Today’s Class – 8/30

Today’s class was an insightful look at what a capstone actually is, and what it means to students. I felt it was a bit redundant on points, but there were some late arrivals. Each issue and question brought to light was one that I had either wondered myself, or felt needed to be clarified.

I like the idea that this class’s dialog is being used to better improve and refine the requirements for future capstones.

The only thing I would take issue in is the timing of the class. This is by no means a fault of Beth, since she clearly said she wished it were given in the spring of our sophomore year. That way we would have the summer to reflect and build on what we had learned.

Capstone ideas

I have semi-decided on an idea for my capstone and have begun the script for it. I don’t have much in said script, so I am open to new ideas for a capstone. I’ve had 2-3 other ideas that I thought were cool, but for one reason or another I gave up on.

1. A movie streaming website that one could watch movies with a limited number of friends online, all whilst chatting about the movie in a chatroom. I’ve always been interested in the idea of watching movies with people online. I had a small side project for a while that involved streaming movies that I liked online. Now the obvious issue was the legality of streaming copyrighted content online. so that’s where that died

The thing that inspired me were channels on webcam sites like justintv and livestream that did the same thing, before they were banned for violating the sites terms of service.

2. My current idea is one that I have been bouncing around my mind for a while. A short scifi narrative about time travel. I’ve begun the script and I have the base idea, but I lack a story line and ending. Even the beginning is sketchy at this point. I have to just buckle down and flush it out in to something workable. This one seems like the most demanding.

The things that inspired this are my fave movie Primer and FAQ About Time Travel, along with my other time travel obsession movies.

3. My final Idea was for a time management site. One that would show a simple timeline that one could enter in dates and events in to that would update in real time. I’m not sure how much different this would be from something like google calendar other than instead of a calendar, it would be a literal time line on screen. dunno about this one.

Inspired by Pink Floyd’s song Time.

“What is a capstone?”

I believe a capstone is a way of not only showing what I have learned as a student of Media Arts and Science (artist formerly known as New Media), but as an opportunity to show potential employers what I bring to the table.

I hope I get to apply myself to a project that has no real course boundaries, and to learn from my mistakes. Usually class assignments fall under a specific niche  of creativity that relates to the class. I want to explore as many aspects as I can with whatever capstone topic I eventually end up choosing. I’ve had a lot of Ideas bouncing around my mind, but I’m indecisive and hesitant on some.

I  think the reason you (the professors at IUPUI) want us (the students) to spend at least a full school year on our capstone is because a project of that magnitude. I may be a little late in the game for some of my ideas, but I think if I feel the project, I can accomplish great things.