Music Video Finale

We are making music videos in our GT class, like we do at the end of every year. This is our last and favorite project of the year. It's the project we all wait for. My team consists of Kaile, Katy, Jeanne, and Eve. The song we chose is Man in the Mirror by Micheal Jackson. We chose this song because we all know and like it. Also, there could be a really good story added to the song. I can't wait to start working on it!

Our storyline is about a bully who changes and becomes a better person. This relates to the song, because the lyrics talk about looking at what you are doing and making a change. So, this bully sees someone else bullying a kid, and "take a look at yourself and make a change." So, just like the lyrics in the song, this person is doing something wrong, and realizes it. By seeing that what he is doing is wrong, he changes. He becomes a better person. Out storyline relates to the lyrics in our song, Man in the Mirror, by Micheal Jackson.



This music video showcases my best work. It shows us being able to work as a team and being able to make time to film our music video outside of school. It shows us cutting to the beat, and quickly changing shots and shot types. In the music video, it shows what we learned about camera movement. Also, it shows what we learned with visual effects and enhanced color. And finally, it showed us memorizing our song, and putting a lot of emotion into both our storyline, and our lyrics. Our music video is our final project, and it is used to showcase our best work.

Movie Trailer Premier

In GT, we are currently making movie trailers. The goal for our movie trailer is to plan a fake movie trailer that catches the audience and doesn't give away the ending. It is supposed to 90-120 seconds long. There should be a dramatic voice actor who can expressively hint that everyone should see our movie. An original movie poster needs to be included. Our movie trailer provides the audience with a high production value, so that they stay glued to the screen. Before we start making our movie trailer, we have to create a plan. I contributed to the plan while helping with the synopsis and movie poster.

We had many challenges and successes throughout our movie trailer. One of our biggest challenges was finding time to film. There are 5 people on my team so it was very hard to find a day when all 5 of us are free. Another problem we had with finding time to finish was that some of the people on our team were sick. Although we had challenges, we still had many successes. We were able to get out movie poster in early, so we got extra credit. Another success was finishing our plan on time and keeping up with our progress report. We had both challenges and successes.

For our movie trailer, my team got all expectations met for both audience and creativity. Then we got room for improvement in requirements because our movie trailer was out of the time frame. By creating this movie trailer I learned how to create an original movie poster that provides the audience with a high production value. I also learned how to make time in order to help film and create our movie trailer. And finally, I learned about the different types of music for the different genre. I learned a lot by creating this movie poster.

Metamorphosis Animation

We are making metamorphosis animations, in our GT class. With animation team, we have to come up with two metamorphosis ideas and present them to the class, and they decide which one we are going to do. Then we create a plan and a 1-2 minute animation with a custom soundtrack. We are using different animation types. Some of the animation types are stop-motion, photoshop, flip book, whiteboard, Stykz, etc.

First we needed a focus statement. My team's focus statement for this animation is, Ant Achieves Confidence. Every animation, even plays and movies, need scenes. For our animation, we have five total scenes. Each scene has 3 shots. The first scene will be about a foot coming and stomping on the ant hill and then the ants run around panicking. Then, in the second scene, the main character, James tries to calm everyone down. But, his sister, Meah, tells him that he is to small to do anything. Then in scene three, James runs away and and hides behind some blades of grass. But then, he hears his colony's shouts and panicking, while running back he thinks of an idea. Scene four is him turning into a drill and digging tunnels. Scene five, the final scene is of all the ants being saved and James digging a new home. Also, every animation, has to have a plot. The plot pretty much just sums up the entire animation into a beginning, middle, and an end.So, there is this kid the starts to stomp on an anthill, but James thinks he is to small to help. When he gets the courage to help his colony, he turns into a drill. With this he gains courage and saves he colony. Every animation has a focus statement, scenes, and a plot.

Our class watched each animation and graded them. We graded on audio, completion, visuals, and overall animation. My class decided that my team deserved a 3. I don't think our animation deserved a 4, but I am positive that it did not deserve a 1 or a 2. So, I agree with my class. Our animation was pretty good, but there definitely were some flaws. For example, our background music was too loud, so it was really hard to hear the voices. Also, some of our shots, weren't the best quality. Our results for our animation was a 3, and that is what I think we deserved.

Geometric Portraits

Universal means that something is done by all people. So, facial expressions are universal. No matter where you are from, or how you grew up, everyone has the same facial expressions. However, where you are from, and how you grew up, most of the time, influence which facial expressions you most often use. When we are born we all automatically have facial expressions. In an article I read, Do facial expressions convey the same emotions around the world, it says, "basic facial expressions are universal -- implying that are hard-wired within us, the product of natural selection. In other words, you would know if someone looked happy, or sad, etc., wherever you were in the world." So, no matter where in the world you go, everyone can tell what your emotions are through your facial expressions.

I created a geometric portrait. I first had to take a symmetrical photo of myself. Second, after putting the photo in photoshop, I had to get myself organized. I had to make layers like, background, nose, hair, and outline. Then, I changed my background to white and began creating the outline of my image. The hair came next, putting in the triangles as I went, only doing half my face. Then so on until all of my facial features, including my skin, were covered with triangles. Then I merged my facial features together, and started blending in the colors. After that, I flipped my image and put it on the other side. Then I saved it, and I was finished.


For this project, I made a poly 1 and 2. Poly 1 we made an outline and made triangle inside our face. After that, you fill color into each triangle. But, for poly 2, we completely took out the outline with the triangles. Instead, we created triangles using the lasso tool and from there we filled in the color. Poly 1 was a picture of ourselves on the computer, while poly 2 was a picture of my mom at my house with a camera. I think that poly 2 was better then poly 1 because it didn't take as long and had less steps. Also, it had more of a pop and the background had lots of color. Poly 1 and 2 had some similarities but, still had some things that were different.

 

Verbal Landscapes

I love to be out in nature. In English we took a test about ourselves, and I got a 10/10 in the nature part. Some of my favorite activities, are running along the beach, hiking, going to the beach, etc. Whenever I am in nature, I feel calm and happy. I am pretty sure that I got it from my parents, because when my mom was little, some of her favorite activities, was gardening, and just laying in the grass and staring at the leaves rustling in the tree. My dad lived on a farm growing up, and he loved, and still does love, to go hiking. So maybe it is just a family thing, to like being in nature. Whether it is playing soccer in the grass, or laying down, and staring up at the leaves of the tree, I love to be in nature.

Timelapses and slow-mos help make videos more entertaining. Timelapses are created by taking a wide angle shot, then speeding it up. If you are using final cut, like we are in out GT class, first you import your shot and drag it to the timeline. You then go to the arrow that looks like it is spinning, and make your clip faster. Slowmos are created by taking a close-up and slowing it down. Also, if you are using final cut, you do the same thing, but with slowing down instead of speeding up. Videos are more entertaining, with the use of slow-mos and timelapses.

This re-time nature project, is really fun. The hardest part, was definitely filming. Either the horizon line wasn't straight, or there wasn't enough ground. Then with the slow-mos, I feel like I hadn't gotten closer to the object that I was filming. The main problem I had with filming, was finding the time to do it. For the time-lapses, the clips that I had to film, needed to be from 5-10 minutes. Because of this, and since I needed to film multiple, I had to make sure I had enough time to film all that I needed. The hardest thing that I had to deal with, during this project, was filming.

The majority of my class gave me a 3/4. I think I deserve this grade other then a 4, because my shots could have had more quality and lighting in the ocean scenes. Also, my video was one second less then the time requirement, 50-60 seconds. I think I got this grade instead of a 2, because I had the requirements of 3 time-lapses and 2 slow-mos. Also, I have text-overlays, and a poem that uses the free-write format. The score that I got, I completely agree with.

Poetic Personal Statement

Poetry is a way to express yourself through words. Poetry is a piece of writing that has a certain rhythm, rhyme, and/or style. It can be used to express feelings and emotions. Also, poetry can be used to share ideas. It is a type of genre in literature that flows smoothly. Poetry is one of the best ways to express yourself.

Work through day and night,through dark and light

I love to play soccer, but I am not a major talker

My family motivates and inspires me

I want to inspire and motivate also

My goals are to live in color, not black and white

Live everyday, because tomorrow there is always new light

I used rhythm and rhyme in my poetic personal statement. I used rhythm and rhyme to make my poetic statement flow smoother.In my statement, the rhyme was used to help describe me. For example, "I like to play soccer, but I am not a major talker." Rhythm and rhyme helped to improve my poetic statement in many ways.

Music Video Finale

P3T1 Fight Song from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Hey! In GT we are making Music Videos!!! Our song is Fight Song, by Rachel Platten. Our storyline is that my partner, Danielle, wants to play soccer, but doesn't think that she is good enough. Throughout the song, I encourage her to play, and in the end Danielle scores a goal. This matches with my song, because like the song, "I've only got one match," Danielle is telling herself that she can't do it, and that she isn't good enough. Then, later she "smashes the mirror," which symbolizes that her match is defeated. This matches because the song talks about how you are strong and you will keep on going. Our video matches this, because I keep on trying to encourage Danielle so that she will play soccer like she wants to. Our song matches our music video.



We have many fast-edit montage sequences in our music video. My favorite fast-edit montage sequence is when Danielle is scoring a goal. Is because our scenes are switching quickly, it gives our audience a feeling of anticipation. It also gets the audience nervous for Danielle and hoping that she will score the goal. This is my favorite because not only does it make the audience get worried, but it also makes me feel worried to, even though I know what is going to happen. We have many fast-edit montage sequences, but my favorite by far, is when Danielle is about to score a goal.

This music video showcases my best work. Like in some scenes we use the green screen, which I have never done. Also, we use both photoshop, and iMovie. We use both slow-motion, and speed-up. We use a lot of different effects and have a cover page. I also get to do the fast-edit montage sequence, which I have never done before, either. This music video showcases my best work, and all that I have learned this year.