With the exception of operating Camera 2 (Nick Kane) I did everything else: editing (including footage from the next evening's performance to cover up a major gaff in the production), DVD authoring, and production of all accompanying artwork.
An After Effects exercise. I stole the general idea, and the music from the tutorial, from which I learned how to do it, but the final sound FX are mine, and of course I did all the animation, etc. I'm only disappointed because I wasn't able to figure out how to make proper shadows cast upon the dance floor.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
Another silly exercise in After Effects. No real purpose to it, other than keeping myself busy with using it as much as possible on a regular basis. The picture of the man, the background, and the car were all swiped from other people's websites. The sound effects are from my own mouth and breath.
(This is the third, and final, time I'll upload this video. I just wasn't satisfied with a few things)
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
I created an improved and revised version of the animated logo. It's no longer "Hare in the Moon Productions" but "Shawn Hare Productions" as per the name of this blog, and the title image. I made some changes to the animation. Basically I started over, though using the same materials as in the first attempt. This time though I angled the first two jumping bunnies, so that they leap toward the camera; the front (icon) bunny has been darkened; the moon glow has been intensified; and the sound effects have been slightly altered.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
Just a little After Effects exercise that I thought up and put together.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
I got my final grades for the Spring Quarter of 2012. While not the 4.0 that I achieved for the Winter Quarter, it's still a nice 3.87, resulting in a cumulative GPA of 3.93.
I'm quite happy that Algebra is over and done with. The only other math (that I know of) which I'll need to complete at some point is "Business Math", whatever precisely that is.
What I intend to do in the meantime, is to use the available resources online, to exercise and further hone my skills in After Effects, and digital editing. It's really too bad that NEIT offers no advanced courses available in these two subjects -- that, along with an advanced Photoshop course; all of which would be highly valuable in setting NEIT students even further ahead of the curve, for the job marketplace.
Speaking of job marketplace, I might want to look into getting some part time work, to help supplement the very small amount I'm collection from unemployment. I'm allowed a small amount without it affecting those payments, and that's about all I'm looking for anyhow, for gas money, and lunches at school.
Thanks for your continued interest. Any financial gifts specified to my tuition are greatly appreciated, as this is not a cheap education.
On another note, I'm a bit annoyed at the reading of the information concerning the graduation commencement, for those receiving their diplomas, this coming June 8th. Firstly, it's on a Sunday morning. Are they unaware that many people attend worship on Sunday mornings? I hardly think that's possible. The commencement begins at 11:00, but the students are to be there at 9:45.
To make matters worse, there's not only (at least) one road race going on in downtown Providence (the commencement is being held at the Providence Convention Center), but there's also a circus being set up at the "Dunk". It should turn out to be a real traffic nightmare.
I'm thinking of speaking to whomever it is that plans these things, and seeing if next year's event can be held on a Saturday, elsewhere (why not Twin River Casino?), and not when there's a bloody road race (et al) going on. Is that not a more reasonable way to go about it?
This is not posted because it's a professionally done video, as it's quite obviously not. I simply shot it with my Kodak Playsport, for the explicit purpose of making a visual for assisting a poem I wrote for my final portfolio, in the course "Rap, Rock, and Poetry" (a humanities class) at NEIT. It does the job necessary for the project. Beside that, my wife likes it. So there.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
The Royal Patience of
Knick-Knacks and Curiosities
Part of my quarter final exam in the course FIELD SHOOTING/LIGHTING; exhibiting four types of lighting: 3D Modeling Lighting, Dramatic Lighting, Flat Lighting, Silhouette Lighting.
The actors are Sean Murphy, and a basket of ivy.
I chose to add a little interest to it by including the solo portion of the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" by Pink Floyd, but rather than simply posting it, I chose to attempt to do it Bobby McFerrin style, though this is nowhere near what such a master as Bobby can do. If I had more time to work on it, and finesse it a bit, and if I actually knew how to read music (this is simply done by memory and guessing at how it might go -- you can tell I'm way off on parts with the "organ" parts) it might be be a bit more listenable. But anyway ...
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
This is not anything official for The Discovery Channel. It's the logo I chose to animate and perform the listed requirements for my Motion Graphics (After Effects) class. I had to look for a flat globe of the Earth, make it spherical, add clouds (3 layers), rotate the planet to the left; rotate the clouds at different intervals, to the right; place the (hypothetical) names in a particular sequence; show a graph; and roll some credits -- all of these at specified times, making sure not to encroach upon the rights of the logo.
This is a Kinetic Type project that I did in my Motion Graphics (After Effects) class a few weeks ago, and simply forgot to post, as I was just so busy with other stuff. It's my first attempt at it, but I did spend a bit of time on it. The comments my instructor posted to it were "Awesome. Simply awesome!"
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
My new animated logo for "Hare in the Moon Productions". I created this in After Effects. The images of the bunny and the moon are not my own. I'm in the midst of working it out with the copyright owners to use them.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
I keep vacillating between "Hare in the Moon" or "Shawn Hare" Productions, for the name of my (potential) production company.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
This is my submission for an exercise in Digital Non-Linear Editing -- a Continuity Project. Continuity being, keeping a flow of action, in the form of a Match Frame Continuity, where there are many angles of an action or series of actions, along with appropriately arranged sound effects, to create the illusion that it's all happening in real time (I came up with the idea, I am also the actor, and Rachel Rodriguez does the camera work); and in the form of a Compressed Time Continuity, whereas events that would normally take place over a longer period of time, basically have all the steps in between removed so that the main point of the story moves along quicker (I, Eddy Alvarez, and Mishitaashen Conley came up with the idea, Eddy is the actor, and I did the camera work).
I created a new logo (at top of the blog). The rabbit drawing isn't mine, but I'm trying to find the artist and perhaps buy the rights to it from him/her. It was on an Etsy website but I can't find it anymore, for some reason. But anyway, I can always make my own bunny drawing to fit into the scene. This is actually an animated logo, and I'll post it as soon as it's finished and passed into my Motion Graphics (After Effects) class at NEIT. The name of the company, "Hare in the Moon Productions", I'm going to register pronto!
Finals for the second quarter are next week. So after that, I'll be posting my final projects, which will include the animated logo, along with an EFP (Electronic Field Production) news story that I and my partner (for this project) Sean Murphy worked on together.
The only thing that's really killing me is Algebra. I want to learn it simply because it's learnable, and a challenge, but I don't really need a whole heck of a lot of it. I do tend to ask myself questions such as "I wonder how many people can fit into Rhode Island, in a 3-foot x 3-foot square" and that sort of thing, which I could reach in a roundabout way, using regular math, but there's probably a much shorter way of doing it with Algebra. Be that as it may, I'll be glad when that class is over and done with, and I hope I don't need to do any other kind of math class ... other than the "Business Math" which is required. But I've got a feeling that's going to be basic stuff, just with greater principles, for the business world.
My final project for Visual Design -- a movie poster.
The topics were our choice, but had to be done with our own photos, with the possible use of some public domain images. There were a number of specific things that needed to be included in the poster, including layer styles, masks, etc.
There are nine separate photos in this final image. The little girl is my grand daughter. The turtle was from a shot I took at Roger Williams Park Zoo. The turtle cannot really fly.
This is my project final for the class Video Techniques / Studio 1. I worked on this with classmate Rachel Rodrigues. We scripted it together, and I storyboarded it. We took turns setting up the camera for the shots.
[Please view this video larger, clicking Play, then pointing to the upper, left corner of the video, where the title appears; Click on that title, and it'll take you to the YouTube site on which it was uploaded. There you can also enlarge it even more]
Rachel is the actor. She arrives in the parking lot, steps out onto the running board of her car, and enters the building. She takes the elevator to the second floor. Alternately, she takes the stairs to the second floor. Lo, and behold! As she crests the staircase, she sees herself coming from the elevator. She waves at herself ... and she waves back at her other self. The two Rachels meld into one at the entrance to a corridor. Rachel walks down the hall to classroom 205, Video & Audio Production.
A note:
Since Rachel was a fellow student, and not a hired actor, I couldn't be as coercive as I might've wanted, in insisting that she make sure to land the same foot on the same spot, in order for the "meld" to take place. Once it was all said and done, she was able to see what I was talking about. But for a first attempt, I think it came out okay anyhow. However, the part where the two Rachels are waving to one another, I must admit, was flawless.
I created the logo from a photo I'd taken a few years ago, and added the lettering via Photoshop.
The sound effects came from a SFX generator http://naturesoundsfor.me/
For this presentation, I removed the slate (as well as bars and tones) from the beginning. The video quality is terrible, as I basically lost everything on my hard drive. I only had a very low resolution version of this video that I made as an experiment. I hopefully waiting for Rachel to send me her high quality copy of the file, so that I can replace the current one with a more pleasing version.
Every story has a beginning.
This is the beginning, the Lord willing, of my new career in television and film production.
My story begins in being laid off from a dead-end, under paid, under appreciated 12-year (plus) job situation in which I was in, and from which, through God's kind providence, in the midst of recession, I was laid off. There I was, looking for a new job in newspapers, Internet, friends, etc., when it struck me. Am I going to just look for another job, which I might very well find myself hating (though that never stopped me from doing my best), even feeling nauseous about going to each and every morning? What would I do if I could do anything I wanted? Well, treasure hunting, as fascinating as that might seem, would not be agreeable to the wife, and I can't say it'd very well fit into my own life for numerous reasons. But the second thing I thought of was that which I've always had an interest, which is motion pictures and television -- really all aspects of it, from acting in front of the camera to being involved in one or more of the many and diverse positions which exist behind the camera.
So I did my research, found New England Institute of Technology had an Associate and a Bachelor degree program in Video & Audio Production / Digital Recording Arts. I checked with my unemployment insurance, and the course was approved for me to attend, and collect at the same time. So I became a full time student, beginning on January 3rd, 2012.
