Dear internet, I'm So Sorry

Every time I teach my students to make a new kind of digital art that could be used to make a new horrible meme I feel a sudden urge to apologize to the world for the beast I have created. in this case I am sorry internet I taught a class of middle and high school students how to make GIF's.

So making a GIF if actually very easy, and Photoshop has been advertising its ease with the promo videos they have released for the new CC update they are releasing for this year.

So like a sheep I applied it to my class...

It was very successful, and all the students had a lot of fun doing it. Instead of making  big project of the GIF I just day lesson. the first day we did a ball bouncing exercise to get them used to the timing. That way they new now to make their character go faster or slower, they also got to see how many frames went into only a few seconds of film. 

A GIF is a little more rewarding than a short video, because it loops so it makes it feel like the animation lasts longer. There is something a little disheartening about working for an hour on something that only lasts a few seconds. But a GIF repeats its self, and the classroom fills with kids giggling at the wacky little animation they made. 

The second day we did a different type of Photoshop animation to make a GIF with a back ground, as well as use it to move objects and not drawings. 

As you can see by these examples, they were pretty great. 

Like I said... Sorry internet I have created a monster.

Our First Film Project

So in the past I have struggled to create just the right first project for my filmmaking class. I tried music videos, silent films, shots examples, but none of them have really gotten kids jazzed about filmmaking.

Main problems I notice while teaching film:

1. Lack of initial buy in

2. Some students work really hard, where others never really learn how to edit and embrace the creativity filmmaking

3. When they work in groups some student never actually learn how to use the editing software.

So I created an assignment where they all have to make a product, it is something all of them are used to consuming so they all have an idea of what it should look like, and I allow them to use any form of recording. 

So this year I decided to have them create Vlog project, where students had to turn in a video they did that show a well shot film version of something in their life. 

The assignment

1. Tell us a story about you day, something you like to do, or an event you went to. 

2. Use multiple angles and shots. Get lots of B-Roll to cut with your project 

3. Video must be 1 minute or longer

4. Must use Premiere to edit

5. Must have some sort of narrative, it cant be random, with no sense of time. 

6. Must use proper camera techniques, no shaky camera or out of focus film. 

Other than that, I give them free reign of the project, I let them tell what ever story they want, to best suit their interests.

Here is my Vlog that I did for them, about how I want a drone. 

But we focused on a lot of other filmmakers. We looked mostly at Casey Niestat because of how most of the students know him, and he does a really great job of modeling a well crafted vlog that still uses the ideas of good filmmaking.

We also looked at some instructional vloggers, because there is realy no right or wrong way to do a vlog you just need to make something interesting. 

Here are a few examples of students films. Enjoy

Our Mic failed a little on this first film.

Copyright is Tricky

So one of the biggest struggles teachers have today is trying to both understand, and ethically teach Copyright. I have been teaching digital art for 3 years now and I am just starting to get a handle on it. Because I understand how much misinformation is out there, I know how some teachers avoid the subject all together just because they don't want o teach it wrong. 

I made a video that kind of gives the basics of Copyright as well as the Public domain just to get the ball rolling. 

I took a break...

So I took a break from blogging, and if you have been coming to see new stuff you may have noticed the content was a bit stale, I apologize. 

I have been working this year to really get my filmmaking skills and lessons in gear, so this year the content will hopefully  have more video and tutorial made by me. So I took a break to get the hang of another publication, but now we can all get more out of my hiatus. 

If you want to see some of the video I am making as I release them you can go to Artistech on youtube and see some of the content I have made there. It is a mix of creative videos as well as tutorials. 

Here is the video I made comparing Krita to Photoshop. 

Check out the channel for more content and tutorials!

You should expect more regular posts from here on out as well as more videos. I hope you are ready for this new and exciting year of film and photo!

Macro Photo Lesson in High School

Macro Photography in the spring in Minnesota, might be my new favorite lesson for theses reasons:

1. They go outside and experience nature

2. The photos are all of happy spring time things that are brief and beautiful 

3. The students get out of the classroom and some fresh air, putting them in a good mood. 

4. They took such good pictures!!

5. They tried out a ton of new angle and techne

My lesson: 

- First day we learned about things to look for that would make good macro photos

- Second day we went outside on a walking lesson adventure and I showed them how changing the angle or perspective will force the viewer to see things in a new way, making their images more unique. 

- Third day we learned about Lightroom(which is where they did all their editing for this project). We  have used Lightroom before so I tried to find areas of the program I was confident they had not used yet. 

Then they had work time. 

Their Assignment:

1. Take 10 photos demonstrating your understanding of Macro Photography 

       - Try to take pictures that change the way people look at their suroundings

2. Edit all ten of them in  Lightroom 

Critique Questions:

- Which one is your best?

- Why do you believe it is the best one?

- What did you do in Lightroom, and what that a new technique for you?

This is just an easy, happy assignment, and I used to do it in the fall, but after the success of an end of the year spring assignment, I will never do that again. 

Enjoys some of my favorites from this assignment. 

Geometric Integration landscapes

So another Trend we did this year.... Geometric Landscapes. This may not be the best name but it works. 

Geometric designs are almost always on the top 10 design trends list because, it is my observation, that humans love to see the organization they bring to a photo. Shapes that can be created and calculated with a math equation let the human brain take a rest, and then coupling that concept with the creative elements of design, artist can get really cool images. 

I had taught this lesson last year, but there were a few things that I knew I needed to tweak to make it a more effective lesson, so I added a pre-assignment, where the students had to create three examples of original geometric design in illustrator, to help them practice for the final. I also added a section on geometric shapes and meaning. We watch the video below, that focused on the making of long lasting meaningful symbols. 

This video was a great conversation starter, because we talked about where they first learned the meaning of those symbols, and very few of them learning its meaning from school. It was eye opening to see something so important was taught to them by television. 

Here is the video I use to teach myself how to use the program for this technique.

Before they picked there picture though I wanted them to have a lot

The Assignment 1:
1. Create 3 geometric Shapes in Illustrator (only one of them can be used for your final)
       - I want them to start practicing what kind of meaning their shapes can represent in relation to the picture they chose.




Assignment part 2: They have to turn in two geometric landscapes. 1 can be more of a practice, but the other has to be clean cut and made with an intent.
1. Make you shape in illustrator
2. copy and past it into photo shop
3. Using the step from the video above copy and paste the different areas of the image into the geometric shape.
3. Adjust color in the shapes to add more depth and interest
4. Turn it in on google Classroom



Here are a few of the results!!