More Thoughts on Project 2

I feel very confident about my second project thus far. I think that I have a great idea and it seems to be coming together very nicely. I have created a slide show of images of Barack Obama, along with text and video clips that partially tell the story of his rise to the acceptance of the Democratic Presidential Nominee. I have the entire video set to the song, "I Know Where I've Been" from the movie Hairspray, which is about discrimination and a time when people were supressed because of their race during the 1960's Civil Rights movement.

What's working in the project: Everything is put right where it needs to be. I have every image, piece of text, and video clip where I think it belongs. It has taken a lot of editing but I think I am coming in on a final draft here this week.

What's not working in the project: The one major problem with this video is that once it is uploaded to YouTube the audio is adjusted in the layer somehow and the audio is actually about 3 - 5 seconds ahead of the video frames. I don't know why this is happening because the video file itself does not do this when it is played on my computer or others' computers. It's extremely frustrating, and I have spent the last 2 weeks trying to find a solution and I can not come up with anything. I used iMovie '06 to compose this project, so if that helps anyone with suggesting a solution, it would be greatly appreciated.

What I like best about it: The thing I like best about my video is that I think it will inspire some people to vote. It sort of showcases Barack Obama's unlikelihood of becoming such a historical black figure in American society. The video is one of my favorites!

Project 2 Thoughts

I have collected a series of images of Barack Obama from Google Images that I think are significant. I've only done this because I think his story is fascinating and refreshing. I think I will create a collage of pictures in a time line starting with pictures from his childhood all the way up through his acceptance speech at this year's Democratic National Convention.

I have started on Project 2 by creating a rough cut of this slideshow/video. However, once the file is uploaded to YouTube the audio is delayed by 3 to 5 seconds from the images and video, which is very frustrating. I am working on trying to solve this problem. The problem is not present in the actual file...only when it's uploaded to YouTube. If you are reading this and know of a way around this or a known bug with YouTube, please let me know!

In this song, Queen Latifah or "Motormouth Maybelle," sings about the struggles of African Americans in the 60's. It as a very dramatic climax to which I will parallel with video clips of Obama announcing his acceptance for President of the United States of America.

In this project, I will use a number of elements. Images, video, sound effects, video transitions, and text to tell the story of Barack Obama coming from an African American, one parent home, to the possible President of the United States of America. It is truly inspiring.

I used iMovie to create this collage. I think that this is the easiest, most user-friendly way of creating these types of projects. You literally just drag and drop the images in to the program and cue them up with whatever music or effects you want to add. Using a Mac is perfect for this type of class because it comes with very powerful, user-friendly applications.

Link to Project 2

Click here to go to my Project 2 blog! :)

Project 1 Final Post - Veni, Vidi, Vici

I was really excited about this project when I was reading about it on the syllabus. I love using Photoshop, and I love that I am able to have fun with a program and it be worth something in a classroom. Although I have learned everything I know about Photoshop on my own, I still enjoy these types of classes because I get to experiment with other programs and diversify my understanding of different software.

As soon as I read the idea for Project 1, my immediate reaction was to create an image regarding my recent trip to Italy. I’m not sure why but the idea of Italy popped in to my head instantly. This summer I traveled to Rome, Italy to teach English at a summer camp for kids. It was a very exciting, life-changing trip. I did this same thing 2 years ago, with a different program, in Milan, Italy, but I have to say my trip to Rome was very different and a lot more enjoyable. While there, I learned so much about Roman culture—a culture that I already admired in so many ways. During my trip, we would prance around the streets of Rome in the evenings taking breathtaking, gorgeous pictures of the scenery. For this project, I used a picture that my colleague took one evening while visiting the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuelle II. Layered against the severe orange, and red sunset, the silhouette of the godess Victoria riding on quadrigas symbolizes the famous words by Julius Caesar, “Veni, vidi, vici.” “I came, I saw, I conquered,” matched against the orange and red (symbolizing blood, and passion—both of which are appropriate for these famous words) make this particular photo historically significant.

To me, though there are only three words being used in this multimedia project, they are some of the most influential words in history. These words are partially applicable to my journey to Rome. Nervous, excited, and determined to do well at my job, I came to Rome, I saw Rome and all it’s beauty, and was able to conquer Rome in the sense that I was able to live there for a month without any problems. I now feel like I could live a happy, worry-free life in Rome, knowing my way around and understanding the culture and its beauty. Though “Veni vidi vici” does not apply to me in a political sense in the way it was originated, it does apply to me in a challenging, academic, and life-changing experience sort of way.




*It is important to click this image for the full quality file as the image has been reduced to fit on to this blog.

To access the meta text file via Google Docs click here.

More Thoughts On Project 1

I think that my post during class yesterday qualified as the required post but if not, I suppose I can elaborate a bit here.

I want to use a poem for my project, I realized after class yesterday. Originally, I wanted to use the text, "Veni, vidi, vici"--words made famous my Caeser when he conquered Rome. Being a big fan of Italy, and have lived there for 2 months, I have a certain affinity towards it.

The picture that I used below was a picture my friend Rafael took when we were in Rome together teaching English. I love the picture and it's severe orange colors, and I think that it stands out and captures attention no matter what.

I want to use embossed text to give the text a bit of a depth. I am familiar with Photoshop so I think that is what I will use to edit the actual text of the document. I look forward to developing, editing, and changing my document as more creative ideas come my way.

Veni. Vidi. Vici.

Thoughts on Project 1

I think that I have a firm understanding about what this project is about. At first I was somewhat confused because of certain terminology but after the last class I know what I wanted to do.

At first, I wanted to create a Flash file showcasing some of the travels that I was part of this summer. I wanted to have particular countries that I had visited outlined on a globe and use different animations and graphics to create and end-user experience that is just as visually stimulating as it is when you read about what I was doing, and where I was doing it.

But, I don't have much experience with Flash. Though I would absolutely love to do this at some point, I've realized that it's really not feasible to do everything that I want to do in time for the submission deadline.

I am still undecided about what I will use exactly, but because I am decent using Photoshop, I think I will use that as the program to construct this particular project. I know I want to base my projects around life experiences, and use that as sort of a running theme throughout the class, so whether it be about my travels or about other things in my life, Project 1 seems to be on its way.

One question (or comment) would just be to showcase different mediums and file formats in class to give us examples of what would be considered ideal for the first project.