The Character and Function of the Poster Reflection

The Character and Function of the Poster:

The purpose of the poster is to bring a message, whether that is a political one or to announce a product.  A poster must be on display and open for all to see. Posters will tell information about politics affairs and social conditions. Posters also suggests wishes an the existence of things from our imagination. Posters can help us solve our problems, and also brings up new questions to make us ponder. Posters are an important way of communicating to a wide audience, between the producer and consumer, and just to each other. Posters are meant to provoke thought and action and to motivate people to do and buy things. 

Posters are also meant to be aesthetically pleasing. They should attract the eye and draw notice to the message of the poster. Posters should fascinate people and contact their emotions. While processing the message of the poster, there should be a "dialogue" between the poster and the person reading it. In conclusion, a poster should capture attention and motivate people to think and to act. 

I learned that posters should have a maximum effect, they should provoke memories, and they should motivate people to act. I think the lettering was really interesting just because I would like to become better at that. This paper was very informative and really let me into the world of posters and to see that designing a poster is a lot of work and thought in order to reach the final product. 

Semester Reflection

Semester Reflection

Photoshop Tutorials:

We started this semester by working with several Photoshop tutorials to get us introduced to the program. These tutorials taught us how to do several things in Photoshop, including removing blemishes, taking objects in images and removing them, and creating an ad. 

These tutorials took about a week or two to complete. There was many of them, so they really required some work and effort. I had difficulty with remembering which tool did which, and making sure there was not any blemishes after I changed something. The cloning tool was difficult for me to use at first but I eventually got ahold of it. 

With these tutorials I learned how to follow directions and steps to create a final project. I also learned how to generally use Photoshop and how to edit, remove, and move things around in an image. 

With my final products from the tutorials, I was given the feedback to make sure I really pay close attention to details. In some of my images, I had left a few blemishes, therefore I really need to take my time and work hard on every aspect. 

In this project, we did not have the chance to go back and change anything, so I could not really revise on my projects. 

I enjoyed this project, I thought it was a great way to intro into the year. It really introduced me to Photoshop and it was great that I could go back and reference these tutorials later when I had to something that was similar to what I had already done. These tutorials were a great tool to have and really taught me a lot about graphic designing. 

Fall Themed Raccoon/Postcard:

For this project, we followed a series of tutorials that guided us to create a raccoon with a fall themed background. This project took me about a couple weeks or so, because now I was working more or less on my own. 

Now I was working with Illustrator, so I had to get comfortable with using this new program an figuring everything out. But, in the end, I learned how to use Illustrator to create images. I'm comfortable making little animations like this raccoon and using shapes to create an image. 

I did not really receive feedback for this project because it was pretty simple. Others thought the pumpkin spice latte I added was really cute and creative though, so I suppose that was some good feedback. 

I did not get any negative feedback, so there was not anything for me to change. I really enjoyed this project, I thought the raccoon turned out really cute and it was fun designing the theme and everything. 

This next project was an add-on to the themed raccoon. I used the raccoon to make a themed postcard. I decided to make a beach themed one, in which the raccoon is on the beach with a surfboard and palm beach. This was made about the same time as the fall themed one was made. I didn't really have any struggles, once I had made the first one, this one was easy. 

For feedback, I was told to maybe change the font and place of my catchphrase on the card because it was hard to read. I didn't have to chance to change it but if I did, I would maybe move it onto the surfboard and try a thicker font. I enjoyed this postcard because it was super cute and allowed us to be creative in our designs. 

Vector Self Portrait

For this project, we had to find a headshot of ourselves and vector ourselves. This was the first time I had ever worked with vectoring at all so this was totally new to me. This took about a week or so to complete. This was the second most difficult project because I really did not know how to vector and how to really give the image volume and texture. But by the end, I learned the basics of vectoring and how to recreate a picture. 

I was given the feedback to maybe focus on the lighted and darkened parts of my face so that my project would look a bit more realistic. I did not get this feedback until I was done so I did not change it. I somewhat enjoyed my project, it wasn't my favorite just because it was difficult and my end project is kind of ugly. 

Infographic

This was our last project of the semester and the most difficult for me. We had to choose some subject and make an infographic about the information. I chose Taylor Swift's style which was a hard subject. This took about a couple weeks or so. The challenge for me was I was really fidgety on what exactly do I cover and what do I write about and what is important. I really did not know what I wanted to do the infographic about, so that took up a lot of time. I learned about color pallets and how to intertwine vectors and images with text and information. I was told to give more information because I originally just had graphics, so I added some facts from each album. I enjoyed this project, it was hard, but it was really interesting to see how it came out.

Reflection

I think I've used my time pretty well in class. It is not super often that I get super off track and I mostly get my things done. Most of the time, I just put my headphones in and work hard. When I finished early, which was not often, I would ask others if they had any advice on how I could improve or change anything. If I didn't finish in class, I would come in after to work on it but most the time I had time in class. Since I have taken this class I have really looked at things like a graphic designer, like the colors and fonts and the way everything flows together. 

I think my strengths are that I am creative and I like imagining colors and the placement of things. I think I could really improve with managing my time and focusing on the details to make sure everything is as good as it could be instead of just meeting the standard. 

I loved reaching outside my comfort zone, because I normally draw on paper and that's what I enjoy most but now I have to put my ideas on the computer. 

Semester Video Reflection

Semester Reflection

Feature Story

        

This was the second feature film we had to do. For this video, I interviewed my friend Courtney Honors about her amazing, unique art. This video took only a day to film and about a week to edit. This took pretty long to edit just because I knew what I wanted it to look and feel like, so that was pretty difficult. But with this video I learned how to transfer what I had in my head onto the computer so that was really interesting. I was given the feedback to maybe make my voiceovers shorter and more excited, but I did not get a chance to fix that. Overall, I really enjoyed this video and I think it turned out pretty well. I think the shots are pretty and it definitely has potential.

ONW Now News Story

           
This was my first news story, and it was different than the past feature stories that I've done. A news story is different from a feature story because it focused on the overview of an event rather than a feature story which focuses on a specific person. This video took me two days to film and edit. It was pretty easy plus I worked with one other person and it had to be short. The challenges I faced was just making sure the video flowed together and that it kept the viewers attention. With this video I learned how to make a news story and how it's different to film and edit from a feature film. I was not given  any feedback besides that people really liked and enjoyed it, so I did not change anything after I was finished. I am pretty proud of this video because I think it was edited really well and it's entertaining to watch.

Summary

I think I used my time in class pretty well. I learned that it is better to just put in my headphones and focus on my video. It was rare that I finished early, but when I did I would ask for feedback from the teacher or my classmates on how I could improve my video. When I did not have my video finished, I would come in before and after school to work on it. I've been watching more movies, short films, and newscasts in order to look for new ways to improve my videos. 

I think my strength is that I am really creative and I'm willing to work hard in order to finish something I'm passionate about. I love video so much and I love being able to express my imagination and ideas through video. I think I really need to improve on time management and what are realistic goals for me to reach. 

I loved doing the feature films and ONW Now segment. I love interviewing people and I loved seeing the final products. I especially enjoy being in front of the camera and reporting, that was so much fun. I would maybe have changed my first feature film topic just because I'm not super proud of it because it's really boring. I also really want to work on the six shot system because my video are lacking that depth and I want that in my future projects. I have learned so much about writing scripts and filming and how to convey what I want through my filming and editing. I have also learned how to work with Premier Pro, which was a totally new program for me this year. I like that program, even though it is a little confusing sometimes. I am super excited about making a short film and a music video and I just really, really want to work hard on those and be proud of them. My finals thoughts are that I love video so much and this is what I'm passionate about and I want to keep doing this.

What Makes a Feature Story Great

The first thing that struck me about the winning video was the strong introduction. Lina grabbed the audience’s attention with a strong narrative, addressing who she was interviewing and what she was going to be interviewing about. I loved all the different shots, varying from shots of Abby swinging to Abby stretching. I enjoyed seeing all the scenery, and the shots changed every couple seconds so the viewer was never bored. I also liked how Lina showed shots of Abby’s father helping her, so it tied in Abby’s father as Lina’s second source. The part I enjoyed the most was how Lina ended her video, with all the different shots of Abby and her father hitting the ball, it just tied everything together. The last shot of the golf cart driving away was really creative and completed the video.

The audio was good and flowed, it was never too loud or too quiet, it fit the mood. The wide variety of shots kept the video interesting. The voiceovers flowed really naturally and enhanced the story for the viewer. As the viewer, I got to know the subject of the video and I felt very satisfied at the end of it.

The winning feature story by Lina Sattarin is linked above. 

A Feature Story

For the past few weeks I have been working on my first feature film. I wanted to do something I thought was interesting and what I would want to watch a segment about. I asked Corbin Eaton if I could interview him about his video Emma Say Yes, and he was nice enough to work with me. Corey has a really fun personality so it was a good time interviewing him.

My voiceovers were pretty easy to record because I used the general news segment formula and introduced Corey by naming things people in the school may have seen him doing. I think the introduction was really strong and I'm pretty proud of it.

Corey sat down with me and let me ask some questions behind the process of the video, and it was really fun to hear what the concept was before he created it. His best friend, Jacob Downing, also gave me insight into the concept work. Both interviews went really well together because Jacob and Corey go well together, they are best friends after all.

Once I had all of my interviews, it was easy to write the script and voiceover, and since Corey was an expert interviewer and interviewee, he gave me clear, concise answers.

Shooting my video was also easy, I just had to pick a pretty, well-lit background for the initial interview. For B-Roll I used Corey's original video, which was really helpful because I did not have to collect extra footage.

I am really proud of this video, I worked really hard and I'm happy with the way it turned out. I think my editing is pretty good and everything flows, and I am happy with my voiceovers and questions. Overall, I am proud of my work and I look forward to creating more feature films.

Organization in Premiere Pro Tutorial

Here is a tutorial of how to organize all of your clips in the bar of premiere pro. In order to get a neat  clip bar, you can use bins to store your clips. The bin icon is located in the lower left corner and looks like so: 

Click on that and a new folder should appear among your clips.

Go on and title this folder, I had a lot of text slides in this particular video so that was the first one I created.

Next, just click and drag clips into that folder.

Then you can continue and make more folders for the other clips you have like the bloopers one I made below.

 Once you have placed all the clips you needed into folders, you are good to go! Now your clips are neat, in folders, and easy to find.

Now, next time you start a new project and need some order, use this tutorial to keep some organization during your project!

1 in 2000

This past week I have been working on this interview for the ONW 1 in 2000 project. I interviewed Amanda Campbell who is a sophomore here at Northwest. She shared with me about the camp she went to over the summer which was a KU design camp where she explored similar e-communication strands. She got to work with both video animation projects which furthered her knowledge of those areas. She got to help design jerseys and different animations. I discovered that she is very serious about this area of video production and she want to have a career in her future doing something with video.

This was the first video in a long time that I have had to record a voiceover, and I really enjoyed it because it added to the video and made it feel more professional. I liked adding a voiceover because it gave me a taste of what it would be like to work in convergence and work with ONW Now which I am very interested in doing.
 one shot

I enjoyed filming this video more than the other because I really only needed one shot at the least and it was very simple and pulled together so I liked that. I liked having minimal shots because it let the viewer really focus on what she was saying and what she had to share with us and I think that is important.

I like that my finished video is very simple and clean cut. I like that it tells the story and really conveys what the camp is and how much she enjoyed this camp. I'm really proud of this video because it kind of dips my toes in the water of what I want to create when I work with ONW Now.