Thursday, December 18, 2014

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.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

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. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

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.

Monday, December 1, 2014

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.