This was an interesting assignment. I think the most difficult aspect was trying to choose a record to remix! I spent most of my time just trying to find a record that I wanted to use. At first, I was going to use a human-based record, but I decided not to because I came across this sheep! As soon as I saw this it reminded me of a big cotton ball. It also made me kind of sad too, because who knows how long it has been since this sheep had a haircut. I can imagine that the extra weight from the wool has been uncomfortable and not very good for its health. I really like that this assignment included the coding aspect. I loved being able to apply what I learned to create a new product.
So this assignment was wicked easy and super fun! I was having some trouble at first as the X-ray website wouldn’t load up the other night. I tried once again after finishing up my Codecademy stuff and was able to get it to work. After some tinkering, I found it was quite easy to manipulate the Guinness website and make my own record. I chose the image above as I’m quite fond of owls and it was one of the better photos found on the Guinness Record page. I actually had most of this stuff ready last night but my access to the X-ray page really obstructed me from getting this assignment done. Until now!
At first, I was gonna do something like “world’s most ornery owl” but I thought I could display the image better by utilizing the signpost in some particular way. I think posing the owl as a guide offers a bit of story as you can think about how this owl may lead hikers down safe mountain trails. Maybe flying just below the treeline to allow people a clear view of his whereabouts. It’s a rather intimidating owl but he’s only there to keep you safe!
The third WEB assignment is to “Remix Guinness Book of World Records” by following the indicated directions: “Remix a Guinness Book of World records web page. Pick any record you want and somehow remix it. Try and connect it to a story, and add some background inspiration into your idea for inspiration. Maybe it was the record you always wanted to set, or break. Or maybe it fits perfectly into a story you are creating. However it fits be creative and have fun with it.” This is when I directed myself to the Original Guinness Records wesbite and stumbled upon a record I wanted remix: the Noisiest Land Animal.
The noisiest land animal in the world is the Howler Monkey (Alouatta), with a full vocal production able to be heard up to 3 miles away! I chose this Guinness Record to remix with X-Ray Goggles because I have seen these monkeys in the wild before and have heard their howling screams.
During my second semester of my junior year at UNE, I took the Costa Rica travel course where over spring break, students traveled to San José and Palo Verde, Costa Rica, to learn more about the rainforests and dry forests. In the rainforest, students would hike upwards of 10 miles a day into the jungle, sometimes being able to see different types of species (i.e., iguanas, sloths, bats, birds, etc.). One of the favorite species among the class was the Howler Monkey; when we would walk through the jungle, we would start to hear the low rumbles of the howler’s screams when thunderstorms or rainstorms were approaching. We could also hear their howls early in the morning as the sun rose, greeting each day with a welcoming howl.
To remix the original webpage, I started off my adding a picture of a Howler Monkey, as the original page did not have this. I chose this picture because it pictures a beautiful male howling with all his might in a treetop branch. I also played around with the “Where” aspect of the page and changed it from the “United Kingdom” to “Screams can be Heard for Miles (Costa Rica)”, as this is this connects to the story behind why I chose this record to remix; I also chose this as the “Where” aspect because their screams can be heard for miles, rumbling through the rainforest and making you question whether it’s a Howler calling or a thunderstorm rolling through.
I also remixed the description aspect of the page; I kept the original text, as this is factual information about the animal, and added the two sentences at the end: “Their screams can be heard for miles through the rainforest! Better wear your soundproof headphones just incase.” This added a fun element to the description by cautioning people how loud these animals are; soundproof headphones are strongly encouraged if you are in close proximity to these animals in the jungle! Along with these elements I changed, I also altered the title of the page from “Noisiest land animal” to “Loudest scream ever produced by an animal”, as I felt this was a twist on the original title of the page. This was an overall fun assignment and I enjoyed employing X-Ray Goggles to understand what I learned from my Codecademy lessons on HTML and CSS.
I have never done anything like this, I hope I did it right…but here is a mashup of Crystalize by Lindsey Stirling and Radioactive by Imagine Dragons pic.twitter.com/QOeIPY2X3s
This was a very interesting assignment. I have never really worked much with remixing or playing around with music on my computer before, but I am glad that I learned a new skill from it. I had a hard time at first coming up with songs that I could use, as well as what software to use. I ended up using Garage Band after trying Youtube DJ and not being able to get it to work. The songs I used were inspired by an old synchro routine I did when I was a sophomore in high school. We swam to Crystalize, but there was much debate about whether to swim to Crystalize or Radioactive. So I decided to mix the two and see what could have been! Now I wouldn’t say that my remix above would have been sufficient for a routine, but if I knew of the possibility back then, maybe I could have gotten something to work. Again, this was a cool experience and I am happy to have gained a new skill out of it.
