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.