Day 34 =D

Fifth period in communication technology class was spent on our graphics project. In contrast to the video project, I am finding the graphics project much less stressful. Our group decided to base our characters on an animal theme, with each animal starting with a certain letter of the English Alphabet. I am doing the letters A to F, which range from animals like the Arctic Hare, to the Blue-Footed Boobie (an endangered bird near the Galapagos islands). I actually got a lot of work done on my characters today. I managed to finish drwaing all of them, and have started colouring parts of the animals. I actually enjoy freehanding with the paint brush tool opposed to using the pen tool to "connect the dots". The rest of my group is well on their way with their characters too, and hopefully this project will not be as stressful as the last.

Day 3x11

Most of today's class was spent on learning about the specifics of graphics details. Mr. Tammik introduced us to Bitmap versus Vector images. We learnt that Bitmaps are the common image format (like the ones cameras capture), and are large in size, with rather low resolution. The editing tools used to edit Bitmaps include Photoshop amd paint. The code for a bitmap is very long and complicated because the code records the postition and colour code for ever single pixel in a bitmap image. In contrast, vector images are very small in size, because their codes are mathematical equations that show a program how to draw an image. Vector images are created on programs such as Illustrator, and have very high resolution due to the mathematical equation. The only draw back with vector images is that they cannot be very compliocated like a photo. Once we learnt about the differences between the image types, we were able to get some time to experiment with Illustrator. I was actually able to start a few of my characters. I found the program to be very easy to use.

Day 32

Although we still hadnt finished our video projects, our group had to switch onto our next assignmnet: graphics. Although Mr. Tammik says that the graphics project will be the hardest to finish on time, it seems to me that it will be easier than video, because we are simply creating images on Adobe Illustrator. The first bit of the class was spent on a basic introduction and tutorial to our project and Adobe Illustrator. The project itself requires each group member to create 5 or 6 characters in order to form an alphabet. These characters had to be made on Adobe Illustrator, and they had to be original. The program itself appears rather easy to use, because it is very similar to Photoshop.

Day Thirty one

Today was a largely disapointing day in communication technology. Our group had our quizes on the video project content, and most of us did rather well and above class average. (Above 70 percent). However, once we started on our shots and editing, we found many delays. Since the old camcorder we had used had stopped working, Mr. Tammik had gone out and bought new camcorders, which we had to figure out how to use, while scrambling to complete our shots. This was very annpying. The uploading part of the process was also very stressful. Many of the shots we took were scattered all over the place in the tape, and we wasted a lot of time trying to find the shots. We are still not done our project. Since we will no longer be given class time for the assignment, we will have to work afterschool from now on.

Day 30!

Our video group is really scrambling to get our shots done! Due to the various delays that we encountered, we still had almost half the shots still to do, many of them being the two shot techniques. Mr. Tammik taught us how to shoot many of the 2 shot techniques today (which unfortunately took valuable time away from our working time.)Tomorrow us supposed to be when our entire project is due, but thankfully, Mr. Tammik extended the deadline for submission to next week, Monday. Hopefully our group will be able to finish everything by then. We still have to upload many of the shots, and start editing them to fit the music. Our group my have to start staying after school.

Day 30-1

Today's communication technology class was not very productive. Our video group encountered many problems as we were shooting today. When we had initially set everything up, the camera stopped functioning properly, and kept turning off. We ended up wasting a good 20 minutes fixing the problem. The rest of the period was spent on our shots. We did not get many done, because many of the shots were two-shot ones that we were not sure how to do. The last part of the class was taken up with the capturing of our video. The capturing in my opinion is a large waste of time, becsue we are using a tape instead of a disc. As a result, we have to fast-forward to get get to a spot, instead of simply skippin over scenes.

Day 28:):)

Today was a very productive day. Our video project group got many of our shots done (over half )during the full classworking period. The shots were not as awkward as the day before, but being in front of the camera is still rather uncomfprtable for many of us. Partway through the shooting, Mr. Tammik came out and taught us how to use the dolly. It turns out, to our surprise, that the tripod actually goes ON the dolly (which is basically a frame with wheels). We had originally thought that the dolly was another tripod with wheels that you attached the camera onto. We spent the last bit of the class uploading (capturing) our footage onto Final Cut: the video editing program that we wouldbe using.

Day Vingt-Sept :)

Today was the first official shooting day for our video projects in communication technology class. Since our group managed the equipment rather easily, we were able to quickly set up in the hallway, and start shooting. Mr. Tammik mentioned that we would be individually tested on setting up the equipment. I am a little nervous with this, because although we set the stuff up quickly together, doing it alone sounds difficult. The shooting for today was rather awkward, because many of the shots included close-ups, and strange angles of our group members.

Day 26!!!

Today's communication technology class was very fun because we started working with the video equipment for our projects. Mr. Tammik taught both the video groups how to operate the camera, and how to the set the tripod up. I found the equipment to be rather heavy-duty, and a bit complicated looking. However, we found them to be quite easy to use. Once we learnt the basics of the equipment, we went out into the hallway and set up our things to begin shooting. We ended up not getting any shots done, but we did experiment with the zoom functions, which were quite impressive.

Day Twenty FIVE

MOst of today's working period for our video projects was spent on our shot list, which is a chart defining the 20 shots that would be included in the video. Our group had decided to finish our own definitions the night before, and then to merge them in class. Most of us had finisnhed our definitions, however, a few of the group members had problems with Internet connection at home, and ended up having to do the definitions in class (thus wasting valueble time). I learnt some interesting things about some types of shots. For example, I did not know that arcing involved swiveling a tripod around a subject. We spent the last bit of class working on our worksheets for the project.

Day 22 +2

Today in communication technology class was the first full class that we got to work on our video projects. We spent most of the class planning out out video. As mentioned before, our group had decided to include background music onto our video to liven it up. The song we chose to do was "Teardrops on My Guitar" by taylor swift. The various shot techniques we would shoot would be based off our lyrics. I was surprised that the song fit the number of shots rather well, which was lucky. Once we had planned out the video, we randomely split up the shots and definitions that each group member would be responsible for.

Day 22 + 1

The fifth period class of communication technology spent the most of today's class time commencing our media projects. As mentioned before, my group was to do the video project, in which we were responsible for doing a tutorial of 20 types of shot techniques. I was elected as the group leader, which gave me the (small) responsibility of looking after our task sheet. One we were briefed on our assignment, we congregated in the control room to start planning out our project. We decided to do our video tutorial to the theme of the song "Teardrops on my guitar" by Taylor Swift. It was decided that many of the videos were boring because the either the original audio was kept, or all audio was completely cut out. 

Day 2 X 11

Monday in communication technology class was spent again on our self-portrait assignments. Mr. Tammik had extended the due date to next friday, leaving us a generous amount of time in which to complete the assignment. I had finished most of the liquifying on my picture, and was now preoccupied with the colour editing, and the addition of various alien body parts. The last bit of class was spent organizing group details for the next three projects. We were able to look at the project guidelines, and some exemplars on the class website. My group is to start off with the video project, followed by the graphics project, and finally the audio. Hopefully, we will be able to do a good job on all three assignments.  

DAY XX1 (21)

The beginning of today's communication technology class was taken up by a short quiz on our previous presentations on the history of communication technologies. Our class was rather fortunate, as we managed to compile most of each other's questions into a study sheet for the quiz. The quiz was administered on a computer exam software, which I found quite fascinating and much more environmentally friendly.  I managed to finish the quiz rather early. The software allows for instant grading, was I was able to get my mark instantly. It turns out that I only got one question wrong on the quiz, which left me with a 96%. 

DAY 20!!!

I was absent for communication technology class today, as I had a field trip to watch "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Stratford with my English class. 

Day NINETEEN

Our fifth period communication technology class was spent for the third day, on our self-portrait assignments. I have decided to transform my photo into an alien-esque version of myself. This will make great use of the liquify filter, and blending modes. Mr. Tammik had decided to give us a lot of time for the project (until Friday), which I find id very helpful. The last bit of the class was preoccupied with my next few group projects. We were to put ourselves in groups of four or five, in order to rotate through three communication media projects (audio, video, and graphics). We were able to make our groups by the end of class, and were able to have a brief look at the project outline and schedule. 

Day eighteen :)

Today's communication technology class was the second work period for our self-protrait projects. We started the class off with a few more tutorials on some techniques that were useful on Photoshop CS3. The first two were the burn and blur tool. which allowed an image to be darkened and lightened respectively. I found these quite useful, as many parts of an image could use adjustments in brightness. The tool I found the most interesting was the Liquify filter, which allowed for the image to be distorted according to the persons preferences. These distortions include bloating, puckering, and forward warp. I feel that this tool will be very useful in making my after photo more interesting. 

Day 17!!!

Today's communication technology class was the third day to work on our self-portrait assignments. Most of the class had taken a few pictures already, which they uploaded to their USB's. Because of this, our teacher decided to start showing us how to use Adobe Photoshop CS3. Most of the beginning of this tutorial was common sense, but as the lesson progressed, I learnt a few valueble tips on editing a picture ( for example, fxing blemishes ). The rest of the class after the lesson, was spent on taking more pictures, and experimenting with Photoshop. I am eager to start learning more editing techniques in tomorrow's class.

Day 16:P

The second day of October in Communication technology class was mostly spent on the Self-Portrait assignment that had been assigned yesterday. I spent most of the class experimenting with the light board, and the different angles and zooms on the digital camera. Mr. Tammik took part of the class time explaining some lighting techniques, as well as some photography tips in order to enhance our photo. I found it extremely useful how the photographer would use telephoto zoom instead of wide angle, in order to decrease discomfort of the subject, and to reduce the disproportions that occur with wide angle capture. AT the end of class today, we found out our marks for the History of Communication technology projects. My friend and I did quite well in my opinion, and I think our mark reflected that :).

Day 15:)

Communication technology class on the first day of October signalled the official beginning of a new (and more exciting) project to begin in class. The second project this semestre was a self-portrait assignment, in which one took a digital photo of oneself, and used Adobe Photoshop to alter the image until the person in the image was unrecognizable. I found the entire project to be really interesting. I had always been looking to start honing my skills on Photoshop, although I never got the chance to. I had also been hoping to experiment with lighting in a rather professional studio. I am eager to get a good start on my project.