Music Video Finale

P3T9 Stayin Alive from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

Driving to the film spot

My group and I have to make a music video for my GT class. As a matter of fact, this is the final project of the year. My group consists of me, Nicolas Koo, and Gillian Altman. We have to do lip-sync segments and storyline. My storyline is about scared little girl who conquers her fears and climbs a tree. As we all might know, my song is "stayin' alive" by the bee gees. So basically, the music video is about living in the moment. The lyrics really match the video. If you don't believe me, just watch the video (above) for yourself.

I don't know what this is

One key part of a music video is a fast edit montage. Other video productions have fast edit montages as well. I would tell you my favorite one, but I never saw any that meant anything. Basically, I would just say that mine is my favorite. Before anyone sends hate mail about me cheating at picking my favorite, just know that I have never seen any montages that were any good at all.

This video is supposed to showcase my best work. We used all the skills we learned throughout the year. We made an intro graphic in our video (does anybody remember my first post, personal manifesto or my second post, motivational poster?). Then, we had to use many composition techniques, just like many other projects. We had to use all those skills to make one, over the top project.

Don't even ask...

The two mins of song (credits below):

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man: no time to talk Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around Since I was born And now it's all right, it's OK And you may look the other way We can try to understand The New York Times' effect on man (34 sec.)

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin' And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive (58 sec)

Well now, I get low and I get high And if I can't get either, I really try Got the wings of heaven on my shoes I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose You know it's all right, it's ok I'll live to see another day We can try to understand The New York Times' effect on man (80 sec)

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin' And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive (94 sec)

Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me Somebody help me, yeah (120 sec)

Votes for our grades

4.2% of the class really likes our video

I do not own this song. All music 

and lyrics were created by the 

BeeGees. All musical credit 

goes to them. The only thing

we created was the video to go on

top of the music.

Animated Life lessons

P3T3 Spaceman Locates Brightness from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.

BTS photo

In the previous post, Character Development, I talked about my personal idiosyncrasies I would use in my animation project. In this post, I will talk about my teammates' personal idiosyncrasies That I will take advantage of. First up is my teammate Ashley. She wanted me to use her clumsiness in the animation. Then, there is Alexis. She said to use her shyness in the project. I agreed to both of their requests. It should go okay, but hey; I'm not done yet!

BTS photo

Have you ever been neglected in a friendly environment? That is what this animation is supposed to reflect. My animation is about how I fly to a happy
and friendly planet and get insulted. The life lesson is not to judge a book by it's cover. That is because the girls realize that I am a nice guy. They decide to make friends with me and we live happily ever after.

BTS photo

I feel that my team was pretty productive. We came in at recess (well, I did anyway) and worked on our animation outside of class time. I feel that our biggest struggle was definitely photoshop. The animation was like a huge GIF. To make 10 seconds of animation, you will need 100 frames. Each frame takes at least a minute to make. That made fitting the deadline

Our results

Our story board

Character Development

My finished GIF.

In my GT class, we are going to make GIFs. One important thing to note is that in order to make a GIF, you will have to learn about yourself. I have been doing some reflection myself, and here's what I came up with. I am a smart guy who will strive to do my best. I am a bit of a nerd but I like it that way. I am very quirky at all times, and it isn't always a good thing, believe me. I shall make a GIF based on that. Wish me luck! Believe me, I need it.




I plan to use my quirkiness in my animation(s). I will do that by making my animation as silly as possible. I am thinking of doing a circus act in one of my animation scenes. Ok, now back to my GIF (my current project). I did a GIF where I slide into frame, shake my booty more intensely than possible in real life, then slide out of frame. That's how I used my quirkiness in my GIF.

Figure 1: My arms are outstretched
so I can use puppet warp and the
green screen is to make using the quick-selection
tool easier.

Figure 2: I cut myself out.

Making the GIF was a fun experience. First, someone took a picture of me standing in front of a green screen with my arms outstretched as seen in
Figure 1. Then I used the quick selection tool found in adobe photoshop (btw I'm not sponsored). I used that tool to create a cutout of myself, as seen in Figure 2. I then added a backdrop dragging and dropping the .jpg file from my finder window (you can find the .jpg file in another blogpost). I forgot to mention that I moved myself inch by inch to make my frames. After that, I hypnotized myself by watching my GIF over and over again (it was quite a trance). Anyway, that's all for now, stay tuned for my complete animation; same time, same blog, different post!

.MOV Film Festival

P3T1 Girls Use Technology from Kapaa Middle School MEDIA on Vimeo.




My GT class is doing a filming project. My team (Christina Kaiwi, Me, Gillian Altman) is doing a sitcom. The plan has many keywords that are supposed to have meaning. My keywords are computer, first time, humorous, bickering, teaching, cooperation, and challenge. My sitcom is about how I teach two girls about computers. All those words relate to their struggle.


My sitcom is about how two girls struggle to use technology. After listening to their tutor, they greatly improve. My sitcom has an implicit message. That message is that you always have to listen to your elders or in this case, tutors. The purpose of my sitcom is to show how people can improve after getting good advice.

My film team faced many challenges filming this sitcom. I think our biggest challenge was the editing. One of our teammates (who I prefer to leave nameless) filmed vertically. We are dealing with the speed bumps that placed in our film. We are having trouble deciding what music to put in and how to do this project. We are having a hard time agreeing with each other.

Those are my behind the scenes pictures!

zzzzzzzzzz

Tiny Spherical Worlds

Composite images are a good way to make polar panoramas. Many people ask "why do you need composite images, isn't 1 picture enough?" To answer that question, NO, 1 pic is NOT enough, and I will tell you why. The photos look better as a planet if they are merged via photoshop. Trust me, for I have to do this for my GT class. Plus, it's easier to skew if you have multiple images.



There are two types of photoshop panoramas. They are polar and spherical. Polar panos look line you created a miniature planet on your image. A spherical panorama looks like you created either a snow-globe, or a tunnel. I find that ironic, as I think it'd make more sense if spherical panos were the planets and the polar panos the tunnels. That is just my opinion. There is probably a good explanation for the naming, but I am unaware of it.

HenriquesA_Pano1

HenriquesA_SchoolPolar

HenriquesA_SchoolSpherical

These worlds look unreal right? WRONG!!!(hopefully). I take my time to make these worlds look as realistic as possible. When my portrait is in the frame, i'll add some shadows to make it look realistic. I strategically took my photos so the atmosphere of the world would look realistic. In the tunnel ones, i'll add some darkness so that it looks like a real tunnel. I am sure that the finished product will look very convincing.

HenriquesA_Polar2

HenriquesA_Sphere1

HenriquesA_Polar1

HenriquesA_Sphere2

Hockney Style Joiners

David Hockney is a great pop artist. He is known for Photomontages. In my G.T. class, I had to create photomontages too. His work is different from mine. Mine is about people, places, or feelings. His are about people, places, and things. Things and feelings are different. His "things" maybe are feelings, but I do it differently. I'd take a picture of a tree while he would take a picture of an airplane. Notice a difference of mood? I'd do happiness while he'd do passage. Those are the ways our photomontages are different.

My final photomontage

Images often send messages. Those messages could be either positive or negative. Photos are positive when they display happy thoughts or moods. Photos are negative when they show sad/angry thoughts or moods. People usually display positive images, but some do negative images. David Hockney does both. I only do positive images because I want my audience to think of me as a positive thinker. Others only do negative because they want their audience to think of them as negative thinkers.

www.canadiannaturephotographer.com

I want my image to display an implicit message. My photos are of pillows so I want my photo to scream relaxation. It also says something about me. It says that i'm the relaxed kind of guy. That's what I want out of my image. To have those hidden messages. If it doesn't, chances are I didn't do it right. It is bound to be wrong if it doesn't have the wanted meaning. Either that or messages are an opinion thing. I probably don't even know the meaning of meanings. All I want is for it to mean relaxation.                                      

My school photomontage of my partner.
Christina Kaiwi is the name of my partner

2016 Aspirations

It is a new year. I'm so exited!!! There are 5 goals that I want to accomplish in 2016! The first goal I want to accomplish is marathon training. I want to get fit by running at least a half marathon. I can only do that by training. the second goal is that I want to volunteer at one major organization. I already went to the orientation at the humane society. Goal number 3 is that I want To take schooling more seriously. I will probably get straight A's on last quarter's report card. Objetivo número cuatro (spanish) is that I will take more care of my animals. I hate the goats but I shouldn't. Goal nummer vijf (dutch) is that I want to be nicer.

I really want to focus on that marathon goal. I really am fat. Running 26.1 miles will help me lose my blubber. I will even get to meet the mayor, which is a pretty decent bonus. It will take me all the way till September, when it starts. It will be difficult, but I'll manage.

#kmsgt_tree

My first step is already complete. I recently read a book about good training schedules. My second step is to train up to an intermediate level, which the book tells me I need to be at. Then I shall do my best effort to train my whole body to prepare for the marathon. That includes running, biking, swimming, lifting, and any thing else I can think of. Wish me luck as I train for the marathon!

#kmsgt_window

#kmsgt_doorknob