DLKW Lowe - Upstairs in the Studio - Day 1

So today was our first day up in the studio with the designers. A complete change of scene and atmosphere. Very much a male environment up here. 

Just from looking around at people's screens you can see that these people are incredible at what they do, working on all sorts of programmes to make the ideas that come from downstairs a reality. 

We were introduced to Steve, who set us our tasks for the day. He was incredibly helpful all throughout the day, answering any questions we had, both about the industry that he works in and the programme he was showing us... it was time to learn Flash. 

At first, I thought that this was very similar to AfterEffects... if a little easier! Then I realised about the possibilities that came with it. 

By the end of the week, I am hoping to have an interactive web advert created. 

We decided to work on the Halford's brief we were given last week... to make some of our ideas into a reality. This is where we split off, taking two ideas forward. 

So much to take in in just 6 hours, but I am very happy with the amount I have learnt today. Even learnt a bit of scripting to get the programme to work how I wanted to. 

My idea is based on a scene from Star Wars... where two walls close in and something blocks them, stopping the characters being squashed. In this instance, that blocker will be the Halford's bike that we are trying to portray as strong and durable. 

So I started by vectoring up a bike on illustrator and then importing the different assets into Flash, then working in different layers to get the wheels spinning parented to the actual frame of the bike... in turn getting this to rise up the screen and blocking the incoming walls. 

By the end of the week I want this to be interactive, to get people on the internet being able to move this bike around and blocking the walls themselves. I also want there to be a lot more detail than the simple vector images I have come up with today. 

Bit of coding. 

stop(); - to stop a timeline

Again, a day filled with skills I can take back to Leeds and use in my practice. 

I am loving these two weeks more than I can quite explain. I feel a lot more certain about my skills and have a new direction. I have something to strive for.