Megan's Blog

Site

mmj5017 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:15:32 +0000

Oh yea, totally got that site up and going. Doesn’t look all that hot, but hey, it’s up there.

Updated Website

mmj5017 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:34:41 +0000

Here is my bio:

I am currently a junior class student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in New Media at Penn State. While I prefer animation, I often branch out into new and traditional mediums, such as Adobe Illustrator, sculpture, charcoal, and pencil. I am from North Beach, Maryland and I plan to make a career with a mainstream animation company.

And here’s my homepage and new media gallery.

And here is my resume (sortof long for the blog but here it is):

Megan Johnson
Email: mmj5017(at)psu(dot)edu
Online Portfolio: animatedmegan.com

Education:
Pennsylvania State University, expected graduation Spring 2009
BA in New Media, concentration in 3d Animation

Work Experience:
R.M. Thornton, accounting department, 2003-2007 Summers
Assistant Accounts Receivable, invoice management, data entry, file upkeep
Warnock Commons, 2005- Present
Student Manager, management of student employees, food preparation

Art Experience:
R.M. Thornton, Summer 2007
Initiated company website redesign

Warnock Commons, 2005 – Present
Oversee and create large scale decorations for themed dinners

R.M. Thornton, Present
Maintain and update company website

Skills:
Working knowledge of C++
Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office
Working knowledge of Maya, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, iDVD
Knowledge of word blogger/ WordPress
Formal education in traditional 2d mediums (pencil, charcoal, pastel)

Commitments:
Digital Media Group, Fall 2007
Arts and Architecture House, Spring 2008

New Artist Statement

mmj5017 — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:53:29 +0000

I create worlds. Imaginary, virtual, possible, and impossible. My work captures a frame of time in a story and I encapsulate that story as best I can within the limitations, a time limit, a point of view, or a particular setting. These stories start in worlds we all know, but a slightly different perspective on them takes the viewer down a slightly offset path, and finds itself spiraling into something wholly different. I may look into the simple act of taking out the trash, but look at it from the view of the rat living in the wall, who’s livelihood depends on the old potato peelings and leftover pizza that is now being carried off to lands unknown.

I draw out these ideas, these new perspectives, through 3D animation, writing, and traditional mediums like pencil, paint, and charcoal. First comes the idea, then choosing the medium that would match it, as the form of my ideas always follow their function. Sometimes a story spans several mediums, each taking a different perspective: sketches of my desperate rat clinging to the trash bag, an animation of his journey to bring back food for his family, a short story of his son bravely setting out to find his aging father. My work is becoming progressively more exploratory in this manner, taking pages from science fiction authors such as Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick, fantasy authors such as Anne McCaffrey and K. A. Applegate, and newer Disney films such as Shrek and The Incredibles. Having gained a well rounded knowledge of the world we do live in through science, politics, and the arts, this enables me to increase the level of detail I am able to create.

My work strives to create a living, breathing world out of an idea, something that will pull viewers in and set them adrift someplace new. When the story ends, I want them to continue it in their own mind and wonder what happens next. As I improve, I hope to gain as much control over a digital world as I do a written one. I also hope to be able to make worlds and stories that are reachable by anyone, so I may bring a small amount of happiness to anyone who sees it.

My Homepage

mmj5017 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:29:40 +0000

Here is the basic layout of my homepage. I’m currently finishing my main project, my animation, so neither the header nor the rat are mine, they will be replaced with parts of the animation.

Artist statement

mmj5017 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:12:53 +0000

I create worlds. No matter the medium, everything I create is three dimensional; characters and ideas spill over the edges of the frame and wrap around to form another side not shown, yet. My work captures a frame of time in a story and I encapsulate that story as best I can within the limitations. These stories start in worlds we all know, but a slightly different perspective on them takes the viewer down a slightly offset path, and finds itself spiraling into something wholly different.

I draw out these ideas through animation, writing, and traditional mediums like pencil, paint, and charcoal. First comes the idea, then choosing the medium that would match it. Sometimes a story spans several mediums, each taking a different perspective. My work is becoming progressively more exploratory in this manner, taking pages from science fiction, fantasy, and newer Disney films before delving into the smaller details that eventually carry the story away. Having gained a well rounded knowledge of the world we do live in, and not just the arts, this enables me to increase the level of detail I am able to create.

My work strives to create a living, breathing world out of an idea, something that will pull viewers in and set them adrift someplace new. When it ends, I want them to continue the story in their own mind and wonder what happens next. As I improve, I hope to gain as much control over a digital world as I do a written one, so I am able to make worlds and stories that are reachable by anyone.

Website

mmj5017 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:20:43 +0000

Mine is very simple, with little bits I picked up from the five websites I like, like a changing corresponding headbar and a link bar to the left that always has links to anywhere on the site.

New animation

mmj5017 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:44:59 +0000

Ok, because I know everyone is just dying to know what I’m up to… I’m going a different way with my animation. I’m abandoning the robot family and instead fixing up three of my old animations and stringing them together. These animations were an assignment in my animation class last semester, we had to model an object as perfectly as we could, and show that object in three emotional contexts, without animating the object itself. My animations starred….a water bottle! Tada:

5 websites

mmj5017 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:14:02 +0000

Here are the 5 sites that I go most often to:

gaiaonline.com

+Nice color scheme

+Lots of ways to get to a particular place

-Very busy

-’Ads’ for parts of the site just fill the page

tektek.org

+Wonderful concept (plug-in site for gaia)

+Very well organized right from the start

-No real ‘back to home’ button

-Some parts take a long time to load

google.com

+Simple, clear layout, changeable with holidays

+Very easy to navigate

- Page looks empty sometimes

-What exactly is ‘feeling lucky’?

rammstein.com

+Easy to navigate, clearly labeled buttons

+Simple but pleasing page layout

-Sometimes switches to an uglier layout for no real reason (url bar calls it “Simpleball”

-Even though it’s an english site for a german band, some of the translations are a little off

facebook.com

+Practical layout

+Sticks to a color scheme

-Lots of boxes one may not use, but no way to delete (“New Stuff” “Invite your Friends”…)

-Limited customization beyond info and applications

Animation

mmj5017 — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:18:27 +0000

I’m doing an animation on my own to use in my portfolio to get an internship this summer. I figured since it’ll be dominating my spring break, I’ll post my progress here. The animation’s about a family of robots, and the little sister bot is just running around shooting a home movie of their life. She peeks in on each of the family members, including Brother Bot, Dad Bot, and Mom Bot comes home at the end of the movie. Here is a nice family photo of the Bolt Family:

Training Video

mmj5017 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:23:06 +0000

Tada! My training video for your viewing pleasure. Once it clears processing at least.