The Convergence is Real: Blood Drive and Lego Day at Olathe Northwest

Donating Blood & Saving Lives at Olathe Northwest High School

Recently, Olathe Northwest held it's annual Blood Drive. Surprisingly, a lot of students volunteered to give blood, which was nice to see. Many students were nervous, but others had given blood before and knew what to expect. I, however, was lucky enough to join Tao on his adventure of donating blood. During this journey of sorts, I learned many new things and just going to the Blood Drive, overall, was a new and exciting experience. Especially since I was recording it; getting in people's faces with a camera is fun... Most of the time.

And so it Begins...

Before I could even begin filming, I needed to choose someone to follow around and "stalk" I guess you could say; I ended up choosing Tao to cut to the point. Little did I know that this was Tao's first time donating blood. He hadn't done this before and thought that Olathe Northwest High School having a Blood Drive was a good thing and overall a good program. Although it was fun filming Tao and the Blood Drive as a whole, the process you had to go through in order to donate blood... Well, let's just say that it took A LOT longer than I expected.

The Process Before Blood Donation

One of the things that bothered me the most about filming Tao and the Blood Drive was the long process you had to go through before you could actually donate blood. First, you had to talk to a registration lady that would ask you a lot of questions that I didn't really pay attention to; so if you're dying to know what she asked, this isn't the blog post for you. After that, you were required to fill out various papers that contained personal information for safety reasons. While the students were filling out this information, I was not allowed to record them in order to ensure privacy and for other obvious reasons.  Then after you finally answered all the registration lady's questions and filled out all the paper work, you went inside and sat in the waiting area until a blood donation station opened up (yes, that rhymed; I'm aware; I didn't mean to).

Donating Blood

I know you'll hate me for this... Unfortunately, I was unable to catch Tao actually donating blood. I apologize for this gap in my story. Due to time constraints and the unexpected longevity of registration and paper work, I had no time left to catch Tao actually donating his blood. Yes, I would have liked to have been able to film him actually donating blood but I won't complain because I was able to learn a few things here and there while filming and editing this. Up until the end, I'd say I'm pretty satisfied with the way this turned out.

The Positive Side of Things

While I am sad that I was unable to catch Tao actually donating blood, I am happy that I was able to learn some new things while filming the blood drive. One of the things I learned was how to use my body as a tripod. This was extremely helpful and kept the camera from shaking and making the video practically unwatchable (in my opinion). I also learned a few things while editing this: The first of those is how to play audio from one clip while playing (displaying) a completely different clip. This was very useful and - in my opinion -  gave the film a more "professional feel" if you understand what I'm trying to say. I was definitely able to utilize these skills in my Lego Day Video.

In Comparison to my Lego Day Video

My Lego Day video and my Blood Drive video are very similar. Both of them include me "stalking" someone for the day. I also didn't use a tripod in either of them; Hopefully not using a tripod wasn't too noticeable, as the goal was to get steady shots.

Lego Day at Olathe Northwest High School

Fairly recently (not as recent as the Blood Drive), Olathe Northwest had it's Lego Day. We e-Comm students took full advantage of it and built Star Wars Lego Ships. In my video, Madison (the one actually building the ship) is building the Millennium Falcon. I had a lot of fun shooting this and making her uncomfortable - unintentionally of course - and working on getting steady (not shaky) shots. Madison finished her ship pretty fast compared to the time it took me to finish mine. She had a lot of fun building the Millennium Falcon and hadn't worked with Legos in a while.

Before Building

Before she was able to build the Millennium Falcon, we had to wait a pretty large amount of time for a lego set to become available as there were a lot of participants (students). During this waiting time, we just worked on other projects and sometimes homework from other classes. Eventually though, we were finally able to get our hands on a Lego set and begin this journey of epic Lego building. Although it wasn't too "epic," I had fun filming it and she had fun building it, so I think that's what really matters.

The Building Process

The process of building the Lego ship felt pretty long but fortunately wasn't too hard. If I were to ball park an estimate of how long it took, I would say about 7 or 8 minutes, but I'm just guessing. She worked at a pretty steady pace and was good about not getting distracted. I didn't ask her as many questions as I would have liked to but I think it still turned out pretty good.  Throughout the process, she looked very determined to get the ship built and stayed on task. After a while, she finally finished it and the final product was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. She was pretty happy about how it turned out and it was definitely worth the wait and work.

Reflection

Looking back on Lego Day, there are a lot of things that I could have done better but then again, there is always room for improvement. One of the things that I really should have done better was getting more shots in an effort to make this video at least 1 minute long, which - in case you didn't know - I failed to do. The other thing I would have done differently and will try to improve on next time is a bit less shaky shots. I know there weren't too many in this video but, while editing, there were a lot of shaky shots that got rejected. I find it weird how shaky shots work; while filming it doesn't look or feel like it's shaky until you go back and start editing it. Then, you realize that the shots were pretty shaky and wish you could go back and re-shoot them but there isn't much you can do about it; you just have to work with what you have. Sometimes what you have is better than you expected and other times it isn't. The last thing I would change would be in the Blood Drive video. A lot of my shots were out of focus. This bothers me and makes the video hard to watch. Getting my camera in focus before I begin recording is definitely something I'll make sure I do in the future. However, Despite all of my mistakes, I had a lot of fun filming this and I think that added to the quality of my video. I'm pretty proud of both of these videos. Although there are some things that I wish I could go back and change, I'm still satisfied with the final product.

Get That Hamburger! (Character Story Animation)

This is my Character Story Animation. I know this isn't the greatest animation ever; definitely not my best work. I apologize for the large black border around it; I wasn't sure how to fix that. Before watching this please read what I'm about to say: The story line of this animation is that the main character (the one with the mustache) sees a sign that says MacDonalds (McDonalds spoof) only has one burger left and he just has to have it. Little does he know that there is another character that acts as his rivalry who also wants the burger (he's wearing the "I'm With Stupid" shirt). They race to MacDonalds knowing only one of them will get the burger. That is all I can give away, you'll have to watch the animation in order to find out who gets it. The reason this animation is extremely short and simple is because I put this off for wayyyy too long. After procrastinating to the max, time became an issue and I only had a few days to finish the animation, get it rendered and then upload it to blogger; I was obviously in a rush to get it done. I take full responsibility for it, that was bad on my part and that's what I'm definitely going to improve on and one of the things I'm going to draw from this project in order to enhance my next project.

When I was making this project, I wanted to make an animation that told a story and also had a beginning middle and end. During the early stages of this project, I was thinking about what story I wanted to tell and what the characters should look like; I knew I wanted the characters to look funny, so that's what I did; that explains why they look the way they do. After I came up with a general idea of the story line, I began storyboarding it. Storyboarding is basically just drawing out different scenes so when it comes time to make the actual animation, you have a good idea of what you need to do and what needs to happen in the animation itself. Here is what my storyboard looked like:

There are some scenes in my storyboard that I never added to the animation; there were three scenes that I never added and they are the two scenes where it zooms in on my main character's face and the scene where he tosses his rivalry like a sack of potatoes. I never added those scenes because of confusion and time constraints. The arrows in my storyboard represent movement, or where I wanted the character to move/walk to. While I'm talking about the storyboard, I apologize for the bad art, I'm no artist and won't act like I am. The art is bad and I know it is, so bare with me.

After getting the animation storyboarded, I finally started animating it. One of the things I learned while animating this project was how to make different parts of the character's body extremely large. I know it's simple to do but I had never thought about doing it before and experimented with while animating. If you've already watched the animation, you'll know I never actually used this because when I first learned it, I thought it would be a way to give the viewer the illusion that I zoomed in, but when I tried it... Let's just say it looked better in my head.

Looking back on this project, there are a lot of things I would change. One of those things would be the absolutely awful walk cycle I had. I would definitely go back and try to improve that. The other thing I would do differently is make the animation longer and add the scenes that were in the storyboard. The only things I would keep the same are the backgrounds and the way the characters look; I think it adds a certain uniqueness to the animation.

Overall, this animation was pretty bad, terrible I might add. There is a lot of stuff that could have been done better or needs fixing. Given the amount of time I had to work on this, the terribleness of this animation is inexcusable and I take full responsibility; I'm definitely going to do better next time and won't procrastinate.

Music Video

This is my Music Video. The scope of the project was to make a music video that tells a story.

Pre-Production we were storyboarding our project and deciding what kind of shot we wanted. We were also discussing what we wanted the music video to be about, as well as what song would be played. During Production of the Music Video, we filmed it and made sure we liked all of our shots.

The first thing I learned while making this project was how to lower the volume of the music so the audience can hear the voices in the film if necessary. The second thing I learned was to try to keep a straight face for the duration for the entirety of the film unless I have to change it. There was one scene where I laughed and it was kind of noticeable.

If I was to do anything different, it would definitely be to get whatever was in my eye in one of the beginning shots out of there. That is so distracting when watching and I'm afraid it will take the viewer's attention away from the Music Video itself.

If I was to do anything the same, it would be all the scenes of me doing unnecessary pushups and sit-ups to study for a math test. I think that adds a bit of humor to the film and makes it more enjoyable for the viewer.

The experience I will draw from this project to enhance my next project would be less goofing around off camera. Stay on task more often and finish the video faster. I would hope that staying on task would help the quality of the acting in the Music Video. Staying on task would also help the amount time we have to edit. It was not a problem this time but it's good to know for future reference.

Overall, I thought my group did pretty well and the Music Video turned out way better than I thought it would. I think I was able to act fairly well in it and all of the shots looked good. I'm pretty sure that we got all 6 of the shots in there. There are some parts that weren't edited to the beat because if I extended or shortened the clip so they were edited to the beat, there would be a lot of unnecessary stuff that doesn't help tell the story at all.

Plausible Impossible

The telephone is talking to itself through the speaker on the phone. It seems plausible because everyone talks through it so you would think that it could talk. It's impossible because it is an inanimate object and is therefore incapable of speaking.

Mickey experiences a huge growth spurt in a short amount of time. It seems plausible because everyone has growth spurts. It's impossible because of the very small amount of time it took and how much he grew. You don't grow 5 feet in all of 6 seconds, it just doesn't happen, let alone grow enough to hit the ceiling. 

This dresser is dancing. It seems plausible because it does have parts on it that resemble parts that humans have so, why not make them move? It's impossible because it is an inanimate object and can't move by itself.

The King from a deck of cards is riding a bike. This seems plausible because Kings are people and can move and everything. This is impossible because this King is not a real person but is instead a face on a card that is an inanimate object and incapable of riding a bike.

These cards are un-shuffling themselves and then running to go get Mickey. This seems plausible because the King and Queen can move and so the other cards could act as guards. This is impossible because cards don't have arms or legs, nor can they move by themselves.

The Chase

This is my Chase project. The scope of the project was to make a chase scene. Make it look like the character in the film was being chased by an unidentified person.

Pre-Production we spent our time storyboarding it and pitching ideas on what we could add or edit to make it better. During production we filmed it and found areas with good lighting and those areas that we knew from Pre-Production that we wanted to shoot at. Post-Production we began editing this short film. We cut our scenes down to a few seconds each and kept the best scenes. We also added music for dramatic effect and to keep it climactic, and keep the viewer interested.

While making this film I didn't learn any new camera techniques, however, I did learn how to edit the audio in different clips in Final Cut Pro. I learned how to make some parts really quiet and then have the audio build up and be really loud at a different part.

One thing I would do differently is not have as many wardrobe changes for more continuity. That was definitely a problem while shooting this. Another thing I would do differently would be to try to act more scared in the scene where I am on the ground and looking to make sure the chaser is nowhere in sight. I thought that scene looked kind of corny and could have been better. Something else I would do differently is make my run look a little more hurried, if that makes sense. Basically, try to make it seem like I am in a rush to get away from whoever is chasing me. In this film it looks like I'm just jogging and in no rush, defeating the goal to convey fear and panic. The last thing I would do differently is not break the 180 degree rule, it confuses the viewer.

One thing I would keep the same is where we shot this. I think that all of the places in this film had good lighting and didn't have a lot of people in them so we weren't bothering anybody or disrupting any classes. Another thing I would keep the same is the music but spread it out more so that one song doesn't come right after another. I thought the music definitely gave the film an intense feel and keeps people interested in what's going to happen next.

The first thing I'm going to draw from this is - like I said before - more spread out music so it's not as sporadic. The second thing that I'll draw from this is better acting. The reason being is to make it look more realistic and help the film give off whatever emotion it's trying to convey.

Overall, I thought the film was good but I definitely could have done better. No major mistakes, aside from the 180 degree rule violation, but there was a lot of small things that could of been done better to improve it.

Character Animation

What is your character? A stick person named Bill The Human who is really happy for no reason.
Why did you design your character that way? To give it a cartoon and silly feel.
What was your though behind your character? Cartoons, funny, silly... Round head... Random pocket.

Did you run into any issues with the design of your character? The legs made his walk look weird but they are meant to be that way. Don't judge.
Did you have any issues with keyframes? Nope, everything went well with the keyframes. I got their timing down pretty well. Left Leg and Right Leg keyframes took place at the same time to prevent both legs going forward at the same time.
I created the keyframes by, first, setting the beginning position by clicking the clock by the word "Position." Then I moved the orange cursor where I wanted it. Then I moved the body part of the character into the position I wanted it to be in at that time.

What are three things you can say you learned about making your character walk? The first thing I learned was when one leg is moving forward, the other leg should be doing the opposite. The second thing I learned is that the design of your character's legs can affect the way the walk looks. The third thing I learned was that the motion of the walk was pretty simple. The last thing I learned was to make the legs bent a little bit to make it look like he has knees.
If you could redo it, would you change anything? I would change his legs so they look more normal but, I still like it.
How do you feel about your work/animation? I think I did pretty well for my first walking animation. I definitely think I could of made it look more realistic and fixed the missing pocket issue. I think I know what caused it: His pocket was not it's own layer in Photoshop so to fix it I would have go into Photoshop and make the pocket it's own layer and then have to re-upload the character into After Effects and animate it again but, I don't have that type of time. Too bad, so sad.

Cartwright A to B 6 Shot System

This is my A to B Project. I learned to come in late and leave early. It keeps the viewer interested. I also learned how to add music to my clips, which I took full advantage of in this short film. I really enjoyed shooting this short film and look forward to making others.

This is a close up of the face. This shows intensity and anticipation. This keeps the viewer locked into the film

This is an Over The Shoulder Shot. This lets the viewer know what he is doing. It lets everyone see things from his perspective.

This is a Medium Shot. Shows he is leaving the room to get where he needs to go. Begins his journey to the Library.

 This is an Extra Wide shot. This is mid-run. He is on his way to the Library. Shows the viewer he is in a hurry to get to there.

This is a close up of the hands. Shows he is opening the door. This kind of shot is a lot more interesting than a wide shot of him opening the door.

Cartwright 6 Shot

This is my 6 Shot System Video. Getting all 6 shots was a little harder than I thought it would be. Choosing the right angles to shoot them from was also difficult. I really enjoyed making this video. I learned that you can't break the 180 degree rule because I almost did. It will confuse the viewer.

Bouncing Ball Animation.

This is my Bounce Animation. It was pretty difficult to do at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. I really enjoyed making this animation. Making the bounces look realistic was definitely the hardest part but I think it turned out ok. This Bounce Animation started out in Photoshop and was then moved to Adobe After Effects to go into more detail with the animation and give a more natural feel to it. The Key Frames were pretty tricky to get just right and managed to take a good bit of time to set up. Regardless of everything else, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out and hope to improve from here on out.