Week One: What DM Means To Me..

So you're probably wondering what I mean by my two DM's in my Blog's title. Or why I happen to capitalize Blog as if it were a worshiped deity. All these questions will be answered in due time, in fact, one of them in mere seconds; though the other will remain a mystery for generations to come.

The second DM stands for "Digital Media" which is a course I'm currently enrolled in through my program (Radio and Television Arts, or RTA) at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Chances are, if you're reading this blog on the internet you know a thing or two about what 'digital' and 'media' mean... or you're my professor. (Hey Jeff!) This blog's going to be mainly for spewing my own thoughts about the program or posting assignments I've done, this being one of them - to create a blog and make a post. Ta'da!

The first DM in the title is a reference of such extreme nerdiness that it pained me to even use it - but I am a slave to humor so I decided to use it at my own behest. It stands for "Dungeon Master" which is a term from the Role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. I am not, in actuality, a REAL Dungeon Master so I apologize for confusing any of you die hard DnD fans, but you won't find any dungeons or dragons here.

For anyone not really familiar with what Digital Media actually is, no worries, I'm in pretty much the same boat, so you can learn from and share in my experiences as I make posts through the duration of this course. My first impressions of Digital Media came from my boyfriend who graduated from college in Graphic Design this year. So I have a basic grasp of things like: Typography (fonts and typefaces), Flash (the program that makes all those funny cartoons you watch on the internet), Photoshop (the reason why the girls on the covers of magazines look so flawless), Colour Theory (I made a HORRIBLE colour wheel in high school), and all this other cool stuff I don't know the technical names of but would really like to learn to do some day! My impressions haven't changed since the first lecture, I've just gotten more excited since I sat down in THIS class about doing some actual production! We've been in lectures all week so it's nice to sit down and actually work on stuff.

I think this class is so valuable for anyone going into any form of Media (like my fellow RTA-ers), it teaches you how to appreciate and understand anything that you perceive visually. By understanding how colour theory, shapes, fonts, images affect a product or production you can turn your media from something average or mediocre into something that'll grab attention and really speak to an audience.

I'm glad I'm going to be in this course even though I'm not very artistically skilled, so I'll put a disclaimer right now - THIS IS NOT PROFESSIONAL WORK! I AM NOT A VISUAL ARTIST! I'M TRYING MY BEST, BE FORGIVING! This goes for any readers who happen to stumble upon this blog and my professor alike.

I guess this is a long enough first post, who knows if I'll have time to make these kinds of posts throughout the year since I know I'll be doing a lot of writing for all my courses. So we'll see!