ONW NOW ...... BUT BETTER

Becoming A News Reporter?

For our final project in convergence video we had to put on our own edition of ONW NOW. ONW NOW is a weekly news show that my school produces. For our project we had to create a show that was less than ten minutes long with an original intro, lower thirds with the names of people that appeared in it, wipes (animated transitions), game day segment, and other stories. Once we had our footage and stories edited together we had to film our own show like it was live. Overall, this experience was really fun but stressful at the same time. 

Behind The Scenes

To start the project we first had to be assigned jobs and teams. My job on my team was to a reporter, which means I go out and film stories and edit them for the show. I was able to this with my friend Sophie which made it even more fun. For my stories I decided to do a Words From The Halls segment where I went around and asked students holiday themed questions. My other story was over the Christmas time traditions of one of my fellow students. Going out filming the students and having them answer questions was so much fun because I got some really weird answers. Sophie and I also went and filmed B-Roll of the swim team, sadly only one clip from it was used. Once everyones stories were done it was time to film. The day before we did a run through so our production could learn how to use the equipment. Eventually it wartime for the real thing. We got two takes and that was it, luckily our show went great and turned out really well. I really enjoyed this project but I'm still going into entertainment..... sorry Mr. Cooper. 

Gathering New Information 

This project wasn't only fun but it was great learning experience. I had the opportunity to learn how to but together a Word From The Halls and how to do on the spot interviews. It was also really interesting to see how an actual ONW NOW is produced and all the hard work it takes. Throughout the process I was able to learn a little about how to run the equipment like teleprompter but not a lot. In a professional sense I learned how to communicate with people about filming them/coming to film better and in a more professional way. I also learned that you can't control what everyone does and if it isn't the best, that's okay , along as I did my best. Overall, this projects a create learning experience not only technically but also in a personal way.

Next Time On ONW NOW

Even though this project went really well there are still somethings I would've done differently. One thing I would've done differently is be more vocal to my group members about my thoughts on the stories and how they look. This is important in group projects so the project is the best it can be. I also I wish I spoke up about not have a job during the actual filming so I wasn't just standing there. In addition, I would add more footage to my Word From The Halls to make it longer and  more interesting. Even though there are some I would've changed there are some I would've kept the same. Overall I was really proud of my stories and how they turned out, I would keep what I did for them the same. Not only was I proud of my full stories I was also proud of my swim b-roll. The shots turned out really good and would've made a great addition to the show. Overall this was a really fun project and I'll be able to draw from the experience of not being apart of every story and having to let people do what they think is best. 

THE THING

Origin Story

For one of my last projects of animation first semester we had to create a sphere that had holes in it. In addition to creating this shape we had to use professional lighting to illuminate it. We were to do this in the animation program called Maya, which is used by professional animators. We first, however, had to prove we knew how to light so we had to watch a video or two about it and then place lights in the appropriate place on a worksheet. After that it was time to get to the fun part. 

The The Thing Was Created

To start of the project I first had to create a new file in Maya where all my work and finished projects would go. Once the file was created I created a sphere in the program that had a radius of 5. After that I created a cylinder to help create holes in the sphere. This step to a few tries because I would either make the cylinder to short to go through the whole sphere, to big to fit in it, or to small. When I eventually made the cylinder the right size I duplicated it so I would have two more of the same size. I then placed the cylinders in the sphere so there was an end sticking out of the top, bottom, and four sides. After they were in place I used the Boolian difference button to take out the spots where the cylinders and the sphere touched to create the holes. When the holes were created I colored the shape red and added a shiny texture to it. I then went in and added the lights using the directional lights tool to light it. After that I added an additional flat plane under the shape and colored it green. Once the plane was colored I rendered the images, saved, and I was done. 

Learning About The Thing

Throughout this project I learned how to create hole in objects, use the align tool, and was able to get a better understanding of how to color polygons. Being able to create hole using the Boolin tool will allow me to create more dimension and interest in future projects. The align tool wasn't hard to use but gave the project a nice professional look because nothing was off center and looked very nice. Improving my skill of coloring and adding texture to surfaces will allow me to work quicker and get my projects done faster while still looking nice. Professionally I learned that I work better while listening to music. This is because it blocks out additional noise and people while see my headphones and not bother me. I also learned how to use extra time I had after I was done. Instead of sitting at my computer I used my extra time to finish other projects I needed to do. 

Life Lessons 

Overall, I think this project went pretty smooth and turned out good. One thing I would change is not doing as dark of colors for the plane and maybe the shape. My dark colors made the shape and plane hard to see and the whole thing was very shadowy. However, my lights placement was very good and wasn't. In my next project I will most likely do the same lighting. At the end of the project I realized that not all projects will need a ton of work and can still look good. As a whole I think the project went very well and I will probably going into other projects with the same focus. 

The best of the best drag queens come to KC

On November 16th at 8pm A Drag Queen Christmas Show started at the Folly Theatre in Kansas City Missouri. The show was made up of performances from the best drag queens from RuPauls Drag Race in the last few seasons and some that will be appearing in the All-Stars season. These drag queens were Sasha Velour, Latrice Royal,Shea Coulee, Chi Chi DeVayne, Farrah Moan, Aja,Kim Chi, Eureka, all of it is hosted by Trinity Taylor.

Drag can be described as someone imitating a women in an exaggerated way and a drag queen is someone who is in drag and performs. The show consisted off several different drag queens performing in their own style of drag lip syncing to Christmas songs, dancing, telling jokes, and interacting with the audience. It was a night full of happiness, togetherness, and the Christmas spirit. I attend the show with my friend Zach and Jaiden. Zach's favorite of the whole show was "seeing Farrah Moan...almost naked... I liked the tear aways " and we all agreed that our least favorite part was leaving the show. "Seeing what ideas they had and the singing" made Jaiden's night at the Folly. One of there most memorable moments is when Trinity Taylor pulled an audience member in and started to kiss him, that was very unexpected. The show never had a dull moment.

"We are definitely going back next year" is the reaction we all had to seeing the show. A Drag Queen Christmas Show comes to KC every year and is always worth a watch. If you are looking for a good, fun time don't miss the best drag queens when they come to KC.

LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL HELPS BLOOD SHORTAGE

To help the Kansas City Community the Olathe Northwest Student Councils holds an annual summer, spring, and fall blood drive. Is that time of year when the fall blood drive is taking place.

The ONW blood drive holds an annual fall blood drive due to the blood shortage the area is going through. Due to our large school population, we have been able to break records and donate up to 250 pints of blood through our fall blood drive alone. The blood drive is run by Olathe Northwest Student Council and donations are collected through the Johnson County Community Blood Center. Every year the blood drive takes place at ONW in the East Gym from 7:30-3:30,this year it will be held on November 10th.In order to set up the blood drive, Student Council must spread the word through posters, flyers, and social media to let people know when it's happening. Then they must get food and gift donations from businesses as an inattentive for people to donate. On the day of the drive the Community Blood Center workers come to the school and set up for the day.

The fall blood drive is very important to the community due to the need for donations and the increasing number of people who need them. One pint of blood has the ability to save three lives, but blood has an expiration date so it would need to be used fast. Due to the latest hurricanes striking Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, many of our fall blood drive donations will be shipped to those devastated areas as well 60 local hospitals. The Community Blood Center has been very generous in providing information about the need for blood and spending their whole day at our school to help collect it. Our own Student Council Executive Board has been a tremendous help in having information about the blood drive and the cause and helping plan and organize it. The blood drive this year takes place on November 10th and we're hopeful for another record breaking one.

After the blood drive is done, we will help clean up and put everything back on the Community Blood Drive truck so they can go to their next blood drive. The days following the drive, people at the blood center will look at our donation data and figure out how many pints of blood we were able to donate. This is the time when we will learn if we set another record and had a successful blood drive. Then we start planning and figuring out what we can do better at our spring blood drive.

ONW NOW WHO?

Finding The Story 

This weeks project was to create a new, better feature story. Our stories had to have at least two interviews, B-roll, voice overs, and somewhat of a conclusion. To complete these projects we were once again a part of a group. My group had Sophie, Kevin, Caleb, and myself in it. After creating our group we had to find a story about something that was happening outside of our video class. After long discussions about what the story would be about, we decided to make it our feature story about the Fall Blood Drive. Once we had our story it was time to put all the parts together.

Putting All The Pages In Order

After we had decided on our story topic we had to start building it and how we were going to film it. First we choose what kind of information we wanted to give about the blood drive. We choose to include information about the planning and setting up process for the blood drive and what donors should do in preparation for donating like making an appointment and eating the right kinds of food. After that we decided what kind of B-roll we wanted to use and who we wanted to interview. For B-roll we choose to use pictures from previous blood drives and to interview Austin Shivley, Stuco President, and Sydeny Stephens, Stuco Secretary. We interviewed Austin and Sydeny because they help lead and coordinate the planning and setting up of the blood and have the most general information about it. After choosing B-roll and who we were going to interview we created a shot list, questions to ask in the interview, and voice overs. Once of that was done and down on paper we started to film interviews and voice overs. This part to a few tries to get it how we wanted and working properly. Then we started to edit and created our feature story about the ONW Fall Blood Drive.

What I Learned Along The Way

Throughout the process of making a feature I learned some new things. The first thing I learned about is all the hard work that is put into creating just one feature story. From the outside it looks like just a long interview with some pictures thrown in there when in reality it takes a lot of thought and editing to make it good. Another thing I learned is to check what input channel you have switched on so that way you have audio when going back to edit and not having to go back and redo the whole video. The last thing I learned is that making feature stories and spreading information is fun and enjoyable. This project has taught me a lot technically and socially.

Revisions?

Overall I am very proud of my finished project and think I did a pretty good job. I like how my interview flows and how the story makes sense, I like the subject the story talks about, and I like the editing I did in it. However, there a few things I would change. One thing I would change is the framing of some shots and using the rule of thirds, shrinking the head space. Another thing change I would make is getting better microphones so that way they clip on to the person and don't fall off their clothes or the clip. the last thing I would change is getting more B-roll. I feel like if I had more B-roll the video would be more interesting to watch.

INTER(ESTING)VIEW

The Focus 

As one of our first big projects in my video class, we had to create a feature story, or interview. The main point and purpose for this project was to teach us what a good feature story looks like and what it takes to make on. Along the way I learned, the importance of location and being able to set up equipment fast, how to write interview questions and more. At the end we would be critiqued by out class and re edit the interview to make it better. Overall, I learned a lot about how to make a feature story create.

Getting Point A To B 

To start of the project, my group and I had to decide who was going to be interviewed, who was going to be asking the questions, and who would be in charge of the camera. Eventually we decided that I would be getting interviewed about my knee injury,  Dominic would be asking the questions and Nick would control the camera. The next thing we had to was write questions for the interview and pick the order they would go in. This part was tricky since we had to come up with a little over 20 questions. Once we had all our the rest was easy. We had decided to film outside with me wearing my soccer jersey. However when we filmed outside it was supper windy so we had to go inside. We ended up filming in front of the soccer records board with me wearing my soccer half zip. Then it was time to film. To start filming I separated the video into each separate question. Then I inserted the pictures I wanted to use and put everything in the correct spot. After class critiques I went in and added voice over to make it more cohesive and story like. In a whole the process was fun and I enjoyed doing it.

Knowledge Gained 

I learned a lot throughout this project. Technically I learned how a lavaliere microphone works, how to insert photos, and how to edit those pictures. I also learned to always check what the weather is like before going out to film, communicate with my group members to make sure we have all the equipment before going down to film, and get to the location at the beginning of the hour so you have more time to film with less distraction. These skills will help me better any and all future videos I make and any other projects that involve interviews. I will communicate more and use my time more wisely.

Differences and Similarities 

If I were to do this project again I wouldn't film outside first because that wasted a lot go time that we could've spent filming and editing. However, I would keep our questions the same because they were really good and told the story very well. I would also be smarter and more realistic about time so that way we wouldn't have to rush. Overall I feel like the project went really well and I wouldn't change much.

MY FINAL BLOG POST OF FRESHMEN YEAR

My Final e-Comm Project

The final project that we were assigned in e-Comm was to come up with a product as a group and then create a commercial, graphic designs, animations, and web site for it . This project took the entire 4th quarter to create. Throughout the quarter my group faced challenges on the technical side but also on the professional side as well. Some problems we ran into on the technical side were that we lost all the audio in our commercial and it had to be out back in all over again. We also lost our logo animation and it had to be redone. The biggest problem we ran into was that our website had lost all of our graphics that we put on it the day of our presentation. We were to put some back in before our presentation but we were still missing a lot. Problems that we ran into on the professional side were that we had a hard staying focused and on task. This made finishing certain things hard because we weren't using our time to it's full advantage. We were able to work around this by splitting the work up evenly and some people came in after school to finish the website.

What I'm Leaving With

Throughout this project I learned many things. I learned that its okay to have fun and not be serious all the time as long as you get everything done by the due date. I also learned how to work with different kinds of people. This is really helpful because as I go through life I will work with all different kinds of people and I'll have to deal with it and make it work. Working in a group also helped learn how to communicate ideas and collaborate. This allows all ideas to be heard and makes the project even better. Being in a  group also opens up space for feedback. Some feedback I received was that the graphic designs were very sleek and clean looking. However, I could've done a little better with the commercial and clean up the audio a little. The feedback I received made me want to change somethings. My teachers telling my group to stay focused more made me take a bigger leadership position to make sure we're staying on track. I also ended up tacking out certain clips of the video because they didn't look good. My overall option of my work this quarter is that I did and very good job, aside from the video. I thought my graphic design and animation looked very clean, professional and well put together, I only wish the video turned out better.


Time Management 

While working on the project it was hard to stay on track at times. My group liked to talk and we weren't really productive at times while at other times we gots lots done. Toward the end we used our time more wisely and were able to stay on track more. To help get things done and stay productive we split the graphic designs and animation evenly between the members so that way we could all focus on our responsibility and wouldn't be as tempted to talk. When I was done with my graphic designs I went to check on the other members of my group to see if the needed help or to check in and offer some feed back. After I was done editing the commercial  went in and changed the audio levels and added extra background music to enhance it. I stayed productive after I finished my 2D animation by going through frame by frame, cleaning up the animation and making it smoother. Outside of class I came in to try and fix the audio of the commercial and was able to reinsert it.


Areas Of Strength And Weakness

As went through this school year in the e-Communication program I discovered some areas of strength. These ares were being able to collaborate and communicate with people in my group while also being able to work well on my own. I also felt that I was good at coming up with different ideas when needed for projects. On the technical side I thought my film editing was good and kept improving as the year went on along with animation. I tried to maximize my strengths by doing parts of this 4th quarter project that involved film editing and animation and challenging myself to add in harder elements. While I have areas of strength I also have areas or weakness. When going into a group of people I don't know I am also skeptical and start by closing myself off and not really talking. I can improve on this by keeping an open mind and being confident and friendly. I can also work on my understanding of the software because sometimes I get confused and I don't know how to use it when trying to do something. This can come with experience. I can also improve with my understanding of how audio levels work in videos.




Overview of the Semester 

The part of the semester that I loved the most was the project. I loved this part the most because I never done anything like it before and It gave the opportunity to use everything I had learned throughout the entire year. This being a group activity also gave me the ability to work with new people and get of my comfort zone a little. One thing I would have done differently is loosen up a little bit and have more fun while creating the project. This would have made my experience even better. Another thing I would have changed is having an open mind to graphic design instead of shutting it down before even trying it. The things I learned form this semester is better time management,collaboration, leadership, and project management skills. I also learned how to use Adobe Illustrator and the principles of graphic design. Another thing I learned during this semester is to relax and has fun more often and not be so serious all the time. One goal I have for next year is to improve on my video editing skills and get better at adding audio. I also want to be able to collaborate with people better and have fun while working. This semester was really fun and I'm so happy to be in e-Comm.