Working with Type

For this project we had to learn about manipulating text. While in Illustrator, we messed with the kerning and tracking. This helped me to create my own custom graphic. This process is a very beneficial thing to know, especially for my Movie Poster Remake which I am currently working on.

Top Ten

Poster of Top Ten Values

Values:

The inspiration for this project was my top ten things that I value in life. I had to decide what I valued in life, however, it could not be ordinary things that people choose, such as: family, religion, friends ect. By choosing my ten things it revealed my values in life. It is important that we learn what our values are so we can see how that drives things in the market.

Type:

A important part of this project was our type pallet. In class we studied about typography and how fonts fit together; we also watched a video that had rules for paring fonts. I chose the Raleway and Guill Sans font for my poster. In order to create contrast, I used Raleway for the headings and Gilll Sans for the rest of the text. I wanted my items to stand out more than than the description, but less than the headings. In order to fulfill that wish, I made the objects a Light Italic Gill Sans and the description text a Regular Gill Sans.

Learned:

This was my first time using InDesign, so was able to learn the program. This was also the first project where I really focused on type and grid layout. After a few days of learning about grids, I created my own. Originally I wanted my layout to be vertical but after trying to recreate it in InDesign I realized it just wasn't going to work, so I had to change it to a horizontal layout. This taught me that you need to be flexible when designing things because you never know what problems could happen, in fact they may just make you realize a better way to design something.

Like/Dislike:

I did enjoy learning how to use InDesign and I feel like it is a fairly easy program to use. I also liked designing my own grid and creating a personal typeface. For me, the most challenging part of this project was deciding what my top ten things would be.

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