It’s Up and Running!

Hot off the presses! Here is the digital format of my resume and portfolio for all employers to enjoy, and I hope you will too!

Check it out, here!

 

Coming Soon…

For my final project of the semester I will be creating a website in the hope that it will be used as my digital portfolio to feature some of my projects for future employers to see.

The website will have several of my projects from all aspects of my school career–high school, college sports, college classes etc. I may also include several papers I have written that pertain to the areas of interest I am taking classes in, especially those that relate specifically to the media and film and television. I will also include a copy of my digital resume for employers to view.

As a producer, I hope to create a visually interesting and captivating website that will best portray my objective of getting a job in the field of television production. I want my work to be cast in the best light possible, and yet allow the characteristics of the web platform to be reflective of my personality and style.

At first, my digital portfolio will be aimed towards internship employers as I am currently looking into applying for internships for this coming summer break. I am specifically looking for internships in the field of television production, however I am not sure whether this will mean Broadcast, or TV. I am open to all options!

After this summer however, I will be able to use this website for future job and career opportunities as I attempt to decide what to do post graduation, whether it be to get into grad school or enter the job market.

My audience will be aimed mostly at employers and they will be expecting to see the products of what I have learned from my education. They will specifically be looking for my experience within the field to see what I already know and to see that I have potential to grow within the field of TV production. They will not only be able to see the projects from this specific class, but other classes that I have taken as well, and several outside projects that I have produced and completed on my own.

A scenario for this website would ideally be an employer who is interested in hiring me for an internship and wants to know more about my past experience with video production. This website will be perfect because it will have multiple examples of these projects ranging in areas from sports to broadcast news packages.

For grad school, the scenario will be similar, however admissions committees will be able to see papers I have written and readings I have done to ensure that I have completed exemplary studies to prepare me to enter the next level of my education.

Here are some inspirations for the website:

The layout of this website seems to me like it would be good for video. The side scroll bar would allow me to place them along the home page and allow the user to scroll through.

The color scheme is nice, however the pink is a bit too much for my taste.

This website layout would allow me to feature one specific video project, while still allowing for navigation to other pages on the site.

The color scheme is decent, also.

Mallory Carlson, while a sketch artist, has a very fun and unique design for her homepage. I like that she sets the tone by stating that its her portfolio, yet she adds the fun element of her toucan sketches and the 3D imaging of the paper for her name.

This layout is also very simple, which I find very refreshing and inviting.

While Michael Galvan’s portfolio is straightforward with all examples placed in a neat grid on the homepage, it seems slightly busy to me with all of the option layer directly out in front. If I were an employer visiting his website I might get overwhelmed and not know which to choose first.

It is fairly simple though, which I do like.

Typography and fonts are by far some of the most interesting components of a website. I literally could spend hours looking through the millions of options there are on the web for typography; so here are just a few inspirational examples that I could integrate into my website:

      

And of course, a guide to aiding in mixing and matching fonts:

So there you have it folks! Keep an eye out for a link to my new online portfolio which should be coming soon as it is due in just a couple of weeks, and of douse I will keep you posted!

Websites 101

Chapter 2: People! People! People!

In chapter 2 of Janice Redish’s book Letting Go of the Words, she discusses the way in which web site developers should develop sites that keep the user in mind.

She begins by stating the seven steps to understanding audiences, which are as follows:

1) List your major audiences.

• How do people identify themselves with regard to my web content?
• What about them will identify what content the site needs?

2) Gather information about your audiences.

• Site mission
• Read emails that come through Contact Us
• Talk to marketing
• Talk to customer service
• Have visitors fill out a short questionnaire
• Watch and listen to people
• Interview people

3) List major characteristics for each audience.

• Key phrases and quotes
• Experience and expertise
• Emotions
• Values
• Technology
• Social and cultural environments
• Demographics

4) Gather your audiences’ questions, tasks, and stories.

5) Use your information to create personas.

• Personas are used to create composite people that represent an entire groups of users

6) Include persona’s goals and tasks.

7) Use your information to write scenarios for your site.

• Tell conversations people want to start
• Help to understand all types of users
• Everything on site should fulfill a scenario
• Can help to write good web content

Chapter 3: Starting Well: Home Pages

Chapter three discusses the proper way to setting up an effective home page.

The site is best represented by the way in which the home page is layer out. If a home page does not directly appeal to the viewer or cat he their attention, then they will move on to the next website.

The five major functions of web pages are:

1) Identifying the site, establishing the brand

• Allow the name, logo and tag line to do the taking and identifying the page

2) Setting the tone and personality of the site

• Expressed through visual style, colors, graphics, typography, writing style, and words

3) Helping people get a sense of what the site is all about

• Who’s site it is (what organization?)
• What is the site all about?
• Most useful home pages make it immediately clear what the purpose of the website is.
• Mostly links and short descriptions

4) Letting people start key tasks immediately

• Put forms people want directly on home page
  • put them high on the page
• Put search near top of the page–where visitors expect it to be

5) Sending each person on the right way, effectively and efficiently

• Do not make confusing links

Creating an effective website is crucial for building credibly and readership online. If a website is poorly produced and confusing, users will move on never to return.

What websites have you visited recently that are easy to use and you know that you will return to in the near future? 

What makes these websites so user-friendly or useful to you?

 

 

User Experience: Making the User Happy

Chapter 1: User Experience and Why It Matters

In Jesse James Garrett’s book The Elements of User Experience, his first chapter deals with why user experience is so important and how life can be improved simply by making technologies easy to use.

User experience is simply “the experience the product creates for the people who use it in the real world” (6).

How a product works can be a large factor in the success of a new product.

Often times, the only thing that consumers consider about a product is it’s aesthetic appeal. They feel that if a product looks good, then it must function equally as well.

Obviously, the more complex a product, the more it’s user experience should be taken into account. A simple product such as a chair has a fairly obvious use and function, while a more complicated product such as a computer, need much more consideration in how it will function for the user.

The internet is the number one place where user experience is key to having a successful website. If a user is unable to identify how to use a particular web page, then they will simply leave and never return, only to find an easier website to navigate. Or worse– the user could end up blaming themselves for not being able to figure out a website thus creating an emotional detachment from the electronic world, which no one wants.

A quality user experience is key in forming a relationship between the user and the company or person who is running the website. Websites are put on the internet to be viewed, and therefore are contingent upon having viewers and users to view them. If the website is easy to navigate and use, as well as interesting, then viewership will increase and more relationships, or customers in the case of commerce, are gained.

Taking the user into account throughout all the development process creates a better user-centered design. 

Chapter 2: Meet the Elements

The five planes are the layers of the experience that come together to create one entire experience for the user.

1. The Surface Plane
   • The series of webpages and their immediate atheistic, such as images and text.
   • The sensory experience is key!!
2. The Skelton Plane
   • The placement of buttons, controls, photos and text blocks
   • designed to optimize the arrangement for maximum effect and efficiency
   • Information design, interface design and navigation design are addressed here.
3. The Structure Plane  
   • Defines how users navigate to the page and where they go once finished there.
   • Arrangement of sub pages within a website and it’s organizational flow
   • Interaction design and information architecture are designed within this plane
4. The Scope Plane
   • Features and functions that make up the structure of a website
   • Functional specifications and content requirements are decided in this stage.
5. The Strategy Plane
   • The reason for the website, its goal for what users are going to get out of the web
   • site
   • This includes user needs and product objectives.

Questions for consideration:

How do you most react to a well designed web page? Do you notice, or is it simply something that is expected and we take for granted now?

What is the biggest thing you look for when navigating a new web-page? Search bar, navigation, etc?

The Hungry Games

Well folks, here it is! This is my video for my semester long topic of the changes that were made to dining options on campus this year, produced on Adobe Premier Elements.

I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I have enjoyed the process of filming and producing it!

Keeping it Short: Successful Online Writing

In chapter 6 of Brian Carroll’s book Writing For Digital Media, he discusses the importance of online editing, designing and publishing.

He begins by describing the differences between online and print writing as

print writers have distinct roles and responsibilities, while online writers are responsible for most of their pieces throughout all of the process.

He states that online writers must be organized, self-directed and versatile, while also being ethical and persistent. He also suggest that they have a good sense of humor, however I feel that this is not always the case.

Step-by-step Editing

He provides a step by step layout for writing in an online setting as follows:

• Identify readers and purpose of content
• Define document structures and links
  • The structure should be predictable so readers know what they are going to read next.
  • Organize in a simple pattern.
• Define style
• Edit
  • Make sure all elements are consistent
• Copyedit
  • Check consistency of visual design, links and accurate reading.
• Copyedit II
  • Read for accuracy, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style
• Write Headlines
• Test Usability

Methods for editing text online

These methods for effectively editing a piece for online publication come from an editor in online media:

• Print the story on hardcopy, for easier reading instead of scanning
• Read through once quickly to get an idea for what the piece is about
• Look for weaknesses and holes in the story
• Read it aloud
• Read it backwards, either by word or by sentence, this helps for focusing on the topic and not skipping words.
• When you feel that you have finished, take a break and do something different, then come back and read it once more.

Successful Media Presentations

• Short is better
• Interactive is better
• Personal (local or hyperlocal) is preferred
• Navigability is central

This short video describes several aspects that distinguish online writing from print writing.

In what ways do you feel that online writing is better than print wiring? Or not?

Do you feel that you pay more attention to print writing versus online writing?

It’s all in how you look at it: Point of View

In chapter 3 of John Douglas and Glenn Harden’s book, The Art of Technique, “Point of View” looks in depth at the ways points of view affect the viewer and how differing them can change a narrative.

Point of View refers to the camera shot taken as if seen through the eyes of as character in film.

•    It also refers to the perspective of the storyteller, as an eyewitness account of an incident or an expression of the storyteller thoughts and ideas
• Interests, attitudes and beliefs associated with a character’s or group’s perspective

POV shots often shift to the first person in order to build suspense.

Perspective of the Storyteller

First Person

Using the actions of a character and and narrator’s voice, a character can be described from their point of view, as the action is seen “through their eyes”.

Documentaries are often shot in the first person.

These can also shift the balance of visuals and dialogue to commentary and contemplative language.

Second Person

The second person address “you” as the viewer.

These are most common in instructional videos and advertising messages.

Third Person

Most productions are conducted within the third person POV, the camera and audience being the objective observer.

This is not, however, omniscient.

Character POV

Narratives can have multiple points of view, switching from first person to third and back, as in Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane.

The difference between point of view within literature and film is that within literature, the point of view can change endlessly between the first and third person, while in film, the camera will always capture from the third person whether there is a first person narrator or not.

Attitude

The way in which a filmmaker portrays beliefs on a certain subject is the way in which attitude affects the voice of the project.

Attitude determines in what way audiences should perceive a given subject and points them in a direction of how to think.

Ultimately the message of the creator, point of view can be the direct opinions of the piece’s creator and is the “bias, conviction, and attitude of a production” (43).

In what ways does POV shape our understanding of a narrative’s purpose? 

How can a production’s meaning be misinterpreted or misconstrued?

 

 

 

Cutting the Fat: The Editing Process

In the Osgood and Hinshaw chapter The Aesthetics of Editing, they discuss the formal elements of the editing process and how a completed project can come to full fruition. They begin by starting that “post production defines the story and brings it to life” (227).

The editing process is by far one of the most essential parts of a project. It is one that takes much hard work and effort, and yet plays the most silent role. Transparency of the editing process is crucial for a work to even be considered to have value. If viewers notice when edits were made and it doesn’t look cohesive, then they will automatically assume that the work was sloppily put together and the wrong people were hired for the job.

The Psychology of Editing

The first rule of thumb is that editing must be purposeful. Edits should be cohesive and used to give the most meaning.

B-roll is used in non-fiction storytelling to further illustrate the topic being discussed.made to give viewers more insight into the shot they are watching, or to give them another perspective of what is taking place on screen.

Logical arrangement of shots is most effective when telling a narrative story. This allows viewers to get a sense of time and space where the narrative is taking place.Sounds should be paired with images in a way that elaborates on the image that appears with it. These two should be paired coherently.

Cuts also allow for the compression of time along a narrative. If the director has five minutes of continuous film, but can only use thirty seconds, the editor must cut out the least affective parts of film and create a montage of shots to create the main idea of the scene.

Editors are also responsible for setting the rhythm and pacing of the cuts that will dictate how fast the story will move along.

Continuity

Continuity is the consistency from shot to shot and within scenes.

Physical continuity refers to the items that are used within the production. This includes the clothing that actors wear within the scenes, or items that they may interact with from shot to shot within a scene.

Technical continuity is the maintaing of technical levels such as audio levels, lighting, white balance, etc. throughout shots within a scene.

Cinéma Vérité is a genre that was popularized in French cinema of the 1950s in which attention is heavily placed on the truth of the shot. It created the realization that loose and poor editing can make a project seem amateurish.

Establishing shots should be used to establish where exactly the scene is taking place. This could be in the form of a wide shot of a city or the sign of an office building.

Transitions

Transitions are the change from on shot to another.

Cutting is the simple act of cutting one shot short and inserting another shot to move the narrative forward.

B-roll should be used to cover any potential jump cuts within an interview. If multiple cuts are made in an interview, then b-roll must be used to cover the cuts.

L-cuts are used when the picture and sound start at slightly different times.

Reveal edits allow editors to change time and location in order to startle the audience.

Parallel editing allows for the audience to view the same action, but taking place from another angle or perspective.

A filter can be used on a clip to change the color or another attribute.

Compositing is the layering of tracks on top of another. This allows for the viewer to view two or more clips at the same time, but on top of one another. This technique can be confusing and is thus used sparingly.

Key frames are a specific frame within the time line.

It is only through editing that stories can become fully realized and be given meaning. Today with digital editing software, the editing process has become much more streamlined that what it used to be at the dawn of the filmic age.

This video illustrates some simple techniques that can be used to tighten up a video’s editing and create more cohesive shot sequences.

What would be your opinion of a film that had minimal editing?

In what ways do you feel that editing can be used to enhance a story line?

What is in a Frame?

In Herbert Zettl’s chapter “The Two-Dimensional Field: Forces Within the Screen” he introduces the ides of the spatial field as it relates to on screen media. He lays out the six field forces as follows:

1. Main directions
2. Magnetism of frame and attraction of mass
3. Asymmetry of the frame
4. Figure and ground
5. Psychological closure
6. Vectors

Horizontal and Vertical Orientation

On a screen the horizontal space is much easier to handle for the viewer than that of the vertical. Thus vertical lines are much more powerful and dynamic.

Applying the to real life it is much easier to move your head from side to side instead of having to look up and down. He uses the examples of the horizon versus the tall ceilings of a cathedral.

Disrupting these axis by turing any image on screen causes an uneasy feeling within the viewer and creates a sense of disorientation.

Using a canted angle within a scene, however can create emphasis and be used in a very dynamic way.

Magnetism of the Frame

The boarders of the picture field tend to act like magnets and thus draw objects towards them.

The center of the screen is considered to be the most stable part of the picture.

In composing as shot it is necessary to consider how the object in frame is going to look. If the object is in contact with both sides of the frame it tends to look as if it is pulling horizontally off the screen. And vice versa for an object on the either the left or right side of the screen.

Having a close up of an image that is large within the frame will make it look much larger due to pull from the frame.

Attraction of Mass

This concept just states that objects that have more mass or are larger within the frame are those that the viewer will be drawn to seeing. He also states that a large mass is more independent than a small mass.

Asymmetry of Frame

The screen is structured in a way that allows us as viewers to perceive it as symmetrical. We are unable to view all parts of the screen at all times and are therefore reliant on this structure.

The left and right asymmetry of the screen image is also something that needs to be considered when framing an image. It is natural for viewers to look from left to right at an image on screen as it is how we read.

Webpages also follow this principle too, with their navigation on the left hand side of the page.

Figure and Ground

We naturally organize the way we view a picture by the figure and ground phenomenon.

The characteristics of the perception of the figure versus the ground are:

• the figure is thing like, perceived as an object. The ground is merely part of the “uncovered” screen area.
• the figure lies in front of the ground
• the line that separates the figure from the ground belongs to the figure, not the ground
• the figure is less stable that the ground; the figure is more likely to move
• the ground seems to continue behind the figure

In this photo, the bird is the figure with the green tree background being the stabilizing force that hold down the figure.

Psychological Closure

We as viewers have a tendency to automatically create closure if an image is not completely intact in order to feel at ease with what exactly we are viewing.

Using a gestalt, we form a perceptual whole that transcends the parts of the object to create this sense of ease.

Proximity, similarity and continuity facilitate this ability to feel closure with an image.

Vectors

Vectors are the inconspicuous forces that drive our eyes to look in a specific direction. Each has a certain magnitude and strength that allows the viewer to perceive its presence.

The vector field is the series of vectors within a frame.

The vector magnitude measures how strong a vector is and how effectively it gets a viewers attention, with a motion vector having the highest magnitude and a graphic vector having the lowest.

Graphic vectors are those that are stationary and guide our eyes in a certain direction.

Index vectors unquestionably point in a specific direction

Motion vectors are created by a moving object in which we follow that object with our eyes.

Two or more index or motion vectors that point in the same direction are described as continuing vectors.

Converging vectors are those that point towards each other in a single shot or even sequence of shots.

Diverging vectors on the other hand point away from each other.

“Social” Media: Is social networking making us anti-social?