Senior Final

Senior Section 

Each take away from the guarantees have improved the way I work with school. Communication skills and getting my opinion out there regardless if its not what everyone wants to hear. Leadership I used just to get the project done and solve problems. Project management recently has been a problem with our documentary. I was constantly busy with soccer or graduation stuff. Like going to Tulsa multiple times to help my brother move. On top of all that I was sick a lot and puking so I couldn't do much there. It's not really an excuse it's just hard to do at the moment, but we plan on getting it done before the school year ends. My greatest strength would be to communicate with others. Ive always been pretty good at voicing my opinions eventually. Weakness would be project management just getting all my work laid out and complete it. Im going to take what I learned most of all is collaborating with others in order to get an end result that everyone is happy with. Theres not really anything that I would like to change. Conclusion, I can't wait for high school to be over with.

Commercial 

The first assignment we had in this class was to create a commercial. This took about 2 weeks to complete. Our commercial idea was the big mac from McDonald's. Some challenges we faced really came to shooting the video. People had to work and also had other activities to do outside of school. Another trouble we had was in the editing process. The sound wasn't there and then all of a sudden appeared so that was a little off. Along the way I realized that even if you are assigned a job you can still help other people in completing their job if they need some help so they are able to learn what to do the next time they are having troubles. Feedback I was given was definitely work on lighting. It was hard to get good lighting just because of all the glares from windows but also the light inside our location was very orange to begin with. I would change the music in the back just so it would flow a lot better and look less low budget if that makes sense. Overall I would use this as a learning opportunity to do better in upcoming projects.

Music Video

Our next assignment was our music video. This project took roughly 3 weeks to complete. Some challenges we faced really was in our actors. We weren't able to find a male actor who would fit the role of our vision and ultimately changed the way we wanted the video to turn out. All the way I learned that communicating really helps. When we thought our project was over, we put our heads together and knew that we couldn't give up. Feedback we were given was to make our story more clear. It was confusing to some audience what we were trying to portray. Originally, we were going to have it a guy and a girl falling in love and have the guy cheat on her, but we had to change it because our actor didn't work out, so we had to shoot it from the guys POV. My overall opinion was that this was the most fun video that I have ever created and it made me fall back in love with creating films again.

Short film

Our latest assignment was to create a short film. What our idea that we had was great. It did however take us way longer than we expected and wanted it to. We faced many challenges along the way. Our major challenge was our lives outside of school. Many of the crew had other things to do like work, sports, family, etc... We did have a male actor to play the part, but when it came down to it he wasn't very reliable and we ended up cutting him from our film. With that we tried to change the story to be sisters because we were able to find another girl actor and was able to change the script to make it all work. That all came back to our lives out of school and the time limit we were given to complete this project. Our teacher however gave us a new assignment to do and for that I am so grateful. I was able to put everyone I loved in one video. I am going to make that better probably over break and turn it in again. I learned to make time and be thankful for people even in stressed out situations. Feedback was to do better on it and show it to people who are in the video. I changed the assignment. Overall I am excited to make it better.

Time management

I used my time in class to the best of my ability. I finished pre-production right away with our group and even came in for lunch to discuss and make the film better outside of class. When that was finished, I did however got off track and did my own thing because all we had to do was go out and shoot at that point. After we shot, I did give input to my editors, but then went own to doing my own thing again. Outside of class me and Fran spent a whole day working on completing storyboards so that we would have them for the next day to discuss to our group in class. 

Strengths 

My strengths came in at pre-production. I was really focused with the ideas that we all put together and got people on track on what they should be doing in the time they should have it finished by. I was good at taking control and calming people down and giving people in my group options. I maximized my strengths and tried my best to make people relax.

Improvement

An improvement to make would be to create more bonds with people. I feel like I don't go out of my box to meet new people and if I did that it would help me being less shy and all of that

Feature Film Role

My production roll was PA. I didn't really do much because of soccer, but when I could I would go on set and help them out. Outside of filming, I also didn't do much, no one really asked me to do anything so I was straight chilling.

Summary

I loved doing the music videos the most this semester. I love music and listen to it 25/8 so it did change my perspective on film. I think that if I did this as a career it would be for music and or forensic science. I think it'd be cool to use my skills in video and mash in what I learn in college and help the criminal justice system. I'd change/ do differently and have people do what kind of film they want to do. Like don't have an assigned project. Give them an option to create a commercial, music video, or a short film. That way, students can have more of a passion to create what they want and have time to focus and have the best version of the video they want to create. Overall I'd take communication skills with me. In years past, I would be very to myself and whatever people in my group would want to do I'd roll with it. This year however, I put in my input and help others with the stress that comes with creating a video. A goal next year would to do good in college and use the 5 guarantees skills that I learned here to the outside world. I want Mrs. Smith to know that I appreciate all the love that she shows each student.  Final thoughts is that I'm glad High School is over

PSA- Human Trafficking

The concept my group wanted to share is how many people are affected in todays society with human trafficking. We also wanted to show that it is not only females who go through this, but it is also males, any age, any color, and any religion.

The process our group first came up of was the topic. From there, we explained our vision and what we all wanted to accomplish. As soon as we finished that we did production roles and started working on story boards, location, actors, and etc... We didn't really have in mind a set day we were going to film, because of our busy schedules, but once we figured it out, it went smoothly from there. During our editing stage, everyone in the group sat around the computer and we were able to come up with a video that everyone liked by voicing our opinions while the editing process was happening.

My role was director and editor. I learned that even though we got the film in on time we could have done more with the footage and got more shots. In editing I learned how to make the film look as if it was being played on someone's screen as if someone was watching it. The song choice that we used, I thought was really cool because of the fact that its a happy up beat song kinda like the peoples souls would be before this happened to them.

Technically wise, we didn't have any problems. We used premiere pro to edit and youtube to turn it in. If we had a question on how to do a certain editing thing to our video and didn't know how to do it, we would simply look up the video on how and was able to apply it to ours.

Technical skills worked out well seeing as we knew for the majority what we were doing and how we wanted it to look. Communication we used in seeing who all can show up on given days because of our lives outside of school with work, sports, and etc... Leadership wise while we were filming, we didn't get too off topic. This was because we knew we needed to get done and that this was a serious topic that we were doing. Collaboration with one another really came in the most during the editing phase. Each person was listened to and agreed on. Project management could have been better even though the film was turned in on time.

Differently I would carve out more time to film instead of doing the filming over two days. I'd do that so myself and the group members can be more relaxed Also I would add more actors. The same, I would say to keep the actors that we had before and the music and the way we edited the video. Experiences I took was to stick with a plan the first time and go from there. I had a lot of fun with my friends creating this.

Winter Final

This semester I created 3 films. A commercial, music video, and a short film.

Commercial 

The first assignment we had in this class was to create a commercial. This took about 2 weeks to complete. Our commercial idea was the big mac from McDonald's. Some challenges we faced really came to shooting the video. People had to work and also had other activities to do outside of school. Another trouble we had was in the editing process. The sound wasn't there and then all of a sudden appeared so that was a little off. Along the way I realized that even if you are assigned a job you can still help other people in completing their job if they need some help so they are able to learn what to do the next time they are having troubles. Feedback I was given was definitely work on lighting. It was hard to get good lighting just because of all the glares from windows but also the light inside our location was very orange to begin with. I would change the music in the back just so it would flow a lot better and look less low budget if that makes sense. Overall I would use this as a learning opportunity to do better in upcoming projects.

Music Video

Our next assignment was our music video. This project took roughly 3 weeks to complete. Some challenges we faced really was in our actors. We weren't able to find a male actor who would fit the role of our vision and ultimately changed the way we wanted the video to turn out. All the way I learned that communicating really helps. When we thought our project was over, we put our heads together and knew that we couldn't give up. Feedback we were given was to make our story more clear. It was confusing to some audience what we were trying to portray. Originally, we were going to have it a guy and a girl falling in love and have the guy cheat on her, but we had to change it because our actor didn't work out, so we had to shoot it from the guys POV. My overall opinion was that this was the most fun video that I have ever created and it made me fall back in love with creating films again.

Short film

Our latest assignment was to create a short film. What our idea that we had was great. It did however take us way longer than we expected and wanted it to. We faced many challenges along the way. Our major challenge was our lives outside of school. Many of the crew had other things to do like work, sports, family, etc... We did have a male actor to play the part, but when it came down to it he wasn't very reliable and we ended up cutting him from our film. With that we tried to change the story to be sisters because we were able to find another girl actor and was able to change the script to make it all work. That all came back to our lives out of school and the time limit we were given to complete this project. Our teacher however gave us a new assignment to do and for that I am so grateful. I was able to put everyone I loved in one video. I am going to make that better probably over break and turn it in again. I learned to make time and be thankful for people even in stressed out situations. Feedback was to do better on it and show it to people who are in the video. I changed the assignment. Overall I am excited to make it better.

Time management

I used my time in class to the best of my ability. I finished pre-production right away with our group and even came in for lunch to discuss and make the film better outside of class. When that was finished, I did however got off track and did my own thing because all we had to do was go out and shoot at that point. After we shot, I did give input to my editors, but then went own to doing my own thing again. Outside of class me and Fran spent a whole day working on completing storyboards so that we would have them for the next day to discuss to our group in class. 

Strengths 

My strengths came in at pre-production. I was really focused with the ideas that we all put together and got people on track on what they should be doing in the time they should have it finished by. I was good at taking control and calming people down and giving people in my group options. I maximized my strengths and tried my best to make people relax.

Improvement

One thing I could do is show more respect to my teacher. I'd get to working on my assignment or talk to my friends when she is trying to do bell work. I guess to me it's just hard when she's talking about colleges when 1. I know I don't want to do film for the rest of my life and 2. I am already committed to a college. I will however improve and give her my full attention that she deserves and I am sorry for the way I have acted when I do have a lot of respect and love for her. 

Guest speakers

I was here for two of the guest speakers that or class had. The first guest speaker I was able to learn from was Brandon Priest. I learned from him that your job can actually be fun and you can travel a lot and get paid which to me was really cool. I learned that if you have an idea and you set your mid to it you can create it and it can happen if you're really committed to doing so. I learned that things don't come exactly easy in the world, but if you have that passion for any job for that matter you can usually complete the "dream". The next speaker we had was Drew Connors. I basically learned about video and animation in one and how things are getting better and better. For example a video game looking more and more realistic. I learned that in college he learned a lot of cool things and that he was able to focus on his area that he wanted to learn about. 

Feature film role

My role this year is the PA. I will have to go on set and help with whatever basically needs to be done and or gotten for our film. It will be some what hard to complete because of soccer, but I do plan on going to all of the sets that I am able to where ever they are. I can somewhat give ideas I guess, but we'll see how this goes. 

Summary

I loved doing the music videos the most this semester. I love music and listen to it 25/8 so it did change my perspective on film. I think that if I did this as a career it would be for music and or forensic science. I think it'd be cool to use my skills in video and mash in what I learn in college and help the criminal justice system. I'd change/ do differently and have people do what kind of film they want to do. Like don't have an assigned project. Give them an option to create a commercial, music video, or a short film. That way, students can have more of a passion to create what they want and have time to focus and have the best version of the video they want to create. Overall I'd take communication skills with me. In years past, I would be very to myself and whatever people in my group would want to do I'd roll with it. This year however, I put in my input and help others with the stress that comes with creating a video. A goal next year would to do good and college and use the 5 guarantees skills that I learned here to the outside world. Final thoughts I don't really have, but have a nice winter break!!! 

Short film

For my short film my group had a lot of trouble. Our actors weren't able to film most days and when they were our film crew was busy with work and other outside activities. Our teacher was generous enough to give us a new assignment and for that I am very grateful.

The video I created was on an editing app that I really had no control because of the app that I used. I do however, plan on re-editing it on my other laptop once my laptop charger comes in. I used clips from videos that I have took on snapchat  in the past year. This video meant a lot to me because each person that is in it, I have a lot of love for and I couldn't picture my life with out them.

I was able to use my collaboration skills and get peoples ideas on how to make this video better and I really want to make it look good and be able to show the people who's in it and show them that I really want to be able to show them with my work how much I appreciate them.

The most time on this video was looking for a song to use. I wanted to match the song with the videos that was included. I finally came across good ol times with macklemole.  With everything finally put together the last night it was due it ended up coming out better than I thought it would.

Next time I would definitely edit it  lot better and focus on how I want the final project to end up and I'm excited to see the final product

Music Video Professional Project Review Blog Post

I believed initially that the song was about a man who loved a woman, yet did not want her to love him back, believing that he was not enough for her. He loved her so much that when she asked him to stay over, he told her to get some rest. This implies he did not sleep with her, though he may have stuck around her house to ensure she was safe or something along those lines


An element that we could use is the filters and lighting. An element that we used was the filters and also having leaves on top of a person, but still being able to see that person.


The creator did well in explaining the story to the audience and tugging on heart strings to get people to listen to the meaning and what the artist is trying to explain and his feelings on how he got there. I believe they could have used some color instead of making the whole thing black and white specifically when the guy is saying to the girl that she lit him up.


https://genius.com/James-arthur-say-you-wont-let-go-lyrics
This is what the lyrics mean if you wanted to get a better understanding of what the artist is trying to express with each line that he is singing.

K. CAS Music Video

The concept of this music video was to show a guy replaying his emotions and what he remembers about this girl throughout their relationship before everything goes wrong and they get in a fight. The song we used was "K." by CAS.




Pre pro- Our group and I first decided to come up with a song that we all wanted to do. After we picked the song, we looked at each line and saw how the story came along. Once we did that we wrote down ideas that we envisioned and put it all together. By doing that, that is where we found our locations and decided that we wanted the video to be almost all down town for the affect that we were trying to achieve. Then came story boards which came easy to us since we already had a step by step plan that we wanted to create.




Production- We decided to use a girl who was already in our group to be the main actor since she fit the role perfectly. With the locations, we decided to scope it out in pre production and so when we were there we had so much extra time to think of new ideas along with our old on the fly.




Post Pro- editing went smoothly. We ended up reediting it 4 times to make sure it was perfect ad listened to each and every ones input to make our video that much better.




Along the way I learned that trying to capture a sunset is extremely hard when you're in rush hour. I also learned that it goes by fast and you have more fun when you're in a group of people you enjoy being around.


5 guarantees- We used collaboration a lot to change how we wanted our video to be. Project management we used as a key and got everything turned in and filmed by the given deadlines. Leadership skills is the most important one. With out this our group would run out of daylight in time to film for this.


What I would do different is add a guy actor because it would have more of an affect that the story would have


What I would do the same is still have the locations that our group used because it ended up looking very nice.


Experiences would be to work with the people you are comfortable with and know every ones strengths and weaknesses.


General thoughts- I was lacking the passion with video and anything for awhile and by doing this project made me have a new love for film and to be passionate about something again.

McDonalds Experience

Product

The product my group and I decided to chose was the "Big Mac". The concept a guy that comes in with his friends and looks over at a “girl” and gets excited while looking in her direction. The guy walks over to her and she turns around and the she ends up being a guy. The guy says something to him and grabs the big mac and takes a big bite.

Process 

First we had to come up with multiple ideas on what we wanted our commercial to be. We finally, as a group, decided to go with the Big Mac. After that, we figured out what exactly we wanted to achieve in the story and so that became writing our script. While we were writing our script we were also drawling out our storyboards with each scene that we wanted to do. Then came acting, but that part was pretty easy since we were able to have the people in our group be our actors. Then we had to scope out and call our local McDonalds to ask if we could film there. One of them said no, so we had to ask our next closest one and they ended up saying yes. The next couple days our group went over all the details like costumes and what time we would all be arriving and things like that. When we got there, my role ended up changing to the DP. We filmed for about 2 hours and we were able to have fun, but still be serious about the film that we were creating. We finished filming and the remainder of the days we helped our editors with ideas to make our commercial better.

Roles

My role was DP and along the way I learned that not every shot will be perfect, but the more you shoot different shots the more ways you can go back and edit later. In other words, it gave the editor more of a variety to use later. 

Professionally 

In our group, the most technical skills that we used was communication. We talked a lot and each and everyone was listened to and respected with the ideas that they had to make the film better. Project management wasn't our fault with being that our editor did not have the software at home, but came in everyday to work on it. Also, wasn't able to stay after one day because the sub went home early. 

Different 

What I would do differently would probably pick a new product to show and produce. The lighting and it being McDonalds wasn't what I was trying to achieve, but my group all wanted it and so I went with it. 

The Same

What I would do the same would be to collaborate more.

Objectives 

We all focused on what needed to be done with these. Lighting most definitely should and could have been better. Audio wise there was a lot of nat noise which that could have been fixed in order to have a better out play on our commercial. Editing was interesting because like I said before he was limited on the amount of time he could come in and approve this. I think we kinda rushed to get this done and if we really took our time we'd be able to make it look more professionally done. 

Conclusion 

I'm excited to work on other projects to better myself.

Semester 1 Final Exam

PSA

Our first project this year was a PSA. It took about two weeks to complete our finial project. The biggest struggle that we faced was finding an adult actor to play a specific role for our film. Along the way I learned that groups are better than working on a film by yourself. It was nice being able to get other people's ideas involved to make the film better than it would. We struggled a lot with the lighting and we couldn't make the camera film darker so that there wouldn't be a glare to our video. Feedback was defiently to change the lighting and make it better. We changed a lot of how we edited the PSA the first time. Overall, I was proud of the PSA. It sent out a great message for online safety in a serious way.

 

 Short Film

Our next project was a short film. This took about 4-5 weeks to complete. We faced a lot of challenges along the way. We changed our script three times. We had to write a new script because the other ones were not able to execute the way we wanted it to be. We only had one day to film due to our part not using our time wisely. Along the way I learned to be calm in every situation because everything will work out if we all calm down and talk about what we need to do like adults. We changed our script and actors last second. Overall I wasn't as proud of this film as I wish I would have been. 

 Project management 

I could have used my time more wisely in the first quarter. I was able to get all my projects done on time. This quarter, however, I was able to use my time wisely and got what needed to be done on time.  I worked on my menu items when I was finished. If I had extra time on a project I would be asking other people for suggestions on editing etc. Also I would look up videos on youtube and see how I can make the video better. Outside of class I don't do as much as I would like to with my busy schedule. Over the summer I would like to make my own short films because I have a whole bunch of equipment just sitting around not being used.

Strengths

A strength of mine would be able to compromise and get what needs to be done, done. Also, a bit of editing. There is a couple of things that I should work on to be a better editor for myself and others. 

Improvement

Planing things better. It sucked not being able to know what exact days we were filming, what scenes we were filming, etc.. To improve I need to be more of a leader instead of going with the flow if things aren't happening. 

Guest speakers

I learned from both speakers is that, if this is a passion for you, to never give up because there is room for everyone. I learned about equipment and how it is used,which was really cool. I also learned that in scripts if the action takes longer to say then filming the action, you don't necessarily need it.

4D Experience

E-Comm, entertainment kids, took a field trip to B & B theaters to watch justice league. I learned how they used different shots to make the film feel more alive to make it more appealing to the audience. New technology will definitely make the films better and more will want to watch. 

Summary 

The most thing I loved about this semester was being able to work our way to creating a feature film. I would change how we did a short film and PSA instead of working right away on our feature film. Overall, I learned that team work is important when creating something. My goal next year is to keep getting better and better. My final thought is that I'm excited for what things have to come.

Merry Christmas

Dexter menu

    For my menu I chose to do my favorite episode on Dexter, which is season 4, episode 12, "Get away". This episode personally to me had the best writing I have ever seen in a television show. The scene starts and Dexter is trying to hunt down a killer in his town. He tries to be friends with him first so that he is able to gain his trust, so he has the opportunity to kill him because he meets all Dexter's rules. The biggest rule for him is that he can only kill the people if they have killed or harmed anyone. The second biggest rule is to never get caught. Dexter goes over the top and tells the "Trinity Killer" basically he wants him dead and he will be dead. Trinity goes to where Dexter works (Miami-Metro Police Department) and kinda starts to tease him and gets into Dext's head. Meanwhile Trinity has much more in store. 



I really like the cinematography in every episode just because of the fact that it is so different. They use all these shots and it perfectly explains what Dexter is feeling in that moment, which is awesome because I can feel more of the characters emotions (even though Dexter is a psychopath). In this scene to my left Trinity is teasing Dexter by saying basically to stop trying to get me alone I know you want to be the one to kill the "Trinity Killer". This is showing how much hatred that Dexter has for this man. He wants him dead and he's willing to go into extremes to make sure that happens. In this scene I see Dexter in a way excited. He sees him as a challenge / a game and he's very eager to play.

Short film Seperation

I used my script. I got the concept from a song. It basically shows the struggles between parents falling out of love and kids having to deal with the pressure. Our process didn't go quite as plan. It fell apart. Originally we were going to pick another girls script, but things fell through and we ended up not having enough/ the right actors for hers. We planned everything out, meaning locations, costumes, dates, and etc. We did not have time to do storyboards because of the fact that we only had three days to complete this whole short film.  My job was the editor. Their are a couple things that I would change, for one the volume levels and also some of the shots that I had no ability to change.

I was not able to film due to a soccer tournament, however I did find actors and allowed my group access to my house. When I got back home I regretted not being there, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was told that our director Shelby was in charge of watching the dogs by our DP Franchesca and AP Ryan.  That definitely was not okay and to me it felt like Shelby shouldn't have even came. Another thing that went wrong is that my group (DP) decided to use two different cameras. Why on earth? I have no clue. The cameras are two different qualities and looked completely different. I got home and had 30 minutes until I had to leave for my final game. Franchesca had to leave because she got called into work. She took her camera and so I called her. I asked her why she didn't at least leave her camera and her reply was that her mom wouldn't allow her to do so. I had a camera that worked perfectly fine and a way better quality than hers with a tripod and a microphone attached before I left the first time. Little things like that set our group up- for not quit for failure, but definitely in the wrong direction.

What I could do differently was to plan out more. If we did the story boards we'd know every shot to do and not lose track of time. We'd also make a plan to put the dogs into a friends house, so that wouldn't be a problem. I'd also make sure we'd use one camera and film over a period of time, not all just in one day. I'd use the same actors and the same director because I think it'll work out better.

Music Video

This project was to create a music video of my choice.  The music video took about two weeks to create.  My group (Jordan and Darby) wanted the music video to have cinematic feel to it.  Some challenges along the way that as a group we faced were; not being able to all be filming at a specific time and we had some actor issues to coming to the "set" all at once.  All the way I learned that communication is everything. Without it we wouldn't have been able to create what we did. I was given feedback that it was really well done and looks like this would be something a college student would create if not better. Next time I would change some of the editing in the end to make it fit the beginning and then also make my own song to have people come in and help create. My overall opinion about this music video is that it went really well. 

Movie Trailer 

Our project was to recreate a high school movie trailer. My group (same as above) chose to recreate The Breakfast Club. The video took about a week and a half to film and edit. We would have gotten the video done sooner, but we did have complications with some of the actors due to extra-curricular activities.  Along the way I really learned that storyboards are really important. I couldn't imagine how this video would have turned out if we didn't use them. Feedback I was given was that it was well done. Next time I would probably use a different location and older looking actors. My overall opinion about this video was that it was good, but I feel like it could have been better.

Short Film

Our project was to create a script to then crete a short film out of. This took about 3 weeks to create. Some challenges along the way was that we had a group member who wanted to do everything, but was a slacker actually filming. She got actors and everything, but claimed she was too busy to film and couldn't for the first I'd say week and a half. I offered to film for her, but she said she wrote the script so she has an eye for what she wanted. Along the way I learned that you have to take charge even if you are really shy towards people you don't know. Overall, I wish to do a different short film. 

Class Reflection

This semester I used my class time to my befits. The times that I got done early with my project I went around to other groups and in a way joined and helped them out with ideas. I would also look on youtube for ways to make my video look better. To enhance my video if I finished an hour early, I would ask others for opinions that they might have and then also go on youtube for inspiration in editing in a certain way fora different kind of video.  Out of class I do other videos on the side, I just chose not to post them anywhere unless it's perfect. 

My areas on strengths are editing and filming. I maximize this strength by creating more and more videos so I can get faster at editing and see what kind of shots that would work for future films that I produce. Improvements for me is probably getting my ideas out there more instead of holding back what I would have to say

Summary

The most thing I loved about this semester was all the people around me. I feel like we were all a kind of family. No one was excluded in anything. The best video I created would probably be the music video. I liked how that turned out. I would change only one thing about this class. Have the students chose who they want to work with because they probably know who they do and don't want to work with. For example, a group member who is controlling might work for some people, but not for others.  I learned so many things this semester. I learned a lot having to do with editing and working with certain people. One goal next year would be able to just create better projects than the year before. My final thoughts about this class was that it was awesome. I loved being able to come from a long day of learning to video class (not that I'm not learning). It was really relaxing and I always felt comfortable here. I also loved our video teacher Mrs. Smith. She really cared about each and every student, which in all my years of school have only seen her and another teacher do that. :)

Animation end of the year

Technology 

This past year I got the chance to learn how to use different programs in this class. I used photoshop, Maya, After effects, and Illustrator. My favorite one to learn about was photoshop. I feel like this program will be the most useful in the future for my career. It was also fun and easy to use. I got to learn short cuts more the second semester, which made my project management skills better than before. 

Collaboration  

This year in animation, I had to learn how to collaborate with others. This was a good skills to learn because in almost any job you have to learn how to collaborate in a positive way. Working with others can help the final product of what you are trying to create. I didn't have any problems collaborating with others. I listen to every idea that others had and then said my input. 

Communication 

This year in e-com we had to communicate a lot, not only in animation. I realized when you communicate with others you collaborate.  It's important to communicate with your group members and others around you in order to do the best that you can. I personally was good at communication with not only my group, but with others. I got some ideas from a different group that I wouldn't have if I didn't not communicate with them. Communication is important because you have to talk to others just to be social and in most times for a job. 

Project Management

I learned project management by getting my things turned in when it is due. I did a lot better this semester with this skill. This is very important because a lot of jobs have deadlines. Most companies will even fire you if you do not meet deadlines. Along the way, I did face a couple of challenges with this. I needed more time with projects. I also couldn't come in this semester after schools due to soccer practice and or games. In the mornings, I was in other classes asking for help. 

Leadership

This year I learned to everyone can be a leader. I also learned that a leader is not someone who takes charge and wants to do everything themselves. I leader is someone who is on top of everyones job, but not excessive about it. They get the job rolling and have all the skills in the above paragraphs. It's important in any group to be a leader because it will help your final project. The only problem I faced was that a group member who thought she was a leader did not like to listen to other ideas from the group.

Strengths and Weaknesses

My strength this year was creating the finial project. I'm not the best at the animation part, but I got to use my video strength in creating this project. I was not able to edit in this project, which I was bummed because I thought that I would be doing it. There was a lot of mistakes on the editing part. I wanted to fix it, but another one of my group members decided "it doesn't matter we need to turn tis in" even though we still had two days left. My weakness like I said before was the actual animation part like making the spider turn and a certain way (in my final project).

In the future

This class has helped me with all the valuable takeaways. The most important one for me I would say is communication. It taught me to share my ideas, even if I have never talked to the members ever before. I will differently use how to use the green screen in the future for my future for video. I will also use how to do special effects in order to create an amazing project that stands out from others. 

Change

In this class, I only would change one thing. Deadlines. For someone like me (not good at animation) it takes me longer with all the keys and what not. I think that's the only change I would say. 

Summary

In conclusion, I enjoyed having this class with some of my friends. I made some new friends in this class that I would have never if I didn't have this class with them. I don't regret taking this class because of somethings I could take out of this classroom to apply to my strain (entertainment)  that I want to take the next years and in college. 

In this short film, Mickey is going through a glass mirror. It is impossible for someone to go through a mirror and enter into a different world. In a new world there are items that move around that wouldn't actually be moving around in the real world. The Writer in this film is expressing a fantasy throughout a dream. Again, it is impossible in real life to be able to go through a glass mirror and enter a new world.

In this short film, Mickey is getting bounced up and down on a moving chair. It is impossible for a chair to be able to have a face with arms. Also the chair can't physically make someone jump up and down. The writer made it seem that that the chair had emotions and didn't want Mickey to be standing/sitting on him or her.

In this short film, Mickey is jumping rope with the telephone cord. It is impossible for a telephone to be be alive and have eyes and hands. Also the telephone can't have arms and be able to move them up and down like jumping rope. The writer made it seem like he telephone was able to produce actions and was able to have fun with Mickey.

In this short film, Mickey is dancing with the cards and having fun. It is impossible for cares to have legs and to be able to get up and walk with Mickey. Also cards can't dance. 

In this short film, Mickey is standing on a foot rest. It is impossible because the foot rest has eyes and is walking away with Mickey on it. It also had emotions, but is impossible because foot rests can't have emotions. 

Video Reflection

Basics 

In this video class communication is key. I found that I used communication well during this semester, getting other peoples opinion and also giving my opinion to others. Communication and collaboration skills are very similar. With out communication then you wouldn't have any collaboration skills. My project this semester  was defiantly all over the place due to a concussion lasting a couple months. I got very behind in video and animation because of all of the set backs and effects concussions give you. My technical skills were good. I used the 6 shot system in all the videos that I made. Extreme wide shot, wide shot, extreme close up, close up, over the shoulder, and medium shot are the 6 different shots that I used in video. The sound was an easy fix when editing. Before editing you have to film and if your audio is not on then you have to restart your whole project. I only had the problem once. Lesson learned. Once in editing I could turn my sound up or down to match my voice over so that it would flow better. Lighting wasn't a problem for me. Lighting is a good key for filming because you want to be able to see your interview person with no shadows or glares on them. Editing in premier pro was different then it was last year. It was quick to learn and most of the tools are the same. My overall experience with feature stories and news stories was okay. I still liked to o it but for sure I want to go into entertainment to get the audience more involved and to feel. By doing video it made me be more experienced for the years yet to come.

This semester in video (final video)

The project that I was working on was a video about a student made movie. It took 3 class days to work on this. Some challenges that I faced were creating voice overs. It took me a while to figure out what exactly to say in my video. Along the way I learned how to edit faster and make my b roll volume quieter so it wouldn't over power my actual interview. Feedback that I was given was to make more voice overs because it seemed like one person was talking for to long and the viewers would lose interest. I would add more voice overs if I could. My overall thought about this project was that I put in the best work that I could in the last final project.

Time management 

Due to my concussion I was held back and was not able to complete most projects. I couldn't work on my projects because most days my headaches got so bad I would have to leave school early. When I was able to stay after school I had to work on animation because of the fact my teacher was failing me because I wasn't able to complete most of his projects and it took me a lot longer to do than it would if I didn't have a concussion. I also had my parents by a new laptop and get all the programs that I would need for animation and video,  so I could work on them over the weekends. I even had a doctor note and an athletic trainer note to extend work times and other restrictions that was given for me. Overall, this semester was a mess, but I was lucky to finally be concussion free recently so I got my final project done on time because I now could. I know that next semester all of my work will be turned in on time with no exceptions. 

Strengths 

In video my strengths were the technical side. This is having to do with the different lighting, 6 shot system, sound, and camera work. I'm also good at editing fast. I maximize my strengths by running into problems and then asking others around me for their input to help me and then I now have a new strength. 

Weaknesses 

My weakness in video is time management for sure right now and also voice overs. I just don't know how to make my voice sound up beat and preppy so it would be interesting to the viewers. I definitely would need to improve, which  I will next semester, project management. 

Overall

I loved being able to relax and do video because after a long day of learning I want to do something I'm interested in doing. If I could change anything like I said I would finish my project on time and good quality of work. This semester I was able to learn new tools premier pro, sound (getting the audio levels to match), and also how to create a feature story and what to say and what not to say. For instances not to say "I'm here sitting with (name) and likes photography, but instead say (name)shares his passions about photography. I've probably said this a million times, but to get all my projects in on time because I have no excuse. My final thoughts would be that I'm very excited to learn about entertainment and just start out fresh once we come back from break. 

Communication Portfolio Reflection

Ice Cream Model

  
In the ice cream animation we used a program called maya. I learned a lot of new things. I learned how to bullion, cut tools, short cut keys, how to make objects bigger and smaller, how to move the objects up and down, and to move them side to side. I also was able to figure out how to change the colors of objects. I could also download a picture and put it on an object, which that was really cool. I learned how to do this project by following the directions of the teacher and experimenting with new things. I picked this project because I liked how it turned out and it looked normal. I think this one was my best projects I have done this year. My strengths in this project was having an idea in my head and being creative. My weakness were making the ice cream scoop, but I got it figured out. I improved by asking people for their help and then helping other people with the information that I learned. I'm going to use what I learned for future projects in maya. If I could change anything I would make more things in my ice cream shop to make it look legit. Overall, this was the most fun out of all the projects that we did this year. 

Hammer Time

  I created the Hammer faster than I thought I would. I also created the hammer in Maya. I learned to make a hammer head. I learned to do a cutting object which was really cool for the hammer head. I learned to do this by experimenting all the different tools. I picked this project because even though it didn't look the best I tried to make the hammer head look perfect. My weakness for the hammer was the handle. Somehow it looked curvy. I didn't know how to fix it without restarting the whole thing. My strength were the hammer head to line up all the vertices to look the same on both sids. I improved by learning to take less time to make things. I'm going to use what I learned for the next thing I do in maya. If I could change anything, I would change my hammer so it would be straight. Overall, this was a good learning experience.

Pen Final

  For my final before the christmas break we created a pen. I learned how to make all the different edges and different tools to use to make it look identical to an actual pen. I learned how to do this by also messing around with a bunch of different tools. I picked to do this project because I chose to take it a step further and add a picture of my idol and have it look as if he was holding the pen in his hand. The project was to just create a one with a floor and a couple side walls, so there wouldn't be any black when we render out the project. My strengths were creating the pen cap and my weakness was the pen, but I got it done and it looks great. I improved by doing my own thing and testing up tools. I'm going to use what I have learned with other things I do in Maya or anything like Maya. I would probably have a video of the pen instead of screen shots. Overall, I got this project done with very few mistakes. 

Polything

To create the polything I used Maya. This was the very first project I did in maya besides making random shapes. I learned about different lightings to use to create the best shadow of the polything.  I followed step by step instructions provided by my teacher to create the polything. I picked this project because it was the easiest to create in maya. It took me 10 minutes or less to create this. My strengths was being able to turn this project in on time. My weakness was figuring out how the lights worked. I improved by mastering how to do lighting. I'm going to use the lighting with other projects even outside of maya. Lighting can be used with almost everything. I wouldn't change a single thing about this project. Overall, this was quick and easy and a fun way to learn about lighting. 

Glass 

Recently I created a glass. I really like how it turned out because it looked almost real. I learned a new thing where we had to use a stenciling type of tool to create this. I learned this by following some directions, but mostly I did it on my own with the help of a couple people. I picked this project because it didn't completely look all that bad. I mean... I'd drink out of that glass if it were real. My strengths were making the bottom of the glass look skinny as a glass would look like. My weakness would probably be the color I chose it looks too blue for a glass. I improved by learning new tools. With the things I learned I also made a salt shake. I would change the color and make it look like there is liquid in the glass. Overall, It was a cool concept to learn. 

Polything

The scope of this project was to create a cube and bullion it out to make a polything in Maya. I looked up the directions on google classroom. I followed step by step and ended up getting this project done really fast. I would have never thought to use the cylinder shape to complete this project. What I did was first create a sphere and made sure all the measurements were exact. I put the cylinders inside the sphere and made them pop out in the middle, back,front, and both sides. Using bullion, I basically cut out the shapes from the inside and ended up with the final product. I had to put some lights to get the polything to have shadows. I then created the texture of my polything and I picked the color purple. My final thing to do was move the lights around each time to then take a screen shot of the polything.


  Along the way, I learned the principles of how to bullion shapes into other shapes. I was able to help out a few people around me also create this project because they couldn't quite get it. Instead of telling them to look back at their directions...

Overall this project was fun and really easy. I learned new things and better tools to use in maya. 

Multi-Layer Project

  The scope of this project was to create three different parts to then make it look as it would go into one. I first decided to make mine an ocean multi-layer because I figured that no one else in my class would have thought about doing that. Once I got started on making the water, I looked around and saw that other people had the same idea. I had to figure out how to make each of my layers move and the different speeds I wanted them to move in. I wanted my background layer to move a lot slower than I wanted my front layer. The back layer made it look as if it was far away, so it made since the farther away then the slower it would move and visa-verse. I started to create on my front (beginning) layer sand at the bottom and make the whole project look at the bottom of the ocean. I added some fish and other creatures to make it look a part of the ocean. Some of the fish really didn't make sense that it was at the bottom of the ocean. For example, a Dolphin wouldn't really be at the bottom of the ocean depending on how deep the ocean waters got. Now I am nowhere near as skilled as I would like to be. I could have gone all out on this, but we were on a bunch time limit and I really didn't know how to do a lot of things on Photoshop to make my project look kind of more real meaning it looks like I drew everything (which I did), but it would be cool if the dolphin looked better. 
   
   My project editing was spot on. All I had to do was move each scene all the way down and then set a keyframe. While creating the Multi-layer project I got to learn new things. I mainly learned all the new things in photoshop. I learned a bunch of little shortcuts that helped me get my project done faster compared to if I didn't know the shortcuts. Technically I had no problems in the hardware or software. It all worked out smoothly. 

  My collaboration with other classmates worked out well for me. I asked others around me to help me out to create my project. That leads into teamwork. I also helped a couple people around me with ideas on what to draw and I also even drew a turtle for someone else's project (even though it wasn't good.. I still helped her out). My deadlines are probably the weakest for me as long with some of my other classmates. It takes me a little longer to figure out all the different buttons and to plan out what I want to be able to do. I do come in every now and then before and after school to try and work on it outside of school hours. 

  If I had to do this project again I would probably figure out a way to make my project come alive so it wouldn't look plain. I would still have the idea of doing the bottom of the ocean. My experiences for my next project will help me out because I learned a bunch new shortcut keys to make my project go faster. My general thoughts about this project were that it was okay. I didn't love what we had to do, but I didn't hate it. Personally, animation is not one of my strong suits and I'm trying to do my best. 

Castle in MAYA

The scope of this project was to create a castle with four walls and four pole things and insert a door. I first started to make the pole things aka things that connect the wall. Not sure what I should call them. I used a cylinder for this and raised the top of the poles up so it would look as if it was a real castle. I had to use many different tools to get the top of the edges to stick up and have groves on them. At first I couldn't figure it out, so I asked a partner by me to help me out. I copied and pasted the pole four times, so I could have it in each corner. I then took the cube tool to make the walls. I only had to make one wall because I could just copy and paste the other three. I had to use the face tool and then change the subdivisions so that I could make the ridges on the walls as well. I copied and pasted the other three. I had to figure out different buttons to rotate my walls and get them in the exact position that I wanted them to be in. Making the door was probably the easiest part of the whole project. All I did was make another cube and raised up. Then I positioned it on the wall where I wanted a whole to be for my door. After that I went up to one of the tabs to bullion and then I hit difference button. That got rid of both the cube and where I put the cube on the wall. I then added a texture to both the walls and the poles. I did that by selecting all the walls at once then right clicking and go down to add new and then select lambert. After I did that I went to the channel box where it should say lambert. I changed the color texture in the tab there. To get the actual color to appear on my screen I hit the number seven on my key board. 

  Technically, I learned how to bullion new objects to create a door. I could use this in the future when creating different objects. Maya helped me expand my knowledge to learn new things. By learning different programs it will help me be able to understand and try new things for a new program faster. My teamwork worked out because I got help from others and also helped other people with certain things. Project deadlines weren't so good for me. It took me a little longer to do this and I feel like the teacher moved on too fast, but in the real world I have to suck it up. Next time I will know the keys better, so I should be able to finish on time. 

  Next time I would figure out how to add a brick door instead of it just being blank. I would also try to add some flags on the castle and maybe a knight guy. I would not do my poles any differently because I think they came out perfect. The experiences with maya will help me in the future to create more things in maya or in any other software like maya. I generally thought this castle could have been better. I think I should just look over shortcut keys before we learn a new software program.

Below are screenshots of my castle!!!

Hammer Time

The scope of this project was to create a 3D model of a hammer and a nail in Maya. The process of this hammer was a lot of steps. I first made a small cube to the raise it up. I created the hammers handle. I then tried to make a hammer head. I messed up so many times before I decided to look at the directions. The actual hammer head flat part in my opinion was the hardest to do. I couldn't get it to look round. I finally realized all I had to do was change the vertex to make them look all around. I then had to add a texture to the handle so it wouldn't look boring. I wanted my floor layer to be purple due to the fact that my favorite color is purple. I created my nail without looking at the directions because I just wanted to wing it. 

  Along the way I learned a lot about the vertex, face, and other uses to make my objects look different. I had some troubles doing this project and I wasn't able to fix every little mistakes. The handle was kinda cricked and way to tall. I got the height down I think. My collaboration skills with working with others went well. I helped my neighbor create her hammer head by teaching her the different steps she should you. She also helped me by explaining how to add a texture to my hammer. I didn't quite get this one in on time because of the fact animation itself just takes me longer than most kids and I wanted mine to look normal.

  Next time I would make more nails and maybe add a table if I had time. I would also redo my hammer to make it straight looking. I would do my hammer head the same, but it would take me a lot less time making because of the fact I know how to do it. I would use the knowledge of how to create different lights and put them into different positions for my next project. My general thought of this project was just okay, I'm not too found of animation.

  

Below are screen shots of my hammer and nail with different cast shadows!!!

1 in 2000

   



         In this video I interviewed Darby Christiansen on how her 2016 summer went.  Darby's summer was packed. She went to mutiple places but her favorite was her trip to Japan. Darby went on this trip with her father. Her father has been to Japan multiple times and decided to take his daughter over the summer break. Darby says "this is trip I definitely will never forget." She had to go on about a 13 hour plane flight to Japan. From there she and her dad had to take a train to the place where they were staying. Darby explained to me that the food is very different and not what she expected. Darby knew some Japanese before going, but she quickly picked up on more of the language while she was there. I asked Darby what her worst memory in Japan was and she told me "do not go on a subway in the middle of the day!" Darby did in fact get lost on the subway and couldn't find her dad for a while. Darby also told me if she could take anyone to Japan with her next time she would pick her best friend in Texas. She and her seemed to have a really good friendship until she moved to Olathe, Kansas. On Darby's last day in Texas, her and her friend rode her bike up and down the streets at about midnight. I discovered that Darby loves to listen to music and draw in her free time. Darby would rate this trip with her father 100/100. Wow! 

My experience with writing my voice over went really well. I put my name at the beginning and spelled it out for my viewers. After that I had to say who I work for. I did end up having to take multiple shots of my voiceover because I sounded like a robot in just about all of the clips. When I finally got the clip that I wanted and I put the voiceover at the beginning of my interview so that my viewers knew what exactly what I was talking about/ what was going on.  

Filming was different than another video that I would be filming. Instead of creating a story board all I did was come up with about 20 questions to ask Darby about her story. I then figured out a order to ask the questions to Darby. Next I decided to find good lighting throughout the whole school. I picked the perfect spot and started filming. I still had to get the 6 shot system in my video (6 shot system is in my last post). Filming the different positions of the interview was tricky. After filming I edited the video.

In this video I really like how I added clips from Darby plane ride to my video. I also added clips from the subway. I like how I did this because it is different from the rest of my classmates. Also, instead of having clips that just said the question and then have the interview people say their answer... I had my questions as a voiceover. All in all this was a great experience to be able to learn how to interview people and edit in a video.