Monday, November 30, 2015

Scratch Game Design

So, coding! Finally, something difficult but super fun! Our assignment was to create an epic Scratch game where one thing chases another, and to make a platformer. We, as well, had to make a game where... well... it actually diddn't have much requirements. It was just a freedom game. (Have fun playing the games, they're around here somewhere...) Anyway, our class gave us feedback on the games, (The one that was made FIRST,) so we could make the games better. The chase game, platformer, and freedom games you currently see above is the most updated version. A couple of the suggestions were to make the water in the platformer for level 4 a little slower, (Which I did, by the way.) and to make the background to the chase game a little more interesting.

So, for each of the games, I think there were clearly some awesome features. (Shameless self-advertising.) The best feature for the chase game, I think, was how the game gets harder the longer you play. After 20 points, it becomes almost impossible to dodge the square's attacks. (Want a hint? Never stop moving.) For the platformer, I think the best feature is the cutsene at the end. The water stops, and then drains. They're pretty cool, and very different. As one increases difficulty, one stops it.

So, the code. I think that the best code I made was on the freedom game, because of the complexity of creating certain formations that would always be carried out provided the correct random number was picked. It was pretty difficult to coordinate the lava and platforms, and took some trial and error. One of the most difficult bug fixes was actually also the best code. I just couldn't figure out how to coordinate the lava and the platforms. When two of the same formations appeared, the platforms would be off by quite a bit, usually making it impossible. But I rewrote the code, so instead of 10 sprites there were 1 that cloned itself, and I made the platforms activate the lava. It was pretty frustrating...

Hope you enjoy playing Chase, Platformer, and Dash!
-Linden<br />

P.S. For the freedom game, use only space. Space makes you jump. Tap space again to double jump. For the platformer, use arrow keys, and same for the chase game.

Invention Commercial


Wazzup! Here we have another G.T. project. This project was to create an invention and advertise it. Currently, the Shirt Shifter (You should know what it's called if you watched the video) is not for sale, because there is only one in existence, but it's still pretty cool. For the assignment, we basically wanted to make a reference to those classic 80's commercials. I think we did pretty well. We also wanted to make it pretty funny and less like a reference to the classic commercials, and more like a rip-off of them. So, that pretty much contradicts my previous statement. Anyway, how did we do? Our only thought was to entertain you. (And sell the product, which isn't for sale >:D )

The best "Team Moment" I think, was the creation of the idea itself. I originally had wanted to do shampertables, (Kinds like convertible pants, but exactly like convertible pants) but it wasn't an original idea. Then, we thought of ANOTHER idea, which was supposed to motivate people, but it wasn't makable, so that had to go to. Finally, I thought of how annoying it was to take off sweaters in the afternoon, and thought of the Shirt Shifter. Supa inspiration genius. It was also a good moment when we finished the editing and saw it on the "Big Screen" and how awesome it was (Although that wasn't really pre-production...). Need more proof? Check out these scores! Left, Up, and Down.


Anyway, DURING the editing, we had split jobs. I was in charge of piecing together the clips, Micah was in charge of music, and Cody was in charge of critical thinking. (I mean critical. Not like complex thinking, more like a critic.) I think we all did a pretty good job on each of our jobs. Everyone did their part, and their part was... did? Basically we divided the work so that everyone had something to do.

Adios!
-Linden  Supa awesome guy w/ hea lol


Friday, November 6, 2015

Composition Scavenger Hunt

Hellllooooooo people that pay attention to a blog like this! We were, this time, supposed to go out (on the school campus... :P) and film 10 examples of composition techniques. Anyway, if you look up ABOVE, you will see the 10 examples WE were supposed to do. I, personally, think that unusual angles are the most important. I mean, sure, you have a movie with rule of thirds or whatever, but no unusual angles, it's just kinda blah. Unusual angles make it more gripping, and draw you in like- WOAH! Did that guy just do an EPIK jump? It looks like it because the camera is under him as he jumps from building to building! When from flat, it's just like- Oh, cool jump brah, meh, this is boring. Just my opinion though. Don't take my word for it.

I think the HARDEST composition technique is ALSO unusual angles. I mean seriously, it's kinda hard to look for the most creative, safe, AND interesting angle at the exact same time. We took about 10 minutes to find ours! Although, when you're making a movie, you have time for that sort of thing... Still, it's hard. I could use it more by taking more time to think about shots before I shoot them, but I'm too lazy. (Jk, Jk. Hold your horses. I'm not THAT lazy.) Anyway, yeah, I could also shoot in more locations that gain the POSSIBILITY to create these strange unusual angles. It'll be hard, but possibly fun. :)

So, on this, my teammates were Cody and Micah. We mainly switched roles every now and then, but mainly, micah and cody were the subjects, I was usually the speaker, (Sometimes it was micah,) Cody, when not talking or holding up the camera, held up the script. He also did most of the text when we were editing. There was a lot of variation on who did what though, so it's kinda hard to explain who did this and that and this-that. Anyway, in the editing board, I cut out the extra footage and pieced it together, Micah was da epik D.J. and did the music, and Cody gave advice and did the texts. Then bing, bang, boom! (I just destroyed a couple vases... >-<) An epic and informative video!

Piece out! (Puzzles r fun)
-Linde

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Cracking the Code

Ok, time to defuse a bomb. Let's see... wires... cut blue... wait- HTML?!?! I DON'T KNOW THI-- BOOM!!!!!! And that's why we should learn to code. Not really though. I personally think everyone should learn to code, because- let's face it- Technology is taking over. More and more technological stuff are being created right this second, and eventually, everyone will either know coding and know the stuff, or be hobos. (Not saying being a hobo is bad, but- I think it kinda sucks...)  Anyway, coding, once you learn it, it isn't so hard! And well, it may seem like that people who are like &lt;Lol HAHA&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; are NERDZ, but knowing coding WILL be nececary in the future for EVERYONE. (Don't believe me? Hop in a time machine and go 40 years in the future. OH WAIT- We don't HAVE a time machine because people haven't CODED IT YET!) My point exactly. In the future, people will need to be smart and able to code.

Flappy portal. Link Here
So, recently, we have done some practice coding, and although I had done coding before, it was still really fun. I think the first time I had ever coded anything ever was about 3-4 years ago, and it was pretty bad... Anyway, it wasn't too hard, because it was the simplest code EVAR. Like just When click, switch costume THEN, when click something else, do this and this and it's done! EZ PZ Lemon Slurpee. (I love those things. They're great.) A link of it is here... Don't judge me for it. I personally think it was a pretty bad attempt, but it, when you think about it, is kinda alright for the first thing ever programed ever... So, hate it don't hate it? (Kinda like sorry not sorry, but with not liking the project.)
Simple Game

Anyway... If I could design ANY program or game, I think I would create an EPIC game / AI thing where you get to pick, at first, what type of game you would like to play, (Such as open world, puzzle, adventure, platformer, FPS, etc.) And it would create a game for you where each level, based on how you did for the previous levels/ areas, and refit the game to your standards so it is always challenging, never exactly the same, always fun, and there is NO END! I think that would be extremely cool, and it could double as a teaching experience because every level challenges you at your level so you constantly get better. But be sure to leave your computer for food! Heh heh...

Programing and Inventing and Practice oh my!
-Linden




I did it! :)

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

My Humorous Monolouge


JohnsL_Comedy from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.



These are my comedy grade results. Meh...
Well, Well, Well then, what do we have here... Oh, wait- It's NOT Hat Man... I was expecting him in my lair... (I've kidnapped his daughter, if you see him...) ANYWAY- In the comedy project, (Incase you were wondering, even though there is a GIANT COMEDY VIDEO RIGHT THERE! Wathc it if you haven't) I have learned a bundle of stuff. (Bushel? Barrel? Ton? Gallon? Cubic Centimeter? I'm not good at volume measurements.) I have learned how to make something actually funny! Yeah! I was not really able to do this before! I also learned how to trip convincingly, (Practice makes perfect!) fail at opening doors, and how to place some creative angles. (Leading lines, whatever, you know the drill. I think...) Oh, yeah, and do some very fast edits. I also earned how to properly deliver a comedic monologue, and all of the grade requirements. (I don't think I'll be using the latter...) (Wow! A lot of parentheses today!) That's pretty much it, since I already knew how to use IMovie, and how to use a camera better.
No one voted I had the funniest one :(

So, padding. No no no, not what you put on beds to make them fluffier, what you put on VIDEO CLIPS to make THEM fluffier. Wait- did I say fluffier? I meant softer. Softer? Safer? Whatever? Anyway, padding is basically a few seconds after you start and before you begin acting, and after you stop acting before you end. It's used because if you stop filming the second you stop acting, it will get a little cut off at the end/beginning. It also helps when editing, just in case you need ONE MORE SECOND! NRRGH! Uh- um- excuse me- gotta go- turning into hulk- bye now-

ANYWAY... A couple troubles I had with the filming was that I had to film at night, because I didn't have time in the day, so most of the shots were DARK  Well, not SUPER dark, but kinda dark. So I fixed that with a couple edits in IMovie. A couple things I did good were the monologue, except that first fuzzy part, and the trips. I don't know if anyone told you, but I apparently am the MASTER of tripping. Like, it seems real. (I may be over-exaggerating, but I think I did do well on those.) I also forgot to check out a camera several times... I think I could improve by getting a couple desk lamps when it's too dark, and perhaps my acting? I don't know about the acting thing though... Anyway, to discuss the results, Most people thought I did like epically well, a few thought I was good, and 2 people thought my video was bad. I guess I'll have to kidnap their daughters (if they have any) too, and hold them hostage with Hat Man's. No one thought mine was the funniest though. :( It's fine though. The pie chart shows percentile of anonymous percentile of other people's comedy skits, (In other words, blah blah blah, a lot of confusing words, blah blah blah.) 

Anyway, my plan is BELOW...
-Linden

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Comedy Writing

Soooooo... Hello and welcome back to once again, for like the 15th time or something (I lost track) to a new project. This one has to do with comedy, (The only art I have trouble with, and this is a serious statement, unlike the usual sarcastic ones) but I won't bore you with the details just yet- I'll save it for later. Anyway, it is important to have a sense of humor because you can always make the most of a bad situation, or make a good situation even better. (wait- did I just jump to a different topic without explaining first? weird...) For example, say you get 3 cavities at the dentist or something, you could say "I knew I shouldn't have eaten that tooth-eating-mold!" (Wow that was the worst joke ever, but you get the point.) Or say things are going great, you could pop an awesome one-liner and leave everyone laughing their faces off. For example, my brother (who has a great sense of humor) popped a joke the other day while we were discussing random topics, and we all laughed a ton. I cannot write the joke unfortunately, because it is way better said then read. But it was good.

Anyway, I have created my very own "Joke", and just in case you find yourself in the same situation, here are:
Linden's 5 Tips on how to Make a Joke

So, tip number 1. If you are stuck on step one, you should just think of a random thing that happened that day, and exaggerate, poke fun at, or just generally make it funnier. Tip number 2! If you can't poke fun at something that happened that day, just make something up. Such as; "So, a funny thing happened the other day..." etc. Tip 3... If you can't make up something like that, just do a bunch of one liners, or some random stuff. Personally, I prefer the latter. Tip 4!? Make up your own ORIGINAL jokes! If you tell someone a joke based off of the internet, or a joke from the internet, chances are the've already heard a similar joke, and it's WAAAAY less funny. Tip 5! (Finally!) Punny isn't always funny! To make a joke based off of a pun, make sure it's either exaggerated, or actually funny. Test the joke out with friends or family before you tell it to other people.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.gif (Just a laugh GIF.)
Ok. So now here is my comedic monologue. (Or, "Joke", as I called it before...) It came as a stroke of inspiration during one of Mr. Sanderls' lectures. Basically it goes something like this. (A word-for-word copy of what's on my plan) :  I had the most persistent cousin ever. He was like Einstein's definition of insanity. I bet, if you looked it up, he would be there. Whenever he messed something up, he would just do it right over again exactly the same. (Trip!) “Ok let’s try that again” (Trip!) “I know how to do this!” (Trip! Trip! Trip!...) He was once stuck trying to go up a down escalator for 3 whole days! I don’t know how he does it. He never does anything differently than he does before, so whenever he does something right, it’s a big celebration and it’s the only thing we ever tell him to do. We once tried to take him to a therapist once, but the meeting went something like this: “So, why are you here.” “Because my family made me come here.” “But why?” “Because” “Why” “Because.” It went on for hours. Either the therapist had the same problem, or he was trying to use up our time... So there you have it. I think it's funny because, well, what sane person would try to keep doing something exactly the same and expect it to work that time?! (Answer: None. That's why I said he was like Einstein's definition of insanity.) Also, the visuals are funny because you see him (me) tripping, doing the same thing over and over again, and slamming into doors over and over. (Don't worry. It won't hurt. I hope...) Also, the last part is funny because a therapist's sessions are timed, so therapists sometimes do things like that (not exactly like that) to waste time, and this particular therapist saw the perfect opportunity. (BTW: I will play all of the parts.)

Well there you go,
-Linden

Ps: If you read a previous post, called "Ok, Who Spilled The Ink?" you should be able to read this.
Thumbs up to whoever can find this!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Motivational Poster

Welcome back! After like 7 days of not posting anything, (which in normal for this blog) a new post is underway! Remember the project I mentioned in the previous post? You SHOULD remember unless you totally skipped out on the previous blog post like a slacker. (Can you slack on something no one told you to do? I need to know.) If you did skip out, however, it's the Motivational Poster. You know, Blah Blah Blah, Just do it, etc.  Anyway, the requirements are 6 layers: Manifesto, a couple of Personal Quotes, Krazy Kerning (Of both text layers, all the way across the page), 4 Photos, (Three symbolic images, and MY FACE: A portrait...) and also a Triatic color scheme and blending options on my text layers, adjustment layers on my images, and Visual Balance.
Text layers, (without effects)
Top Left: Quotes. Rest: Manifesto.
Images, (without effects)

So, you're probably wondering how I made the poster, (bottom) I shall now tell you. First, I had to create the Manifesto, (Find in the previous blog post! Shameless self advertising FTW) and put it into a brand new Photoshop document. (You know the drill- file, new, 8.5 by 11 inches, etc.) Then I did the same with the personal quotes that I created myself, (On the poster, they are the gold text.) I then Kerned the text to fit the screen precisely, and fitted the Manifesto next to the personal quotes. After that was all said and done, I imported and arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner, the three Symbolic Images, (Once again found in the previous post- You know what? Why don't you just read it...) and a portrait of myself. (Taken by Jason Hoy) I then used layer modification techniques (AKA: a lot of long words that I just use to look smart ) on the text to make it gold, green, and blue, (My Triadic Color Scheme) using the outlines, glow, bevel and emboss, and other stuff to incorporate the scheme. Finally, I used adjustment layers (Above the photos, below the text) to make the photos fit with the color scheme and make them BLUE! Blue as a- a... um... a. . . a Blueberry? I don't know many things that blue. It's almost blinding... Well, anyway, then with a couple of touch-ups, it was done.

So, I'd say that the biggest challenge I had to face was being absent for about a day. When I came back we were supposed to be done kerning- but I hadn't even started. So I had to work really fast and come in for lunch to finish the kerning so it fit the entire screen. I think I did pretty well... What do you guys think? One of the hardest things with the kerning however, was getting the manifesto so it was on the side of the quotes. I manages it in the end by pressing enter when I ran out of room with the text. Otherwise it was pretty easy, probably because I had worked with photoshop before. If you would like to see the finished poster, it is blown up (not literally) at the bottom.

Adios Amigos
-Linden
Final Motivational Poster!!!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Personal Manifesto

Hello! And welcome to the new 2015-2016 school year! Our first project is to make a motivational poster, so let's get on it, but later. 2nd and 3rd paragraphs maybe? Anyway, since I've never actually posted some interesting facts about myself, that's what I'm gonna do right now. 5, to be precise. Ok, so all of you know my name, (I hope) If you don't and you're new to my blog, it's Linden Johns, but I won't count that as one of the 5 facts. Anyway, here they are: 1. My favorite activity is to cook and bake, (pastries, cake, etc.). 2. I am in G.T. media (which you should all know, evidence? G.T. portfolio) and Art class, which are my two favorite classes. 3. I have two cats, named Tigger and Olivia, but this DOES NOT mean that I don't love dogs too, because I do, so CHILL dog fans. 4. I am a ginger, so I have freckles and reddish blond hair EVERYWHERE. I'm kinda like a not-so-hairy smallfoot. (like bigfoot, except with smaller feet.) And 5. the most recent thing, I am in 7th grade! So yeah. those are 5 interesting things about me, and now onto the project.


So, in the poster, we need to add a few inspirational quotes, (Shia LaBeouf perhaps?) and a personal Manifesto. If you have no idea what that is, I have concealed a link in the underlined manifesto. You're welcome. Anyway, here is my personal Manifesto: Always approach work with ENERGY. Never believe that you will fail, or you will. Never have a NEGATIVE ATTITUDE when you do anything. Always be healthy, physically and emotionally. Healthy body means healthy soul and moods. Be nice to the people you meet and your acquaintances will grow. THE TIME IS NOW. Live your life with passion and inspiration, and always follow your dreams. DREAM BIG. Nothing is impossible if you put time and energy into it. So go be what you want. This is your life so go out there and make the most of it. 

So there you go. I just publicly declared my 2015-2016 personal Manifesto. I hope you learned something, and if you didn't and just skimmed it, then I'll just slap the main idea right here: believe in yourself, because if you do, and you actually TRY and do what you would like to do, THEN anything is possible. So yeah. It applies to YOU because some people (I won't point fingers) when they start something are like "Ugg... This? I'm never gonna be able to do this. I quit. Goodbye. nrrgh." You know... Those people. I hope you are (now) not one of them.

First blog post of the year hype!
-Linden

(PS. if you have no idea what the photos are, they all represent me in some way. figure it out.)

Friday, May 29, 2015

Music Videos Rock!!!



"Micah" working
Welp. It turned out to be the latter. Oh right- it's been a while. The latter of "It just might be the hardest thing I ever do ever." It may be an exaggeration, but not by much. Well, it's actually going pretty good, but you know, work is work. And we lost about half of our footage. So yeah. I think that I contributed pretty goodly, being A: an actor, B: a director, and C: a cameraman. But I can't take all of the spotlight. Micah helped to. He was A: an actor, and B: a slacker. JK. Jk. He was actually, A: an actor, B: the play writer, and C: a slacker. Still joking. He did his part. Either that, or he's really rich so he can hire someone to do it for him. I really don't care. At least the person he's paying is good at this stuff. Wait- or was he paying an actor to go to school for him too?!?!? AND EVERYWHERE FOR HIM!?!?!? Have I never known him???? CONSPIRACY ALERT!?!?!?!?!??!
Me working on RATED screen

Well, now that that conspiracy theory has been cleared up (Has it?) It's time for the OTHER conspiracy, what part will people like most. I believe that my audience will most enjoy the part when I smash Micah's face into the plate of tuna because I think that it's kinda expected, has a close up, and is still funny. Runner ups are: The credits, The RATED screen, and how Micah had a bowl on his face for half of the film. Also the air guitar. That was Rockin' awesome.

Me- Wait- AM I AN ACTOR TOO!?! 

In my opinion, Me and Micah's music video completely (well, some at least.) shows what we learned this year. Notice, for example, the sound effects we used. Also, we used SuperImposing and skill with the Quick Selection Tool for the RATED screen, and the "The Weirdos" screen. We also focused are shots, used special effects, and demonstrated correct (I mean incorrect. Stupid autocorrect. JK.) Camera usage. This is our final project of the school year, so I hope you enjoyed. I may not post any blog posts during the summer either. So...


Adios Amigos!
-Linden


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Lyrical Livlihood

Hello and- Do I even need to do this anymore? Like, EVERY SINGLE TIME I post a new blog post It's just always THE SAME THING! Blah Blah Blah, new project, new team, new this, new that, Blah Blah Blah. The question is- why? Because reasons. There. I just answered my own question- DEAL WITH IT. Anyway, back on track, Blah Blah Blah, new project new team, new this, new that, Blah Blah Blah.

The new project is a MUSIC VIDEO. The new team is just me and Micah Miller. Click there to see his blog, and his version of this exact post. Anyway, so the video we're doing isn't exactly my FAVORITE song, but it's close. My (semi) favorite song, (I have a lot.) is "Hardware Store" from Weird Al Yankovic. Click the link to see the music video. It kinda makes me feel energetic and excited. It also gives me a strange, unquenchable desire to buy everything from ACE hardware and Home Depot combined... Jk Jk.

Plan part 1, Click to enlarge.
Plan part 2. Click to enlarge.
Anyway, onto the actual project. Our team, (And by that I mean me and Micah,) Decided (I forced him to) to pick "Just Eat It" By Weird Al Yankovic. We (I) chose this because I thought it would be easy and fun. I'll check up of that later... It may just actually be the hardest thing either one of us EVER DID. (May.) Plus, I LIKE FOOD. Also, it has a lot of weird lyrics that I thought we could visualize with a lot of different stuff. Our video is kinda gonna be a comedy, (sorta) With some stuff like me smashing Micah's face into a bowl of... Mush? Something. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anyway, I got the better end of that deal. I am the smashER. not the smashEE. Why am I still talking about this? Whatever. The point is, It's a form of slapstick comedy.

There isn't really a story to "Just Eat It"; It's just kinda random, so we had to transfiddle the B-roll a little bit to figure it out. The story, now, is basically that there's always that ONE PERSON that eats AS SLOW AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, preventing everyone else from proceeding to dessert. Micah is that person. Over time, however, he learns that what he's doing is bad, and he eats faster and stuff. Crazy story right?! At first, he's gonna eat REALLY slowly, and his company is asleep. Later, he wakes up, shoves micah's face into the bowl, and commence music. It's not violence, it's "Freely Expressing Discomfort".

New post in a few weeks,
-Linden

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Ok, Who spilled the Ink?

Hello and welcome to the- Wait- Did someone really-?
Wow. At least it's readable when you highlight it. Then again, those directions were probably hard to read...  How am I supposed to create another awesome (Yes, it's a matter of opinion) Blog Post if someone spilled Ink all over it??? Seriously, whoever did that, NO respect.               .
Should I even post this? I mean, it's still readable but I've spent so much time rambling on about whoever spilled the ink. Really, if I post this, it's unprofessionalism. Not that I'm ever professional, but one does want to keep his standards up. The question is: Why? What's the point of spilling ink on some kid's blog post? HOW do you even spill ink on a blog post? This is ridiculous. At least- wait? This is still readable! But there's so much ink by now that it's really hard to... Unless you highlight it. Well then again, I guess It's kinda readable either way. However, it's easier (I think) if you highlight it... How am I supposed to write a post like this anyway? Nevermind- Closing it down. NO MORE INK!!!                                                                                    .                                                           .
                                                                                                                                                  .
I'll write again soon,                                                                                                                 .
-Linde-                                                                                                                                  .
              .                                                                                                                                 .
-Did the ink just change color? Let's test this... Yep. The ink definitely changes color. Even When I Try To Throw It For A Loop! Well, no more surprises. 
         .
'Bye,
-Linden

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Our Animation Story

DISCLAMER
This post is directly related to the previous one, "Animation Outtakes". If you have not read that post, please kindly do so. If you are the lazy type, read/watch at your own risk. Or not, I don't care.

P5T6 Raiden Discovers Origami from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Working on my animation...
Hello and welcome to the (kinda) second part of the "famous" blog post, Animation Outtakes. Now many, (and by many, I mean one.) people (person?) have (has? Never mind...) asked me how our animation's focus statement reflects "My story". Well gents, the answer is: It doesn't! It reflects RAIDEN'S story. Not mine. Anyway, it reflects HIS story because, well, it's a true story! Not much more to it. It's a true story of how he discovered and learned to do Origami! Yeah!

Me and Quinn messin around  with Garageband
The audience, when they watch the animation, will (Hopefully) learn that talents can come out of no where, and to appreciate the talents you have. This is shown by telling the people (or person) how Raiden, at first, doesn't have a talent until he discovers Origami. Then he finds how good he is at Origami, Meaningful text here and there, some voice overs, and BANG! People discover that everyone has a talent.

Raiden Making some more animations
I'd say that we're a pretty good team, because we have had a lot of good moments, and not very many bad moments. For example, Every day, BOOM animation done here! BAM Animation done there! Personally, I think the team is very productive. However, if I HAD to point out the WORST moment for the team, I would say it was when we were disagreeing with the animation plan. That took a long time. The best moment, however, was when we had completed about 100% of our animations, and were ready for the Final Cut. Awesomeness!

Critique results BELOW,
-Linden


Thursday, April 2, 2015

ANIMATION OUTTAKES

Welcome ladies and gents! ONCE AGAIN, we have ANOTHER G.T. Project. (Man, these things never end!) In these few weeks, we will create SPECTACULAR Animations. (Like the terribad ball bounce RIGHT.) The following GIF to the RIGHT was made by yours truly. I'm on an ALL NEW TEAM, with ALL NEW MEMBERS, (Except for Raiden,) And an ALL NEW PROJECT!!!!! (and stuff.) Now, I shall do something I have NEVER done before... Describe two interesting faces about my team mates! Talia Washington has 8 different nationalities, (ethnicity, for fancy people,) and she is actually related to George Washington! (The one, The only.) Quinn states that the most interesting things about himself are that he eats, and he sleeps. He's ether boring, or is a secret CIA agent on a secret task in Madagascar. I'll believe the latter. Finally, Raiden Kurisu is 100% Japanese, and is apparently Really good at Origami. This is important, for that's what we based our animation off of how Raiden discovered Origami. Not my idea.
Dont. Even. Ask.

So, know what a GIF is? Click that link. For the lazy, GIF stands for Graphic Interchange Format, and looks like an animation that repeats itself. (Example, the bouncing all above.) There's more to the definition than just that, but I'm to lazy to put it in. Do you also know what Stop Motion Animation is? That's pretty easy to answer. Basically, Stop motion animation is when you take a bunch of pictures of something inanimate, such as a clay figure, and with every picture it moves a little bit. Then process it, a bing here and a bang there and you've got some mediocre-quality animation.

Our animation is going to be about, as said in the first paragraph, how Raiden discovers Origami. Basically, he realized (when he was 6) that everyone except him had a super special talent. Then out of no where he discovered that he can do origami. People should care about this because if Raiden gets famous one day, BOOM back story! Also it teaches that everyone has some special talent and we should appreciate it when we find ours. So yeah. Meaning here, meaning there, Bish Bosh.

PEACE
-Linden

Monday, March 2, 2015

Typography Images

Colorless Mr. Dell, TYPOGRAPHY STYLE!
*Sluuuuuurp* Ahhh. Delicious- wait. What? We're filming already? Oh, um, well... I was in the middle of slurping some absolutely delicious tomato soup. Anyway... You probably weren't wanting to hear about ANOTHER G.T. project, but too bad! That's what I'm talking about. Now from the title you can see that the newest project is TYPOGRAPHY IMAGES. Extra emphasis on the ALL CAPS RAGE. Anyway, basically, we take a custom paintbrush of text, or a giant block of text (kinda like this entire post, if there were no spaces between paragraphs...) that's relevant to the portrait (or image) you have, and re-make the portrait OUT OF TEXT! Magic! And I believe it's meaningful because it kinda shows the inner meaning of the picture / portrait. And it really makes a lasting impact because of what I just said, and the saying: "A picture is worth a thousand words. Welp, enough with being deep, so, garglebarglefuz.
If you find this, leave a comment! :)
Colorful Math Teacher, (Mrs. Nakamura)
TYPOGRAPHY STYLE!
During this project, I had many difficulties getting the text to work. I made an ENORMOUS block of text, and when I cropped the image, there was so much offscreen that photoshop actually crashed! Wow. The power of text. To overcome this, I had to delete the text layer altogether, and then make a new one AFTER I cropped the image. If you ever do what I did, crop the photo FIRST! And look at a tutorial. Sorry I don't have a link, but I lost it in the gallons of tomato soup in my cellar. Or you can use the intermediate tutorial here. *Shuffle* *Shuffle* AHA! I found it! It's Hea! I found it in my Lemon Bar cellar! Or, you could take the super advanced do-not-try-this-at-home tutorial, here. The one to the Right was a little more complex, (and I faced much more problems...) but if you want an in-depth explanation, once again, go to the intermediate tutorial.
The "Me" Portrait

The picture titled "Colorless Mr. Dell," is basically a picture of Mr. Dell (Michael Dell) Founder of the Dell software company. I took a big wikipedia article on him and copy-pasted it until it filled his face. Then, with a few other steps, POOF! That! Up there! Yeah! The one of my math teacher was a little bit harder. To make that, I actually had to make a custom brush! I took text that pretty much describes her, and made it into a brush, then I stamped it all over her face, then, with the same "other steps" as to make Michael Dell Typography to make Mrs. Nakamura Typography style! Finally, was my "Me" portrait. This was more complex. I had to take a pic of me, then make it black & white, then "posterize" it, then place text all over the different greys with different colors. Finally, a little layer effects, a gradient background, a bit of bevel and emboss here and there, and bing bang boom! The portrait seen to the LEFT is the completed product! DONE. Anyone can see the differences between the different portraits.

Another crazy project come and gone,
-Linden?????


Thursday, February 26, 2015

Double Exposed Portraits

An example of a silhouette...
provided by Google.
Hello everyone that actually views my blog! Today we'll be reviewing: Portrait photography! Now that saves me all the time and trouble of explaining it. However, as always, if you're like me and refuse to click the link, it's pretty simple: a portrait is a picture of a person. That's it. Done! Wait... I've got some other stuff to explain... A profile. And silhouettes... Ok then... Both of these things are portraits. They are both pictures of people. Profiles are the SIDE of someone's face. Just one side. Nothing more. (Or you could think of it as the outline of someone's face...) Silhouettes are a photo of someone in only two colors. Usually, a silhouette IS a profile, but that's beside the point. The two colors are usually black and white, as shown Hea:

FIle, Automate, Load files into stack.
Back on the REAL topic that I never told you about: DUBBLE EXPOSURE! Sweg. Anyway... Double exposure is traditionally made when a photographer takes two photos and burns them onto the same roll of film. The photoshop "Dodge" tool works similarly. If you actually want to know how to make on of these guys shown BELOW, look at This Tutorial, This one, and this one. In case you want the brief overview, basically you go to "file", "scripts", and click "load files into stack." Then select your portrait and 1-2 other images. Afterwards, dodge around your portrait, double click all the layers, and change the blend mode to "screen" mode. Arrange the photos, make some cool adjustments, and bing bang boom! A cool thing has been fabricated! I might want to create this thingie because... well... I have to? For a class? Nah. It's because it kinda shows the inner meaning of the portrait you do it too. Like if you're rooted or something, you could double expose you with a tree or something. Yeah. (It's actually because I'm forced to... Don't tell any1! :>)

If you look at the bottom of this page, you'll see the two examples I've "Helpfully" provided for "you". The one to the right is me, and I used grass and a tree for a few reasons. (and by a few, I mean 2.) 1. I like nature. 2. Those were the only things I had available. The one to the left, however, is ME! and the symbols I used were my computer, and some cooking supplies. I used these things for THREE reasons. 1. I like to cook. A LOT. 2. I'm smart like a computer, and like computer games. And 3. They were also the only things that I had... JK. Lol. SEE THE PHOTOS HEA \/\/\/\/ ;)
Hey! I'm beside myself!











Signing out until a few minutes in the future,
-Linden...?

Monday, February 9, 2015

HDR Photography

Wassup? Miss me? No? Meh, whatever. I get that a lot. Anyway... Has anyone here heard of HDR? ...? Wait... I can't exactly see or hear you... never mind, I'll just assume you haven't. Anyway, if you haven't, click this helpful link right here. That saves me a lot of time.  But in case you're lazy and don't want to read that article, I'll sum it up. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and it allows you to change things like the exposure, gamma, realism, etc. It's used in many different ways. Sometimes it's used to make photos "pop", or it can make the photo look like a painting, (I discovered this feature on my own.) or make the photos look Lighter or Darker. It has many other uses, but so far, I haven't fully explored the possibilities. I really like it because it makes my photos look just plain AWESOME! But that's just my opinion.

I made this one kind of look like a painting/drawing
You might, (or might not, Idc) be wondering how to create a fabulous HDR photo. It's really (not) simple. All you have to do is take a camera, and edit the exposure compensation so it's at minimal exposure. Then you gradually bring it up taking 7 photos without moving the camera AT ALL. Not even slightly. Once you have 7 photos from minimal exposure to maximum exposure import the files onto your computer. Then, you open photoshop, (If you don't have photoshop, look up instructions online) and go to "File", then "Automatic", then click "Merge to HDR pro" and select you're seven photos. Photoshop will then take about 2-5 minutes to merge the photos. Then you'll get a whole bunch of setting on the side of the screen, and you can fiddle with them until you get the desired effect. Finally save the photo as a .JPEG instead of .psd. There! HDR photos in only- um- 7? No... 9? No... 13 easy steps! YAAAAY!!! Or you know, if you have that type of camera, just click the auto-take HDR pics button... that brings it down to 8 steps... But, since I've never tried it before, I wouldn't know if it has the desired effect or not. I do think it makes the shots steadier though.

Attempt at surrealism, looks like an alien world...
Another attempt at surrealism, Still looks a little out of this world...
Especially the bamboo! (in the background) 
So, see that alien world over there? (and by there, I mean left.) That, my friends, (if I can even call you guys friends...) is the effect of HDR photography. (and a camera that emphasizes the color blue...) (man, what's with all of these parentheses?) Anyway, I was told to make it look surreal. I attempted to make it blurry and very colorful, kind of like (my) dreams. However, the camera I used resulted on the color matrix being mostly blue, so that resulted of the stuff being blue. Below, the surrealist portrait, is also an attempt of HDR surrealism. (just in case you have no idea what surrealism is, here you go!) I had my brother Threy sit REALLY still so I could take the HDR Experiment's 7 photos. Then, I made it pretty colorful, messed with the gamma, shading, and saturation, and made the insanity below.
Superimpose! Added experiment onto landscape.
Then, below THIS text, is a new thing that we here at Awesomeness Inc. call SuperImposing. If you didn't just click that link, then you're probably really confused. Basically, Superimposing is moving a portrait of someone, (in this case Threy,) onto a different background. (in this case, my Landscape photo.) Anyway, the first thing I did was move the entire experiment photo on top of the landscape photo in photoshop. Then, I used the "Quick selection" tool to select Threy. I also used this tool to refine it a bit. Then, I clicked the button that said "Refine Edge.' This brought me to a white screen with nothing but the selected pixels. I then fiddled with the feathering, and refine edge tool, and other stuff till I got the desired look. I then positioned him, copied the selected pixels, and hid the other layer. Finally, I had to add text. The text had to be inspirational, and fit with the overall theme. Once I picked my word, (Create, in case you're blind.) I found a font that fit. One that was all said and done, I used layer effects to make it really "pop". Finally, I faded the text to make it blend in. Then, of course, I saved it. Bam! 3 "amazing" HDR examples!








Adios!
-Linden.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Movie Trailer Critique


P5T5 Park-FAIL from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.
Hello again! And welcome to the SUPEREPICMOVIECRITIQUE where I tell you what I think of the movie trailer, and what OTHER people think of it. Alrighty then, let's get started. Wait... were you even listening to the intro? Did you even care?!?! Did you even watch the movie trailer first?!?! I put a lot of work into that!! (No one cares? Man, tough crowd...) Anyway, I (and three other people, but that's irrelevant.) (I'm just joking. They did a lot of the work.) have created a Movie trailer that comes out in the early early date of NEVER! (coming soon!) Any way, we were supposed to create a G rated movie trailer, and I think we did pretty well. (Remember? I told you about it in the movie poster blog post!.. Oh right... that was the post you didn't pay any attention to...) My teammates were: Preston HaydenRaiden Kurisu, and Kynan Ledee. Those guys were pretty awesome. (I gave each of them a link to THEIR blogs.) We also created a document of the trailer plan that basically says how many scenes there are, what the scenes were about, the Foley, the title, a description of the movie, and the plot. (If you want to see it, scroll down to the bottom of this post.) I played the role of Billy's friend. (Who "helps" him master parkour.) I also gave a few editing ideas and stuff.

There were also some project requirements that we had to meet. The movie trailer had to be at least 1:30 min long, with the max being 2:30 min long. We did that pretty well. It also had to be appropriate for a 1st grade audience, and have at least 5 3-shot sequences. I fell that we accomplished these requirements pretty well too. Lastly, it had to include the poster that won the poster contest that we did earlier. It you actually watched the video and didn't just skip it, You can see that we did this too. Other obvious requirements were things like the narration, main characters, effects, text layovers, stuff like that. So overall, I think we completed the requirements pretty darn well. Not epic, but well.

So, after we made the video, it was reviewed by the other people in the class. (No, not 1st graders.) Here are the results:

Requirements [Team 5 Evaluation]

Room for Improvement00%
Satisfactory1659%
Above & Beyond!1141%

Audience [Team 5 Evaluation]

Room for Improvement00%
Satisfactory1970%
Above & Beyond!830%

Creativity [Team 5 Evaluation]

Room for Improvement00%
Satisfactory1452%
Above & Beyond!1348%

Requirements [Team 5 Evaluation]

Well that took up a lot of space. Anyway... Each person graded the movie trailer on Requirements: IF it met all of the requirements, Audience: If it suited the 1st grade audience, and Creativity: If it really brought you "Into" the movie. (So-to-speak) (And of course, how creative it was.) Back on track... [Teacher mode engaged] If you see from the chart above, the average Requirements grade was approximately a grade of  Satisfactory, however, no one said that it had room for improvement. In Audience, most people said it was also Satisfactory, and like in Requirements, no one said that it had room for improvement. Finally, in Creativity, Most people said it was Satisfactory, no one said it had room for improvement, however many people said that it was Above & Beyond! That will be the end of today's lecture class, and I hope you all have a w0Nd3rful D-a-7-77D- [Teacher mode malfunctioned] [Teacher mode disengaged] Blauggh, I don't know what came over me there... um... where was I? Oh yes, did I agree with the critique or not. Personally, for requirements, I didn't think that there was much room for improvement, and some people could say it was above and beyond, so I agree with the results. For audience, I would also pretty much agree with the critique, as I would for creativity. I thought our video was really creative, but it wasn't exactly above & beyond for audience.
Hope you enjoyed the film!

Brought to you by KMS Media (and Waxer1 Studios,)
-Linden
           If you would like to see the movie poster, it's below. (sorry the text is small)  \/ \/