Adjustments Assignment

The original image was foggier and after the adjustments, the blue color of the water was brought out from the original gray water.



The original image was foggier and darker. Following the adjustment, the green from the tree and the water was brought out and made the image more visually appealing.



Again, the original image was foggy. I adjusted the image so that the statue in the background was more visible and the overall picture was brighter.

Composition Assignment

For this assignment, I took an image I had taken in Maine. I cut out the river that was in the picture and replaced it with images of lava (pictures from National Geographic). I added a cloudy filter (black) over top and a red layer with reduced opacity to give the scene a hot, volcanic feel. I then added an image of a phoenix and incorporated some volcanic explosions in the lava.

Composite Assignment

I took a standard 100 dollar bill and wanted to customize it so that it included the character from the video game, Little Big Planet. For the most part, I cut out images of the original bill and incorporated my image in the background. Using the clone tool, I filled in the empty spaces. I also fiddled with opacity to give the bill a watermark.

Painting Assignment

60 minute painting - This is a painting of a beach. I used the paint bucket to fill, used a filter for the ocean to make the water realistic, I added texture to the sand using a filter, and used a gradient for the sky.



30 minute painting - In this painting, I used my fish tank as inspiration. A brush was used in different colors to mimic the texture and colors of the pebbles on the fishing tank's floor. I incorporated a rock and seaweed to add to the painting.



15 minute painting - This painting was based off the TV in my dorm room. The characters in the TV are amorphous and through the use of lines (are shown speaking). The background is a gradient and the desk has a filter to give it texture.

Final Project Documentation

Abstract

POP! In the Nick of Time

In my final project, I play the main character who places a bag of popcorn in the microwave and attempts to perform various activities before the popcorn finishes popping. The film cuts between shots of the microwave counting down, shots of me running, and shots of me in different scenes. All this happens while the sound of popping popcorn steadily gets louder. In the end, I make it back to the room just before the microwave finishes its countdown and the timer goes off.

Proposal

I wanted to create a film that was unrealistic but in a funny way. My character is running around campus and taking part in various activities all within 30 seconds. Of course, it takes longer than 30 seconds to pop a bag of popcorn and it's not possible for someone to run to the lake from Eickhoff and back within 30 seconds, let alone perform a bunch of activities within that same time span. That doesn't matter however. There is no serious message in the film. It is simply me having fun with scenes I shot.

Storyboard





Filming

All filming took place on the TCNJ campus and was done by either me or my friend, Emily Wright. The first scene takes place in my Eickhoff dorm room and subsequent scenes involving the microwave take place in my room. The scene with me contemplating on the bench takes place near the lake.

Editting

Using Final Cut Pro, I was able to cut the scenes I had filmed on my camera and piece them together into a film. The popcorn popping sound in the background was originally from another scene. I deleted the video and kept the audio. I incorporated the popping sound in certain scenes as a background sound to build anticipation. I was able to make it steadily get louder by increasing the magnitude of the sound in each cut.

In my film, there are subtle color differences in each scene. In the initial scene that takes place in my room, the light from the window (not visible) gives the area around the microwave a green glow. The light above the door on the right side of the scene, gives that area an orange glow. From then on, scenes that appear green are associated with the microwave and popcorn while scenes that appear orange are associated with the other activities, such as me running, sitting on the bench, or throwing the ball.

Throughout the film I used various techniques. Simple cuts are apparent throughout the film. But I also made use of transitions and text, I adjusted the speed of clips, their duration, their sound levels, and their sizes (using the wireframe).

The final scenes and pictures in the credits were my ideas for additional carefree moments into the film. I was inspired by comedy movies where the credits show bloopers and other candid shots. I decided to incorporate scenes of me doing tricks while eating the popcorn so that the credits wouldn't be boring.

Evaluation

I came into this project with little video editting experience and was somewhat intimidated by the task of filming and editting my own movie. However, after getting involved in the first video editting assignment, I began to enjoy editting.

Overall, I had a really fun time bringing my mind's idea to life through filming and editting. I learned about the importance of lighting and keeping a steady camera for filming. By simply filming outside (where the light is usually the best), and keeping the camera on an unmoving surface (a tripod, for instance), the quality of the shot is increased. Utilizing Final Cut Pro was easy and it allowed me to manipulate my film until I was happy with the product.

I thoroughly enjoyed the product and was pleased with the way it came out.

Midterm Self-Evaluation

My goal for the midterm was to seamlessly incorporate my manikin (in various poses) into my photographs of random TCNJ locations. I came up with this idea because I wanted to do something simple but also interesting, and I believe this idea fit that criteria.

I tried using both old and new photoshop techniques. Some of the older techniques were simple size transformations and movements. The newer techniques included the distortion and warp transformation tools, which I used when I created the shadows and reflections, the dodge and burn tools, which I used heavily on the manikin itself, and layer masks and color adjustments. I made sure to have a non-destructive work flow and I accomplished this by duplicating my original images and then modifying the duplicates.

Through the course of the project, I learned that poor photographic lighting can be a challenge. Instead of taking a poorly photographed picture and trying to edit and modify it in photoshop (post-production), I learned that modifying the way the initial picture was taken (pre-production) can be much simpler.

Because I have limited experience with Photoshop and I have a heavy scientific rather than artistic background, I had some trouble figuring out how to incorporate the manikin naturally. However, I believe I accomplished my goal for the midterm. Overall, I enjoyed working on the project and I was particularly proud of the image containing the manikin and the purple pixel.

Midterm

In this picture, the manikin is in a pose reminiscent of Singing in the Rain. I used an adjustment layer mask to brighten the entire manikin because the image is overexposed in certain areas. The shadow was created by duplicating the manikin, filling it black, and distorting it. I used the dodge and burn effects to give the manikin depth.



This image was taken in front of the social sciences building. Because the traffic cones were originally bright orange, I decreased their saturation. The shadow was created by duplicating the manikin and filling it black. It was then distorted and transformed so that it matched the shadows of the traffic cones. The opacity was decreased and a Gaussian blur effect was added. Dodge and burn tools were used to give the manikin depth.

In this image, I decided to take a picture of the purple pixel and placed the manikin (in a pondering pose) in front of the pixel. The manikin's shadow was created by duplicating the original image and filling it black. I then used the transform tool to distort the shadow and position it at the manikin's feet. I also decreased the opacity and added a Gaussian blur. The shadow mimics the pixel's shadow due to light coming from the right side of the image. The manikin's reflection was a separate picture of the manikin. It was incorporated into the image and the lower torso was removed. The reflection was distorted slightly to give it a rounded look and lastly, the opacity was decreased.