For this project I was trying to capture the essence of a hobby of mine, glassblowing. This footage was shot in the summer of 2014 in downtown Eugene at an event called DFO. Glassblowers from all over the world come to downtown Eugene to gather and enjoy this wonderful activity. Glassblowing has brought me much happiness and peace throughout the months. When you can bring a community of people together under a common idea, you can do anything. Glassblowing is a way to bring people together and build a community of awesome people creating things and doing things they love. Everyone deep down has a message or an expression to send out into the world and glassblowing is a way to send that message or express yourself. I used very calming music to reflect how relaxing glassblowing is.
Well it seemed like the biggest part of this project was figuring out what to do it on! My brother Ian and I decided to partner up for this project and our original idea was to make a short “Indiana Jones” style film but we eventually came to the realization that that would require more work than what we really had time for so then we started thinking of ways in which we could make a documentary about the Blue River Mining District where we like to go explore quite a bit. When we had finally decided that we would go with this idea, the snow came in and prevented us from being able to get up there to film so we had to scrap that idea.
It was starting to get down to the wire and neither of us could come up with many good ideas, but I went back and watched some of the projects from past terms and saw one that used animation that was a lot like “Stop Motion”. I had worked a little with Stop Motion animation back in high school and had fun with it, so I started thinking of a way we could make a story and utilize this effect.
After my brother and I sitting down and having a LOT of discussion we came up with a funny idea. Our Aunt Lisa lives next door to us and had planned on doing some yard work last weekend so we decided we would help her with it if she acted in our film. And that is how our final product came about
I took on the role of filming most of the footage for the video and Ian worked on the editing. The filming part was kind of a disappointment because the video camera I planned on using did not work so we ended up shooting with a digital camera and the quality was not as good as I would have liked it to be. The editing process was actually the easiest part of the project. The Stop Motion animation is basically just a collection of still images taken from the video footage and put in line back to back to create sort of a “flip book” effect. It is kind of a challenge in the filming stage because there has to be a person that steps into the frame and moves the object that the stop motion effect is applied to slightly and then walk out and back in again to move it a little more and a little more until the object is where you want it to end. In the editing stage, you then take a snapshot of every moment in which the object has advanced and the person moving it is off screen.
I had fun working on this project with my brother and aunt. And I am pleased with how it turned out.
My brother Brendan and I worked together on this final project. To start, we had numerous ideas on what we wanted to do the project on, but ran into problems with each idea. Plus we wanted to come up with something different enough than our previous projects. After a LOT of thinking, my brother finally came up with the idea of creating a stop motion animation. I had done one of these a few years ago for my high school video production class and had a lot of fun with it. We both agreed on coming up with a story that we could create a stop motion on. As luck would have it, our aunt Lisa had been wanting to get some yard work done that weekend. The first thought that came to mind was having a lawn mower cutting the grass all on its own! She was also wanting to get one of her apple trees trimmed, so that’s when we thought of having the tree cut itself. Once we had came up with this idea, the rest of the process ran fairly smooth. The filming of the stop motion is a process, because it involves stepping in and out of the frame moving the object in small increments at a time. We weren’t thrilled with the quality of the camera we were using either, however it was the best one we had to use besides our Gopro’s. Once the filming was done, the editing went pretty quick and was relatively easy. The music is always one of the hardest steps for me, finding out a tune that will flow good with the screen action. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with the final video. Why is it called “A Dream Not Come True?” You’ll have to watch it and find out! 😉
This will be my final entry for this blog at least for this class…I plan on continuing to do blog entries for things that have caught my interest! So do stay tuned!.
For my final assignment I wanted to do a piece that spreads an important message so the subjects I chose were depression and suicide. Depression affects many people all over the world as does Suicide it’s nothing to bew taken lightly or joked about.
“According to depression statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 9 percent of adult Americans have feelings of hopelessness, despondency, and/or guilt that generate a diagnosis of depression. At any given time, about 3 percent of adults have major depression, also known as major depressive disorder, a long-lasting and severe form of depression. In fact, major depression is the leading cause of disability for Americans between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the CDC. Understanding these very real depression statistics helps paint a fuller picture of the impact of depression in America.”
It is my wish that this piece helps those who deal with this demon known as depression and can be helped to not give in and commit suicide. Remember, it is never too late to seek help.
For this video project I decided to film an average day at the mountain bike trails, with my dog Clover. I hadn’t shot any film for the class, so i decided to grab a Go-pro, and create a short narrative. I thought the idea would make for an entertaining edit, and knew I would enjoy creating it.
Mountain biking is a major passion in my life. I have been riding for almost fifteen years and was lucky enough to race at a professional level for a couple of them. Its the way I connect with nature and blow off steam. Clover is my loving puppy, who i enjoy sharing my time on the trails with. Nothing makes her happier than chasing bikes down the trail. We usually go out riding once or twice a week. She gets pretty worked up if she doesn’t get her weekly trail time.
I hope that everyone enjoys the video as much as Clover and I enjoyed making it.
For this final project I wanted to explore more of the way sounds effect the viewers experience, I took pains to only make references that are already established in The Incredible Hulk’s and Marvel’s universe. Even the Doctor mentioned is a lesser know hero form the sixties and seventies. The Hospital is also a lesser known location in a few Spiderman comics.
My primary concern with this project was to make it sound as close to a real life hospital phone call as I could given the limitations of my hardware and software. The overall story was of my own invention. I thought it was an interesting idea to explore.
All sounds were downloaded from open source and used in accordance with the varied term and conditions of the varied sites I used.
“David Dassey is one of the healthiest men in Los Angeles. At 62, he can still run a sub-four marathon. Last April he competed in Boston for the fourth time and almost made it to the finish—just past the 25-mile mark—when the bombs exploded. Many of his fellow runners sprinted to the nearest blood donation centers, fearing the worst. Dassey, a doctor who works for the county’s public health department, didn’t join them. “I’ve known for 30 years that I can’t donate,” he says. “It doesn’t even go through my head anymore” Men’s Health Magazine, Banned for Life, 2013.)
My personal experience stems not so much from a dramatic experience as David’s, but, I was denied donation not even knowing it was a law to begin with. I prepped myself physically and mentally for weeks making sure everything was perfect for the local blood drive. I showed up, filled out the questionnaire, waited, and was denied right then and there in person. It was incredibly awkward standing there listening to them try and explain why they were denying me the right to give my blood. Looking at my doctors records and knowing there was nothing wrong with my blood, they still turned me away resulting in a lifetime ban. At this point its completely inaccurate scientifically because the blood can be tested. Its one thing for society to be upset about gay marriage and the heated debate of equality and its another to deny someone life by denying healthy blood. Like David Dassey, he witnessed the bombing at Boston and knew he could do nothing. To force someone to walk away from saving a life is inhumane and as corrupt as it gets to me.
I personally cant change the law. I can only spread awareness regarding the issue and hope that my words and creativity can help change hearts and breathe life into people.
Robert Henke is multi-talented digital artist. His website details succinctly every aspect of his productive life. From his cutting edge laser based visual performance to the custom made max4live patches everything is easy to find. Yet the simplicity of the site hides its depth, you could spend a day or two learning new thing form his writings section and many times that from his engineering page. This is not to mention and extensives musical discography reaching back over 20 years. This website is a one of a kind resource created by an impressive individual.
So this will be one of my last posts for this class. We’ve finally reached the point of our final project for my media arts class! We were allowed to do anything we wanted to, and I originally had the idea of a music video with my friend. When my friend bailed on me (that’s showbiz, kid), I was offered to team up with my friends Brian and Derek. Brian told me that they were doing a music video as well, so naturally I was intrigued. He also told me that the girl they originally were planning to use was very flaky. He said that he originally imagined me as the lead in the music video. Needless to say, I was flattered.
Once they extended me the offer to act in what was now our project, I was ecstatic. I had never had much experience acting, and was always under the impression I couldn’t. I was definitely very nervous. I was really hoping that my facial expressions could convey what we were after.
The original story that he explained to me is it’s a first person video in black & white, and it’s a guy going through his daily routine. He wakes up, gets ready for the day, meets his friends, goes to a bar, etc. It’s like he’s basically going through the motions of his life. Then he goes to a park where he used to spend a lot of time with his girlfriend. It all fades to color and she appears. He starts to reminisce what it was like to be with her. You definitely feel the tone of the vide change. Then all of a sudden, she’s gone and it changes to black and white.
He starts to walk to the bridge and he’s looking out across the water. All of a sudden, she appears again. She walks forward and takes his hand. You see clips of what it was like for them to be together. You really feel the happiness and light she brought to his life. It then fades back to black & white, he looks to his left and she’s gone. The video ends with him walking down towards the lake to convey a feeling of loneliness, which is definitely apparent. The original ending was supposed to be that you would see him pull out an urn, and it was supposed to show that it was his late girlfriend. It’s more of a tragic ending, but unfortunately the video could only be 3 minutes maximum.
There’s also one other thing I’d like to touch on. The music! The song we used (and got permission for), was “For Someone” by the band called Why? Very interesting name I thought. The song is absolutely perfect. It starts out with a strong back beat, and the way the camera is showing clips from his life is timed very well. When the female lead comes in, the song slows down and is more relaxing. I couldn’t think of a better song.
When it comes to my experience, it was so fun! It was great to walk around with Brian and Derek and see their creative minds collaborate with mine. Brian was a great director, he gave good direction and Derek gave a lot of great ideas that we used. His storyboard was impeccable! We would all throw out ideas, our creativity definitely fed off each other. I’ve admired both of their work that I’ve seen in this class, and was so fortunate to work with them. The weather was unusual for Eugene but I definitely couldn’t complain. It was so fun to show different parts of Eugene. It was great exposure, and something I definitely want to keep doing.
So this will be one of my last posts for this class. We’ve finally reached the point of our final project for my media arts class! We were allowed to do anything we wanted to, and I originally had the idea of a music video with my friend. When my friend bailed on me (that’s showbiz, kid), I was offered to team up with my friends Brian and Derek. Brian told me that they were doing a music video as well, so naturally I was intrigued. He also told me that the girl they originally were planning to use was very flaky. He said that he originally imagined me as the lead in the music video. Needless to say, I was flattered.
Once they extended me the offer to act in what was now our project, I was ecstatic. I had never had much experience acting, and was always under the impression I couldn’t. I was definitely very nervous. I was really hoping that my facial expressions could convey what we were after.
The original story that he explained to me is it’s a first person video in black & white, and it’s a guy going through his daily routine. He wakes up, gets ready for the day, meets his friends, goes to a bar, etc. It’s like he’s basically going through the motions of his life. Then he goes to a park where he used to spend a lot of time with his girlfriend. It all fades to color and she appears. He starts to reminisce what it was like to be with her. You definitely feel the tone of the vide change. Then all of a sudden, she’s gone and it changes to black and white.
He starts to walk to the bridge and he’s looking out across the water. All of a sudden, she appears again. She walks forward and takes his hand. You see clips of what it was like for them to be together. You really feel the happiness and light she brought to his life. It then fades back to black & white, he looks to his left and she’s gone. The video ends with him walking down towards the lake to convey a feeling of loneliness, which is definitely apparent. The original ending was supposed to be that you would see him pull out an urn, and it was supposed to show that it was his late girlfriend. It’s more of a tragic ending, but unfortunately the video could only be 3 minutes maximum.
There’s also one other thing I’d like to touch on. The music! The song we used (and got permission for), was “For Someone” by the band called Why? Very interesting name I thought. The song is absolutely perfect. It starts out with a strong back beat, and the way the camera is showing clips from his life is timed very well. When the female lead comes in, the song slows down and is more relaxing. I couldn’t think of a better song.
When it comes to my experience, it was so fun! It was great to walk around with Brian and Derek and see their creative minds collaborate with mine. Brian was a great director, he gave good direction and Derek gave a lot of great ideas that we used. His storyboard was impeccable! We would all throw out ideas, our creativity definitely fed off each other. I’ve admired both of their work that I’ve seen in this class, and was so fortunate to work with them. The weather was unusual for Eugene but I definitely couldn’t complain. It was so fun to show different parts of Eugene. It was great exposure, and something I definitely want to keep doing.
