My New Schedule

An animation I'm creating in After Effects

It may take some time adjusting to my new schedule this semester. Last week was the first week of the spring semester, and with a new set of classes comes a new routine for me. Since I have class twice per week, I have to make up my hours at work by going in early and staying late certain days of the week. But, it seems to be working out just fine.

My class this semester is called Motion/Visual Effects. We will be learning how to use After Effects, a program used to make those pretty cool graphics you see in movies, TV shows, on the news, and the Web. We started going over the interface in class. My homework for this week included working with some exercise files. After we get a handle on how the features work, we’ll move into some more creative projects.

Despite the fact that some of my days are really busy, I do have one day every week where I don’t have work or class during the winter. I use this day to work on homework, do some cleaning around the house, and continue my volunteer work for a local educational non-profit.

Unfortunately, I can’t attend as many fun activities on campus as I like, but there are a few I’ll be able to take part of in the future. I was looking at the upcoming events on the myMPTC portal, and I was happy to see that many of the acts I suggested we have on campus are booked for this semester. I discovered these speakers and performers at the conferences I went to with Student Senate last year. At the conferences we got to watch these people speak or perform, and we also talked to them one-on-one. Please check out the events calendar and attend some of these events. I’m sure one or two of them will spark your interest.

My schedule will change yet again in March for the second half of the semester. The class I’m taking now is an accelerated course. Once this class is over in March, my other class, Video/Sound Editing, begins. I have been looking forward to this class for a long time. I noticed it a few semesters ago in the course catalog when it was first offered. Having made a video as an assignment for one of my other classes, I was really interested in learning video editing. I am fortunate to be in a position now to take it, along with other classes in the Audio-Video Certificate.

Good luck to all those who have begun classes. It’s going to be a great spring! (Especially after the snow melts and this bitter cold ends!)

Don’t Let Your Brain Turn Into Mush This Winter

It may sound a little strange to say, but I already miss going to class on Monday nights. It’s been three weeks since we’ve finished, and I miss my classmates and all the cool stuff we’ve gotten to do together. I am still in contact with a few of them, and that has been nice. Some of us are continuing our education through the break by working on building our portfolios and doing extra research online. One of my classmates has an interview for an internship, so I’m crossing my fingers for him.

At work we’ve purchased a new camera that takes excellent photos and HD video. So far I’ve only taken photos, but soon I’ll be filming. I have learned enough in class this past fall to do a few short videos. I’ve jotted down some promising ideas.

During the winter I have an extra day off of work each week, so I’m choosing to spend time teaching myself more about filming and editing. I also don’t want to lose any knowledge I’ve gained in class. I’m also hoping that there will be some awesome events on campus on my day off so I can attend them. I haven’t been able to participate as much as I did in the past recently.

I was watching a YouTube blogger today, and he was talking about New Year’s resolutions. Instead of resolutions, which tend to be pretty generic, he suggested making a list of New Year’s accomplishments. This would be a short list of things you want to accomplish by the end of 2014. I love that idea, especially since it’s attached to a timeframe. And, if you accomplish them by New Year’s Eve, you really have something to celebrate! I want to write down three things to accomplish this year. I want them to be attainable and something I’m proud of completing, so I’m going to give myself some time to think about it.

If you’re on winter break too, enjoy the rest of your time off, and don’t let your brain turn into mush! Keep learning and you’ll fall right back into place come spring semester.

My Family, My Friends, and My MPTC

Nothing is a better conversation starter than when you find you have something in common with someone. Soon I will have something in common with two of my friends and a family member. We will all be students at Moraine Park Technical College.

Even though we won’t have classes together, because we’ll all be enrolled in different degrees and certificates, it’ll be nice if we have classes at the same time. There are events, such as bingo, that happen during the afternoons and evenings. It would be fun to spend time with them doing activities like that should our schedules permit. My two friends are from high school, so I feel nostalgic about hanging out with them on campus, especially in the cafeteria.

Speaking of next semester, I’m all signed up for classes. I’ll be on campus twice every week next semester. I’ve had to rearrange my schedule at work quite a bit, but my employers are supportive of my continuing education. I’ll have to go in early some days and stay late other days. No doubt, I will be busy and tired, but I’m happy that I’ll be able to do it.

Turning My Summer Goal Into My Fall Project

I like having creative freedom when it comes to assignments; however, when I’m allowed a lot of creative freedom it can be daunting. Sometimes there are just too many good ideas. Other times I feel like there’s a better idea out there, so I won’t settle for whatever comes to mind first (or second, or third). So, when we were given the freedom to choose our topic for an instructional video assignment, I spent a lot of time thinking about it.

I could make a pretty decent instructional video about a lot of things. But, when I work on projects like this for class, I keep in mind that I’m not doing it just for class. These are the kinds of things that will go into my portfolio. The project is for my career, not just for a grade.

I generated a list of ideas in my notebook. They were all reasonable ideas, but I didn’t feel motivated to pursue any of them. It wasn’t until I looked down at my shoes (my favorite pair of shoes that are black, white, green, and pink) that the idea struck me.

If you have been reading my blogs for the past few months, you would know that over the summer I started running. I wanted to run properly and work up to running a mile at a steady pace. Fortunately, I have a friend who has been involved in track for years, so she knew how to run and how to teach me the right way to run.

When I looked at my shoes I thought of all the great shots I could do to make this instructional video visually interesting. There is a lot to learn when it comes to running, so I would have plenty of content. You have to be aware of your posture, at what angle your arms are positioned, and proper shoes and clothing. It’s actually pretty significant to know these things if you’re going to take up running so you don’t injure or exhaust yourself.

So, now that I’ve got the idea, I’m off to write a script and a storyboard. What’s the most challenging part of all this? It’s November in Wisconsin and I want to film at least some of this outside. I’m motivated enough by this idea to figure it out, and that’s exactly the kind of idea I was looking for.

Product Videos, Interviewing, and Green Screens

Testing the lighting and setting the white balance

We’ve done some pretty cool things in my Video Camera and Lighting Techniques class these past weeks. Recently, we learned how to set up lighting for green screen. Our classroom has a green screen backdrop, and we were able to use that for our interview project.

I interviewed one of my classmates who has been fortunate enough to travel globally, so he talked about how that has affected him. I’ll be working on editing the video in the next few days. I plan on using one of the places he’s traveled to as a backdrop.

Product video shoot

Earlier this semester we filmed product videos. This is a really practical application for video, because businesses need to show their product to consumers. What better way to do that than video? Our instructor brought in a guest, who is also a professional, to give us some tips on shooting products. It was really helpful listening to him explain how each of our products should be lit based on what color it was, if it was translucent, or if it had any reflective properties. My “product” was the lantern I walked down the aisle with at my friend’s wedding this summer. I used a white backdrop to contrast with the black lantern.

We usually have time at the end of class to work on editing our projects, so I’m able to get some extra help from my instructor and my more-experienced classmates with that part of the assignments. I’m starting to learn the editing software better. There is a lot more tools and features than iMovie. It was the only other video editing software I’ve used before this class. I’ve been taking advantage of all the resources our instructor has provided in the webliography section of eCollege, our online class portal.

We’ve got a few more projects left to complete before this semester is over. I’m looking forward to starting those, and signing up for my spring classes. I’ll be taking Video/Sound Editing and Motion/Visual Effects. Imagine all the cool stuff I’ll have made by the end of May!

My First Commercial

It seemed so strange watching the other group’s TV commercial in my Video Camera and Lighting Techniques class. It was so similar to my group’s video except there was a completely different person in front of the camera going through the motions of entering the main entrance of MPTC, walking over to the wall of academic planers, and going through the Student Services doors.

The reason why the two commercials were so much alike is that the two groups we were split into for class were following the same storyboard. The purpose of this project was to learn how to read and follow a storyboard. We had to set up the equipment, figure out the lighting, and adjust the settings on the camera to get our shots according to what was written and sketched out on paper.

Even with following the same storyboard, there were still some variations between the two 30 second ads. The sketches give you an idea of what the shot will look like, and the directions will give you a pretty good idea what you should be doing, but it seems there’s always a little bit of room for interpretation. The lesson I learned from this is that if you are following somebody else’s storyboard and script, like one your client has created, you may need to get clarification from them to make sure you are getting the shot they want and portraying the story they wish to tell.

I think everybody did really well on this project, and I’m impressed how professional both videos looked, especially considering some of us are first-timers in video making. Check out my group’s commercial for Student Services at MPTC, created by John Lippold, Cody Repovsch, Barret Johnson, and myself!

Glow-in-the-Dark Fun at the West Bend Campus

A disc golf basket all lit up

I can’t say it was perfect weather to be outside in the dark, but there was no rain, snow, or wind, so I had no problem bundling up a bit for some glow-in-the-dark disc golfing.

The West Bend Student Senate hosted this event with proceeds going to United Way. Each of the nine baskets was lit with glow-in-the-dark lights. We had discs that glowed as well. It was my first time playing, so I was grateful to have one of the Student Senate members teach me how to play. Another participate gave me and another student some pointers on how to throw the disc in order to prevent the wind from carrying it away (especially into the forested area).

After everybody ran through the course, we went inside the building for the drawing. I won a long-sleeved t-shirt. That’s perfect since I think I’m done wearing short sleeves until March!

If you want to play on the disc golf course at the West Bend campus, stop in the library to check out some discs.

From Storyboarding to Recording

Our class stood around a long table covered in sheets of paper. We were reviewing storyboards. These were the several storyboards we created based on the same script, a commercial for Student Services. Some of the shots my classmates sketched out were similar, but some were very different. In the end, we combined shots from several of the storyboards to make one storyboard we agreed upon. This would be the storyboard we would use to shoot our commercial.

Before heading out for filming, we discussed reasons for using and following a storyboard, release forms for actors and locations, and other things that are important to know before filming anything.

In a group, we filmed outside and indoor shots based on the storyboard. The most difficult part of shooting that day was the lighting. You don’t have a lot of control over lighting conditions outside. It’s important to know how to change the settings on the camera to get the best possible shot. Even so, you sometimes have to wait for the sun to be at a certain point in the sky. I now understand why camera crews, actors, and directors have long shooting days.

Now that the shooting is complete, my group and I will piece the shots together and add a voiceover and a logo at the end. It’ll be my first time using Adobe Premiere Pro. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished project on the projector screen in class soon!