Stop-Start Animation Video Project

About what, I am not sure, but I have made some in the past, and I think it would be fun to make another one.

Just a thought...

Flip cam test in class

Interviews, Asac 100, and my amazing opening credits!

Lack of Color: Photo Montage

I made this picture slideshow in high school, from 2007 to 2008.

 I went around my home town and school and took colorful pictures to oppose the theme of the song Lack of Color.

My goal was to show that there is color in the world, unlike the songs message. The song promotes the notion that when life goes downhill that colors escape from all things.

I hope to show that even when times are tough, that the world is still bright and hopeful.

Enjoy!

Here is the YouTube Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLPQoK12Um8

Here is the Link to my YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee

Carbon Leaf- The War Was In Color Photo and Video Montage

I have watched this video plenty of times in the past. Sometimes to listen to this non-album version of the song "The War Was In Color" by Carbon Leaf.

Nonetheless, I believe this is an interesting and creative way to make a multimedia slideshow, by combining photos and video from American wars with a modern, well written song about war.

Carbon Leaf is a great band and this is a great song! I love this video especially because this version of the song is not the album rendition of the song.

I hear more of the vocals than the interments, where in the album version the instruments are prominent. For the most part the photos and videos match the words of the song, so that we, the viewers are able to see and react to what is happening as the lyrics are being sung.

Great montage! Great Song!

Outrageous American Roadside Attractions

Here is the link:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45804220/?slide=1

This is a gallery of pictures of different roadside attractions across America. There is a description of the history of each place to the left of the photo.

I found this on CNBC and thought it would be fitting to put onto my commuting blog. The pictures are neat and interesting, and sometime hopefully in my life it would be cool to stop by some of these places!

Gizmodo The Gadget Guide

http://gizmodo.com/

Interestingly, Gizmodo has a similar layout to Jalopnik. Basically, the layout is identical. However Gizmodo features the latest in technology and science.

If you like keeping up with new, interesting, and/or bizarre scientific findings and technology, this might be a site worth checking out!

Jalopnik- Drive Free or Die Multimedia Example 1

http://jalopnik.com/

This blog is features the latest in interesting, bizarre, funny, and serious motor vehicle stories and news. The layout is very simple, but enjoyable to navigate through.

With many photo gallery categories, text, and videos all being posted every day, this site is very active

If you are a car fanatic check this site out! 

First Blog Critique

http://easyhiker.co.uk/

This blog is about a British man who hikes all around Europe. Unfortunately, I have not found his name on his blog.

I like this blog a lot because there are a lot of tabs to click on, to read information about his travels, and many beautiful photos to view showing us his surrounding when he hikes. Navigation around his blog is very simple.

Tabs are easy to read and find and each have straight forward titles. Headlines are bold and easy to read.

I like how there is a side bar with a list of recent posts, for there are a lot of posts per page, it is nice to see he wants his blog to be organized, for older posts could be easily buried.

It is clear this man is very passionate about hiking. There are 35 very content heavy pages of just his own posts, not including guest comments, videos, and descriptions of some of the countries where he has hiked.

Although he seems to stress that hiking is for beginners, and is easy to start, he seems very advanced.

Commute Slideshow

This is still a work in progress. I do not believe that too much of the audio will change, but there will some lower third CG's too accompany the pictures coming soon. But this is what I have for now. Enjoy!

Initially, my intention for this slideshow was to show how I prepare for my commute, getting into my car, driving off, the drive and arriving at school. As I started to work on that idea, I realized that I would not complete my vision that idea in the time which I had to work on this assignment.

So I came up with another idea. I would focus on two or three different, interesting places or buildings that I pass every morning, that would be fun and aesthetically interesting to take pictures of.

I decided that I would stop to take pictures of the Martin Bridge in Marshfield.

This bridge was built by Herman Townsend in 1890 for William Martin Jr. and his first son Harry Martin, who were successful Marshfield farmers. At 44 feet long, the bridge was built solely to provide agricultural access to the Martins' land on the far side of the Winooski River.

The Martin Bridge is the only original covered "farm" bridge left in Vermont.

The agricultural heritage of the Martin Bridge is evident in many ways. The distinctive tall and narrow shape of the bridge, as well as the unuaually short knee braces, is a result of the need to allow for the passage of horse drawn hay wagons piled high with loose hay. Another unique reminder of the long agricultural history of the bridge is the functional cattle gate attached to one of the queenposts.

It is one of the few local covered bridges that survived the famous state-wide flood of 1927 which destroyed over 1200 bridges throughout Vermont.

My next stop was Joe's Pond in West Danville.

Covering 393 acres it's maximum depth is about 100 feet. It is three miles long and at its widest, three-quarters of a mile across.

According to the Vermont Department of Water Resources, the "Joe's Pond Basin" was formed during the Pleistocene glaciations under stagnating ice conditions. Research shows it is likely that before this period, Joe's Pond did not exist and the stream flowed southwesterly to the Winooski Drainage Basin.

As the ice advanced, it scoured deeply into the basin, and stagnating ice blocked a spillway through the ridge where West Danville and the present outlet is now.

Del Amitri - Driving With The Brakes On

"And we might get lost someplace, so desolate that no one where we're from would ever come, but she's got the wheel and I've got to deal from now on; When you're driving with the brakes on; when you're swimming with your boots on..."

Tenative Second Slideshow Idea

I am going to create a slideshow about my commute from before I get into the car to when I park my car in the school parking lot, and the places that I pass along the way.  

I will capture natural sound from for instance, I have a garage door that opens and closes, and I can use that sound for me preparing to get into my car and of course, the sound of the car starting. I will also use my own voice to describe some of the places and what is going on in the photos. 

I will add in my own music that I create in Garage Band that will appropriately accompany my story. I also know somebody who has traveled this route with me to and from school before, so I can interview her about her opinions about the route and what she makes of me, driving it everyday.


I intend to reach out to the people who may want to get to know the areas in Central Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom, since I drive between the two every day, so that is where my story. Also, people who may want to get to know me, personally, a bit better, to get an inside look as to what I see every morning on my way to school.

I must say that since I have specified earlier in my blog that there are two ways that I am able to travel to school, that I am going to focus this slideshow on Route 2.

I want to do this slideshow about my commute, because it ties so well into my theme, and that I can already hear you yawning after you read that this is going to be about a guy in a car, traveling… on Route 2. I intend to make this an engaging presentation, so that at the end of the show, it will not feel as if less time has gone by than two or three minutes.

I am intending to do this project by myself so that I can tell my own story. I fear that this is too ambitious of a project. I do have a vision for it. I hope I can pull it off!

CBS Atlanta Website v. Facebook Page

When I go onto to CBS Atlanta's website, I notice there are lists of just headlines, which are nine words or less, of relatively small font size. There are a few pictures, above stories with larger headlines, to signify the importance of the story.

The current large headline is: Confessed killer fights to fire judge 

There is a toolbar when people can share this site on many social media forums. After columns of smaller headlines, there is finally a spot for weather...then more headlines.

So to me, this site makes me think that CBS Atlanta is very busy finding stories, to the point where content is being posted and changed constantly.

The color scheme of the site, holds true to the CBS Atlanta, using greys, blues, reds, and silvers. I enjoy looking at the site.

My only complaint is that there are too many words to look at. Besides the one large headline and picture, my attention is not pulled in any direction. It is overwhelming to look at all the words. I do not know what to click on first.
--- ---
The CBS Facebook page is filled with stories which underneath ask an open-ended question looking for opinions. For example, there is story:

     19 people were arrested in Paulding County after police said they vandalized school property for a senior prank at East Paulding High School.

      Those arrested ranged in age from 17 to 19, and all were charged with felonies. Do you think that's too harsh a charge for a senior prank?

So far there are 11 "likes" and 63 comments. I like the fact that CBS Atlanta is looking for opinions about stories, because perhaps another story could be reported from the responses... you never know. 

First Audio Slideshow Synopsis

On March 4, 2012 I am going to the Lyndon Outing Club Hill to the Snowmobile Hill Climb Race. My goal for this slideshow is for the viewer to see the action from each of the events.

I already know there is going to be three different events that are going to take place at the races: a children's snowmobile hill climb race, pit crew operations, and the main event race.

I also want to gather pictures of reactions from the crowds, and to show the turn out of the event.

I hope to capture the sounds of the racers revving the snowmobiles engines in anticipation of bursting off the starting line, and to use voices from interviews from the event coordinator, and a rider.

I intend to match as best I can the pictures to the words, so that I can bring the viewer of this slideshow immediately into the sights and sounds of this event.

Snowmobile Up-Hill Race on Sunday March 4, 2012

The Outing Club Hill Snowmobile Race was a fantastic event on which to make a soundslide show! I was able to capture the exact sounds and interviews that I wanted. I shot pictures of the kids race, the crews who made sure that each snowmobile was up to the correct standards, so that the specs of each snowmobile in every division was as equal and fair as possible.

I was able to take the audio from an interview with the event coordinator, and a rider and underlay their voices, so that their story could be heard.

I was captured some audio of the event coordinator speaking through the PA system. He was giving instructions to the riders to have their snowmobile checked out by the crews.

I incorporated this sound bite to have another voice that was heard by all who attended the events.

The best part of this project was being at the event, capturing these images, sounds, and the story of the racers. I liked watching the racers fly up the 700 foot hill between 11-15 seconds!

Not a single crashed, even with two jumps on the course. Though it was great to see a nice clean race, it would have been cool to see a wipe out!

The most difficult part of this project was deciding what to use for audio, and which pictures to incorporate. I first concentrated on making a solid audio track, then I found appropriate pictures to accompany the sounds.

I just wish I had more time to make better quality pictures and better flow of the slideshow, because some of the pictures transition too fast that it is hard to see what is in the picture.

It believe it is my lack of experience with the SoundSlides program.