Final: Believe

Reflection: 

This has been an enjoyable semester in explore A/V. I have learned a lot and been exposed to some valuable experiences like filming the blood drive. I have greatly improved my editing skills since my freshman year. I enjoyed the freedom that we had while making our music videos and had a lot of fun. I enjoy working in groups to put together a film. Also I liked how our music video had a fairly serious theme and message and want to get better at capturing peoples emotions.

Documentary

The Challenges of Building Legos
Student Attitudes Toward the Blood Drive

Overview: 

The assignment was to create documentaries covering the blood drive and lego day. This was our first chance to get to journalism and was a lot different from what I am used to. We had to learn how to film and interview people on the fly.

Process: 

The process was interesting for this project and much different from the videos we have gotten used to.  We were pretty much handed a camera and thrown into the live environment of people giving blood. Not only were we new to filming without a tripod but we were tasked with filming real people giving real blood. 

The editing process took quite a bit of time. We were new to using j and l edits. Also we had to work with nat noise throughout the video and keep it consistent and practical. We recorded voice overs for the first time which was a pretty good experience. I wrote up a script over the audio that would take place in my videos then recorded them. 

Reflection: 

I am pretty satisfied with both of these videos but there are a few things I could have done better. If I could go back to the filming I would have asked a lot more questions. Also I would have tried to get closer to people because sometimes the speaker is hard to hear and you are blown away by nat noise. 

Im sure that this will not be the last time I use j and l edits, and interview people. I need to work on being comfortable with the camera and asking people questions. Once I am more confident in my journalism skills I think documentary style videos would be a lot of fun to produce. 

Postcards

Bryce Clipping Masks

The goal was to create a series of clipping masks and incorporate things that are important to me, and also to have a bit of fun, hence the corn. I also added some effects to my letters like a colorful stoke and layer glow. I played with a lot of different saturations and hues in order to create the effect that i wanted.

Only Music

The project of this black and white piece was to create a postcard using different images and layering them to look like photo. Also I used a cloud background but made it black and white to match. My theme/ idea of this was to compile pictures of some of my favorite musicians into one art piece. Music is something thats important to me and i wanted to show that in my postcard.

Happy Holidays

This last postcard was just a small addition i made to accommodate the holidays. It is fairly simple but I used some gradints and strokes on my font to make it stand out. I also used some candy canes in spirit of the holidays.

In The Sky

 -Bryce Prichard

Overview:

The goal was to extract an image of a mountain and make it appear as if it was floating in the clouds. Also I added a few extra images and made them hover in the sky with the mountains. The extra images make it a bit more interesting and add character.

Process:

Layering Process

The first thing I did was look over the tutorial to get an idea on how to extract selections. I had to work on making good clean selections in order to make it look seamless and smooth. I also had to play with image resolution and hue/saturation levels. It was challenging to make everything look natural in the sky while using different images.

What I Learned:  

Head in the Clouds

I gained the valuable skill of making effortless and professional selections. I greatly improved using the quick selection tool. Also I used the refine edge feature to smooth out selections and make them look natural. I even played with feathering a bit just to improve the extraction.

Future:

If I had to do this again, which I’m sure I will use some of the skills again, I would try to clean up a few things a bit. I would be more careful playing with opacity, because my mountain is semi transparent and it looks a bit strange. I think I did pretty well with the saturation and the color of the images. They all look fairly realistic and natural in the cloud environment. I will be applying the knowledge of selections to projects for the rest of my graphic design career. It is a vital skill I will use time and time again. Color modes will always be a part of my future designing as well because they set the tone and feel of your piece. This was my first time being exposed to some of these graphical ideas and methods and it was a great leaning opportunity.  

Shadows

*My blog post was to large to embed the video.

Professional Blog Post: Music Video

Overview:

The goal our music video was to put together a story to go along with a song. The song we picked was “Wonderwall” by Oasis. We wanted to tell a story that people could connect to. Our film showcases feelings of loneliness and rejection, which at one time or another everyone has felt.

Process:

Pre Production:

The first step was to create a production schedule. This gave us a clear idea of what all we had to do and when we had to do it. Then we brainstormed about our story and created a beginning middle and end. Before creating an official storyboard we created a mood board. This helped set the tone of our video and get an idea of the emotions we wanted to capture. After everyone had a pretty good idea of the things we wanted to show we came up with a storyboard to help us film.

Production:

            With a fairly clear idea of our story we went out and filmed the video. It took about two weeks to get all the shots we needed. The filming process was a little bit rough at times but we were still able to gather the footage.

Post Production:

            The editing process was fun because our footage required us to get creative with the editing and we all added some personal touches to our videos and they weren’t all the same.

What I Learned:

            Throughout this project I learned a lot about collaboration. Our group didn’t always get along the greatest but it was a great opportunity to learn. I also gained knowledge of productivity and that planning is very important in order to work efficiently. 

            My editing skills improved a lot during postproduction of the video. I learned how to maximize your footage and then also how to condense it. Choosing the most important footage but also adding things to make it unique.

Future:

            Next project I will focus a lot more on time. Planning better and accounting for some amount of error and delay will be a priority of mine. I will use the same creativity and emotion while planning, as I think we did a good job. This project was good for me because of how long term it was. I gained valuable experience with extended work time and will make sure to use all the time I have to better the film during my next project.

In The Sky

I learned a lot about selections. I learned how to refine an edge and to combine images together nicely. Also I got to experiment with layer masks and find out all the interesting things you can do with them. I used different blending modes to get effects on the images in the sky. I also learned how easy the quick selection tool is to use.

Music Video Short Edit

We were challenged to make a 90 second edit of our music videos. This was a bit challenging because we had to fit in our whole video into a small time frame. Its difficult to show all the smaller clips and things that make the message of your video powerful and still have it fit. For the most part I knew which shots were essential to the story and which ones it could do without. I think the video is an improvement from the last edit because the timing is a bit better and it has a better flow. Also it is more to the point and is slightly less drawn out. 

We had to edit to the beat, which my video already was on a few shots but I used the markers to make all transitions smooth. I think the video being synced with music makes it look a lot more professional.

Creative Spheres

We were assigned to put our own creative touch on a few spheres. My red globe symbolizes an apocalyptic world because of its red shadows and the feel if gives the viewer. I started off with the sketch of spheres. Then tried to find some good tutorials which was a bit of a challenge. Its a bit easier to apply effects and manage your art in illustrator which made the photoshop sphere slightly more difficult. I learned how to spherize things from the globe tutorial. In the others I learned how to give the spheres a reflective quality. In the future i would like to improve on my shadows. They could use a bit of sharpening to make my spheres more professional.

http://www.tutorialwiz.com/globe2

http://phong.com/tutorials/sphere/

Music Video

Producing the music video was a completely different experience than our previous projects. There was a lot more responsibility and planning that had to go into it. It was a lot different having a long period of time to work in our groups and able to work at whatever pace we choose.

I think I improved my editing a lot during this project. Our shots weren't always ideal and we had to be a little bit more creative while editing. In a few places I made the shots synced to the song, which I think turned out pretty well. Next time I would like to take more shots so we have a lot of extra footage to work with. Also I would take more time on the prep work in order to be more prepared and productive during the filming process.

Our groups collaboration was solid for the most part. There were a few times were we didn't agree and things became a bit stressful, but we worked through it and made a pretty good film.

Red Spheres

It was difficult to transition to Photoshop after illustrator and it might have slightly reflected in the fine details of my Photoshop sphere. Its slightly less gradual of a gradient and the shadow isn’t quite as good. My illustrator sphere has a pretty good highlight and shadow and I think it looks pretty professional. My Sketch could be better I think my drawing skills were a little of that day.

Logo Tutorial

http://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tutorials/346-Hand-drawing-custom-made-letters-Illustrator/76067/191219-4.html

This is my custom logo designed in illustrator from a tutorial. I learned how to draw a font and trace it into illustrator from my tutorial. I think its really helpful information for the future in design because i would like to hand draw more. I think i did a good job making the font uniform which was a bit of a challenge because the font was sketched by hand. Next time i would spend more time on the other parts of the logo instead of just the text. I want to learn how to manipulate shapes more and put effects on my images.

Logo Process

Logo

This is my logo i designed after my tutorial. I have a few different variations of font and color but they relate to me because they are different and unique. It includes loosely drawn letters that i hand sketched. I was inspired by some graphiti fonts and letters and modern art. My tutorial helped me turn my sketch into an actual font. The curves, straights, and arrows are mostly uniform and the font size is consistent.

I learned how to trace things more accurately with the pen tool. Also i learned how to create a stroke on the outside of letters and shapes using an offset path. I want to learn how to use more complicated effects and specific effects in my next logo. I think I did a good job with making my own font because it looks consistent and refined. In the future i would change the stroke effects and maybe try to implement a 3-D element. I need to work on gathering more ideas and information instead of using just a few different elements.


http://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tutorials/346-Hand-drawing-custom-made-letters-Illustrator/76067/191219-4.html

The google logo is supposed to reflect a sense of playfulness. At first designers tried to use bulky objects and fonts but realized it needed to be simpler. They ended up with a basic times new roman with seriff. Then they focused more towards color. Google went with all primary colors except for one break with the green l. It represents rebellion and states that google does not play by the rules.

The Chase

I learned how to work with a larger group and to film in many different locations. Also we had to adjust to weather conditions because it stormed during our film time. I will apply this to our next project and try to be a bit better at managing time. Also on my next project I will try to focus on the storyboard and getting the shots organized and in a more complete order. I feel like our shot quality slipped a bit because of the input of more ideas. 

The collaboration was different because there was one more person in the mix. This added many new Ideas and also added a new dynamic because it wasn’t just one filmer and one actor, we were all working together to produce a single video. 

In the next video I think the group needs to focus more on the story board and find a way to concentrate the ideas instead of just mashing them together. 

This font pretty accurately describes a few parts of my personality. I don't care about being the same as everyone else and am ok with being a little different and going "against the grain". I find being conventional boring and try to be unique and not just conform. It also has an old typewriter style which I relate to because i love a lot of old music and I was probably born into the wrong generation.

AB Sequence

I learned how to sequence a little bit better and to make things flow. In the first video I had too many things going on and it just seemed unnatural. I learned how to AB sequence, and to combine two six shot sequences into one film.

On my next project i will try to focus even more on detail. I will try to complete motions more and make the film look as natural and flowing as possible. Also i will take my time more to get the best shots i can because in this project i finished early and had quite a bit of time that i could have used to perfect my shots.

Collaboration is working together with others. It can often be helpful to make things better because you get input from other people besides yourself. You get better ideas and in turn can make a better product. We had good collaboration because we worked very efficiently and offered ideas to each other. For example I mad a suggestion to her story board and she applied it to her film.

Pencils

The Process in making each of these was very similar. I would just find the shapes in illustrator and just get creative and made some objects. Illustrator is fairy easy to use so it was easy to draw a few things.

1. I learned basic skills in illustrator allowing me to draw images much easier than photoshop.

2. I got to exercise my creativity while making my own shapes and my own version of the pencil.

3. learned how to use live paint which was a bit of a challenge.

6 Shot Sequence

Shots included in this video
XWS- Extra wide shot of dribbling between the legs.
XCU- Extreme close up of shoes.
OTS- Over the shoulder of dribbling.
WS- Wide shot of more dribbling.
MS- Medium shot of the ball being caught.
CU- Close up of a free throw.
XWS- Another extra wide shot of him dribbling away.

During this project I learned how to use the new cameras. There slightly more complex and harder to use but in turn they give you a much better video to look at. Also i learned how to film a sequence. I now know how to take a story that would be a few minuets long and shoot it to were it ends up being only a few seconds. This makes it much more interesting for a viewer to watch.

On my next project i will change a few things. I will be better with managing my time as this video was last minute as i was the last one to shoot in my group. Also we had some technical issues with cameras and SD cards which got us off to a slow start. I will be more conscious of lighting and other details while shooting my next video, and take more time in filming good shots. Also i will make a more detailed story board with a good location in mind so i don't have to waste time finding a place to film, and once i have found it i can get straight to filming and be able to make a better video.

What Is Graphic Design??

What is Graphic Design?

To me graphic design is a way to express creativity in a productive and meaningful way. You have the opportunity to connect with someone through your artwork. Even when your following an assignment you can add your own creative spin on it. The infinite amount of possibilities and things you can with a picture fascinate me. It gives purpose and meaning to things that you create because it can be used for advertising and conveying ideas.