Video 2!

Video 1

Video Project Concept

For the video project, I have come up with the concept of a fictional "day in the life" documentary of "Extraordinary Girl", HPU's own superhero! It will involve her going about her everyday life, saving the students from harm in between classes. The concept could also work as a dramatic (or comedic) scene detailing one of her endeavors battling her foe, Mediocre Mike. Though I do not have the definite details of the scene worked out, it would most likely involve a battle on the promenade.

The Purse Thief!

My purse got stolen. Yeah.

Remix Editing Project

This is my horror/ thriller remix of the comedy The Hangover, made with iMovie. Enjoy!

Flat vs. Depth

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, depth is used to convey the somber, dramatic feeling that the film has. As you can see on the frame filter page, angles, a dark tone, and depth with characters and the scenery are used to keep the film feeling dramatic, and to make the action have a dramatic rather than comedic effect. If the color palette was expanded, and if all of the action was shot with flat staging, then the effect would not nearly be the same, and it probably would not have been a successful movie.

http://framefilter.blogspot.com/2007/02/harry-potter-and-prisoner-of-azkaban.html

Video Remix Proposal

For my video remix, I plan to take the trailer for the movie "The Hangover" and turn it into a horror movie. There are quite a few "violent" scenes that could look like they are from an action/ horror movie, and if I can figure out a way to turn the images darker on the screen, in addition to dramatic music and a voice over, I could make it look like a real horror movie. I plan to obtain my footage from Youtube and the Apple site.

Humpty Dumpty

http://soundcloud.com/ofrench/humpty-dumpty


Here's my version of Humpty Dumpty!
Note: The background music is "Nicotine Blues" by Kurt Vile (http://kurtvile.com)

Audio Project Proposal

For the audio project, I will be working with Emma Barnett. We will be making an audio version of Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s book The Cat in the Hat. Through music and character dialogue, we will make the story come alive. The person versus person conflict of the tale will make it interesting for all listeners. Over the next week, both in and out of class, we will record and collect sounds from around campus. 

Vox Pop Proposal

For my vox pop question, I will be asking "If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?" I think that this question is good for the assignment because it is a little out of the ordinary, but it definitely applies to all of the kids in my class, who are most definitely living on a college budget and would love a little extra cash. It is not a question that only requires a yes or no answer, but it is not so deep that the interviewee needs a lot of time to think of his or her answer.

Logo Process

My logo is designed to be for personal use (it is for a fictional “French Inc. company), and I wanted to make it something simple that could appeal to all age groups. The lines are clean and simple, and it is basically just text, so I feel that it is timeless. I also think that it could work even when sized down, which is good for a logo.  

Text Design

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=movie+posters&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1024&bih=993&tbm=isch&tbnid=RDSxIDDCQDKE5M:&imgrefurl=http://thinkdesignblog.com/inspiration-30-stunning-black-white-movie-posters.htm&docid=DDdFpqBhIYvJeM&imgurl=http://popbytes.com/img/burlesque-movie-poster-1.jpg&w=500&h=741&ei=Rmg6T9yjIMeDtgee7ZH8Cg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=413&vpy=111&dur=6112&hovh=273&hovw=184&tx=136&ty=135&sig=111514212865832836710&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=95&start=0&ndsp=40&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

I believe that this poster (for the movie Burlesque), exemplifies the "master design" principles that we have discussed in class and read about in Go Mediazine.  Primarily, there is a lot of good contrast in this poster. It is all black and white, with the exception of the title, going down the center of the poster, and the main characters' lips and the tagline. This draws the viewer's eyes to the title and the tagline, and also to the actresses' faces. The poster seems simple, and not at all too busy.

Secondly, the designer stuck to two different fonts  when he or she was making the poster, which helps to make it effective. The title of the movie is the only text written in a designer font, which draw's the viewer's eyes right away. This font also conveys a little information about the movie (that it is about show business) which also is a nice touch. The rest of the text on the poster is in a normal, san serif font, which allows the viewer to read it naturally without being distracted from the major points of the poster.

The poster has a good layout, and a sense of balance (between the characters, black and white, and everything else) is definitely achieved. I believe that this poster is a good example of all of the Master Design principles.

Text

For this cover of "Hats & Scarves Monthly," I decided to use two fonts that I downloaded off dafont.com. I believe that the fonts work well together because they are different, but not contrasting in a way that makes the cover seem busy. The fonts just add nice variety without being overwhelmingly busy. Also, I decided to make "Monthly" smaller than "Hats & Scarves" to add more variety to the cover as well. The title is easy to read because the white font stands out against the dark, busy background.

Here's my "cover"!

Texture Blending

For this assignment, I decided to use one of my sculpture photos. First, I used a silver metal gradient fill, and changed the opacity to about 45%. Next, I added an Overlay layer using the blurred color streaks photo, blended that to about 55%. Third, I used the Weathered Paint photo with the Vivid Light Layer at 90% to add real contrast and over the top interest to my photo. Finally, I added a Hue Layer with the Paper photo at 25% to add some warmth and a vignette-like effect to my photo.

Here is my final photo!

New Background

Person Before:

Background Before:

Finished Product:

Retouching

Before

After

Photoshop Intro

Photo 1

Before

After

Photo 2

Before

After

Photo Story Proposal

In this day and age, technology is an essential part of our everyday lives. However, the current and ever-changing technology that has helped to make our lives easier has also made us unable to communicate face to face. For my photo story, I want to convey this change in communication. I want to title it something along the lines of "Addicted and Alone" and showcase how we are not only drawn away from each other because of technology, but we also are becoming increasingly reliant on it. I am planning to shoot in my dorm, Slane Student Center, and the library over the next week. Hopefully, my lead image would include 2 (or more) students, sitting together, but looking at their computers, iPods, or phones instead of each other.

Editing Photos

Photo 1: Realistic

Before

After

For this photo, I changed the contrast and vibrance, and I also added vibrancy to make it more interesting. However, the colors are still pretty natural, and thus look realistic, just a bit brighter than what a camera can capture. 

Photo 2: Stylized

Before

After

For this photo, I used a lot more saturation, and changed the vibrance and contrast levels to improve the look of the photo. In addition to that, I used the Hue/ Saturation layer to make the colors unrealistic, yet highly stylized. I also adjusted the black and white levels slightly so that you could see a few more of the statue's features. 

Composition of Photos

For this blog post, I decided to make the bronze sculpture of Atlas in front of Wrenn Hall my subject. I took a bunch of photos, and I think that I have captured the different composition techniques that were described in the Kodak article.

1: Framing.

I think that this photo demonstrates the concept of framing very well. The main subject, Atlas, is in the center, and he is framed by the leafy tree on the left, the bare tree on the right, and the lines of the globe above him. They are all pointing to him and drawing the viewer's eyes to him.

2.  Rule of Thirds

In this photo, Atlas is placed off to the side, as the rule indicates. He is not in the center, and he is not facing the viewer, thus giving the photo a sense of movement. It looks as if he is in the process of stepping of the pedestal and walking over towards Roberts Hall.

3.  Simplicity

This photo demonstrates simplicity because it is a close-up view of Atlas' face and the very bottom of the globe. The background (the blue sky) is not distracting at all, and the subject is the main focus.

4. Lines

This photo utilizes the lines found on the globe part of the sculpture to create interest in the photo. The blue sky fades into a faint blue gradually as the viewer's eyes travel down the photo. The lines are broken up by the solid continents  on the other side of the globe, which again helps to create more interest in the picture.

Statue Photos

So, here is a picture that I took of the statue behind Norton Hall. My angle is head-on, with the statue standing dead center. Because the statue is in the middle, the photo is not very interesting. There is a lot going on in the background, which also takes away from the effect that the photo has on the viewer. Though it is nice that you can see "Norton Hall" written in the background, showing the viewer who the subject is, I think that the building in the background is mostly distracting.

I think that this photo is much better than my first one. There is much less going on in the background, so immediately the viewer's eye is drawn to the statue. The sun coming in from the bottom left corner casts a shadow on the statue, making it contrast with the light blue sky and white clouds. I think that it is much more interesting than my original picture, because it (in my opinion) brings the statue to life. The viewer wants to know what he is looking at. In fact, you can barely tell it is a statue and not a live human being, thanks to the shadow and the fact that the picture was taken from behind. 

Welcome to My Blog!

Hi!

My name is Olivia, and this is the blog I'll be using for my Honors Mediated Communications Systems class this semester. I'm a Communications-Journalism major with an English minor at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, and hopefully this class will help me to learn how to use programs like Photoshop, because the only editing software I've really used up to this point is iMovie.

That's all for now!
Olivia