Ahoy there!
With Graphic Design coming to a close, I have to write a little reflection about the class as part of my final exam. I've got a lot of things to talk about, so let's get started.
What are your areas of strength in the content areas that you learned this semester?
In Graphic Design, there was one simple skill we needed in order to complete pretty much everything- Drawing! Since I draw so much, Graphic Design was not just a relatively simple class, but also a really fun one. I tried to put as much detail as I could into every piece I made for the class- whether it was on paper or in Adobe Illustrator. And you know what? I enjoyed every minute of it.
What are your areas in need of improvement?
In terms of improvement, I'm a little impartial to shape tools. I find it hard to create an attractive and appealing piece with just a handful of basic shapes. I found it overly simple, and a little boring. Quite often, I would omit the use of shape tools entirely and freehand the entire picture with a mouse. I could also have been a little more patient when creating my work, so that everything looked neat and clean with no errors or colors outside the lines. Backgrounds are also fairly difficult to create, due to the lack of a fill tool.
What did you love most about this semester?
Not only did I enjoy the plethora of creative projects for us to complete, I loved doing the projects in a way that I feel was unique to me, and having a general sense of creative freedom. Given an assignment where I have to draw a bird? Why not a bird Pokemon? Or maybe if I have to make a logo using the rectangle tool to create my name- why not slip my personal logo of the horned skull in there? Wouldn't hurt, right?
What would you change or do differently?
I wouldn't change anything. This is the class that I had the most fun in during second quarter.
Overall take-away or learning from this semester?
I mainly learned the basics of Adobe Illustrator, which could provide a head start if I use it again in the future, or if I use a program that's similar.
One goal you would like to set for the next semester?
My next semester is animation, which is what I'm looking forward to the most- it was the main reason I decided to take e9. In that class, I want to learn the basics of animation, and maintain a good grade throughout the quarter.
Final thoughts?
Graphic Design was a class where I was free to express my creativity in many ways- through Illustrator projects, sketchbook challenges, creation of my own logo, and even my own webpage. And that's the one thing I love doing the most- being creative. I'm certainly going to miss this class- it taught me so much, and I had so much fun learning everything that Graphic Design had to offer.
And as I step out of Graphic Design and begin my journey through animation, I only have one thing left to say-
Thank you so much for reading,
Tate
Friday, December 16, 2016
e9 Final Exam- Web Design Reflection
Ahoy there!
Process
The process of designing my own webpage seemed simple enough. First, we had to copy a zip file and put it into our personal file, rename the files inside and then get to work. An issue actually occurred during this part when someone straight-up didn't copy the file and just renamed the file right then and there, pretty much claiming the file we were all supposed to use as our own. It was eventually fixed later, allowing everyone to download the file and proceed.
The work that I did in Dreamweaver was easy enough, thanks to the tutorial videos and template provided in the zip file. All I really had to do at first was put in a picture of myself I had taken the day before, Paste in my Elevator Pitch, set up some links in the sidebar, and I was good to go on my homepage. Then I worked on my Projects Page. The first project I put in was my personal logo, with text straight from the blog post I made about it. Very simple. Next, I put in my Chase Scene video from Video, more commonly known as the Great Chip Chase. It was slightly more difficult than copy-pasting a link and being done with it- I had to embed the link and put it into the page's source code. But after that, the video was in and ready to watch on the page itself, without hopping over to a new tab and opening YouTube.
Last was the fun part- Decorating! I loved picking a nice color scheme for my website, and I eventually decided on a blue-gray scheme, with various tints and shades of the color. I also colored the text and changed the font up a bit to make my website pleasing to the eye. Although I did have to dip into the source code a bit in order to change the color of the text when activated, hovered over, or already visited. It was the only part of the project that I messed up on the first time!
After it was all done, I took a couple of screenshots and submitted them to Google Classroom. After that, I decided to sit back and relax for a while. I was finally done.
How long it took/How I used my time
The website took a total of four class periods to complete- doing the math, that's around 220 minutes, or about 3.7 hours total. (I don't know why I needed to clarify that...) It felt a lot longer however, having to frequently pause the tutorial videos in order to complete a given task or rewind to see what exactly I had to do. But through hard work and determination, I was able to complete my website within the 4-day period of work and turn it in just in time.
I tried to work as efficiently as possible, having Dreamweaver open on one side of the screen and the tutorial video on the other side. I tried my best to not goof around- Which I saw a handful of people doing when Photo Booth was involved in the process. Aside from a couple rewinds and pauses, I was able to understand and easily complete what I was told to do.
Challenges
The only real challenge I faced was trying to recolor the text whenever it was clicked on, hovered over with the cursor, and what color it became after someone had already visited it. Doing this required me to dip my toes into the scary world of source code. Having to copy and paste the line of code three times, and having to rename those lines in order for the process to work, was very tricky. I actually messed up the first time and had to redo it, but I persevered and eventually was able to pull it off.
What I learned along the way
I learned a lot about the Dreamweaver program, how to make a simple website, and even a little bit about the intimidating source codes. I learned that making a website is really quite easy, but I was using a template and tutorials the whole time. If I wanted to make another website, I'd most likely have to do it from the ground up, but the skills I learned during this project are sure to give me a little head-start.
My overall opinion on the web design process and my final outcome
Designing a webpage is surely no easy task- it may be a little hard to understand at first, but once you get a grip on the process it feels a lot more simple than it actually is. Source code is certainly something you'll have to get used to if you want to make a more detailed and professional website. I actually found designing my own webpage to be pretty fun, and it certainly payed off in the end. I'm extremely proud of my website- from the sidebar menus to the little bits of source code I modified. If I had the proper software available at this moment, I'd continue making websites for sure- although I don't know what exactly I'd use them for!
Here are a couple screenshots of my website...
Thank you so much for reading. See you soon!
-Tate
Friday, December 9, 2016
The Art Of Presentation
Ahoy there!
Presentation. It's something lots of people fear, but everyone has to face at some point in their lives. You can make or break a presentation based on six specific factors- Professional appearance, facial expression, eye contact, posture, gestures, and movement. Do not- I repeat- DO NOT walk into a presentation wearing something casual or lazy. But don't wear a full-on tuxedo, either! You want to dress formal- but not too formal. Don't have the same, flat facial expression during the presentation either- it's boring and makes the audience feel like they're talking to a piece of wood. Keep eye contact with your audience and don't get distracted. Keep good posture and don't slouch or slump. Make gestures when you speak- if you keep your hands to your side the whole time and don't move them, it makes the presentation feel more forced and static. Don't be afraid to move around just a little bit. If you stand in one place the entire time, your audience will most likely have fallen asleep within the first thirty seconds. Finally, speak loudly and clearly so that your audience can hear you. No one likes a presenter that just mumbles under their breath! Follow these tips, and your presentations are sure to be great.
A few days ago, I watched 3 different TED presentations by 3 different people. The first one was by Bill Gates. He dressed formally, had a good facial expression, kept eye contact, had good posture, made gestures while he spoke, and moved around just a little bit- checking off all the boxes of a good presentation. The next presenter was Bjorn Lomberg. He provided good facial expressions, kept eye contact, had fairly good posture, moved around quite a bit more than Bill, and made gestures while he presented. But, his outfit choice was a lot less formal than what Bill wore. While it wasn't the most casual thing I'd ever seen, it wasn't the fanciest thing I'd ever seen either. The final presenter was Jamie Oliver. While he made plenty of gestures, had a good facial expression and maintained nice posture, he moved around the stage a lot. This also affected his ability to make good eye contact with the audience. And his outfit choice? Flannel shirt and jeans. It's a good outfit choice for something not too formal, such as going to the movies or a restaurant... but fairly bad in a presentation setting. It's so informal compared to what the audience and even other presenters might have worn. People pay a lot of money to see these TED presentations, so it's almost a given that they wear something nice! So be sure to rehearse your presentation, pick a great outfit, and give those people a presentation that's worth every cent they paid.
Finally, I have to talk about my own presentation of my personal logo.
I'll just say this right here and now- I DID ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. I mumbled quite a bit and stumbled over my words, I didn't provide enough information, and the presentation was excruciatingly short and boring compared to everyone else. Instead, I should have spoken up more, kept good eye contact, and provide all necessary information so that my classmates know all that they need to know about my logo. At the end, I had done so badly in my opinion that I just cut my presentation short and did the Walk of Shame™ back to the collaboration tables. I definitely learned something from this abysmal presentation experience- speak up, give more information, and don't even think about being judged! More likely than not, the other presenters are probably just as nervous as you are!
Thanks for reading,
Tate
(Another thing that baffles me is that I was able to present something in my third hour just fine! Maybe it's because less people are in it...)
Presentation. It's something lots of people fear, but everyone has to face at some point in their lives. You can make or break a presentation based on six specific factors- Professional appearance, facial expression, eye contact, posture, gestures, and movement. Do not- I repeat- DO NOT walk into a presentation wearing something casual or lazy. But don't wear a full-on tuxedo, either! You want to dress formal- but not too formal. Don't have the same, flat facial expression during the presentation either- it's boring and makes the audience feel like they're talking to a piece of wood. Keep eye contact with your audience and don't get distracted. Keep good posture and don't slouch or slump. Make gestures when you speak- if you keep your hands to your side the whole time and don't move them, it makes the presentation feel more forced and static. Don't be afraid to move around just a little bit. If you stand in one place the entire time, your audience will most likely have fallen asleep within the first thirty seconds. Finally, speak loudly and clearly so that your audience can hear you. No one likes a presenter that just mumbles under their breath! Follow these tips, and your presentations are sure to be great.
A few days ago, I watched 3 different TED presentations by 3 different people. The first one was by Bill Gates. He dressed formally, had a good facial expression, kept eye contact, had good posture, made gestures while he spoke, and moved around just a little bit- checking off all the boxes of a good presentation. The next presenter was Bjorn Lomberg. He provided good facial expressions, kept eye contact, had fairly good posture, moved around quite a bit more than Bill, and made gestures while he presented. But, his outfit choice was a lot less formal than what Bill wore. While it wasn't the most casual thing I'd ever seen, it wasn't the fanciest thing I'd ever seen either. The final presenter was Jamie Oliver. While he made plenty of gestures, had a good facial expression and maintained nice posture, he moved around the stage a lot. This also affected his ability to make good eye contact with the audience. And his outfit choice? Flannel shirt and jeans. It's a good outfit choice for something not too formal, such as going to the movies or a restaurant... but fairly bad in a presentation setting. It's so informal compared to what the audience and even other presenters might have worn. People pay a lot of money to see these TED presentations, so it's almost a given that they wear something nice! So be sure to rehearse your presentation, pick a great outfit, and give those people a presentation that's worth every cent they paid.
Finally, I have to talk about my own presentation of my personal logo.
I'll just say this right here and now- I DID ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. I mumbled quite a bit and stumbled over my words, I didn't provide enough information, and the presentation was excruciatingly short and boring compared to everyone else. Instead, I should have spoken up more, kept good eye contact, and provide all necessary information so that my classmates know all that they need to know about my logo. At the end, I had done so badly in my opinion that I just cut my presentation short and did the Walk of Shame™ back to the collaboration tables. I definitely learned something from this abysmal presentation experience- speak up, give more information, and don't even think about being judged! More likely than not, the other presenters are probably just as nervous as you are!
Thanks for reading,
Tate
(Another thing that baffles me is that I was able to present something in my third hour just fine! Maybe it's because less people are in it...)
Friday, December 2, 2016
The Logo Process
Ahoy There!
Our most recent task in Graphic Design was to design our own personal logo! Our logos had to be simplistic, flexible, well-colored, easily branded, and have a timeless appeal to them. To start off, we analyzed some famous logos before going off to create our own. We started out by sketching three logos, and after that we would pick one that we like and draw it again- but with a description added.
Here are my first three "Beta" logos...
If you look closely enough, you'll see a sort of trend with these logos- they all have blue horns. I'll get to that later. The first one is a fox, because I love foxes. I didn't go with it because it didn't say enough about who I am and why the logo is so dang important to me. The third one is a winged toaster with demon toast coming out from it, freshly toasted and smiling happily Why toast? Well, mainly because my internet alias is Toast, formerly Toaster, and formerly formerly Toaster Oven. I didn't use it because it isn't all that flexible- it's just a piece of devil toast. The second one, and the one I went with as my final design, is a cartoony skull with horns.
Our most recent task in Graphic Design was to design our own personal logo! Our logos had to be simplistic, flexible, well-colored, easily branded, and have a timeless appeal to them. To start off, we analyzed some famous logos before going off to create our own. We started out by sketching three logos, and after that we would pick one that we like and draw it again- but with a description added.
Here are my first three "Beta" logos...
(I'm so proud of the shading here. I nearly killed my dark blue and blue-gray colored pencils.)
I decided to go with the horned skull because the logo represents two things that are extremely iconic to me- Blue Horns and a cartoonish skull. These things have stuck with me and my drawings for years now, and they're perfect to use in my personal logo. I feel that both of these things represent me in some way, shape, or form.
(Mainly because my little mascot character has blue demon horns and a skull on her shirt.)
Afterwards, we had to recreate our logo in Illustrator. It was no easy task, but I've done so many freehand drawings and the occasional shape tool drawing by now. I'm very proud of how it turned out.
The shading could've been better, but eh. I still think that it looks great!
I'm very happy with my logo, and I plan to use it many times in the future. Possibly as a watermark on a drawing or webcomic *wink wink*, a design on merchandise I can sell, or some other way to show that anything with this logo on it was created by me!
Thank you so much for reading,
Tate
Thursday, November 17, 2016
My Opinion Towards Some Colors
Ahoy there!
What's your favorite color? Why is it your favorite? What do you have in that color?
I was asked these questions and more during my graphic design class. We're spending a lot of time talking about color, and we have to write a blog post about our favorite and least favorite colors. So without further ado, let's get going.
My favorite color is blue! Almost half of everything I own is blue. My bedsheets, lots of my clothing, notebooks, and even a couple plushes are true blue. I like blue because it's a soothing color that looks great with almost every other color- Blue is the New Black. I love blue so much, I even dyed my hair blue! Blue is everywhere in our world. Lakes, rivers, and the ocean are all blue. The sky is blue on clear days. I use blue a lot in my drawings. And I spend a lot of time on Twitter, where most of the buttons and icons are a nice, sky blue- including the little bird logo. If I could change something to blue, I'd change my bedroom carpet color from dirt-brown to a nice blue color. It would fit much better into my primarily green and blue bedroom! Sadly, not a lot of food is blue aside from blueberries (which are more of an indigo color, to be specific), and most blue food isn't usually appetizing to me... but some food companies use blue in their logos, and I'm a fan of that! Blue Bunny Ice Cream for the win!
While I love all shades of blue, I do have a few favorites. Blue-gray is one, a slightly dark shade of blue with a hint of gray. Another one is sky blue, a lighter tint of blue that I literally see EVERYWHERE. My third favorite is Prussian Blue, a very dark shade of blue that isn't used often but deserves more attention. I also like royal blue, simply because it's the color of my hair. :)
My least favorite color is cream, or off-white. For some reason, if I see an off-white car, I immediately think that it's dirty and needs washing. It's simply an unattractive, boring color that reminds me of an unwashed white t-shirt. It could be seen as a tint of brown or brown-gray, which are a few other colors I dislike.
However, cream is the color of Vanilla ice cream, so I'll let that slide.
Thanks for reading,
Tate
What's your favorite color? Why is it your favorite? What do you have in that color?
I was asked these questions and more during my graphic design class. We're spending a lot of time talking about color, and we have to write a blog post about our favorite and least favorite colors. So without further ado, let's get going.
My favorite color is blue! Almost half of everything I own is blue. My bedsheets, lots of my clothing, notebooks, and even a couple plushes are true blue. I like blue because it's a soothing color that looks great with almost every other color- Blue is the New Black. I love blue so much, I even dyed my hair blue! Blue is everywhere in our world. Lakes, rivers, and the ocean are all blue. The sky is blue on clear days. I use blue a lot in my drawings. And I spend a lot of time on Twitter, where most of the buttons and icons are a nice, sky blue- including the little bird logo. If I could change something to blue, I'd change my bedroom carpet color from dirt-brown to a nice blue color. It would fit much better into my primarily green and blue bedroom! Sadly, not a lot of food is blue aside from blueberries (which are more of an indigo color, to be specific), and most blue food isn't usually appetizing to me... but some food companies use blue in their logos, and I'm a fan of that! Blue Bunny Ice Cream for the win!
While I love all shades of blue, I do have a few favorites. Blue-gray is one, a slightly dark shade of blue with a hint of gray. Another one is sky blue, a lighter tint of blue that I literally see EVERYWHERE. My third favorite is Prussian Blue, a very dark shade of blue that isn't used often but deserves more attention. I also like royal blue, simply because it's the color of my hair. :)
My least favorite color is cream, or off-white. For some reason, if I see an off-white car, I immediately think that it's dirty and needs washing. It's simply an unattractive, boring color that reminds me of an unwashed white t-shirt. It could be seen as a tint of brown or brown-gray, which are a few other colors I dislike.
However, cream is the color of Vanilla ice cream, so I'll let that slide.
Thanks for reading,
Tate
Friday, November 11, 2016
What's It Like To Draw a Bird 20 Times?
Ahoy there!
This week in Graphic Design, we were given the task to draw one object out of a given four (those four being a house, tree, flower, or bird). BUT! There was a twist...
We had to draw it 20 times! *EXPLOSIONS*
I chose to draw a bird for many reasons. One being that I love drawing birds in general. Another being I can only draw two or three types of trees and flowers. The final reason being I couldn't draw a house to save my life... Instead of drawing the same bird in twenty different styles, I drew twenty different types of birds, ranging from flamingoes to a mighty phoenix. One of them was even a bird Pokemon, hehe. I had way too much fun doing it- I'd gladly draw twenty more birds any time of the day!
After we finished the sketchbook assignment, we had to pick one of the drawings and recreate it in Adobe Illustrator. I chose to draw the bird Pokemon, so here it is.
This week in Graphic Design, we were given the task to draw one object out of a given four (those four being a house, tree, flower, or bird). BUT! There was a twist...
We had to draw it 20 times! *EXPLOSIONS*
I chose to draw a bird for many reasons. One being that I love drawing birds in general. Another being I can only draw two or three types of trees and flowers. The final reason being I couldn't draw a house to save my life... Instead of drawing the same bird in twenty different styles, I drew twenty different types of birds, ranging from flamingoes to a mighty phoenix. One of them was even a bird Pokemon, hehe. I had way too much fun doing it- I'd gladly draw twenty more birds any time of the day!
After we finished the sketchbook assignment, we had to pick one of the drawings and recreate it in Adobe Illustrator. I chose to draw the bird Pokemon, so here it is.
And before you say anything about it, yes, I am fully aware of how terrible the background is. I'm still adjusting to Illustrator, so cut me some slack. I decided to pick a forest-y green for the background to match the little grassy owl. And while others were creating their objects with shape tools, I decided to wing it (BIRD PUN) and freehand the whole thing! It was certainly a challenge, and coloring it was no walk in the park either. Darn you, eraser tool!
Even though this project was fairly challenging, I still had SO much fun doing it- both on paper and digitally. Even fixing the colors was enjoyable, and it was one of the things I had to do the most!
Thanks for reading,
Tate
(Background, I'll never forgive you.)
Friday, November 4, 2016
The Illustrator Experience
Ahoy there!
A short while ago, I learned the basics of Adobe Illustrator. And when I say basics, I mean that we learned the most basic, fool-proof parts of Illustrator. The very first thing we learned was Shapes and Colors. We were given the task to create five basic shapes- A circle, rectangle, square, pentagon, and star. It was simple enough to use these tools- I accustomed to the controls very quickly. We then had to color the shapes- which was even easier than making the shapes. Select the shape, make sure that stroke was deactivated, pick a color, you're done. I'd say that the hardest part of the project was trying to switch between the tools. It took me almost ten minutes to realize that you had to keep the mouse over the icon in order to get the other shape tools.
The second project was to create a basic logo using the shape and text tools. I made a starry background with a bright burst in the middle, with a line of text at the top reading "Dream Big." I was originally planning to create a skull with wings, but I wasn't advanced enough to learn how to make that. Overall, making my logo was pretty easy and I was very happy with how it turned out.
The third project was learning to use the shaper tool to make a vaguely pac-man like design. Using it was easy enough, but trying to color every shape at the same time and add the blue background was infuriating.
In conclusion, Illustrator is a tool that takes some time to get used to- but once you learn the basics, it's as easy as making a couple colored shapes in Microsoft Paint. I think I'll have a lot of fun using Illustrator in my Graphic Design class.
Thanks for reading,
Tate
A short while ago, I learned the basics of Adobe Illustrator. And when I say basics, I mean that we learned the most basic, fool-proof parts of Illustrator. The very first thing we learned was Shapes and Colors. We were given the task to create five basic shapes- A circle, rectangle, square, pentagon, and star. It was simple enough to use these tools- I accustomed to the controls very quickly. We then had to color the shapes- which was even easier than making the shapes. Select the shape, make sure that stroke was deactivated, pick a color, you're done. I'd say that the hardest part of the project was trying to switch between the tools. It took me almost ten minutes to realize that you had to keep the mouse over the icon in order to get the other shape tools.
The second project was to create a basic logo using the shape and text tools. I made a starry background with a bright burst in the middle, with a line of text at the top reading "Dream Big." I was originally planning to create a skull with wings, but I wasn't advanced enough to learn how to make that. Overall, making my logo was pretty easy and I was very happy with how it turned out.
In conclusion, Illustrator is a tool that takes some time to get used to- but once you learn the basics, it's as easy as making a couple colored shapes in Microsoft Paint. I think I'll have a lot of fun using Illustrator in my Graphic Design class.
Thanks for reading,
Tate
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Social Media Awareness
Ahoy there!
Have you ever stopped to think about the digital footprint you've been leaving behind every day of your life? Every picture you're tagged in, every post you make- it can all be traced back to you. Recently in my Graphic Design class, we read an article about college student's applications being affected by what they post on social media. "Great GPA? Fantastic! Oh wait, you made a negative remark about someone on twitter? Oops, sorry, you're gone. Thank you and have a nice day!" And don't think that you can escape it by changing up parts of your account to make it unrecognizable- It usually does nothing to help you.
If you want to make sure that your dream college doesn't reject your application, don't change your username from "John Smith" to "Pineapple Yogurt" in order to conceal your identity. If you made a bad post, delete that and be over with it. For example, if I wanted to submit an application to a college I want to go to, I would make sure that there is absolutely nothing that would harm my application. Picture of myself doing something stupid? Get rid of it. Rude post about a classmate? Delete it. Anything that could possibly offend someone? Obliterate it and get on with writing your application. Keep your account clean, and you'll be just fine. Always keep in mind that your digital footprint can either make you... or break you.
Thanks for reading,
Tate
Have you ever stopped to think about the digital footprint you've been leaving behind every day of your life? Every picture you're tagged in, every post you make- it can all be traced back to you. Recently in my Graphic Design class, we read an article about college student's applications being affected by what they post on social media. "Great GPA? Fantastic! Oh wait, you made a negative remark about someone on twitter? Oops, sorry, you're gone. Thank you and have a nice day!" And don't think that you can escape it by changing up parts of your account to make it unrecognizable- It usually does nothing to help you.
If you want to make sure that your dream college doesn't reject your application, don't change your username from "John Smith" to "Pineapple Yogurt" in order to conceal your identity. If you made a bad post, delete that and be over with it. For example, if I wanted to submit an application to a college I want to go to, I would make sure that there is absolutely nothing that would harm my application. Picture of myself doing something stupid? Get rid of it. Rude post about a classmate? Delete it. Anything that could possibly offend someone? Obliterate it and get on with writing your application. Keep your account clean, and you'll be just fine. Always keep in mind that your digital footprint can either make you... or break you.
Thanks for reading,
Tate
Monday, October 24, 2016
Elevator Pitch- A Fairly Acceptable Explanation and Example
What is an Elevator Pitch, you ask?
An Elevator Pitch is a sort of resume - A simple message you would write to explain your strengths, goals, and motivations to others. An Elevator Pitch is usually very short and to the point- which is why it's referred to as an Elevator Pitch. The time it takes to present your Elevator Pitch should be no longer than an elevator ride (around sixty seconds, give or take a few), contain a hook or theme, and be a helpful tool in explaining your skills and strengths alongside achieving your goals and motivations.
My Elevator Pitch:
I’m
a freshman in the E9 program at ONW who loves to draw, write, and help other
people. My friends and classmates sometimes complement me on my passion for
drawing and my skill. When I draw, I always try to put as much effort and
detail into my work as possible. I motivate myself by drawing in my personal
sketchbook every day, and I want to use my skills and abilities to add to our
school and make it as amazing as possible.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Technical Blog- Six Shot System
Ahoy there!
A while back, Mr. Cooper gave us an assignment known as the technical blog. We had to make a blog post telling people about something we learned in this quarter of e9 that we spent in Video. Some of our options were six shot system, rule of thirds, a to b sequencing, chase scenes, etc. We had to describe it, and then provide a picture to demonstrate.
I chose to explain six shot system. I'll describe each shot, how to use them, and a drawing to go along with them. I hope you enjoy, and that maybe you can learn a thing or two from this post.
The first shot is Over-the-shoulder. It's exactly what it sounds like- A shot taken over an actor's shoulder. It's useful in a sort of situation when a character is looking at something or someone, and you need more focus on one thing specifically but you still need both characters in the shot for it to make sense.
The next one is Extreme Close Up. It's a very close shot on something, like your face, feet, or an object. I usually see these in extremely tense situations. They're used to emphasize a character's facial expression, get a shot of a character's feet during a chase scene, focus on a specific object, etc.
The next one is Close Up. It's almost identical to an Extreme close up, except the normal Close-Up isn't as in-your-face as the extreme variety. This is, for some reason, my favorite shot because it's most commonly used in dramatic scenes, which I enjoy.
Then there's medium shot. It's a shot that's somewhere between wide and close up. It usually shows most of a character of object, but not so much that it becomes a wide shot, and not so little that it becomes a close up.
Finally, there's extreme wide. This shot is usually used to establish a location. Whether it be a mountain range, grassy meadow, bustling city, or even a far-off galaxy, the extreme-wide-shot is your best friend when trying to establish your location and get your viewers immersed in the world you've created.
And that's my bare-bones rundown of the six-shot system. I also learned about the rule of thirds, A to B sequences, and Chase Scenes. Video was one of the most fun classes I've ever taken. It's kind of nice to see how far I've come during this single quarter. I went from my first video with shaky camera angles, awful acting and zero music to a slightly better a to b sequence with unfitting music to a well-made chase scene with fairly positive feedback and few errors besides a jump cut and awkward music trimming. Video is a wonderful class, and I'll certainly miss it.
Well... On to Graphic Design!
Thanks for reading,
Tate/Toast
A while back, Mr. Cooper gave us an assignment known as the technical blog. We had to make a blog post telling people about something we learned in this quarter of e9 that we spent in Video. Some of our options were six shot system, rule of thirds, a to b sequencing, chase scenes, etc. We had to describe it, and then provide a picture to demonstrate.
I chose to explain six shot system. I'll describe each shot, how to use them, and a drawing to go along with them. I hope you enjoy, and that maybe you can learn a thing or two from this post.
The first shot is Over-the-shoulder. It's exactly what it sounds like- A shot taken over an actor's shoulder. It's useful in a sort of situation when a character is looking at something or someone, and you need more focus on one thing specifically but you still need both characters in the shot for it to make sense.
The next one is Extreme Close Up. It's a very close shot on something, like your face, feet, or an object. I usually see these in extremely tense situations. They're used to emphasize a character's facial expression, get a shot of a character's feet during a chase scene, focus on a specific object, etc.
Then there's medium shot. It's a shot that's somewhere between wide and close up. It usually shows most of a character of object, but not so much that it becomes a wide shot, and not so little that it becomes a close up.
Next up is Wide. It usually shows a character or location in full, but the shot isn't big enough to establish a full location. Multiple characters or objects can fit into these shots. And if you do need to establish a location, use an extreme wide shot instead. Speaking of which...
Finally, there's extreme wide. This shot is usually used to establish a location. Whether it be a mountain range, grassy meadow, bustling city, or even a far-off galaxy, the extreme-wide-shot is your best friend when trying to establish your location and get your viewers immersed in the world you've created.
And that's my bare-bones rundown of the six-shot system. I also learned about the rule of thirds, A to B sequences, and Chase Scenes. Video was one of the most fun classes I've ever taken. It's kind of nice to see how far I've come during this single quarter. I went from my first video with shaky camera angles, awful acting and zero music to a slightly better a to b sequence with unfitting music to a well-made chase scene with fairly positive feedback and few errors besides a jump cut and awkward music trimming. Video is a wonderful class, and I'll certainly miss it.
Well... On to Graphic Design!
Thanks for reading,
Tate/Toast
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Ahoy There!
Daaaaaang Toast, Back at it again with the e9 projects! This time it's a chase scene, with all the wonders of sneezing, doritos, and Danny DeVito!
This time we were allowed to pick our groups of 3. I went with Nicole (From the six shot video) and Kate Gleason! The video's storyboard started out as two stick figures commencing an epic chase over a small bag of doritos. But when I showed the storyboard to Mr. Cooper, he said that I needed to add more detail. So I made one character a cat and the other a demon. Guess what? Not good enough. So I added clothes and hair, and then finally after that we could record!
We finished recording in one day. There were a few bloopers, mishaps, and jump cuts but we were pretty proud of what we got recorded! (Although the fill-in sneeze scene was pretty hodge-podge and could have been a LOT better.) And I was originally going to climb into a trash can, but I ended up sliding behind it for two reasons- 1 being it was full, and the second reason is that I'm not THAT trashy. Ba-dum-crash.
Editing was just as fun as recording. Pick the music, some sound effects, cut the bloopers and unneeded parts and them BAMSHAMMALAMA! Put it on all the things for all the people to watch!
The feedback I got was mostly positive, but there were a few jump cuts, long shots, bad music cropping, and the sneeze scene was kind of suck-y (but I knew that already). I also had to explain the story beforehand or it wouldn't make much sense. But hey, at least people liked the music! (And bloopers, featuring guest star Danny DeVito as the TRAAASH MAAAN.)
If I did this project again, I'd check for those sneak little jump cuts, crop the music better, and shorten a few shots.
Overall, my final project for video was SUUUUPER fun! And now, on to graphic design!
Thanks for reading, I rea-
OH WAIT I FORGOT THE VIDEO. Here it is!
And a link if that doesn't work... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh3CUFQ-Ef4
*ahem*
Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!
~Toast
Daaaaaang Toast, Back at it again with the e9 projects! This time it's a chase scene, with all the wonders of sneezing, doritos, and Danny DeVito!
This time we were allowed to pick our groups of 3. I went with Nicole (From the six shot video) and Kate Gleason! The video's storyboard started out as two stick figures commencing an epic chase over a small bag of doritos. But when I showed the storyboard to Mr. Cooper, he said that I needed to add more detail. So I made one character a cat and the other a demon. Guess what? Not good enough. So I added clothes and hair, and then finally after that we could record!
We finished recording in one day. There were a few bloopers, mishaps, and jump cuts but we were pretty proud of what we got recorded! (Although the fill-in sneeze scene was pretty hodge-podge and could have been a LOT better.) And I was originally going to climb into a trash can, but I ended up sliding behind it for two reasons- 1 being it was full, and the second reason is that I'm not THAT trashy. Ba-dum-crash.
Editing was just as fun as recording. Pick the music, some sound effects, cut the bloopers and unneeded parts and them BAMSHAMMALAMA! Put it on all the things for all the people to watch!
The feedback I got was mostly positive, but there were a few jump cuts, long shots, bad music cropping, and the sneeze scene was kind of suck-y (but I knew that already). I also had to explain the story beforehand or it wouldn't make much sense. But hey, at least people liked the music! (And bloopers, featuring guest star Danny DeVito as the TRAAASH MAAAN.)
If I did this project again, I'd check for those sneak little jump cuts, crop the music better, and shorten a few shots.
Overall, my final project for video was SUUUUPER fun! And now, on to graphic design!
Thanks for reading, I rea-
And a link if that doesn't work... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh3CUFQ-Ef4
*ahem*
Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!
~Toast
A - B - C...quence (It's a joke. Please Laugh.)
Ahoy there!
It's me, Toast. I'm back with another page full of specific details about a video project for my e9 class! This time, the project was to make a video about someone going from point A to point B, using multiple shots so that it isn't super boring. (Who would want to watch a 2-minute-long video consisting of a single over-the shoulder shot? Not me, that's for sure.) We weren't allowed to pick our partners like last project, which I was honestly pretty salty about. I got paired up with Abby Goss, and we had a ton of fun recording and editing.
Every video project starts with a storyboard, of course! I used my 15-second anime style as usual ^_^; Our video revolved around Abby finding a note in her binder and going to meet the person who gave it to her in the studio. We filmed all the scenes in a single day, whic meant that there were a few rushed shots and continuity errors.
The editing process was fine- I added some Kevin Macleod music that I thought would fit well, but my classmates didn't think so (and I got a little upset about that :<) ... They liked the use of six shot system, rule of thirds, dabs, and Rick Harrison memes.
If I did this project again, I would take more time to perfect our shots and pick some better music. I can't put in the video because I'm writing this on my phone, sadly. I hope you enjoyed reading!
Thanks!
-Toast
It's me, Toast. I'm back with another page full of specific details about a video project for my e9 class! This time, the project was to make a video about someone going from point A to point B, using multiple shots so that it isn't super boring. (Who would want to watch a 2-minute-long video consisting of a single over-the shoulder shot? Not me, that's for sure.) We weren't allowed to pick our partners like last project, which I was honestly pretty salty about. I got paired up with Abby Goss, and we had a ton of fun recording and editing.
Every video project starts with a storyboard, of course! I used my 15-second anime style as usual ^_^; Our video revolved around Abby finding a note in her binder and going to meet the person who gave it to her in the studio. We filmed all the scenes in a single day, whic meant that there were a few rushed shots and continuity errors.
The editing process was fine- I added some Kevin Macleod music that I thought would fit well, but my classmates didn't think so (and I got a little upset about that :<) ... They liked the use of six shot system, rule of thirds, dabs, and Rick Harrison memes.
If I did this project again, I would take more time to perfect our shots and pick some better music. I can't put in the video because I'm writing this on my phone, sadly. I hope you enjoyed reading!
Thanks!
-Toast
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Six Shot System (updated)
Ahoy there!
A few weeks ago, we were given an assignment over the six-shot system and the rule of thirds. We had to make short videos consisting of six scenes with each scene using one of the six shots- Extreme Close-up, Close-up, Medium, Wide Shot, Extreme Wide Shot, and Over-The-Shoulder. The video is below. It may not be the best, but it's good in my opinion.
First of all, we had to make a storyboard. Mine was finished in almost fifteen minutes, and revolved around someone playing a prank on their friend involving a gum-wrapper and a piece of paper with a Filthy Frank quote. I got my friend Nicole to work on the video with me in a joint effort. We recorded our video at the main staircase. We were rather quiet, so it's a little hard to hear our voices in the video. We didn't record until the Friday of that week, so we had to edit the video next week. I was in charge of editing. which wasn't hard at all- I've done it plenty of times. I simply cut off some of the unwanted shots, and we were good to go.
During the process, I managed to get comfortable with Premiere Pro. I think that I won't have any future problems with it. And according to the feedback from my classmates, the story was nice and the use of the six shots was clearly there. But, there were a couple of continuity errors and the voices were hard to hear because we didn't speak up.
If I did this project again, I would speak up more when recording and try to stay consistent as well. I would keep the story and the six shots there, because they were just fine. I've learned that I need to stay consistent and not just jump around from scene to scene, and to speak up so that people can hear me. And maybe, some subtle background music would work well with the video.
Overall, I thought this project was fun! I enjoyed recording, editing, and watching everyone's videos. I can't wait to see what we'll do next!
Thank you for reading :)
A few weeks ago, we were given an assignment over the six-shot system and the rule of thirds. We had to make short videos consisting of six scenes with each scene using one of the six shots- Extreme Close-up, Close-up, Medium, Wide Shot, Extreme Wide Shot, and Over-The-Shoulder. The video is below. It may not be the best, but it's good in my opinion.
First of all, we had to make a storyboard. Mine was finished in almost fifteen minutes, and revolved around someone playing a prank on their friend involving a gum-wrapper and a piece of paper with a Filthy Frank quote. I got my friend Nicole to work on the video with me in a joint effort. We recorded our video at the main staircase. We were rather quiet, so it's a little hard to hear our voices in the video. We didn't record until the Friday of that week, so we had to edit the video next week. I was in charge of editing. which wasn't hard at all- I've done it plenty of times. I simply cut off some of the unwanted shots, and we were good to go.
During the process, I managed to get comfortable with Premiere Pro. I think that I won't have any future problems with it. And according to the feedback from my classmates, the story was nice and the use of the six shots was clearly there. But, there were a couple of continuity errors and the voices were hard to hear because we didn't speak up.
If I did this project again, I would speak up more when recording and try to stay consistent as well. I would keep the story and the six shots there, because they were just fine. I've learned that I need to stay consistent and not just jump around from scene to scene, and to speak up so that people can hear me. And maybe, some subtle background music would work well with the video.
Overall, I thought this project was fun! I enjoyed recording, editing, and watching everyone's videos. I can't wait to see what we'll do next!
Thank you for reading :)
Friday, August 26, 2016
Hello there.
Remember yesterday's post about the flags? I finally found a photo of it. Yay!
My design is the one on the top of the flag- The skull with an orange gradient surrounding it. The gradient was a cool touch, but the process of creating said gradient may have temporarily stained the bottoms of our shoes...
But it was still a fun time! We made the flags on Wednesday, but we've technically been working on this project all week. And on that Wednesday, it just had to rain. Working in the rain was a little annoying, because I didn't want to mess up my clothes. (it just HAD to be on picture day, didn't it?)
Putting the rain situation aside, it was a blast working with my team and seeing the other team flags as well. People put a lot of effort into their flags, and they all looked really good. I'm proud of them!
...That's really all I have to say for now. Thanks for stopping by! (^_^)/
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Ok, so this is a post about an e-Communication team project that we did. We were told to make a flag, and we had to choose a color and symbol that represented us. It was a lot of fun! I guess I should explain the symbol and color I chose.
I chose the color orange for my part of the flag. It represents joy, creativity and enthusiasm... which is pretty much me in three words. For my symbol, I chose a skull. It may be a symbol of death, but skulls are my way of saying "Hey. I'm cool. Got that?". Skulls can also be seen as a sort of logo that I use, because whenever I draw myself I always have a little skull on my shirt.
We had to draw our flags in the courtyard... but we also had to do it in the rain. However, the rain made it a lot easier to fade the chalk into the concrete to make a cool little gradient.
Overall, it was a very fun time. And I hope you enjoyed.
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