drake942014 – Writing and Digital Media Class Blogs

What I Did Over Thankgiving Break and Why

drake942014 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 15:49:58 +0000

The work I did on my project over break included recording the audio for the opening title, introduction and credits portion of my production. This took a little bit of time as after I had the script written, I had to practice how I wanted the narrator to sound, how the script would be read, and other little details to make sure it was believable; add trying multiple times to get the recording I wanted or a reading where I didn’t flub it up, and you’re looking at 45-60 min of time invested. Perhaps that’s too much time, but it will be worth it when my end product is the in the style and quality I want it at.

I also have begun filming, and gathered ‘B-roll’ footage and images for tittle/credits section of the film, as well as started a draft of the credits. I have done this in order to give the audience something to look at while they are introduced to the story via the narrator, to give the credits a background to sit on instead of blankness, and to set the theme for the audience. The soundtrack is still a work in progress, as not very much of the royalty free or creative commons music that’s in the theme that I want is very good. I do have a few in mind though, and will apply them when I am closer to finishing my project to see which one fits the best. And finally, I began to create my film in Adobe Premiere Elements 9, the video editor I have chosen for this project.

Revision Plan (Nov. 19th)

drake942014 — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:53:42 +0000

After discussing and sharing what I had so far for my project, my reviewer had little in the way of criticisms and recommendations as my project currently stands. However, he did ask how I planned to put together my video (what program, filming techniques, etc.) and how the audience would know the references to the Jack Tales that I was using (i.e. will the audience know the original stories and understand the remix?)

My plan for revision:

To answer these questions, I am revising my project plan to make the story as easy as possible to follow by making it so that an uninformed audience understands it as a complete mash of other stories into an original production. I will accomplish this through the opening tittles and credits by referencing the works I have pulled from, as well as stating that the film is a remix/mash of the stories told by the authors cited in the credits. Additionally, I have revised my project timeline to push back filming and video editing to next week, but voice-over work, narration audio recording and soundtrack work will take place this week and over the weekend.

What I did today (Nov. 17th)

drake942014 — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 16:04:51 +0000

Today i continued my research on Jack Tales and worked on the planning of my video project, listing off the things I will be gathering up in order to shoot my raw footage as well as other “to-do’s” for the project. I am currently a few days behind schedule due to work for other classes, however over the course of the next week I should be back on track. My current plan is to accomplish most of the filming by the end of Tuesday of next week (Nov. 25th).

Project 3 in-class Update, November 10th

drake942014 — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 15:59:23 +0000

Since my last post, I have not gotten very much further with my project other than continue my work on remix ideas and details for my story. Today I began work in-class on making sure I had my sources saved to my Google doc Source list for the project, as well as begin my mock-up/first draft of a storyboard for the remix. Since my project is to be a short film, I decided that a detailed storyboard with notes and images was the most appropriate and effective way to accomplish this. I have began work on this storyboard by hand in my notebook, but may move it to a digital format if I find myself too limited.

A photo of the beginning of my Storyboard’s first draft:

Project 3 Timeline and Progress on my Project

drake942014 — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:55:17 +0000

This will be my timeline for my Project 3: Remix a Story, a remix of Appalachian Jack tales:

Friday, Nov. 7th- Continue work on storyboard and Research
Monday, Nov. 10th- “Finalized” Storyboard
Wednesday, Nov. 12th- begin setting up/attaining all props, video clips, etc.
Nov. 13th-16th- Start shooting scenes for project
Monday, Nov. 17th- Presentation Sign-up
Wednesday, Nov. 19th- Rough Cut for Peer Feedback; Project 3 Revision Plan.
Friday, Nov. 21st- Selfie showing myself at work.
Dec. 3rd–10th- In-class Presentations.
Wednesday, Dec. 10th- Project Due by 11:55 PM EST
Thursday, Dec. 11th- recover… or finish other class projects

What I’ve done and Why (as of Wed., Nov 5th)

So far for this week, I have finalized the main story I am going to be remixing, furthered research on the story and others like it, as well as created an initial write-up/rough outline for the project. Mainly, I began to outline my project so that I could get a jump start on it ahead of other class work and scheduling issues that will be limiting the time I can spend on the project, as well as begin to have a concrete basis on which to create and organize my storyboard on. The further research I have done so far has been reading more “Jack Tales” that are similar to or related to the main story I am focusing on. I have done this to give myself more more ideas for the project as well as make the remix of the story more involved and maintain the risk element I laid out in my proposal(s). The Ideas I have come up with and wish to incorporate into my project from this research are to include additional Jack tale characters, story references to other Jack tales, as well as ways to set these character into modern day Montgomery County, VA.

Informal Proposal for Project 3

drake942014 — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:58:14 +0000

For my Remix a Story project, I have chose to focus on a series of Appalachian folk tails. I think this will be appropriate seeing how living in the NRV, we live right in/near the heart of Appalachia. The stories I would like to focus on are those presented in the musical “Sing Down the Moon: Appalachian Wonder Tails” by Mary Hall Surface and David Maddox, however I am not entirely set on this story yet; I will have a definite plan and story by Wednesday.

I have not come to a definite decision on how I would like to present the stories in a modern context, but I pretty well set on it including video in mock news report/interview formats, along side a written online/newspaper report on the “event(s).” My plan is to present the story in a current-day context and to incorporate as much of VT and the surrounding communities as possible.

Day 2 Presentations

drake942014 — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 15:09:20 +0000

Today, The web-tool I found the most interesting was Pixlr, presented by Emma. Emma’s presentation was detailed, engaging and highlighted all the useful features of this web tool. While I do not regularly take and edit photos, it is helpful to have knowledge of potentially useful tools if the need ever arises for a class project or something like the YouTube channel I run on my own time.

Day 1 Presentations

drake942014 — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 15:04:17 +0000

For the first day of presentations, the tool I found the most interesting and useful was Soundcloud. Tiny’s presentation was effective and concise, and increased my already present interest in using this tool. I have always been a big fan of music and have been involved with it since I began playing the trombone in 4th grade. So, a web tool that would allow me do everything from simply search for and play my favorite tracks, to being able to create, share and comment on my own music, is very appealing to me.

What, Why, and That Which is Still Left Undone

drake942014 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 14:54:22 +0000

What:

Today, I posted what I had so far for my rough draft on to my site page for project 2. It is incomplete and still in the earlier stages of development.

Why:

I did this so I have at least something up on my site to show that I have worked on it and that how far I still need to go.

What I need to do:

I have a lot left to do for this project. I still have to finish my draft, insert images and other media, proofread and edit, create my presentation and practice it, and finalize my report and give it a final overview. I should be able to accomplish most all of this by Monday morning, so no worries! ha-ha.

Last-time on, “What I Did Today!”…

drake942014 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:18:11 +0000

Last class I began working on the written portion of my web-essay, as well as gather more screenshots for reference and use in both my essay and my presentation. I also began compiling my notes as well as adding to them as I went back over the masher.com site to make sure I had not missed any details in my initial interrogations of it.