8th Grade Bliss

8th grade was such a stuggle, but we did it.

Metamorphosis Animation

The project we did recently is an animation project with the theme of metamorphosis. My team (Audrey, Sheila and Isabella) and I  took this very literally. We were required to use two types of animations minimum. Our group used claymation, digital animation, and stop motion. The video we made featured a rock that wasn't too happy with being a rock so she decided to become a human; that made the focus of our animation "Rock alters self". The first scene was stop motion, we have the rock discover a wand, he picks up the wand and it turns him into a golem type thing, after that moving into claymation he picks up the wand again and it turns into digital animation, the golem shrinks and turns into human form. At that point it turns back into stop motion.

We were critiqued by our charachter, set and props, all in one group. We were also critiqued by our creativity, originality annd execution, which was also in one group. Those groups were scored from "Room for Improvement" to "Meets Requirements" to "Above & Beyond!". Our group was critiqued very well. The results are in the picture below.

Words of Wisdom

We had a video project called "Words of Wisdom" in GT; we teamed up with Hiki No to make a video on basically words of wisdom from someone that you know that's older than you. We chose Edmund Acoba, who is a karate sensei and a fifth circuit family court judge. Before going out and filming, we filled out a planning sheet, planning the questions and shot types. Sheila and Audrey (who were in my group) filmed the interview and b-roll. As usual, I edited all of the clips and put them together.

When we interviewed Edmund, he gave us the advice that time management is really important, and you should try to take time for everything, especially for the things that you love. It's an important thing to know so you aren't too stressed out and want to rip your hair out, but you're happy doing the things that you like to do. For Edmund, his outlet is karate, he doesn't just teach it, he actually loves doing it.

Five Tips For...

We did a "Five Tips" video in our GT class, and my group (which consisted of Sheila Blum, Audrey Garrison, and Kaya Waldman) decided to make a video on five tips for living healthy. Audrey and Kaya were the people that were in the actual video, Sheila did the voice overs and helped me film, and I edited the entire thing. Our five tips were to:

1. Exercise often
2. Try meditating
3. Eat healthy
4. Remember to relax
5. Sleep more

We chose this topic because it was easy to do and it was a topic that our whole group could agree on doing. We could have cut down on the camera movement, there were a few shots where the camera was shakey. Also we could have added more interesting angles, to make the video look better. The voice overs sounded like they were from a script, -which it was- but it could have souned like Sheila was talking it, not reading it.

Practice Profile Story

The purpose of doing this project was to practice the project, to get a feel of what we were doing. It was to practice how to lay out our interview, how to get our b r-oll, and how to film our voice overs so if we didn't have enough video, we have a back up. For our practice, we chose Audrey, and the interview was about her practicing her painting. We chose her because it was convienient, Sheila and I both didn't want to be the ones on camera. We were also doing a painting project so it was easy for us to do that topic.

Profile Project Progress

We interviewed Edmund Acoba, he is a district court judge and a karate teacher. We went to the Island School Gym, where he teaches karate, to interview him. We chose to interview him because he does have two jobs, and a family. He knows how to handle them and since there are many people out there that do have to balance two things at once, this video can be used to help them. He revealed a lot about how he maintains them and how he doesn't get overwhelmed by them.

B-roll and voice overs are two important parts in a interview video. It helps a lot with storytelling. B-roll helps with visual storytelling. B-roll is footage that is used to help connect the viewer with the video with shots that goes with what the interviewer is saying. Voice overs are used to take storytelling a step further. For this project, we're using voice overs for transitions. Transitions are used to make a story flow. It takes you from one subject to the next so it makes sense.

I teamed up with Sheila and Audrey for this project. We're I guess alright with this project, everyone has their own specific job. Sheila filmed, Audrey did the transitions, and I did the editing. We're all doing the pre-production planning. None of us sit around and do nothing, we all help each other out. One big thing we lack in is communication. We didn't pick up our camera when we signed it out, and it happened twice. We really need to work on that. To improve that we should talk to each other, see who can take what home and when can everyone be able to show up to film. Other than that, I think we work well with each other

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To go from good to great, my team can go to the courthouse and film some additional b-roll. We can also reshoot the voice overs so it can match the calm, clear and slow pace that Edmund speaks in. We can also film some b-roll in other places that aren't at the gym. Other critiques that showed up was to make our interview shorter, to condense it.

 

Composition Techniques

The main four composition techniques is rule of thirds, framing, unusual angles and leading lines, they are also the most common ones. The rule of thirds is when you break down the shot into three parts, both vertically and horizontally, ending up with a grid. You will notice four points in the center of the grid, that is where you would want to place the subject of your photo.  is the technique that focuses on the subject by blocking out other parts of the picture with something in the scene. Framing gives the picture context, it also gives the photo depth.Unusual angles is when you use variety of perspectives to make your photo more interesting. You can crouch or lie in front of the subject to make a cool angle, you can climb above it as well. Leading lines, which is one of my personal favorites, is where you use lines that are in the shot to lead to the subject. Leading lines add a dynamic impact to the photo.