Semester Reflection - Convergence / Video

Projects

ONW: 1 in 2000

This project was one of our first, and it was a news story. Admittedly, it turned out to be more of a feature, but at that point, none of us really knew the difference. I interviewed my friend Sarah, who, in turn, interviewed me. While we thought this was a good idea then, I probably wouldn't do that again, just because interviewing friends is difficult when attempting to appear professional. However, we had fun, and it was at the beginning of the year. I had used Final Cut Pro for my brief period in video last year, so I had to adapt to using Premiere Pro. The location I chose, although it fit my subject, didn't offer the best lighting, so I remembered that feedback later; the following videos I created were properly illuminated. If I were to go back and watch it now, I'm sure I would be cringing at the jump cuts and poor lighting. However, it was a learning experience, and that's what counts.

Feature Story #1 - First Fridays

After our news story, we were shown an example of a feature story and spent a day or two going over the differences. Before this, I couldn't tell which one was which, but I can now. For my first feature story, one of the criteria was to find someone with a talent that is "visually interesting". Coincidentally, some of my friends were going to be playing music downtown that week, so I checked out a camera over the weekend and filmed them. It took a week or so to film interviews and B-roll as well as editing. 

When I got to where they were, the sun was setting, so I had to film essentially from the beginning. Quickly after that, the buildings around us had hidden the sun, which eventually turned into nighttime. Later, while editing, I ended up only using the shots that had natural light, because the rest of them weren't as good. It was also my first time filming without a tripod, which was intimidating at first; I hate watching videos with shakiness in them. However, my friends are in E-Comm as well, and they gave me some advice on how to get good shots without relying on a tripod.

The feedback I received was mostly that I hadn't filmed my interviews on location; if I had, it definitely would have added to the video. Although this was helpful, I couldn't change it at that point. This was the video that I had the most fun filming and the one that I'm proudest of.

ONW Now

As our final video in class, we shot our own edition of ONW Now, our school's weekly news. My friend Addie and I were the news anchors for our second episode, but we also created a feature story to air on it. We chose our school's improv club as our topic because we both felt that theatre doesn't get covered as often as sports. I shot the interviews and Addie went to improv club that week to get B-roll. We then finished editing in just two days.

Filming this video was challenging only because we didn't have much time to do it. However, Addie and I worked together to get lots of good footage. I've found that the key to being able to make good feature stories is to get more than you actually need.

When it came to actually being an anchor, I had lots of help. My parents both have a degree in broadcasting, so I asked them what to wear, how to speak, etc. Mr. Cooper, the convergence teacher, also gave Addie and I tips on how to appear more professional. It was stressful, but we got it done in one take.

Sadly, our audio didn't come through, so we didn't get to have the full experience. Regardless, I think it was a strong ending to a semester of convergence, and I've come out with much more knowledge than I had before.

Productivity

In class, I rarely have time where I'm not working on something. I've learned over the course of this semester that filming and editing is harder than it looks. However, when I'm not directly working on something for class, I've found that I really enjoy writing scripts for potential short films. A couple of my friends and I joined together to start a productions channel called About Last Night on YouTube. We haven't produced anything yet, but I have a short film storyboarded and written; all we have to do is film it. Even outside of class, I love creating ideas and conceptualizing films that I can eventually make.

Strengths

I feel that my best quality in this field is my passion for filming. I love the feeling of getting that perfect shot, although it's difficult to describe to anyone who hasn't done it. When you finish editing a video and you get to see your work as a final product, it's amazing. That feeling of accomplishment only makes my drive to create stronger.

Improving

I will admit, convergence is not the type of video I'm interested in. I have a feeling that next semester, when we study entertainment, it will be different. Regardless, I try not to let this affect my work.

Summary

This semester has been a period of learning, which I don't mind. I learn best when it's hands-on, and having to adapt to things like a completely different video editing software has provided that for me. Next semester, I plan on working as hard as possible and hopefully developing my own personal portfolio along with my classwork. My end goal would be to create something and submit it to eMagine, so I'm going to work towards that. Video has been wonderful so far, and I hope to continue that.

Semester Reflection - Graphic Design

Projects

Raccoon Postcard

For our postcard project, we needed to use the raccoon that we had previously created by following a tutorial, and put it into a postcard. It took around two weeks, but it didn't feel like it was drawn out. I had some difficulty coming up with the initial concept, because the raccoon itself isn't an animal that relates to a specific holiday, but since it was close to Halloween, I used that. After that, it was a smooth process. Not necessarily easy, but I had fun. This was the first time I had scanned in handwritten typography and I was definitely pleased with the results.

While I was adding the bats on the right to give it more of a Halloween feeling, my teacher told me that I should add them to both sides in order to keep it symmetrical. After doing so, I realized that it looked much better, even though it seemed insignificant. I'm happy with the product I created, especially since we got to see them professionally printed.

Vectored Self-Portrait

Next, we were tasked with vectoring a picture of ourselves. I started with a photo that my friend had taken, which is still one of my favorite pictures of myself. Then, I put it into Illustrator and started tracing basic shapes with the pen tool. It took a week or so, but I still wish I could have spent more time on it.

Only using the pen tool was challenging due to the restrictions that it created. Dealing with the anchor points was difficult, and it was hard to create realistic texture in places like my hair. However, I moved past that by using the gaussian blur to make shadows and highlights. I didn't receive much feedback on this project, which I would have liked, but it wasn't one of our major projects.

I don't really know how to explain why I put the stars in it other than that it was just to give it personality and to make my work a little more mine. I found a picture of the constellation for Sagittarius, which is my zodiac sign, and I recreated it in Illustrator, and placed it onto the portrait. After that, I copied and rotated it a few times so it wouldn't look too uniform, and then I decided to go all out and make a moon and a ring like Saturn. The ring turned out to be much more difficult than I expected, but I like how it turned out.

Productivity

Out of the 120 hours that I've been in graphic design, I can definitely say that I've been learning the entire time. I'm sort of a perfectionist, so I tend to keep working and changing things to make them better if I can. However, when I have free time and no classwork to do, I work on graphic design for personal projects. A couple of my friends and I are forming a productions channel on YouTube for film called About Last Night, so I've been trying to create a logo and a header. I also work on sketching ideas for this outside of class. Even when I'm not working on that, I still create typography. After the first project with it, I went home and started a sketchbook for graphic design, and I've been filling it with handwritten typography ever since.

Strengths

As a graphic designer, I have to have a sense of what is aesthetically pleasing and what isn't. I've been learning what makes a design beautiful, whether it's minimalist or intricate. I'm also good at handwritten typography, and using Illustrator, so I work very well on projects involving those.

Improving

My Photoshop skills are definitely in need of improvement. When we did our tutorial projects, we watched videos to learn how to do it, and I had to watch them so many times. Eventually, I figured it out, though, which is the important part. Even now, I use tutorials to do things in Photoshop, but I'm learning that having to use them isn't a bad thing; as long as I'm making an effort to get comfortable using Photoshop, it's okay.

Summary

This semester in graphic design has been such an amazing experience. Last year, we only had a quarter, and it can't even compare. I've learned so much, especially the technical skills I need to even consider doing graphic design. But on a deeper level, I've started to genuinely enjoy creating and designing. I wouldn't change a thing, except I would start working on things outside of school earlier. Now I have the basic skills established; I'm competent in Photoshop and comfortable in Illustrator. Next semester, I'd like to create at least three things that I'm really proud of.

I joined E-Comm knowing that I want to do Entertainment, but this semester in graphic design has made that decision so much more difficult. As of now, I know Entertainment is my passion, but it's nice to know that I have graphic design to fall back on.

Feature Story #2

For my second feature story, I decided to focus on my friend, Rachel, and her talent for painting and photography. I felt that this was a visually interesting topic, so I wouldn't have hard time creating the video. I still have trouble writing a narrative lead, and it always ends up as more of a news intro, but I'm working on it. After all, the first step to fixing a problem is being aware of it.

The interviews were difficult as well. Rachel's has good content, but there was a class who came into our interview space while I was filming, so you can hear them in the background. Addie's was quieter, but I would shoot at a different angle next time. However, since we're all friends, Addie's opinions of Rachel's work were appreciative and positive.

Overall, shooting and editing was very similar to the first feature story I did. The feedback I received was constructive, like that I should raise some of the volumes. Next time, I won't film in a loud area.

11 x 17 Infographic

The finished infographic

When we were told to make an infographic for our assignment, I made a list of ideas, but I narrowed it down and eventually chose Halsey. She is my favorite singer, and because it had been a little over a year since she released her first album, I thought it would be fun. 

I downloaded her album cover for Badlands and used it to pull colors from to keep it consistent. I also went to her YouTube channel and noted the number of views for each of the three singles released. Finally, to add to those numbers, I took screenshots from the music videos.

When I drew out my wireframe, I had put a lot more information on it, but I didn't keep most of it; I wanted to keep my infographic clean.

The main thing when creating it in Illustrator was downloading the font that Halsey uses for her products and vectoring the mountains that she included on her album. To give the statistics at the top some dimension, I changed the relative size of all of them. The YouTube views were easy to deal with - I just out them into a bar graph. However, I had to move the bar graph around quite a bit to make it fit in visually. Then, I took colors from the screenshots and created a small color palette underneath them.

When we received feedback in class, I got generally positive things. I enjoy getting feedback so I can correct things I wouldn't have seen otherwise, but when you only get compliments, it's difficult to revise. My teacher pointed out that there was a parallel between the increasing size of the numbers and the rising mountain above them, which I hadn't originally noticed.

Regardless, it was the first time our class had really given feedback, and it was a good experience. Overall, I feel like my skills have developed a lot while doing this project, and it was fun to be able to use my creativity.

Feature Story Article Review

For this review, I read the Pulitzer prize-winning article "The Really Big One" by Kathryn Schulz, which can be viewed here.

"The Really Big One" by Kathryn Schulz is a feature story centered around the predicted earthquake from the Cascadia fault line. There are next to no safety regulations, and the predicted death toll is astronomical. The most terrifying part is that the quake is far past its due date.

Schulz balances quotations with narratives and facts, which makes it interesting to read. Her descriptions create an emotional call to action, backed up by the figures she cites. However, as someone who is less inclined to scientific and mathematical subjects, I found myself getting bored at times.

The overwhelming scientific evidence behind the Cascadia earthquake, and the apparent lack of preparation, are horrifying. Schulz' article is strong, and hopefully will alter the current state of evacuation plans.

Her relevant narratives helped me realize what a feature story needs to truly be a feature story. Without them, it would just be a news piece.

What Makes a Good Feature Story

A well-written feature story can be identified by several qualities. The more basic of these include use of the six shot system and balancing interviews with B-roll. I find that layering audio helps achieve this, and also adds an advanced feel. Another technical aspect is making sure that your subject is visually interesting. Shots of a person standing still aren't as eye-catching as someone running. Lastly, the voiceover should be relevant, but there is some room for colorful details, as it isn't a news story. Something that makes a large difference for me is if the person's voice sounds enthusiastic; nobody wants to listen to a monotone voiceover.

Feature Story Experience

Writing a Feature Story

After filming our feature story, we were assigned to create a written feature story based on the video. This sounded easy because I didn't have to come up with a new topic, but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. The structure that we had to follow was a narrative lead, nut graph (a paragraph explaining the news value of the story), and a few quotes preceded by explanations.

My mom works as a news anchor, so I've been around journalism, but it clearly hasn't rubbed off on me. I turned my first draft in, and it turns out that although I can write nut graphs, narrative leads are a bit more challenging. I also had to introduce some of my quotes so they didn't look out of place.

I plan on going into the entertainment strand, so the journalism focus hasn't been as rewarding for me as it has for others. However, I believe that the written aspect of filming, no matter the category, is a good experience to have.

First Fridays

While walking along the street, people laugh and admire the artwork and music around them. There is a hum of creativity and freedom that fills the air. When the people get to a certain street corner, however, they are stopped by the sounds of drums and guitars.

Every first Friday of the month, a cultural festival takes place in the Crossroads Arts District in downtown Kansas City. Hundreds of people explore the streets, and local art galleries open their doors for them to walk through. The sound of music is everywhere, thanks to the musicians that play on nearly every street corner. Jacob Downing is one of these talented people. At the corner of 20^th and Wyandotte, Downing plays both guitar and drums, and occasionally sings.

“I play with Drew McCall, who’s one of my closest friends,” he said. “Our close friend Corey Eaton also likes to tag along with us.”

Corey Eaton, although not a musician, still enjoys being around his friends. He has been known to play smaller and more comedic instruments, like his kazoo.

When asked about his contribution to their group, Eaton said, “I’m mostly just the driver.”

For budding musicians, First Fridays can be a stepping stone into playing larger venues. However, for the more casual entertainer, it can be a place to have fun and relax for a few hours.

“In playing at First Fridays, I’m always just hoping that I can have an enjoyable time with my friends,” Downing concluded.

Although some play music or create art and others are simply there to appreciate it, everyone at First Fridays has one thing in common – an admiration of creativity.

Filming a Feature Story

I accidentally took this, but it was at just the right time.

In this assignment, we were tasked with creating a feature story, which is like a news story, but with a shifted focus from facts to narratives. Our feature story was to be about an Olathe Northwest student with a visually appealing hobby or talent. I made a list of a few people and eventually chose my friend Jacob because I knew that I could get some quality footage of him and his friends playing music.

After the sun had set, the lighting changed,
so I had to color correct a bit.

editing the audio levels to keep natural sound

I learned how to film shots while moving instead of staying in one spot. However, none of these could really be used, because they played in front of a building with windows and I could see my reflection. While editing, Premiere glitched, and I could no longer place new clips in the timeline. I eventually solved it, but only after we had turned the project in. I wasn't very happy with my original video, but I fixed this during re-editing. The same thing also happened to my friend, so I helped her get past it. I'm used to using Final Cut, but I'm slowly getting the hang of Premiere.



Next time, I would film my interviews in the same location as the footage of the boys playing, to keep it consistent. Also, I would get more B-roll of people walking around and the cityscape, as it's very interesting. However, we only had 90 seconds for the video, so it's not too much of a loss this time.

I wanted to include this one, but I couldn't.

One thing that I didn't like was that I filmed a shot that I was really proud of, but it didn't fit with the rest of my video. I may use it in later projects, but it was difficult for me to leave it out.

Raccoon Postcard

The original raccoon with leaves

For this project, our task was to follow a simple tutorial using Illustrator to create a raccoon. While I was following the steps, I saw some of my peers' work as well, and I thought it was interesting how everyone's work was unique, even with the guidelines. For example, I made my raccoon's eyes bigger and more circular than the tutorial, so it would be cuter. After that, we added leaves or berries to create an autumnal feeling. I chose to add leaves, and although it wasn't in the instructions, I wanted to add a moon and some stars to add a sense of setting to it. This helped later when trying to come up with an idea for the themed postcard.

The finished postcard

During this project, I discovered that I actually enjoy using Illustrator very much, and I'd like to think I'm good at it. Another thing that surprised me was that I finished with quite a bit of time left, and that gave me an opportunity to improve and add detail. However, I realized that although the extra time was partially due to project management, it was also because I was having fun creating this project and adding to it.

Next time, I want to sketch out ideas and brainstorm first, although this wasn't a very complex project. I'm enjoying graphic design now, mostly because last year, our creative freedom was limited. I will continue to add my own individuality to my work, so it feels less like an assignment and more like something I would do in my free time, just for fun.

My signature

One of my favorite parts was learning how to scan in handwriting and turn it into a vector. I did this with the "Happy Halloween" in the postcard, and my signature, shown to the right. Typography had always interested me, because it has consistently been something that stands out to me when looking at others' work, but I never thought about doing it myself. Now when I catch myself doodling, instead of pictures, they're words! I'm very proud of my work in this area, and I'd love to continue implementing handwritten typography into future projects.

Overall, this was a very rewarding project, not only because of how much I learned about using Illustrator, but also because I started to get to know my own style in graphic design.

Organizing Clips in Premiere Pro

These are my clips before organization.

In Premiere Pro, there are many tools that are often used by editors for organizing clips. This post will contain keyboard shortcuts and outline the basic procedure needed to organize clips effectively.

Bins can store offline clips, main and backup sequences, and organize files by type. This tool is essential for both keeping your digital workspace clean and minimizing confusion. As beginning video editors, bins will greatly aid your post-filming process.

First, create your new bin by using Command + /. If you'd like to open that bin in a floating panel, double-click it. To open it in place, hold Command as you double-click, and to open it in a new tab, hold Option.

Another organizational tool is the ability to label assets. Through the Edit window, the settings on labels can be changed, such as the default colors or names. These can help distinguish between different types of media.

renaming a clip

Finally, the most useful and straightforward tool: renaming clips. This can be done through the Project panel by choosing Clip > Rename, typing the name, and then pressing Return.

Although a file full of clips can seem overwhelming, these techniques can help you in organizing them.

 For more information, here is a link that further explains all of these tools and more.

These are my clips inside the bin marked "video",
leaving a much cleaner workspace.

ONW: 1 in 2000

I'm finally figuring out how to correct
footage in the editing stages.

For my first experience in interviewing, I talked to Sarah Peek. She is a sophomore, and is actively involved in theatre and the E-Communications program at Olathe Northwest. As of now, Sarah is part of Olathe Northwest's production of Beauty and the Beast.

It was hard to stay serious all the time, but
that's what the input/output is for, right?

Over the summer, Sarah and her family attended the Musical Theatre Kansas City (MTKC) Gala. There was a live auction for multiple items, but the one that caught Sarah's attention was a beagle puppy. After entering a bidding war with another family, she finally won. Her puppy's name is Mabel, and is currently just over ten weeks old.

Writing a voiceover proved to be much more difficult than it seemed to be. Watching ONW Now gave me a general idea of how I should format it, with the beginning and ending following the traditional example. The problem with voiceovers is that if you talk for too long, it can become boring to watch the video, but if there isn't enough speaking, it can sometimes get confusing. However, I learned how to properly insert secondary audio into my video, which is a valuable skill to have.

Sarah and I shot our video in the girls' dressing room again, but this time, we used the mirror lights instead of the ceiling lights. This proved to be a challenge, since we each sat on  the countertops, and it was difficult to light our faces properly. After we moved the camera around to find better lighting, we also had to make sure the equipment couldn't be seen in the shot, since we were filming in front of a mirror. Our tripod was very uneven, so we couldn't extend it all the way, which led to a bit of a height difference. However, it didn't turn out to be too distracting.

I had to find the exact lengths to effectively
fit the audio into the missing spaces.

I'm content with the final result of my video. The audio was tricky to navigate, but I eventually figured it out. Another effect that I applied was to fix the lighting and contrast levels. The only issue I ran into was that something had happened in Premiere that extended my video's time from around a minute and twenty seconds to a minute and forty-five seconds.

This is my video, shown below.

Photoshop Reflection

Each Photoshop tutorial was centered around learning a specific skill or tool. The picture to the right, of the man and his daughter, originally had a large object behind the man's head. Using the cloning tool, I filled in the sky behind him, creating a much smoother image.

A few of the images were simple, only needed something removed. The picture of a girl in front of a white backdrop could have been cropped, but the content-aware fill tool prevented an awkward imbalance between the spaces on the sides of the photo. The original is shown on the left, with the retouched version on the right.


The content-aware fill tool is amazing in the fact that as long as the designer selects the area fairly accurately, Photoshop will take care of the rest. It doesn't always work well, but when it does, it creates a flawlessly retouched result.

The spot healing tool was used in fixing the picture of the boy, shown below. The dirt on his face in the original was easily removed and smoothed.

The last project in the Photoshop tutorial series was, in my opinion, the most challenging. We were given three images of a girl and were to create a portrait collage with them. This utilized all of the tools we had learned about, and took the most time.

The last skill that I learned was to use layer masks to accomplish many things. Masks can color-correct, hide or show parts of the original images, and even add or remove texture. This would have to be my favorite skill, just because of the versatility of it. Layer masks have so many different functions, and although I haven't had the chance to use them all, I'll definitely turn to them in the future.

As a beginner with only a basic understanding of Photoshop, I think that these projects helped me get a better grasp on how to use the program. Instead of clicking around, I can use keyboard shortcuts for many of the tools. I really like the way some of them turned out.

If I could do them all again, I would have given myself more time to work on the photo collage instead of focusing on the smaller details in the other ones.

ONW Procedures Video

For our first project, we were supposed to create a video that showed the right way to behave when performing a specific behavior at ONW. The techniques to be showcased were the six shot system and the 180 degree rule.

The clip needed to be flipped horizontally.

My video used both of these techniques well, implementing both effective close-ups and establishing shots. When editing the video, however, I noticed that the 180 degree rule had been slightly broken, and it didn't flow well enough. I used the effect in Premiere to flip it horizontally, and it was fixed.

The basic storyline was one that, as a participant in ONW theatre, is important to me. Keeping the dressing rooms clean shouldn't be difficult, but for some, it is. Essentially, it shows what happens when someone walks in, expecting them to be neat, but then has to clean up someone else's mess.

The process of color correcting

This was the first video that I used specific shots, like close-ups, to further tell the story. I was surprised by the overall affect it added. Additionally, the focus on the flowers instead of on the person in the shot shown above was something that I hadn't thought about, but once my partner did it, I appreciated the visual interest it added.

Before and after color correcting, side by side

A technique that I had previously used definitely helped me once again. Color correcting the video from yellow to a more blue, neutral tone made it much more aesthetically pleasing. This is an issue I anticipate to have in the future, because the yellow tint is caused by the lights in the school.

I definitely appreciate the variety of close-ups and wider shots. However, a classmate recommended a shot of folding the clothes that were picked up at one point, to further visually explain what was done with them.

Overall, this was my first serious project in video, and I'm very excited to create more and improve over this year.

This is my final result, after editing twice, down below.