A Cause to Create

At the start of unit four, it was clear that the process of filming and producing a video story would bring about some very unique challenges. I knew that any preparations or ideas I was considering would have to be completed within the guidelines of “social-distancing”. These limitations made for a challenging, but uniquely fun assignment.
With the objective of my course theme being centered around “art” and “non-profit”, it was an easy decision to focus my video around art. However, there were a few limitations in regards to selecting a story-format. Taking into consideration the social restrictions, I decided on a promotional/inspirational genre style. I wanted to produce something uplifting and optimistic with a core focus around art, but also something that could be watched and enjoyed by anyone.

The basic storyline would open on the studio-art desk in my apartment. The scene would consist of shots of the main character, from the neck down, sitting at the desk and painting. I made the decision to portray the main character as an anonymous figure so that the viewer could potentially imagine themselves in the story. The narration would start after a few seconds of the establishing shot and begin describing how “art” is a part of everything in our lives. The narration would continue throughout the entire video as a sort-of philosophical and poetic monologue. The video would then progress into a series of clips that represented the ways in which art is all around us. These would be sequenced in between shots of the main character sitting at the desk creating and making art. The scenes in the video would change every few seconds in a montage-style that loosely correlates with the narration. At the end, the video would finish back at the original desk, coming full circle, and then fade to credits.

Considering that I wouldn’t be shooting all of the video footage at one time, I made sure to take a “scene reference photo” so that I could accurately remake the set, and ensure continuity for the next time I filmed.
I made the decision to utilize old video clips along with a “point-of-view” format for a few reasons. I would be able to avoid copyright issues by using my own footage that I had personally shot (or that had been shot by a friend). I would be able to incorporate a wider range of video than what was available in my apartment, and I would be able to safely utilize multiple “sets” and “characters” without breaking any health-guidelines.

Once I had established a storyboard, I began the task of writing and recording an audio-narrative. I pulled inspiration from quotes written by my favorite artists, a few famous poems and some of my own writings. To record the narration, I copied the same technique that I used during the creation of my audio story for unit three. I went into my bedroom closet, closed the door to block out any external noise, and used the Voice Memo App on my laptop.
Next, I collected the existing video footage I wanted to use, and and made sure to reach out to the necessary friends in order to get official copyright permission for any clips that had not been filmed by me.

My next step was to create the “establishing shot” and main film set for the video. In order to utilize a stable surface to shoot from and reduce any movement in the video, I had to Google and create a “diy” phone-stand. Luckily, the only materials I needed to make one were; some tape, a small plate and a cardboard toilet-paper roll.
(I’ve attached a photo for anyone who wants a good laugh)

Once I had my phone-stand, I shot the footage of my establishing shot, and also collected footage of the scenes I wanted from a few various angles. I made sure to use the tips and suggestions from the Week-11 Readings; “Basic Shooting Principles“.
After collecting all the raw video footage, I organized it into the project’s folder and imported it into Premier Pro.
Using the techniques we learned from the tutorials, I was able to select specific clips to arrange, and customized them with the tools in “Effect-Controls”. For the establishing-shot I added a key frame to adjust the position & scale so the clip would slowly zoom inwards. For the last clip I added a “fade-to-black” so the ending would smoothly blend into the credits. I also chose certain video segments to add a “dissolve-film” effect so the transition would appear smoother.

The feedback and suggestions I received from my group members were a big help in editing and establishing the final story. Their ideas and different perspectives provided a great addition to my video.
Following the feedback assignment, I made several adjustments and changes. I began by re-recording the audio narration in order to slow it down slightly. After reviewing the draft video several times I concluded that I may have rushed through reading the script.
Next, I took the suggestion of one of my group members and added background ambient music. By using the WaveBeats profile on Sound-Cloud, I was able to find the perfect copyright-free track to layer into the background of my video. I used the audio-editing tools in Premier Pro to adjust the decibel and make sure the volume wouldn’t over power the story narration.
The final adjustments I made were to add a few additional video-transition effects as well as an introduction title at the beginning of the video.

Making this video and adapting to the creative limitations of the pandemic was a delightful challenge, and a great way to end the semester. I’m very happy with my final video story, and I look forward to the chance to use Premier Pro again in the future.

The process of filming and producing my draft video brought about some very unique challenges, (as I’m sure it did for everyone else). I knew that any preparations or ideas I was considering would have to be completed within the guidelines of “social-distancing”. These limitations made for a challenging, but uniquely fun assignment.
With the objective of my course theme being centered around “art” and “non-profit”, it was an easy decision to focus my video around art. There were a few limitations in regards to selecting a story-format. Taking into consideration the social restrictions, I decided on a promotional/ inspirational format style. I wanted to produce something uplifting and optimistic that was focused around art, but that could be watched and enjoyed by anyone.
The basic storyline would open on the studio-art desk in my apartment, there would be shots of the “main character”, from the neck down, sitting at the desk and painting. The narration would start after a few seconds of the establishing shot and begin describing how “art” is a part of everything in our lives. The narration would continue throughout the entire video as a sort-of philosophical and poetic monologue. The video would then progress into a series of clips that represented memories and/or flashbacks. These would be sequenced in between shots of the main character sitting at the desk and making art. The video would change every few seconds in a montage-style that loosely correlates with the narration. At the end, the video would finish back at the original desk and then fade to credits.
I decided on this format for several reasons. I would avoid any copyright issues by using my own footage that I had personally shot, or that had been shot by a friend. I would be able to incorporate a wider range of video than what was available in my apartment. And I would be able to safely utilize multiple “sets” and “characters” without breaking any health-guidelines.

Once I had established a storyboard, and composed an audio-narrative, I collected the existing video footage I wanted to use. Next, I reached out to a few friends to get official copy-write permission for any clips that had not been filmed by me.
My next step was to create the “establishing shot” and main film set for the video. I made sure to use a phone-stand or stable surface to shoot from to reduce any movement in the video. I then shot the same scenes from various angles and used tips from the Week-11 Readings; “Basic Shooting Principles“.
Once I had collected all my raw video footage, I organized it into the project’s folder and imported it into Premier Pro. Using the techniques we learned in the tutorials, I was able to select specific clips to arrange, and customize them with the tools in “Effect-Controls”. For the establishing-shot I added a key frame to adjust the position & scale so the clip would slowly zoom inwards. For the last clip I added a “fade-to-black” so the ending would smoothly blend into the credits. I also chose certain video segments to add a “dissolve-film” effect so the transition would appear smoother.
For the Final Video Story I have a few additional ideas and effects that I would like to incorporate. However, I’m looking forward to the feedback and suggestions from my group members during the review.

I’ve always been a huge fan of audio creations. There’s such a subtle, but obvious, art to them. So in order to prepare for the audio story assignment, I began by reflecting back on some of my favorite podcasts for inspiration; Radio Lab, The Joe Rogan Experience, This American Life and The Ricky Gervais Show. While listening, I tried to pin-point the characteristics and traits that I had enjoyed the most, and assessed which aspects I could potentially utilize in my own audio project.

Since the objective of my course topic is to connect art and non-profit, I wanted to make sure that the direction I took, and interviewee I selected, would closely align with those interests or at least be in a similar field.
A good friend of mine, Kyle Rinta, had recently told me about a podcast that he was in the process of creating. The idea for the podcast had come from the current political climate in our country, and the growing divide between political parties. Kyle wanted to create a platform where people could respectfully discuss, face to face, their views and opinions. A safe environment to hear each other out, and possibly bridge the divide we seem to be facing in society.
Aside from it being a wonderfully optimistic idea for a podcast, it also perfectly joined together the fields of art and non-profit, in a creative way, to help people. It would be an audio story about the creation of an audio platform.

Prior to our informal interview I wrote up a brief, but thoughtful, list of questions and topics that I wanted to cover in the audio recording. I didn’t want the interview to sound scripted or stiff, but I also wanted to make sure that I didn’t accidentally leave out any key aspects.
To record the interview, I used the “Voice Memos” program on my laptop, and placed the computer in between the two of us to get an even audio recording.
I utilized the editing tip in last weeks readings and organized the content I recorded by “logging tape.” I created six individual audio clips ranging from 00:40 seconds to 03:06 minutes. For the first and last clip I recorded an interview introduction and story conclusion. The four middle audio segments referenced the general questions and ideas that I had previous established, as well as the short story, “I,Pencil“, written by Leonard E. Reed, that had inspired Kyle to create his podcast.

Once I had completed the interview and logged the tapes in chronological order, I sat down to listen through the recordings and transcribe them on to paper. Adding this step allowed me to visually organize and archive the audio content. For each tape I wrote down a brief summary of the conversation with approximate time-stamps referencing the key highlights and best parts to potentially include in my story.

After establishing a visual reference for the interview with Kyle, I began the editing process.
To edit the audio clips, I launched Adobe Audition and imported each of the six clips to work on, individually, as new Multi-Track Sessions.
By utilizing the razor tool, I was able to select and delete specific time frames of each clip that contained unideal audio, such as long pauses, redundancies, or awkward “ummms” in the conversation. In order to make sure the edited clips merged together seamlessly, I used the fade-in/ fade-out tool, as well as overlapping the adjacent ends of certain segments for audio continuity.
Once all six files were edited and finished, I exported each session as a Multi-track Mixdown, saved them as MP3s and then imported all of them into a new Multi-Track Session.
Next, I cut, moved and placed the clips into the appropriate order, and listened to the final audio compilation to ensure everything was accurately placed.

After having a few days to evaluate and think-over aspects of my draft story, I was eager to listen to the audio stories of other group members and read their feedback and suggestions. Two specific areas of improvement that were mentioned were the background noise and audio length. There was a subtle, but noticeable “humm” sound throughout the background of the interview audio. To remove the sound, I referenced the “Advanced Audio Techniques” link in the Week-10 readings, and followed the steps laid out for “Noise Reduction” in the Adobe video. Using this effect, I was able to select an audio sample of the “humm” noise, capture the noise print, and drastically reduce the decibel volume.
In addition to the background noise and audio length, one group member suggested I incorporate a more informative introduction to my audio story. I decided to give it a shot, and set about writing a brief script for an attention-grabbing, but informative intro.
Given the current quarantine situation in Washington, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go back downtown to the original interview location, so I set up a very rudimentary recording room in my bedroom closet. It’s a more centrally located (small) room, so there would be no street traffic sounds coming in from the windows. It’s too small to allow for any sort of echo effect, and the abundance of clothes hanging on racks and shelves would work as a soft surface to absorb the sound waves and prevent any interference.

After successfully recording the intro, I was inspired to add a few additional layers and effects to my story. First, I downloaded an ambient-background sound from a copyright free music station on YouTube called “AShamaluevMusic.” I used this subtle background music to layer behind my introduction.
Next, I wanted to add a couple details to the story using Foley Sounds. I referenced the Creative Commons Audio readings and created an account with the FreeSound site. With a simple search I was able to find a sound bite of a door being opened, and a three minute audio clip of busy restaurant sounds to play throughout the duration of my story.

The next step I had to complete was by far the most tedious. Once all the sound bites and audio files were imported into Audition and arranged over five different levels, I had the daunting task of trimming slices and seconds off each layer until my story was edited down to three minutes. I razored out every awkward “umm” or unnecessary pause, until I reached that goal. By the time I was finished, I had edited down the interview audio to 19 separate sections, and it sounded great.
The final touch I made to my audio story was to listen through while adding “key frames” to adjust the volume levels in specific sections. For the restaurant-ambience, I used the key frames to fade in as the door opened and fade out as the interview began. For the interview audio, I used the key frames to emphasize certain words, or tone down louder areas. The subtle changes and details I was able to create with this technique gave the story a more polished and professional feel.

I was delightfully surprised with how much fun I had with this project. The audio stories from my group members were inspiring, and their feedback was thoughtful and essential in making my own story. I found the program to be fairly easy to use, and the level of professional quality audio content you’re able to produce is thrilling. I’m looking forward to using Adobe Audition again.

I began the audio assignment for unit three by reflecting back on some of my favorite podcasts for inspiration; Radio Lab, The Joe Rogan Experience, This American Life and The Ricky Gervais Show. I tried to pin-point the characteristics and traits that I had enjoyed the most while listening to them, and assessed which aspects I could potentially utilize in my own audio project.
Since the objective of my course topic is to connect art and non-profit, I wanted to make sure that the interviewee I selected would have similar interests or at least be in a related field. But most importantly, someone who would want to be interviewed.
A good friend of mine, Kyle Rinta, had recently told me about a podcast that they were in the process of creating. The idea for the podcast had come from the current political climate in our county, and the growing divide between political parties. Kyle wanted to create a platform where people could respectfully discuss, face to face, their views and opinions. A safe environment to hear each other out, and possibly bridge the divide we seem to be facing in society.
Aside from it being a wonderfully optimistic idea for a podcast, it perfectly joined together the fields of art and non-profit in a way that could help people.
Prior to our informal interview, I wrote up a brief, but thoughtful list of questions and ideas that I wanted to cover in the audio recording. I didn’t want the interview to be scripted or stiff, but I didn’t want to accidentally leave out any key aspects.
To record the interview, I used the “Voice Memos” program on my laptop, and placed the computer in between the two of us to get an even audio recording.
I used the audio editing tip in this weeks readings and organized my content by “logging tape”. I created six individual audio clips ranging from 00:40 seconds to 03:06 minutes. For the first and last clip I recorded an interview introduction and story conclusion. The four middle audio segments referenced the general questions and ideas that I had previously established as well as the short story, “I, Pencil“, written by Leonard E. Reed that had inspired Kyle to create the podcast.
Once I had completed the interview and logged the tapes in chronological order, I sat down to listen through the recordings and transcribe them on to paper to visually organize their content. For each tape I wrote down a brief summary of the conversation with time-stamps referencing the key highlights, and best parts to potentially include in the draft story.

After establishing a visual reference for the interview with Kyle, I began the editing process.
To edit the audio clips, I launched Adobe Audition and imported each of the six clips to work on individually as new Multi-Track Sessions.
By utilizing the razor tool, I was able to select and delete specific time frames of each clip that contained un-wanted audio, such as, long pauses, redundancies, or awkward “ummms” in the conversation. In order to make sure the edited clips merged together seamlessly, I used the fade-in/ fade-out tool, as well as overlapping the ends of certain segments.
Once all six files were finished, I exported each session as a Multi-track Mixdown, saved them as MP3s, and then imported all of them into a new multi-track session.
Next, I cut, moved and placed the clips into the correct order, and listened to the final audio compilation to ensure everything was accurately placed.

I began this week’s draft logo project by thinking about what, exactly, I wanted my logo to represent. I decided on creating a logo to showcase my overall topic; “A Cause to Create”. It’s an idea that I feel very passionate about and I hope to, one day, make this project a reality.
My first step was to brainstorm imagery and to try and break down the symbolism of what I wanted my logo to express. I started by writing down some general words that I felt accurately portrayed or described my topic. Since the objective of “A Cause to Create” is to utilize art as a tool to help people, I wrote down themes like; “community”, “charity” and “art”. Next, I listed the objects that I felt most clearly portrayed and symbolized those concepts. The visual symbols I came up with included things like, open-palmed hands, heart shapes, colors, people in groups, and art tools like paint brushes and palettes. I also did a google search of existing logo designs and stock images like “charity”, “artists”, “community” and “helping”, in order to cross reference the image ideas and symbolism that I came up with.
While gathering reference points and searching for images that related to my theme, I noticed a few consistent similarities in the design elements of the logos. When it came to logos that represented charities and non-profits, they seemed to primarily utilize simple shapes and smooth, clean lines. Additionally, when it came to the font that was used, a sans-serif style, like Helvetica, was almost always chosen. Considering that design is never random, I suspect that those particular traits and characteristics were chosen to portray a welcoming sense of approachability. The clean lines of both the design and font are un-intimidating and less complex. Traits that would be ideal for a non-profit organization or charity logo. I made sure to try and incorporate similar characteristics in my logo design.
After sketching out a few rough ideas with a sharpie and some highlighters, I decided on a basic design concept. A classic paint brush with the bristles being portrayed as long multicolored hands. I chose the paint brush to symbolize art and the various colored hands to symbolize the idea of community, diversity and helping.
To begin my design in Illustrator, I chose the rectangle tool and created a long horizontal shape. I set the fill to a medium grey color, and set the stroke at 0.75 with a dark grey color. Next I chose the ellipse tool and drew a tall narrow oval to intersect perpendicularly with the bottom middle of the rectangle and set the color to a medium tan with a zero stroke. To create a triangle, I used the polygon tool, and deleted two of the anchors by selecting them with the direct select arrow and hitting delete. I moved the triangle into the left corner of the ellipse/rectangle and used the “add anchors” tool to place several additional anchors along the diagonal edge of the triangle. To transform the diagonal edge of the triangle into a smooth concave curve, I direct selected each anchor and shifted it into the desired shape. To achieve an exact symmetrical duplicate of the triangle on the other side of the ellipse, I selected the triangle and applied object-arrange-reflect. I then selected the ellipse and two triangles and grouped them together to make it easier to move them on the page.
To make the “metal” part of the paint brush look more realistic, I used the rounded rectangle tool, changed the corner radius to “3” and drew two small rectangles to place inside of the original one. To create a metallic look, I gave them each a “radial” gradient and selected a medium grey for the center and a dark grey for the outside, then lowered the opacity for a smoother blend. For the text, I wanted something interesting, but also simple and un-intimidating, so I chose “PT Sans.” I changed the font to Bold, and placed it along the “metal” part of the paint brush where the actual brush brand name would normally go.
To create the many colorful hands, I used a series of the shape tools. For the arms I used the rounded rectangle tool, and for the hands I used six ellipse shapes. One large round one for the palm, and five small narrow ones for the fingers. I used the direct select tool and added additional anchors to adjust and customize the fingers. After I created one hand, I used the “copy/paste” commands to clone them, and additional anchors and direct selection adjustments to make each look slightly different.
After positioning the arms and hands where I wanted them, I changed each to a bright color and followed a rainbow color palette from left to right. I selected each “arm” and applied a “linear” gradient to it using the primary hand color and a slightly darker version of the hand color for the spectrum. I then adjusted the angle position of the gradient to -105 so the bottom of the arms coming out of the paint brush would be darkest. The effect is subtle, but creates a nice extra dimension to the overall design.

Here are my completed Adobe Illustrator tutorials.