UPING MY VIDEO SKILLS TO SEQUENCES

Getting From Point A To Point B

In our new video project we worked on AB sequencing. A B sequencing is where the subject of the video is starting at one point and then moving to another point. Before I started my video, Mr.Cooper paired us up with a partner. Together we drew up our storyboard. The video that my partner and I would make is about a game of tag, so in our storyboard we drew out the game of tag. Since my video is about people playing tag I started out with one person tagging the other one. Then I filmed an wide to show the tagger running after the person he trying to tag. After that shot I filmed an over the should of the tagger to show where they are going and the view from taggers point of view. Once I filmed that shot I filmed a variety of other types of shots to show the other person being tagged and the running after the former tagger. One detail that is very important to a video especially one with A B sequencing is the axis line. The axis line goes done the middle of where the characters are. Who ever is filming must stay on one side of the line the entire time unless the characters face a different way than they were before. To keep the video constant we must pay attention to the axis line. After all the shots were filmed, I imported them onto my computer. Once the shots were put onto my computer I started editing my video and putting all the frames into order. When I was done editing my video was less than 30 seconds long (which is the required length of the video). To make the video 30 seconds long, I slowed down some clips which I will make a blog on how to do. This is the final product of this process.



New Knowledge

In this project I learned had to sequence shots to show movement. To do this I learned how to edit the clips smoothly to make a smooth transition from shot to shot to show movement correctly. I also learned about different kinds of shots I can use to add variety to the video.Throughout filming I also learned the importance of communication between director and actors. If the communication is weak then the actor has no understanding of what the director wants, leaving the director without the shot they wanted. This lack of communication would end up making the filming of the video taking longer than it should. The information I learned during this project will help me in later in upcoming projects and just in life as a whole.


Next Time I'll...

In my next video there are many things that I will change. Before I even start filming I will make my storyboard very detailed with lots of different shots. This detailed story board will give me a very detailed and well planed out visual for my video.When I start filming I will pay close attention to the Rule of Thirds, which is a grid where there are points that make the shots more appealing to look at. Another aspect of filming I can improve on is keeping the shots level and at eye level. All of these areas will make my videos look much better. Even though there are some things I would change, there still some aspects I would keep the same. One of the things I would keep the same is the creativity of my videos. I also like how I use a lot of my classmates in my videos which keeps the videos interesting and different from each other. These aspects make my videos unique and mine. In this video, however, there are some things I would do differently. In the shot where the actors are running down the hallway I would have split it into different kinds of shots instead of that one long one. I also would have used the Rule of Thirds more consistently. The last thing I would have changed is making sure all of my shots are level and not settling for an okay shot and keep reshooting until I get the shot I want.

MY SHOT AT THE SIX SHOT SYSTEM PT.2

Dipping My Toe Into New Waters

This quarter I am in a video class instead of an animation class. To start of the quarter in this new class we made a video using the six shot system I talked about in my last post. The video had to be to a least 30 seconds long and contain all of the six shots I learned about. The than those perimeters we ha all the creativity in the world, as long as it was school appropriate. As I was thinking about ideas for my video and working on my storyboards weird idea popped into my head. The idea was to have a thumb war that was more intense than it should be. Once I had the idea I started making my storyboard by drawing how I wanted my video to go while including all six shots. After my storyboard was done I started to make my video. I made my video by filming little clips of the actors having  thumb war from different angles in the order of my storyboard. Once I had all the video I needed I imported it onto my computer. After the lips were on my computer and saved, I imported them into Adobe Publisher which is where I edited the video. The editing the video, each shot needs to be three to five seconds longer, any longer and the viewer get bored. After all the videos were the correct length I put them in order and uploaded them to Google Classroom and my YouTube channel. The link for my YouTube channel where all of my video projects will be is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeq-wA-1-VfJnsYEs9OcBXw.


New Information Obtained

Since I'm in a new class this quarter I learned a lot of new information.I first learned about the program that we are going to be editing our videos on. This program is called Adobe Premier. Throughout class I learned how to import my video clips into the program and make them longer or shorter since each shot needs to be between three and five seconds. After each video was imported and cut to the correct length I put them in order of my storyboard. Once everything was cut and put in order I saved my video to my computer and then exported the video to my YouTube channel. I also learned things about making videos and the filming process. When filming it is important to keep the camera at eye level. We also use the Rule of Thirds which keeps the shots entertaining and pleasant to look at. The information I learned outside of the technical aspect of video was communication with my peers. To be able to get a good quality video I need to be able to communicate with others when they are in my shot or being to loud. All this information I will be sure to use to my later projects.


The Road Ahead

There are many things that I will do differently in my upcoming videos. I will take more shots so that way I have options to choose from when editing my video and I can make sure I am using the best shots I have. Another thing that I will do differently is use the Rule of Thirds more effectively. In this video I did not use the Rule of Thirds as often as I should have but in my next video I will be sure to pay close attention. I will make these changes due to the critiques I received from my classmates and my teacher Mr.Cooper. Even while there are some things that I would change there are also some aspects of my project that I would not change. One of these is how creative and thought out my video was. This creativity separates my video from my other classmates and let people know what kind of ideas I have.Overall I really enjoyed making this video and I'm excited to create more.

TAKING A SHOT AT THE SIX SHOT SYSTEM

Close Up of Hands-

When taking a close up of hands the only thing in the frame/picture is the subjects hands and what the hands are doing. 

Close Up of Face-

Taking a close up of the face is when all you see is the face, this allows the viewer to see the emotion of the subject. You want to try not get shoulders in or cut off the head but sometimes thats hard depending how the subject is positioned. 

Over the Shoulder-

An over the shoulder shot is from over the shoulder the shoulder and show what the subject is looking at and/or working on. The shot should include some of the shoulder and head.

Medium Shot- 
A medium shot is from the waist up of the subject. This kind of shot is to establish what the subject is doing and/or working on.

Wide Shot-

A wide shot has the subjects whole body is the frame. This gives the viewer more information about the environment and what the subject is doing and looking at. 

Extreme Wide Shot- 
This shot is used to show the environment the subject is in and how the subject interacts with environment.

SNAP, TWEET, SHARE, POST

 

I Would Accept/Hire You, But...

What you post online could destroy your future. Colleges and businesses have gotten smart and have started checking the social media of applicants. They do this to see how you present yourself outside of a professional situation, like an interview or the work place. Looking at peoples social medias also allows them to see how you treat others, your personality, and your views and beliefs. However, while there are some good aspects to this, there are also some bad ones, especially for the younger generation. Teenagers are not aware of the impact the posts and tweets they share can have on their life's and don't think them through. If a college or employer saw these posts that the teenager did not think through, there is a chance that they would be denied the job or acceptance into the school. While social media is fun to have and helps us stay connected with friends and family we still need to be careful about what we post, especially since nothing disappears from the internet, even if you delete it from your profile.

Keeping My Future Bright

Being a teenager in this tech savvy world means that I have social media. I of course post on them but before I do I always put myself the place of an employer that is looking at my profile na thinking if I would like to see that. Now, I never have anything bad to post seeing as how the only pictures I have are with friends, but still, I always think my post through. Keeping your post appropriate is only one step though. Another step I take to make my social medias acceptable is that I do not follow people that post inappropriate content or disrespectful comments. This shows schools and employers that I surround myself with good people and that I don't have any negative influences. Social media takes a big part in peoples lives now a days, especially teenagers, but I will not let it ruin my chances at a good future by posting with out thinking.

HIRE ME

This quarter I am no longer in animation, instead I am in video. To start off the class we are working on elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is used to make people interested in hiring you. Below is my elevator pitch.


I'm a member of the e-Communication program at ONW. My talents consist of playing sports, writing, making videos, photography, and organization. Many people compliment me on my writing and the organization of my writing. The skills I have are the organization of my paragraphs, framing shots in videos and pictures, and the creativity of my pictures. I really enjoy doing the things I'm good at and I'm motivated by the idea of having a beautiful finished project.

HOUSE ANIMATION: COMING AT YOU

New Experiences 

My last animation project was a 3D animation of a house. Through this project I used a program called Sketchup. As I created this program I learned a lot about 3D modeling and Sketchup. I learned the tools push, pull, follow me, and many more. As I used these tools I also learned techniques to making 3D animations. I learned how to make a roof, which was very difficult, doors, windows and much more. I made the foundation of the house by making a rectangle the size I wanted the house to be, then I used the push, pull tool to make it 3D. Then, to make the garage and other cut outs, I drew the shape that I wanted to cut out, then selected the area I wanted to cut out and deleted it. I also learned about the principles of light and shadows. Lights and shadows are used to enhance the animation, make it look more life like, and to bring out details in the animation. after i pit the lights and shadows in I animated the camera to show all angle son the house. overall, this was the easiest part. To animate the camera all you do is place it where you want a frame to be and then press add to create the frame. I also learned about myself, that i shouldn't stress and pick projects I know I can do and do it well. Over all the projects this one was my favorite.

THIS IS REAL, THIS IS ME

The Path I Followed

This animation was different from my two previous ones. The biggest difference, that you probably have already noticed, is that I animated words instead of a ball. Since I was animating something different I had to follow some different steps. I first had to start out by finding a picture to set as my background, I chose a picture of New York City since that is my favorite city and I would love to go to college there. Once I had my picture, I saved it to my computer.Then I put the picture into my photoshop file as the background. After the picture was set I started typing the words into my project. Each word was typed into the their own layer so I could animate them separately. Once all the words were typed I had to pick the font and color of the words. At first I wanted my words to be in the font Comic Sans which some of my classmates made fun of since, I guess, its not a good font. After some thought I changed the font to something that wasn't Comic Sans. I chose the color white since that was the only color that would show up on the picture. After I had the words all set up and ready to go it was time to animate. To animate the words I used a video timeline instead of a frame by frame timeline like I used for the pervious animations. In this timeline all I did was change the length of each word to how long I wanted them in the animation, adding the fades to the end of each one. I also used transforms to bring the words into frame from off screen. This was done by setting the words at an ending point then dragging them to where I wanted them to start. When the animation was played the words moved from off screen to on screen due to the use of transforms. This project was really fun since I could express myself will animating.


New Information

As this project went on I learned a lot about animation and myself. Before we started animating we had to come up with a list of ten strengths we have. As I was writing the list I realized I had a lot more strength's than I thought and some characteristics I have a never viewed as a strength until now. Once I started working on the actually animation I learned a lot about animating. I first learned how to but a picture into Photoshop while still being able to edit it. Once I learned about the picture I learned how to use a video timeline and animate words. I also learned that I really enjoy using words and text in my animations and seeing them move. Throughout this whole project I wasn't only learning about animation but also about myself.


Lessons To Take With Me

This project gave me lots of information I can take with me to use in life and my animations. The first take away is to never underestimate myself. As I was writing down my ten strengths I realized how I was limiting myself in what I could do since I never stopped to think about all my strengths and figured out how to use them to my best ability. I will now push myself even harder and use all my strengths in life and any project I work on.The lessons about animating that I will always remember are not to use Comic Sans, how to use a video timeline and how to make a picture appealing to look at. These lessons will forever be with me through life.



(P.S. the title of this blog post is a reference to an old Disney song for the movie Camp Rock. Here's a link to a video of the song, excuse the Spanish dialogue, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an6owIsT9gw)