Metamorphosis Animation

In my GT class's newest project, we were required to create our own animations. Myteam was made up of Mikela Puig, Brittain McGinnis, Sydney Nice, and myself. Our theme was "Metamorphosis". Metamorphosis means one thing changing into another. In our animation, we showcased an unimportant and ordinary rock, overlooked by society. We planned to bring this rock to life, and serve a purpose. Our focus statement, or theme of our project was "Rocky Becomes A Hero". Another requirement was that we had to use two different types of animation. Well, we decided to be above and beyond and used three types. We had used stop-motion, claymation, and digital animation.

The story that our animation tells is about a rock that we decided to name "Rocky Louise Armstrong". This ordinary rock goes through a shocking transformation; from "Zero To Hero". This rock gains a humanoid stature, and goes through a portal to the digital world. In the digital world, he sees a building on fire, and armed with his new appearance and trusty mustache, rushes to the rescue. After putting out the fire, the citizens praise him with their gratitude. Afterwards, he transforms back into a rock. My group and I really like the concept of an obviously overlooked character or object will serve a purpose to help those around him; like an unexpected hero theme.

Words of Wisdom

For this project, our interview profile stories, we interviewed Phil Villatora about his knowledge of living sustainably. Phil has lived in the jungle, off of the land, for two years, so we wanted our main point of the video to center around how people should rely more on nature. His words of wisdom were really inspiring to my team and I, as it was made clear that sustainability is something that Phil cares deeply for. My team member were Karlie O'Rourke and Paige Wesolowski. We are very proud of this video, and it placed first as the best video in our class's film festival.

Five Tips For…

The video above is the ending result of my group's "5 Tips For" video, in which we had to have an action that we would give the audience five tips about. Our video was "5 Tips For Reading A Book". My team included Mikela Puig, Maya Clark, and myself. My team and I chose this topic to make our video because all three of us enjoy reading, and many people don't like to read, so we figured that if we came up with a simple list of steps, then we could convince more people to read. We created this video during the first semester of school, so of course there are a few things thatw e could have improved. For example, the intro to our video could be changed to sound more sophisticated. Also, we could have brought out the story of the video more. Overall, this was a fun project to make, and we did the best that we were capable at the time.

Practice Profile Story

For my GT group team's practice story video, we chose to interview the most charasmatic member of our group. Paige Wesolowski. We were required to make a focus statement to be the theme and guideline of our video, and the story we were telling. We chose the statement "Paige Likes Music"to serve as our motivation. Our interview consisted of questions that related to the topic at hand: Music. We asked Paige questions such as, "What kinds of music do yu like to listen to?" or "Who is your favorite artist in the music industry?". We also used B-roll of Paige listening and dancing while listening to music.

Profile Project Progress

For our "Elder Words of Wisdom" project, we were assigned to interview a relative or elder, and ask for words of wisdom that can inspire today's youth. My teamates are Karlie O'Rourke and Paige Wesolowski. To the left are the results of a critique that showed us where we were positioned, quality wise. For the project, we interviewed Paige's stepfather, Phil Vilatora. We were questioning him on the topic of "Sustainability" because we recieved knowledge that he lived in the jungle, off of the land, for two years.

For our B-Roll footage, we decided to film Phil in action of performing some of the chores that he does at his house. We decided to film him doing this because this theme fit best with the visual story we were trying to tell. We got some good shots of him husking and breaking open coconuts, feeding chickens, and other such tasks. We felt that this seemed fit for the theme of the interview.

We also were required to record ourselves saying voice-overs in order to transition from one question to another. These voice recordings help narrate the story, and help to explain the actions being performed in the visuals. We also used the voice-overs to share more information about Phil. With all the elements explained in this post, combined, will be sure to create a great film that will be sure to impress your viewers.

Working in a team is always a good experience, but sometimes it is hard to work together while having to incorperate three or more opinions. A team could work better together if they all spoke up about how their project could be made better. If your team members are shy, and don't share their opinion, then you might miss out on a chance to make something great. Also, it is better if all of your team members are assigned a different job. This will increase your team's production, and the work will be completed faster. We are currently planning to film more B-roll for our video, as we found that we ran out during the editiing stage.

Composition Techniques

Composition techniques are one of the most important aspects of a film. Creating a film is like painting a masterpiece. You have to focus on the important elements of the painting, just like a film. There is the subject, position, or point of view, background, colors, etc. Composition techniques add interest and depth to your imagery. Anybody would get bored watching a film when everything is the same angle. These techniques pull your viewers in and make them want to watch more. Hook, line, and sinker.

There are four main composition techniques. Rule of thirds, framing, unusual angles, and leading lines. Rule of thirds is when you split your screen into thirds horizontally and vertically. Where the lines intersect is where you want to position your subject. Most camera shots involve this technique. Try to never position your subject in the center of your screen. Framing is when you use objects closer to the camera than the subject, to create a frame surrounding it.  Unusual angles kind of explains itself. This technique showcases angles that are, well, unusual. A different point of view gives the viewers something to gaze at and wonder, "Wow, that's a cool camera angle." And last, but not least, is leading lines. Leading lines uses the natural lines in your background to make your audience's eyes follow them to the subject.

Three Shot Sequences

This is a video that my team and I made a while back. Our assignment was to create a video that showed a three-shot sequence. Sequences are very important to a film, production, or project. If a video or film is stuck with one boring angle throughout the entirety of the its length, then the audience will get bored and loose interest. Before we made this video, I never really paid attention to the importance of different shot types and angles. A viewer doesn't realize how important these aspects are until they are the ones producing the footage.

A three-shot sequence usually starts with a wide shot; This shows the full subject. Next, is a medium shot; Shows part of the subject, commonly cut off at the waist. Finally, there is the last shot. A close-up or extreme close-up. You have the option to choose whether a close-up or and extreme close-up is better depending on what kind of effect you are trying to create. A close-up is kind of self explanatory. You simply place the camera close to a subject. An extreme close-up is when you position the camera or zoom in on, well, extremely close to the subject. This shot is useful when trying to express the detail of a small subject.

Practice Story Reflection

In my GT class, we were assigned to create a practice video to exercise the skill of producing an interview video to prepare for our upcoming project. We were asked to choose a topic to interview a member of our team about. We chose the topic "Paige likes music". We made a complete interview, with interview and B-roll footage to add interest. W thought up a list of questions to ask our subject, and filmed their responses.

At the completion of the project, I feel that we accomplished a solid video. I feel that we could have produced a better quality of video. However, we were down a team member during editing process. Paige Wesoloski was our subject and Karlie O'Rourke asked our subject questions. During our video, the focus was not as clear as we had thought it was during filming. Also, our video is shorter than most at being only 40 seconds long.

Overall, I think that we did pretty well for it only being a practice video. Now we know what we need to do to make our official project video great. We know what we need to improve upon to kick our video up a notch. We will now be more considerate about our actions during filming and editing. Also, it was a great learning experience.

Spherical Panorama

These images are my finished spherical panoramas. To create these images, we were required to take images in a 360 degree circle. We then stitched these images together with Photoshop, into a Panoramic image. We then set the dimensions of the images to that they were 5000 by 5000. Next, we set their polar coordinates to make the ground to appear to be wrapped around the sky. We used the smudge tool to blur out any seams in our images. 

Also, to add ourselves into the image, we took pictures with the camera positioned below the subject. We edited the photos, and put them in Photoshop. Next, we used the quick selection tool to select ourselves, and cut out our image from the background. Next we copy and pasted the image to the spherical panorama. We added a shadow, curving with the image, and completed the image.

Polar Panorama

These are my finished polar panoramic images. To create these images, we took a similar route to the process of our spherical panoramas. We took pictures in a 360 degree circle to create a circular panorama. In Photoshop, we stitched these images together using Photomerge. Next, we altered the dimensions of the image to make the image into a 5000 by 5000 square. We also flipped our images 180 degrees so that they appeared upside-down. Then, we used the polar coordinates option to create our world-like image.

To create the illusion of a a person playing "King of the World", we first took pictures, positioning the camera at a downward angle of the subject. Next, in Photoshop, we used the quick selection tool to cut out our subject from the background. Then, we copy and pasted ourselves into our image to make us appear to be on top of the world.

Final Photomontages

These images are my finished, edited, and graded "Joiners" Inspired by David Hockney. For my first subject, I decided to photograph a collection of nine of my personal favorite books. I took these pictures at my house, on our boucany so that there was an abundance of natural light provided for me. This made the photo editing stage a lot easier.

Featured in this image is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, The Hunger Games Series By Suzanne Collins, and the Best Seller, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. These are my collection of personal favorites of mine, and I suggest to anybody who likes fantasy novels to read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Hunger Games series. For anybody who likes to read stories that take place in a more realistic setting, I suggest The Fault In Our Stars.

My other image was taken on campus, at Kapaa Middle School. I chose to photograph a bush that was by our classroom. I thought that the way that the light was shimig through the leaves had a cool effect on the camera's view. Each Joiner is made up of about fifteen images.

All About Me

I am an 8th grader at Kapaa Middle school. I created this blog in my Gifted and Talented class. In this class, we mostly work on digital art and media. I play the violin, and I moved to Hawaii from Niles, Michigan. On June 16, this year, will mark my family living here for two years. I am striving to become a graphic designer. I really enjoy expressing my creativity through digital and traditional art. I also enjoy writing in my free time. Creative writing is a good way to express yourself.

Digital art is what I love to do, so I really enjoy this class. Art, in my personal definition, is a way to leave your mark on this world. One way is creating. That is what artists pursue. To create new ways to express themselves, and inspire those around them.

I also enjoy watching anime and reading. My favorite type of art is anime drawing, so naturally, I love the animation as well. My top three favorites are Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Ouran High School Host club. and I love spending my time reading my favorite authors. Such as, Rick Riordan, J.K Rowling, and John Green. I really enjoyed reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Harry Potter series, and The Fault In Our Stars. These are all very well written books that I would recommend for any reader who has extra time on their hands. I am also writing a story on Quotev.com called The Second Shadow, so check it out.

Magazine Cover

This is my completed magazine cover created in Kapa'a Middle School's Gifted and Talented class. In the creation process, I used photoshop to sketch a contour of a photo edited in Adobe Bridge.