No Film School - How to Diffuse Light

  So there's a thing called No Film School that's basically a pretend film school. It's online, anyone with internet can find it. They have one article/video that tells casual filmmakers how to diffuse light without going over budget. And somehow, they managed to write 4 paragraphs about it, even though their solution was so blatantly simple you could've summed it up with 1 sentence. Professional reflectors are $15, or just use a sheet. That's literally the whole thing. I guess their name No Film School is pretty accurate.

Feature Film Premiere

  Well, our video class made a feature film. It's about an hour long, and we've been working on it since December. I was the script supervisor, which means that I was in charge of reading over the script and checking for continuity and plot holes. Supposedly, it was my responsibility to change the script when necessary, and make sure the actors said the correct lines. Of course, that's kind of hard to do when everyone is telling you to shut up. I'm just doing my job. Although I spent a lot of the time doing other people's jobs too. I ended up being the boom operator, sound supervisor, stunt coordinator, set designer, I provided props, location scout, and more. Then of course, there were like 5 people who didn't do anything, and more still who did something the first day and never again. I tried my hardest to institute the right changes, but I kept getting shut down. The assistant directors had more influence than the director, even though one of them didn't do a damn thing for the whole project. The director agreed with me on most of my changes, but because the assistant directors, the UPM (who's job doesn't include the script), and the writers were so proud of their complete crap pile of a story, I was almost always shut down. The one thing that I did manage to change was the end monologue. It was dreadful, terrible, awkward, boring, and it didn't contribute to the story in the slightest. I finally convinced the goddess's of controlling everything to scrap it and get a new one written. Of course, I ended up doing that, with input from the director. As it turns out, that was one of the few good parts of the movie, and even that was tarnished by a rushed and unexplained ending. And of course, there were so many continuity errors and plot holes that I noted and told them about, but I was ignored. And then for editing, there were times when the music was so loud that it completely drowned out the sound of the scene. And in the first scene, the dialogue was just plain stupid. The camera work gave my mom motion sickness, and I've never seen her get that way before.
  Then there was the blood. The blood was excessive to the point of unrealistic. There was a scene where a character get shot, and the main character runs over and grabs them, and holds them as they die. My mother is the most anti-blood/squeamish person I've ever met, and when she saw how much blood they had put on the main character's arms, she laughed out loud. That scared me. Not the blood, the fact that my mother was laughing at the unrealistically massive amount of blood they had coated his arms with. There wasn't a spot, fingertips to elbows, that wasn't gleaming bright red. My mother does not laugh at blood, injury, embarrassment, failure, or even funny internet fail videos. So that scared me a little bit.
  And on to the props. I provided four airsoft guns that we would use in the movie. One was my brother's but he said it was fine. The first gun (my favorite) was broken after a robber spiked it into the ground in a scene. It made no sense, it looked awkward, and you could hear the impact as the gun's internal parts practically shattered. The outside wasn't much better, but at least it was mostly intact. But the sights were damaged, the grip came off, the safety broke, the magazine no longer feeds right, the hammer gets stuck, and the slide wobbles. So I was pissed. My teacher, being the lone angel in a field of demons, replaced it for me. But then it went downhill. In one scene, a bad guy picks up a gun (my brother's) and tries to shoot the main character. The gun jams, and he throws it down as the main character tackles him. At first, I thought the gun was fine. It was still intact, and it still fired. But when I took it home, my other brother glanced it with his foot, and the stock completely disconnected. I can't prove that it was broken on set, but I was still pissed, because I had to replace my brother's $60 gun. Then a third gun was broken during a bank robbery scene, where a henchman got hit and hurled the gun across the room. So three of the four guns I offered up were broken in my classmates's usual careless fashion.
  As for the actual premiere night, I did not have a good time. I would've been satisfied with driving to the movie theater, watching the movie, and driving home. But no, we had to take a limo. Now, I understand why we had the limos, add to the red carpet experience and all that. But I just really didn't like it. It was hot and stuffy, and I had no room because there were thirty of us stuffed into each car. They played music, which I also didn't like, but I tolerated it because it's just music. I tried to see if I could get some sleep, but then the kid next to me started poking my lips every time I closed my eyes. Not a big deal, just a minor thing. The limo drove around town for a while, then we stopped at a restaurant right across the street from the theater. Other people said the food was good, but I didn't taste anything. It was like eating bread, there was just no taste. And I was eating burgers and buffalo wings. But it tasted like nothing. But whatever, that's the restaurant's problem. Then we got back in the limo, and just drove in circles for ten minutes before going right back to the street and walking out onto the red carpet. I hit my head as I got out. Then I was blinded by the flash from our volunteer paparazzi, and I almost missed the door of the theater. I watched our movie, and it was terrible, like I previously described. Then, when it was announced that there would be a horror/thriller short film shown between the movies, and my family got up to leave. I left with them because the limos weren't waiting to take us back to the school. So all in all it wasn't the worst night ever, but it certainly wasn't very good. 
  Because this is a project, I was supposed to learn something. But I thought long and hard, and I couldn't come up with anything. At least, nothing that isn't super depressing or anger-inducing. I worked really hard on this film, but it didn't matter. I already knew no one in that class liked me, but this experience was eye-opening in one way. It revealed that not only do none of them like me, it showed me that none of them give a damn about my opinion either. Yeah, I'm not angry anymore. Now I'm depressed. Because I wrote everything down. For weeks, I wrote down everything that happened during the shoots. Everything good, which honestly wasn't a lot, and everything bad. But nowhere did I really learn anything. And more noticeably, I didn't have a good time. I hated almost every second of it. If I could do anything differently, it would be to choose a different class. I don't have any final thoughts for my classmates that I can write here without getting in trouble, so I'm just going to end it here.

1st Semester Final Reflection

  It's been a long semester, which means this is going to be a long post. So, let's go ahead and get started with the PSA I made.
  Our PSA was about peer pressure, and not giving in to the temptation of doing stupid stuff. The project didn't take long. Everyone in the class spent about a week on pre-production. But my group then finished shooting and editing in the next two days. Really the only challenges we faced were during shooting, we couldn't quite decide what we wanted the friend group in the background to do. And we weren't exactly sure how we could make it known that they were there while still focusing on the two main characters. Ultimately, I just cut a clip of them reacting into  the middle of the scene. It may not look professionally made, but I didn't know what else to do. I don't think I learned anything during this project. The process wasn't any different than what we had already done, it was just the concept. As for feedback, I honestly don't remember. And I don't remember whether I went back and changed anything after that feedback. My overall opinion of it is that while it definitely wasn't the worst video in the class, we could've done better.



  So this is a short film I made with my group. Originally, we had an entirely different idea for our film. But due to actors' schedule conflicts, we were never able to do it. So we found ourselves in a little predicament. The project was due by the end of class the next day and only two people in our group were available to work on it that night. So, in a desperate attempt to actually get something turned in, we switched to a script that only ever had two people on the screen at once, was really simple, called up the only friend either of us had that didn't have plans, and threw together a video. However, it actually turned out decent considering how little time we spent on it. If I learned anything in this project, it's that a simple script is much easier to film. As for feedback, it was mostly about how short it was, how the fight was too long, etc. But honestly that was kind of the point. I didn't really intend for this film to be emotionally deep or dramatic. Kid walks in the woods, kid fights somebody in the woods, kid goes home. I'm not sure if we changed anything. My overall opinion of this film is that it was better than a lot of the other films in the class, but it wasn't our best work. I would've liked to add something to the beginning, but we didn't have the time to do that.

  My time in class has been devoted to either working on projects or learning how to enhance those projects. If I finish early, I often watch movies or videos to see what the professionals do to make their movies good. I have been especially interested in watching the behind the scenes of fight sequences. Outside of class I do much the same, exposing myself to the world of behind-the-curtain.

  My strengths are largely attributed to my personality. I am a perfectionist and always have been. I always want to plan everything out, and do every shot multiple times to ensure we get the best take. I think I could definitely improve my editing skills. I'm not usually the editor in my group, so I don't know nearly as much about the programs as my classmates.
  I honestly don't even remember the guest speakers. I don't know if I was gone or just tired, but I don't have any recollection of any guest speakers.

  The MX4D technology was interesting, and seemed like a phenomenal idea, but it ended up just being annoying. Everything it did was just distracting. It was loud and obnoxious, which just pissed me off. I don't believe this technology will benefit the movie industry until they make it less noticeable.

  I think my favorite part of this semester was definitely the short film. I had a great time doing the fight scene. I think that the main thing I would do differently is be more confident in my ideas. It took me forever to come up with a script idea because I kept thinking that it was too complicated, or too simple, or too weird. I'm not sure what my overall takeaway is, there's been a lot of stuff that I've forgotten. One thing that I would like to do next year is actually come up with an idea for our feature film. I didn't have anything this year, so I would like to get my chance to introduce my own story.

MX4D Review

  Recently, my video production class went on a field trip to B & B Theaters in Shawnee, Kansas to experience one of only 5 MX4D theaters in the nation. MX4D theaters are intended to create an immersive sensory experience for moviegoers. The chairs move with the motion of the camera, water sprays up at you, the chair gives you a little kick when there's an impact, and it makes certain smells release from the seat. However, the seats don't have vents, so the first thing we noticed when we walked in was that the room smelled. This, however, didn't last long. We forgot about it 5 minutes into the movie. Just to clarify, we saw Justice League. In the first scene, when a robber drops a bag, the seats moved. Why? There wasn't any logical reason why you should've felt the impact of the bag. The chair movement was especially annoying in the front row. You're already looking straight up to see the screen, it doesn't help that the chair suddenly tilts forward, making it even harder to watch.  There was also a strobe light that went off for explosions and gunshots, and that actually worked for a while. But like every other feature it got annoying after about 30 minutes. When there was wind or water, the nozzles in the seats made a loud hiss/popping sound. Not only was this distracting, but it was also annoying. Plus, the water kept spraying my popcorn. Another feature in the theater was their snow machine. It was loud, so I knew when it was going off, but the snow never actually made it to the front few rows. Overall, I'd say that the MX4D features were cool initially, but long-term they actually made the movie worse. Of course, it may have just been the movie. I've been told that it was better when they were playing Thor: Ragnarok, so I might have to try it with another movie to have a better opinion of it. But really, it wasn't anything spectacular, and I actually like the normal movie theater experience better.

Short Film Reflection - The Stalker

  For my latest video project, we made short films. Everyone wrote a script, then we split into groups and chose one script to make into our film. My group initially chose what I saw as a teenage spoof of The A-Team. We went through the usual pre-production process, making storyboards and finding actors. Once we had everything set up, we went to film. Unfortunately, there was no day when all of our actors were free at the same time. We tried for a week to resolve this, but we were nearing our deadline and had nothing to show for it. With three days left to turn in our video, we switched to my script. It was about a kid who went for a walk in the woods, with someone following him. With any other script, this was hopeless. But my script required only three people, so even though most of my group couldn't make it, we still had hope. Only two of my group, me included, were able to show up. We got one friend to be an actor, but no one else was available. So for your viewing pleasure, I had to be in the film. Yippee. 

  Luckily, we got everything filmed in less than two hours. Once we had gotten the film, it was up to the editor to bring it together. He did so just in time, turning it in at the last possible minute. So considering we made a film in about 3 hours of panic work, I'm surprised it turned out to be as good as it was. One member of our group complained that his name wasn't in the final credits, but that's kind of because he did nothing. He made the storyboards and then sat there while we tried to make a film. I don't know if it's because he didn't know what to do or if he just didn't want to help, but he ended up being a little bit of a road block. 

Personal Project-PSA

  So, this is my first post of the new school year and I figured I would start it off with my first project. Our assignment was to create a PSA about an important topic from a list. My group was originally thinking about making a video on violence, but we chose peer pressure instead.
 
  Going into pre-production, we started forming our ideas for the video, and for the most part it turned out exactly like our original plan. We made the storyboard, assigned team roles, and had the teacher check our script. Once all that was done, we were ready to start filming.

  Filming was relatively easy. We gathered our actors and went to our predetermined location, where we set up the camera and filmed our scene. That's basically all there was to it. Once we filmed the hall sequences, that was all we could do at school. My group met again after school to film the car sequences, but unfortunately I could not make it to that part. But my group managed just fine without me.

  Editing took less than an hour, and some of my group members actually made multiple versions. So between the five of us, we made 7 or 8 different videos from the same footage. It just goes to show that everyone interprets things differently.

Animation - Final Reflection

  Takeaways from the five e-Comm guarantees? Well, I'd say that technical skills are arguably the most important. If you can't do the project, then it doesn't matter how well you prepare. But in a group setting, collaboration keeps a project running smoothly, and communication is much the same. Leadership contributes to project management; a good leader keeps everyone else on track so that the project is finished efficiently. I learned all of this through my experiences and observations in group projects. These lessons are important because they keep the project going. My biggest challenge was working with people. I am an independent, introverted person. I don't enjoy group settings, and I had trouble cooperating. In the final project of the year, our group made a short parody of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". They asked me to stand in front of a green screen and run around like I was terrified. Instead, I stood there for a few seconds, then walked out of the shot. I hate being in front of the camera...

  My greatest strength was definitely the technical part of the class. And I wasn't even that great at it. I just can't seem to cooperate with people. Social skills are definitely my biggest weakness. I improved by being able to tolerate people. That doesn't seem that great, but that's a big step for me. I just hate it when people try to tell me what to do, and that happens every time there's a group project. Obviously, social skills are important in the world, and I will continue to develop them to a degree that I can at least fool people into thinking I like them. Hopefully, I will actually be a cooperative person by the time I leave high school. 

  I hope to apply my learning to video production next year. Perhaps the special effects I learned with the green screen and explosions. Not to mention the website that we used to learn how to do the explosions. I plan to use other tutorials on that website to expand my experience and knowledge. Specifically, I have been interested in creating an under-skin glow, like in the show "Iron Fist". 

  If I could change anything, I would work on my project management. There were a few projects that I missed in class and neglected to make up. I would go back and finish those projects, or at least get something that I could turn in. 

  Throughout the year in animation I have learned so many things. 2D animation in Photoshop, the usefulness of Adobe After Effects, 3D animation in MAYA, and special effects. My knowledge of animation has grown exponentially, and I enjoyed the sarcastic humor of the teacher. Overall, I had a great experience in this class and I wish I could spend a few more days there. But all good things must come to an end. So as I leave, I remind the teacher that I did learn, and I did enjoy it. For now, that's all I have to say.  

Video Production - Final Reflection

  This year in video production, I extended my learning of everything video. First semester was all about convergence journalism, but this semester was everything entertainment. Communication, collaboration, project management, leadership, and technical skills were put to the test as we pushed through three major projects. A music video, a high school trailer, and a short film. 

  The music video was our first big project in entertainment. We used the technical skills that we had learned in convergence to make a music video worth watching. The vast majority of our time was spent in preproduction. Filming only took a couple of days, and the editing process was even faster. Some of the major challenges that we faced involved scheduling. One person couldn't do this one day, and another person couldn't fit any time this day. It was a mess, but we got it done. The most important lesson we learned is that if you don't plan ahead, you're not going to finish. Prep work is the key to success. Once we were done, our feedback was mostly positive. It was a good video, consisting of a one-shot to the tune of Sweet Dreams. 

  The second project of entertainment was the high school trailer. We had to take a trailer of a movie based in high school and replicate it shot for shot. My group decided to do The Breakfast Club. I had never seen it before and was a little slow on figuring everything out, but that isn't what killed us. Our biggest challenge again was scheduling. Due to jobs, after school activities, parents, and actors simply not showing up, the video was not completed. It was frustrating, annoying, stupid, and overall it made me want to punch something. All we could do was sit and come up with ideas. Ideas that were never to be used. 

  The final and most successful project was our short film. This time, I was placed in a different group. The prep work took up most of the allotted time, and the filming and editing was relatively simple comparatively. Our biggest challenge, just like the last two times, was scheduling. The person who was supposed to be scheduling everything told us the wrong places, so for the first few days nothing got done. But eventually it was finished. 

  Overall, I enjoyed entertainment much more than convergence. Despite the constant frustrations and issues, it was just a better environment for me. Call me crazy, but I just didn't enjoy journalism as much as I enjoyed slamming my head on a wall. During class, I would double check my project to make sure it was as good as it could be. Once I had done that, I would usually watch movies on my tablet, taking mental notes on the shots and strategies used to make the film. I also do this outside of class, and I keep a journal of any cool plot ideas that I might come up with. I am very good at actually doing the work, I just have a hard time finding the time and desire to do it. I often have other things to do, and a school project is often at the bottom of the list. 

  I don't know what I enjoyed most about this semester. Nothing seemed to go right, everything and everyone annoyed me, yet I just loved it. I don't even know how to explain it. If I could change anything, it would be my schedule. I need to plan ahead better so that I can get stuff done. Overall, my big takeaway from this semester is that prep work and planning are the most important aspects to video production. Next year, I hope to keep learning and improving on my skills. I have no specific final thoughts. Nothing that needs to be said, nothing that needs to be done. I'll move on to next year with a renewed purpose, one which I hope will lead me to a long and successful life.

Professional Article Review - How Special Effects Transformed the Movies

  This article, located on techradar.com, talks about several different ways that CGI has transformed the movie experience. First, it talks about the ways different companies can customize their own brand of CGI; second, it gave a brief background of the history of CGI and some of the first movies to incorporate it, and how CGI was revolutionized after the release of Tron; third, it talked about how Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy used a new program for the huge battle scenes; and finally, the article talked about how the best CGI is used when blending fact and fiction. The author does a good job making an argument, using historical events and examples to push points through. The article seems accurate, and I might consider reading more of the content of this website.

http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/computing/how-special-effects-transformed-the-movies-590842/2

Professional Project Review - Frozen

  Honestly, I hated the movie. Yeah, I'm a pessimist. Deal with it. But I'm not here to review the plot or the overwhelmingly numerous musical numbers, I'm talking about the animation segment of it.
  Overall, it was well animated, as most Disney/Pixar movies are. Anywhere from the giant snowman down to the reindeer, the attention to detail was spectacular. However, there were a few mistakes. When Elsa is singing "Let it Go", she pulls her hair out of its bun and throws it around, unwittingly passing it straight through her shoulder. Another mistake was during the song "Love is an Open Door". In the scene where the singers' shadows are dancing across the wall, both shadows are floating, indicating that the characters would have had to be floating too. These are just a few mistakes, and let's be honest, no kids movie is going to be perfect. They don't have to make it perfect because no normal kid looks for these kinds of things. Overall, it was still well done, but a little more double checking couldn't have hurt.

Personal Project - Explosions

  This quarter in animation, our class has been learning about special effects and how to properly input them into video. Once we learned the basics, we created two projects based on explosions. Nothing is happening, then BOOM! Because why not...

  Overall, the projects were just an introduction into special effects. They were meant to test how well we learned, then how fast we could repeat it. There wasn't any pre-production for this project other than downloading the effects used. We used the explosion, dust, smoke, debris, and some other effects to make the blast as real as possible. Along the way, I learned that it rarely works perfectly the first time, and the key to being successful is being patient until you find something that works. If I did anything differently, it would definitely be my lack of patience. At the beginning, some of the things that I wanted didn't work out, and I slammed my head on my desk out of frustration multiple times. But the technical work would stay the same. I'm satisfied with how the two videos turned out. 

Movie Trailer Remake - Reflection

  In my video class, we had to remake a movie trailer. Of course, the movie had to be based in a high school. My group chose to remake "The Breakfast Club". We planned everything, made a script, a storyboard, and a cast and crew list. We began production, but we didn't get anything filmed. As it happens, the actors either didn't show up or couldn't, members of the crew (including myself) had to skip production for our jobs, and overall, nothing got done. There was absolutely nothing we could do about it. So unfortunately, we have nothing to show for over a month of scrambling and preparing. Oops.

Animation-Semester Reflection

Walk Cycle:

  Another project from this year is the walk cycle. It consists of a robot walking across the screen. Yep, that's it. We drew something, scanned it into the computer, put the pieces together, then made it move. We used Adobe After Effects for this project, and for every 2D animation. Making it move was easy, but I can't draw to save my life. it looked like it was drawn by a five-year-old. I would have include the project, except the video isn't uploading to Blogger.

Multi-Plane:
  Using different layers from Photoshop, I was able to create a multi-plane animation. Rolling hills, trees and bushes going by, like driving by on the highway. The farthest layers moved more slowly, just like it looks in real life. The hardest part of this project was again, drawing. It took more time to draw it all out than it did to export out of Photoshop, import into After Effects, reorganize them, put them into a timeline, reorganize them in the timeline, make them move, and export the final project. Just like the last project, the video won't work, so you're stuck with my description.

Castle:
  This was the first project made in MAYA, a 3D animation program. It was a quick way to learn how to use the program, and get some experience using it at the same time. The castle had to consist of four towers, four walls, an entrance, a flat plane, and color. Mine included all of the requirements, but some of my classmates went a little over the top.


Hammer:
  Hammers are common in homes. They are useful tools, capable of putting things together or tearing them apart. But in animation land, they're nothing but a collection of polygons thrown together. The hammer was supposed to be an easy project, but nothing was working right. When I tried to round the handle, random extra planes stuck out the side. And when I tried to delete these extra planes, the whole handle disappeared. The head worked well, at least to an extent. The claws were fine and easy to adjust. They stayed in place and they're really the only part of the project that turned out perfectly. The rest of the hammer wouldn't cooperate and screwed up horribly when I tried to fix it. Plus, the lighting's not great, and I had no idea how to fix it when I was making this.


Ice Cream:
  The Ice Cream animation went well. All of the polygons did exactly what they were supposed to, the textures worked well, the lighting was decent, and the rendering was smooth. This project was probably one of the top two among my best projects this year. All of the images rendered beautifully, and the animation process went well. This project was made in MAYA, then a series of images were taken. These images were transferred to Adobe After Effects, where they were put into a timeline as a full animation. Overall, I was very pleased with this project, but I probably could've tried to make the chocolate ice cream look a little less like poop.

Video Production-Semester Reflection

  This year in e-Comm I learned plenty. Many of the skills I learned last year in e9 carried over into this year. The six-shot system, three-point lighting, editing, and audio skills all carried over into my experience this year. So far, we have studied convergence journalism. We have made several videos, including two feature stories. Not the most creative titles, but they were called "Feature Story 1" and "Feature Story 2".
Feature Story 1:
  The first feature story I made was about my classmate Austin Wilson and his involvement with the school play. He was the only sophomore in the pit orchestra for our school's musical. The video consisted of him playing some of the music and talking about everything that he did. It was pretty easy to film, but some of the footage disappeared from the SD card. And the fact that I missed three days of class prevented me from getting it in on time. So while it wasn't the easiest project, it certainly gave me some experience to carry into the second feature story.
Feature Story 2:
  The second feature story I made was about my best friend TJ Dahl. The video was about his volunteer work at our church. Every Sunday morning, he goes early and does any odd job that needs to be done around the building. I was originally going to film him talking about it at our church, but I forgot my SD card, forcing me to wait and do it later at his grandparents' house. However, I was able to get footage of us working thanks to an extended due date and my personal "GoPro rip-off". It was a little rough at times, but it was by far my favorite story to shoot, considering I got to spend time with a friend in the process.
Class time:
  Most of my class time was used to edit or film videos, but I had some free time. I've been a perfectionist since the day I was born, and I spent most of my time in class trying to make my videos look as good as they possibly could. While this was often frustrating due to poor lighting or camera issues, I made some quality videos and cranked them out in record time. There were a few videos that we filmed in class, so that time was completely devoted to trying to make the cameras work. Outside of class I watched news stories and movies. Not as entertainment, but to try and figure out how everything was done. When I watch movies, I watch them for entertainment and I try to find errors. Whether that be continuity, grammar, statistics, or special effects, I always try to find something that could be fixed. For example, there is a scene in Jurassic Park when two velociraptors follow children into a kitchen. As the velociraptors enter, they stop. One starts to lean forward, then it stands up straight again. This looks completely normal, but if you look closely, the model dinosaur used in shooting was actually about to fall on its nose. A crew member's hand comes up into the shot and lowers the raptor's tail down, bringing its head back up. Against the dark shadows of the doorway, this is not something you would spot unless you were looking for it.
Video Skills:
  This year, I've gained many new skills. Rather than editing in Final Cut Pro, this year we used Adobe Premiere Pro. Many of the concepts and controls are the same, but it is a different layout, so we had to practice a little bit. An area I may need to improve in is filming. While it seems really easy, I often forget to check the lighting, natural noise, and anything else that's going on in the background.
Summary:
  What did I love most about this semester? I don't know. I love video production, whether for journalism or entertainment. I already know that I'm going to choose video over animation next year. I don't think I would change anything from my experiences at e-Comm. This is a fantastic program, and I hope that I'll be able to finish my high school career with it. I don't have any goals except to continue my amazing experience in this program.

Technical Tutorial-Using MAYA

  MAYA is a great program for people who want to try 3D animation, but it can be confusing. There are so many things this program can do, it gets overwhelming, confusing, annoying, and straight up stupid. But this tutorial will tell you some of the easiest things you can do in MAYA. 

  This is the top bar. It is the main hub for operations and controls when using MAYA. Right now, it's in the "Polygons" tab. Selecting different tabs will allow you to create different things. After creating objects, you can change them and fit them together to form larger projects. You can also add color to your creations by selecting them, then holding down the right-click and dragging down to "Add favorite material". A box will appear to the right. Keep holding down on the mouse and drag over to select one of the options. The option "lambert" is just a normal color. "Blinn" is a little bit shinier and reflective. "Phong" is for really shiny things. 

  This is what the whole screen looks like. You can adjust it to make your workspace bigger or smaller. The project on the screen now is my semester final. We had to choose a pen from our backpacks, then make it in MAYA. It's still a work in progress, but overall, it's pretty close to being finished. This is incredibly small and insignificant compared to some of the things you can make in MAYA, so go ahead and try it out. You won't be disappointed. 

Professional Project Review-The Incredibles

  There are plenty of great animated movies out there, and animation companies have learned to capitalize on this popular industry. Such is the case with the hit movie from 2004, The Incredibles. The Incredibles pits a family of superheroes against a genius supervillain that has created an ever-learning robot. Using their family teamwork and their superpowers, they save the city. The animation itself was well done, an example of Pixar's great work over the years. One thing that was done well was the fight scenes. They were clear and it was easy to see what was going on. There isn't much about this movie that could be improved.

Professional Article Review - Animation

  In the article "Yes, as a Matter of Fact. You Do Need to Learn 3D.", on lynda.com by Starshine Roshell, the article gives several reasons why you should learn 3D animation. The author tells the reader what our culture wants to see, what 3D animation is used in, and how to train yourself to see in a 3D perspective. The article tries to convince readers that 3D animation is useful, and that they need to take the lynda.com tutorials. While the article is more of an advertisement, it is in article format and does present some points as to why 3D animation is important.

Feature Story 2

  In my video production class, we had to make two feature stories. This one was about my friend TJ Dahl. The story was about his volunteer work at our church. He talked about the numerous tasks that he does around the church, and there are scenes of him working. 

  The narrative lead is an important part of any feature story, and I actually recorded mine after I made the video. This helped me to know how I wanted to begin the story, and what I needed to say to make that happen. 

  First, I interviewed TJ himself to talk to him about everything that he did on Sunday mornings. He gave details about what he did, who he worked with, when he started, and when he went. After that, I interviewed TJ's mother Danna. She talked about how she also volunteered at the church, but rather than doing odd jobs, she works with the high school students. 

  Shooting the video was pretty simple. Occasionally, the lighting wouldn't work well, or the focus on the camera was off, but other than that it was easy. Setting up the camera, adjusting the zoom, and clicking a button. It's pretty easy. Editing was just putting the clips into a sequence that I liked.

  The feedback from my classmates was mostly suggestions, and I listened carefully. I ended up changing the entire sequence of my video based on one little suggestion. It just goes to show you, every little detail counts. 

What makes a good feature story?

  When you watch a feature story on the news, it can be captivating. An inspiring story about a blind man who kayaked an entire river, a long-lost child returning home, some stories just give you a warm and fuzzy feeling. But why do the stories do this? What makes you want to cry, laugh, or cheer? What makes a good feature story?
  The first thing that you need when creating a successful feature story is a good topic. Obviously, the topic must be something interesting, otherwise no one will care. For example, a blind man kayaking the entire length of the colorado river is a great story that would inspire people. No one would want to hear a story about a little kid who dropped his ice cream.
  Making sure you get good footage is one of the most important things when making a feature story. Footage of the activity or topic that you are talking about is imperative. When the footage relates to what you're talking about, the viewers are more interested.
  As with any film, you want to have good lighting and sound. There needs to be enough light that you can see, but not so much that the glare blinds the camera. On the same note, a little bit of natural noise is welcome, but too much overpowers your voice-overs and leaves your viewers confused.
  An effective voice-over is another important part of creating a feature story. A voice-over can introduce a topic, transfer a viewer's attention to a new part of the topic, and end the feature story on a high note. Voice-overs keep your viewers interested, and they can be used to articulate an unclear part of the story. Also, they are often used to explain what the person in the story may be talking about, as putting the creator of the feature story is considered unprofessional.
  These are good things to do when creating a good feature story. Remember, if the video is too long, the viewers may lose interest. Try to keep it as brief and concise as possible.

Story Animation

  The latest 2D animation from my animation class required a story. There needed to be a plot, action, and a walk cycle. After creating storyboards for our animations, my class began to work. The creation process began in Adobe Photoshop. Characters, backgrounds, everything was crafted and colored to fit each person's needs. Each layer was perfected, then the work was moved to Adobe After Effects.
  Adobe After Effects was the program used to put the animation together. Each layer was placed in its position, then moved throughout the animation. Some things could be moved with the use of key frames, while some objects needed to be moved with puppet pin tools. I included a stick figure in my animation, and I used puppet pin tools to move it. My robot's legs were moved with the use of key frames. I set the legs in a position, then created a key frame to make the legs be in that position at the selected time. After a full cycle, I copied and pasted the key frames to make the walk look consistent.


  The final animation wasn't the best. The concept was supposed to be that the robot was a ghost, or a hologram, or something. But nobody seemed to get that. They just figured I did a bad job. And while it wasn't as obvious as it could've been, I'm still learning this, I don't know how I could make it any clearer, and they probably should've been able to figure it out. Some of my classmates started pointing out stuff that was wrong with it, but I did those things on purpose to try and make it look like the robot was a ghost. Yes, there were things that I could have done better, but overall, most of the criticism was based around a false assumption. And at least something happened in my animations. There were some animations where the entire scene was a badly drawn blob walking for 30 seconds. If I had more time, I would have concentrated on the details a little bit more rather than just focusing on finishing.