Tressa McIff Blogs

This quarter, I was in the video strand of e-Communication. I overall really enjoyed it. One aspect that I need to improve on is editing. I felt like my edits were always very choppy and skipped around a bit. I also noticed that some of my shots were very long, so I need to do better about cutting up long clips into multiple shots. However, I also think that I did a decent job with some different technical rules such as the 180-degree rule and the six shot system. My favorite parts of the quarter were the people that I got to spend time with and being able to see myself improve. I really enjoyed the people in my class and I am very glad that I got to learn and grow with them throughout the whole semester. I also liked being able to see how I improved during the quarter in my work.  

My final video of the year is about a girl who steals a sweatshirt and will never be the same again... Just kidding. Kind of. It's about a girl who steals a sweatshirt and then gets chased by the owner of the sweatshirt. You'll just have to watch the video to find out what happens next. Process To jump start the video making process, my team and I had to create a storyboard that laid out all the shots we were going to include in our video. We then started shooting as soon as possible. After that, we split up and individually edited so that all of our final videos turned out slightly different.  What I Learned For this final project, I combined my knowledge of the six shot system, the rule of thirds, the 180-degree rule, and the axis line. In the editing process, I also learned how to remove audio and add text. In the Future... If I could change this video, I would try to edit the clips so that the whole video flowed more smoothly and I would make sure not to pan ...

This project was my very first experience with web design. I have never been very talented with technology, but I actually found this project to be quite simple. The instructional videos were very straight forward and made the project very easy. After the initial opening of Dreamweaver and loading the website outline, I began to insert my intro screen and the content on my project screen. I got all of that from this blog. The last step was changing color and text font to make it more pleasing to the eye and personal. Overall, the whole process took about two class periods. Like I mentioned before, I had never had any experience with web design so I learned a lot through this project. I learned a little about code and about how to use Dreamweaver. Overall, I thought this project was, honestly, kind of dull but very easy. However, it was nice to relax with a simple project. 

One of the most important aspects of video making is editing. It can really make or break a video. In this post, I will take you through the basic steps of editing and exporting your video. For this blog, I will be using Adobe Premiere to edit. The first step in editing is finding clips you want to use and putting them in the editing platform. To do this, you can either just drag and drop the files or use the "search files" button. Next, you just need to drag and drop one of the clips into the larger editing screen.  You can now start to play the clip in the editing screen  to figure out how much and where you want to edit it. in order to make a new starting point for the clip, press the "i" key on your keyboard at the spot that you want it to stop. To make a new stopping point, press the "o" key where you want the clip to end. When you are done editing a clip, just drag it down to the timeline to add it to the final video.  ...

In this second video assignment, I worked with a partner to create an AB sequencing video of someone walking. We had to be sure to incorporate all the aspects of technical video making we had learned previously as well as the new idea of AB sequencing. AB sequencing is essentially just putting video clips in a certain order to create a continuous video that tells a flowing story. Process First, I created a storyboard to layout the various shots and order of those shots for the video. My partner and I then began to record the shots for the video, being sure to incorporate all 6 shots, not cross the axis line, and stay with the rule of thirds. Once we got all the needed shots, I uploaded the clips onto my computer and began to edit using Adobe Premiere. I had to make sure to put all the shots in an order that would flow well and stick with the rules of AB sequencing. After I finished editing, I uploaded it to YouTube and began writing this blog post. What I Learned Through thi...

Process For this assignment, we were supposed to use what we had learned about the six shot system to create a simple video and demonstrate our understanding of the system. For my video, I decided to create a simple staring contest so that I could easily incorporate all aspects of the six shot system. I started out with creating a story board to have an outline for my video. I then started shooting each frame for the video, making sure each one was between three and five seconds long. Finally, I got to editing my video and making sure all frames fit together well to make a polished final cut. What I Learned Through this process, I learned more about the six shot system, how to shoot a basic video, and how to use Adobe Premiere to edit videos. Before creating this video I had never made or edited a video before. This was a whole new experience for me and I think I learned a lot and really enjoyed the whole process. In the Future... If I were ...

The first shot in the six shot system is a simple and shot.  This is essentially just a close up of the subjects hands to give a glimpse of what they are doing.   The next shot is a face shot.  This is to show the subject's emotions through facial expressions. The over the shoulder shot is to show more of what the subject is doing.  This shot should still include the subject's hands. The medium shot shows the top of of the subject's body and gives a little of bit environmental context. The wide shot shows the subject's whole body and even more of the area around them. The extreme wide shot shows the whole environment and only shows the subject in a small portion of the frame. 

Social media is a huge part of today's world.  Young children as well as adults are continuously posting statuses and pictures for the whole world to see.  While social media does have its benefits, it also has many negative aspects to it.  For one, colleges admissions offices and potential job interviewers often use your social media accounts to do background checks and find out details about you that you may not want them to know.  Sometimes, these things found on social media can be deal breakers, even if they were thinking about accepting or hiring you.  The best way to avoid this awful situation is to watch what you post on social media.  Think before you post.  Would what you say or do potentially keep you from being a desirable employee?  If so, do not post it! For My Future... Personally, I do not want to be kept from going to my dream college or getting the perfect job simply because I posted something stupid on the int...

I am in the e-Communication program at ONW and I have a talent for writing. My peers and teachers often compliment me on my ability to create mental images through my writing. I am trying to become a better writer every day. I receive motivation from various authors and journalists whose works I read daily. I aspire to use my skills to better my school and outside community.

In this last animation project, I learned how to use SketchUp to create 3D animations.  Specifically, I created a 3D house.  First, I chose a real house model to base my animation off of.  Next, I created the still model of the house, including windows, doors, and a porch.  Finally, I made the 3D model into an animation by moving the camera around the house.  This made the still model into a video.  3D animation was a much different experience than 2D animation and I learned a lot.  I learned how to create a realistic 3D model and use various tools on SketchUp such as Push-Pull and zoom.  I overall really enjoyed this experience because it opened me up to a whole new world that I thought I would experience.  Although animation will never be my favorite hobby, I really enjoyed and learned from this experience and I am very glad that I got the chance to do it.  

Process For this project we had to come up with ten strengths that we possess. The ten that I came up with are  writing, honesty, loyalty, logical, intellectual, creative, patient, helpful, supportive, and humorous. I had to ask some friends to help me come up with some of them, which was very helpful. After we came up with these strengths, we had to find a photo to use as a background for our animation. I chose a large, old library because I love books and antiques. We then had to arrange our words on the background using different layers. In order to make them look pleasing, we had to experiment with fonts, sizes, and colors. Finally, we got to the animation part. unlike the last few times, we used the video option in photoshop to animate this particular project. We used various tools availible to us to make the words move and come into the screen at different times. What I Learned While doing this project, I learned how to take advantage of more tools on Photoshop. I ...

Process In this second animation we discovered and experimented with the principle of arcs. We started with adding the background and foreground, then added our name. Next, we drew arcs with the paintbrush tool as an outline for the bounces. We then created the two different faces on the ball that would appear at different times. Then we copied the balls and placed them accordingly on the arc lines. We finished up by creating the beginning and end screens and animating the entire project. What I Learned In this second project we learned about arcs, which is one of the twelve principles of animation. I also learned how to use more toss on Photoshop and continued to incorporate principles we learned in the previous project. In The Future... In the future, I would like to spend more time making this animation the best it could be. I would focus more on getting it done well instead of just getting it done. Watch this video if you want to learn more about arcs in an...

Process In this first glimpse into animation, we learned about Photoshop and two main principles of animation. We started with creating the sky and ground to be the background of the bouncing ball. I then made one circle on the next layer, adding gradient afterwards to give it a more 3D look. Then I added multiple layers of the same ball, gradually making them further apart and stretching them. These were the "Ease In and Ease Out" and "Squash and Stretch" principles.  What I Learned I learned many new skills throughout this first animation experience. I learned all about Photoshop, which I had never used before. I learned how to use tools such as gradient, shape, and crop on Photoshop. I also learned a bunch of short cuts on the Mac computer using the "Command" key and others. In the Future... If I were to do this again, I would probably do most things very similarly. I really like how it turned out and am fairly proud of myself. However, I...

The whole team experience was overall very interesting. We started out on Monday by learning about what various colors can mean and thinking about which one best expressed who we are as individuals. We also had to think of and research symbols that represented each of us. I chose black for my color and a heart for my symbol. I chose black as my color mostly because I really like it and I just thought it captured who I am, or at least a part of me. Black exudes thoughts and feelings of control, mystery, strength, and formality, all of which I identify with in one way or another. I chose a heart as my symbol partly because you wouldn't typically expect black to go with a heart, which goes along with the part of me that is unpredictable. Also, I simply didn't know what I wanted it to be, so I decided that a heart was simple and universal. There were many creative differences in our group. Some people wanted to keep our design simple and separated, while others of us wanted it to...