Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Film Roles


Producer- oversees the production of the film from the beginning to the end, provides funding etc. Not really a thing for us.

Director- The director makes all the creative and production-related decisions. He (or she) is the top of the chain of command on set.  Works with project manager/ producer/ mostly everybody to ensure everything runs smoothly. 

DP- Works as cinematographer and camera operator on set. They frame all shots intentionally and in an appropriate, professional way. Should know how to operate the cameras as well as any equipment necessary including tripods, dollies, and lights. A good DP should have a good knowledge of lighting from both a technical and artistic perspective. Cinematography an interest of mine, and it’s a position that I would love to have more practice with. 

location Scout- finds the locations to shoot at. Works closely with DP.

Audio- The primary responsibility of the audio director is to effectively capture and preserve any sound made by the actors while shooting. He would monitor the audio coming into the camera or recording device and work with the director and crew in order to do so.

Crew- Includes gaffers and grips of all kinds. They set up lights, build sets, hold mics, and run cameras as needed. They’re mostly grunts, but they should be competent enough to act out orders and handle equipment.

Costume/Set Design- They design the costumes and sets for the project. They should work with the cinematographer and director in order to ensure that the work they do is appropriate for the tone of the scene.

Storyboard Artist- Works with the director (and the cinematographer?) to block out all of the shots before 

Editors- Work in post production to chop and slice the footage. They work very closely with the director and the storyboard artist to create the finished product.

Writers- Write the screenplay.


Project Manager- works with the director to document everything and keep the production going.

Watch Her Disappear

I started this project by thinking of ways that I could visually represent the themes of the poem. I came up with a shot list and set out to capture the dream.

"Watch Her Disappear" is about a unrequited, hopeless longing for/infatuation with a young woman that he admires from afar; here represented by the spider and the flowers that he watches.

Plot vs Story


The differences between story and plot can subtle and hard to determine. Martin Scorsese defines plot as being purely focused on events, while story is more about characters' motivations and the emotions evoked by cinematography. After thinking about it, I'm inclined to agree with him that story is more interesting and important to a film than the plot. While movies CAN simply relay information, focusing too much on plot and not enough on character development and tone can make the difference between a good film and a great one.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Magazine Cover/FINAL

So, this is the magazine cove I came up with. I took the image from online (copyright 2004 CEFPI). I sampled the color from the sky in the image and used it to create a gradient. I then used the spot healing tool in photoshop to seamlessly combine the two layers. Then I added the stars and clouds. 

eComm is a world-class multimedia program at Olathe Northwest High School. I am currently enrolled as a sophomore (soon to be junior) in both the graphic design and video production strands. Few programs in the nation rival eComm in its resources or creativity. 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Final Logo

old logos- pretty bad
so, these are the logos I created. I wanted to use a palm tree at first, but I got bored with that, so I moved on to other trees and eventually cacti. I really liked the font that fit the cactus logo vibe. I ended up going with one that used that font, but didn't include the cactus.


final logo

Monday, April 21, 2014

Play the Kerning Game

The Kerning Game is about creating readable, attractive typography. You drag letters and attempt to make it as pretty as you can. hit "next" and compare yours to the "best". Play this game to hone your kerning skillshttp://type.method.ac/

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Every year, eComm hosts it's annual media festival known as eMagine.
eMagine logo

 Unfortunately, I was unable to get off work and ended up spending the evening making ice cream for 7.35/hour. If I was able to attend however, as I was last year, I would be able to tell you of all the amazing projects created by our department's remarkable talent. Oh well.

Friday, April 11, 2014

"the horror... the horror..."

Saul Bass is a legend of graphic design. His minimalistic concepts and clever use of negative space to tell the understory of a movie were hugely influential. I made several movie posters that were inspired by his legendary style.

heres one
heres another
Both of the films above have dark, ominous tones. I attempted to bring these feelings to the forefront of my posters by intentional usage of color. Apocalypse Now is about the human cost of war and the psychological effects it can have on its survivors. I chose to highlight this by using red as the primary color. The other objects- the palm trees, sun, and helicopter- are meant to primarily indicate setting and are mostly incidental. Children of the Corn is more of a guilty pleasure, but I still felt like it's themes of violence and... corn could be easily expressed through color and texture.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Here are some things I've learned about the Google logo today,

this was the original Google logo.
Even before that, the original name of the company was BackRub. This was it's awesome logo.
In times of great tragedy, the characteristically colorful logo is replaced with a white version.
This is the current logo. 
  

Thursday, April 3, 2014



Nerman


On a recent trip to the Nerman, I was exposed to many diverse "genres" of art. One of the featured exhibits was Dylan Mortimer's Illuminate series. Try as I might to appreciate the first exhibit I saw that day, this interactive display was nothing but tasteless religious propaganda. I couldn't find anything redeeming about this exhibit, and it left me with extremely low expectations and a bad taste in my mouth.
What I love abut art though is that it can make you feel any wide range of emotions. After being totally disappointed by the tasteless shlock of the first exhibit, the next thing I saw caused a completely different reaction. Allison Schulnik's gorgeous Skipping Skeletons was a haunting melody full of contradictions. Thoughtful and elegant, this piece was certainly a highlight for me. 


The other main exhibit was Kaws' Ups and Downs. This exhibit was abrasive and bold and, while in retrospect I've come to appreciate that part of his work, I was immediately turned off by the whole angry, urban aesthetic. Then I realized that this is exactly how the artist wants me to feel. It's quintessential punk rock vibe stuck with me and forced me to think about it for weeks to come, which I suppose is probably the point.