Tips for Final Cut Express

Hey Everyone,

For our music video projects we will be using Final Cut instead of iMovie. I'm excited to use this program, but I have no clue how to! It is much different than the iMovie we use in class. I've noticed they made iMovie '11 to look more like Final Cut, but it is still a lot different for me. To learn the basics of Final Cut I found this video. I like this tutorial because it is clear, simple and concise. Take a look below.

The good thing about this video is the creator clearly outlines what each part of your screen is for and how it is used. In Final Cut, there is a canvas to make edits on which seems like a new feature iMovie did not seem to have. You can rotate clips on the canvas and create many interesting effects. The distort tool is one interesting effect that can be done. With it you can distort your clips any way you want. Apple also has some nice tricks and basic tutorials for Final Cut on their website.

Hope this helps!

~K

20 Minute Challenge -SketchUp First Try

Hey Everyone,
Here is a 20 minutes attempt at creating my flower chair in sketch up. For never using the program I'm happy I was able to get the basic shape of the chair.

Tips For Film

Hey Everyone,

We are currently making music videos for song we like in class. For my project, I wanted to do something a bit different so it was more interesting. To do this I chose to use unique cinematography to create interesting visual effects. Part of this is choosing what type of camera angles to use and how you will compose a shot. I found this site as a refresher for myself and thought it might be helpful to any inspiring filmmakers. It outlines how you can create interesting shots and gives some examples. Some shots and angles listed on the site are: extreme long shot, close-up, bird's eye view, eye level view and many more. Check it out!

Below is a video also on camera angles and techniques. Primary it talks about action shots.

One very interesting thing in this video is 'zolly'. This is the effect of using a dolly and zooming in to create an intense moment. I found this video clear and very helpful. I hope this helps as well. Let me know if you learned anything new!

~K

Romanticism

Hey Everyone,

Recently we studied the Romantic time period of art and were asked to create a piece of art consisting of what romanticism is. I chose to do my piece of art as a collage and to make it represent the sublime in nature. My idea was to show a couple having a picnic in a valley while a storm approached from beyond the mountains. This shows the powerful and unforgiving attributes nature holds as well as the beauty it shows.

My collage utilizes lights and darks to create a focal point and emphasize upon the lower half of the page. It was important to create this effect as it further contrasts the peaceful picnic with the approaching storm. I also used some colour contrast to help create a focal point. It was really important to me that the focus be on the couple and lower half of the page so I used colour contrast to make them stand out more. I used shades of red against the green valley grass to create contrast and made the people white in contrast to everything on the page. No no other element of the collage is white.

To create my composition, I used line to create movement that lead your eyes around in a triangular composition. Your eyes are first drawn to the bottom of the page to the point of the triangle and then you notice the storm clouds across the base of the triangle. I believe this was an effective composition because it brings you into the reality of the collage. Your eyes are first drawn to the serenity of the picnic like the people there would be, but then you notice the storm looming overhead much like the couple would eventually see.

To create more unity within the piece I used different shaped pieces of paper, roughly around the same size, to create every aspect of the scene. The different pieces of paper form cohesive shapes which makes the collage very unified. I also used values of colour to create gradation within the sky. That helped to create movement and once again bring the focus to the bottom half.

Technically, I had few problems , but I would not suggest someone with little patience to make a collage. The amount of time and repetition creating a collage takes can be really annoying, but yet somehow calming. I hope you liked this and feel free to leave a comment below!

~K

Beastly

Hey Everyone,

A few days ago I saw the movie Beastly. At first I was apprehensive about seeing it as it looked a bit cheesy, but it was actually pretty good. In fact, I was quite amazed at the effects they used and the imagery they chose to convey ideas with.

I think for me, the most startling effect created in this movie was the transformation between the beast and the main character. I cannot understand how they did it. I'm torn between saying it was some mighty awesome graphics or some really sick make-up. Which ever it was, or even a mixture of, they really did a great job. He looked so different from his normal looks, it was shocking.

The second cool thing about this movie was the imagery the directors used. They used different flowers and literature to represent moods and feelings. I thought this was very nice in the film as it contrasted with the "ugliness" of the beast. The "beauty" of the flowers and literature show a different type of artistry in the movie rather then grotesque appearances. These aspects were very symbolic if the story.

Art and graphics really are in everything and are so inspirational to look at. I hope you check this movie out and get inspired to use more symbolism in your work.

~K

Viewfinders

Hey Everyone,
One assignment we had thus far in class was to create viewfinders and re-create the image using more vibrancy and colour. We had to create a pastel drawing, large painting and small painting, then show the best two on here. We each were allowed to chose a fragment of a larger pastel drawing as our viewfinder sample. The only criteria was that the composition had to be interesting. Here is my viewfinder below.



I chose this part of the larger pastel drawing to crop because of its interesting lines and movement. I thought it created a great diagonal composition that wasn't too boring or too crowded. I also LOVED the colours. In the pastel they were a bit dull, but I knew that if i chose this cropping the colours could be made so vibrant. The first thing we had to do with our cropping was to create a large pastel drawing of it. My drawing is below.



I believe that my pastel turned out pretty nice. From using chalk pastel before, I know that it is not my strongest medium, but I've learned a lot about how to use pastel effectively from this assignment. I learned how to enhance colours and create value with blending from doing this. I think I achieved this in green and blue swirls the most. I was effectively able to create a large scale copy of my cropping and boost the colours. Although I used chalk pastel, the colours look more vibrant than most pastels do. The two hardest things about using the pastel were making sure the pastels were not rough enough to cut the paper and keeping the paper from getting dirty. I noticed that even when I was doing gentle strokes the pastels made scratch lines on my paper. I did not understand this as I was not pressing hard at all. I examined my pastel piece and from that there were some sharp edged on the pastel creating these lines. From then on I rubbed the piece of pastel I was using on some scrap paper to remove this hazard. As for getting the paper dirty, pastel makes your hands soooo messy. It was difficult not to get darker coloured spots where you did not want them. Overall I liked my pastel and thought I did a good job.

The next part of the assignment was to create a large painting and then a small painting of our cropping. I personally did not enjoy the large painting and thought it turned out a bit messy. Therefore, my small painting is the second work I will be showing you all.

I really liked to paint the small version of my cropping. I really loved how much detail you could pour into it. I used three different sized brushes and acrylic paint to create it. The tricky part of this painting was getting the brush strokes just right. I tried to create a lot of texture and purposeful lines. I found that a bit difficult due to the curved lines and blended colours. I think I achieved what I wanted in the end. The colours came out perfectly and I think I achieved my goal of having layered colour as well. In the bottom half, the layered colours were used to create texture as well. I really enjoyed this painting and hope you all enjoy it as well!

~ K

Kaki King

Hey Everyone,

Today I wanted to share a really talented musician with you. Her name is Kaki King and is a guitarist. She is really talented and plays in a very unusual style. By genre, I suppose she would be called a classical guitarist, but I think she should have her own genre. I first heard about King when I played classical guitar and needed some motivation. It totally worked.
Check out her website and find out a little more about her if your interested. From her music I've been able to come up with many ideas when I've been in a funk. Her music has so many different levels and sounds it just makes your mind wander. Maybe it can help you out too. Below is one of my favourite songs played by her. Pink Noise.

Video On Trail - Blogger Edition!

Hey Everyone! Welcome to a special blog posting : Video On Trial!

I'm going to talk about two videos and judge them from an artist point of view. (Aka are they awesome or just not good.)

First up....

California Gurls -Katy Perry



Let me start off by saying that I actually do like this song. However, the video is completely insane and I mean insane in a bad way. First, there is no connection between all the candy other then a sexual one. There seems to be no point to this video other than sexual innuendos. As a viewer I want to see a video that goes along with the song or at least something that makes sense. The only thing good about the video to me was the animation effects and the vibrant colours.

Next up...

Thriller - Micheal Jackson



I chose this as a good video for a few reasons. Although made in a different time, for the time the effects were cutting edge and made people terrified due to the werewolf's face. The story makes sense for the song and the song in its own is just awesome. You can't break this classic. Then just to make this video even better, good old MJ breaks out into the famous Thriller dance. There is a reason why this song is so famous and why everyone knows this dance. The video was good and the story was effective.

Let me know what you think! Leave a comment and join this Video On Trial.

~K

I Am Number Four- From Book to Movie

Hey Everyone!

Hands up those who have seen I Am Number Four! I just recently saw this movie and it was amazing. So amazing that I even bought the book the next day. Check out the movie trailer below.



I wanted to post about this movie because it really motivated me. The story line is great and really captivating. Every second you want to know more, which is the best thing you can have happen while your watching something. After watching the movie, I had an influx of great ideas for my upcoming music video project. It was truly inspirational. On another level, all the effects used and interesting camera angles really kept you interested in the production of the movie. Explosions and morphing animals were just two really interesting effects in the movie. Obviously I do not have the technology for this within my reach, but it again gave me some cool thoughts on how to make my music video interesting. I could make morphing effects with the animation programs I have access to. I am going to remember this movie when trying to create my video.
I hope you enjoyed this post and check out that movie! Its awesome!

~K