Giving Blood and Building Spaceships Documentaries

First Live Documentaries

Lego Building:

         In my classroom we practiced capturing good audio and asking questions for documentaries. The event we were to record was two people in our group building legos.

        This was my first time recording without a tripod and trying to capture good audio. I first learned how to set the volume levels so that they were balanced well and then I learned how to hold a camera steady and using other objects instead of a tripod to get good shots. Then, while filming I had to ask questions to my partners to get information. Lastly, when I started to edit I learned how to use "J and L" edits to make smooth transitions throughout my piece.

        Since this was my first time I was very unprepared. Keeping the camera steady was relatively easy, but next time I definitely need to take longer shots. Also I couldn't think of many or any interesting questions, so the interviews didn't have many good sound bytes. Another thing for me to work on is getting the six shot sequence and making sure I don't break the 180 degree rule.

       Overall I did get some good shots and a few usable sound bytes. Also my script matched what was happening in the video. In the end though, I didn't think I did much well on this project. However, it was a learning project.

      This experience helped me to learn and practice new skills. I now feel more confident and ready to film live events.

      Below is the link to my video:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFlLd9YmNXE

Blood Drive:

         On November 14, 2014, Olathe Northwest held their annual Blood Drive. I went down to film this event with my partner Anna Gaiche. This was our first experience recording at a live event. The main goal was to collect good audio and steady video. 

Screen shot of my work space in Final Cut Pro.

         There was no time to plan for what shots we wanted, so it was very last minute and spontaneous. While filming I need to be careful and not get in the way of the many nurses that were bustling around the donors. Also, I was aiming to get the six-shot sequence over and over again. I was there for two hours following Clayton Daugherty in his process of blood donation. When I got all the shots, I started to edit. To practice telling a story I had to create voice overs to explain what was happening. Finally I needed the video to be consistent and not have any hard cuts. To fix this I created "J and L"  edits that added consistency to the video.

          Next time I would definitely spend more time preparing for my list of shots and questions to ask. Another thing would be to practice more holding the camera steady. The sound we recorded was quiet and while editing I constantly had to turn up the volume, so next time I will make sure the volume levels are adjusted appropriately. I didn't like going last minute and being expected to collect good audio and stable clips with only one day of practice.

         I did enjoy filming a live event, though. I was glad we had the access to be there to film without question and that people allowed for us to film them. Also having a partner helped because she gave me ideas of shots I could take.

         So by going to this live event I learned quite a bit. I learned how to ask questions to help tell a story and how to record live activities. Next time I hope to get even better at this.

        Below is the link to the video:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5nbSjMQTBk

PostCards

The Purpose:

In Photoshop I learned how to create clipping masks on my text to make unique images. The reason I did this was to learn how to make more personal edits and cards.

The Process:

I started off by typing my name and adding pictures to fill them in. For a personal touch I added some dots at the bottom and put a clipping mask on them as well. Next I added that name onto a new background and added some extra text. Finally I created my real postcard by adding text and other images.  

Things Learned: 

By doing this project I learned how to compile many objects together and create something new out of them. I also practiced adjusting the opacity and blend modes. Overall, I learned much and I am excited to keep practicing my skills.

My Brand:

I incorporated  my brand into all of these cards. In the first one I was just learning, but I still included images that represent me.

The pictures in the first postcard were taken by me and they show topics that I am interested in. For example, it has pictures of my friends and nature which are two of many topics that I am interested in.

In the second card I used the name clipping mask from the first card and put in onto a background of a mountain. This time though, I left the first A in my name black because my middle name starts with an A and I feel like leaving it blank symbolizes that it is me and I still have many more adventures to live. Also I chose to have the background be mountains because I love snow, skiing and Colorado.

Finally, I tied together everything I learned and added again, snowboarding/skiing, ski lifts, snowflakes, snowy tree and my name with my interests. In the end, my brand is being me and including everything that I love in my life.

Realistic Shadows

The Purpose:

For this assignment my intent was to find two pictures that would fit well together and then place an object in the background. The main idea behind this is that I would learn how to make an object look like it belonged in the picture using shadows. 

The Process: 

 I selected the Seahorse with the quick select tool in photoshop. Then I refined the edges a bit and feathered it. Next, I made a blue background and went Layer>Matting>Defringe to get rid of any extra pixel fringe. After that I used a tutorial of how to make a realistic shadow. Then I simply placed it in the other picture and made it seem realistic.

What I learned:

Now I can create realistic looking Photoshopped pictures because I can create shadows that make it seem like objects fit in to their environment.

 Original picture:

  Object:    

      

With the shadow:

The final product:

Floating Mountain

The Purpose:

I learned how to to extract a mountain from a photograph and place it into another picture 

and make it seem like it belonged there...well as much as a mountain in a sky could belong.  I also learned much about pixel fringe and how to get rid of it.

The Process:   

The first step was to select the mountain from a photo, edit it using the refine edge tool by going over the edges to remove excess pixels from the original background. Then I simply placed it into the layer with the sky. The sky originally had text in it, so using the content aware tool I circled parts of the sky and used them to cover the text. To make this look realistic though, I added a tip to the mountain. To do this I used the select tool and drew the tip I wanted on the mountain. Next I brought that down and blended the edges for it to look realistic. Then to have it seem liked it belonged in that atmosphere, I created a cloud and brought it in front of the mountain by using a layer mask and the refine edge tool. Next I enhanced the background by adjusting the hue/saturation and blending mode of the island and the sky. In addition to that I created black and white layers and used blending modes to also enhance the background. Finally I added a sun and spaceship. It was fairly easy to do because all I needed to do was use the quick select and refine edge tool and then put it in the sky where I wanted them to be.

Things Learned:

This assignment helped me to learn a lot more about Photoshop and the many tools you can use to combine images and create unique images.

                                                                    

Radioactive MATD Music Video

Marina And The Diamonds: Radioactive 

           For this assignment we were to create a 90 second music video; my group chose Radioactive by Marina And The Diamonds. The purpose of this was for us to practice getting lots of shots for the video and to edit well. We spent a few days trying to find a song and decide a story line.

           There was a misunderstanding in our group, so while two of us decided a song/got shots for the video/storyboarded, the other thought they were in charge and were going to direct the video to a different song. This caused for some friction in our group because we all weren't on the same page.
       
           We talked among ourselves and saw when the miscommunication happened. In the end, we ended up throwing away everything and starting over with a new song. This put us way behind schedule. After we spent a few days filming, the SD card got left in the camera and we lost it. Once again we were put back. Thinking we had lost the SD card we wasted more days recapturing shots we already had; then the SD was found and we had practicaly wasted those last days refilming old shots. When we finally started editing I was dissapointed because some shots I wanted to use to show the story couldn't work. However, I did manage to edit more eficiently than before.

          While editing, I used more shortcuts than I had before. For example I used the keys "B" & "A" to quickly change between the blade tool and the selection tool. I also used the "Home" and "End" to get to the beginning and end of my timeline. While we were filming I also learned how to turn objects out of focus into focus and vise versa. We got some interesting shots by using this technique.

           I also learned how to cooperate with others and how to make adjustments to our plan so everyone was involved. That was the hardest part for me because I like to make the best use of our time, but it seemed like we were just wasting everything. Next time I would spend more time planning and making a good storyline and song choice. In addition to that I would constantly make sure the whole group knows what is going on.
         
          Overall I am not thrilled with the finished product, but I feel it turned out pretty well considering all the setbacks and challenges we had. I am also glad I learned how to take a lot of shots and learn how to edit quicker. This project helped me to learn much that I will use from now on.

The link to my video is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7fjLEryDAw&feature=youtu.be

Creative Tutorials

Sphere Symbolism:

A sphere symbolizes represents totality in time or space and follows the sense that you leave, go somewhere and always come back, the never ending circle of life.

Illustrator:

Color Sliced Sphere

Illustrator is a Vector based program and it is the one I started making spheres on. I found a tutorial that created an abstract sphere. It has a sphere split up into 8 parts. I learned how to select parts of objects and how to edit only certain parts. By adjusting the opacity and blend mode, I got it to look neon and transparent. I would like to learn more about selective coloring and how to make the objects seem more of a glowing neon.




The link is below if you would like to do this tutorial:
http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/quick-tip-create-a-colorful-sliced-sphere-to-use-as-a-logo-design--vector-4087

Photoshop:
Fire Ball

Photoshop is a Bit-Map program that uses pixels and allows you to keep your layers separate and edit them differently. I started by drawing a red circle. Then I applied gradients, clouds and blurs to create the one to right. Looking back at it, I didn't like how hard you could see the edges of the inner and outer circle, so I adjusted some more settings and created the one below (on the left). I really enjoyed adding/altering the clouds and blurs. Next I hope to learn how to make an ice sphere or maybe a glass one.



























The link for the tutorial is below:
 http://www.photoshopdaily.co.uk/news/how-to-make-a-fireball-effect-in-photoshop/

Red Spheres

SPHERES 

                                                                          Sketch           

To start understanding spheres, we drew them in our sketchbooks. We looked at the shading of the sphere itself and their shadows. To the left are my sketches.

Photoshop Sphere:

In Photoshop we created a red sphere. This was relatively easy and it allowed me to familiarize myself with Photoshop again. In this tutorial I was able to make the sphere seem more realistic than in Illustrator because of the noise and blur I added onto it. To add my own touch to it I had the shadow separated from the sphere, so it looked like it was in motion. Overall I liked using photoshop again.

Illustrator Sphere: 

In Illustrator we also created a sphere. This was the first one we created on a computer program. I first drew the sphere and then decided where the light source would be coming from. After adding the gradient, I started on the shadow. I simply drew a gradient for the shadow. For my touch I put my name in it. In Illustrator it is easier to move through the layers than photoshop to me, however photoshop keeps me more organized.

The Chase

In video, our project was to create a story where there was someone was being chased and there was a chaser. We were to have 3 A to B shots, so we would go to 4 places. We used the 6 basic shots: Over The Shoulder, Point Of View, Extra Wide, Wide, Medium, Close Up (hands/feet). To start my partner and I came up with an idea, and then I got a storyboard and drew out what shots we wanted. After that we labeled where the shots were, so we could save time. When we had all the shots I started to edit. In class we learned that in action movies the shots changed constantly, so I tired to make the shots fit well but also change fast. The hardest thing for me was finding music that fit the storyline. During this assignment I learned how to edit more effectively and how to move the camera into more unique angles. The time I had for editing was rather short so I did have to come in before school one day. Next time I would try to spend more time finding music and have a better resolution to my video. I would have the same angles and shots next time because I thought they were unique. This experience helped me to learn more about Final Cut Pro and getting cool angles. Overall this project was a lot of fun to do. I enjoyed editing and filming everything.

Illustrator Tutorial

SMOKE Tutorial 

In this tutorial I was able to learn how to create the smoke brush.   

I learned more about the blur effect and how to Envelope Distort objects together. I did a really good job following the tutorial and problem solving when something didn't go the right way. Overall I was good at creating the objects. Next time I would spend more time drawing a more unique shape and playing around more with the different types of blurs. Whenever I have more free time, I want to learn how to create a fire texture. I feel it would be similar, but also different and have other techniques. If you want to try this effect I found it here: http://lodep.com/85-best-text-effect-tutorials-adobe-illustrator/

Personal Logo

My logo

Why?

My logo has is an oval that is black and has a "B" in the negative space. The "B" is in the font of Bifur. The reason I chose this font is because it is the font I got when taking the quiz to see what font best represented us. 

This font represents me because it is different from most fonts and is harder to see what it really is at first, you have to think for a moment and see what the word/letter really is. 

The lines in my logo are vertical which symbolizes growth and life which is very fitting because I still have a long life in front of me and time to grow. 

The oval symbolizes balance which is something that I work towards. I sometimes become overwhelmed about little things like tests, but when I catch myself I put everything in perspective and become more balanced. 

Black is the color I used for my logo and the physiology behind that is independence and a strong will. It also means sophistication and confidence. Black can also symbolize a transition in life and I believe that I am going through that transition from a child into an adult. 

The Process:

I started by simply drawing in my sketch book. I used a variety of shapes and symbols along with my initials. Then I got on to Adobe Illustrator and created 4 art boards; from there I started to create some of the designs I had made in my sketches. 

Once I started to come up with ideas, I played around with more shapes and fonts to design even more logos. I was able to learn more about customizing font to make it your own. In many of my designs I messed around with different fonts, while adjusting them so they were different than anything else.

 Also, I played around with gradients and back/front glow.I feel that I did a great job with trying different things and coming up with my own ideas. I never got stuck on one thing. Whenever I had no creativity, I just took a break and did something else before trying again. 

Next time I would spend more time sketching because with more sketches you have more ideas. I would also look at other people/companies' logos to get ideas. Something I need to work on more is a 3D look and maybe some textures or opacity changes.

My Sketches:

My designs in Illustrator:

Google's Logo

Google's Logo

The logo for Google is well known everywhere.

It has been in existence for over 20 years.

 COLOR:

Google uses primary colors for all the letters except "l". For the letter 'L' Google used a secondary color. This implies that google likes to break the rules. There is a theory that Google has the prime letter numbers, prime colors. Overall all the colors give off a playful vibe.

FONT:

Google uses the font Catull. This font has ties with the past, which ties together the use of new technology with old information. The 'O''s in the logo are slightly titled to the left.

STORY:

Ruth Kedar was the designer of the logo. Google wanted to convey that they:

• Search providers
• Fast
• Trustworthy Results 
• Innovative
• Simple to use  

Below is a picture of the Google that I like personally and above is the original logo. 

Anatomy of Text

Bifur

My personality text matches Bifur. Four main words that describe me and the font are: rational, assertive, progressive, and relaxed. This font is certainly different from others. It has almost an abstract look to it. The font uses lines to fill in spaces to complete the shape. 

Below I labeled parts of text to show different parts of the font. 

This was rather difficult because my font is so different it didn't have many of the main parts to label. 

Learning Illustrator

 Illustrator

This week we started using Adobe Illustrator to create objects. The first assignment was Pencil Practice. For the project we had to use objects to make a pencil and a can.

                                                                               Pencil Practice        

   The best part of creating the pencil was learning how to connect shapes together and seeing them form an object. However, I had a hard time filling the can. But after redrawing it many times, I was able to get it to work.

                 Pencil Practice Extended

This assignment helped me to practice the skills I had learned

from the previous project. In this project, the easiest thing for me was creating the pencil and choosing the colors. I again had trouble with filling the can, but not as much as before. Another thing that I enjoyed learning was how to put a gradient on the can.

                                                    Complementary Project

Skiing is one of my favorite hobbies, so I based this project on that. My repeating objects are the mountains, skis, snowflakes and the ski poles. With this assignment I was able to explore Illustrator even more and practice creating shape.

Take Aways

1.  I learned how to use Illustrator.
2. We learned new shortcuts to make my time more useful.
3. I learned how to connect shapes so I could fill it with the Live Paint Bucket.

Six Shot Sequence

Six Shot Sequence 

In the Video strand of eComm I had to create a short film with six shots. The shots we used were: Close Up (hands and face), Over The Shoulder, Point Of View, Medium, Extra Wide. This activity was a nice way to get us accustomed to the cameras. It also helped us remember some key points regarding video angles and shots. 

What is Graphic Design?

 My Definition: 

Graphic Design is the art of combining images, words, textures, sizes, and colors to send a message.

Why is it important? 

Graphic Design is everywhere! It is in every aspect of 

our lives.                     

       · It can move us to buy one product over another

       · Image and Type are the two main bases for    

        Graphic Design

       ·It’s creative, unique, has underlying  
        meaning 

       ·Communicate something

       · Stirs emotion, take action

       ·Represent special moments