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.