Video Final

Reflection

I really enjoyed video this semester. I really liked all the projects we did, and I liked most of my groups that I was in. My favorite project was the Lego project, and the Final project. I wish I had more time to edit the Final project, but I think it looks pretty good for the amount of time we had. 

The only thing I would change about this semester would be our grips for the project. I really wish we could've picked our groups more often. I liked most of my groups, and I think working with different people is a good thing, but I would have liked to have done at least on project with groups of our own choosing. 

I think I learned a lot this semester, and my videos improved throughout the semester. I am excited to learn even more things next semester.

Backpack Journalism

The Process: 

      The process for both of these projects was to prepare some questions before hand, but since it was backpack journalism, most of the project was on the spot. I had to find something interesting about each event and make a story out of it. After I filmed both of my stories I had to import the clips to Final Cut Pro, and go through all the clips and favorite the ones I wanted to use. Next, I created a script for both of the packages, the scripts included which clips I was using, the voice overs, and the sound on tape that I was using. After the scripts were finished, I recorded the voice overs, imported them to Final Cut Pro, and then edited the packages with J and L edits, and made them match the scripts.

Experience Gained:

     These were the first two journalism projects I have ever done, so I learned a lot of new things while making them. I learned how to get a steady shot without a tripod ( I am not very good at it though), and I learned what kind of shots to get while interviewing someone for a journalism project. I also learned what kind of questions to ask, but most of the time you should make up questions that go with the story you are making, but you usually don't know the story until they start talking, so most of the questions are made up on the spot. I learned more about editing too, I learned how to use J and L edits, and how to make voice overs and insert them into a video. 

For the Future:

      I really enjoyed backpack journalism, so I hope I get to do it again in the future. I will definitely use J and L edits in the future. I will also remember the proper stance to having a stable shot without a tripod, and the types of questions to ask during an interview. I will probably use voice overs again in the future, and I am really glad that I learned how to record them, and how to incorporate them into the video so it sounds like it belongs. I will use the template for the scripts again in the future as well, I think it was a really helpful tool in planning and editing the package. 

Reflection:

     The hardest part of this project was trying to keep the camera stable. The easiest part was coming up with questions to ask. The most important thing I need to remember is to leave some silence for nat-noise, during the Lego video I was asking questions the whole time, so there was very little nat-noise without someone talking. I am pretty proud of both of these projects, and I think I did a really good job for my first attempt at journalism. Next time I do journalism though, I need to remember to take a variety of different shots to make the videos more entertaining. 

Postcards

 The first postcard I made was the clipping mask postcard with my name. I started by typing my name, and then filling it with pictures of things that I like or are important to me, and then I found a picture of a pool and added text in it that described my goals for the future. I don't really like this postcard very much because I feel like my name on the outside doesn't really fit in with the rest of the postcard. If I were to change this I would make the picture of the pool the whole background of the postcard and then I would put my name on the sides of that. I really like the way my name with the clipping masks looks. I also like how I put a blur on the edge of the picture so it blends in with the sandy background a little bit better.





The second postcard I made was of the plaza lights in Kansas City, MO. I really liked the picture that I found, I added a blur to the lights and changed blend mode to make the picture look really good. I put the Royals logo in the top right corner and turned the opacity down a little bit. I really like the way this postcard looks, it is pretty simple, but I really like the way it turned out. If I were to change anything, I might put a border around the outside, or put more Kansas City related things in the picture.







The third postcard that I made was the Hawaiian postcard tutorial. This tutorial didn't really teach me anything new, it manly worked with layers and blending modes. I really like the way this postcard looks. I added the "greetings from" at the top of the postcard. If I were to change anything about this card I would put the stamp thing in the corner, like it would be on a real postcard, and I would probably put a different picture in the middle of the postcard. I really like the floors and the cloudy background, I will definitely use the cloudy background in future projects. I think this is a really cool project, and I am really glad that I completed this tutorial.

 

The forth postcard I made was a creative postcard using the same elements of the Hawaiian postcard tutorial. I used the cloudy background, and make the colors really light to make it look like snow, and them I added the snowflakes in the background kind of like the big pineapple. I added text, and a family picture in the middle kind of like the previous postcard. Then I added the lights and polar bear, and I put a santa hat on the C. I really like the way this postcard looks. I think it all goes together really well, the only thing I would change is put a more wintery picture in the middle, but it would still be a family picture.

Professional Blog Post: Beebe Mountain

Beebe Mountain

Process

The first step to create this mountain was to complete the floating mountain tutorial, and then I added two additional elements. I added a planet in the top left corner, and then I put a unicorn on top of the mountain. 

Experience Gained

 I learned how to take sections of images out of a picture and put it into another one. In order to make it look like they go together, you have to use the refine edge tool to get rid of the background that might be around the object. I also used the content aware tool to block out some text that was in the sky. I worked a lot with layers in order to make the mountain look like it was floating, and I used layer masks to make the bottom of the mountain look more realistic. I used hue and saturation to make the mountain look like it was actually in the sky, I gave it more blue hues than brown hues, I also used hues when I added the planet and unicorn. 

For the Future

I expanded my knowledge of Photoshop, and I will use the tools and filters that I leaned how to use on future projects. If I were to do this project again, I would add something to the mountain instead of a unicorn. I would like to add a house or a building to the mountain to make it look like people live on it. I would still put the planet in the corner, because I think it looks really good, and it looks like it belongs in the sky. I will definitely use the layer masks and hue and saturation tools in the future to make everything blend together and make it look natural. 

Reflection

I really like this tutorial because I learned a lot of useful skills and I think it looks really cool. I would have probably picked a different mountain so that more things would fit on it. I think the end product looks really cool and I am glad that I learned more skills to use in Photoshop.

Professional Blog Post: Music Video

Music Video:

Process

This is my shortened music video to Taylor Swift's song Fifteen. This is an extension of a project that I already did. The first project I did was a 2-minute section of the song. We spent a few days creating the storyboard and mood board; after we decided which song we were going to do. Then we filmed for about a week, and then spent another week editing. After I finished the first video I worked with the original clips and story to make a shorter version. 


Experience Gained

I learned a lot by editing the same clips twice. I learned how to mark the clips so they transition with the beat of the music, so the audio looks like it goes with the visual. I also learned how to use final cut pro a little better.

I learned a lot about collaboration during this project. I worked with three other classmates, and one of them didn't do very much to contribute to the project. It was kind of hard to come up with ideas and decide what we were going to do because two of the people never contributed any ideas or spoke up if they thought something should be changed. 

For the Future

On future projects I will make sure that the lighting is about the same in all the shots by using the iris ring. I will also try to get everyone in the group to participate. Next time I will make sure that when we plan all the shots, they are long enough to line up with the lyrics. 

I will use the markers and the other skills I learned in final cut pro on future projects. I also will make sure to use a story board and mood board on future projects. 

Reflection

I will use the experience I gained from this project to collaborate better with future groups, and take shots with better lighting. I think this project is alright, its not the best that it could be, but I know that I learned a lot of valuable things that will make my future projects a lot better.

Shadows Tutorial

This tutorial taught me how to create realistic shadows for objects. I chose to do a penguin. It was kind of hard to extract the penguin from his original picture, but when I got rid of the pixel fringe it looked pretty good. The shadow was relatively easy to create, all you had to do was copy the penguin and then slant the shadow. I probably should have slanted mine a little more to make it match the trees in the background, but I didn't find the background until after I created the penguin. To make the shadow look realistic you have to add a gradient overlay, to make mine fit into the snow a little better I made it dark blue to light blue instead of black to white. I think my penguins shadow looks pretty good.

Realistic Shadows

Kacie's Mountain

I learned a lot with this tutorial. I learned how to take sections of images out of a picture and put it into another one. In order to make it look like they go together, you have to use the refine edge tool to get rid of the background that might be around the object. I also used the content aware tool to block out some text that was in the sky. I worked a lot with layers in order to make the mountain look like it was floating, and I used layer masks to make the bottom of the mountain look more realistic. I used hue and saturation to make the mountain look like it was actually in the sky, I gave it more blue hues than brown hues, I also used hues when I added the planet and unicorn. I really like this tutorial because I learned a lot of useful skills and I think it looks really cool. I would have probably picked a different mountain so that more things would fit on it. I think the end product looks really cool and I am glad that I learned more skills to use in photoshop.

Extra Credit: Pictures in Words Tutorial

I used a beach picture as the background and then added a clipping mask so that the text would show through. This was an extremely easy tutorial, and I think it looks pretty cool. I didn't know how to make a clipping mask before and I am really glad I learned how too. I didn't really learn anything else, but it was really quick, and it turned out really cool.


Pictures in Words Tutorial

Shortened Music Video

This project was to shorten our first music video, and edit it a little bit better. I think my second one is better than the first, because it has less filler and is only the important shots. The first music video the only thing I was worried about was the shots lining up with the lyrics. The second time I just made the story complete, and didn’t add in extra shots to make it longer. I learned how to edit on the beat and use markers to make the clips transition at the right time so it looks like it goes with the music. The other thing that I changed was the color on some of the shots. Some of the black and white shots were kind of dark, so I had to adjust their coloring. To make them look like they fit in the video better. I really like the re-edited version of my music video.

Extra Credit: Photoshop Tutorial

I picked this tutorial because I really like the way the text looks, it is really easy and I learned something that I can apply to future projects. I really like the way it turned out and I like the font that it had me download. I learned how to add textures in the background and how to change text into a path and apply a stroke. I also learned how to edit brushes.

Fireflies Text Effect

Music Video

I had a lot of fun coming up with our music video. I learned that you have to put a lot of time into planning the video and making sure that the audio matches up with the video. I will apply the planning process and the mood board to the next project. The beat sheet and the mood board helped us come up with ideas for the story of our music video, and I think it turned out pretty well. The six shot sequence that we used throughout the video added variety to the shots and made it more interesting. The biggest challenge that we encountered was the audio not matching up with the video. Some of the shots were shorter than we planned, so we had to get creative while editing to make it match up better. I really like the story of our video and I think it turned out pretty well. Next time I would make sure that my group planned everything out better, and accounted for how long each shot was so it flowed a little bit better.