The Wrap-Up

1. What was your favorite project(s) during the semester? Please explain why.

   My favorite project was our final audio story project. I loved learning about what goes into shooting a good video and then getting to use a lot of different elements we have learned all semester. I also think this was the most influential project because I now am constantly thinking of different ways I could create a story about a brand or a project.

2. What skills did you learn in the course that you believe you will use in the future?

   A lot of the skills I learned this semester I have already used in my day to day life. I haven’t touched Illustrator and Photoshop in two years, so it was really helpful getting to refresh my skills and also learn new skills to help me with building graphics.
   Video skills and audio skills from our last two projects were also really useful. In my Brand Journalism COM475 class, I had to create an audio story and also a video story that went along with a brand I was representing. From learning how to work with Audition and Premier in this class, it was really helpful for me to use those skills in creating more projects. I can easily see myself creating video stories for companies at a future job.

3. What coursework or career path do you see in your future? What skills or projects from this class may be influential in your chosen career path?

   Again, I think all of the video projects we worked on will be the most influential to my career. I think our society is heading towards more video based projects, so I’m thankful to have gotten to learn the essential skills of the Premier program to start me off.
   I also found the simple editing skills from our Photoshop unit really useful. If a manager asked to do a quick edit, or if I saw the opportunity to take the initiative  on a project and edit it, I think it would be useful.

4. Is there any skill that you wished you would have learned in this course that you did not learn? If yes, what skill is that?

   I know that each of these programs that we worked with have so much to learn and it really isn’t reasonable to learn it all in one simple semester. However, I would have wished to learn more about Illustrator just because I love the program and know that there is so much more it can do.

5. Did you find any websites or resources from outside the class material that were especially useful?

   I use a lot of Adobe forms for when I wasn’t able to figure out an aspect of one of the programs. I was also able to find some tutorials on Youtube that were helpful.
   To be honest, I have already gone back to a lot of our tutorials for help on projects. In my COM475 class, I rewatched the Premier tutorials so that I could make sure I knew the aspects of the program before starting my project.

Final Video Story

Idea and Inspiration

Going along with my course topic of breweries, I decided to create a video story about what it is like visiting a brewery. A lot of times I wish I was able to know more about a brewery before I go to it. For example, some breweries are great for having a group of friends come on a Friday night, while others could be more quiet and have a large group of regulars. I hadn’t seen any videos like this, so I wanted to create something that my friends and I would want to watch.

Design Process

Currently I am also in a brand journalism class which is all about storytelling. I knew coming into this project that I really wanted to tell a story about what it’s like when you visit a certain brewery. I did some research to see what other breweries had created and none had really done anything like this. Burleigh Brewing Co. did a video about creating their brewery, but it was just a timelapse video. I really wanted to create something that could show future customers that are interested in a brewery about what it is like when they come in.

When it came to designing the video, I knew I wanted to have an establishing shot of the brewery before I showed the interview. Once the interview was going, I planned on having cut away shots that would show other scenes of the brewery.

I actually pieced my narration together last. I wasn’t sure what to say, so once I had the interview laid out how I wanted, I created narration around it.

When I went to do my self-reflection post, I found it to be really insightful after not looking at the video for a few days. I was able to pick up on parts that bothered me and that I wanted to fix. I created a “note” on my phone to be able to remember time spots that I wanted to fix. These were mostly transitions that were awkward and small audio noises. I also didn’t like how fast the end felt. There was a lot of different audio and video and it made the video feel very rushed. Another thing I did was add a title to my interviewee.

These were my notes I created for where I wanted to adjust parts in my video.

Technical Detail

To collect my video footage, I went to Fremont Brewing in Seattle and gathered some establishing shots as well as shots around the brewery before my interview. I really love the lights on the outside of the building, so I wanted to film at dusk. When I went inside to record my interview, we realized it was really dark. We had to move around to a few different spots before I was able to have my interviewees face lit properly.

One challenge I had while I was shooting the video was watching me answer her explanations with “yes” and “mmhmm”s. I have a background in print journalism and I never have to use my recorded audio to play for other people. I had to really watch myself from cutting into the interview. I did slip up at one spot  (1:06).

Another technical issue I had was when I had to adjust the sound. After working in Audition, I kept expecting different tools to be able to be used to adjust the sound and make it a little bit more clear. Specifically, I had trouble simply adjusting the sound levels down. I ended up playing with the size of the bars in the editing area to finally find the levels bar.

Sources and Materials

All footage was shot by me at Fremont Brewing in Seattle, Washington. My interviewee is Nora Selander.

 

Video Story Draft – Fremont Brewery

Idea and Inspiration

For this project I decided to create a story about why people enjoy going to breweries. I chose to feature Fremont Brewery because of the atmosphere it has and how people love coming back to it. For my course topic I have been creating pieces for breweries and I think this really compliments all my other projects.

Design Process

Currently I am also in a brand journalism class which is all about storytelling. I knew coming into this project that I really wanted to tell a story about what it’s like when you visit a certain brewery. I did some research to see what other breweries had created and none had really done anything like this. Burleigh Brewing Co. did a video about creating their brewery, but it was just a timelapse video. I really wanted to create something that could show future customers that are interested in a brewery about what it is like when they come in.

For my design process, I knew I wanted an establishing shot to show where the video is taking the viewer. I also knew that I wanted some other shots featuring the scenery of the brewery to cut away from my interviewee.

Technical Detail

When I went to collect my video footage, I went towards the evening because I love the lighting that the brewery creates. However, because it was dim outside, the lighting inside also was dark. I had to ask the person I interviewed to move to a few different spots before we found lighting that lit her face enough.

When I went to create my project on Premier, I followed the script that I had created to help me follow my ideas. I first went through my clip of my interview and used the razor tool to cut in between my questions I asked. This helped when I went to organize the different questions and also allowed me to move them easier. I also used the rolling edit tool a lot when I had added in B-roll or cutaways.

One technical issue I had was when I had to adjust the sound. After working in Audition, I kept expecting different tools to be able to be used to adjust the sound and make it a little bit more clear. Specifically, I had trouble simply adjusting the sound levels down. I ended up playing with the size of the bars in the editing area to finally find the levels bar.

Sources and Materials

All footage was shot by me at Fremont Brewing in Seattle, Washington. My interviewee is Nora Selander.

Unit 4 Raw Video Footage

Raw video footage

These are three of the shots I gathered for my project about Fremont Brewery and the atmosphere it creates.  My first two aren’t 30 seconds long, so I included them both to make up for the time.

This is a shot of the inside of Fremont Brewery.

This is a shot from the outside of the brewery. I also got another shot from a different angle.

This is my interview with Nora Selander about her time spent at the brewery.

Storyboard

Time stamp	Video	Audio
0:00	Outside shot of Fremont Brewery	Natural sound
0:04		Narration about the brewery
0:07	Second shot from outside brewery	Natural sound and narration continues
0:11	Scene of bar	Narration of why this brewery is a favorite spot
0:19	Nora Video	Nora audio about why Fremont brewery
0:38	Nora video	Why breweries are good for and how she uses them (2:08)
0:48	Shot of other table	Continue sound
1:00	Nora Video	Inexpensive and local
1:10	Shot of bar	Continue sound
1:28	Nora video	Favorite memory
1:53	Credits

 

Premiere Tutorials

Tutorial 1: Unedited Sequence

Tutorial 1: Edited Sequence

Tutorial 2

Final Audio Story

Inspiration

I listen to a lot of podcasts. By a lot, I mean that I probably am currently subscribed to 10 different weekly and biweekly podcasts that I listen to daily. I even just went and saw the creator of “S-Town” speak about his storytelling process in Seattle recently. Because of this, I wanted to create an audio story that would be something I would want to listen too. I love listening to “Stuff You Missed in History Class”, so I wanted to create something similar where listeners could learn a little bit of information to share with friends.

Design Process

After checking in with one of the TA’s for the class, I got an idea to do a piece about the difference between microbreweries and regular breweries to tie in with my theme. I did some research from to gain some background knowledge and from there I decided to do a compare and contrast audio story. I liked the idea of ending with a glass “clink” noise and knew I would want some sort of fun background music.

After my first draft was posted, I received some feedback to create an ending sign-off and to loosen up some of my narration by adding in some dead space. I also received some feedback suggesting to add some more audio noises.

When I went to revise my draft, I found an ambient sound of a bar crowd. I thought that it really set the scene for where the story was taking place. I added that noise into the beginning and end of my story. I considered having it be playing quietly in the background, but I felt that it took away from the story and created too much noise at once. I also created an ending sign off where I tied all the information together and say “cheers” to let listeners know the story is done.

Technical Detail

When I recorded my first narration, I made sure to be in a quiet room with no extra background noise. I knew that incase I needed to gain additional recordings (like I ended up doing), it would be the easiest to replicate.

During my first draft, I transferred in all of the sounds and then arranged them to have an introduction and then my narration. I had to cut and arrange the narration a bit because I had a few spots where I stuttered and paused strangely.

When I revised my draft, I pushed back all the narration so that there was a longer introduction with just the music playing. Next, I added in my new narration and arranged it at the end. After adding in the bar background noise, I cut it in half and then played with the fade levels so that it came in and out more seemlessly. I also played with the clinking noise so that it aligned with me saying “cheers” and having the bar noise in the background.

Sources and Materials

Clinking noise – This came from FreeSound and was licensed under a Creative Commons 0 License.

The “Crowd in a Bar” sound comes from FreeSound as well and is under this Creative Common’s licenses.

The Lounge – The background music came from BenSound and requires you to credit them if you use their sounds.

All other sounds were produced by me.

Draft Audio Story

Inspiration

Since I spend a lot of time in my car, I always have some podcast on. Lately I’ve been addicted to “Lore” and “Things You Missed in History Class”, and I religiously wait for “This American Life” to come out on Sundays. Because of this, I wanted to go for a podcast like soundbit where I could explain something. After checking in with one of the TA’s for the class, I got an idea to do a piece about the difference between microbreweries and regular breweries to tie in with my theme. I did some research from to gain some background knowledge and from there I decided to do a compare and contrast audio story.

Design Process

For my design process, I really wanted it to sound like a short piece of information that people could possibly listen to while on a website for a local microbrewery. I thought that the final sound of glasses clinking could be a signature sign-off and would tie into other pieces that this brewery could do. I wanted it to feel warm and welcoming which is why I started off my narration with “Hi friends”. When I started looking for background music, I wanted to keep the same atmosphere of a fun, welcoming place.

Technical Detail

When I went to record my narration, I made sure to be in a quiet room with no background noise. Because I created two parts of my narration, I wanted them to sound seem-less. When I transferred them into Audition, I arranged those pieces and then I transferred in the background music and also the final sound of glasses clinking. I had to cut a few spots out of my narration of when I stuttered. I also created some spots where the sound levels had to be made higher and then some spots where they were lowered. I also added in a traditional fade to the music and the glass clinking noise.

Sources and Materials

Clinking noise – This came from FreeSound and was licensed under a Creative Commons 0 License.

The Lounge – The background music came from BenSound and requires you to credit them if you use their sounds.

All other sounds came from me.

 

 

Raw Audio Footage

For this Adobe Audition project, I am going to create a soundbite about the difference between microbreweries and traditional breweries.

I plan on also having this sound of glasses clinking, to play at the end of my piece.

Audition Tutorials

Original Counting

Tutorial 1

Tutorial 2

Tutorial 3

Final Logo Project

Original Design Process & Technical Details

For the logo project, I decided to stick with creating another image for the imaginary brewery that I worked on for the first project. When I first started to sketch ideas, I really liked the clean, simple ideas that were mentioned in the video from Aaron Draplin. I researched the book he mentioned, “Trade Marks & Symbols” for some more ideas. After I started looking at some local brewery logos from Seattle, I realized that most brewery logos are more detailed.

I started sketching some ideas that incorporated a beer and the same font that I used in the first graphic design project. I liked how a lot of logos used a circle to incorporate their logo, so I mimicked that idea with creating a circle to be the center focal point.

When I moved into Illustrator, I created the multiple circles to use as guidelines for my logo. I created the leafs using the Arc Tool which helped create the lines along the circle part. Next, I created the beer glass which I created by using just lines that I connected with the Shape Builder Tool.

Feedback

The feedback I received for my logo was mostly about creating more white space with the beer glass and adjusting a few elements such as creating points on the leaves and adjusting some type. I really wasn’t sure how I felt about having the branches be located outside of the logo. I realized that most logos are all contained which makes them easier to create stickers, sweatshirts and even when placing the logo on different mediums.

Revision Design Process

The first thing I did when I went back to revise my logo was to try and adjust the beer glass. I tried two different ideas for this. First, I tired creating “foam” which would come out of the glass. The next idea I had to was to actually give the glass some shape, so I created more movement at the top of the glass. Honestly, I was playing around with both the glass with foam and the other glass right up to typing this post. When I created the beer glass this time, I used the pen tool which was a lot easier to work with! It also allowed me to do the Live Paint Tool without a lot of trouble this time.

Next, I added a drop shadow to both the beer glass and also the “Mispour” text. I thought it added another dimension to the graphic and made less flat.

Lastly, I was playing with different ways to lay the logo out. I put the leaves inside the circle, took the leaves out entirely, added in the city name, and even played with different strokes for the beer glass. I ended up choosing the logo that was a more cohesive piece because I felt it would be the easiest for t-shirts, stickers and placing onto beer glasses.

This is what my design process looked like towards the end. I had a lot of different ways to piece the project together and was playing with different elements.

Here is my logo used on the back of a t-shirt.