2005 Wallace and Gromit

2006 Casino Royale - Bond

2007 Hairspray

2008 Mamma Mia

2008 WALL-E

2009 Night at the Museum 2

2010 Barbie in a Mermaid's Tale

Think about them in the same way that you think about a single image or poster.  Movies are aesthetic, psychological, cultural and communicative designs.  It is interesting though because movies seem to be more dated than most posters.  Because of their nature they have a more difficult time in holding up across time.  They are more reliant on the time when they were created.  May be it is just because of their nature and that we don't control the amount of time required to experience them?

- Dr. W -

Design Ancestor Examples for After the Exam

Here are two very simple examples of Design Ancestors:

This is the design for which I am seeking ancestors.

Here is Ancestor 1:

This one is directly related as it provides the visual and the concept for the later work.  This is a poster for the original movie "Endless Summer" that was made in 1964 or thereabouts (you need to be more accurate).  The movie is about a group of guys traveling the world in search of the perfect wave.  Thus we have a great deal of the content in the modern design shown above.  

But the new design shows some changes and here is a possible ancestor:

This is the sign on the southern edge of Las Vegas that has become a trademark of the city.  It demonstrates strong use of the diamond shape which is the added element in the modern work above.  It also has strong associations with the 1960s which connects its use in the final poster as well, "Searching since '64."

Here is a second example of design ancestors:

I am hoping that at least one of the ancestors for this piece is obvious to you already so here it is:

Andy Warhol did a number of these silk screen repetitive pieces of famous people.  This is a clear predecessor to the work above with added notion that Photoshop made the modern piece a lot easier to do.

Now here is a second possible ancestor to the modern work above:

It might have been possible to choose any portrait as an ancestor of the modern work but this photograph is particularly relevant because it has the feeling of a self-shot self portrait of a photographer and it includes the camera in the shot.  So there is a logical connection between this photo which pre-dates the work shown above.

In your presentation you will need to give specific information about each image, the modern and the historical.  

Your images and their ancestors do not have to come from anything shown in class.

You will not have a lot time so you need to show us the modern work, then show us two works that you believe have the possibility of being ancestors to that work.  They may have provided some ideas or inspiration.  You need to make a few logical arguments for their connection even though the relationship may be obvious.

Be sure to post your questions as comments to this post.

Attendance will be taken on both days so you are expected to come to class and support your fellow students.

The AFI Top Film Lists

The AFI is the American Film Institute and in 1998 the members of the Institute voted for the best 100 films of the first 100 years of the medium.


1998
1. Citizen Kane 1941
2. Casablanca 1942
3. The Godfather 1972
4. Gone with the Wind 1939
5. Lawrence of Arabia 1962
6. The Wizard of Oz 1939
7. The Graduate 1967
8. On the Waterfront 1954
9. Schindler's List 1993
10. Singin' in the Rain 1952
11. It's a Wonderful Life 1946
12. Sunset Blvd.  1950
13. The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957
14. Some Like It Hot 1959
15. Star Wars 1977
16. All About Eve 1950
17. The African Queen 1951
18. Psycho 1960
19. Chinatown 1974
20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest   1975


Ten years later in 2008 the members voted again and the order changed a bit because calling something the best film is very much a matter of opinion.

2008
1. Citizen Kane 1941
2. The Godfather  1972
3. Casablanca 1942
4. Raging Bull 1980
5. Singin' in the Rain 1952
6. Gone with the Wind 1939
7. Lawrence of Arabia  1962
8. Schindler's List 1993
9. Vertigo 1958
10. The Wizard of Oz 1939
11. City Lights 1931
12. The Searchers 1956
13. Star Wars  1977
14. Psycho 1960
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
16. Sunset Boulevard 1950
17. The Graduate 1967
18. The General 1927
19. On the Waterfront 1954
20. It's a Wonderful Life 1946

Animation

Disney did not make the first animated short film in the world or even in North America.  Disney did not make the first feature length animation in the world but Snow White was the first feature length animation made in English.  It is also the first of 50 animated films to be made by the Disney Studio.  This month the movie "Tangled"  will be the 51st.

Disney's first film made for the China mainland market was 宝葫芦的秘密 mand it was made it 2007.  It was a cooperative production between Disney and Centro Digital Pictures in Hong Kong.  It mixes live action with 3D animation.  The lead animator for Centro was Ralph Poon who is a DGC graduate and now owns XD Communication Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Here are some facts about animated films made at Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks.


1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1940 Pinocchio
1940 Fantasia
1941 Dumbo
1942 Bambi
1942 Saludos Amigos
1944 The Three Caballeros
1946 Make Mine Music
1947 Fun and Fancy Free
1948 Melody Time
1949 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
1950 Cinderella
1951 Alice in Wonderland
1953 Peter Pan  (came from the stage)
1955 Lady and the Tramp
1959 Sleeping Beauty
1961 101 Dalmatians
1963 The Sword in the Stone
1967 The Jungle Book
1970 The Aristocats
1973 Robin Hood
1977 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
1977 The Rescuers
1981 The Fox and the Hound
1985 The Black Cauldron
1986 The Great Mouse Detective
1988 Oliver & Company
1989 The Little Mermaid  (The Rebirth of Disney Animation) (Now a Stage Show)
1990 The Rescuers Down Under
1991 Beauty and the Beast (First to use Digital Animation Technology)
                                            (The First to become a stage show)
                                            (The First Animation to be nominated for Best Picture)
1992 Aladdin
1994 The Lion King (Second to become a stage show, extremely innovative, prize winning)
1995 Pocahontas
1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1997 Hercules
1998 Mulan
1999 Tarzan  (Now a Stage Show)
1999 Fantasia 2000
2000 Dinosaur
2000 The Emperor's New Groove
2001 Atlantis: The Lost Empire
2002 Lilo & Stitch
2002 Treasure Planet5
2003 Brother Bear
2004 Home on the Range
2005 Chicken Little 3-D
2007 Meet the Robinsons 3-D
2008 Bolt 3-D
2009 The Princess and the Frog
2010 Tangled



Pixar                               cost revenue            academy award
1995 Toy Story $30,000,000 $361,996,233 Special Achievement Award
1998 A Bug's Life $60,000,000 $363,398,565
1999 Toy Story 2 $90,000,000 $485,015,179
2001 Monsters, Inc. $115,000,000 $525,366,597 Best Original Song
2003 Finding Nemo $94,000,000 $867,893,978 Best Animated Feature
2004 The Incredibles $92,000,000 $631,442,092 Best Animated Feature
                                                                                                Best Sound Editing
2006 Cars                  $120,000,000     $461,982,881 Lost to Happy Feet (George Miller)
2007 Ratatouille $150,000,000     $621,426,008 Best Animated Feature
2008 WALL-E $180,000,000     $521,268,237 Best Animated Feature
2009 Up                    $175,000,000     $731,338,164 Best Animated Feature
2010 Toy Story 3 $200,000,000     $1,060,026,000     The most successful animated film to date



Dreamworks Animation                                cost revenue
1998 Antz                                                  $60,000,000 $171,757,863
1998 The Prince of Egypt $70,000,000 $218,613,188
2000 The Road to El Dorado $95,000,000     $76,432,727
2000 Chicken Run                                      $45,000,000 $224,834,564
2001 Shrek                                                 $60,000,000 $484,409,218    Best Animated Feature
2002 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron $80,000,000 $122,563,539
2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas $60,000,000 $80,767,884
2004 Shrek 2                                              $150,000,000 $919,838,758
2004 Shark Tale                                          $75,000,000 $367,275,019
2005 Madagascar                                        $78,000,000 $532,680,671
2005 Wallace & Gromit: Were-Rabbit $30,000,000 $192,610,372     Best Animated Feature
2006 Over the Hedge $80,000,000 $336,002,996
2006 Flushed Away                                    $149,000,000 $178,120,010
2007 Shrek the Third $160,000,000 $798,958,162
2007 Bee Movie                                         $150,000,000 $287,594,577
2008 Kung Fu Panda $130,000,000 $631,744,560
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $150,000,000 $603,900,354
2009 Monsters vs. Aliens                            $175,000,000 $381,509,870
2010 How to Train Your Dragon $165,000,000 $492,591,956
2010 Shrek Forever After                           $165,000,000 $734,036,937
2010 Megamind                                            $130,000,000 $66,494,833     released Nov. 5 in the US

A Few Communication Designers

In class you have seen just a small taste of some very talented communication designers.  If you would like to know more about this designers they have all written at least one book or had at least one book written about them.  Most of these books are in the library.  Some of the books include thoughts about design, communication and business and some are just great collections of their work.  I know there is a very good book on Kan Tai Keung in the HKBU library and it is written in Chinese and contains a great collection of his work.

Design Periods

Understanding the design periods is very important for you and for the rest of the work you will be doing in class.  You will need to have some understanding of them for the test.  You will potentially need to talk about them in your design ancestor presentation and you will need to use them in your period poster.

You can go to look at various work from the design periods through the resource page in the course syllabus.  There you will find examples along with a general description for the style.