Video Semester Final

Video Class Semester Final 

Music Video 

The music video project took my group and I around three to four weeks to complete. The whole process took around one week for pre production, one week for filming, and one week for editing. Now my group did things a little differently than planned, because we took so long for pre production (around two and a half weeks) we had 2 days to film and one day to edit. Some challenges I faced with this project was getting everyone able to film. However, I the mastermind behind the project of course made it happen. Another challenge I faced was battling the copyright claims that I ended up loosing. Along the way of doing this project I learned a lot of things. One big thing I learned was communication and how important it was. My group could have easily taken the L on this project as we were way behind schedule but instead we powered through and created the best music video in the class by a long shot. Another important lesson I learned from this project is all of Kanye West's music is unavailable for use  regardless of what one is using it for. The only constructive feedback I was given came from a fellow classmate named Olivia Markey who stated "the video had no plot" this just happen to be the only negative feedback I got because the rest of the class was blown away with how phenomenal the video was. Furthermore, my group and I believed she was just jealous because her video was no where near as good as mine and she was just trying to bring me (the king) down from the top. Some positive feedback I received was fantastic video, best one in the class, great works, looks lime Kanye's actual video, and nice shots. After receiving feedback I did not change anything as my video was perfect and nothing needed to be changed. Overall, this was by far my favorite project of the year and it is a shame I can no longer show anyone. The reason it was my favorite was it allowed me to show my creativity and use one of my favorite songs. 

High School Trailer

This video project my high school movie trailer. The scope of the project was to recreate a high school movie railer frame for frame. This project was designed to take four to five weeks with pre production taking one week, filming two weeks, and editing two weeks. My group (the same group who created the fantastic remake of "Runaway" music video, however, did not follow these guidelines and instead spent three weeks on pre production, one day filming, and one day editing. The challenges I faced while creating this video was not even eCommnication related but instead personal life related. I and my partners had baseball tryouts this week that the video was suppose to be produced. This meant we could not devote our time to completing the video, which explains why the video is trash. What I learned and am going to take away from this experience is don't let anything be more important than school. While I did make the baseball team and considered taking the hit on this movie trailer as a good thing I shouldn't of let something come between me and school. When it came to receiving feedback I didn't receive any negative feedback because the whole class knew this video was absolute garbage and they didn't want to continue beating a dead horse. However, I did receive some positive feedback regardless of how trash the video was. The good feedback was the voiceover was funny, and the video in general made me laugh. I could not change anything about this video because it did not fit into our class schedule. My overall opinion of this project is it is straight garbage, and I could have done so much better. I am embarrassed to say I even created this abomination.

Short Film 

This is the last project we did this semester and it was a short film. The scope was to create a five to seven minute short films that had a beginning, middle, end. This project alone took around one  and a half months to complete as it had multiple steps. The first step was researching short films, followed by writing log lines, then creating a treatment, then creating a script, then finally choosing a script out of our groups to make into a short film. Next step was pre production that took a solid one to two weeks of storyboarding and script altercations. another week was taken for filming followed by one week of editing the film. The challenges I faced with this video was group cooperation. None of the group could film on the same days as we all had different schedules meaning people were left out of the process of creating the film. What I learned along the way of creating a short film is how much pre production is put into to making one and how dedicated one has to be in order to complete a short film. The class really didn't give any feedback for this video as when we watched it it was a fun day and I don't think anyone wanted to give feedback. What I would change about this video is the acting. While the female role was great the male role was below average and we could have used a better actor, which would have made the film stronger. Overall, this project was very fun to make and I enjoyed really creating the project with my group.

How did I use my Class Time

I used my class time efficiently some times and other days not so much. It was really a toss up in terms of when I came in on how I was going to be. I stayed productive in this class when I finished early/ when I thought I was done by collaboration with students about their projects and how I could make it better.  To enhance my work when I was done I would watch a lot of great films and get ideas on new shots, and ideas for films. Outside of class to make my skills better I did some clinet work and would help film sports games to improve my camera work.

Strengths as a Video  Production Student

My strengths as a video production student is I work hard. Other than that I really have no strengths. I maximized my strengths by working hard and turning everything in on time. 

Areas of Improvement 

I personally think I need to work on everything as I am weak in all areas of this class. To improve these areas I will watch more movies and learn more about filming itself.  

Summary

What I loved most about this class is the teacher and my classmates. What I would change about this semester is my high school movie trailer. I would completely redo the whole video. Overall i am going to take away that I need to work harder to become better. The one goal I have for next year is to become a better student than I am now and a better person. My final thoughts is I loved this class and had a blast being in it. 

Semester Final

Semester Final

What I did this Semester

This semester I completed a variety of projects in my graphic design class. The projects I completed this semester would be 11x17 poster, typography  5x5 artboards, combination marks, business card, letterhead, and envelopes. 

11x17 Poster

The first project of the semester is my 11x17 Bauhaus Poster. The project took around two to three weeks. Some challenges I faced while creating this project was I lost all my skills with the software Adobe Illustrator. This project was assigned to the class after retiring from spring break, which caused to to forget a lot of the software. Along the way I learned more about the Bauhaus Movement (a historical movement in the graphic design world that revolutionized the arts today). Some positive feedback I remember getting for this project was nice use of colors, I really like how clean your design is, and how it represents the movement perfectly. Some constructive feedback I got was some of the information on the poster is too small. What I changed on my finished product was the information I made it bigger and organized it a different way to give important information some hierarchy. My overall opinion about the project is it was okay it wasn't really my best work I have created but this project does show one thing. It shoes how much my skills have improved, which is what I would want to see, considering this project was in the beginning of the semester. 

Typography 5x5 Artboards

This is the second project of the semester and it was 5x5 typography artboards. This project took around three to four weeks to complete because we had to start with sketches, then create it on Adobe Illustrator, then make a black and white version, followed by color scheme versions, then lastly we got to create our finished products. To the right I have my finished products which would be my best version of each inspirational quotes I created for the whole process. Some challenges I faced when creating these projects was finding the correct fonts needed for the quote. At first I couldn't really find fonts that worked together, or I just couldn't find fonts that looked good and fit the quote itself, which took me a long time to find fonts that satisfied me. Along the way I learned about color schemes and what colors work best together. This was the first time the class was required to use color schemes, which really helped me in the future as most of my recent projects dealt with color schemes. Some constructive feedback I was given for this project was some of the fonts are hard to read due to the picot backgrounds, the font needs to be aligned better, and lastly one photo was a little stretched. Some postive feedback I received was the quotes really fit you and describe what personality you have, great back story to why you selected the quotes and the photos, and nice color schemes.  After receiving my feedback I only changed one thing, which was how my text was aligned on one of the artbaords. My overall opinion  on this project was I really enjoyed doing this project because it was one I could make a personal connection on. Furthermore the project was just fun to do and I consider it one of the best projects I've done this year. 

Company Rebrand 

The company rebrand as a whole would include combination mark, business card, letterhead, envelope, and rebrand display. This whole project I would say took around a month to a month and a half because of how many parts were included in each part.

Combination Mark

The first step to the whole company rebrand was creating combination marks. It all started with sketches of 30 symbols, 15 word marks, and 6 final combination marks. the combination marks alone took around 2 weeks to complete as we first had to do research about the company and design a logo that really fit the company. Some challenges I faced while completing this mini step in a huge project is ideas. After a while I couldn't come up with any ideas about creating more symbols, word marks. after a while they all just started to look the same and had little variety. Along the way I learned nothing really about graphic design other than how hard it is to create an original logo no one has used. For this project there was really no feedback given as the work was not shown to classmates. There was nothing to really change with this project since we got no feed back and it was just sketches. I have no opinion on this project as it was not really important. 

Business Card

This project was the second part to our company rebrand. The scope of the project was to create a business card with our company logo. This project took around 25 minutes to create which equivocates to around half a class period. I really didn't face any challenges when completing this project as it was pretty simple to complete and didn't require much work or creativity. When doing this project the only thing I learned was how big a business card was. Some constructive feedback I received for this project was don't use a different combination mark for the front and back as it might confuse the viewer. I received no positive feedback for my business card. I did not change anything on this project as I felt nothing needed to be changed. Overall I really enjoyed this project as it was simple and didn't require much thought or work to be done. 

Letterhead

This project was the third/ fourth step in creating or company rebrand. This is the letterhead I created for my company rebrand. This project took me around 25 minutes which again is around  half a class period. Again, I faced no challenges when completing this project as it was pretty simple and all I had to do was follow directions. Along the way I learned what a letterhead looks like and how big a letterhead should be. Some constructive feedback I received for this project was remove the second combination mark, and lastly make the information about the company bigger. Some positive feedback I received was I like both the combination marks being there as it adds variety, and I like how you used the second combination mark on the front and how it is faded. I changed nothing on this project as I was satisfied with my work and I don't care what others think. So I did what I thought looked best and what makes me happy.  My overall opinion of the project is this was easy to complete. 

Envelope

The envelope is located flesh right in the bottom corner. This project was to create a envelope both front and back for my company rebrand. This project took me around 5-10 minutes to complete. Some challenges I faced when completing this project was I did not know what a enveloped look like which cause me to have to redo my whole project. Along the way I learned what an envelope should look like and the correct dimensions of one. Some positive feedback I received is nice accent color used on the flap. Some constructive feedback I received was make the information about the company bigger. When I received this feedback I did end up changing the information size so it would become legible. Overall, I really like the whole company rebrand project as it was fun, and allowed creativity as we had little guide lines.

How I Used My Class Time

I have used my class time really efficiently. When I was in class I got to work and didn't mess around at all as I wanted to finish my projects as fast as possible. In the times that I finished early/ thought I was done I stayed on task by collaborating with students about their projects and helping them along the way and building strong relationships by doing so. When Mrs. Smith my (Boss) assigned me an eight hour project and when it only took me seven to enhance my projects by asking students for feedback and if they had good feedback that I agreed with I would change the issue, which in return made my projects better. What I did outside of class to enhance my graphic design skills was one doodle on my netbooks when I was suppose to be focusing on other subjects or working on homework. Furthermore, I enhanced my graphic design skills by creating personal logos and doing other work that increased my tech logical skills in graphic design. In terms of what I did outside of class to enhance my work is I did absolutely nothing. I could have came in to improve stuff but i didn't because I had more important stuff to do outside of class. 

Strengths as a Graphic Designer

I do not have any strengths as a graphic designer as I'm pretty weak in this area of eComm. But one strength I do have is I turn in my work in on time. This is a good skill not only for eComm but for the rest of life as an employer does not want a lazy worker. 

Areas of Improvement

EVERYTHING. I suck at graphic design, which is why I'm quitting it. 

Summary

What I loved most about this semester is the classmates I had. I came into this class thinking I was going to hate every second of this class for the whole year, but it quickly became my favorite because of the loving environment Mrs.Smith created. What I would change about this semester is adding more detail to my projects as most of them were pretty plain. What I am going to learn from this semester and school year is I am not gifted in graphic design and in my future career of eComm I need to focus on SID. One goal I want to set for next school has nothing to really do with this class but is to get a unweighted GPA of 4.0 and a weighted GPA of 4.4. Final thoughts is I really loved this class because of everyone in the class they really made my school year better.

 

Company Rebrand

Company Rebrand

Summary of Rebrand Project

The scope of the rebrand project was to choose a local Kansas City company and create a brand new combination mark for the company to rebrand themselves with. First the process started with sketching 30 symbols, then sketching 15 word marks, followed by combining the two to create 10 combination marks. From the 10 combination marks the class was asked to select 6 of the ten and create them using Adobe Illustrator. After the black and white version was created the next task was to create the colored version using color schemes. After creating 6 basic color schemes the next step was to create 5 more color schemes for each combination mark. after completing this step the final steps was to select our favorite combination mark of the 6 and create a business card (Front and Back), Letterhead (Front and Back), and an envelope (Front and Back). The company rebrand display above is the finished product.

What I designed

First step to the finished project was sketching my combination mark. When I was originally creating my combination mark for the company rebrand I wanted a Italian feel so naturally my first instinct was to select colors that were on the Italy flag, which explains my color scheme choices. After creating combination marks that I was satisfied with to create a company rebrand was to create a business card. When I was creating my business card I eat for a clean look as I wanted al the information to be readable and wanted the logo to be the center of attention. To add some detail I added some colored bars on top to hold the information in which really added some character. Next was creating a letterhead.
For the letterhead I added both my combination marks to give some variety and added my second combination mark on the bottom of the front and made the opacity lower, which i rally think added a lot of detail and brought the whole letterhead together. Lastly, I crated an envelope and just wanted a clean look.

High School Trailer Remake

17 Again Remake 

Scope of the Project 

The scope of the project was to recreate a high school movie trailer frame for frame. For the project my group chose the movie trailer 17 Again. The actual assignment as I previously stated was to recreate a high school movie trailer frame for frame. 

The Process 

For pre-production process the class was told to create a storyboard of screenshots for every frame and then mark up the paper with arrows to show which way the camera pans out. Another part of preproduction was writing a script. For the script we used Celtix.com which is a website that lets you digitally type a script and have a template to follow which made the process a lot easier. The last few parts of the pre production process was creating a schedule for recording and lastly creating a role list and cast list. During production we had a rough time. My group and I struggled in terms of getting our cast together, stoking to recording schedule and were limited on resources needed. In terms of actual filming we filmed our shots well they were clear. In post production my group used Adobe Premiere. The only thing new that I did in premiere that I did differently and that was new to me was adding animation. Other than that the editing was nothing special it was pretty standard and similar to my other videos.

What I Learned Along the Way

In terms of technical use I only learned one thing new. The new thing I learned was how to add animation and gaps to a video and how to overlay it onto a clip. Professionally I learned a ton of things that I need to learn from. One important lesson i learned from this video and will defiantly be changing in future projects is priorities. The reason this idea is bad was because I did not have my priorities straight. I know that there is no excuses and I stand by that quote 100% but the week the video was due and was supposed to be filmed I had other activities that meant more to me at the time and still do which caused me not to take this video project as serious. I know school comes first and this week I messed up nothing more to it as too why the video was terrible. The last lesson I will be writing about even though there are plenty more is communication with our cast better. The director filter and moral support all communicated well but we did not talk to our cast members at all which was a huge mistake. 

What I would do Differently 

I would do everything differently. I can't even say I did one thing correct other than the audio and video was not messed up. What I would do differently is re shoot the entire video all over again. 

What I Would do the Same 

nothing. I would do nothing the same because the video was terrible words can't even describe how disappointed I am in this video.

General Thoughts and Conclusion

Overall I would change everything. This video is terrible and I am honestly embarrassed by the video. As long as I am in eComm I will never produce a video as ba or even as close to how bad this is. 

Music Video Reflection

Music Video

Scope of the Project

This assignment was to create a remake of on of your favorite music videos. My group chose to remake Kanye West's music video "Runaway". The scope of the project was to teach new angles that could be used, to teach the pre filing process, and to teach one how to edit a music video. All this is different than what the class is use to as we are use to not having to do mush pre work nor getting a lot of shots. Another scope of this project was to lead us into the entertainment side of video class. 

The Process 

For this project and along with the rest of the assignments that the class is about to do requires plenty of pre production. Some pre production assignments that my group had to complete was gathering the following copyright information, lyrics sheet, cast and production sheet, beat sheet, multiple story boards, a professional review of another music video, gathering the cast, creating a schedule, and approval from our teacher. For production (actual creation of the video) I had to gather all the dancers in the video, assign a film day, make sure all the dancers wore the same outfit, gather all the correct outfits, and film. Production was by far the best part of creating this music video as it was great fun. From getting all the dancers to participate to filming each scene was a pleasure to see it all see together and I could not have been more proud to see it all come before my eyes. In post-production (editing process) that was also a lot of fun. To edit my group used Adobe Premiere to create this video. Watching all the clips was the best part of editing as we got to see what we visioned in our eyes come to life. The most tedious part of creating the music video was matching everything to the lyrics, having to cut the sound down, and cutting down each clip. Once this was done the rest of the editing process was easy and fun to create. 

What I Learned 

Along the way I didn't learn anything technically with the editing process as I have been using Adobe premiere editing software for awhile now and I don't really think that there is anymore for me to learn with the editing process. One thing I learned technically about the camera and film making is using more shots than the typical six shot system. Professionally I learned a lot. I learned how to organize a large group of people and communicate with them to get everything the way I wanted.

What I Would do Differently

After watching the video multiple times and presenting it to my classmates there is only one minor change that I would like to make. The one change I would like to make is ado more close ups of the dancers. Adding more close ups add more emotion and feeling to the video. I feel that this is something he video lacked which was a person for the audience to connect to. In one of Kanye's other music videos he provides a lot of close ups which makes the audience feel more connected to him. 

What I Would do the Same

I would do everything the same. If I could go back in time I would change nothing as I am very proud of this video and think nothing is wrong with it. 

Experiences 

Some experiences I had when creating this video is how important communication is. A big part of this video coming together was my ability to be able to communicate with all our dancers and making this happen.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a fun project to create and I hope the class has more like this in the future. 

Nelson Atkins Bauhaus Poster

Bauhaus Poster

Why I Chose The Bauhaus

I chose the Bauhaus Movement because I really liked how clean and simple the artwork was for the movement. Another reason I chose this topic was it is easy to create. The Bauhaus is easy to create because it uses simple shapes with vibrant colors and utilizes a neutral Earth tone background to make the shapes pop out and catch the eye. The last reason why I chose The Bauhaus Movement is the artwork is more my style. Other artist and movements were complex and all had a underlying message beneath the artwork. But the Bauhaus is simple clean and has no deep underlying message that the artwork is trying to get across it was mainly just done for fun and thats what art and graphic design should be for. 

The Sketches 

Before creating the finished product of the Bauhaus Movement poster the class was asked to sketch out what we would like our poster to look like and to take inspirations from our sketches and make the best one on Adobe Illustrator. As one can see I have some sketches that are black and white and some that are colorized. The colorized ones are what I was going to make as I wanted those to be my finished product. In my personal opinion I think the colorized ones are the best sketches that I created and the most creative. The inspiration behind my sketches came from hours of research during class I spent quality time looking at all different kinds of Bauhaus posters and the ones I liked the most I imitated to my best ability. What made a poster worth recreating to me was legible font, Simple and clean, explains the movement without having to type out an explanation, and lastly bright colors an a neutral background. 

The Process 

The process of creating two of my four finished sketches was quite simple. Each poster only took one class period to create as the poster are simple but get the message across. The program I used to create these posters was Adobe Illustrator. To create both posters I used only triangles, circles, squares, lines, vibrant reds blues and yellows, and neutral backgrounds. To make the text less boring and add some character to the poster I slanted the title or I added lines to each letter and made kit extend off the page to catch the readers eye. When creating these posters one thing that I was really going for was explaining the movement through the artwork. My fellow peers did not do this well as they had their artwork on the poster but unless one knew the artist or movement the poster made no sense. Which in my opinion makes their handwork useless since it dosen't get the point across. 

Feedback

Some positive feedback I received from my classmates would be Nice use of colors, Love the artwork, Love the simplicity and how clean the artwork is, and lastly the title being slanted adds a lot of character and makes the poster more interesting. Some constructive criticism I received was the poster is plain, and lastly The information about the exhibit needs to be organized in a different way. The last constructive criticism was the best feedback I received for this project as I used it to my advantage. Instead of just listing out the the needed information I put most important information bigger and in the middle of the screen and the least important smaller and out of the way. 

Conclusion 

Overall, I am proud with how my first poster turned out. To me this is the poster that really expresses the movement and is the most appealing to the eye. This is going to the the artwork I am submitting to be printed and receive a hard copy of. 

Professional Video Review

Professional Video Review of Only One 

Summary of Project

For this project I will be analyzing the music video by Kanye West "Only One". In this blog I will analyze what the song is about, types of shots, mood, and other important factors that made this music video iconic. 

Story and How it's Told

The story of this music video is from the perspective of Kanye West mom speaking to North west from beyond the grave. The reasoning for this is for the song to be seen as a lullaby to North west. The song explains how even though Kanye's mom never got to meet North that she is blessed with two great parents, and a very loving and blessed family. The mom also explains how God has great plans for her and the blessings she has. The story of this video is explained by one using powerful lyrics. Another way the story is told is through some artistic and deep shots of Kanye and his daughter North. These shots really show the connections between Kanye and his daughter and show the love that the lyrics are trying to convey to the audience. 

Elements that I would Apply 

One element from this music video that really struck me and that I would love to apply is all the shots have a purpose. Every single shot in this music video is in place with the lyrics. All of the shots convey the message that the lyrics are trying to convey by showing love between Kanye and his Daughter North.

Elements that are Applied that I Knew

One element that is applied in Kanye's music video "Only One" is the six shot system. The production crew behind this music did a really good job of using every single shot. I feel by using this technique it made the music video more powerful and demonstrates the message the lyrics are trying to get across about love and God. 

What the Creator Did Well

 What Kanye West and Paul McCartney the creators really did well in this music video was tell the story behind the lyrics. They did this well by using a perfect setting by filming out in an abandon field and filming and a cloudy day. This setting helped plan out the whole video by giving off a dark moody and a sad tone which the song is singing about. 

How the Creator Could Have Done Better

The creators in my opinion truly did nothing wrong but if I had to nit pick it would be the video quality and the audio error in the middle of the song. First, I am going to start off discussing the video quality. The backstory behind this music video is that it was filmed with an iPhone 6 by one of Kanye's friend and was just an impromptu idea. The song was originally never suppose to have a music video.  However, if Kanye did put maximum effort into filming the video it would of had cleaner shots and more variety than the standard 6 shot system. Secondly is the audio mishap in the video of the song. As one can clearly hear their seems to be a problem in the recording where the autotune is not completely blocking out Kanye's real voice. I know this isn't the creators fault as it's the editors. I do feel though Kanye or Paul could have paid more attention to this and corrected the error before the video went public. 

General Thoughts and Conclusion

Overall I think this is a great video and in my opinion one of the best low budget music videos out there. This is a true inspiration. One reason why this video is huge inspiration is because for my music video project we do not have a huge budget and two the song is inspirational and speaks to everyone. That is what I'm after choosing and creating a music video that everyone can make a connection to. 

Elements of a Poster

Posters

Summary of "The Character and function of the Poster"

Posters have been around for quite sometime and influence the brains of many. The posters job is to stand out the catch eye of a viewer who only has a few seconds to look at something when passing by. This is why posters have to stand out by having bright colors and a clean design or an eye popping image to grab the attention of many. Another thing a poster must provide is text that us not to long nor typography that is hard to read since the view only has a few seconds to stop and read in today's time. The function of posters in today's world would be to express political views, inform others of cultural events, to provide audience entertainment, and to provide a message to those who stop and look. Other key functions of a poster is to stimulate, activate, mobilize provoke, motivate, and lastly convince and audience.

Summary of "The Laws of Poster Designing"

General Demands of Poster-Designing:
Some general demands of good poster designing would be the message on the poster has to be legible and an understanding message. This means no crazy colors or typography. Another quality a great poster has to be is innovative. The last general demand of poster designing that will create a great looking poster is it should be memorable and establish a new contact between the viewer and topic.
Lettering in Poster-Designing:
When it comes to lettering in poster designing a good poster should have lettering integrated in the poster and remain memorable in the viewers mind. If the lettering is placed outside the picture the lettering must be proportional to the pictures on the poster and should have the same composition and color of the rest of the poster. Another important factor of lettering is the words on the poster should be able to present important information in a quick manner and be legible from a distance. The last important factor of lettering is information should be quick and concise and have a dynamic effect on the audience.
Shapes in Poster-Designing:
The objective of shapes in poster designing should be to clearly express the ideas of the poster. When using shapes on a poster it is important for the shapes to be arranged accordingly, large and effective from a distance, clear shapes, should draw the reader's attention quickly. If the graphic design on a poster is done well it will cause the audience to be more engaged in the poster and make a emotional appeal to the reader which will cause the poster to be more memorable.
Color in Poster-Designing:
Coloring plays a huge factor when creating posters. Color can be used to express the issue ranging from social, economics, political, and cultural campaigns. One use that color provides posters is it serves as communication to the audience. When choosing a color pallet for posters it is good for the colors to provide contrast but at the same time blend together.

Three Key Points

One key point I learned while reading this article is when creating a poster Color is one of the most important factors because it can provide emotion and draw the audience attention. This is important because in the future when I am creating a poster I will look at color theory and select colors that send a message that I am trying to get across without having to say many words. Another Key factor I learned is a good poster should be memorable in the readers mind. This is important because If an artist works hard on a poster for a company but it isn't very effective because it does not stick in the minds of the audience then the work was useless. The 3rd and last factor I found useful in this article is about lettering. I learned that if the lettering is not inside a photo but next to a photo the lettering has to be proportional so the poster does not look out of place. 

 Favorite thing and value

The favorite thing I learned is the the color theory and choosing a good color pallet. This will be very valuable in the future because choosing certain colors can send a message to the audience without having to use words. Choosing a good color pallet is valuable information because choosing colors that don't blend and contrast to much will cause the poster to look less aesthetically pleasing.

Conclusion 

Overall this was a really good article and provided great information that I will be using in the future when I am creating my poster for a graphic design class. 

Semester Reflection (Final) - Video

Projects

Feature Story Number One 

This project is  my first feature story I produced in video class. The video is about my friend who overcame anorexia to become a bodybuilder. This project took me one week to film one week to edit and one day to complete the revisions on the video. Some challenges I faced when producing this video was having time to film my clients as we both had very busy schedules. Another challenge I faced while creating this video was I was still fairly new to the editing software and it took me awhile to learn the software efficiently and it really slowed down the process. Along the way I learned plenty of things. One important thing I learned was how to use Adobe Premiere. The next big thing i learned was how to adjust radio and make everything glow nicely together. The last new thing I learned while producing this assignment was how to manage the camera and make sure that the NAT noise is on so one can pick up audio. Some feedback I was given for this assignment was mostly positive. Some positive comments that were said were "the use of the six shot system was nice", "you had great NAT noise", "The interview question were great and the people getting interviewed provided great responses", "great voiceover". As always constructive advice is always need so here are some negative comments I received "too much background noise during the interviews", and "the pictures did not fill the entire screen". When I got to make revisions to make my video better the first thing I changed was Making the interviews louder to block out some of the background noise. Another aspect that I changed in the video was putting their names in the video so people knew who the interview was. Overall I really enjoyed doing this project from the editing to the filming. Every aspect of creating a feature story is fun and is one of the most enjoyable assignments I received during first semester. In terms of this project for the video being my first feature story i was extremely proud of how it turned out. In this video there was some aspects I needed to improve and as the class move forward and learned new things my video became a lot better and are produced to the best of my ability.

ONW Now Video

This project was a video I produced for the sophomore ONW Now production. This video took me 50 minutes to film put a voiceover together and edit the film. Some challenges I faced when creating this video was my partner was gone for a week leaving me a day to edit film and create a voiceover for the project. Another challenge I had was blocking out a squeak that was in all of the clips I shot and I had to balance all the audio so the audience cannot hear the unpleasant sound. Along the way I learned never to do a group project because more than likely I will have to do all the work and be rushed to make a quality video. I have not been given any feedback for this video yet. However, I personally think this is the best video I have produced. Even though I had 50 minutes to create a film for my final this is great quality and I am very proud of what I've created. I have not changed anything yet but if i had a chance to make revisions I would edit the title of the interviewee names to make a more fitting and quality title. My My overall opinion of this project is I love this video. I woke really hard on this video and put all my effort into reading a quality video.

Use of Class Time 

I used my class time very efficiently. I was always working hard in this class and not a second went by where I wasn't working hard. I had every assignment turned in on time and always produced great quality work. When I had finished early or thought I finished early I stayed Productive by doing plenty of other activities. One thing I would do if I finished early was ask my fellow peers who also finished early to critique my video. Having done this if anything needed to be changed I could go back and do so with plenty of time to spare. Another thing I did to stay productive if I finished early was I was constantly updating my blog with fresh content that I had just created. The last thing I did to stay productive when I finished early was help my fellow peers with their videos. Outside of class I put in a lot of work. I was constantly coming in to re-edit videos. Or I was coming in during lunch to finish up videos and get ahead of everyone else. Another thing I did out of class was keeping my blogs updated with my latest work. To better myself as a production student i participated in plenty of out of school filming such as being a sideline reporter, being an ONW Now Gameday host, and I filmed plenty of sports games. All of these extra hours I spent out of class doing this work really helped become a better speaker, writer, and film maker. 

Strengths 

As an employee I have three huge strengths that I pride myself on. My first strength and my biggest strength is I am a very hard worker. My second strength as an employee is I never give up on assignment or anything in life. I always find a way to push through and finish what I started. My last strength as an employee is I am a perfectionist. This could also be viewed as a weakness also as I will not continue with an assignment unless everything looks perfect at that very moments. However, this is a strength for me as people will know I product quality work and I produce the best work. As a video producer I have three main strengths I pride myself on. My first strength is my ability to create quality content in little amounts of time. I was able to show this skill off yesterday when I had 50 minutes to create a video from scratch with no help even though I was suppose to have a partner. My second strength as a student in video class is my understanding of the editing software. My third strength as a video production student is I can write a really good blog post. I am able to maximize my strengths by working hard, staying on task, and not letting anything get in my way of creating a quality video.

Areas of Improvement 

An area of improvement that really brought me down this year is my collaboration skills. In the beginning of the year I talked to much to my fellow classmates and really hurt their progress. However as the year went on however I fixed this problem and no longer is it an issue for me or my peers. To fix this problem I just brought headphones to class and only listened to music instead of distracting them with my voice. Other than this small issue in the begging of the year I have no where to improve. I am glad i fixed this problem as ever since I have me and my peers work became a whole lot better and we are ahead of the curve.

Summary

I loved plenty of things this semester. One thing I loved was the classmates I sit by. My classmates really made me enjoy this class and made me look forward to coming to this class everyday. Another thing I really enjoyed was creating the feature stories. Feature stories are fun to make and allow me to film what I am interested in. What I would change about this class is not having to do group projects. I was assigned a group project for our last assignment which was the most important assignment and my partner did absolutely nothing. In the future if we do have to do group assignments I hope to get assigned a good partner who will actually do something for the project except stare at the screen. What I am going to take away from this semester of graphic design is in order to succeed in life one needs to work hard. Next semester I have one goal. The goal I am setting for myself does not just apply in Video Production class but applies to life and that goal is to be the best at everything I do in life. I have no final thoughts. 

Semester Reflection (Final) - Graphic Design

Projects

Raccoon Postcard

This project is a raccoon postcard that was assigned to us in our very early stages of graphic design. This project took around two weeks to complete. Some of the challenges I faced when completing this project was creating the raccoon, brainstorming an original theme for the postcard, and creating handmade typography. Along the way I learned plenty of new skills. The skills I learned was how to use pathfinder tools, how to make an object look like its waving, and how to create animals/ humans from shapes. Some feedback I was given when the project was presented to my classmates consisted of many negative comments such as "Plain Background", "The raccoon is not PC because he is wearing a Donald Trump shirt", and "The black lines on the tail are off and don't look right".Some positive feedback I received from my teacher and a few classmates consisted of "The raccoon looks nice","I like the theme","The flags work unique and very well created". After getting the feedback I just changed the black lines on the tail because I felt as if that was the only item on the whole postcard that needed to be changed. Other than the black lines that I corrected, I was extremely pleased with how my work turned out. My overall opinion of  the design process is it was extremely fun to create a post card using the raccoon and the project wasn't challenging. As I stated previously, I am extremely pleased with this project and consider it to be one of the best works I have produced as a graphic designer. 

Photoshop Challenge 

This project was our challenge project for our photoshop portion of graphic design. The class was told to let our imagination run and create what ever we wanted to on this man. This project took two class periods each class period being around 30 minutes. Some challenges I encountered when working on this project was not really knowing how to do anything. I had to teach myself on how to fill photos with certain designs. Along the way I learned one huge skill that helped me in plenty of other projects down the corse of first semester. The skill is called layer mask. Layer mask is what I used to pt the photos of the nature on his body. On this project I received only positive feedback. Some comments my classmates said were "I like the designs", "The photo you put on his neck was really creative and make it look like a tattoo", and "The whole project just looks very clean and neat". On this project I changed nothing as I for the first time received no negative feedback. My overall opinion of the design process is I really loved doing this project as it gave me the ability to show my creativity, something we don't get to do a lot in this class because of all the tutorials we are required to follow. I am extremely please with this project as it is my most clean and well thought out project. 

Time

I have used my class time very effectively this semester. When I get into class I get right to work and don't waste a second of time as every second is needed when completing these projects. When I was done or thought I was done I stayed productive in plenty of ways. One way i stayed productive was by asking my fellow classmates who were also done to critique my work to see if anything need to be fixed, changed or deleted. Another way I stayed productive was by not bothering my other classmates who were hard at work completing their own assignments. The last thing I did to stay productive was I worked on other projects or I created my own projects to work on. Outside of class I would come in to finish projects or to make them look nicer and more clean. I also spent a lot of timeout of class updating my blog so I could keep my readers interested in my works. Another thing I did out of class was watch tutorials on youtube to enhance my understanding of what our current project was about, or how I could enhance my own projects by following the tutorials. 

Strengths 

As an employee I have three huge strengths that I pride myself on. My first strength and my biggest strength is I am a very hard worker. My second strength as an employee is I never give up on assignment or anything in life. I always find a way to push through and finish what I started. My last strength as an employee is I am a perfectionist. This could also be viewed as a weakness also as I will not continue with an assignment unless everything looks perfect at that very moments. However, this is a strength for me as people will know I product quality work and I produce the best work. As a graphic designer I have one strength and that is I learn skills and other thing very easily and quick. I maximize all my strengths by working hard and staying on task. If I can stay on task which I always am there is not a thing I can't accomplish. 

Improvements 

An area of improvement that really brought me down this year is my collaboration skills. In the beginning of the year I talked to much to my fellow classmates and really hurt their progress. However as the year went on however I fixed this problem and no longer is it an issue for me or my peers. To fix this problem I just brought headphones to class and only listened to music instead of distracting them with my voice. Other than this small issue in the begging of the year I have no where to improve. 

Summary

I loved plenty of things this semester. One thing I loved was the classmates I sit by. My classmates really made me enjoy this class and made me look forward to coming to this class everyday. Another thing i enjoyed about this class was the projects were we the creators had free range to do whatever we wanted to do. The project where we had to follow tutorials were not fun nor did they challenge the creator. In this class i would change two things. One thing I would change would be letting the creator have more control of their product. We the creators had very few assignments where we actually got to influence the project by putting our own view of things. The last thing I would do differently s not talk as much as I use to. That issue really brought my grade down first later and I had to work hard to bring it up. What I am going to take away from this semester of graphic design is in order to succeed in life one needs to work hard. Next semester I have one goal. The goal I am setting for myself does not just apply in graphic design but applies to life and that goal is to be the best at everything I do in life. I have no final thoughts. 

Feature Story 2

Feature Story 2

Concept

I had plenty of concepts behind my second feature story. One concept behind my video was to showcase the athletic ability of the Olathe Northwest high school wrestlers. Another concept I had in mind when creating my video was to highlight how hard it is to be good at wrestling on and off the mat. From practice to eating correctly i really wanted to showcase the challenges top tier wrestlers go through. The last concept I had in mind when creating my second feature story was to highlight two varsity wrestlers Brady Pellman and Jake Herl. 

Narrative Lead

The narrative lead I put in my video was the sound of the Olathe Northwest wrestling team warming up by performing a light jog around the map. It affected my video by setting the mood for the video that it was going to be about wrestling. It also helped my video by viewers understand the concept of the video before it even started. 

Who I Interviewed

I interviewed two varsity wrestlers at Olathe Northwest. The wrestlers names are Brady Pellman and Jake Herl. The two interviewees complemented eachother nicely and provided great responses and gave the video an exciting aspect. The two interviewees also complemented eachother becuase they both agreed on most questions which allowed me being the editor to combine the clips as one.

Experience editing and Filming

I edited this video using Adobe Premiere Pro. Editing video is the least fun of most of my projects as i don't really consider myself to be that great. So the editing for this video is quite average nothing that special. The filming portion for this project was quite fun as filming is my favorite part of every project. When filming i tried to get the six shot system and apply the one thirds rule in the interview. I did however mess up on my filming as all the clips are blurry. 

Feedback

The feedback I got from my class was mostly negative as this is what they said 

• Videos were blurry
• Did not have a conclusion to the video
• Interview was washed out
• Too much background noise on some of the clips
• Not enough B-Roll
• Some clips did not fit the mood
• Abrupt ending

The only positive feed back I got was from my teacher to which she said 

• The video highlighted the athletes and the sport well
• Good questions and interviews 
• Good voiceover

This was all the feed back I received for my video.

Conclusion

If i could make any changes with my video I would make two substantial changes. One would be having a voiceover at the end of the video to address the last question and not have to video end so abrupt. The last change would be Making sure that when I film i make sure that i am getting clear and quality footage. Overall this was a fun assignment as I like shooting feature story and like the journalism side of video.  I look forward to doing more projects like this in the future.
 

Infographic

Infographic

Experience Creating the Infographic

Making the infographic was fairly fun and not challenging at all. The project however was very time consuming as we had to make everything on the infographic ourselves. The only picture I did not create myself on this project was the photos of Lebron James and Michael Jordan faces put together, and the photos of the shoes. The hardest part of creating the infographic was putting Lebron and Jordans face together to make them match perfectly. The first step of the project was creating a wireframe for the project to layout the infographic. That was fairly simple as we were given a 11 X 17 infographic and had to draw out our plans. After that we had to implement all of the aspects drawn on our sketch to Adobe Illustrator. 

Concept for Infographic 

The concept for the infographic was to showcase the best basketball players of all time being Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Another reason I created this infographic was because I was tired of people in the barber shop saying Lebron ain't this, Lebron ain't that, Lebron ain't no hitta. So in hope to get those in my barber shop to stop saying Lebron ain't a hitta I created this to show how Lebon stacks up to Jordan. 

What Makes a Good Feature Story

Best Feature Story For Sophomore Video Production

What Makes a Good Feature Story 

Concept

The first part to making a great feature story is having a great concept that will keep the audience interested in the video. When the class was first creating a feature story for this assignment our teacher stressed having a great concept and even stated "Having a good concept will lead you to having a good video." Without a great concept no one wants to spend the time to watch the video. Some other great feature stories besides the video above that have great concepts that the class used as examples when creating our own would be about a mom who wore 26 different shirts when running a mile, a teacher who has had a long lasting influence on his students, and a man who drives a semi across the nation to save dogs. All these video have one thing in common they all have a great concept that kept the audience interested and wanting to continue watching the video. 

Good Interview

Another crucial part to having a great feature story that people want to watch is having a good interview and a well shot interview. If the people getting interviewed do not give great responses the video will suck. In the video above both the people getting interviewed do a great job of answering the questions asked and give the view a reason to continue to watch the video. As for how the interview is shot it is important to get the interview shot in the environment that you are making a video about. It would not make sense to make a video about a teacher who has influenced her students greatly and shoot it at a prison. This video above does a good job of showing the environment that the video is about in her interview. Another good part to having a good interview is having good lighting.

Feature Story Experince

Reflection 

Concept for the Video

The concept for the video was to explain the story of a student at ONW who does something exiting outside of school. For my video the concept was to explain how my friend Griffen Allen overcame anorexia to become a teen bodybuilder. The message I wanted to get across with this video is that with handwork and dedication it is possible to accomplish anything in life. I also hope that this video inspires some to go out and accomplish their goals in life and feel proud of themselves. 

Narrative Lead

The narrative lead in my video i feel is very strong and is one of the best parts of my video. The narrative lead affected my video by making it a lot stronger. The lead also helps the audience get interested in the video and keeps them watching the video and not getting bored. Without the narrative lead i feel like m video would be missing an important piece and the video wouldn't be ass good and it would be boring. 

Who I Interviewed 

I interviewed ONW sophomore Griffen Allen and Mill Valley senior Sterling Franzwa. They complimented each other very well in my personal opinion. They flow really well together as they are best friends and have been working out together for years. I feel like even though they don't state this directly in  the video the vibe between the two can be felt through the video and you can really feel how proud Sterling is of Griffen. Another way they complemented each other is both there responses are heart warming and both flow together nicely. 

Creating the Voiceover 

When creating the voiceover I found the process to be fairly easy and pretty fun to make. The only struggle I had when making the voiceover was it was hard to get the voiceover to flow with interview clips. Other than that i feel the voiceover made the video a lot stronger and better overall. 

Feature Story Process

The writing process for a feature story is quite challenging. The most challenging part of the written feature story is coming up with a great introduction that hooks the reader into reading more. After  I came up with a good way to describe the intro to my video in written form the rest was simple. The rest of the written feature story consist of my voiceover in the video and Griffin's responses to the question i asked him in the interview. The last challenging process of the written feature story is the conclusion / ending. The hard part of the conclusion was finding a way to connect the ending to the intro without repeating the introduction. 

Emotion Towards the Feature Story

Writing the feature story was quite fun in my opinion. While it was a challenging process I had a lot of fun transforming my video into word form. The whole feature story process from creating the video, doing the voiceover, editing the video, and writing the feature story was really fun and enjoyable.

Written Feature Story

You can hear Sterling Franzwa getting his workout partner Griffin Allen pumped up for a set of 80-pound dumbbell incline bench. The first few reps go up as smooth as butter, but by the time Griffin gets to his fifth rep he starts to show sign of struggle. Sterling yells some motivating words at Griffin and is able to get him to push up 7 more reps. As soon as Griffin gets done with his set he drops the dumbbells on the floor and everyone in the gym could hear a loud bang.

Many students spend their time outside of school doing a variety of activities such as playing sports, doing homework, or hanging out with friends. Griffin Allen on the other hand spends his time outside of school dedicating his life to bodybuilding. Griffin explains his emotional story of how he overcame anorexia to become a teen bodybuilder. Griffin stated, “Well the emotional part I’d say from being really scrawny to putting on some weight and muscle you know I just feel better about myself less insecure. The best part physically of it is working out putting on muscle getting into shape. One it just gives me the since that I can accomplish anything.” Griffin has had a lot of supporters throughout his amazing transformation. When I interviewed his workout partner Sterling Franzwa about what he thinks of Griffin’s transformation this is what he said.

“Griffin being my best friend transforming himself to the biggest and best version of himself makes me want to do the same for my body.” When I asked Griffin if he could give any advice to those who want to be like him this is what he said. “Anyone who’s trying to put on some weight and muscle eat, eat, eat, a lot. Another important piece of advice is work hard, lift heavy with good form and get sleep. Griffin said sleep is the most important part to building muscle and letting the body recover.”

I think everyone can learn something from Griffin Allen and his journey of how he became a bodybuilder. Even if one’s goal is not to get big or care about the gym you can take away his work ethic. He has dedicated his life to something he loves and you can do the same.