Production Hub is a very useful website it has Blogs and many other resources that people can find useful. I was in the search for Video production Blogs and I found some pretty good ones linked through ProductionHub.com

Each one of these Blogs all have something creative to offer whether it be the Author giving you tips and special features you can use with Video Production or maybe a Blog about a autobiography there are many great things featured in these 5 Blogs, My favorite is the 5th Blog titled Premium Beat. This Blog features Tutorials, Tips, and many other useful things for Video production. The Author is named Clay Asbury he is a certified instructor for Adobe premiere and After effects and has been working in education and production for 15 years. This is why I love his blog so much is because he really knows his stuff and I am very interested in these applications as well. I think Production Hub is put together very nicely, it is easy to understand and use as well as navigate through. Each page has tabs for easy access to other pages, I recommend this Website to other Video Production seekers, and to other students in general.

Click this link to view the Website for the Blogs, I hope you enjoy!

https://www.productionhub.com/blog/post/5-best-blogs-for-video-production-pros

I’ve been playing fantasy football for seven years. I experienced a lot of beginners luck, and have been riding the lucky train for most of my time playing.

Many ask to explain to them how fantasy football works. Well, allow me to introduce you to a life changing game.

For so many football fans, being able to control a  football team is the  dream. Fantasy football allows you to create a  team of your favorite NFL athletes to compete against both friends and strangers. As a team owner, you will need the business sav­vy of a general manager, the player knowledge of a pro scout, and the strategy of a head coach.

To keep it simple, fantasy football is a game where football fans use their knowledge of the sport to compete against each other in formats that relate to the actual performance, or players’ statistics, of professional football teams. The goal of the fantasy football player is to select which athletes or teams will have the most impressive performances during a given week, taking under consideration of injuries, player match-ups, weather conditions to name a few.  To be a winner at fantasy football, a fantasy player must follow the weekly happenings of the NFL and make better choices than his opponent makes.

Here are key steps to beginning your journey with fantasy football:

• Choose a league. Pick a league with friends or with strangers.
• Draft your team. Follow a particular draft order and select your favorite NFL players. Commonly you’ll select a couple quarterbacks, four running backs, four wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker and a defense/special teams.
• Set your lineup. Each week, set your lineup. Think about who has the best match ups based off of past performances and future projections. Substitute any players that are injured or on a bye week.
• Have fun

For more information on how to play fantasy football, click this link: https://youtu.be/4Pm2pkxbYYU or press play down below.

If you are interested in joining or creating your own fantasy football league, visit the following site: http://www.nfl.com/fantasyfootball

https://youtu.be/BnJHY3w0KkQThis project I was told to do something outside the box. I took that as doing something out is my comfort zone.  A movie that is opposite of me in every way. I love my children and consider myself a man; so for me something out side the box is devilish desires of Satinic meaning to it. With the fear of clowns coming out of the woods grabbing children, with a twist of the new movie that just came out suicide squad. I combined children grabbing clowns with Holy Quinn, Jokers psychotic girlfriend to create a new type of killer. One bent on a sacrifice and murder hiding in the woods, looking like your  ordinary teenager. I filmed this all from my cell phone and used  premiere edit and do the effects I wanted. I downloaded the audio from youtube and edited the audio on audacity, so it fit my short film. My niece Ne Ne Burks did the acting for me. My daughter Ayona let me use her doll unwillingly. I used corn syrup and red food o for blood. The film was shot in my back yard to give it the forest look with the half built kid club house. I really enjoyed it making it and hope you all do to.

As far back as I can remember there has been a heated debate as to which is more important to a video game; story or game-play. The answer is yes. As far as storytelling goes, video games have always had an advantage over film and television in that they are interactive, meaning the story can sometimes be told through game-play and make you, the player, the protagonist. 

Decisions, Decisions

 You may be thinking “of course video games make you the main character, you’re the one playing aren’t you?” While that’s true, it’s one thing to give the player an avatar to control, but to fully immerse the player and make them feel like the centerpiece of the narrative requires very precise game design choices. Probably the simplest way to achieve this is with a dialogue wheel that allows you to choose what your avatar says like in Mass Effect. Although I ADORE Mass Effect, I prefer a more subtle approach. When crafting a story for their games, developers must remember to give the character motivation to see the journey through to the end. Two games that absolutely nail this premise are Ico and Wind Waker.

On the surface, Ico has a very simple story: escape! You begin the game trapped in a sprawling castle, lost and alone. A few minutes in you meet your sole companion: Yorda. The only problem is that Ico and Yorda don’t speak the same language, making it impossible to verbally communicate with Yorda. It’s up to the players actions to convey instructions to her. The game builds itself around this by designating a button to hold her hand. This simple design choice makes the player prioritize keeping Yorda close and thus you form a bond to her through game play. By the end of the game, you’re so attached to her that when she is kidnapped, even though Ico is given a clear escape route, your priority has completely switched to getting your friend back!

Wind Waker begins in a typical Zelda fashion by establishing the player character, Link as an ordinary island boy. It isn’t long before the game gives you your first taste of action when it gives you your sword and has you go to town on some generic enemies. This short sequence serves to make the player feel empowered and invincible. So what happens during the first real level? You lose your weapon and are forced to sneak your way through hordes of enemies, all of which now seem much more dangerous. You are now reminded that you are not invincible, you’re still that same island boy. Now the game becomes about reclaiming that sense of empowerment you felt in the beginning, a theme that is illustrated beautifully in a later sequence where you return to this same dungeon with sword in hand.

For more on video game narrative design, check out these links:

The Legend of Zelda’s take on the hero’s journey

The themes of Light and Dark in Ico’s prequel; Shadow of the Colossus

More on Wind Waker:

I am very interested in Video production, so for my assignment I decided to look into a local business in Eugene that does Video Production. I went to Stafford Video in South Eugene and interviewed the owner Mark Stafford. He has been doing many years of video, at least 30. (he couldn’t remember the exact year/ wouldn’t tell me) I went to the office of the company and interviewed Mark, here is what he had to say.

Question 1: What was it like to create your own media business in the community?  

He thought about it for a minute and then responded very thoughtfully. he told me Starting the business was both exciting and very challenging they started with only 3,000 dollars to invest into it which he claims is next to nothing in this industry. He also had to sell stock to make it including his Motorcycle, scuba diving equipment and his very first video camera! (ouch). When they first started there really wasn’t much for Video Production around, you might see some in bigger cities but in Eugene there wasn’t really anything back in the early 80’s. As time went on with trying to get the new business going it got really rough, Mark was ready to throw in the towel but he knew if he kept going he would be very successful.

Question 2: In your Opinion, is it very difficult for someone to get a career in Video production? 

He told me yes, it is very difficult when he got started he started working for a company called Westcom, and then he got to know a producer making training videos for University of Oregon’s Track and Field. When he was working with him he wasn’t even allowed to carry the camera. One of the producers told him he should shadow a very good photographer and learn everything he needed to know, it is also important to be a good writer and here’s why he told me using this metaphor “If you have 100 monkeys that know how to run a video camera, but only 2 of them know how to write who’s more likely to get hired?” The answer is of course the 2 monkeys who not only know how to use the camera but can also write a script and everything else they need for Video production. He eventually became a co-founder of Mopan which stands for Mid Oregon Production Arts Network.

Question 3: What are some suggestions, or tips/recommendations you would give to people in the community who want to pursue Video Production as a career? 

He thinks a good way to start is to get a hold of the production team at television stations and figure out what it takes to get a job there, It takes a lot of hard work and effort it is not an easy thing to get into but it is possible. He used one of his favorite quotes as an example for me. He said in the words of Charles Dowd “Practice, practice, and practice some more” This was a phrase that Charles would tell his students and it is a quote that Mark loves. He gave the suggestion to surround yourself with talented people and learn everything you need to know and more.

Question 4: What is your fav

               This weekend I was laying on my bed, contemplating the concepts of art, lazily staring at a painting on my wall. I have a few by this artist, collected by my partner. They’re all muted in palette and range in subject from nude portraits to abstractions of reality. Though I have strayed from the path of studio arts, I know that this artist David Verhoeven has done graphic design for wineries and still stands as an inspiration to me. Yesterday I was thankful to catch some of his time and get a few answer to quench some of my curiosity.

So.. How does one even start to be a self promoted artist? How do you change from hobby to a
career? David told me that in his early teens he stopped doing art for pure enjoyment, studying professionally.

_{[img above: photographed business card that David sent me]
“The word “hobby” infers the pursuit of amusement and perhaps as a young child this applied however, early to mid- teens my interest in art matured. Late teens I was working professionally.”}

                  Though his subjects have always varied, his primary tools have been ink, gouache, and graphite for a while. With these tools, he made his first series “[···]series of frottages from found objects. A series of paintings in gouache, oil, and acrylic on canvas mounted on wood and most recently torn paper (book leaves) collages.”

When I first wanted to interview him, I had recalled various stories about his beginnings as an artist; a young man creating advertisements for companies, doing commissions, selling original art, and I guess I just wanted to know how he got himself out there. He told me it was by word of mouth and development of portfolio that he became well known for this type of work. Though, he said it wasn’t worth the effort he put into it. Nowadays, he relies on promotion through his facebook and from his friends.

I asked David what his favorite art piece was, but he told me he couldn’t pick one, that it
would be like picking a favorite child. I have no such issues with picking a favorite piece, and here is mine. It is titled  Why Must I. I love his colors and concepts, and I find myself trying to make sense of all of his pictures, but as my eyes soften and travel around the picture, I am able to see where the human image lies–David’s most used subject.

[Credit to Img right: David Verhoeven]

I had one final question before leaving, I wanted to know what advice he had for any beginning artist. “Be true to yourself, your inner voice, be vulnerable.” Be vulnerable is probably one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard. Looking at his body of works, with paintings of his ex wife, paintings for his child, and just expressions of his soul; you can see that David puts himself out there to be judged. That’s always a problem I’ve had with my own art, I guard myself too heavily.

Putting a face and a voice to the art on my walls makes me appreciate it a bit more. I also feel a little demystified, remembering that even the artists who inspire me are human. The next time I head downtown, I want to stop in some of the smaller galleries, and see if any artists are like David–trying to find their voice in a world with many artists showing their gifts.

Remember! Support your local artists whenever you can, and reach out to them. You might just be surprised on how they respond.

Kumoricon is a holy haven for nerds of the North West, United States. It is an anime convention, which is the gathering of nerds typically hosted at a convention center, hotel, or even a college campus. Depending on the scale of the convention there will be a variety of activities and panels.

There’s a lot of different activities and panels to choose from! You can cosplay as your favorite character from your favorite fandom and choose to partake in a group photo shoot or you can simply walk around the convention in your cosplay, tons of fun! What you can do in cosplay could easily be its own tangent, there’s so much to Kumoricon I want to nerd out on. There are a wide variety of panels to choose from including, fan ran panels from which you can improvise in character depending on the panel, you can watch shows or movies together, also you are able to prescreen never before seen footage of TV shows, movies, or videogames that haven’t been released. There are panels for let’s plays, which is to watch someone play your favorite video game and make commentary live for the audience instead of through Youtube, panels to learn skills from sewing to fan making. There are a lot of different opportunities with all of the different type of panels. Kumoricon is large enough to of hosted on of my favorite animation studios, Trigger.

Besides all of the wonderful panels you can attend there are other functions of a convention that are important as well. Typically, there is a section dedicated to gaming, and not just video games. As there is a huge variety of TVs that are set up with different consoles there are also a wide variety of board games to choose from.  Nerds are very introverted, so this space is great for the socially awkward.

For me the most important activity at an anime convention is the Artist Alley, an outlet for illustrators and exhibitors to sell their goods. It’s funny how easily 5 hours can pass by so quickly there, I spent a majority of most of my time there. I’ve participated in selling at an Artist Alley before at New Con and now am addicted to it. I decided not to participate in the venue, yet it didn’t stop me from wanting to learn from the artists that were there. I spent a majority of my time at Kumoricon shadowing the artists. As expected the quality of the products were very inspiring at each booth. There’s a lot more to art than just to be an illustration and I felt that a lot of the artists at Kumoricon understood that. They can self market their drawings with templates such as bookmarks, stickers, keychains and many other options. All of the artists there were so kind, they were able to answer all any questions I had. Luckily a lot of the artists went to NewCon as well so it was really nice for me to see how they’re grown.

It was especially nice to see my fiend Ashley Kincannon, her artist booth was very inspirational. It’s refreshing to see her knowledge of character design. As someone with a mindset who doesn’t create I could remember when I liked a show because of simply a funny joke. Now with an artistic mindset, aspects like a character’s shape or the type of lines applied are more important to me. These are qualities that I see in Ashley’s character design, she has characters of all different sizes, body types, and even textures that show so much personality! It’s very inspirational to be able to present yourself as an artist, and I truly admire how Ashley is very professional yet her art is so much fun. You can see her art at http://www.kincannonconcept.com/

When you walk into a theme park, you are walking into a media experience that has been designed to tell you a story. Don Carson has been designing theme parks for over thirty years. If you’ve been on Splash Mountain in Walt Disney World, Mickey’s Toontown in Disneyland, or the California Adventure, you’ve been immersed in worlds  that Don Carson helped design.

He has a very comprehensive portfolio web site, nicely designed.

As a media student the most fascinating part of it was his blog. He discusses world-building design concepts for theme parks and video games in detail. He has an extensive background in design, concept art, illustration, even retail design. The majority of his blog deals with theme park and video game design. It’s very helpful for people who want to learn design of 3-D spaces that will be having people explore them. There’s posts specific to designing a certain place, and general design concept posts.

I emailed Don and asked for an interview. He’s local to Eugene but was headed out of town, so we did an email interview. He was friendly and welcoming. I have shared our questions and answers below, and most of them are applicable to media designers in general, not just those who design for video games or theme parks. It was an honor to talk to a person who has his designs seen by millions of people from all over the world.

During my time in Intro to Media Arts, I was required to complete what is called “Professional Practices”. To anyone who doesn’t know what that is, “Professional Practices” required the student to conduct an interview or attend an art exhibit/lecture and then write a 500 page paper on the experience. In order to fulfill the requirement, I attended the Krause Gallery Exhibit titled After Glow located at the University of Oregon (UO). The exhibit, an experiment with glowing objects and darkness, consisted mainly of everyday objects painted or dyed  in colors that would glow in the dark.  One of these displays, which is shown in picture #1, resembled a large piece of cloth with splotches of glow-in-the-dark tie dye and draped over some mound. Another display featured a sort of stone pillar with a plastic or glass square, topped with a bowl of what I assume was aquarium pebbles. Upon closer examination of the plastic or glass square, I realized that this was actually an ingenious display within a display that showed a  video of someone manipulating glowing sand in darkness. As the person’s hands moved quickly and fluidly, arranging the sand into weird shapes, I was taken aback on how mesmerizing this video was, and it proved to be the highlight of the exhibit.  For the most part, however,  the exhibit was thoroughly disappointing and didn’t seem to warrant an entire exhibit on it. The reception was very well put together with food and drinks set up outside the exhibit where people conversed with each 0ther until it was time for the next event of the night.

Later we all crowded into a separate building for a lecture by well known and celebrated curator Ruba Katrib on Sculpture as Substance. To anyone who has not heard of Miss Katrib, she is the curator for SculptureCenter in Long Island City, New York, producing group shows such as The Eccentrics (2015), Puddle, Pothole, Portal (2014) (which she co-curated with artist Camille Henrot), Better Homes (2013) and A Disagreeable Object (2012).   Before the main lecture commenced several other people took the stand in order to address the event and to introduce its main speaker. The first person talked about the founding of the  Connective Conversations which this was a part of, and how it helped artists from around the state of Oregon to participate. The second speaker listed Katrib’s exploits and introduced her to the audience, which was met with a round of applause. When Miss Katrib finally took the stand, she proceeded to talk about the fundamentals of sculpture and how the art of sculpture engages our sensory realms. An example she gave of this was the work of artist Anicka Yi, and one of here design’s with clothing and Tempuru-fried flowers engaged the viewer’s sense of smell and taste. Katrib also pointed out that art can mimic or suggest real life or the human body, such as Marcel Dechamp’s Wedge of Chastity and the Skin Pool, the latter of which represented art in an organic form. There was so many other fascinating concepts that Miss Katrib talked about, all of which were eye-opening to me as an artist. Particularly the concept of art engaging one’s sensory realms was something that I never heard before and it proved to be a very educational experience which I hope to use this knowledge in my field in order to improve upon my skills as an artist.