Video Production Final

Projects

ONW Procedures

       This video was about a common ONW procedure. My partner and I decided to make a video about getting a pass to leave school. It took about a week to make. The hard part about making this video was editing it. It was the first time using Adobe Premiere this semester, and almost no one knew what to do with it. I learned how to edit in Premiere, and how to use the new camera equipment for this year. I also learned about the six shot system and 180 degree rule. After the first edit, some of the feedback I got was about how in one of the shots, I broke the 180 degree rule. I fixed that by reflecting the video in Premiere. The end video worked pretty well for the goal of project, without being too long. You can see the final video above.

1 in 2000 Interview

       The 1 in 2000 video was an interview, and it had to be about one of our classmates in this class, and what they did over the summer. It took about two and a half weeks to make, and turned out fine. The hardest part about this video was the interview, because I had never done an interview before. I started to learn how to do an interview with this project, and how to make a boring video seem interesting. None of the feedback was negative, so I didn't re-edit the video. The end result was good, but could have been improved if I had a better interview and some more B-roll footage.

First Feature Story | Kaylan Johnson

       This video was a feature story over a student here at Olathe Northwest. I interviewed my debate partner, and her horseback riding. It was very fun to film. It took longer to edit, taking about a month from the end of the last video production. It was hard to get someone to film, and their activity, and since I finally chose a horse riding video, it took some time before I was able to go get the footage because the horse stables are only open so often. I learned how to go out into the field and shoot a video with this project, so that was very helpful to learn. The only feedback I was given was that I needed a second interview, but I didn't know that at first. I couldn't find a second person to interview, so the first edit was also the final edit. I think this video was put together very well, but since I didn't have a second interview, I technically didn't follow instructions.

Second Feature Story | Road Trip

       This feature story could be about anyone or anything. I decided to make my video about my family's road trip. It took about a month after the last video to be done for this video to be finished. It was kind of hard to film a road trip, simply because I never had before. The difficult part of this video was getting it in on time, because we didn't have a lot of time to make a video that just took longer to edit. I learned all about filming in a car, and getting good lighting in a dark area. The feedback I got for this video was that at some points it was too dark. I never got a chance to re-edit this video, as our class started our next project soon after this video was finished. The end video was okay, it could have been better, but there simply wasn't time to make it better.

ONW NOW Video | Debate

       This last video was kind of hard to make. We had a very limited timeframe, with nothing easy about the production of the video. My partner and I decided to do a video about the first post-season debate tournament for novices, and we interviewed Mr. Skoglund, the head debate coach. It took only about a week to make, as that was all the time we had to do it. The hardest part about this video was getting an idea about what we were filming, when we were filming it, when it was going to be edited, how fast we could get it edited, and more things about timing. Fortunately, we were able to finish it on time. My partner and I learned how to make a video quickly, even over the course of a weekend. There was no feedback session on this video, and so far, I do not know if anyone has seen it. This video is going to be used in our class's second ONW NOW production, and hopefully it will be okay. in my opinion, I believe this is one of the better videos that I have made.

Time In Class

       I think I used my time in class effectively, but I had wanted to do most of my work at home, because that is the environment I like to edit videos in. For the most part, most of my videos were in on time, unless my editing or shooting was delayed because of my moving situation. Overall, I think I used the time in class as much to my ability as I could.

Strengths

       I believe I have the technical skills down, and that I am able to find all the strong points and weak points of a video, and know how to fix them. I really enjoy editing videos, and I wish to improve my technical skills in the future by trying to edit faster, edit more complicated videos, and do editing tricks that I have never done before in Premiere.

Improvements

       I think I need to be able to edit faster, and get videos done on time. There isn't much that I need to improve on the technical side. The best way for me to get better from here is to have better communication skills, and better leadership.

Summary

       My favorite part of this semester was making the ONW NOW production, but my favorite video to film and edit was the first feature story. It was easy to make, and had of ways for me to manipulate it and make it my own as a video. I would've liked to get things finished faster, however. The things I got most out of this semester was learning how to work well with others, and making sure everyone I work with is on track. Next semester I hope to be able to make more videos, edit faster, and make more complicated videos as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this semester and its adventures in video production.

Exploring Graphic Design Final Exam

       This blog is going to be kind of long. Okay, maybe the longest one I've done so far. But the content is good, so it is worth it to read the entire thing. It describes almost every project I have done for the semester in the graphic design class. So, sit down, relax, grab a snack, and get ready to read for a while.

Projects for the Semester

Photoshop Tutorials

       The first project I did this semester was following some Photoshop tutorials. The tutorials were made to teach me how to use the many different tools within the Adobe program. I learned how to use the clone stamp, the patch tool, content aware fill, and the spot healing brush. These tools make editing photos a breeze. After learning about the different tools, I went through a series of specific projects. These included making a lotion bottle, a billboard, a labor day photo, and a portrait collage. Then came the challenge. You can see the finished result above. It involved using each of the tools I used in the tutorials, and using my own imagination to create a collage that showed the styles I like to use. All the tutorials together took a month or two in order finish. The only challenging part was trying to choose my favorite tool in Photoshop because I enjoyed using all of the different tools. Overall, my classmates and my teacher really liked my finished challenge project, and said I was doing a great job. I really enjoyed creating the challenge collage, and it was really fun to follow the tutorials, and go at my own pace.

Illustrator Tutorials

       After completing the challenge Photoshop project, I immediately jumped into the Illustrator tutorials. This including creating animals and people in Adobe Illustrator, making postcards, and turning bitmap photos into vector images. These were all done by following tutorials, but we were allowed to change the style of them to our liking.

1. Raccoon Postcard

       The first tutorial was creating a raccoon. We had to follow a tutorial on a website to make the body, but the clothing and background were created by myself. Then we set out to incorporate these designs into a postcard that was eventually sent to print. This was probably the longest project, taking about two months to have everything finished, turned in, and ready to print. The difficulty for me in doing this project was trying to figure out how to incorporate my own design onto the raccoon and the raccoon postcard. I eventually decided to put a suit and mustache on the raccoon, and to have Bachelor Party design for the postcard. This project was basically the start of learning how to use Illustrator's numerous tools and functions. It was also very fun to create the hand written typography, and I think it turned out to be okay. I feel like the end design could've looked better, but it was at least adequate for the requirements of the projects. This project was also put on Behance. You can view the Behance project here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/43511389/Raccoon-Project. 

2. Monkey Design

       This was probably one of the two least creative projects, where I just followed a tutorial to do finish the design. It was kind of fun to do, and didn't take more than a few days to complete. There was nothing difficult about this design, but I did learn how to use the pen tool to create palm tree leaves in Illustrator. The finished product looks a lot like how the tutorial showed that it would be.

3. Thanksgiving Project

       This project only took three days to complete, but the end result looks pretty cool. It is a pilgrim with a pumpkin and turkey next to it. My favorite part about this project were the shadows, but this is the least creative project, because all we did to complete it was follow a tutorial. The difficult part about this project was making the pumpkin look right, and the pumpkin took longer to create than the entire person did. It was very nice to learn how to use the direct selection tool, however.

4. Vectored Self Portrait

       The next project was a vectored self portrait. You had to turn an image of yourself into a vector image in Illustrator. This was not all that easy. It took a few weeks to complete, but it turned out fine in the end. The hardest part about this project was getting all the colors to be right so it wouldn't make the vector look too bad. I know that my finished product was not as well put together compared to some of my classmates, but this was probably the best I could have done for now. My dad helped me figure out the right colors to use, and how to use the pen tool efficiently, without having to click a couple hundred times to just trace one eye. The end product was probably made to the best of my ability at the time.

Infographic

       This was the first Illustrator project I did where I was almost completely on my own. I got to choose a topic to create an infographic about, and stylize it however I wanted to make it show the data that I wanted it to. I decided to go with a head-to-head cubing topic, that I could ultimately re-design in the future to be about different people, not just Samuel and myself. This project took about a week to research, a week to design, and another two weeks to create in Illustrator and present it to my classmates. The first difficulty in creating this infographic was deciding whether the graphic would be vertical or horizontal. I couldn't really decide, and I designed both a vertical and a horizontal infographic, and has Mrs. Smith help me decide which design to go with. We ultimately chose the horizontal design. The next hard part was placing everything on the infographic, so that it would be appealing to viewers, with sufficient information, and almost no clutter to it. The finished product did this very well, by making the viewer first look at the title, then the cubes down the middle, and then the people and other information on the sides. It was very cool to learn how to make the best visually appealing design, without losing the content of the infographic. The utmost difficult, though, was getting the infographic to be easy to understand for non-cubers and with enough information for a regular cuber to like it as well. It seemed to turn out great, when I got feedback from my classmates after presenting my infographic to them. They all liked it, and didn't find it confusing at all. Everyone seemed to like it, so I didn't do too many things to change it after the feedback session. I really like how this project turned out, and I hope to be able to use the basic design of it to create more head-to-head infographics in the future.

Personal Logo

       This was the second to last project that I did this semester. It was to create my own logo in Illustrator. It was very fun to do, because it was something our class did entirely by ourselves. The only instruction was to create a logo for yourself in Illustrator. I decided to design my logo to reflect two passions of mine; solving Rubik's cubes, and playing Xbox. So this logo has a Rubik's cube pattern on top of a Xbox One controller. It only took a week or less to make, and was very fun to design. The hardest part about creating this was making the Rubik's cube pattern stay only within the boundaries of the controller design. The rest of the creation was pretty simple, just using the pen tool to trace an image of a controller and using the square tool for the design. The final design looks pretty cool, and I think it really does combine cubing and Xbox into one logo. The only thing I can think of changing is the text below the controller, but other than that, I think it looks good.

Graphic Design History Project

       The final project for this semester in graphic design was to create a paper about a famous graphic designer, and then, using Illustrator, create PowerPoint slides that present the information in the paper in a visual order. I won't out the image of the slides here, just because it has too many slides to fit into this blog. It took the last few weeks of the semester to create, but it was very cool to learn about the graphic designer that I chose, Paul Rand. At first, it was hard to choose who I would do, and how to find the information about Paul Rand, but in the end it took only time and design to create the slides in Illustrator. The slides feel a lot like something Rand himself would make, and I incorporated the logos he created into each slide, just to make the presentation feel like a Paul Rand design.

Time in Class

       The time in class I spent was used very well. Instead of just slacking off the whole hour, or watching videos, I tried to be working on any project I could. I would only do something else if I didn't have a project to work on. For myself, the projects took shorter time than they were supposed to, but turned out to be at or above my classmate's quality of work. I would finish a lot of the projects early, especially the tutorials, and when I was done with one project, I started another. Sometimes I would work on projects outside of school, mostly to get help from my dad on anything because he is a graphic designer.

Strengths

       The strengths I have as a graphic designer are pretty cool. I got my dad's eye for good design, and I know a good graphic when I see one. That also means I know when a graphic is bad. I have also worked with the Adobe programs before, which let me have some of the technical skills down before coming to this class. I tried to improve these strengths through this class, too. I tried my hardest to learn the tools of Photoshop, to be able to edit photos faster, and to not have to look at a tutorial every time I use the program. I also tried to improve on my pen tool skills, because the type of design I like to do requires a lot of pen tool work. It was very fun to practice using, and I really enjoy being able to trace things at least sort of quickly.

Improvements

       The thing I'm probably worst at in this point of time is creating cool looking figures in Illustrator. It's hard to describe, but I'm not the best at free-form design. It's hard to just be able to come up with something to make and then make it. It's just not something that comes easy to me, I have to have at least some instruction to be able to do it on my own. I wish to improve on this skill in the future, to become the best graphic designer that I can be.

Summary

       My favorite part about this semester was probably the infographic. However, the work with the end product that I liked the most was the challenge Photoshop project. The infographic was fun to do, as well as the personal logo, because I got to incorporate my favorite things into them. The challenge Photoshop project didn't have my favorite things within it, but I think it looks the coolest out of anything I did this semester. The only things I would change about my work this semester would probably be putting a little more effort into the earlier Illustrator projects, because they just weren't at the quality that the rest of my projects were at. The overall takeaway I have from this semester is knowing what I can do as a graphic designer. By strengths, my abilities, and my limits are easier for me to find now. And I know the graphic designs that I like to do now. A goal that I have for next semester is to keep up my hard work on graphic design, and be able to incorporate that into my video editing as well. I really enjoyed this semester and really liked this class and hope to further expand my design abilities down the road.

11 x 17 Infographic Blog

       For this project, I decided to make an infographic about something to do with Rubik's Cubes. Since I have recently been competing with someone in my state for a state record, I decided to do a head to head graphic, between myself and Samuel Pollom. It was cool to see all the different ways I could compare our statistics. I decided that a head to head format would create a very intriguing and visually appealing graphic to compare myself to Pollom.
       In order to find all the statistics I needed for my infographic, I went to the World Cube Association website. Worldcubeassociation.org has a database that holds times and other stats for every event that has ever been held at every Rubik's Cube competition. All I had to do was search for my own name and Samuel Pollom's, and all of our times and placing at every competition we have been to were right there, on the website.
       When creating the layout/wireframe for this infographic, I went back and forth between a vertical and a horizontal design. I ultimately decided to go with horizontal, even though I had created both designs in Illustrator. I decided to make the title be rather large and in the center, with images of people on either side of it. Then right below, there would be the main stats, showing our times for four main cubes, with vivid colors that would attract your eye. And then there were two more things I needed to add to my design; number of competitions, and number of medals. I ultimately chose to put these on the edges of the infographic, with the number of competitions represented by buildings down a street and the number of medals represented by colored circles that looked like medals.
       As mentioned in the process of creating the wireframe, I experimented with vertical and horizontal designs for the infographic. The horizontal design looked less crowded, so I decided to go with that particular look. The people I created with the pen tool, coloring their shirts to go along with the building for number of competitions. For the cubes, I designed them using the different shape tools in Illustrator. I also chose a light gray background, so the white colors on the cubes would pop out.
       Most of the feedback I recieved after the presentation of my infographic was positive. My peers and fellow classmates enjoyed the infographic, and my teacher, Mrs. Smith, seemed to like it as well. The thing they liked the most was how it was easy to understand, even for someone who doesn't go to to Rubik's cube competitions.
       I really enjoyed creating this infographic. I hope we are able to do more things like it. So far, it has been the project with the most individuality, because we were able to do any topic we'd like. Those are the best projects because we are able to get the most out of our designs, and we generally like the topic we are creating the graphic about. It brings out the best work that we can, and is a great way to evaluate our skills in designing graphics.

Professional Article Review

       For this article review, I read "At a certain age, nothing is more important than fitting in," by Tom Hallman Jr. In the article, Hallman describes the life of a 14-year-old boy who has a dangerous skin disease, and how he just wants to fit in, but can't. Using a narrative style, he shows how the boy is just like everyone else, except for his deformity. This gives the article a sense of reality that regular news stories don't have. It also paints a very clear image of the boy's life using written words, in a way that is extraordinary. The article is so well written that I don't really know how to describe the feelings you get when you read it. And the article doesn't stop there. Besides being very entertaining, it is very informative. It shows how doctors have to deal with a child like the one in the article, shows the statistics about the disease, and other necessary info in order to learn from the article. The best writers are able to combine entertainment with information, and Tom Hallman Jr. does just that. I got a chance to read some of his other reports, which are just as good as this one. I have also found out that he has a blog, and writes regularly on it. He has written a few books as well. The link to get to his blog is here. 

What Makes a Good Feature Story

       Many people make feature stories. Even more people watch feature stories. Lots of news stations will have at least a few feature stories created every day. However, not all feature stories can be the best, but they can all at least be good. A good feature story has a lot of elements, and each element helps support the overall video. The elements that you need are a good voiceover, good b-roll, good nat-noise, good lighting, good interview shots, good interview questions, and an interesting subject.

Subjects

       The most important element is the interesting subject. You need to pick a subject of your video that is able to appeal to people, where most people will enjoy the subject. That does not mean picking the most popular thing when you create videos, it means picking the subject that you are excited about and won't be boring for people to watch. Of course, if the rest of your video is exceptional, especially your voiceover, then people will be interested no matter what the video is about.

Voiceover

       The second most important element to your video is your voiceover. That is where your own personal touch comes through the most. The only way for a viewer to know who you are is through your voice. You need to speak the best way that you can. That means reading your voiceover as if you were talking to someone about something that you really enjoy. If it sounds like the person saying the voiceover is really bored, then the whole video will seem boring to the viewer. However, if you have the voiceover sound like you are excited about the topic, it doesn't matter how bad the camera footage looks in the background, the viewer will be excited about the subject of your video.

Interview

       Interviews are essential to a feature story. It is the main topic of the video. The number one rule for having your interview in the feature story is to make sure to never have your voice in the finished video. If you talk during the interview, then someone watching the video will think that the interviewee is not talking to them, and it should not fell that way. The interviews need to be set up and introduced by the voiceovers. There also shouldn't be any jump cuts within the interview, so that there isn't a weird spot where the person is moving one way, and then they are suddenly moving a different way in the exact same setting. When setting up the interview, the interviewee needs to be positioned in the right third of the frame, looking to their right of the camera. It allows the most intriguing shot for a viewer to watch, and makes it seem like the interviewee is talking to them personally, even when they really aren't.

The Other Elements

       The b-roll footage should be visually interesting to someone watching the video, but not too interesting that it distracts from the voiceover. The b-roll should also be about the subject, and relating to the overall theme of the feature story. The six shot system using close-up to wide shots is the perfect way to film the b-roll footage, if you want it the viewer to be interested throughout the whole video. The lighting in the video also needs be pretty good, or else someone will either be blinded by the brightness of the shots, or unaware of anything happening on the screen because it is too dark. The b-roll needs to be filmed in a well-lit location, but the interview portion of the video requires a little more effort on your part. The best way to have lighting set up for an interview is a bright key light 45 degrees in front of the subject, a back light that isn't as bright behind the subject, and a fill light to the other 45 degrees of the subject, that isn't as bright as the key light. The natural noise isn't as important as the other elements of the feature story. The main point is to have natural noise throughout the entire video, but you need to keep it a minimalistic level.

Feature Story Experience

       Making a feature story video was very different than writing a feature story. Making a feature video means finding the right shots, making sure angles are good, asking the right questions in an interview. In a written feature story, you have to use all the right words and phrases, choosing the best adjectives and verbs to make your story the best it can be.
       When making a feature story video, you first need to figure out your topic and concept, then write down 21 interview questions. Then you need to start filming your b-roll. This can be any clips of the person doing their activity or the event, as long as it relates to the overall concept of the video. Then you should film your interview. There are many important tips for filming this. First, you need to make sure you have good lighting. The optimal positioning would be to have a light in the front, 45 degrees to the subject, a light behind the subject to get a back shadow, and a light to the other 45 degrees of the subject, so you have not too much light directly shining on the person. If you cannot have three lights, you should try to have a light that is 45 degrees to the subject, and that their face is clearly visible in the camera. When framing the subject in the camera, place them in the right third of the shot, looking to their right of the camera, for the best effect. After doing this, you can interview them, then get to editing. While editing, you will probably figure out what you want to do for your voice over. When you feel like you're ready, record your voiceover, and put it into your video. When you finish editing your video, export and upload to youtube.
       When writing your feature story, you need to make sure to have a central idea you want to show before you even write a word. That way, you know what your story will be about and you'll never start running off into other subjects as you write your story. The first two or so paragraphs need to have a narrative hook, so that when someone reads your story, they will be hooked from the beginning. The best way to do this is create a scene for them to imagine in their mind, and then they will want to finish that scene to the end. Throughout the middle, you don't want to lose your readers with boring information, give them facts and quotes that light up the topic you are writing about. Also make sure to have a strong ending, with a summarizing point that doesn't leave your readers hanging off the edge of a cliff.
       I definitely enjoyed doing the video feature story more than writing it. First of all, I am at least pretty good at making videos, and not as good at writing. Secondly, writing the feature story is a lot less exciting than editing a feature story. The writing part you just have to sit there and write or type words. For the editing, you get to see the result of the video as you edit it, and that is just a lot more exciting than just words on a screen.
       Below, you can see the feature story video that I have made, and below that, you can see the written feature story.

Written Feature Story

            The Sun starts shining into your eyes, you pull your helmet down a little, and get ready for the jump. You can feel your own heart beating to the rhythm of the other heart below you. You tell your horse to get ready, and you whistle quietly. Your horse starts trotting, and you bounce up and down slightly as you ride around the arena. The horse starts going faster, and you can feel every time the horse’s hoofs hit the ground. Suddenly, right before you hit a barrier in your path, you lean backward and sit up straighter and your horse jumps over a hurdle, kicking up dirt behind you.

            This is an experience Kaylan Johnson gets to have every week. She is a sophomore here at Olathe Northwest, who goes to stables to trains to ride horses. Johnson participates at many activities here at ONW, including AE and debate. However, she is able to find time to go horseback riding and is really good at it.

            Horseback riding is very difficult, and even the really experienced can make mistakes. The first time she tried to jump her new horse, Gracie, she almost fell off completely. Johnson really enjoys riding, and she has been doing it for almost 7 years.

            “I’ve always been interested in horses… when we moved my parents signed me up, so about 7 years I’ve been riding now,” Johnson said.

            There are all types of horseback riding; Johnson does some of the many types of jumping, with a few different horses. “I jump or show jump and that’s within an arena, and there will be different jump horses that I ride,” Johnson said. Sometimes, she will do one jump at a time, or multiple at once, and other times she’ll work on positioning on the horse as well.

            Johnson also works with a trainer, so that she can learn to ride better. Her trainer helps her keep the right position on the horse as she is jumping so that the horse will react to her and have a perfect jump. The trainer is a very good rider herself, so she knows how to critique Johnson and other people’s riding as well.

            Horseback riding isn’t for everyone, but Kaylan Johnson knows that it is for her. She loves riding every week and getting to work with the different horses at the stables. Horse riding is a very good way for her to take a break from the fast-pace world around her and make a connection with nature through her horse.

Tutorial - Organizing Clips in Adobe Premiere Using Bins

When I edit videos, I normally organize my files in Adobe Premiere like shown to the left. This is done by creating bins. They hold all the music and footage that I will use in my video. It is a very useful, but also basic function within Adobe Premiere Pro. In order to find out how to create a new bin, follow the instructions below.














First, click the new bin button.



A new bin appears, and you may name it whatever you'd like, I just named it "bin."


Now you can see the bin you have created. Double click on it.


Now double click on the empty space in window you opened up.



Then select the files you want to add to the bin.


And click the "Import" button.


Now, you can see all of the files in the bin you have created.

If you close the bin's window, you can just click the white triangle next to the bin and see the files that are in the bin.