Ravens vs Crows- Dreamweaver Project

Ravens Vs Crows 

In this project, we had to use dreamweaver for the first time since last year to create a basic website. The topic and information were all predetermined and copy-pasted, as that was not the focus. The focus was to regain our bearings with the program, due to our isolated use of  Textmate for the past month. The program has massively changed in its update, and this was an initial assignment to learn these new settings.

What Did I Learn?

Primarily, I learned that I desperately missed design view. Other than that, I learned how to use Dreamweaver's new setting of CSS styles- creating classes and altering them in a sidebar that organizes them in a completely different way than before. Personally, I think it has made it simpler, and it has been easy to get a hold of. I learned how to double-task using design/live view with using pure code. Having design view makes it easier to learn the rules of raw coding, as I can assign things visually to the things I implant into the code. 

Overall I'm glad to be returned to the less arduous and more efficient Dreamweaver, and am anticipating better knowledge as I continue using it. 

1 in 2000

Addie Zoll: 1 in 2000

For this project of a practice interview, I interviewed Addie Zoll about her summer and her favorite parts of it. I haven't known her for a technically long period of time, so I got to know her better through the medium of this project. Not only did I discover what she was like as a person, but I gained knowledge in respect to her summer and how she spent it personally. She even attended the same music festival as I did.

Writing the voiceover was not too difficult, as I've heard plenty of examples of introductory statements from ONW Now. However, even if writing it went swimmingly, recording it was somewhat of a struggle. Finding somewhere to record in private is difficult, and the most arduous thing to traverse was merely how awkward it is to record yourself. So. . .I can definitely work on that.

Shooting the video was simple due to the fact multiple shots were not imperative; it was primarily one continuous shot. The lighting was good, and no one ever bothered us in the middle of it. There were never any real problems for me (despite the fact my parter had to re-record her correlating interview of me). 

I like, first of all, the lighting of the video. Sometimes that can inadvertently turn out really terribly, so the fact that the colors are so close to reality is very pleasing. The other basic things like the focus and the lack of distracting noise are sufficient. My favorite aspect is the manner in which the questions flow into each other- as I found out that is not as easy as it sounds. I think overall it is fairly informative and effective in its purpose.

Hexadecimal Color Sampler & Web Fonts

What are these Projects?

Hexadecimal Color Sampler

The first project was a website to use divs for the first time- but primarily to make a website demonstrating a rainbow of hexadecimal codes for web safe colors (as we had just learned that, too). This project taught me how to use those two things- divs and hexadecimal codes. I learned a lot about creating my own hexadecimal colors; while it may not be a quick task yet, it was a good initial starting point. I also learned how to use divs, which essentially are like CSS styles, but only apply to a small section of the html- so specific segments can have their own colors and fonts. 

Web Fonts 

This project was to act like a sampler of the basic web safe fonts, also using divs to make each section representing a certain font to be in the actual font it was mentioning. This expanded on my div knowledge, and I learned all the technical codes for each font inside of pure html. This was a sort of reiteration of the previous things we had been learning, which was very beneficial to me. 

How Did I Do? 

I think I did alright considering I don't have any prior knowledge of html, however I have definite room to improve. For example, all the blocks of color in my color sampler were intended to all be the same width, but they decided to do, well, not that, and I couldn't decipher how to amend it. I had to consult the person sitting next to me quite a few times for minuscule mistakes I couldn't find on my own, or didn't know what was making them incorrect. Despite this, I think even if I didn't do amazing, repeating everything will help me be much better in the future. 

"Good Behavior" Video- Personal Review

Our first video assignment was to create a succinct 30 second video, demonstrating an example of proper behavior at Olathe Northwest. Elements such as the Six Shot System and the 180 degree rule were to be executed in this assignment. This was a sort of initial warm up to practice the basics and start the year.

Pre-Production
Firstly, me and my partner, Blaise, created a hand-drawn storyboard, outlining the shots we wanted to achieve to convey our message- which was cleaning up after yourself when using the girls dressing room. We made sure we used the Six Shot System and had a variety of shots planned out to film, shown by the fact that we made more than would have been a bare minimum.


Filming
Once we had our storyboard created and our ideas organized,we filmed our material. This was beneficial because we were learning how to use the new camera we have access to this year. We used a tripod, varying its height and position to gain a variety of differing angles.

Editing
Finally, we edited it together in a comprehensible order, adding music and color correction. Some of our files did not import, but due to our getting more than necessary, the amount leftover still sufficed. I tried to arrange all the shots we got into a beginning of entering the room, a middle of cleaning, and an end of victoriously gazing upon the cleanliness of the dressing room afterwards. There was one instance in which a shot did not follow the 180 degree rule; so I used a video effect of horizontal flip to amend it.

What Did I Learn?
During this project I learned how to use the film cameras we are using this year, which have proved to be slightly more intensive than the iPads of last year. I learned how to adjust the white balance manually, and zoom and focus. Additionally, this project reminded me that time has to be used wisely to get a project done within deadlines.

What Would I Change?
Upon hypothetically redoing this project, I would make sure I had an abundance of shots necessary to make the short interesting. I would also make sure I handled the SD card properly so it would therefore import all the clips correctly. However, I would maintain the variety of shots I got in relation to the Six Shot System.

What Will I Use in the Future?
Overall, I have learned to always gather a surplus of material in case some of them malfunction or new shots are needed to enhance the clarity of the message. Making sure I am utilizing the new camera correctly will be another side effect of my experiences from this project.

Overall, this was an effective project to reintroduce myself to film after the summer break. It has reminded me of all the necessary rules I must remember so I can advance in newer areas as time goes by.