4th Quarter Last Post

The Project
According to Meyer-Briggs text, I was an ENFP, and according to the animal test, I was an otter, so I tried to channel that imagination and enthusiasm towards our project. The idea was to sell a product using all areas of E-Comm we had covered- animation, video, and graphic design. Jake was an INTJ and a beaver as the most introverted member of our group, Sara was ESFJ and Golden Retriever, and Jacob was also ESFJ and a beaver.

The Process

I storyboarded the commercial and was the spokesperson that had to explain the product. I also designed the website, including the content and color scheme.We started by throwing out product ideas and, once we had locked onto Snooze-Tune, we started writing our slogan, jingle and product description. Then we storyboarded the video before filming. Our next rotation was animation where we were supposed to make a 3D version of our product using Google Sketch-Up.

My Experience
I designed the pillow part of the animation. Lastly, our group went into graphic design where we made the coupon, ad, website, and web banner. We finished up by inserting our logo into the commercial when we had the extra time. I learned a lot about AI, Dreamweaver, and Google Sketch-Up- like how to make rounded edges on a 3D object. I also learned about setting reasonable, achievable goals instead of trying to get too many things done within a deadline.

Next Time
If I had another chance to do this project, my goal would be to have better time management. I might have gotten a planner to use it specifically for this, because of deadlines and smaller things that needed to happen sooner. I should have also had a back-up plan because in case things went wrong. But I was proud of my creative ideas in all rotations. I felt I added a lot of imagination in the process, even if the goals were a little unrealistic because of it. I regret not signing up for E-comm next year. If it were not 2 hours, I definitely would have, but it's more important to get my 2 years of language credit in, considering I hope to be going into a college out of state. But if I did have the opportunity to apply what I've learned to another E-Comm project, I would definitely relate it to graphic design, because I struggled so much with AI. I should have asked for more help from team members during that portion.

Snooze-Tune Pillow Product Commerical

It was hard, at first, to think of a product that could incorporate everything we wanted. In the end,  my group decided on what we called the Snooze-Tune: a pillow that could play lullabies to kids at night. It still needed some adjusting but we were soon onto the storyboarding for the commercial. Unfortunately, in the initial planning process, we weren't very realistic. Because our product was directed towards children, we had planned on using a 5-year-old as the main person in our commercial, but it was Easter weekend and hard to pull it together. We ended up behind, not sure how to represent our pillow and with nothing to film at school with no 5-year-olds on hand.

Finally, we decided to change our plans. I spoke in the commercial, explaining the product and giving the testimonial. Sarah took the place of our 5-year-old and we decided to direct our product towards teens more as well. After all, teens bought pillow pets more than anyone and I would use this product in my life. We actually got done quickly and did get the chance to put some kids in it thanks to Sarah. The editing stage took some time but we didn't get behind and our video is a safe 1 minute 15 seconds.

Interview

When I chose to do E-comm, I was especially interested in video design because I hope to be an actress and I've done on-camera auditions before. I've gone to workshops, learned the mechanics, but still always struggled with them. It was incredibly helpful to be the creative person behind the camera so I could understand what translates and what doesn't. Now I understand the camera and the shots, and I have a new skill set I can always use. Choosing the arts as a career means you can't be picky- the more I can do, the more likely I can be used so I'm grateful for anything I can learn.
The other two careers I'm looking at for my future are marketing and a writer for TV among others. Both of these fields are perfect for the E-communication to help me with. Video design has been very interesting and a great learning opportunity. I made friends, learned collaboration, had room to be creative while still being given a goal, and expanded my horizons.

Chase Scene

I learned a lot about creativity with camera angles and shots. There was a large range of locations to choose from and many different ideas to put to use. We did close-ups that were reflections, wide shots from behind walls. We bent the rules a little bit to be creative and I'm glad we did! I learned about how to add a static effect at the end using Final Cut Pro, and how to use more than two six shot systems and more than two locations. I especially learned about adding music this time. Previously, soundtracks had been long enough to take up the whole video. But this time, there wasn't a song long enough and one that consistently kept the mood accurate as it constantly changed in the video, from creepy suspense to obvious danger. I had to put a lot of different music together, sometimes stacking them up so they flowed together better.
This factor in music and the new creative devices I used are definite things I plan on keeping  up. In my next video, it'll be essential to steady the camera better before it starts rolling. I noticed multiple places where that could have been smoother.
In this project, I worked with two actors, and therefore it was a little harder to collaborate. We got along really well and turned out a good, cooperative group, but we all had many different ideas we hoped to implement while only a few could really be used. We did a great job bouncing ideas off each other and were an extremely efficient, hard-working team. I honestly don't think I could ask for better in terms of collaboration.

AB sequence project: 2 location video

In this project, I learned about transitions from one area to another in a video sequence. To show this, we had a girl working on homework, before she got thirsty and has to get a quick drink from the water fountain. The water fountain is actually a hallway away from the classroom, but when filming, I used footage only of her leaving the classroom and arriving at the water fountain with none of the walking in between simply because it's not necessary and boring to watch someone walk down a hallway. The passage of time can be warped to keep the audience interested. It's these concepts that I will apply to future projects.

Collaboration means working together to produce something good, and I think I've accomplished that with my partner. We were a great team and were easily able to bounce ideas off of each other. For example, in the video she took of me reading, I gave her the idea to have a shot of the clock so the viewer understood why I had to leave and go into the classroom. And in my video, she was able to help me a lot with where to put the camera for the best shot, something I'm not always so good at figuring out.

Soccer Hobby

In this project, we used a six-shot system to make a short video of someone else in class performing a hobby they enjoy. We had to make it out of multiple clips. The first shot I have is called and Extra Close-Up (XCU) and focuses on his hands performing an action- putting down the ball. My second shot is called an Over-The-Shoulder (OTS) where he prepares himself in kick. The third is a Medium Shot (MS) of him running towards the ball and then there's a Wide Shot (WS) of him kicking which I experimented with speed on. The last shot is an Extra Wide Shot (XWS) of the ball flying towards the goal and making it! While I already knew how to string videos together from the last project where I did a Broadway mash-up, this time I was actually the one filming and had to work with the limited footage. I had to string together the shots in the best way. These six shots each have their own uses in certain situations and will be helpful with any future video I make.

Highlight Video

The Highlight Video project involved finding five Youtube videos that we could clip and strong together into one full video. It was supposed to be about something we love or a hobby- so I chose Broadway! I started with finding some footage of the classics- Lion King, Wicked, Les Mis...Then, I went to find promos from my favorite shows that are newer and more contemporary- Pippin and Bring It On. I also added some Tarzan footage in there, but had to end up taking it back out. That was the hardest part: cutting my footage. There was so much i wanted to use but I had to have exactly a minute.

The great thing about using promos was that they were made as an advertisement so they already featured the best parts. I ended up using them the most, while the Wicked clip went from five minutes to five seconds. I'm very proud of how it turned out.

Web-design project

In this project, my e-Communtications class was assigned to make a website with Dreamweaver. While I've done coding before and enjoy it, making a website was very new to me. We followed the instructions given to us in four parts when we made this site so the style and production wasn't up to us, but we were allowed to be a little more creative with color. I chose a light blue from the sky in the picture shown. Everything I did in this project was very new to me. While I've used coding, some of the codes used in this were different. I really enjoyed learning about them though and learned many things like how to easily link, create headings, add styles. Just about every step in this was an unfamiliar, but welcome, experience.
Because I was figuring things out as I went, it was harder to meet the deadline and I usually found myself just a few steps behind my classmates, but was able to get it done in time without starting over and with little trouble. Next time, I'd like to experiment with these designs- add gifs, colors, my own creativity! I might need more practice before I'm ready to go at it on my own, but I think- with a little help- I could create something really interesting. When that time does come, I'll incorporate most everything I learned through this project- especially that which involved adding colors and pictures. Without this project, I'm sure my style would be very bland and amateurish with no set design, background color, or contrast. In general, I'm just glad this project taught me so much. It's an interesting process that'll help me in any future career i choose to pursue, whether that be acting or P.R.

Dreamhouse Animation

 In this project, I was supposed to make a 'dream home' using Sketch-Up. I began with a city of glass but found it  too complicated and unrealistic, so i switched to a more realistic dream home idea. I decided I wanted a porch and minimal foliage, with a small overhang. After I made it, I experimented with materials like bricking and roofing. It was in the editing stage when I decided on the transparent fence. It pulled the project together more. While I'm well-versed in Sketch-Up, I learned quite a bit while making this. I had never tried a fence before, found a new, simpler way of making the roof, and adding animation to it. I wasn't aware Sketch-Up allowed you to do that and I can't wait to look into it more later. I met the deadline easily and had time to add stairs and more details inside the home. I would like to know how to do a railing for next time because I spent a lot of valuable time trying to experiment with that. I'm most happy with my offsetting and will definitely incorporate that in future projects as I've done in the past. For the next time I use Sketch-Up, I'd most like to remember how I pushed my roof up easily. I had known a more complicated way of doing it, but it took too much time and I'm glad to have found a simpler tool. All in all, I wish I had done more with the porch because that one chair looks really lonely even though i didn't want to put too much there. Looking back, I also wish I had put lights on the underneath side of the overhang. It would've been a nice detail to feature and it would've given the overhang a more productive purpose.

Animation Overview

The last steps in my animation process involved using iMovie to get sound effects, smoother changes, and title screens. I had to separately download some some music but most of the tools I used were provided by the iMovie program. I added the sounds of sword-fighting, medieval music, and record scratching (for a comedic effect) among others.While it took a lot of adjusting to get it to he right time and speed, I'm happy with how the video turned out.

My Animation

My animation is about a knight who falls in love with a princess and attempts to impress her with a beautiful flower. But, just as she is about to accept his gift, a dark knight rides in on a horse and wins her affections. He drops his flower and challenges the dark knight to a duel (left). The princess watches and, for a time, it seem the dark knight might win. However, the light knight is more crafty than he thought and he ends up winning the love of the princess. Angered, the dark knight goes in for a killing shot but the princess sees and steps in front of the light knight. She saves his life, giving her own. Thankfully, there's a lighter end to this dramatic tale.

Many of the techniques I used were thanks to my last quarter with Mr. Olson in graphic design. I was able to do something that might've taken the whole hour more quickly and efficiently. I used the delay between transitions to my advantage most so I could control the length of each slide and I used the 'wipe' effect so their reactions were timed better. I learned how to group and lock things so it was easier to move them without changing everything up.

I received great critiques from my classmates and took them to heart. I was told to add more background (castle) and to make my transitions easier. They loved the story and thought the sword fight was very cool. I was able to implement what I've learned most during that so I was glad people appreciated it.

Photoshop Projects

In this project, we experimented with opacity and layers. We began with the picture of the school, added the compass, and then put the school name in front of that. Both the compass and the words are at a 70% opacity with a Soft-Light blend. I transformed and moved each picture to where i wanted it, only cropping out a little of the original school photo. My initial problem was figuring out how to stretch the words so that they fit the picture without warping them. I was also afraid the opacity might be too might and that the white clouds might make the letters unreadable but ended up working out.

Here, we used a text mask in a new layer and created our own custom color. We used the empty space so that the picture showed through and put a very thin white border around the words for a better effect. While this project was hard for me to figure out due to all the new effects I was trying, I'm very happy with the end result!

In this project, we took an average monarch and recolored it using a tool we call the "magic wand." It lets you select a specific area. The tricky part was getting the entire area we needed. I decided to continually adjust the color from the inside out. I wanted the effect to be that it seemed as if the colors were gradually changing, going from blue to a lighter green, blending into yellow, orange, and red on the tips. As hard as this project was, it's really one of my favorites. The wings did not start out like they are here. I had to figure out how to use the copy stamp tool and trailed it along the edge of the wing to create another layer so that it looked like the butterfly was fluttering its wings or flying.

This, Project Four, was the biggest and combined everything we'd learned about Photoshop. It was tedious but I learned a lot. This time, we used to copy stamp tool again but to subtract and erase instead of adding to the picture. There were originally two light poles by the school but we used that copy stamp tool to copy the area around the light poles so we could blot them out.  Then we turned it into  a collage, using various pictures of different area of the school to copy them in. We used opacity and a layer mask to paint black around the edges so that they seems to fad into the background. I learned so much about Photoshop and it was amazing!

My logo

The idea for this project was to create our own personal logo (left). I started out by thinking about color and shape. What message was I trying to get across? I knew I wanted it to look cool- like an optical illusion. It's always hard to take your eyes away from those. Red symbolizes intensity and passion while black is more formal and professional. Those two were the colors I used because I thought they were a good mix. I used circles and curves because they appear smooth instead of blocky. It has almost a spiral affect.

I started with the shape tool and made the ellipse right in the center while holding the shift key to avoid warping the shape. Then I began with the shape in red, using the line and curve tools. I realized it looked to simple and decided to copy it to give it that spiral shape using Option-drag. This started as an experiment but I wanted to continue the reflection-cirlce theme I had. I knew I would have to have my name in it somewhere as it was a logo so I reflected the name by typing on a path and putting it on both sides, then I ended with putting the C in the middle. I saved it as a PNG 24.

One challenge was the curve tool. It took me a while to figure out how to do it so it would look the way I wanted. Figuring out how to type on a path was easier. If I was to do it again, I'd probably start out with a different initial design altogether. While I like how this looks, most logos have more symbolism. The Apple logo stands for the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, for example. More experience using Illustrator would've helped me with this project.

Color Meaning in Marketing

Colors are important in marketing because each color provides feelings in the audience, even if they are not aware of it. If you own a barbeque restaurant and use blue in the logo, people will immediately think 'cool' which I not what you want to indicate in that kind of establishment. It would be better to use warm colors like red, orange, and yellow.

Red:
 -energy
 -strength
 -passion
 -intensity

Green:
 -growth
 -harmony
 -fertility
 -money


Blue:
-deep thoughts
-loyalty
-intelligence
-heaven

Black:
 -formality
 -mystery
 -negativity
 -prestigious

White:
 -innocence
 -perfection
 -cleanliness
 -positivity

Purple:
 -balance
 -royalty
 -nobility
 -luxury
 -ambition
 -wealth
 -extravagance


Yellow:
 -cheer
 -cowardice
 -unstable
 -spontaneous
 -freshness

Orange:
 -tropical
 -happiness
 -attraction
 -stimulation

Brown:
-responsibility
-trustworthy
-agriculture
-constant

My sources:
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html
http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-black.html
http://www.colormatters.com/yellow
http://crystal-cure.com/color-meanings.html

My Personality Type

I have a big heart, I'm a little wild, and I'm very creative. I view life as a book, with never-ending options for adventure. I can analyze well and I'm confidence with my skills in the arts. I desperately want people to like me and I'm always a shoulder to lean on because I'm sympathetic to the problems others have. I'm a little random and I love trying thew things.

Click to enlarge

My hobbies are theater and writing and now i know why! I think this description of me is pretty good but I would call myself more of a 'performer' than a 'champion.' Of course, my favorite kinds of people are also funny, random, and love the arts. When I was younger, I enjoyed playing pretend. However, I would argue that I'm an introvert. While I love people, I have trouble focusing and tend to pull in if I'm in a larger crowd due to ADD.

Some famous ENFPs include some of my role models-- Julie Andrews, Robin Williams, Carol Burnett, and Dr. Suess. People of my type tend to be great at coping with stress but likely to have troubles in school. The passage above encourages me to pursue a career in teaching, religion, the arts, or counseling. It also includes my personal values (home & family, friendships, creativity, learning, and community service). My polar opposite is the ISTJ- the responsible organizer. In other words, my sister. One flaw of an ENFP is probably lack of responsibility and focus. People have probably been annoyed with me for that.

My color wheel

Callie's Color Wheel   

         I learned a lot about Adobe Illustrator and graphic design with this project. I now understand the terms "fill" and "stroke" and what tools to use to accomplish those things. The most useful tool I learned to use was the transparency tool because I know it'll be useful for future projects. The hardest part about this was figuring out how a Mac and how Adobe Illustrator work. I had never used either before but quickly got the hang of it and am excited to experiment more with both throughout the year.