i used the magic wand tool to cut down the heads in the pictures and adjusted the position and size so that they can fit onto the bodies.
Photoshop Assignment__Steve Sun
reflection on Understanding Comics-the Invisible art__Steve Sun
After reading Understanding Comics-the Invisible art, I did realize that there is a pattern in how comic was created, that human’s imagination in the gutter between the panels links the stories, and that how abstract the comic is depend on how much does the artist want people to fit themselves in the characters and the plot. With that much essence of comics being revealed, the importance of this textbook-style comic is self-evident.
But one thing that keeps staying in my mind is that what exactly is the purpose of exploring further into the essence of the comics. What will people get from learning “what makes a comic”? Do they draw less bad comics or do they understand the comic of other artists better?
If it’s the former I would say less bad doesn’t necessarily mean good. What build up a good comic is the drawing skills and more importantly the content in it which can’t be mastered simply by studying the component of a comic and how they work. These “building bricks” can be calcinated by one consistently reading and imitating different kind of already-exist good comics and form one’s own way of narrating and scriptwriting, as well as the style of drawing.
While if it’s the latter then I’m truly sorry for the creator of that obscure comic. As McCloud claimed himself, “with the invention of printing, the art-form which had been a diversion of the rich and powerful now could be enjoyed by everyone.” (16). And by everyone, the author meant everyone who is able to get access to the comic. And that includes the not-so highly educated people who don’t understand the essence of the comics. So if a comic seems hard to understand by those kind of people, it failed.
Also, I do admit that the innovative way of narrating and reasoning and explaining in the form of comic is quite bold and refreshing, but I can barely say that I’m a fan of the idea of “a comic about comic”. When I was reading this comic, I didn’t feel like I was reading one because the narrate and explanation part seemed a little bit too long for a comic, and I can hardly see a difference between it and a novel if the paragraphs were any longer. It seemed to me that I would rather read a series of article with good detail and vivid depiction about the essence of comic than reading this.
Reflection on Long Live the Web By Steve Sun
To be honest I do not fully understand this passage however I do have something to say about the electronic human rights. In the article the author commented that there may be companies or governmental web developers who may interfere with or snoop on Internet traffic; and that’s a compromise to basic human network rights. As far as I’m concerned, the interference is not only a compromise to human rights, but also a negative impact on the market economy.
The interference had happened all the time — as we have to admit. Having faster access to a certain online shop is like having less distance to a physical store. Paying more to get more attention from the public and thus get more benefit has always been a thing in the history. However, the difference between how far you are from a store with how fast you can access a website is huge. For example if a store doesn’t have a better location than another one then it can always choose another location where there’s even better geographic advantage. But for an online store, the accessing speed is globally shared, which leave no alternative for the disadvantaged store than snooping his opponent even more. It will definitely lead a distorted competition between stores which is not about the quality of their product but rather about the quality of hackers as I would say. It is definitely a bad way for the market economy to develop, but for any individual or community of shared interests, it always seems appealing to snoop on internet traffic to get more clicks and thus gaining more profits. As a result, just as human’s benefit-oriented nature has to be regulated by laws, the unhealthy competition between the community of shared interests should also be regulated. It will take a considerable amount of time before—hopefully—a society where healthy competition occurs and electronic human rights relatively equally distributed could be established.
Self Portfolio——Steve Sun
http//imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~ds5665/website1/selfintro.html
Reflection on The Machine Stops by E.M. Foster—— By Steve Sun
Reflection on The Machine Stops by E.M. Foster
The fiction describes a dystopian future of human race that the machines took the control over the world. The human in that fictional world lived underground separately in chambers where all their needs were fulfilled by the buttons on the walls. The people spent their whole life in the chambers and their thoughts were generated in it. As a result over many years the people below the surface began to change and worship the machine. The transportation to the surface of the earth and between humans were not banned but no one saw any need in doing such thing. The main character of the fiction are Vashti who was consent with her life in the chamber and her son Kuno who has always challenged the authority of the Machine. The story follows the two of them as they struggle to keep their relationship in this world.
I do agree with a lot of people who have read this fiction that the theme of this story lies in that a world which depend itself solely on the technology and “Machines” will definitely end up catastrophically for human, which in this case is that the machine stops working and collapsed, along with the humans in it. But I think that it’s not only the physical body of the human were destroyed, but also the thought of human were controlled. People living in the chambers simply believe that the environment on surface of the earth is too hostile to live and simply deny the fact that there were indeed people living on it. People who challenge the authority of the Machine will be seen as ‘unmechanical’ and threatened with Homelessness. And what’s more tragic is that the fact that the human fears the Machine was initially created by human rather than by machine itself. It’s the human who created the machine, it’s also human who are satisfied with their lives imprisoned in the machine and the interaction cut by machine, and its also human who gradually depend their whole life on machine and see them as their god. While machines just followed the things that they are programmed to do, or to some extend, they did nothing, but by doing nothing they controlled human who were meant to control. How ironic.