This week, we moved into creating our final video shows. I really enjoyed the overall experience of bringing my ideas for a show to life. There were definitely a few challenging moments with filming and editing. Trying to get both my partner and me to stay focused and film at the same time was… well the easiest way to say it is a HOOT! I think we were able to overcome this and produce an okayish project. We had a good time editing and almost deleted everything we did, but we actually did not. The process of creating this show was a good learning experience for me and definitely furthered my knowledge of iMovie a bit more. I hope to all those that listened, you enjoyed our show and were able to learn something about ocean conservation!
Month: March 2022
Creating a Video Project…
This week, we moved into the actual production of our short videos and boy was it tasking. I initially started by scripting the video with my partner. Since I am in the digital media studio class at Mary Wash, I have a little bit of experience with scripting in the proper format and judging time. I tried doing this, but then I decided it would be too hard to actually read what we were supposed to while trying to film a video. My partner and I decided it would be good to have points we wanted to cover and then kind of wing the rest. I must say that when you are winging it, you get some really great footage of laughing, etc. We used a laptop camera to record our short video and then I put the footage into iMovie to edit. I have a bit of experience with iMovie from that class as well, so I decided this would be the best editing tool for me. I was able to cut the clip at certain places and crop out the mistakes. I then used pictures to overlay our voices, since we decided to take more of an informational video show route. One of the things that I learned is that I do enjoy video editing, but I could probably use some more practice in iMovie so that I can learn all of the features and how to best use them. Overall, I think our video is pretty educational and entertaining because of the way it is edited. We were not entirely sure which direction we should go with the video, so we chose this way. I hope you all enjoy the short video and let me know what I could do differently next time!
Video Show & Work – Weekly Summary 10
This week we transitioned from working on a lot of audio to working on more video-related assignments. I must say that I was a bit nervous to actually produce videos, so the trailer and voiceover were a good start. I really enjoyed learning how to work with Imovie more because it will definitely be useful in the future as a teacher and with other classes. The most challenging part of this week was figuring out my video project and getting the plan in place, but it is coming together and I was able to produce a trailer. I learned a lot about what actually goes into cinematic work. Paying attention to editing details, how audio is portrayed, and foreshadowing are all key elements to making a successful film. I was able to explore this through my narration of a movie scene. I am looking forward to producing a video show next week with my partner!
Video Show Pt.1 – Trailer Included!
My partner and I are planning to connect this video assignment to our final project to give it a test run. We are planning to tell the story of the ocean and call our show “Speaking For The Ocean”. This video show will walk viewers through the importance of the ocean, discuss the harm caused to sharks and other ocean animals, and ponder solutions to advocate for ocean conservation. Our show will take this three-part format and have a break in between each part. We are going to record ourselves talking and provide supplemental images and clips when necessary. We will be shooting this video next week and editing it the days after. This week we will be primarily focused on planning and researching. We decided to combine our efforts to make a longer trailer with more of an overview of the overall ideas of the show! Check out our trailer below for a sneak-peak of the show!
Examining A Movie Scene…
After learning a bit more about how films are made and the thought and effort that must go into them, I decided to look at a few famous movie scenes and pick my favorite out of those. The clip that I chose is from The Fault In Our Stars and is the scene noted for “the metaphor”. This scene is about a minute long in which it took a lot of editing to drive the emotion and meaning out of the cinematic work. I examined how the scene is edited to pick on some foreshadowing moments, like no lighter and the oxygen. I also picked up on the face-to-face transitions of the camera work and how it contributes to conversation panning out in movies to keep the flow going. I only watched the clip once before recording my thoughts about it because I thought that it would be interesting to see what I noticed after learning that a lot of different things go into video work. This is how I thought it was best to approach the assignment and explore what techniques and tools were used to create the feeling and “the metaphor” that so many people talk about. Let me know what you notice about the cinematic work in the scene!
Finalizing Project Ideas…
After looking through some of the ideas and talking with people in the class, I have found a partner who has a similar interest and idea as me. Lindsay C. and I are going to be producing a multi-media campaign about ocean conservation and the shark finning industry. We are going to connect this to Bob Ross by using his ocean-themed painting and quotes that relate to our message. We took both of our ideas and expanded to include all ocean conservation and brainstormed ideas about how to include Bob Ross to further the project. We contemplated a few ways we would produce this campaign and still relate to the class. We are both excited to use the tools that we have learned this semester to share a message we are both passionate about and tell the story of the ocean. If anyone has any ideas or feedback on how we could make this project better, we are open to them!!
Reflecting on Assignments & Radio Shows – Weekly Summary 9
This week was a relatively light week and I was tasked with reflecting on my own work and listening in to the radio shows from my peers and my own. One of my favorite parts of the week was getting to listen to everyone’s shows and the different ideas that everyone had. I did not particularly like hearing my own voice on the radio, but it was a reflective experience. I struggled with recreating my assignments because it is hard to skip back and remember exactly what you were thinking when did each particular assignment. I also revisited my final project ideas and expanded on that idea a bit more. This week was focused more on growth and evaluating the creative process. I really enjoyed making my daily creates connect with one another and writing a silly story about them. I am looking forward to expanding more on my final project in the future and hopefully reflecting on my work will make my future assignments even better!
Listening to Ds106 Radio Show Projects
This week all of the radio shows that we produced are airing on ds106 radio. To be quite honest, I was really looking forward to listening to everyone else’s radio shows but not my own. Since I did a lot of talking in my group’s radio show I was nervous to hear myself talk. Our radio show sounded okay, there were a few audio mistakes where the audio changed a lot, but overall I think it sounded well. It was interesting to hear the conversation that Lindsay and I had about Bob Ross. We could have expanded a bit more about some negative views. I enjoyed chatting in discord while the show was airing and hearing people’s comments and questions! Unfortunately, I was not able to call in because my roommate was on a zoom call. I probably would have been very nervous, so I think chatting in discord was my best bet anyways. It was a very reflective experience to hear my work broadcasted where anyone can listen!
One radio show that really stood out to me was Conspiracy Theories. This show’s topic was very different than mine and was almost like listening to a podcast. Conspiracy theories are a very interesting topic to address and I feel like the group did a good job treading light on a serious issue by giving respect to families of 9/11 victims. One of my favorite aspects of this radio show was the unscripted delivery and differing opinions. I think this works particularly well for the topic, although it’s hard to get a good audio balance with this style, some parts can be particularly loud and other parts are super quiet. Overall, I really enjoyed hearing raw reactions and perspectives from people. I was curious about the inclusion of audio from Shane Dawson, since he is full of controversy but I see how it connects to the idea of conspiracy in media. Conspiracy theories overall are an interesting topic to examine and report about, but it can be a slippery slope. I did really enjoy listening to the show overall and I give the group credit for being willing to discuss the issue. It was really nice to hear everyone’s final products and I can’t wait to read all the posts from the listening experience!
Daily Creates… Into A Story
Challenge Accepted: This is a story that I have created using my digital creates from this week and one from last week. It is a bit out there! I hope you enjoy!
The Gift of Art: The Case of Piland
There once was a country named Piland that was having problems with Hiland, their neighboring country. Piland was a small country, but they had a great force of pi troops. Hiland would not accept trade from Piland because they said that Piland’s pizza was too expensive. Hiland knew that they were doing Piland wrong, so they decided to send the gift of art, not war. Hiland took inspiration from the Ferris wheel because it is a symbol of fun and happiness. On 3.14 (pi day), Hiland delivered Piland a pizza pi-themed Ferris wheel as a symbol of peace and future cooperation, much like the Statue of Liberty. Piland was joyed and now the two live in peace.
Revisiting My Work & Self Reflection
This week, one of the assignments is to revisit old work and pick two assignments to rework and reflect on. The first assignment that I chose to rework was “If I Could Live Anywhere“. I am visiting this assignment again because I felt like I did not really think it through all of the way and my perspective in the class and in general has changed. I wanted to take time to consider more options and reflect on myself a bit more. To start, I revisited a novel that I read about the happiest places in the world.
So, If I could live anywhere I would not choose one of the “happiest” places in the world because I realized that these areas still have problems and when people become fixated on happiness it inherently becomes unhappy. That being said, I would want to live close enough to family so they could still come to visit. I landed on the beaches of North Carolina in a small town on the OBX. This area comes with contentment for me and it is a place that has good memories. Alongside that, I love the beach and my family would enjoy coming to stay with me. I could teach and live a happy life.
The second assignment that I chose to revisit is “Contradicting Thought“. When I was looking for assignments to revisit, this one stood out to me because I realized that I could have made more of a story out of it instead of being basic. The message about contradicting thoughts was well put and made me start thinking a bit deeper.
So, that led me to create something about going the ordinary route or being different. We are all at a time where we are making permanent life decisions, about what we want to do, what career is best for us, who do we want to spend our lives with, where we will attend grad school, etc. Personally, this is where I decided I would continue to grad school but keep diversifying my education so that I can travel and take a different route. Here is my representation of that contradicting thought.
