Music Videos Rock!

In my last post I shared I stated that we're doing music videos in our G.T. class and I'm back again to share with you more about it. As you know, on my team is Justice, Maceo, and Maya. In order for us to have created our fantastic music video we all had to contribute something. Maya has been working behind the camera getting great shots, as well as editing our video. Maceo helps out with the editing while also playing one of our main characters.  Justice contributes to the ideas and the creativity we put into the video and playing another main character. We all helped out with the props and costumes used in video and I helped with editing and the camera work.

I believe that our audience will enjoy the creativity the most in our video. We created a story not very realistic, but fun as well as funny. The costumes we used were meant to mimic the clothes they wore in the 70's, while those of our "Swag Disciples" was meant to stay modern and boring. Certain parts in our story are a bit repetitive, but we used different shot types to create d
iversity in throughout our video. Our story may need seem like much, but we still worked to make it clear and entertaining for the audience.

Our music video shows what we learned this year because you see the creativity, effects, as well as shot types. This year we learned a lot about making creative things with our projects while following the rules and this video shows how you can take a creative idea and make something really worthwhile and still follow the rules. We used effects on some of the scenes and we made sure they weren't too overwhelming, making them match with what was happening, and to make certain things pop. Some of these effects reflected on the edited skills we built upon this year in G.T.

Lyrical Livelihood

What would life be like without music? It would be quite boring if I'm being honest. There are so many songs that exist, I don't think I could ever pick one as my favorite, but one song that I really like is "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. It's an upbeat song and the lyrics, as well as the video, are pretty funny. To me, I think it gives off a humorous outlook on her past and how people view her now. I feel pumped up when I hear it and it's just one of those songs I can't help singing along to.

So, like all the last two years of G.T. we will be doing a music video for one of our last projects. We got into teams up to four or five, on my team is Maceo, Justice, and Maya. For our music video project we decided to do the song "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. It may be an old song, but we thought it would be fun and interesting to do. It's quite catchy and since it's our last year KMS, we decided to make something we will remember, using a song that's hard to forget.

After going over the lyrics several times, we decided to make it into a story about four people being the only ones that escaped the "Swag Disease". The Swag Disease turns everyone into an emotionless dancer, only capable of dancing and their title being the "Swag Disciples".  Maceo, Justice, Maya, and I are on a mission to never become a Swag Disciple and the only way to do that is by battling them in a dance competition and winning. This is the only way for them to stay alive. Though, in the beginning they start off confused by the Swag Disciples, they soon learn their weaknesses and are able to defeat them with just one look.

Our Animation Story

The title of our animation video is "Kaylynn Overcomes Challenge". Our title tells our story by giving the audience a hint at what the main idea of our story is. You know already the main character is Kaylynn and the story will take it from her perspective instead of it being on her mother. It also tells you she will be facing a challenge that she overcomes. A title shouldn't be giving away the whole story, but it should give you a hint as to what it is and that is exactly what our title does. It tells you a bit of what the main idea will be, but it doesn't tell you how or what the actual story is.

Through our animation video our audience will learn the importance of not giving up. Our story portrays the challenge of thinking that just because one person thinks you're not good enough, doesn't mean they are true. You need to decide for yourself what you want and if you will achieve that. Practice makes perfect, and if you don't practice then how do you get better? Our audience will learn that if you try to do something you want no matter what anyone says, you can achieve your goal.

On my team there is Kuumomi, Lilio, and Kaylynn, we got along very well while working on this project. We agreed on the same things and didn't have much trouble working together, but we did have some small issues. One problem we did run into quite frequently is not having the same idea for a certain scene, we all had a different idea, but we ended up compromising and creating a scene combined of both ideas. One of best moments was when we all came together and added our music in, finishing our animation project.We even made it in second place for best overall.

Animation Outtakes

To start off fourth quarter we are doing a projects called "Tell Your Story". There are seven teams and in each team there are about four people. On my team is Kuumomi, Lilio, and Kaylynn. While working with Kuumomi, Lilio, and Kaylynn, I learned many things about them. Lilio is great with words and knows just how to faze things right. She's also a very creative person and can create what she envisions better than most. Kuumomi is great with animation, as well as a lot of things in photoshop. She also likes to say chicken nugget when she doesn't know the answer to something or what to put. I learned that Kaylynn does not just fire dance, but she also dances hip-hop. I also learned she is a very ambitious and enthusiastic person.

For this project we will be needing to use animation. One of the most common types of animation is stop-motion. Stop-motion is a type of animation that manipulates the subjects or subjects you have in your animation to appear as if they are moving. You would create a stop-motion animation by taking a picture of your subject(s), move the subject(s) a bit, take a picture, and repeat this action until you have enough photos to create the illusion of movement. You would them have to put them together in Photoshop or iMovie. Gifs are another form of animation that are quite popular and common. Gif stands for Graphics Interchange Format, it's a compressed animation file that repeats itself automatically. Below you can see my examples of a stop-motion and GIF animation.

So, for "Tell Your Story" we had to choose an experience one of our teammates had and create an animation about it. We chose to do our project On Kaylynn and one of her stories that involved her dancing. The plot; Kaylynn was inspired by a TV show on dancing and decided to sign up for dance classes, but not everything is great dance moves and smiles. Kaylynn doesn't get the dance moves right away and her teacher confronts her about it in an inappropriate way. Kaylynn takes the teachers words to heart and starts to doubt herself, but she isn't alone, a friend of hers that is also into dance helps Kaylynn to overcome her doubts and the teachers insults. They work together and become great dancers, this takes them to Italy with their other teammates, and Kaylynn, as well as her teacher sees, how determination and not giving up can take you to extraordinary places. We hope that this story will help people to see that there will people out there who will bring you down, but there are also those who want to help you up, and you can almost anything, you just have to not give into those people and believe their nasty words. If you believe in yourself, if you don't give up, you can do amazing things, just like Kaylynn.

Typography Images

Typography is a style of art created from text. You can arrange the text to take a form that reflects the image and words being used to create something eye catching and meaningful. Typography can be reflected in many ways, for example you can create a portrait using typography. The words you decide to use should describe your subject. Typography can be used to make a lasting impact by using words that can say far more than just a plain photo can. It creates a mood and can give more meaning to an image. Typography is a different and interesting way to express something that can make people stop and stare.

During this project there have been a few small problems that I've run into. So far, the biggest challenge I have faced is working with an image where there aren't many shadows but a lot of mid tones and highlights. For my teacher project I had to start over on the last day because the image I was working with had too many mid tones and everything was blending. That left me little time to get my final teacher image done, but I did it. I used an image with better contrast and did the best I could. It could still use some work, though it looks alright for something rushed.

For this project we used three different tutorials. The first tutorial was for an innovator, the second tutorial was for a teacher, and the third tutorial was for a typography of ourselves. For the innovator I chose to do Marie Curie, she was the first woman to win a Nobel prize. I took a paragraph from Wikipedia about her to use for my text. The next typography image was on a teacher from our school. I chose to do Mrs. Ruvalcaba, our 7th grade counselor, and the words I used to create the image were words that described her. For my last typography, the one on myself, I used three words. One for my shadows, one for the dark grays, and one for light grays. The words I used are idealist, creative and pumped, each word describing me. Of all my typography photos the one of myself is my favorite and not because it was a photo of me. The process through creating it was the most fun and interesting, I really liked the way the text turned out, and it's clear that it's a typography of myself.

Double Exposures Portraits

What is portrait photography? Well, first lets find out what a portrait is. A portrait is a photo, painting drawing, etc, in which there is a representation of a person. The intent is to show and express something about the person. When people say portrait photography the mean a photograph, no other type of art, of a person and their representation. There are different ways to show a portrait there's portraiture, profile, as well as silhouetting. Though a profile may be just the side of a face and a silhouette a shadow cast of someone, they are all photographs of a person and they all have a meaning and something to express about the subject and they are considered portraits.

Double exposures are created in multi-steps while in photoshop. Before going into photoshop you want to have a portrait photo and at least two other photos of anything you want. First, you'll go to <File> <Scripts> <Load Files into Stacks> and browse for your three or more photos. After you load your photos you'll use the dodge tool, located underneath the smudge tool, and dodge the space around your subject. The next step is to turn your portrait and your photos on screen mode by double clicking on the image and changing normal to screen. You'll then be able to edit your photos however you want, you go to <Layers> <New Adjustment Layer> and choose whichever adjustment you want.

Below I have my two finished Double exposure photos. My first one I took photos of my paddle and books. These two things are big parts in my life and they are the two symbolic images I decided to use for my final. In my second image I used the textures of plants to create my double exposure. On both of them I could've improved. The first double exposure I have could use more editing, for example the colors and the image could be arranged better. My second double exposure could've been brighter, on this one I tried to make the purple and pink pop more.

HDR Photography

High-dynamic-range, mainly known as HDR, images are a type of imagery made out of a set of photographs taken at the highest and lowest exposure rates. When using HDR you can create images with great detail and a variety of colors. HDR photography, used right, can make a image pop and it can give you an image that looks just like the scenery you are viewing with your own eyes. I enjoy HDR photography because it's a great way to get the images you want, like I said before, it can make a image pop and look amazing. However, when using HDR it's also possible to make your images look fake, it can add to much color or a glow to your photos. Also, when using HDR Photography it's better to have no movement in your images because it can create ghosts, and though you can get rid of them it won't always look so good.

To create an HDR image you first need to find a scenery that you want to capture. You need to then take several shots of the scenery, all at different exposure rates. It's a good rule of thumb to start at negative three and work your way up to positive three. After you have all your photos you put them into photoshop and under File you will see "Automate", under automate you will click on "Merge to HDR Pro". It will let you find your files and you then press okay, from there you can edit your HDR photograph to make it yours. That was the longer process, some phones and other electronic devices have the option of letting you take HDR photos. Using electronic devises that can do this is easy and you don't have to do much except take the photo, your electronic devise will take photos with different exposure rates and merge them without taking much time. The only bad part about this is that it doesn't allow you to edit the way the HDR photo turns out.

Below I have three of my HDR photos. The first one is just a landscape, I wanted to catch the colors of the sky. Making the bright colors of the sun really pop and also have that contrast with the darker areas of the sky. While taking this photo I found the sky more interesting than the foreground, so i moved the horizon line lower in the photo so I could capture the sky better. In my second photo I have a HDR portrait. The main focus is to be on the person in the photo and their eyes. I used leading lines to point and draw more attention to her. In this photo the background is darker and it helps to make her pop more. In my last photo we needed to merge the photos and add a inspirational word. It was kind hard to create this last picture because of the position she's in. So, following the rule of thirds and made her eyes match up the the right higher third to make seem like she's looking out to the left. I chose the word dream because it seemed to match the photo and gave a yellowish color to match the sky.