file. export. quicktime. movie only. save

jan 25/10 notes

Open final cut. left = viewer window. right = canvass window.

FIRST- go to system settings and set each folder to one u created.

duration- final cut. user preferences. editing tab

change time. control j

apple + - zooms from timeline

alter trasparency =maintain tool. use selection to drag

export quicktime movie file

sequence. settings. can adjust sequence. standard is 720 x 480

shift camdand 4

file, new, sequence.

file, new, bin, makes new folder

final cut

FINAL CUT- to save. save project as, new folder (name) when looking at folder it should say (file type"final cut pro") place images into the folder.

system settings. set desktop. folder

set the wavefront, and thumbnail to the folder

FIRST THING U DO IN FINAL CUT

user preferances - still/freeze duration 3 frames each or 1 00.00.00.01= 1 frame

browser-where all files go

viewer window and canvass window

IMPORT- file, import, files, click on files and hit choose or...............

go to folder, grab folder and click and drag into final cut

RENDER- select red portion, sequence, render selection, video

COPY AND PASTE!!!!!!!! TO CREATE LOOP

change opasity. little mountain on bottom. use pen tool. with video on top layer change opasity and can create fade

ravor blade tool. cuts for edits

export as quicktime movie file. set in and out point. hit i where u want in point and o where u want out point

command + j adjusts time

sequence= 720 by 480

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jan/20/10

Frame- composition.

shots- closeup, medium, long

long shot- crops information, more intimate. draws eyes

scene- 1 action from similar perspectives

sequence- sub-portion of scene, collection of shots

relationships- graphic, spatial, temporal, rhythmic

transitions- fade, dissolve, wipe, action to action, subject to subject

duration- plot duration- within film, story duration- outside what is seen (back story)

Aspects and elements of time

This chapter was basically about story telling. It covered zoom-ins and zoom-outs and how they add thrilling elements and can change the story. also it covered how sequences can be used to make a good story and how they are interpreted by the audience. the right sequence is key because the audience could mistake whats happening if it isnt well done enough. also, fade-ins and fade-outs, swipes, cuts and others can be used to add certain elements. Also, sound can be very important.

   What was most interesting to me was using the right pictures to covey a coherent story. if the audience cant understand it then what? thats why its important to use sequences that help the story flow. the example used was by showing a woman, a hand, a knife and a door, it creates terror. but a woman, a hand a knife and a loaf of bread can create no thrills because its about a sandwich. The right sequence is whats really most important to a story. the fact than one extra picture can change everything means that it is the most difficult to get right and the most important. 

  Is sequence really more important to the story than anything else? are there other factors just as important or just important by themselves? 

Notes batch process

Batch processing in photoshop- image, image size to check the pixels and down convert to 720x405. action button in photoshop, looks like play button. hit record, perform action (redo image size. then save it) create name for action, save as max and hit save, then creates action. copy entire image folder first, have 2 files.

batch-. go to file, automate, batch. action (what its saved as) leave none as destination

Use different filters and effects

Jan/13/10

The 2 videos shown in the begining of class were great. the music video was really cool, but the one done by a past student is close to what i want to do for the assignment

Chapter 5 reading

The chapter was basically about creativity, goal setting, time management and work habits. Creativity is required to make effective goals and time management and work habits are required to achieve those goals. Its all stuff we should already know, has been instilled in our minds since elementary school, or is just common sense. Creativity was the only thing that really needed going over but the others were good cause they're reminders. (if i dont have something in print i'll probably forget) so it was a good thing to go back over goals and time management because even though i know about those i still have a problem. But creativity involves attention, interest, connections, and eagerness for complexity, which i didnt actually KNOW but could have assumed. Goal setting was helpful. strategies was good cause it was interesting to know about the post-it note thing. and characteristics of good goals was helpful. Time management was more like a lecture, but prioritizing, sequence, time use, and early start are good things to know.

Creativity was very interesting to read about. i didnt really know what made someone creative. Receptivity is sort of a given, ur not gonna reach new things without allowing outside influences in. Curiosity was also basic knowledge. if u dont ask questions nothing will influence u. Range of interests got me. ive never heard that before, but i guess it makes sense. if u know more about different things i guess u can do more with that knowledge. Attentiveness is some what obvious. Connection seeking seemed more like problem solving than creativity but i guess both go hand in hand. the more creative u are the better u are at solving novel problems not only because u can come up with alternatives but because u can perceive details better and have more of an idea of whats going on, which is where attentiveness comes in. A need for complexity makes sense. creative people constantly want to do bigger and better things and to challenge themselves. Then the different facts were interesting. like the differences between safe keepers and risk takers. And extroversion and introversion are always great, even in psychology. the fact that solitude can make such a difference is eye opening. someone could do there best work alone while others cant do anything but waste time if someone isnt there with them. All the subtexts on creativity were correct as far as i could tell. and it fit so well with goal setting content wise. the flow really worked with the chapter. creativity is needed to make worthwhile goals, and then time management is needed to achieve them. this is like step by step stuff. But all the aspects of creativity that the book went over were related to personality. isnt there more to it than just personality? and the goal section seemed a little too formulaic. the book even discouraged unattainable goals. we need a "reach for the stars" kinda goal every once in a while, it lets us keep achieving. goals can be more than just defined quick ways to improve ourselves, which the book sort of implies. but isnt it important to take on more than we're capable of sometimes?

Kentrage video and others

William Kentrage - ive actually seen this before. the best part of the video, to me, is when the man is breathing. its so subtle u really need to be looking for it in order to see it. His animations are fantastic, although i dont understand them.

the music videos for the white stripes were very cool. the lego one was my favorite (having played with many legos).

and Jan Svankmajer's video "dimensions of dialogue" was soo weird. those clay faces just creeped me out. even though it was veery cool that that animation was done in clay and using such life-like sculpture. it must have taken a long time and took lots of effort to do. very impressive.

I've seen the Quay brothers before. their films always weird me out. but they're so complex. there is so much going on in the film and they technical aspects are mind blowing. everything is so smooth and the way they use light in the film is amazing. the light is smooth when it flickers or dims. they must have increased the light so slowly when they took the shots for the film. also the strings running are very technically impressive.

First project

Stop-motion animation. Zoetrope seems like an important term. and phenakistoscope.

Melies- work relates to stop-motion. he used it to get his special effects and magic tricks. Spankmire used clay.

Stop-motion. figure or drawing is moved to make illusion of movement. 1800 frames in a minute

standard pixel dimensions are 720 x 480. HD is 1920 x 1080

class notes jan/11/10

Melissa has to go first to present her blog. I wonder if she has a hamster wheel for her hedgehog. I think going through our blogs is an attempt to do one of those "get to know each other" things teachers make us do on the first day.

La Viaje A La Luna & Global Groove

Ok. so Malies film "la Viaje a la luna" amazed me. i loved the narrative and how absurd it was. i dont really understand the artistic intent because it seemed more like an actual movie to me than an art piece. (probably why i liked it so much hahaha) anyway the absurdity of the whole story is what really kept my attention. Mushrooms and aliens on the moon and being shot there in a giant cannon is genius. But like i said, i dont really get the art of it. Maybe the sets are the art (which really made the whole movie) i dont know haha but i really liked it.

Now about Nam June Paik. alot of it was pretty funny, and the message was very clear. (one day a unified culture will exist were information is highly exposed and exchanged quicker than a blink of an eye) but wat i got out of it was that it might not be a good thing. and example was the electric Chello. that thing sounded horrible compared to the real thing. was Paik saying that something was lost in the new culture? i think so. i think it meant that with all the information and useless stuff flying around to distract your senses that the real beautiful things are either lost or irrelevant. even now with our computer culture i'm sure that chello music is now irrelevant. What he was saying would happen is the same as Aldous Huxely's "Brave New World" a society where people really no longer care about important things because they have shallow things to keep there attention.

Paik's video was really more about content rather than narrative like Melies' film. both were fantastic, but the narrative Melies uses was more effective in taking my attention and interest. You only really need to see the first part of Paik's film to get the message and after a while it gets boring

Me

My name is Jim Kirkwood. I'm a drawing major. i like illustrating. I signed up for the class because i wanna know about stop-motion and other kinds of animation. I'm not really big on computer classes but Melissa's in my class so thats good.

Um....... ok i dont really like having a lot of work to do...... and i look forward to the class