Sophomore ONW Now

     First of all, I LOVED this project! I got to work in the control room on the video side of things queuing up the videos and running the countdown between segments. It was an absolute blast! Definitely my favorite project so far!
 A good news broadcast has many stories that are relevant and interesting for the viewer. It has a few different anchors that are clear and concise, and are easy to listen to. The broadcast should have a mix of feature and stories and stories from the anchors, with good transitions alternating between them. I think our production had all of this, except one of the anchor's mics was muted. (Not under our control though!)
We had a great script written on the telepromptors for the anchors to read, and smooth transitions from each segment to the next. A large part of these shows is good teamwork between all of the workers. Communication was key to keep everything organized and running smoothly! Everyone is under the same importance level, and one member not on task can mess up the entire production. Even an extra in the back messing up on camera can cause the whole operation to meltdown. 

Performance Review Blog

Panorama Project

Infographic

John Wick Raccoon

(Click on the pics to enlarge them)                                                                                                 click here for a cool web site 

Jared the Landscape Man

My Projects 

So far this semester we have created a multitude of projects, including these four that you see here. The rest of the projects are all included on my behance profile: https://www.behance.net/paulialex0a8c8

Panorama Project 

For this picture, we had to turn 10 different shots into one congruent photo. We used Adobe Photoshop and it took about two weeks. It was our final photoshop project. It was definitely tough to merge the three main shots together, and I'm still not totally happy with the line created in between the second and third section. I learned how to use the eraser tool to soften lines between pictures, and I learned how to use the mask more effectively. My original idea wasn't to have three distinct sections, but that's really where the project took me.

Panorama Project 

Jared was really fun to make! This was our first photoshop project that wasn't a tutorial. I went kind of nuts with the layer mask tool, really filling everything except for his face. Plus I used lines and learned how to use the warp tool to give him a cool tattoo. It was definitely hard to make his shirt look good with the mountain and the trees, but using adjustment layers solved that problem and I'm super happy with how it looks now.

John Wick Raccoon

We made this raccoon in Adobe Illustrator. It was super tough and following the tutorial was difficult. It took a while, at least two weeks, and some of the shapes took me a solid class period to make them look right. The only change I made to this one was adding Tilted Towers in the back and adding a joke about the main man Voiceover Pete! I really learned a lot about the direct selection tool doing this one.

Infographic

I made this project about Sporting KC in Illustrator. It was VERY pen tool heavy. I think I worked for two whole days just trying to learn the tool, but now I'm so much better at it. This has been one of the longest projects we've done because of the research we had to do first. It is about a topic I love though, so I am happy! My challenge was creating graphics that were my own, not copying others's. 

My Time in Class

I am an easily distracted person, and sometimes I could get off task, but I really think I worked hard this year. When I was done and had time, I would go back and add fun things to my projects to spice them up a bit! I also put a lot of work into my projects, and really tried to make the, look good! Not like a bad student's party. I even stayed during lunch a few times to finish up what I was working on. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

I think I'm fairly creative, and I work great with other people! However sometimes I don't like to overcome problems myself, and instead run to others more knowledgeable. I need to learn to solve my own problems.

Summary

I loved the creativity this semester. I could add my own spin on many of the projects, and I really enjoyed making it all my own! I also really liked sitting back after a project, and looking at all my hard work and the way it turned out.

One thing I would've changed is turning in my blogposts sooner.

One goal I'd like to work on for next semester is my layout design. My spacing is not always the best, and I find myself with too much negative space. I just want to utilize that layout a little bit better. 

I'm very happy with this semester, my grade, and the work that I've completed. I'm excited to keep using Illustrator next time! :)

Written News Story

I used the guidelines set by the Student Publication Association to write my news story.  I did my best to make the headline interesting and attention grabbing and explained it in the first paragraph. I used the  "inverted pyramid" by showing the most relevant information near the beginning of the story and the less essential information nearer to the bottom. I also used a quote (though it's from myself)! The guidelines said that quotes are a good way to keep the reader interested. I like writing the news story for the freedom and creativity, and that it differs a lot from the videos we make! Both have their positives and negatives, with the news story's positives being that I don't have to worry about all the fine details, (audio, white balance, b-roll, etc.). I think I definitely need to work on my headline skills, and packing more info into the short sentences. I do like my headline though! I think that was good. Next time I will put more research into my story and also finish it sooner!

Advance Feature Story

     For our second feature story, Logan, Carson and I wrote a story on the graphic design class here at ONW. We interviewed Mrs. Beaudoin, Drew Sappingfield, and Roman Clark about the basics of the class, as well as what they are all gaining from it. We started by writing our 21 questions to ask each interviewee and also began to brainstorm locations for filming (the interviews, b-roll, etc.).
    I was in charge of writing the questions and conducting the interviews, but I also did all of my own editing. I felt a little rushed during this project and actually didn't get my editing done in time but I did finish it and turn this project in a day after. I learned how to overcome the obstacle of the tripods not working and I also learned that my Apple earbuds plugged in to my phone work great as a mic. I thought the sound quality turned out really well! I'm still not too sure how the e-comm provided mics work, and how to sound check them, but that's something that I think I'll pick up on future projects. Our team collaborated well, and we never really had to butt-heads on anything. The project and all of our teamwork flowed very smoothly.
    One thing I tried to focus on for this feature story was our b-roll. I wanted to have interesting and captivating clips that helped the whole story. I did my best to utilize the six-shot-sequence, and I think it turned out well! Next time, I wouldn't record footage in the sound room. The audio there is fantastic! However, the lighting and focus is not great.
     Overall, the project isn't too bad! Our interviews turned out a lot better than my last feature story, and we have real b-roll now!

ONW in 2000 Interview

      

      For our ONW In 2000 project we had to choose a subject, and interview their story. My team chose to interview varsity dancer Maleah Boyd over her experience on the dance team the past few years. During the planning process, we had to decide when, where, and who we would interview. We also planned where we would record b-roll for the project (but that didn't exactly work out in the end). Once we were set in our plan, we began filming. We started with the meat of the project, interviewing our subject. The backdrop of the interview was the events entrance which makes sense for our subject. It's near the gym which is where the dance team practices and where they sometimes perform. We also found some footage of Maleah and her team practicing to use for b-roll. However, we began to run into some problems. I shot a message over to the dance coach asking for permission to record their practices and for an interview but I received no response. Because of this setback, we had to use video that we didn't shoot ourselves for most of the b-roll. That's one main thing I would change if I did this project again. Sean did get some footage himself that most of us used, but we would've liked to record more of Maleah actually dancing. Finally, I took all of the clips we had acquired, edited them together to make logical sense, and added a voiceover to tell a story.

    I learned a lot on the technical aspects of filming during this project. I saw how to use a mic and convert clips from the SD card into premier. Next time, I would've planned out my shots more, especially planning when and where to film and capture that b-roll myself. I would've paid more attention to where the subject is positioned in the frame, and also using the 6 shot sequence. 
     I think my audio turned out really well however! The transitions are good and nothing is ever too loud or soft. Plus my voiceover is clear and easy to follow. 
      This was a good project and I really liked my team, but that planning sense is something I definitely would've spent more time on.

Watercolor Printing Process

      This began with a simple photoshop project, my challenge #1 man. I printed him out onto normal paper with white borders around the edges. I then took water color paper and water colors and went at it!
       First, I got the paper completely wet, not a dry spot to be seen. Then, I added blue color paint across the entirety of the sheet. I added the pink paint on the corners to make the blue pop out. I also added the pink lines in the middle, but I regret that in all honesty. The paper dried and I started with the transformation process. I covered the back of the photoshop folder with mod podge and made sure the layer was thick. I dropped the photo down on the middle of the heavy paper and pressed down with my hands and the squeegee to work out any bubbles.
      Now that the everything was set, it was time to wait for it to transfer. A few days later, it had dried but it still had paper fuzz on it. I had to take all of the paper off with my fingers, being careful not to scratch the page. It didn't turn out amazing, but I don't think it's awful either! My teacher took it home and covered it with a clear coating to keep it fresh, and now it's done! It was a fun process and I've never done anything like it before. I wish I would've spent more time evening out the mod podge because it didn't transfer over exactly how I wanted to. I also wouldn't have added the pink lines, but I do like the colors together, especially the pink in the corner.

Printing Processes

Relief Printing Process

This technique can create very simple, or very complex designs. Cuts are made out of a surface, (wood, tile, etc.) and black ink is then applied to the raised surfaces. Paper is pressed onto the surface to ink it. Pressing originated from the hand, but now many artists use a baren, a handheld flat tool that distributes the pressure evenly onto the paper. This process can then be repeated many times. Different colors, cutting tools, and surfaces can change the finished designs that end up on the papers. 

Lithography Printing Process

This technique revolves around grease and water. A very responsive stone is the surface and various greasy pens and crayons are used to make a design on it. 

A complex combination of water and many other oils are used to make the art stay. It is inked up and then paper is pressed down on top in different ways to create the prints.

Intaglio Printing Process

There are a few different types of Intaglio prints, but they all involve scratching on metal. In one way, a tool is taken to a flat metal plate and some of the metal is etched or moved in certain patterns. Then ink can be put over the etchings and put on paper. Another way is done with soot and a black coat over the metal. The coating is etched away, and only the metal underneath shows. 

The process I would like to attempt is the Lithography print. It seems like it would be interesting and super satisfying to complete.