Final Exam -- Video Production

This semester in Video AV I have learned more about video than any other year.  I learned the six shot system, how to use  higher quality camera, how to shoot an interview, how to shoot a feature story, and how to use Adobe Premiere.  I have had to communicate with my teacher and my classmates to create a better video.  Also I have had to manage my projects and turn them in at a deadline.  Below are my semester 1 projects.

ONW 1 in 2000

Below is my first project of this semester.  It was an interview with a student in my class about a trip that he took over the summer.  The video was approximately 1 minutes and 30 seconds.  With the time it took to shoot the video and edit the video I ended up taking a week to get my final product. I learned how to keep a conversation flowing on camera and how to ask certain questions.  My strength is asking solid questions to which I can receive an answer with explanation.  My weakness in this video was the background noise was dominating the video and it was louder than me, so next time I shoot outside I need to always make sure the background noise isn't too loud.  I feel like I did a solid job in this video because it was my first time and I did the requirements, I have a lot to learn from.

Feature Story 1

Here is my second video of the semester, it was a feature story with two players on the football team. I struggled during this video and I made many mistakes in which I can learn from.  First during a feature story the person interviewing is not supposed to be in the shot.  Second, during the voiceovers you are not to refer to yourself as, "I" or "Me". My strengths during this video was having a strong beginning, middle and end.  This video was about 60 seconds and it took me a while to shoot because the first time I did not have audio on the shots.  In the end it took me about a week and a half to come out with the final video.  In this video I would probably have to reshoot the whole thing to fix my problems.  I feel like in the end I didn't do my best, but I can move on to the next video.

Feature Story 2

My second feature story was with a wrestler on the ONW wrestling squad.  For this video I had 1 week to shoot and edit.  I did my first interview with, Jake Herl, the wrestler.  I was going to do my second interview with his coach, but he could not be interviewed.  My second choice was to interview a teammate of Jake.  When I was ready to interview him the SD card was full.  These are both two problems that I faced.  I ended up with doing just one video.  I can learn form my mistakes to always have backup plans if I face adversity.  I feel like this was an average video from me and I didn't manage my time in class to my full potential.

Barbershop Quartet (ONW Now)

This was my last video made for this semester. This was a final for Video AV and it was featured on our ONW Now for 7th hour.  Sarah Peek and I shot this feature story in a week and edited it very quickly.  We managed our time well and turned it in on the deadline.  While shooting the video we interviewed all four of the singers in the quartet.  Some of the challenges that we faced were getting all the singers together at once and writing good questions for them to answer.  The feedback that we received was that we needed to get more B-Roll and not use the same shot twice.  I feel like this was one of my better videos and it had a very strong concept.

Overall this semester I feel like I have managed my time in class to the best of my ability.  But at some points I may have slacked off I feel like I made up for that.  I did turn in every project and I feel like that shows my time managing skills.  Whenever I finished a project early I would revise it and ask for constructive criticism so I could make it as near perfect as I could.  To enhance my video skills, outside of school I would watch the news and look at their feature stories and learn from the professionals.  I feel like my areas of strength are asking good questions and receiving strong answers from the subject.  I maximized my strengths by always coming up with good questions and having that translate to my projects.

This semester had been a great time with great classmates and a great teacher.  My favorite thing had to be shooting ONW Now on the set and being able to be one of the sports anchors.  Next semester I will make stronger videos by getting better shots and managing my time even better.  My overall take away is that no matter how good you think your video is there is always a way to make it better.  Next semester I want to make my videos even better than what I have and learn from my mistakes.  I feel like the first semester was a solid base and will lead right into next semester.

Semester 1 Portfolio Reflection

This is in my top 5 favorite projects for this semester.  I picked it because it made sense and I got to learn more about after effects and I also integrated photoshop.  My greatest strength is making the grass in photoshop.  I have improved by being able to branch out and do things on my own as I grow in animation.  I am going to use the information I learned for making objects move using the pin tool in after effects.  I would change to work to be more designed than just lines on the worm.



This is another one of my favorite projects for this semester.  I had fun with this project because we had the chance to draw character and scan it onto the computer.  After that we got to design it more then make a background for it to walk. I also used the pin tool to move the arms while the character walked.  I improved in drawing and using skills to scan the project onto the computer.  I would probably change my character and add more details and depth to the drawing.


In this project I made a multiplane in photoshop and then I put it into aftereffects and edited it so it would like the background is sliding.  My greatest was making the grass and the sky.  Also I liked importing pictures from the internet.  My weakness was making it slide cleanly aftereffects, I had to get some help on that part.  I learned how to slide the background and if I changed anything I would try to draw more animals than import them.

In this pictureI modeled a pen in Maya without direct instructions.  This was my final for semester 1, I like this because I feel like I did great job on making a pen without any directions.  My greatest strength was making the tip of the pen using the vertices.  I also liked how I added lighting and make the pen transparent.  I would have added a different background and make the plane a different color.  I have improved by being able to do this without directions already made by the teacher.

In this project I had to make a castle on Maya. I learned Maya from my teacher then I had to branch out and do some on my own.  I picked this project because this is where I started to develop in Maya. My greatest strengths were adding textures to the castle and the grass.  My weakness was not making everything even, like extruding the pillars differently.  I would change it by making everything more even and not extrude one pillar higher than any other.

Nick Johnson Feature Story Number 2

I recently did a feature story on Jake Herl, wrestler on the Olathe Northwest squad. He told me how he has prepared for the season and what he looks forward to.  Use the narrative lead at the beginning to hook the reader's attention. It is backed up with facts and brings the rest of the story to life.  My first interview was the wrestler himself, Jake Herl.  He gave us vital information and told us the main facts.  I was going to get a second interview, his coach, but we had issues meeting together.  I shot the video in the wrestling room to get the feel of wrestling.  If I were to change anything about shooting the video I would have added more B Roll and gotten a second interview with his coach.

Professional Article Review

I recently read this article, "How To Make an Animated Video" by Stephan Vandenbroucke.  This article gives you the tools to make an animated video in 5 simple steps.  Vandenbroucke  tell you how to do it and who to make is appealing. The author uses evidence from their professional past in making his own animated shorts.  The strength of the article is how well it is organized and how it is clear and to the point.  They weakness is that he doesn't provide evidence from outside and he uses evidence from only his past.  The points in this article are strong because he clearly states that you have 5 steps in making an animated video.  I don't understand some of the tools he uses because I have not gone that far into animation to know how to use some of the tools that he uses for doing voiceovers. In the end the article written by Stephan Vandenbroucke was very strong and teaches you how to make an animated short in 5 steps.


Stephan Vandenbroucke "How To Make an Animated Video"
http://www.videobrewery.com/blog/how-to-make-animated-video

Story Animation

This is my story animation.  During this I used Adobe photoshop and Adobe after effects.  During this I used two characters that I had previously made.  The scope of the project was to make a story with three scene changes and a walk cycle. I first had to make a storyboard then plan out my walk cycle and scene changes.  During the production I had to make the background in photoshop and then import it into after effects.  I learned how to add multiple compositions into after effects.  If I were to do anything differently I would have added more scene changes and the story would have had stronger beginning, middle and end.  I liked how my walk cycle was just long enough and crisp.  In the end my project didn't turn out to what I wanted it to, but I can learn from this and move on in the future and fix mistakes.

Professional Animated Short Blog Post

I recently saw this short animated film.  This film was about a depressed lonely character who was going through the routine motions of life without adventure.  Until one say he say an ad for a company looking to make a flying bike. He was immediately intrigued, and went to work on the bike. On another note, the animation was very smooth and the visuals were great.  The visuals showed that when he was depressed the weather was colder and the sun was never out and there would be snow.  But when he became  adventurous the sun came put and everything got brighter.  In this short film I don't understand why the character is depressed and what made him that way. In conclusion, it was a great film with great visuals, but there wasn't enough background information.

(Citation: Youtube)

Feature Story Review Post

I recently read the article, "Dreams Die in Drought"written by Diana Marcum in the Los Angeles Times.  This article was featured and given Pulitzer prize.  "Dreams die in Drought" was about the hard working conditions (due to the drought) for farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.  It talked about how it is not only hard to find work, but hard to work in the grueling conditions.  It also talked about how people are moving to Washington and Oregon because it is easier to farm there which leaves many workers jobless in San Joaquin. The author interviewed Francisco Galvez and his friend Rafael.   The tow work together and are always looking for work.  The weakness of the article is that the author didn't use much imagery while talking.  The adjectives are very bland. The strength was that the information provided was vital including what type of crops that they grow and what tools they use to work.  The author supports the main points in that workers need more opportunuity to make money and support their family, but they can only wait for it to rain until workers can work.  I followed this article and it made a lot of sense to me and had vital information.

(Citation: "Dreams die in Drought" Los Angeles Times, Diana Marcum)

What Makes a Good Feature Story

A feature story showcases a person's talent or showcases and organization.  The possibilities are endless. A good feature story is very difficult to make and takes hard work.  I viewed many good feature stories in class and saw what they had in common.  They all flowed nicely and had clean cut shots.  They all had a solid topic an they had meaning behind them.  The voiceovers were strong and and they explained the story and brought it to life. A good feature is hard to make, but if you put time and effort into it then it is very possible.

Nick Johnson Story Blog

The idea of this project was to make a story animation through Photoshop and After Affects. I had to plan out the whole idea of the story on a storyboard.  Next I went into Photoshop and created the background and characters.  After that I imported it all into after affects and made the characters move.  Along the way of doing this project I learned how to do a walk cycle again and a multiplane.  If I could do anything differently during this project I probably would have planned out my time better and made the story longer with another scene change.  I liked how I used characters that I have already created this year.  The experiences that I have gained are probably going to help me with making a longer video and being more creative.  Also it will teach me to manage my time a lot better.

Feature Story Written vs Video

In these past three weeks I have shot a feature story and written a feature story on the ONW football team.  In my experiences writing my first feature story I had to learn how to embed quotations into my writing.  I also learned what I needed to do in my narrative to make my story come to life.  This experience has showed me that in a feature story the person asking the questions is not named or in the shot when shooting.

Tyler McCoach takes the snap and pitches it to the running back, Weston Davis, as he finds a hole in the defense and sprints toward the end zone.  Davis trots into the end zone untouched for just another touchdown to add to his season total.  He turns around to celebrate with his best friend and teammate, Tyler McCoach.

                                                        

The Olathe Northwest sophomore football team has been very successful this year and remained undefeated.  They are led by running back and kicker, Davis and quarter back, Tyler McCoach.  The team goes on to pursue an undefeated season and the leaders share their thoughts.

           

“All I hope to gain out of this season is having fun and sharing the moment with my teammates who deserve this,” Davis said.  “We have worked so hard to get to this point, we started working in the summer and we never gave up on each other or the coaches.”

Football has been a part of life for these players ever since they were little playing pee-wee football.  They still remember going to Olathe Northwest football games as little kids waiting for their turn to be out there playing.  They have put in the work and trusted the process and road that they have been on to get to this point. They are here and enjoying every single moment.

           

“Weston is an animal, he never quits and has great ball carrier vision and I think that’s what really allows him to excel on the field,” Tyler McCoach said.  “If I could compare him to someone else I would say he is a cross between Bo Jackson and Steven Gostkowski.”  It’s obvious that the team chemistry is extremely high between this duo.

The teams worked hard and has earned its award. An undefeated season.  Even though they might not have games scheduled for next season yet, the process starts all over in only a few weeks.

My First Maya Project

In this project I had to make four towers and four walls on maya.  This was my first time using Maya.  Before beginning the project I had to watch tutorials and listen to my teacher on how to use Maya. If I were to do this project I would have added more to my castle if I had more time.  I liked how we got to do most of this project with the teacher so we could get help as we did the project.

Nick Johnson Feature Story

Tyler McCoach takes the snap and pitches it to the running back, Weston Davis, as he finds a hole in the defense and sprints toward the end zone.  Davis trots into the end zone untouched for just another touchdown to add to his season total.  He turns around to celebrate with his best friend and teammate, Tyler McCoach.

The Olathe Northwest sophomore football team has been very successful this year and remained undefeated.  They are led by running back and kicker, Davis and quarter back, Tyler McCoach.  The team goes on to pursue an undefeated season and the leaders share their thoughts.

           

“All I hope to gain out of this season is having fun and sharing the moment with my teammates who deserve this,” Davis said.  “We have worked so hard to get to this point, we started working in the summer and we never gave up on each other or the coaches.”

Football has been a part of life for these players ever since they were little playing pee-wee football.  They still remember going to Olathe Northwest football games as little kids waiting for their turn to be out there playing.  They have put in the work and trusted the process and road that they have been on to get to this point. They are here and enjoying every single moment.

           

“Weston is an animal, he never quits and has great ball carrier vision and I think that’s what really allows him to excel on the field,” Tyler McCoach said.  “If I could compare him to someone else I would say he is a cross between Bo Jackson and Steven Gostkowski.”  It’s obvious that the team chemistry is extremely high between this duo.

The team has worked hard and has earned its award. An undefeated season.  Even though they might not have games scheduled for next season yet, the process starts all over in only a few weeks.

This is my e-comm feature story. I interviewed two players on the Olathe Northwest football team.  They talked about their season and goals for the season.  During this video I had to shoot it in the hallways and I had the football record board in the background.  If I could change anything with the way I shot the video then I would take myself out of the video and replace my questions with voiceovers.  Obviously I can't go back and do that now, so I did my best to make it most like a feature story and not an interview.

Adobe Premiere Organizing Clips

How to Organize Clips in Adobe Premiere

In adobe Premiere you are going to need organizational skills when you have a lot of footage.  There are different ways to organize footage and one of the ways is to use bins. Bins let you know where footage and you can distinguish the clips by topic or different characteristics. To set up a bin you must double click on a bin in the panel. To open it up press command and double click.  Bins help you distinguish footage. I hope this helped.  To import video into your bins you are going to press Command+I or Control=I.  Then just simply select the footage and start editing.

Within your bins you can organize the footage and know where each clip is.  In this case under bin "04 Cineform" there is a clip for just that bin.   Bins make it very easy to locate that you need when you need it.