Entertainment End of the Year Reflection

      This year in video I learned so many different things that I will be able to carry with me in the future. I learned so many new things to do with technology, collaborating, communicating, project management, and leadership.

Technology

Technology plays a huge part in video. We had to learn how to how to operate the cameras and learn how to use Premiere Pro. I learned how to change the lighting on the camera and white balance it so the colors correct.  In Premiere Pro I learned how to color correct for example in the short film I created we got shots that were very orange that I had to go in and color correct it to look like all the other shots. I also learned how to make music or sound fade in and out using exponential fade. Also I learned how to edit the audio and if I messed up while filming with the audio and it only came out of one channel I learned how to make it so it comes out of both channels. I improved immensely since last year, I learned so many things and got so much better at editing and filming. One of my biggest weaknesses in technology is editing to the beat and adding special effects. A lot of people in my class are really good at editing to the beat and adding special effects which are some things I need to work on for next year.

Collaboration

Collaboration is very important for video because you're always talking and working with people. For all of our project this year we worked in a group and had to talk and ask people questions. for example in my last project my short film I had to work with a group and we all had to work together to get all the pre-planing done and figure out when we could film. We also had to collaborate to figure which shot would look better and what sounded best in the script and what tweaks we had to make to make our short film even better. Also in my music video me and my group had to bounce ideas back and forth to figure out what we wanted it to look like and what we were going to be doing in it. We also had to collaborate on who was bring certain props. The thing that I improved on in this section was talking a little more and voicing my opinion more than I did last year. One this I can work on in this section is to say my opinions when I'm with a group of people I don't know that well.

Communication

If you don't communicate in video your work will never get any better so this is a hug part in making your projects the very best that they can be. I also communicate with my peers to figure out what looks better and ask them how to do a certain thing. For our short films we all had to make a script and I had the teacher look over mine to see what changes I could make and overall get her feedback on it. I also had to communicate with my groups so we could execute our projects and make them the very best they could be. For example we all had to communicate to figure out when we could stay after to film or when we were going to film certain shots. With our communication in video nothing would ever get done. one of my strengths is I always communicate when I can stay after and if I need a certain thing from my group. One of my weaknesses is I need to ask more questions when I need help instead of just skipping it and not making that change.

Project Management

In video we really have to know how to manage our time and plan out everything so we can get our work done in time. For our short film we spent at least a week on just planning out our video. We had to make a schedule on what dos we were going to film certain shots and what they were going to be wearing. This was very important and a essential because if we didn't everything would be a very big mess and not get our project in on time or we could forget to get certain clips. For our movie trailer this played a huge role in being able to finish it on time because we had everything mapped out and new what days we were filming and what the actors were going to wear we had a lot more time to edit. Also if we couldn't finish editing or filming while we were in school we would sometimes have to stay after school. For example for my movie trailer my group had to come in on the weekend and film for a few hours so we would have all the clips we needed to turn in our project on time. I feel like I've always been good at turning my work in on time but this year I definitely made more time for video and filmed after school or on the weekends so my projects could look their best and be turned in on time. I still need to work on managing my time better in school because sometimes when I am editing in school I get distracted or just really don't want to edit that day which shouldn't happen. I will continue to use the skills I learned on the pre-planing aspect.

Leadership

This is a trait I still need to work on immensely. This is trait is very important for video because if we have no leaders nothing will ever get done. Our leaders in videos are usually the directors, their the ones that figure out how the video should look. For example my director for my short film would have to look everything over and figure what she wanted certain scenes to look like and how she waned them executed. I really don't like taking charge I would much rather just follow along with someone, this is something I really need to work on and get better at. I have improved though at this since last year, now I voice my opinions more about certain things and make more of an effort to contribute my thoughts on ways things should look. I will continue to use this skill through out my life and I feel like e-comm is really helping me become more of a leader every year and I can definitely see a difference.

   Overall I have had an amazing time learning new things and creating new bonds with my peers and teachers. I am so thankful for all the opportunities that e-comm has given me and can't wait to continue in video next year! 

Graphic Design Semester Reflection

Valuable Takeaways

Technology 

One takeaway I learned was getting better at using technology. I learned how to use many tools over the year and semester. I learned how to create better mockups by using photoshop and the different tools such as the clone tool and direct select tool. Technology is very important and is very important to know how to use because our whole world I becoming consumed by technology. I did however face some challenges over the year. Some times I didn't know how to do certain thing so I had to look online to find a tutorial. For example when creating some of my mockups I didn't know how to make it fit perfect but by looking up a tutorial and learned how to use the direct select tool to drag one edge to where I needed it to go.

Collaboration

Collaboration is a very big part of graphic design because it can really take your project to the next level. I would ask my neighbors and peers to look at my work and have them tell me what I needed to correct or how to make something look better. My class also did critics which meant getting together with a group and well critiquing your work which was very helpful and made your projects in the end much better. Being able to collaborate is a very important skill to have because you have to talk and work with people all the time. Even though I didn't exactly love going in front of the class or even getting in a small group to show my work I know it was very beneficial for my learning and overall helped make my projects even better.

Communication

Communication is everywhere so it was no surprise that we would have to communicate in graphic design. We had to do a presentation over a movement in graphic design and talk about it for a few minutes. This definitely benefited me and my classmates. This was good practice for the real world because we got to practice getting up in front of a group of people and just talking and trying to pitch the movement and why it was important. I was not very excited to go up in front of the group but in the end it wasn't actually that bad. I also communicated with my peers and asked them for help and if something looked okay durning some of my projects.

Project Management

This is very important skill to have because once you get into the real world your going to have things that you have to turn into your boss by a certain day and have to be able to know how to use your time to get it in on time. For each of my projects my teacher would give me a certain day that it would be due and I would have to turn it in on time or points would be deducted. If I wasn't finished and the due date was coming up I would have to stay after and work on my project so then I would be able to turn it in on time. I also had to learn how to manage my class time so I could finish my project in on time.

Leadership

Leadership is definitely one for my weaknesses, I'm a very shy person so I usually let other people take the lead. I feel though I have gotten better at this. In some of our small group critics I would offer my thoughts and actually join in on the conversation. I know that's not what everyone thinks leadership is but for me its very hard to take charge, so being able to actually talk and share my thoughts is a very big step from earlier this year when I would normally say nothing until the teacher would call on me. I still do need to work on this and break out of my shell more.

Strengths

Some of my strengths from this year were defiantly knowing how to use most of the technology. I knew more than most of some of my peer and learned some tricks. I could tell my peers how to do certain things and help them out most of the time. If I didn't know how to something I could always look it up and try and find a tutorial. I still to have a lot to learn about Photoshop and Illustrator

Weaknesses

My biggest weakness is definitely leadership and talking in front of people I don't really know. For example the presentation we did was very hard for me and I really didn't want to do it. I could barely look up but it definitely helped me grow and was very good for me to do. I improved a lot since the beginning of the year. At the beginning I wouldn't talk unless the teacher would call on my to add my thoughts durning cretics but by the end of the year I could contribute on my own and didn't need to be called on. 

What to do With What I've Learned

I will be using all of the things I learned in the future no matter what job I have. For example you will always have to communicate with other people so its a trait you have to get very good at. Also technology is always evolving and is everywhere. Knowing how to use technology is very useful and will most likely always be. Collaboration is also very important because in the real world we have to be able to work with people we don't always want to work with.

What Would I Change?

I would have liked to have more opportunities to collaborate with partners or in groups. For example making more group or partner projects so you have to work with other people and you would be able to put two minds together to create a really cool project. I would also like to add more photoshop projects because I really enjoyed them and think they come very handy when we had to access the skills to create mockups for our projects.

Summary 

Overall I have grown so much this year from being a little more outgoing and breaking out of my shell a little more. I also got to learn so many useful things that I will be able to carry with me for the rest of my life and the rest of the time I'm in e-comm. I have also built so many relationships this year in graphic design and made new friends. I also know I can come to my teacher without hesitation if I every have a question about graphic design. I also thought it would take a lot less time to complete a project than it actually did. I thought it would only take one or two days to complete a project but in reality it takes about one to two weeks to complete. I really enjoyed this year and learned a lot.

Marks and Symbol Reflection

Summary

 Marks are ways for designers to get certain messages across or promote a brand. Many people use symbols to identify a corporation or agency, they're quick and easy to identify. Designers also use pictographs to show where bathrooms are or phones, they use them because they are international and they substitute for words. They also use letter marks they are used to identify a company most of the time like HBO go a television company. Logo Type is also used to identify companies, bands, projects and groups. They are unique and easier to promote. Combination marks are when a symbol and logo type are used together for example the Nike logo. Lastly Trademarks are when all of these marks are used together.

Compare

The difference between a symbol and a logo. A symbol is where you just have a icon with no words. A logo is where you use type to identify certain projects or companies. A logo can also include some design to enhance the text.

Key Facts

One key fact that I learned was you need to make sure your symbol can be reduced in size and not lose anything from when it was at its original size, you want to make sure it can reduce to 1/2" and not lose certain parts. Another key fact is when using just a symbol you have to make sure it's very easy to identify. My last key fact is if you're using direction in your symbol you want to use arrows that point upward because it represents growth while if you use arrows that go down it represents decay.

Favorite Thing I Learned

The favorite thing I learned was you have to make sure your symbol can be one color if it needs to be. A lot of people don't think about this and it's actually very important because if you need to print with black and white you need to make sure nothing with be taken away since you no longer have color.

Conclusion 

In conclusion I learned so much about marks and symbols. For Marks I learned the different kinds you can use and for Symbols I learned about all the things you have to take into consideration. Overall I learned what to do and what not to do and it will help me a lot with my next project!

Clueless Trailer Remake

Trailer Remake

     

       

Side by Side 

Scope of the Project

      For this assignment I had to get in a group and recreate a movie trailer shot for shot. This trailer also had to take place in a school. We also had to story board and copy down the script.

Process 

      The first thing we had to do was choose a movie trailer. This was very challenging because they're aren't a lot of movies that actually take place in a school. We also had to think about the shots and if they would be to difficult to recreate. After we choose our movie trailer we then had to storyboard everything. We had to figure out which way the camera was moving and we had to know when the shot would change. We also had to listen to the trailer and copy down what they were saying. Lastly for paper work we had to create a production schedule. Next we had to find actors to use. Most of our actors were in my class and group. We also had to figure out costumes which was very challenging because in the Clueless Trailer they have several costumes and they are very odd and outdated now a days. Lastly we had to actually film which was by far the hardest part of this project. We had to consider everything the lighting, angel and sound. We used boom microphones while filming and we had a few studio lights we worked with. We also had to find locations to film and work with what we had. The filing took us about a week and a half and editing took us a week.

What did I learn?

    Technically I learned how to story board the movement of the camera and I learned ho to stabilize the camera better. Professionally I learned you really have to work together to get such a big project done and you might have to stay after to finish it in time.

 If I could do anything differently?

   If I could do anything different it would be to maybe take my time more because we were in a rush to get it done and if we just would have take more time we could have gotten better quality shots. I would do the dance scenes again because they turned out really well and they are very similar to the movie trailer.

 Conclusion

   Some experiences I will draw from to enhance my next project is to communicate more because we didn't do that much of communicating and we could have had more days to film. Overall I'm very happy android on how this project came out.

Music Video Review

 
       I watched the music video Secret Love Song by Little Mix. This music video was very well edited and put together. They had lots of different shots that changed frequently and they used all six shots of the six shot system. They also had many moving shots where the camera would move with the artist that was on the screen at that time. They also staged the shots very well, the backgrounds were interesting and went well with the story line. Their were also lights in the background were almost blurred out so they were very nice on the eye.

      The story that was being told was a love story about people that can't be together. They told the story by having the 4 female artist never together and having the male artist never with any of the female artist. They also have some shots where the male does one action than one of the females does another, so it was almost like that was a place they used to go to together.

    One element of this work I would apply to my work is how the camera moves with the singers because we have always been taught in news to never move the camera. One element I have already learned that was applied to this video is to use a stabilizer and to use the six shot system.

    Based on practice I think the creator told the story really well because he knew how to create just subtile hints. He also knew how to create drama by the different backgrounds and camera angles. One thing the creators work could have improved on is maybe having more shots that establish where the artist is because the male artist just appears in a random room.

    Overall I thought this music video was very well composed and everything flowed together really well. I can't wait to use what I learned from watching this music video and apply it to the one I'm going to make.

Music Video

 
   The past couple weeks in video class we have been working on creating a music video. This project was by far my favorite and hardest project I've done this year. It took about 3 weeks to complete and plan out.
  The first thing we had to do was select a song. We had a few restrictions for our song. First of all it had to be school appropriate. My group choose the song Tik Tok by Kesha.
  The next step is we had to figure what we wanted to do for our video. Like what shots we had to get, the concept, and the story. My group decided we wanted to create a one shot music video. we also had to figure out what props we wanted to bring for the video.
  The next step was to create a beat sheet. This is where you have to write down the lyrics of the song and then put what you're doing during those lyrics. This was how we planned out our whole video and how we knew what to do during certain shots.
   After we figured out what we were going to do for our video we had to film it. The filming process took awhile because we had to re film our video about 4 or 5 times. Everything had to be perfect since our video was a one shot.
    Along the way we had to learn how to use a dolly which makes the camera stable. We also learned that we should have used a flashlight the whole time we filmed because in some places the video is a little dark.
   Overall I'm happy with the way this video turned out and I learned so much while filming this video and had fun learning the process on how a music video is made.

Posters

    The function of a poster is to spread a message whether it be to buy a product or invite people to a gathering. A poster gives you information on a topic but it also gives you answers and information on that certain topic. Posters can solve your problems but can also confront you with new ones. A poster can establish contact with the viewer by its pictures and text. A poster should be able to inform, stimulate, activate, mobilize, motivate and convince.
  
    The laws of poster designing are a huge reason why posters are so pleasing to the human eye. Some of the general demands of a poster are it has to be legible and its message has to be understood. It also needs to remain in the memory of the viewer. Another big part of poster design is lettering in the poster. If you put the lettering outside of the pictures than it is considered to be over the whole poster, where if you put the lettering near a certain picture or object it seems as if the lettering has to do with that certain picture or object. The lettering should help impact information quickly. Shapes in poster design are also very important. An object should be clearly distinct and should be able to catch a pedestrians eye form quite a ways away. The coloring you use could either make or brake your poster. Color is used in every inch of your poster from the background to the outline of an object. Color can be a connecting of an element or can clarify situations.

    One main point I learned from reading an article is you cant just lay random things all over your poster because everywhere you put something has a meaning. Like where you put your text, if you put it next to an object the stuff you write has to be about that certain object it cant be about the overall message. Another key point I learned was color has a huge impact on your poster. You have to use colors that all go together but you also have to think about how those colors could convey you message even better. The last main point I learned is that you want your poster to be eye catching because many posters are outside and you want people who are walking by to stop and actually take a look at your work. You can do this by making certain words or objects bigger or adding vibrant or eye catching colors like red.

   My favorite thing to read about was why color was important. I never knew color was such a big part of posters. It can help simplify your work and clarify situations. It can also be very fascinating and can be a connecting element in your poster. I think this will come in handy later on because I will think more about my color pallet and wont just choose random colors that I think go together.

    Overall I learned so many things about posters that will be so useful later on in graphic design.