Category Archives: Sp15-P5 Image Editing

Draw my Life – Short Story “Annie”

So there was this trend on youtube a while back called “Draw My Life”… where you would draw your life on a whiteboard and then narrate to your drawings! I saw one a few weeks ago and really wanted to try it. It’s a lot harder than it seems and there’s so much editing to do 🙁 Before I was finished I thought “This is a neat project but I’m not doing something like this again.” But when I saw the finished product I thought it was pretty spiffy and might consider sometime in the future of doing something like it with a few different approaches/techniques.

The story I wanted to tell is my own! It’s based on how I got my very first dog Annie and the struggled/triumphs we both went through. As a little kid I only ever wanted a dog, and as a dog Annie only ever wanted a person to love! She’s pretty old now, almost fifteen, and is slowing down noticeably. I’m glad I was able to do a tribute for someone so important in my life!

The High 5

This assignment was a very slow starter for me.  The idea of creating something about “5” was abstract and I was over complicating it greatly.  Eventually some ideas started filtering in but they were all very elaborate and difficult to accomplish.  Time was running out and I hadn’t even started filming anything or familiarized myself with any editing software.  What can I say?  I was at a loss.  I only had a week left and I hadn’t started a single thing.  I asked around, seeking advice from my instructors and other people whose opinions I trust.  I continued to hear the same thing over and over.  “Step back from it, stop over complicating it, don’t try to force it…”  I must have finally caught on because suddenly it came to me.  The first thing that had crossed my mind the moment I heard “5”.  Simple, fun, and definitely achievable…

High_Five_D

I didn’t bother with a storyboard.  Time was short and I needed to start producing something I could use.  I grabbed a camera, tripod, my friends, bought some editing software, and got to it.  Though I have previously produced one short video, the difficulties involved in the creation of this one were by far more involved and challenging.  I spent hours watching tutorial videos for my new software, Premiere Pro.  It’s part of the Adobe Creative Cloud bundle  ( https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html?promoid=KLXLR ) and is a very complicated program for anyone who is new to editing software.  The video you are about to see is actually unfinished.  I had a few more tweaks I planned on making such as added sounds effects and music, background and unwanted noise elimination, and removal of the more “risque” material that initially seemed a grand idea.  Unfortunately while attempting to use Adobe Audition to fix the sound issues I accidentally saved the changes I had been trying out.  The whole thing became a mess as I continued trying to back track and clean up my mistakes.  Luckily I did export a usable copy before the changes so that is what I will be presenting for you.  With only hours left until the deadline I’ve decided it best to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and submit what I have.  So without further ado, I present to you “The High 5″.

As mentioned above, I planned on removing the background noise as well as that horrible creaking sound the tripod made on a few of the shots.  I also wanted to add some music I had chosen on Freeplay Music to cover up some of the longer, quite scenes and make them a little m ore interesting.  The world of editing is vast, complicated, and unforgiving when you make a critical error.  There is so much to learn and I have no doubt that once I’ve gotten a good handle on this program a new update will come out and push me back to square one.  The very last shot was filmed on my new camera, a Canon Rebel T5.  I was completely unfamiliar with it and consequently, the shot came out in wide screen.

Though it is undoubtedly rough around the edges I believe it was a great start in the world of editing.  As you saw I made full use of video effects, on screen text, and even a bit of special effects.  I learned some valuable lessons that I will take with me and implement into my next attempt.  Watch out world, here I come!

Special Thanks:  High5 Thanks

Cheesy Goodness in Video Form

Enjoy my interpretation of 5 in “5 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches in 5 Days.” https://vimeo.com/marsartspace/cheesygoodness

I had a couple of different ideas for “5” as a video project, but after hearing about the “Grilled Cheese Experience,” a benefit for Food for Lane County, I decided to have some fun, try some new restaurants, and give back to an excellent organization while completing this assignment.  Don’t you just love it when things come together like that?

The Grilled Cheese Experience is the brain-child of Anna Williams, a senior at the UO and an intern at Food for Lane County. The project involved 15 local food carts and restaurants all serving their version of the grilled cheese sandwich.  For every sandwich purchased, $1-$2 was donated to Food for Lane County.

This was a really fun project and helped stretch my video, photographic, and audio skills.  My sister was my partner in fun in this great adventure.  I put it all together using iMovie because that is the video editing program I’m most familiar with.  I did have some frustrations with iMovie but overall, the project went well.

One difficulty was having the perfect narration track and then having Teresa discover a glitch in it.  I’m really glad she did because I hadn’t heard it in the original recording, but it meant rerecording the narration and that’s when everything went wrong. All my audio equipment and programs refused to play nice together and I was concerned that I’d not get a good take.  However, the planets aligned, the cards stacked up, and the fates smiled down on me and I was able to get a clean track.  Phew…

A shout-out to Teresa for her great thoughts and guidance on this project. I think your suggestions really pushed it from good to great.

I hope you enjoy it.  And even though the Grilled Cheese Experience is over, feel free to head to your favorite restaurant or food cart, ask for a grilled cheese sandwich, and donate a couple of bucks yourself to Food for Lane County.

Audio Credits – All Sounds from freesound.org:

Music:  Acoustic Sunrise – Apple Garage Band loop