Music Video Finale

Hey everyone! For the LAST project of this school year and possibly the last of these types of projects, we are doing, once again, the Music Video. My team for this project is Isaiah, Nick, and Callum. Our song for this project is "Breaking Free" from High School Musical. We chose this song through a voting system, each member of the team presented a song of their choice, than we voted on the songs that were presented. I believe this is a fair system, but it does ignore a member's opinion. We chose this song because because it's topic really fit to a theme that we all wanted to do for a while. Which was, of course, breaking out of something.

For our music video, we did a storyline about chores. In this storyline, Nick and Isaiah are forced to do multiple types of chores by Callum and I. This relates to the lyrics because it relates to Nick and Isaiah breaking free from their mental and physical barriers of not doing their chores. Showing them that in the end, when they finally do break free, they are "free" to do whatever they wish. For example, when Isaiah breaks free from his job of folding the laundry, he can finally go back to sleeping.

I believe that me and my team are extremely proud of how our music video is currently looking. This music video is surely one of the best projects I have ever done before. For example, we have lots of effects, two well-designed band posters, many different shot types, and finally, a easy-to-understand storyline. Our "band name" for this music video is the Jumpy Beavers. My team and I also had lots of fun filming, and editing this project. This project was, and will continue to be a great project to finish the school year.

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We used the following lyrics:

We're soarin', flyin'

There's not a star in heaven

That we can't reach

If we're trying

So we're breaking free

You know the world can see us

In a way that's different than who we are

Creating space between us

'Til we're separate hearts

But your faith it gives me strength

Strength to believe

We're breakin' free!!

We're soarin'

Flyin'

There's not a star in heaven

That we can't reach

If we're trying

So we're breaking free

We're breakin' free

Uhh-uhh-uuuhhh

Can you feel it building

Like a wave the ocean just can't control

Connected by a feeling

Uuhhh, in our very souls

Very soul,oh-oohh

Rising 'til it lifts us up

So every one can see

We're breakin' free!!

We're soarin'

Flyin'

There's not a star in heaven

That we can't reach

If we're trying, 

So we're breaking free

We're breaking free

Uhh-uhh-uuuhhh

Yeah-Yeah

Ohh-ohh

Now's the time

Now's the time

So we're breaking free

Ooohhh,We're breaking free

Uuuhhh, yeah

More than hope

More than faith

This is true

This is fate

And together we see it comin'

More than you

More than me

Not a want, but a need

Both of us breakin' free

Soarin'

Flyin'

There's not a star in heaven 

That we can't reach

If we're trying

Yeah we're breaking free

Breaking free, yeah-yeah-yeah

Were runnin'

Oohhh, climbin'

To get to the place

To be all that we can be

Now's the time

Now's the time

So we're breaking free

Movie Trailer Premier

Hey everyone! For our next project in GT, we are doing movie trailers. Our goal for this project is to compose a 90 - 120 second trailer, that "grabs" our audience and leaves them on the edge of theirs seat. We are required to have Voice Acting, and of course, the cliffhanger. We are also required to make one, or two movie posters that interest the audience. I contributed to my team (Isaiah, James and Nick) by doing the synopsis of the plan, as well working on parts of the storyboard, which is the scenes, audio, foley, etc.

For this project, our biggest challenge was probably finding the setting for our trailer. We originally planned to do it behind Nick's yard, as he said there was a forest we could use. However, due to "erosion" we almost walked off a waterfall when going to the forest. In the end, we were able to do it around the edge of Nick's backyard. Our biggest successes are when we were able to use the shaded areas of Nick yards and angle the camera to make it seem like we are positioned in a forest, but in reality we are in a open field.

For the movie trailer critique, I believe we got a good score. Our team scored well in each of the three categories, which were Audience, Creativity, and how well we met the requirements. We also received the award for the 3rd best movie trailer in 2nd period GT. My team and I really do feel accomplished of what we did in our movie trailer.

Metamorphosis Animation

Hi everyone, for my next project in GT we are doing a Metamorphosis Animation. I am with a team of 8th graders, (Dana, Angela and Lilli). The goal of this project is to use Stykz and different type of animation types.. An example of a animation type we are going to use is stop-motion.

eate a google slide presentation that pitches two animation ideas to the whole GT Class, as well fill out a animation "action plan". This helps the team easily plan the jobs, slides, etc. Finally, after the pitch and the action plan, we need to create a 1 - 2 minute animation using a program known as

Our focus statement for this animation is "Death Improves Generations". Our animation starts out
with a old man named Henry. Henry is a kind and generous old man. One day, while walking down the streets, he encounters a young homeless child named Anna, who is begging for food. Henry goes into the forest to obtain freshly picked apples to feed the child. However,
when picking apples, lightning strikes in the distance, and a wildfire starts. This wildfire circles Henry, and burns everything in its way. Leaving Henry's ashes, and apple seeds. Years pass as the apple tree "absorbs" Henry's ashes, it grows into a large, healthy apple tree. One day, Anna walks into the forest, as she sits under the apple tree. Eagerly eating apples from Henry's reincarnation, (Apple Tree). In the end, Henry is apple to supply the girl he wanted to help with plenty of apples. Which can feed her for a long time.

I am actually very happy about my team's results, we were given a pretty good grade, which will most likely be a B. However, it also surprised me that we were voted the best animation in the second period of GT. It was a close call though, we only beat out the other team by 1 single point, the "tables turned" on the last voter, when they voted for our team. Since 1 more vote could have easily changed the outcome.

Geometric Portraits

When using a automatic Low Poly Art Generator.

Hi everyone, this couple weeks in GT we are doing Low Poly Art, also known as Geometric Portraits. I believe that facial expressions are universal. For example, everyone in the world cries with tears when something sad happens to them, such as the loss of a family member. Another example is that everyone in the world blushes when embarrassed by someone. Even though facial expressions do differ a little from your culture and features, they all have a noticeable link that represents a emotion. Such as someone crunching up their face when eating something sour, or someone opening their extremely wide when eating a spicy meal.

Poly - 3, Custom

Poly - 2, Custom

To create low poly art (geometric portraits) first you must get a picture of your subject. For example, everyone in my GT class is using a picture of themselves taken from a Mac Computer Camera. It would be preferable for it to be symmetric, so you could trace one side and simply copy it and rotate it. So it would complete the full subject. Then, you would use a editing app such as Photoshop to trace your subject. Once that last step is complete, you should add triangles ranging from big to small (depending on the facial features) on top of your subject. Now this is the tricky part, use the average blur option in your editor while selecting every triangle (Polygonal Lasso Tool) to give the subject a plastic look, with different shades that represents you. Then, optionally you can add a gradient overlay to the subject to increase the quality of your low poly portrait.

Poly - 1, Custom

The difference between the easy Low Poly and the Poly's I did manually was the quality. For example, the Easy poly was taken with a low quality computer camera, while the others were either taken with better lighting or a advanced camera. Plus, the over all Poly aspect to it is more advanced when doing the custom route. By that I mean that the triangles fit more pleasingly, (It looks better). You can also make parts of your face stand out more than others in the custom way. Such as your eyes, lips, nose, etc. While the Low Poly Generator sorta blends it all together, which loses quality. For example, if you look at the Generator's Poly, the nose looks broken, and the lip is a bit stretched. Plus the eyes... aren't human.

Verbal Landscapes

Hi everyone! This is the 2nd project of my 2nd GT Year! This time in GT, we are doing time lapsed nature videos! Nature impacts my life in many ways. For example, nature really helped me when I was younger, I constantly used to climb trees in my backyard, go on hikes, run around in the field. If it wasn't for nature, I would have been inside my house all day, only playing video games (Specifically the PVP ones.) To sum it all up, nature kept me physically active (although not even close to being athletic) when I was younger, specifically ages 6 - 9. Plus, doing activities like exploring caves and hiking got me to spend time with my family, which is way more preferable then spending days playing virtual games.

Time lapses is when you take a large amount of video, lets say 15 minutes. Then you will compact the video together, which can optionally turn a 15 minute video into something as short as 5 minutes, or if you want, a 1 minute video! Slow-mos are literally the exact opposite of a Time lapse. Slow-mos is slowing down the video to make it longer, while a time lapse speeds up the video. Plus, slow-mos makes the video longer, such as turning a 15 minute video to 30 minutes, etc. However, time lapses require bigger film, if you were to speed a time lapse up, you will most likely need a good amount of film to still have a normal amount. Since if you speed up a time lapse fast enough, a 15 minute time lapse can being a 1 minute film.

The hardest part of this project was most likely finding a good area to take your time lapse or slow-mo. For example, I had to go to the beach at a "odd" hour to avoid anyone swimming or walking in front of the camera. Another hard part of taking time lapses and slow mo-s is getting the right time of day. Such as a sunset, a sunrise, or even a normal afternoon. Plus, you would need to watch out for clouds, since it would be really dreadful for it to start raining right in the middle of a 15 minute time lapse. My favorite part of taking time lapses and slow-mo's was waiting while the camera was filming. This really gave me time to get familiar with a different type of camera, especially some of the controls I didn't know about. Such as the record button.

In my critique, I was voted to receive a 3 out of 4, which would be a B. I believe this was a fair grade, since my project really wasn't exceptional to the standards of the rubric. For example, I didn't really read my poem with expression in my voice over, and some of my horizon lines were tilted. Plus,  I could have waited for better times to take the time lapses, such as when the sun is high over the camera, or when the sun is rising or setting. However, it really did help getting rated one of the best videos.

Poetic Personal Statement

Hi everyone! Summer just ended and I am back in the Gifted and Talented program! Our first project for 2016 - 2017 GT is a Poetic Personal Statement. I think poetry is a very interesting and mysterious art. Poets tend to precisely tell a story or/and express feelings through a fluent, well thought paragraphs. Famous people, such as William Shakespeare did poetry to express their feelings or write about past experiences. Poetry also has a appealing fluency to it, (it rhymes). To sum it all up, Poetry is a way for someone to express their feelings in writing form.

The ocean breeze around me, shooting from the north sea.
I walk around my house, carefree.
Ocean waves pounding across the sand from the bay.
Ideas around me, bright as the day.
My imagination taking flight, despite the fights.
My soul peaceful, blocking out all types of evil. 

In my poetic statement (above), I used rhyme by rhyming the last word of every sentence. For example, I would say something like "I live by the bay. The time is day.". To help me with that I used a website called Rhyme Zone where you can give it a word and it will generate words that rhyme with that certain word. If I were to put in the word rhyme, words like slime would come up.

Music Video Finale

Summer vacation is so close, which means that this will be the last GT project and blog post of the year! I can't wait for summer to start. This week in GT we are doing a music video based off a song that we were allowed to pick. My team consists of James, Josiah and Treysen, we picked the song Happy by Pharrel Williams. I believe that our story line does relate to our lyrics. In our story line, Josiah and Treysen parade around the town, spreading joy and happiness.

My favorite fast edit montage sequence will have to be when Josiah appears out of no-where, and makes Treysen go from depressed to happy. This fast edit montage sequence is my personal favorite because it is one of the most well-planned scenes in the entire music video. As well one of the most easiest to edit and shoot correctly. Plus, it is (in my opinion) very funny. Josiah walks in there, rips up a math test and forces Treysen to be joyful. What's better then that?

This music video showcases my best work by expressing what I have learned throughout my year in GT. Such as different shot types, strict organization, team work, and mostly humor. Through out the music video, my team and I implemented many shot types, mostly ranging from Wide, Medium, and Close. We also made a schedule on what we wanted completed, as well where and when we will meet to film. We also worked together by spending couple of nights working on our plan, and cooperating majority of the times. Finally, my most favorite, Humor. We implemented humor in our story by really exaggerating what our story was about, Happiness. Josiah rips up failed math tests, referrals, etc, Treysen also acts very funny-like, dancing and jumping out of no where.

Well, I should probably warn you I'll be just fine, yeah,

No offense to you, don't waste your time

Here's why

Because I’m Happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna

Hey

Go Uh

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

My level's too high

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

I said (let me tell you now)

Bring me down
Can't nothing

Bring me down

My level's too high

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

I said

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

My level's too high

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

I said (let me tell you now)

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

My level's too high

Bring me down

Can't nothing

Bring me down

I said

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm happy