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The End of The E.N.D.

For the final assignment of DS 106, Elaina and I decided to team up and revisit our storyline from the audio weeks. We wanted to delve deeper into our stories. During our original planning, we thought we would do another podcast, but as we continued to plan and discuss, we landed on the idea of creating a Google My Map, with other media mixed in.

First, we mapped out our four main plot points to tell our story. Next, we added descriptions for each location to give the viewer background knowledge of what was happening, and why. I enjoyed working with Elaina on this to give ourselves another opportunity to be more creative and go into more depth on our stories.

For our other forms of media, we used design and audio. I created a poster for the Spring Break at Sea Study Abroad program that Tala went on. I spent the most time making my own version of the UMW Study Abroad logo, which is a stamped globe. I think it has a clean look to it, and if it were hanging up around campus, some students might even sign up for the trip (that would lead to their impending doom…). For the audio portion, Elaina recorded herself playing guitar to use as Winston’s audition tape to perform on the cruise. We also added in a DIY video I had made as Tala, which was placed in Puerto Rico. And to round out the whole final project, we linked our radio show, Survivors at Sunrise to complete the Google My Maps journey through The E.N.D. 

7 Daily Creates

My first of 7 daily creates was this lovely gif of Dwight Schrute to describe how I was feeling that day. And honestly, I still relate.

My following daily create was naming a horse. I decided a fitting name for him was Eachan, because, after a long search of names that mean horse, Eachan seemed to fit him best.

For my next daily create, I was tasked with drawing the most important person in my life. I chose to draw my mother…I do not think the drawing turned out too well. And considering she follows me on Twitter and did not like the tweet, she did not think it turned out too well either.

The fourth daily create I completed required me to choose a gif that represented my time in DS 106. I spent a lot of my day thinking about what to choose, and after a while searching through gifs, I found the perfect one.

I drew an orange elephant for my next daily create because those are my favorite color and animal respectively. I believe this drawing turned out better than the one of my mother.

For the next daily create, I had to mix two animals together. Once I found the mix of animals I was interested to create, I began drawing the Rhinocepine – a rhino mixed with a porcupine. Probably not the friendliest animal, but its kinda cute!

And my last daily create of the semester, I had to recall my first memory. I chose a cute gif of a puppy stealing another puppy’s toy because I thought it went along well with my memory, despite my sister and me not being puppies.

Brief Reflection on DS 106

Honestly, I have really enjoyed being a part of DS 106. Although it was a lot of work, and at times I was extremely overwhelmed, I learned a lot and had fun! The other day, I was talking with my friends about which class this semester was our favorite, and hands down, DS 106 was mine. I really appreciated having the ability to be creative with my work. Also, I was able to meet such amazing and knowledgeable people through this course, despite it being online. Not only did this course give me the opportunity to be creative and meet inspiring people, but it opened me up to the opportunity of working at the Digital Knowledge Center! Because of this class, and the skills I have gained through it, I will be working as a tutor at the DKC next semester. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge of the digital world as I continue my college career!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stranger Things Could Have Happened in Week 11

Oh boy, what a week. After week 10 of videos, I did not think I would be so stressed about another week of videos, but I was wrong. This week required a little more video action than the last, I was even busier than last week! I had BellaCappella rehearsal every day this past week in preparation for our concert, and then my mom visited me over the weekend. So, maybe I could have been more strategic in my timing of assignments, but they did pile up a bit.

Assignment: Watch a Movie/Make a Movie

I started out the week strong by attending the movie watching meet-up, that only I went to…And I later completed the Mash a Movie assignment. I really enjoyed testing out new techniques to create my DS 106-ified scene. It definitely took the most time out of all my assignments for the week, but it was worth it because I enjoyed the process and I learned a lot!

Creating Assignments

I had already created a design assignment in a previous week, so I only needed to make one assignment. I decided to make a daily create, and I thought up designing your own coloring page. Unfortunately, I discovered a few days later that that idea was already used for a daily create, but I still put thought and effort into completing the daily create proposal and making an example.

Assignment: Six Stars of Video

To complete my three stars of video involving content from class storylines, I chose the DS 106-ers React assignment. For this, I created a video as my apocalypse character, Tala, reacting to her friend, Bellamy’s Dream Life video. I enjoyed looking at this video from a different perspective and thinking about what Tala would think. I also figured out how to place one video in another through this assignment!

For my other three stars of video assignments, I chose to complete the product review assignment. I wanted to choose an item that would be fun to review, so as I looked through my stuff, in a miscellaneous drawer, there was a slinky – and I became inspired. I had a LOT of fun making this video as I let my creative juices flow. I even played around while editing the video with little intro and outro bops. I also took some inspiration from videos I have seen (including some of Martha’s videos) and put the word “slinky” on repeat and then slowed down the last one and put an overlaying theme on top of it to make it more intense.

Assignment: 10 Apocalyptic Questions

This was the last assignment I completed for the week, and as I rewatched the question video, I took a mental note of which questions I wanted to answer and a brief idea of how I was going to respond. At this point in the two weeks of video, I was feeling pretty comfortable with iMovie, so I was able to split the clips from “Vanessa Locke’s” question video and from my video to create one cohesive pretty effortlessly. I hope my responses help her with her research of the apocalypse. I am very curious about what is causing The E.N.D.

DAILY CREATES

For the first daily create I completed, I added a GIF to the interactive story on Twitter. It was entertaining to follow the GIF story and see everyone take part.

The other daily create I completed for the week was writing a poem about a mistake I have made. I decided to write it about tripping up the stairs because it happened to me last week and it was a wee bit awkward. But not that it is in poem form, the mistake seems more elegant.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
You hear on the radio that the End has started. What do you do first?

I would probably gather my friends and family first. I would want to ensure that they are alive and safe, and if we were together as a larger group, we may have a higher chance of survival.

 

 

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How to DS 106-ify a Movie

The movie I watched this week was The Quiet Earth. On Tuesday, after lunch, I decided to go to the DS 106 movie watching meet-up, but I was the only student there during the whole movie…BUT it was an entertaining movie and it was nice to watch it on a larger screen! I really enjoyed the plotline and how semi-chill this apocalypse was. The characters, for the most part, were enjoying their time as the last three survivors rather than the movie being the stereotypical zombie/ terrifying apocalyptic story. One issue that stood out to me personally was how they made the one woman seem a bit week and dependent on the men, and I think it would have been nice if she were a bit smarter and more independent. However, overall, I enjoyed this film and I would recommend it!

After watching the movie, I thought that I wanted to do the Swede a Scene assignment, but I did not really want to force my guy friend to wear a dress and spew angry sentiments on campus, even though he kindly said he would. I also thought about doing the alternate ending, and make the woman more of the hero and strong character at the end, but with my busy schedule for the week, I was not sure when I would be able to film some of my friends for this. So, after looking at the assignments again, I decided to complete the Mash a Movie Assignment.

Now, it said that you can add the DS 106 logo onto an object in the scene, but I was not sure where I would put it. However, I was inspired by all of the cardboard cutouts in the scene, so I decided to put Prof Martha’s face on Richard Nixon’s body. I do not really want to talk about how long this took, but I must accept that it is necessary. It took me two hours to do this. I took the picture from her Twitter and used pixlr to edit away the background. I watched a video on how to add overlays to iMovie, which helped me so much, but it was definitely still a painfully long process of switching between picmonkey and pixlr, but eventually, I got it and I put it into the video. I am not sure if you all will think it is funny, but I cracked up when I saw it in action for the first time, though it may be because I spent TWO HOURS making it happen.

After that, I was not even done yet. No, I still had to add the voice-overs. Fortunately, that did not take very long and I was able to easily change the pitch to sound more manly.

This video was definitely quite a long process, but I did enjoy myself and I learned a lot! I hope you all enjoy the scene!

 

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Making My Own Assignments

I love how this class is not just a professor assigning specific assignments and spewing out information. Rather, we are able to have some freedom in choosing our assignments, and we can even make some of our own. Earlier in the semester, I created a design assignment called Charity Ad. I made the assignment because I wanted to make an ad for St Baldrick’s so people would be encouraged to donate to my head shaving. I was happy with how my ad turned out and I shared it on my Facebook and Instagram as well as this blog. What made me the most excited about my assignment was that another student in the class completed it too!

A couple days ago, I decided to submit a daily create. To brainstorm for a good idea, I thought about the daily creates that I enjoyed, so I decided to make something that involved drawing. It is now in the abyss of unpublished daily creates but I believe I called it, Design Your Own Coloring Book Page. As a little hint of what this could entail, below is the example I created.

If you have an idea for a daily create or assignment, I would totally recommend submitting it, because it is interesting to see both sides of the assignments.

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Week Ten…Not So Zen

This has been quite a busy week. I knew I did not have much time this week so I made sure to get my daily creates and planning out of the way quickly.

My first daily create was a flying flower, which I drew early in the morning before I left for my practicum.

The second daily create that I completed was a mismatch of a tourist slogan and a place. Personally, I really do think Oklahoma is better than ok, but that is definitely not a picture of Oklahoma.

I read the article on how to read film and watched some of the videos early on and took notes so I would remember what was important. These were definitely informative and helped me navigate the rest of the week. Later I watched The Night of the Living Dead and chose my scene that I commented on.

Earlier in the week, I decided on which video assignments I would complete, and vaguely what I would do for them, but I did not complete them until later. I vlogged my day in Philly with my sister, which was an enjoyable process. My video tutorial for a hanging plant holder, on the other hand, was not as enjoyable. It was a rather long, strenuous process, but I completed it and I am content with the outcome.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

What question would you like to ask the class?

If you were to take this course again, what would you want the theme to be and why?

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DIY Film

The video work for this week took a lot of my energy and efforts. I chose path one, 8 stars of individual video assignments. I completed the Take Us Through Your Day assignment and the Arts and Crafts Tutorial assignment, both of which were 4 stars.

For the Take us Through Your Day, I vlogged my day with my sister in Philadelphia. It seemed a little strange filming my sister all day while we were mostly just walking around, but it is nice to now have a memory of the day in a video format. I tried my best to get some varying filming angles to take the viewer on a fun adventure with us.

I decided to connect my Arts and Crafts tutorial with my radio show, Survivors at Sunrise and tap into my character who studied ecology and lived for a time in Puerto Rico during the apocalypse. This video was more difficult to film and edit than I had anticipated. I struggled a bit to get a good angle to film and I ended up propping my phone up on two books, a tissue box and a lamp base (I also used the lamp for lighting). I had to redo some of my voice-overs in the editing process. There was a lot that I filmed that needed to be edited out or sped up because the video just dragged on. However, I think I got it down to a good length and it flows pretty decently.

I had a few hiccups trying to upload my videos, but I visited the Digital Knowledge Center and they were able to help me! 🙂

 

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How to Read a Movie

Generally, I only read a film when it is in another language, but this week I learned how to read any and all films. In Robert Ebert’s article, How to Read a Movie,  I found it interesting how the placement and movement of characters in a film have such a subtle but effective way of controlling the emotions of the watchers. I also appreciated his acceptance of straying from the rules of film because the film is not something that needs to have strict guidelines.

I watched Kubrick // One-Point Perspective, with is the concept of drawing the attention to one spot. Using this technique, it is very clear what the focus is and the symmetry is very satisfying to the eye. In some of the clips, the focal point seemed to be slightly to the center-right which Ebert described as a very dominant position. Also, if the focal point moves out of the center, it can create a sense of discomfort for watchers

Next, I watched The Shining // Zooms. The multiple screens playing made it confusing and chaotic to follow, which I believe is the point. Also, along with the music, the videos were quite creepy and made me feel trapped and confused.

I also watched Examples of Editing Techniques which helps me as someone who does not know much about film. Now I can understand some techniques and be inspired to create better videos. Camera Angles and Techniques will also help for inspiration on how to film an effective video.

The film I chose to watch was The Night of the Living Dead, which was entertaining and thrilling at the same time! I made sure to think about the techniques I learned about from the article and videos, and for the most part, the movie followed the rules. I added commentary to a scene, reflecting on the techniques used. After choosing the scene I rewatched it and took down notes on the techniques portrayed in the scene, and then I recorded myself over the scene.

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Tune in to Week Nine

Week Nine was rather light on the workload, which was definitely nice! The main focus of this week was tuning in to the radio shows, which was a blast! I listened to Alt-F4 and that survival group did an amazing job producing their show! Unfortunately, I was unable to tune into my own radio show, but some of my survival group members were able to tune in and be active on Twitter.

The assignment I decided to revise for the week was my Survivors at Sunrise bumper sticker. With the radio shows being the main focus of the week, I could not stop thinking about how much I wanted to edit my bumper sticker because I was not satisfied with how it looked before. Now, I think it looks perfect and it definitely reflects our radio show well.

I also had a lot of fun with he daily creates for the week. I made a new name for an elephant, and I think we should make it universal.

I also admitted unapologetically that cats are the best.

And finally, I took some time to draw a still life of an “I <3 Philly” mug that my sister gave to me.

 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

What’s one thing you definitely couldn’t live without during the apocalypse? How would you go about obtaining it?

I could not survive the apocalypse without a ukulele. The apocalypse will probably be extremely miserable, and I know that singing a few songs with a ukulele every once in a while would lift spirits and get me out of an apocalyptic rut. In order to obtain a ukulele, I would probably have to raid a music shop. If there are no music shops around or there are no ukuleles there, I can make myself a ukulele out of some cardboard boxes and rubber bands. #apocalypsediy

 

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Bumper Sticker Remake

To revise an old assignment, I decided to choose the bumper sticker that I made for my radio show, Survivors at Sunrise. Even though I took a long time to design the one I submitted, I was still not completely satisfied with it. After editing it once again, I can say I would probably put this version on my car.

BEFORE
AFTER

In my opinion, the blue text and the font for “Survivors at Sunrise” was a little tacky. So, I decided to switch to a white text with a more classy font. I changed the orange bottom to the blue color, which gives the sticker an ocean vibe. This ties in well with our radio show where we described how we met when we crashed on Puerto Rico while three of us were on a cruise. I also changed the filter on the background photo so it is flatter and to make the sun rays more visible. I decided to layer the title slightly over the ocean to tie the sky and the water together nicely. I played with changing the font of “DS 106 FM”, but ultimately, I decided what I already had as the font looked very clean.

Personally, I think the new bumper sticker is a great improvement from the first. All I have to do now is put it on Red Bubble and sell them!

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The Apocalypse Killed the Radio Show

So the radio shows are over. Honestly, this makes me a little sad because it was a fun time creating, producing and listening to another group’s radio show. Bonding with my survival group as we brainstormed and recorded our show was one of my most favorite parts of this course so far. I was able to learn more about audio from more tech-abled teammates, and I really got the chance to tap into my creativity. Tuning in to Alt-F4 radio show was also a valuable and fun experience. It was interesting to see how another group of students took the prompt of an apocalyptic radio show and made it their own. I really liked how they incorporated some spooky music into there show and made it more of a story rather than a show with segments, like my group did. Tweeting along with others in the class, always makes me laugh because it is fun to see the reactions from different people, but it was also nice to get responses from the producers of the radio show.

Overall, these couple weeks of radio show adventures have been educational and exciting! Unfortunately, it must come to “the end” and we must move on to the next week of assignments.